#lot I'd change... wish I had energy to do more

[medicinemane]

You know, it bothers me the way it seems like people have totally forgot about Iranians... thought we were all on the same page, wasn't it... women, life, freedom? (I legit don't remember, but the reason for that is it wasn't my slogan to say. Maybe it sounds strange, but that's how I felt, so I never actually wrote it, which makes it harder to remember)

Just feels like for a brief window there we were all talking big talk about supporting them, but then it all kinda dried up

I'll be totally transparent about one of the reasons this keeps coming up for me, russia is a major ally of Iran, Iran supplies the kamikaze drones russia hits civilians with... you know they're not giving them away for free... I worry what the Iranian government uses anything it gets to do... I don't really hear anything from Iranians anymore (though once again I fully admit that most of what I was hearing was second hand, I never had found an Iranian to directly follow... I don't know if anyone's still talking)

I just... I legit worry that people talk a big game about Gaza right now, but will they in a year?

I'm frustrated because a lot of the support people and causes around the world get seems like it's almost more self masturbatory than anything real... sure, everyone really well and truly means it, but then they get bored and it's on to a new cause

So I worry the support will be fleeting... and I see some people really getting down in the mud in ways... well, I'm not a people keeper, I don't get to tell people what to do, but I wouldn't be very pleased if I was acting the way I see some people act and my real point is I worry they're doing all this shit and they're not even gonna stick it out with the cause... seen people get bored and dip to many times to trust it

I'm not perfect... I have a shit memory a lot of the time, and I got a lot on my mind, but I still remember Hong Kong... at least sometimes... even looked into it from time to time and the news never looks good

I remember the Uyghurs, though my shit spelling always makes me look it back up. I think about Syria and how forgotten they are. I do actually still keep up with Ukraine... and then I see connections between russia and Iran and assad and...

I don't know... this stuff eats a me a little... not a lot, not more than the helplessness we all feel about bad things beyond our control usually does... I just worry about people, how they act with shit

Worry that you roll around in the mud too long it starts getting hard to wash off, and I worry that people sometimes get in the mud less cause they're trying to help anything and more cause sometimes it feels good to have an excuse to get dirty... righteous anger that makes any behavior permissible

I don't talk about current events that are on everyone's radar nonstop cause I don't want to burn support out by just overloading people with horror... but I generally find murdering innocent people to be a bad thing, so yeah... I want to see a fucking ceasefire already

Don't talk about it, but I actually do care quite a bit... and I worry... I worry that it'll be forgotten the second the news cycle moves on like everything else is

Worry that every bit of vile behavior I've seen that was for high minded goals will turn out to be dropped in an instant...

Almost like that's not a bug, that's just the point

[doyouknowyoudothatoutloud]

I could be doing the thing that this post is talking about right now...

Here are my contributions.

When we ask questions to try to get a already decided result, are we not being judgemental instead of curious?

Like if we think we know something why are we then asking the question in the first place?

If we stop listening because someone has a not so confident response does that not go against the very principles of science?

Like science is:

Step one: hypothesis

Step two: try to prove hypothesis wrong

Step three: what did you learn from that?

Science is literally about humbelling yourself to be wrong.

So if you confidentally say something you have either not humbled yourself to be wrong or have an enormous amount of data to back you up.

If we ask questions to try to justify our own opinions that is about insecurity not about curiosity.

Learning is at least partly about finding the misstakes you are making and changing your mind to adapt to what is rather than what you assumed is.

Like it would be so easy if we already knew the answer to everything. But we don't. We know very few answers with certainty.

Like isn't journalism and learning supposed to be about finding out and communicating what is and how to find out for yourself?

Humbelling our ego is necessary for us to actually learn. We want to believe that the world resolves around us, but facts show we are almost insignificant.

We live in a society run on money. Money or perhaps more accurately our economy is a belief system. Belief systems are not about learning. In a way science is a belief system.

Belief system of capitalism: use made up thing to exchange for goods and services.

Belief system of science: we are capable of asking questions but we mostly come to the wrong conclusions. Pointing out how we are wrong makes us move along quicker.

Another example of a belief system is Christianity.

Belief system of Christianity: humans are made perfectly. Our sins are a consequence of our own actions not a reflection of God's creation.

The belief system of science is capable of evolving and takes into account that we have capabilities and often are wrong. The belief system of science is rooted in our logic.

The belief system of capitalism is rooted in convenience. If everything has to be exchanged for something money weighs less than most other things. Most of the worlds currencies is connected to the american dollar and the american dollar is connected to oil. The belief system of our currencies are currently rooted in oil.

Our money hold no inherent value in of itself. It is no longer made of gold so there is little use from melting it down and making something out of it. The way that we document our economy has not really changed all that much since the roman empire.

In comparison during the roman empire science thought the sun revolved around the earth and things like penecilin was far from being invented. There are many more things which science has discovered and evolved since the roman empire than that.

Since schools and news media are all dependent on sponsors in our economic system in order to exist they are not really set up to be for well facts.

Science is literally about humbelling yourself to be wrong and capitalism would pretty much fall apart if we were to treat our currencies as well what they are, metal, pieces of paper and 1's and 0's. Capitalism is a lie, a fairytale and could fall apart if facts were used on itself. Capitalism confidentally says that money is the equivalent of the goods and services that we buy. But is it? What metrics were used to come up with that number? We could have an economy where prices were set from what goods and services are worth. But how would we value that? From the profit it can make? From the use it got?

What is capitalism for? Isn't capitalism supposed to be for well the quality of life we humans are capable of achieving?

But if capitalism was for the quality of life humans were capable of achieving it would be about making sure every worker got a good quality of life, that there needs were met at least to the level where factual reasons were the limitations not extra limitations which we impose on ourselves &/or others. If capitalism was for people then everyone would be free to change jobs, take a vacation, have food, shelter to have a balanzed life.

If capitalism was for people we would teach people how to take care of their own needs and speak up for themselves. Our needs would still have consequences but if we know of them we can plan and accomodate for them instead of dissmissing them. Having needs does not make you bad, it makes you human.

If we were taught to take care of our own needs, speak up for ourselves and do things based on our current ability rather than a made up target of should, then we would probably feel less insecure and be more willing to actually listen to the usually less than straight forward realities that the expert tell us about.

I don't know. My hypothesis is that our current inability to listen to complex truths is heavily effected by a lack of confidence in ourselves and that our lack of confidence in ourselves is prepetuated by a belief system which does not account for our own needs.

Maybe I went off on a tangent and am completely wrong. Feel free to point it out.

Ok now do NYT columnists

[sharkylass]

ALRIGHT, I ASKED FOREVER AGO, BUT WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT MY ISA LOOPS AU??

Heads up this contains a lot, and I mean A LOT of spoilers for In Stars And Time. Including: = Act 6 spoilers, including main mystery and secret encounter = Minimal Act 5 stuff = And a bunch of extra stuff that happens through Act 3 and 4. SO BASICALLY ALMOST EVERYTHING, FINISH THIS GAME COMPLETELY BEFORE READING (ESPECIALLY THAT ACT 6 ENCOUNTER, IT WILL LITERALLY BE THE FIRST THING I MENTION UNDER THE CUT)

With all those warnings out of the way-

IN REPETITION AND CHANGE

Initial Concepts:

I feel it's important to show these sketches because they were the first ideas I ever had. I wasn't even entirely sure I wanted to make an AU at this point, I didn't even know how I'd approach it. But I started sketching and it's been on my mind since- SO! Isa is stuck in the timeloop. I know what his wish is and he DOES have a Loop equivalent! The grumpy dandelion guy is Roboro (it/they/he). Their name is a very small play on Ouroboros and they call Isa "Seedling". However, this post is not about them, as I'm gonna talk about it and Isa's dynamic in a separate post. In short, Isa is his normal loud self up until Act 3, right? They beat the King, they reach the end, and whoops, the loop isn't broken. So now, what happens is that Isa starts getting his brains out. He starts thinking more analytically and tries to problem solve.

The more stuck he gets in his head, the less he's able to perceive his friends as real people, and more like them holding him back. Because even if Isa explains that he's smart, that they shouldn't be surprised if he says something, shock of all shocks, reasonable- They'll forget it the next loop.

So Isa is stuck with trying to portray his confident, loud, supportive facade- Which is fine! It wouldn't be the first time! But it progressively gets more and more frustrating, as he tries to find answers and simply looses the energy to pretend to be stupid.

TL;DR: Isa in the timeloop, unlike Siffrin, becomes more distant and cold rather then something more akin to Sif's mania.

NOW, MORE ART!!!

KILL KILL KILL:

I imagine Isa didn't have this encounter the same way that Sif did. Yeah, frankly, Isa is pissed with the sadness- But that's not why he goes through with this.

In this moment, Isa is trying to kill two birds with one stone. He's trying to get through this quickly, as well as reassure Mira that they can do this! If he shows how strong he is, then she'll feel safe right???

Poor Isabeau forgot that whenever he shows that he thinks ahead, he scares people. How could he forget that? How could he forget that he's inherently---

Family Quest:

I still think Odile is the one to call out to him (same with sus quest).

The hangouts I'm still figuring out, cause I don't think they'd too similar to base game- But, fun fact, at the end of this run, everyone agrees to keep travel together!

Isabeau brings it up, can't hurt if you can fix your mistakes right? And everyone agrees. The relief on Siffrin is the most palpable thing Isabeau has ever seen.

In this moment they love you. In this moment they all love you. In this moment---

Death Screen:

He loops back anyways. (This is one of the initial concepts that I ended up animating. This line in particular is when he reaches the end)

Act 5 Tarot Card:

NOW TO SEE MORE OF HIS PASSIVE AGRESSIVE SIDE

Thanks to @the-bitter-ocean for prescribing tarot cards to Isa (THEY ALL FUCK SO HARD) and for the RAW ASS LINE

If interacted with in act 5, predictably, Isa tears it apart. He doesn't need the divine judgement upon him, he's faced everyone's perception his entire life.

However, he tears it methodically. Tears it once in even pieces, twice, three times, and one of the pieces once more. In a way he isn't even getting his emotions out, it's like he's actively trying to tear it apart so it stops nagging him, like he wants to shut it up. Though, the Judgement card symbolizes rebirth, absolution and inner calling. In Act 6 he'd be able to look at it and find comfort and confidence in the card.

Act 5 Mirror:

And lastly, I have the Act 5 mirror picture. I haven't quite figured out how to make the normal ones work yet, however, I couldn't let go of the idea that Isa would not want to be in the picture.

The idea of seeing himself at all makes his head hurt and his stomach squeeze. The memory haunts him as he stands to the side and says the word. He didn't think the mirror would catch him.

AAAAND THAT'S ALL THE ART STUFF FOR NOW!!

I still have quite a bit of it to post, especially about Roboro, but I'm gonna leave it here for now.

I still gotta figure out the hangouts and potentially the dagger equivalent- but I have ideas for Bad Touch, the glass equivalent, and some extra little things that didn't happen in Siffrin's loops.

I needed to yap about this, because I've been slowly stacking up ideas and writing and I needed to share it at some point- If anyone read all this and has questions and stuff I fully welcome 'em!!

[vitaminseetarot]

Back-to-Back PAC Part 1: What is Ending For You? 🌹🔥🌃

Hey, y'all, I'm back for another pick a card reading in time for the end of 2024. I thought I'd make it a little more interesting by having two back-to-back readings, so stay tuned for tomorrow as part 2 rolls out!

Pick any one of the three images above for your reading:

Pile 1 - Sapphire Rose Pile 2 - Carnelian Flame Pile 3 - Amethyst Sky

Pile 1: Sapphire Rose

10 of Pentacles (Rx), Queen of Cups, III Empress, 10 of Swords; Treasure Island, Desert: Vision Quest; "just cuz they put a square on your head doesn't mean you're not still in school"; "Live a vibrant and colorful life despite the circumstances"

Hey there pile 1! I see that for you 2024 was not the start of chaos and challenge but a mere continuation. I feel a good deal of exhaustion with this pile. But I wanna tell you that since you picked pile 1 before 1/1, there's a message that you are still going on the right path even if you sometimes doubt your intentions. Like strong currents and waves of the ocean, our paths can become torrential and unpredictable, with many ups and downs. I feel you've faced through many obstacles in the course of your life so it's tempting to believe that not much will change in 2025. But I see that what's ending for you is the very expectation of said lack. With the 10 of Pentacles reversed, you're breaking down old narratives that no longer work to support you. This requires retooling your brain to think differently about a situation than before, to approach it from a alternate angle. It may require unlearning and relearning, much like pruning an old branch while watering the new.

I'm getting that with Queen of Cups, it's best to do this through loving reminders. I get that many of you in this pile may be resistant to or overly wary of toxic positivity, and that's understandable. A lot of advice online can scrape at the surface and be unable to fully peer into the depths of unique challenges we have had to endure. But we can be gentle with ourselves and take the time we need as we gradually welcome more optimistic affirmations into our minds and shift focus onto what we want instead of don't want. If it feels unrealistic to say to yourself, "2025 is going to be AMAZEBALLS!", then you can try something more grounded like, "2025 is filled with great opportunities."

The odds are, with the Empress, there likely will be a few great opportunities that come your way, like finding small oases filled with nutritious food blossoming in otherwise torrid and barren looking situations. If you're in the mindset to think of 2025 as being abundant and nourishing, then you will be more primed for those opportunities when they arrive. Being positive about the new year doesn't have to negate justifiable concerns, nor does it erase the troubles of the past. But it does prepare you to make the most of what's to come. Honor your past self and what you and your loved ones have gone through in the past twelve months, give yourself a chance to cleanse and heal by the oasis. Then let yourself stand and receive the blessings that are to come in due time. I'm wishing you much luck and good cheer, pile 1! Happy new year!

Pile 2: Carnelian Flame

Queen of Cups, 0 Fool, 7 of Pentacles, IV Emperor; All That Glitters, Spring Equinox: Rebirth; "Yeh I guess I do stuff but I don't feel like an actual thing yet"; "Everything is energy & energy never dies; it just transforms."

How's it going, pile 2? I chose flames for your pile because even though it's the middle of winter, I felt the invigorating energy of my local spring weather cycle in this pile. Everything from the rain to the warmth to the growth to the heat, in the right order! I sense this pile is very enthusiastic at the idea of having an exciting 2025. I don't wanna say that this could be "your year" so to not jinx it, but I'm inspired by the vibrancy in these cards. You feel more than ready to shed the old unwanted parts of the past and welcome the new you. I'm getting that a sense of imposter syndrome is dwindling away as you become more in tune with your emotions, and this is a growth that has taken place over time. As you give yourself more self love and praise for who you are, the more you're able to integrate the humble parts of you that accept learning and growth along with the parts of you that embrace your innate talents and traits.

With All That Glitters beneath the usually jester-like Fool card, You're learning to distinguish between the fake and the real when it comes to acting that you're accomplished and fulfilled from actually being it. It's a big leap to realize that some happiness is genuine, some confidence is real, and that some assertiveness doesn't hurt but might actually help to demonstrate your ability to lead. This kind of energy, the joy and self-assurance, is all yours. This is like a very soft release of an old ego that clung to the character role of playing small and buffoonish. Pile 2, it's time to give yourself some more credit.

I see 2024 as being a year where you realized some kind of personality change, mainly because you had to. It's like when somebody gets a promotion and suddenly it's like they have to take on a "bigger" role to play and it's like they have to grow their feet to fill into bigger shoes, so to speak. They have to change how they perceive themselves and make it real. You had to take on a larger role than you were ready for and it's created a change in views. So what has to end from that are the old thoughts that try to talk you down. Whatever position you're elevating yourself to, you deserve good things from your change, as flowers bloom from the snow. You've gone through the rite of passage, embrace whatever beauty that you will into your world. You don't need to "fake it" to make it in 2025, pile 2, because You Are It! Wishing you a very bright, happy new year!

Pile 3: Amethyst Sky

XVIII Moon, I Magician, VIII Strength, 10 of Wands; Serendipity, Galaxy: Perspective; "Relax, it's still just the loading screen"; "It takes courage to be honest & authentic. The ones meant for you will stay."

Hello, pile 3. You have a lot of major arcana in your spread, which suggests a major ending that may be happening as this reading is being written. You could be in the midst of a huge transition in your life. I'll admit to chuckling a bit when I saw the loading screen card show up underneath the Moon, as I have often thought of the Moon card as being similar to the uncertainty of an intermission. Like when people rise from the theater for the restroom and concession stand, thinking about how the following act will be. There's a bit of trepidation of finding out what's coming next, especially if this last year has really put you through the wringer. Now would be a good time to freshen up with cheer, relaxation, and good snacks if you feel as though 2025 may be "big" for you in any way.

This reading gives me a strange déjà vu as though I've written this in a dream, so perhaps you may wonder if next year will bring a lot of the same baggage of the previous year. But I see here with Magician that you have a lot of power in your hands to mold your new beginnings into what ever you want it to be, and luck is on your side here. You are a video game player of your life here, not a movie goer observing, and next year can be a chance for you to play around with how you'd rather have things be. See how the loading screen resembles the galaxy in the Perspective card? The loading screen is not there to keep you stuck; this downtime can be used to reassess your path and how you want it to go. So if your life right now is quiet, now is a great time to self reflect on your desires and what you would do if you knew you could do anything (ah great, now I'm thinking about that kid from the meme!).

I see you overall ending the feeling of needing to hold onto baggage from the past. You can feel more comfortable changing course even if it means playing the game differently before and after the loading. You don't have to hold onto an old narrative just because it's what others expect from you. Please take time to rest and recharge in between these major transitions you're going through, and know that the next year does not have to be a repeat of the last. You have the power to change and expand more than you know. Wishing you the best of luck pile 3 and have a happy new year!

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2024, @VitaminseeTarot ™

[just-a-carrot]

I'm not really in the mood to make a festive Happy New Year's post. So instead I'll just say... we made it. I made it. You made it. The year is over and we're still here. And that is enough.

It's no real secret by this point but 2024 has been one of the worst years of my life. From constant anxiety and panic attacks over job stability in the spring, to losing two family members, to the depressive spiral I entered after finishing OW, to the second spiral in the fall just when I thought maybe I was finally doing a bit better and everything came crashing back down, my mental health has been worse than it's ever been. And I've spent a lot more nights than I'd like to admit wishing I wouldn't wake up in the morning. (And downed a lot more sleeping pills than I'd like to admit because it's the only OTC thing I can get to mildly decrease my anxiety and help numb me a bit LOL)

I just want... this year to be over. Even though I have no hope for 2025 either and mostly just feel anxious and hopeless about it. But I will continue trying. Continuing grappling for the bits of joy that can keep me going. And maybe I finally will get a little bit of calm and peace. Who can say. I guess we'll see what 2025 decides to bring. I just really want to feel a bit better finally. And I hope that 2025 might take pity on me and allow me some mental respite.

2024 did have its moments of joy. Despite it sending me into the spiral, I am ofc glad that I finished OW finally this year. I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments. And I still can't believe that I put 3 whole years of work into this thing and just how much of my soul went into it. Even if my depression keeps trying to convince me that it (and me) are worthless.

I feel like I grew a lot in my art over the year. Trying new and more complex things. Getting better at composition and poses. Which led into my starting Broomtail, which gave me really the first renewed spark of creative joy since releasing the finale and actually made me excited to work on something again.

Speaking of joy amidst melancholy, DD2 was released this year, and it became the one thing that could keep me going at times. It brought me so much joy and inspiration when nothing else would. And it still holds my heart captive in its grip. From all the DD2 art I did, to the O2A2 game, to my silly tragic music video, to a very self-indulgent fanfic, it gave me so much creative energy, and I want to do more art for it in 2025 too! (And I'm still waiting for that DLC, Capcom...) I can't think of another game ever that's had this much of a hold on me before. Though I do attribute much of that to the fact that in my head it's mostly an OW AU since I could make Iggy and Genzou and play out their tragic love story and it was so beautiful and Genzou was so so sweet and cute GUH. Yeah... that helped a lot.

I think my main goal for 2025 is just to keep trying. To keep surviving. To keep trying to find hope and joy where I can. To believe that I can feel better and things can be better. Even when it's hard. And that hopefully... hopefully I will be able to find some peace in there finally.

I do have various projects I'd like to work on too. Like finishing the remaster, continuing Broomtail, maybe working on another game later on. But I'd rather just think of those as things I'd like to do for myself and because they bring me joy, rather than as any kind of goal or pressure. Especially since I never want to make any promises given the instability of my mental health.

I'm just so tired always. And I hate feeling scared and worthless all the time. I hate feeling trapped. Even if I know it's my own life choices and debilitating fear of change that has led to a lot of this. So it's my own fault in the end. But I hope I can find some solace. And I hope you can, too. I hope 2025 will be a kind year to everyone. And even if it's not, that we can find some joy and hope to help us through it.

Sorry this felt a bit morose LOL I guess I wanted to just take this opportunity to reflect back on the year a bit for some catharsis. I shall now sleep for 24 hours to recover from my flight hahaha.

if you saw this post a day ago for a few seconds i'm sorry -- i was working on it in my drafts and must have accidentally clicked post instead of save(??) somehow(???) idk but it posted and i panicked and deleted it and then had to rewrite it from scratch LOL

[ofswordsandpens]

Finale Thoughts

The show stuck the ending far better than I thought it would and when compared to the preceding episodes it knocks it out of the park. That being said, I think because the bar was so low going in, that it makes this episode feel spectacular when really every episode should have done this well, at minimum.

Solo Lessons and Ares Battle

I'm so happy they included the one-on-one training sessions with Luke since its so essential to foreshadowing. I also liked the setting in the woods but why was it like autumn/fall in the flashback lol? However, I think that did unintentionally add a dreamlike quality to the scene which I did really like so whatever I'm here for it.

That being said I do wish these scenes were in episode 2/3 alongside the other chb stuff instead of being a flashback in the finale because it makes it just so on the nose that Luke's the traitor. However, the shot panning from Luke's extended sword to Percy's on the beach ate I can't lie.

Honestly it may have been interesting if they had established some of the solo lessons early on in episode 3 and then done periodic flashbacks to expand on them throughout the series. That way, its not so obvious that Luke's the traitor in the final hour and we also get cool transition shots and establishing that Percy is thinking about what he's learned from his lessons with Luke.

#Relieved that the Ares and Percy fight was not a single sword strike and then cut to black. Glad we had some action. Still think we should've pushed the limits much harder tho.

Oh but Percy's wave did go hard. They actually made the wave much bigger than what happened in the book and now I'm just sitting here wondering why we couldn't see some more of this instead of 10,000 cut to black scenes every time Percy uses his powers.

I wish we had gotten this Ares's reaction from the book when he lost: "The roar that followed made Hades’s earthquake look like a minor event. The very sea was blasted back from Ares, leaving a wet circle of sand fifty feet wide." Show Ares's reaction seemed so anticlimactic in comparison.

And no curse???? huh??

I know Ares was like "we're enemies 4 life now" but the curse and dialogue from the book goes so unbelievably hard: “You have made an enemy, godling. You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware.”

Why couldn't show Ares say that??

Olympus, Zeus, & Poseidon

[Insert aw, she's ugly John Mulaney Meme]

sorry Olympus could've should've been prettier.

Like Olympus in the book felt a lot more wondrous and lush and colorful. But in the show it seemed so dull. Idk if its cause the "war's happening" or whatever it was just bland. a wash of dull-looking cgi and then an instant cut to the Big Palace.

Lance Reddick's Zeus was amazing tho. He had that godly presence I've been waiting for.

And Toby Stephens's Poseidon? oh I loved it.

I especially loved their conversation in greek.

I still wish however they would have done effects on the gods' eyes. Like glowing with energy or something when they get emotional. I felt like I was waiting to see electricity burst from Zeus when he was yelling at Percy.

And so it turns out that the reason why they changed it to Percy missing the deadline in the show was to create a situation in which Poseidon surrenders a war for his son.

And listen, if this scene existed in a vacuum I'd be so here for it. I guess a part of me can't fathom the solstice being anything other than a hard deadline. I enjoy the scene without context, within context I have mixed feelings about it.

But the "do you dream?" convo between Percy and Poseidon. Oh my god no notes. I loved it.

Some more book dialogue that I wish made it: “You did well, Perseus. Do not misunderstand me. Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true son of the Sea God.”

Luke's Betrayal

Okay here's where we get some high highs and low lows.

Some things I sincerely liked:

The setting. Fireworks going off in the background. The lantern illuminating the side of Luke's face with the scar. So visually nice.

Luke actively trying to recruit Percy! I've always joked that if Luke was just a little smarter he would have tried to persuade Percy to join his side rather than immediately kill him. And I do like that the show went this direction.

While I do mourn the loss of the scorpion them battling via swords is a great subversion of the sword mentor/mentee dynamic they share. It makes the scene tense and fast pace.

And its all of the above that makes me wonder why we didn't have more of this throughout the show: talking while battling, visually appealing and dynamic settings, unique visuals, etc.

I love how triggered Luke was at Percy's mention of meeting Hermes. I still hate how much Hermes introduction bogged down the show but damn if it didn't lead to one singular funny moment.

Percy getting a hit in on Luke and then immediately apologizing

"I didn't think you'd give the shoes to Grover." Oh that was cold.

Walker and Charlie deserve their flowers and more they were fantastic and carried.

Now things I DIDN'T like:

I don't like how Percy pieced it together with the information he did have... which honestly isn't a lot in the show? If he was going to figure out that Luke was the traitor I would've have had Luke show more of his bitterness like he did in the book. Like the fact the show never even mentioned Luke's failed his quest loses the entire element of Percy succeeding an "impossible" quest and being celebrated while Luke only got a scar and a chip on his shoulder from his failed one.

Luke's scar shoulda been worse idc.

Percy should have been mortally wounded. That's where we run into an issue with there being no scorpion because yeah, a fatal sword injury probably would've been a bit much to depict. I also 10000% think that Luke is enough of a baby to get his daddy issues triggered and then try to off Percy for it even if his original intention was to recruit him.

Also the fact that you see Luke raise his sword for a damning blow and then the very next day you have Percy like "I don't think Luke was trying to kill me." and Chiron agreeing? asdlkfjsdlkf WRONG.

Also, sorry, I don't like that Annabeth was there.

But if you're gonna have Annabeth there, her reaction to Luke betraying her and trying to hurt Percy should've been way more severe than a solemn "I heard everything."

She shoulda been crying, questioning, yelling even if she had suspected him. It's one thing to suspect it, it's another to see the person you consider your family to actually prove it true.

(And this isn't on Leah! It's 100% on the directors cause what was the thought process here? Her brother figure betrays her and she's like :/)

And sure, in the book Annabeth isn't actually all that surprised by Luke's betrayal when Percy tells her about it... but we also never got to see her initial reaction to it. Percy was out for 2 days.

Just, if book Annabeth had been there, she would've been so emotional and that's okay!! let Leah show off her chops!

Sally

I mourn book Sally. I mourn her arc. I mourn the power of Sally unapologetically petrifying Gabe with Medusa's head.

One of the most iconic storylines from the book and it was sanitized in the show to the point that it lost all sense and meaning.

Honestly one of the biggest disappointments of the show for me.

Other

I love the fact that a flower is the searcher's license for satyrs its just so silly and sweet.

I love Annabeth sincerely hugging Percy but also using it for strategizing purposes it feels very on point for her.

Also her braids at the end!! so sweet!

I am very very bitter that Percy didn't see the fates. This + the changes made to Sally's characterization and arc... the show truly doesn't get it.

[lucy90712]

reader x pedri where pedri gets taken care of/sleepy and tired

Today has been a long day my boyfriend Pedri had to leave the house quite early this morning as he had an away game this evening so I had to wake up and say goodbye and wish him good luck. The team played really well and they got a good win which I wish I could've been there to see but I can never really go to away games as I have other things to do at home. The one thing I try and always do is stay up to greet Pedri when he comes home even if it's late I like to see him to either congratulate or console him based on the result. Every time he tells me not to stay up but I know he likes it when I'm there to greet him at the door. 

Tonight's game was a champions league game so the team have a bit of a longer flight but I got a text around 20 minutes ago from Pedri telling me he's on his way home. That means he should be home any minute now at nearly 3am and hopefully we can both go to bed because I'm exhausted so I can't imagine how tired Pedri is. I heard a car pulling into the driveway and our security cameras confirmed that it was Pedri which I knew it would be but I always have to check. It took a few minutes but eventually I heard the front door opening so I got myself up to greet Pedri, as soon as I saw him I could tell he was exhausted and a lot more than usual. His eyes looked really tired and he didn't seem to have any energy left as he dropped his bag on the floor and nearly fell over taking his shoes off. 

"Hey love congratulations you did so well out there" I said 

"Thanks it was good to play again" Pedri said coming over and putting his arms around my waist and his head in the crook of my neck 

"You should've gone to bed it's late and you have work in the morning" Pedri said still attached to me

"You know I like to wait for you to come home plus I can't sleep knowing you are on your way home how about we go to bed now though I can tell you are really tired" I said 

Instead of letting go of me so we could go to bed he only held onto me tighter. Pedri can be clingy sometimes but I've never seen him this clingy usually he just wants my attention for a bit so we will cuddle but right now it seems as though he won't survive if he's isn't attached to me. I know it's because he's tried and in the morning since he's had some sleep he won't be this clingy but I kind of love it. We don't often get much time together sometimes so it's moments like this that I love to just soak up but we can't stand here all night because Pedri's right I do have work in the morning and he clearly needs sleep too. 

I felt awful trying to escape his arms but I knew he understood because he didn't put up a fight instead he just grabbed my hand and we walked upstairs together. I got ready for bed hours ago but Pedri still needed to brush his teeth and get changed so I left him to do that while I sorted his stuff out for him. Usually when he gets home after an away game he leaves his bag by the door and deals with it in the morning but tonight I decided I'd just do it for him. All I had to do was put some things in the wash and put away everything else which didn't take me too long. While putting things away I noticed that Pedri had one of the matching bracelets we got when we first started dating from a tourist shop as a joke. Of course I still have mine too but I didn't realise that he took his with him to games and that just melted my heart as he's secretly such a sentimental person and no one else gets to really see that side of him. 

By the time I had sorted everything out and went back to the bedroom Pedri was already in bed but he had sorted out the pillows on my side of the bed and had the covers prepared for me to just get in. I crawled in and straight away Pedri put his arms around my waist and cuddled into my side moving around until he was comfortable. Most nights he likes me to sleep nearly on top of him but sometimes he's a bit more cuddly like tonight and I love that. Pedri is always taking care of me just in general but especially when I've had a long day and I'm tired so getting to do the same for him feels really good and I feel like I'm finally getting to give back a fraction of what he does for me. 

As much as he’s tired he won’t go to sleep until he knows I’m settled and ok so to get him to go to sleep I started running my hands through his hair. He loves when I play with his hair and scratch his scalp it nearly always sends him to sleep. As soon as my hands touched his hair he tucked his head further into my neck and I could hear his breathing slow down as he finally let himself relax. Pedri was right on the verge of falling asleep but I still felt him gently kiss my neck as he realised he hadn’t kissed me goodnight which he does every night. 

“Goodnight love you” Pedri whispered 

“Love you too now get some sleep” I whispered back kissing his head 

Within minutes he was lightly snoring but I stayed up for a bit longer making sure he was sleep before I too went to sleep to get a few hours sleep before I have to get up for work. 

[variousqueerthings]

smthinsmthin this not long after the whole "oh noooooo i simply cannot be in relationships because uh.. the Work! it is bad for relationships for Reasons. danger Reasons. this is very well-reasoned (ofc it is, Joan is nothing if not reasonable at all times), but also it lets me off the hook for more romantic relationships. oh drat. I guess."

and me linking the growing wardrobe switch from "I am a professional but very attractive, conventional (promise), yet highly tasteful dresser who thinks very much about how I come off to others as a woman in this kind of field who doesn't want to close off my Prospects, because I know it seems flighty (as she says to Andrew's father), but I swear I'm a well put-together person! look how beautifully this dress drapes!" to "actually I wear ties a lot now. I like ties. I like shirts. (when she gets braver she's in all-suit outfits)." (also if I were more observant/had energy I'd make a spreadsheet of all the clothes she wears to see signs of these more "considered masculine" forms of dress as early as s1, because I think they were there... but alas, not this time)

it's such a subtle gender shift in her from performing some kind of Womanhood that balances out the "oddness" of her life, with embracing what this life means for her as an individual who doesn't have to perform the role of traditional Womanhood at the same time (similar to how she wants a child, but doesn't feel the need to have a partner to do so -- s1 Joan would never have been able to do that), and I was wondering how soon after Andrew's death we'd start seeing wardrobe shifting clues... turns out within the very same season

interesting

like she is going from Woman (performative/uncomfortable in her skin/unsure how to balance the paradoxes within herself/wishing to please her mother/trying to be what a woman Should Be) to woman (tailored suits)

and from what I remember this shift simply happens gradually, it's never commented on how dramatically and eventually permanently (if I remember correctly) her wardrobe changes. it's such a Choice and I don't know if it was meant to link to this "embracing the person she actually is (a detective aromantic)" but it certainly does in the timeline...

[maddie-dog-story-blog]

Sarah's Playground - 1

As I looked around the park near my apartment, I couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful the weather was. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze keeping it warm, but not to hot. It was perfect tank top and skirt weather, and I was taking full advantage of that.

My name is Sarah Jenkins. I'm 22 years old, blonde, and, if you don't mind me saying so myself, beautiful. I love this type of weather, because it really lets me show off the curves that I've worked hard for. Okay, so maybe not that hard, but I still like showing them off.

You see, about six months ago I was at a garage sale and came across this beautiful ruby necklace for sale. The old woman running the sale sold it to me for a steal, but gave some cryptic advise of 'being careful what you wish for,' and some other bullshit nonsense.

That night, I wore the necklace out for drinks with my girlfriends. At one point, I said something like, "I wish we had some more drinks," and, like magic, some dude immediately bought our table a round.

Now, I have been into the ABDL scene for a bit and understood pretty quickly what was going on based on all of the smutty diaper-fetish fiction I'd read. The old lady at the garage sale was clearly a witch and sold me a magic amulet that granted all of my wishes. Score.

I also realized pretty early on that I would have to been careful as I altered the world, because, I know based on those same stories, magic like this can have a downside if you aren't careful with it. So, for the last six months, I've been incredibly careful. That said, I've also changed a lot of things.

One of the first things I changed was my body. I was never bad looking, but, I had a dream. You see, I have always wanted to be the perfect, most beautiful ABDL Mommy possible. So, I made myself into my dream Mommy. I'm 6'6" tall. My double-D breasts are firm and, more often than not, full of breast milk, ready to feed any hungry adult baby.

I am also fit. I gave myself a large, feminine ass, but the whole thing is made of muscle. I can lift most other adults and easily carry them like small children. My arms are ripped, and I have large hands perfect for spanking disobedient littles.

I've also changed the world to better suit my fantasies. Currently, based on my wishes, when people turn 18, 25 percent of people are randomly forced to regress to adult babies by society. Those people are forced to act like giant toddlers for the rest of their lives. Other people can adopt and care for that portion of the population, doing to them whatever they want, within reason.

Looking out across the park on this beautiful day, I am pretty happy with how things turned out. Beyond the normal sights of parents and their children playing at the playground, young men and women out on runs or sun bathing, and elderly couples out for a stroll, the park is filled with adults of all shapes and sizes acting like the giant babies I've turned them into.

I stopped and watched as one particulary cute young woman wearing nothing but a yellow onesie and gigantic diaper squats down, balls up her fists, and pushes a huge mess into her pants. I watched as she blushed, her adult mind aware of how humiliating it was to shit her pants, but unable to stop herself out of fear of being punished for violating the rules of society I created.

Being the bad witch in charge feels so good!

I continued my stroll through the park, enjoying watching two 30-year-old men in nothing but diapers crawl in a sandbox as there caregivers looked on like disinterested parents letting their kids get energy out at the park.

As I continued, I saw an 18-year-old woman beant over an older man's lap, her bare ass in the air and a pull-up bunched around her ankles.

"Naughty girl! You are an adult baby now, not an adult! You do not take your pull-up off! I'm going to have to demote you to diapers for this!" The man said as he ruthlessly spanked the young woman, who was clearly struggling with her new lot in life.

It's music to my Mommy Domme ears.

Speaking of ears, what was that noise? I reached into my purse and found my cellphone alarm going off. Was it time to go home already? My tits ached. It must be feeding time for my own little ball of joy.

To bad I can't bring her out here. For my own amusement, I've left my own adult baby completely aware of how the world was prior to my intervention. When I take her out in public, she tends to make a scene. Oh well! Time to get back to Mommy duty!

I started walking down the quickest path home, the ruby necklace dangling in my ample cleavage glittering in the sunlight.

NEXT CHAPTER

[french-unknown]

Hello!! I hope you are having the loveliest week and happy new year! I'd love to see the sleepy!strawhat pirates :) thank u!

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘'𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐘

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄��𝐒: luffy, zoro, nami, usopp, sanji, robin 𝐂/𝐖: fluff 𝐀/𝐍: Hello! I also wish you the loveliest week and happy new year! Have a wonderful year 2024 with the best of health! (-‿◦ ) 𝐖/𝐂: 730+

| m a s t e r l i s t |  |

𝐋𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐘

✧ With Luffy, there are two atmospheres.

✧ The first is after grueling fights or if he is poisoned, he is the type to drop like a fly without going through the "sleepy" phase. One moment he is fully conscious, and the next he is so asleep that even a cataclysm will not wake him.

✧ He can also fall asleep at the worst times!

✧ Otherwise, he continues to jump around screaming for meat or his teammates until he no longer has a single atom of energy in his body.

✧ When he is in between awake and asleep, he will become quite childish.

✧ A pro at staying awake as long as possible while moaning "I don't want to sleep" when everyone sees 100 kilometers away that he can no longer keep his eyes open.

✧ When he falls asleep, it will FINALLY be silence.

𝐙𝐎𝐑𝐎

✧ He is used to naps so the habits are there.

✧ You know he is tired when you see him wandering around to find his little corner of the sun where he can do his sleeping beauty with, obviously, always a place to religiously put his swords within reach.

✧ He is a routine man so the corners are always the same on the boat.

✧ He also becomes a lot grumpier. Sanji has no interest in dragging him around.

✧ If you ask him something at that moment, he huffs but he does it. He still drags his feet like a teenager and you don't need a doctorate in archeology to understand that it annoys him. But he likes you so he will still do what you want.

✧ He will fall asleep as soon as he is in place. It's almost automatic.

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈

✧ Sleepy Nami is more irritable than usual.

✧ As soon as she gets a chance to go into bed, she will grab it like it's a mountain of berries.

✧ She has trouble falling asleep because of the annoyance.

✧ She may be tired as hell, but she won't be able to relax enough to fall asleep quickly.

✧ At some point, she will be too cold so she covers herself in blankets. Then she will be too hot so she takes off the covers. But she will have discomfort in her back so she changes positions. Except that the music that Franky and Brook have been singing all day will be stuck in her head.

✧ There's no point in speaking to her in these cases otherwise, it's guaranteed death!

✧ She also tends to steal every blanket imaginable in order to make the most comfortable bed possible.

𝐔𝐒𝐎𝐏𝐏

✧ A tired Usopp is much slower than usual. He walks slower, talks slower and thinks slower.

✧ He also complains a lot more.

✧ Expect dramatic “But I want to sleeeeeeeeeep!” as if he was going to die or solemn "Chopper, I don't think I could go any further. Go without me, I will only slow you down" under the panicked cries of the reindeer.

✧ The most significant signal is when he starts jumping at everything and nothing.

✧ At the slightest noise, he jumps several centimeters as if he had just been awakened from micronaps, standing with his eyes open.

✧ He also rubs his eyes more.

𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐉𝐈

✧ To say it gets clingy is an understatement.

✧ Until he finally falls asleep at midnight, he will be stuck to you like a mussel to a rock.

✧ He's constantly hugging you from behind or putting his arm around your shoulders. His arms will look more like chains than human limbs after a while.

✧ He pouts if you move away.

✧ Will beg you to go to bed early with him for cuddles.

✧ The rest is up to you.

✧ If he's having trouble sleeping, running your hand through his hair will work wonders. Really. He would kill for the slightest sign of affection when he is half asleep.

𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍

✧ A sleepy Robin doesn't change much compared to usual.

✧ The only signal is that she is slightly more distracted.

✧ If you ask her a question, it will take a few seconds before she looks away from the blank space and turns her confused eyes to you so that you repeat what you said.

✧ She's not really trying to fight sleep.

✧ As soon as she mysteriously disappears without warning from your side, you know where to find her. She will already be comfortably asleep in her bed without waiting for you to arrive.

✧ Pretty sleeper by excellence, by the way.

Wow, you find my 4th Easter Egg! take this ψ lemon meringue pie ψ, it's my favorite pastry

𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @iheartamora @bontensh0e @opchara @idsmash717 @lys-ada @viscade @parkyrr @yasmiinberkaa @dozcan123 @anotherproblemsos @cellgore @sketchmilk @kai-wifey @clovernumber3 @radiorowrites

[toskarin]

How do you feel about elden ring/SOTEs music?

vanilla had its moments but it was just okay at first blush. honestly one of the weaker modern fromsoft soundtracks, which was probably a big exaggerated in my case just because Radahn's theme didn't really hit for me

that being said, SotE's music was good enough that it changes my assessment of the vanilla soundtrack, too. it hit all the notes I'd hope for, and because it had so many good callbacks, it made the vanilla soundtrack more memorable to me overall

Elden Ring suffered a lot from having a much more grounded soundtrack for the most part, which is a trait it shares with Armored Core 6 (sorry), but SotE's willingness to go over the top and dip into more distinctive sounds while also weaving in more motif connections felt like it solved my criticisms pretty concisely

now, with SotE, I feel pretty confident saying it has an excellent soundtrack overall

my biggest remaining complaint is that I wish vanilla had that energy from the start, because then I could have confidently said it was my favourite soundtrack of that year

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Remember that scene where Heinkel implores Alphonse to use the Philosopher’s Stone against Pride, arguing the souls within it would want him to fight?

That should’ve been Scar and his mentor. Those are Ishvalan lives, and while Heinkel at least wasn’t involved in the genocide and has also been dehumanized and experimented on by the system, he’s still a white man and a former soldier, imploring a white boy to use these resources to save Amestris.

Idk I think it’d be soooo much more compelling if Scar’s mentor went from being skeptical of his violence to recognizing the need. To see him remind Scar that he’s ultimately committing an alchemical taboo anyway for the sake of his fellow Ishvalans. Something about Ishvalan souls reclaiming actual agency via the mentor being a fellow Ishvalan himself, acknowledging they would likely want Scar to use them.

And not to protect Amestris, but to protect the Ishvalan refugees within the circle. That isn’t talked about enough, if at all; Scar says he’ll save this country so he can change it (so he can save his people) but what about the fact that we’ve already seen two communities within the border of the circle?

What about him doing this to prevent the remaining Ishvalans from being sacrificed into a Philosopher’s Stone, and how the lives of a prior stone would feel the same way? What about Scar recognizing that the Promised Day transmutation circle was what his people were slaughtered for, and so he won’t let anymore die in direct fulfillment of it?

And then when Scar is mortally stabbed by Wrath, whose mindless violence is contrasted with Scar’s meaningful, justified violence, he actually gets to use the stone to save his own life and live and heal. Because these Ishvalans would give up their lives to save their kinsmen. That’s exactly what Scar is doing. It would give them peace to reclaim their objectification as energy that is instead used to prevent further harm to their community. All while giving their souls peace by freeing them.

At least it’s not a white doctor who created this specific stone from their lives speaking on their behalf to a war criminal who’s killed more Ishvalans than anyone else, saying that Mustang needs to heal his eyes and ultimately use these souls for the good of the remaining Ishvalans so if you think about it this is what these Ishvalan souls would REALLY want. Because there’s no way Mustang could possibly give reparations to the Ishvalan community as a blind man who is still wealthy and with connections to the new Fuhrer (reminder that state alchemist payrolls are huge and there’s multiple jokes about this too).

Man I wish instead of Father talking hot shit about how life is unfair in a neutered take on Dante’s Equivalent Exchange is Bullshit speech, with Ed rebuking him, Father did the opposite; Contrasting Dante’s speech by suggesting this ‘injustice’ of Roy losing his sight IS the rightful toll for his genocide. Maybe even insinuating that Hughes’ murder was also justice, too, ever think about that human? Both villains in either version of the story having different takes on whether equivalent exchange is real, yet ultimately using it to deliver the same brutal wake-up call to our MC.

If this had been what Brotherhood served instead of the hot garbage that is its actual canon I'd have been over the moon. (Would still dislike a lot of other things, but at least I'd be able to say I enjoyed it enough to not want to launch it into the sun.) Seriously, I love this take on the last chunk of mangahood.

We were absolutely robbed of any opportunity for a dialogue between Scar, his Master, living Ishvalans, and the souls that comprise that particular stone. How that could have eventually led his Master to rigorously challenge both Scar's and his own clashing spiritual, culture-honouring, and political philosophies. Perhaps have some other monks of Ishvala (is there a specific way to refer to practitioners of the Ishvalan faith?) bring up their own shift in perspectives, some agreeing with the methods of rebel fighters and Scar's tactics. And contrast these opinions with those who are resistant to adapting their beliefs and goals (because of course some will not budge). The dissonance between passivity feigning as tradition, leaving Ishvalans at the mercy of Amestris and other powerful nations for the foreseeable future; versus an active stance of principled violence and land reclamation, that seeks to give Ishvalans a fighting chance against full annihilation/unending displacement/amalgamation. Coming to a head with the Master imploring Scar to use it as needed, in a form of restitution and ceremony that finally grants the dead to peace.

And man, how that would enhance Scar's battle against Bradley. (What you wrote about how this could change that showdown, and what that would mean for the transmuted Ishvalans, Scar, and his people-!!!! 🥹) That he has to allow his own people to heal him, while reminded that Ishvalans are actually in his corner. That he isn't doing this for Amestris, that countering Father's nation-wide circle is to protect surviving Ishvalans. Having the knowledge that if he is forgiven and cared for by his own people, then salvation need not come from prostrating himself to Amestris whatsoever.

All of this would of course require Scar to have never fully reneged on his own actions against the State, even after being cornered into agreeing to aid the military insurrectionists. Some part of him cannot swallow their chauvinistic idealism that still centers the protection of the existing imperial nation. Slowly returning to a rejection of this rickety compliance with the military writ large. And you wouldn't necessarily have to retcon the fuck-awful Briggs recuperation of Scar either. It just can't go from the canon bs "Woah yeah, being an Ishvalan ~changing minds~ in the military is so based, unlike me, who is shitbad," to a sudden "We need violence to upend Amestrian domination of our people". Some part of him, even with his coerced comradery, would have to be internally rejecting that premise, and increasingly so. Without that, the change wouldn't scan imo.

Scar and his Master actually tearing into the meat of Scar's and his brother's blasphemy; what Scar has seen in his path of vengeance, as well as what he's seen/overheads regarding the attitudes of the military members who wish to overthrow Bradley, with their obvious bid for self-serving power rather than seeing Ishvalans and other occupied peoples as anything more than bartering chips; the will of the transmuted Ishvalans pushing through the stone just enough to rally their wishes for liberation of their living kinsmen; Scar and his Master having to reevaluate some of their long held beliefs and their distaste for all forms of alchemy. Hell, getting to see Scar admit to his Master what his brother had been studying and what he discovered in the process when he was recruiting Ishvalan refugees for the coup effort would have been a huge character moment for them both!

We could have had it all.

Rip to what could have been, but bless those few fans with taste and the wide range of changes/ideas you all have shared so far! You guys make talking about mangahood far more enjoyable than it has any right to be.

With the Ishvalan stone, I wouldn't be surprised if Scar would have to reclaim it out of Amestrian possession secretly. Maybe, without yet fully tapping into the unheard voices of their souls, he could feel them resonate and rejoice being in Ishvalan hands. The weeping of the damned who cannot bare to be used by Amestris for one second longer stirring his (re)growing suspicion and anger against the people who forced him to ally with their cause at the cost of his degradation and threat of imprisonment (and let's be real here, the threat of execution by the State was guaranteed if he rebuked Miles and therefore got arrested). He could feel their storm of memories and regrets, their hopes and their sorrows. If the stone could have called for action against the homunculi, they would just as much call for action against the human monsters as well.

But no, instead of all of that we focused on the will and humanity of the Xerxian philosopher's stone exclusively.

(Super love the military getting to exploit Scar's deep-seated self-hatred and suicidality for their own gain. Cool moment all around. Awesome. Really good stuff there. Very reformed. Checkmate, Scar.)

Everything you mentioned re: Father, his neutered approximation of Dante's speech, and what you would have preferred his perspective to be is 💯💯💯. ESPECIALLY with how he would mock Roy for having his eyesight taken in order to fulfill his own plans for yet another nation-wide sacrifice. It would serve as a biting counterargument to the nonsense excuse that Roy and friends "had no choice in joining the military and killing Ishvalans". His choices led him to desecrate so many lives for himself, to transmute as much of a (smaller) country as possible for their own goals (thus having already served Father). How would this be any different then? Mustang can argue with Truth and Father that he was forced to perform human transmutation, but why did that ever excuse anything in the past? Did clinging to the nation "betraying" Mustang's naivete ever spare any suffering for anyone? He has part of himself nonconsentually sacrificed now because of his continued pigheadedness, suffering only a fraction of what he's done. And Roy thinks he's going to make reparations for so thoroughly incinerating Ishval by vying for the Fuhrership? The very system Father and scores of humans built? This is the toll for everything foolish people like Roy have done. It's not random or unfair insofar that equivalency can merely be another way of describing consequences. Survivors might interpret Mustang's maiming as justice, so why should he resist that when he still wants to hold the power that decided their fates to begin with?

Father could have been a more cold, conniving fucker who grinds Mustang's remaining fortitude into dust. From there Roy would either have to have the greatest reckoning of his life as the eclipse fast approaches and understand that reforming what Father and his legions have created is not worth it after all, or be a husk who falls crumbles under his desperate need for a seat of power that would never be his anyway. Buuuuuuuut that would ruin the big fun shonen fuck yeah humans rock we're all best pals slapping faux-god wowowowow action scenes and alchemic-jojo punching and our protags were always right and just and super cool finale that 99% of the fanbase has been fellating since 2010. So. 💩

Total aside, but the design for Father's humanoid homunculus form (when he sheds Hohenheim's appearance for the eclipse) sucks so much ass lmao

[ash-asteroid]

Winx "Flower Princess" gowns redesign kinda.

I say kinda because I struggle with dresses. And it's more practice for me. Man, I can't believe I was a winx kid that draws and can't design dresses. Probably a by-product of my "I'm not like other girl phases." Anyway gonna ramble about the designs a little.

I did the flower princess ones first because they are my least favorite gowns of the series. I think it's mainly the flowers, so I tone them down, having them being more like accents. Also forgot to design earings for most of them smh.

Bloom I had a lot of trouble. These dresses were used while they were "politicing," so I originally wanted to make Bloom look like her dress was from Domino. But I didn't like how it turned out, probably because Marion was my only reference for a dress (unless there's some background fairy in a dress from Domino. I'm too lazy to check.) So I went back to the general princess vibe instead for all of them. But if I were to redesign them again, I'd love to mix their homeworld's fashion with the typical fairytale princess look.

I have nothing really to say for Flora or Stella. But I wanted to change Flora's hair because I thought it was too casual. Wish I did something other then a bun looking back.

Skipping to Tecna for a second. I did base her dress off those "furtistic" dresses, which is just minimalism, really. And had to change Tecna's purple because if you grey scale the purple and green in the original design, it's pretty much to the same. I do like the color I chose, especially for the contrast, but I feel like it's a little too dark and messes with the vibe a little. Also gave her pants under her dress. I was just about to go on a tangent, but I'll just add it to the end.

Finally, for Musa and Aisha. Idk I felt like their hair didn't fit the vibe. I love them, but they didn't really go with the regal look, and more look like prom hairstyles. For Musa's dress, I wanted the front to be open and have her wear shorts. It just felt like a hint of masculine in a pretty feminine design. Aisha's dress really made me realize I need to look at more dresses because I was struggling with ideas. The rnd result is fine, but man, I need to work on more on gowns.

Anyway, heres me rambling about masculine Tecna. It has no real clear thought or direction and only losely ties to the redesign but whatever.

Hi to nobody, probably. If you are here you should tell me 👉👈. Anyway, I see Tecna and Musa as the most masculine. Musa is the most outloud about it, while you might not even notice how masculine Tecna is. Up until season 6, really. Tecna, for the most part, wore shorts or pants. Dress was saved for the gowns. Her skirts were usually pretty short, and something about them had masculine vibes. I can't quite explain it, but there is pretty simple I can almost think a few are shorts. Personally, I headcanon that Tecna doesn't care for dresses at all. Maybe if she has to, but that's it (maybe I'm projecting, idk. Granted irl, I'm not comfortable with dresses or skirts at all. So partial projecting.)

Basically, I think Tecna should wear suits instead of gowns. And Musa should wear something in between for that non binary energy.) But imagine a gender confused Musa going to her roomie Tecna for advice because Tecna is way more comfortable with leaning a lot more masculine.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[scoopsahoy]

ok I've seen arguably too many "Steve takes your virginity" fics but not enough "you take Steve's virginity". maybe you could do it where the reader has seen him and a girl go into a bedroom at parties and stuff but he reveals that they don't do anything besides make out and/or talk because he didn't feel truly connected to anyone, but he does with the reader, and you're his first. doesn't have to be exactly that but I'd love to see smth like this. (also set before he and Nancy get together!)

ぺ  word count ⋰ 2.1k

✰  tw ⋰ none :)

❍  cw ⋰ swearing, dirty talk, fingering, descriptive sex, top!reader

✐  masterlist

⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★

What started out as getting paired up as lab partners with Steve Harrington in chemistry class turned into eating lunch together a handful of times, then sitting together at assemblies. But you'd never hung out away from school, which is why it sort of caught you by surprise when he asked you out after class one day.

Obviously you agreed.

Now, you were in his passenger seat looking up at what stars you could see, rain clouds blocking a good amount of them.

You'd been making good conversation the whole time, but after a brief moment of comfortable silence, he decided to change the subject.

"I heard about you and Joey. Sucks."

You nodded. "Yeah. That was weeks ago, though."

"How long were you guys together?"

"Eight months. It's fine. I kinda got the feeling that he wasn't looking for anything long term. Asshat didn't even dump me in person. He called me at like midnight one night to do it. I thought he might've been drunk but nope. He was completely sober."

"What'd he say?"

"Apparently he'd been eyeing a girl in his gym class. He came close to sleeping with her that night before he called."

"Damn."

"Yeah. On one hand, I'm glad he didn't cheat on me, you know?" Steve nodded. "But on the other hand, I almost wish he didn't tell me why he was ending it. Maybe that's just me, though."

"No, it's not just you."

You smirked at him. "Thanks." You looked at each other for a moment. "So... Betty Thompson, huh?"

"What about her?"

"What do you mean, 'what about her'? I saw you guys the other night at Jackson's party."

"What did you see, exactly?"

"I saw her pull you into one of the bedrooms and shut the door."

"Oh, yeah."

"She's really nice. Good for you."

"Yeah. We didn't... do anything, though."

Your brows dipped in confusion. "What? Nothing?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He shrugged. "I wasn't really feeling it. She's sweet and everything. We just didn't... click. Sexually."

"Mm. So what girls have you clicked with? Sexually." You threw in that last part sarcastically.

He shook his head. "None of 'em."

At this point you felt like he was messing with you.

"Not a single one?"

"I mean, we've gotten along in every other way, and I've kissed a few of them and done some other stuff. It just never moved past that."

"What about the first one?" He was silent, staring at the stars. That was when you understood. "Steve... You haven't-"

"No. I haven't. I've only ever felt that click with one person, but I don't know if it'll ever lead to anything."

"Who is it?" He looked at you, still not saying anything. "What?" He still didn't speak. "Is it me?"

He hesitated to nod. "I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. I don't mean for it to."

"It doesn't." He raised his eyebrows. "Not at all."

"Good."

"What is it about me?"

"You're just... more genuine than most of them. With a lot of them it felt like they were only nice because they thought it would lead to sex, not because they were actually nice, you know?" You nodded. "But with you, you're just a really kind person. To everyone."

"Oh."

The energy in the car had shifted, and it started to feel like the space was getting smaller. You reached over and grabbed his hand, which was warm.

"Y/N..."

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?"

You felt your chest tighten a bit. This wouldn't be your first kiss, but it was the first time you'd been asked for permission to kiss you.

You nodded, and you inched your faces closer to each other. His lips were soft and gentle on yours, and he was almost hesitant.

You reached up and cupped the side of his face, pulling him closer, and his nervousness lifted away and he leaned in to kiss you more firmly.

You pulled away after a moment, your faces inches apart.

"Wanna move to the backseat?" you asked, slightly out of breath.

He nodded immediately, and you crawled over the middle console and rather ungracefully landed in the backseat.

When he joined you, you positioned your bodies so that he was sitting in the middle with you on top of him. Your knees landed on either side of his hips and you sat on his thighs.

You craned your head down to kiss him, but you could feel anxiety radiating off of him, so you stopped after a moment.

"Are you okay?" you asked, pulling back enough to look at him.

"Are you seriously asking me that right now?"

"You seem nervous."

"I am. But I'm excited."

You smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I just... I don't know what I'm doing."

"It's okay. We'll start here." You grabbed his hands and pulled them up to your waist. "How's that?"

"Good."

"How about this?" You pulled his hands up to your breasts, and his breath staggered. "Better?" He nodded. You reached down and grabbed the bottom of your shirt, slowly dragging it up and over your head, exposing your top half and leaving only your bra to cover it.

But that came off just as quickly, your entire upper half bare and unprotected.

His eyes were wide as moons, and you led his hands back up to them. "Okay?" you asked.

"Way better than okay."

You laughed quietly at that. One of his hands trailed to your back and pulled you closer to him, allowing him to plant kisses across your chest. Your hands landed on his shoulders as he left soft, wet spots on your skin.

After a moment, you reached down and pulled his shirt over his head, studying his body. It was littered with moles and freckles and his skin was smooth.

You bent down to press your lips to the right side of his neck and shoulder, making him sigh with satisfaction. His hands slipped down and landed on your thighs, the pads of your fingers pressing into your skin.

Your fingers began unbuttoning his jeans and he lifted his hips, pulling them down his thighs and leaving them pooled at his ankles. You could see a tent in his boxers that had been restricted by his jeans, and it made you bite your lip.

You awkwardly maneuvered to pull your shorts and underwear off, leaving you completely nude in his lap. He looked down and his lips separated, which made your chest go red.

"Steve," you said, getting his attention. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm good."

He pulled you back in for a kiss and you jumped when you felt two fingers on your clit. You softly gasped into his mouth and he smirked.

"I thought this was your first time."

"I never said I didn't do this part."

One of your hands gripped the seat behind him and the other squeezed his shoulder. His fingers were making almost unbearably slow circles, but when you ground into his hand, he sped up.

"Shit, Steve," you moaned into his mouth as your hands moved back to cupping his face.

One thing you'd come to notice since you became sexually active was how little time you lasted with stimulation to your clit. Granted, it was a lot quicker when it was a tongue than with fingers, but it was never more than a minute. You were just hoping it wouldn't be a turnoff for him.

With your hips slowly yet uncontrollably grinding into his hand combined with how quickly his fingers moved, you knew this orgasm would come ridiculously quick.

You couldn't resist breaking the kiss, both of your hands gripping his shoulders tightly as you pressed your foreheads together.

"Steve, I'm so close. I'm gonna cum."

He kept going, looking at you as your eyebrows dipped down so far that it made your skin wrinkle.

As quickly as that coil in your belly formed, it broke. You gasped deeply, your legs trembling as your entire body convulsed. You involuntarily thrust your hips back and forth as you came, making the car rock with you.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," you moaned in a high pitched and desperate voice, your nails pressing into his skin.

He kept you cumming until you had to move his hand away, letting your orgasm fade out.

Your breath was shaky, your thighs twitching. His hand landed on your hip, his thumb gently stroking your skin.

"Sorry," you whispered breathlessly.

"Sorry? For what?"

"That was quick. I hope that didn't, like, kill the mood or anything."

"Are you kidding? That was hot."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

You kissed him with a smile, a moment later whispering into his ear, "Take your boxers off."

Without hesitation, he lifted his hips again and pulled his underwear off, his boner springing free.

You raised your eyebrows as the sight. He was a bit bigger than what you preferred, but you couldn't stop from biting your lip at seeing it. You reached down and wrapped your fingers around his girth, slowly stroking.

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, throwing his head back and resting it on the top of the seat. You covered his neck and throat in wet kisses and he softly moaned at the combined sensations.

"Do you have a condom?" you whispered, pulling your hand away.

"Yeah, in my wallet." You reached into the cupholder behind you and grabbed his wallet, pulling out the plastic-wrapped condom and tearing it open with your teeth.

"You're sure about this?" you asked.

"Oh, yeah."

You nodded and reached down, rolling the condom over his erection.

"Ready?"

"Mhm. Ready."

You positioned him at your entrance and slowly sunk down onto him, making both of you whimper.

"Is that okay?" he asked.

"Oh, god, Steve. So good."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm." The pitch of your voice was a bit higher than you intended for it to be, but it was a huge turn on for him to hear you whine.

His eyes remained glued to your face as you slowly bounced, unintentionally moaning when you took all of him.

You kept this slow pace for a moment, trying to adjust to his size. But when you did finally get used to it was when the car began to rock. You squeezed his shoulders and reconnected your lips, soft moans tumbling from your lips and past his.

That was when raindrops started hitting his car, which neither of you noticed. The sounds of skin against skin, panting, and the creaking of the car masked any outside noises that could've possibly intruded. Your eyes were shut, your head thrown back.

"Shit," you whimpered as he left sloppy kisses all over your neck and chest.

"Is it still okay?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"More than okay. So good."

"Y/N?" This time, he sounded embarrassed.

"Yeah?" You looked down to make eye contact, but you didn't stop your movements.

"I think... since it's my first time-"

"Are you close?" All he could do was nod. "That's okay. Cum whenever you want to."

Your encouraging words were more than arousing, and you began kissing his neck again. You could tell with how tightly his fingertips were pressing into your hips that he was close, even before he said anything.

Your lips against his skin drove him crazy, and when he began slightly bucking his hips up into you, you knew he was right there on the edge.

"Cum for me, Steve."

And within seconds, he was melting into the seat, pulling your body into his, and thrusting hard into you. His moans were like music to your ears and you could tell he was in heaven.

When you eventually stilled your movements, he didn't move. He stayed completely still aside from his heavy breathing, his head leaned back.

You cupped his face, angling his head up so he could look at you. You kissed him gently, which made him grin.

When you pulled away, you combed his hair out of his face with your fingers.

"Okay?" you asked.

He nodded quickly. "Oh yeah."

You looked out the window at the rain, smiling to yourself.

"I wonder when that started."

You turned back to him, and he tucked your hair behind your ear.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"For what?"

"Not judging me."

"What would I judge you for?"

"It was my first time, and I didn't last long."

"No guy lasts long their first time."

"Even Joey?"

"Please. It took him not even five seconds to finish the first time. This was much better."

That made him smile. "I'm glad. Next time it'll be longer, I promise."

You tilted your head a bit. "Next time, huh?"

"I mean, if you want to."

You kissed him. "Of course, I do."

He nodded. "Sweet."

[judesmoonbeauty]

New Year Blog Goals

Hey, hey!

In short, this is a thanks to you all for your support this year, JMB blog overhaul updates, and blog goals for 2025!

And in case you all don't read it (and that's cool): I wish you all heaps of happiness and warmth for the upcoming year!

So, I just wanted to take the time to sit down and thank you all so much for your support of my blog this past year!!

It was a bit crazy with my blog being reported and having a handful of my translations deleted by Tumblr (still traumatized by that), to personal irl things that happened with the weather and such. Anyways......

I started this blog just over a year ago solely to lurk for IkePri and IkeVil JP spoilers, but because I am impatient beyond words I decided to start playing JP servers myself.

One thing snowballed into another, and then I started translating and writing fanfics (which I thought I'd NEVER do)....and here we are.

Looking back to my very first translation (IkePri's New Year Event for 2024), I shudder....a lot. And then there is my first ever IkeVil translation (Ellis' Past Records), and I shudder even more......they are nightmares of a translation.

Still, looking back to then and comparing them to what I can accomplish now, I think I've come a long way and I hope to continue to progress.

And you all are to thank for that!

Truly, if it weren't for your feedback, kind words of support, your totally going feral with me, and so on, then I don't think I would've kept going!

Now then, this past January I had the most feeble and basic blog goal: Learn how to create master lists. LMAO.

Tumblr was so confusing to me when I first started, and it's still a pain in the ass to deal with tbh, but I think I can safely say that I accomplished that goal. I feel like I make master lists left and right now....

What's Next For JMB Blog?

Well, I am going to be making some changes to JMB overall:

Going forward, JMB will solely be my Ikevil translations blog. All creative content (dissections, fics, drabbles, OC content, IkeVil recipes, etc), will be moved to my other blog @.adreaminthesea.

Master lists will be reorganized so you can locate translations more easily.

IkePri translations: I've been wanting to return to this, but I feel like this will not happen in the future. Hence, past translations and summaries will be discarded now they've released on EN.

Finish Jude's Main Story prior to his release. I actually have a goal to finish this much sooner than late next year (but I'll keep that date to myself.)

Translate for more IkeVil suitors. Currently, I translate primarily for Jude, Ellis and Nica. While I do translate for the other suitors as well, I'd like to do it more - when time and energy permits.

Another IkeVil Main Story translation - However, this will potentially be a collaborative effort. Anyone up for a Vogel route???

More of a personal enrichment goal, but this will hopefully increase the quality of my translations: Dedicate more time to learning Japanese. I learn as I go and that's not the way to do it.

Writing: I used to write a lot more than what I do, and my wips list is longggg, so I'm hoping to get back into this and post my content on my ADS blog.

Have fun and engage with you all more! This means taking time to actually enjoy the events I play, reading others translations more (I am SO behind), and interacting with you all more.

I think that's a good list to keep me busy all year. Of course, adjustments are going to be made along the way, and I already know that I won't be able to accomplish it all fully. Still, let's see what we can do.

[musekicker]

Ford between dimensions finds himself in the pound.

Ford did not have the exact time, but he knew he had been trapped in this place he was currently for two days. He was only guessing though considering meal times and changes in staff had happened only twice. But he could be wrong.

There was no other way for him to really tell the time in this place. No clock was in sight and room where the line of cages were was always lit. No windows to even look outside.

He did not have a idea of time, but he was pretty sure that he knew what kind of place he was in. And that would be in a pound. A place meant for lost or wandering pets. Though in this sense the pets were all of the sentient creature types. And that Ford knew because he had heard the other captives speak to some of the workers more then once. There was sentience in their words and their stares.

The cages were mostly reminded Ford of chain link fencing one may see for a dog kennel. Except the chain link was made bright blue light that was a lot more solid then it looked. Not that he could even test the material of the kennel fencing. Not with his arms secured behind him with metal cuffs and chain anchored to the wall.

Some of the beings that Ford saw looked just as mad as Ford was about the situation. Pulling at the chains. Others looked more forlorn and subdued. Having long ago given in.

Ford was not in the given up category. He was still pulling at his chains and trying to think up a plan. Anything to get out of this place. He would be shouting more if not for the muzzle that had been placed onto him soon after arriving to this place.

Apparently bite one guard and you got muzzled. Ford had done just that before he had been dragged into his kennel. The muzzle had followed soon after that. For some reason this cage of wires and blue energy was as effective as a gag. Maybe there was a sound dampening system in the build of the thing?

He was still trying to think of a plan to escape this place when a voice broke his out of his thoughts.

"It'll be nice to get your pet back to you. It's a good thing you marked him or we never would had known to contact you." a worker said.

"That's one of the reasons why I marked him!"

Ford froze, knowing that voice all too well. He wished he could tell himself he was wrong. But he knew he wasn't. So it wasn't a complete shock when Bill Cipher floated into view at the kennel door.

There was a look in Ciphers eye that was very much Bill's version of smirking.

"Yup, that's my human. I'd know those six fingers anywhere." Bill said.

The kennel door was turned off to allow Bill to enter the kennel.

"I'll get the paperwork to sign him out." the worker said.

The moment that the worker left, Bill looked Ford in the eye.

"Well, well, well. Someones gotten themself into a pretty bad situation here. In this dimension creatures like you are considered pets you know? If I didn't pick you up, who knows what would had happened to you."

There was a mock pity to Bill's voice. A tone that only enraged Ford more. He shouted into the muzzle despite the fact that he could not be heard. Bill considered the muzzle, and ran a finger down one of the straps holding the muzzle onto Ford's face.

"The muzzle works so well for you." Bill said.

Ford snarled even though it could not be heard. Bill was amused by the clear rage in Ford's eyes. It made the triangle want to do so many dark things to break that defiance. The ideas were endless.

"Can't wait to get you home." Bill told Ford in a tone that brought a chill to Ford's blood.

The worker came back and approached Bill, a clip board with a variety of papers that Bill was meant to sign. A quick look up at Bill and Ford and the worker paused.

"Oh one thing, you have to leash your pet." the worker said. "More then one pet has tried to cause problems when their owners picked them up."

At the mention of the the leash, the glee in Bill's eye at those words was infuriating to Ford.

"Of course. Can't have my pet causing problems. And I know he would." Bill said.

A snap of his fingers and a bright blue, chain leash appeared in Bill's hand, the other end of it secured to similar in color and materials collar. It would not be something that could be broken with enough pulling or with anything sharp.

The worker, no longer worried that Ford would have the chance to possibly attack continued to speak in a calm tone. The scene before her not out of the ordinary or wrong at all to her.

"I wasn't on staff when he was brought in. But I heard he bit one of the officers that picked him up." the worker said.

Bill looked almost aghast. Even though Ford knew that expression was more for show then actually being shocked.

"Sixer! I didn't know you had it in you." Bill said.

The look that Ford was giving Bill now suggested that Ford wanted to tear Bill apart. Whether with hands or teeth. It wouldn't matter as long as Ford would be able to do it. The leash and muzzle would not allow for that.

The cuffs hold his wrists did not have any give either. Using his hands right now was out of the question. The only thing that was free right now were his legs. He did not have high expectations for that giving his a literal leg up on getting away. But it was better then nothing.

So when Bill pulled at the leash, ford pulled back. If he could had dug his heels down into the tile floor he would have. Anything to prevent himself from being pulled along towards what he knew would be a place where he was even less likely to escape from.

Bill looked back at Ford, eye narrowing slightly.

"You're just embarrassing both of us right now." Bill said.

Ford glared. And pulled back again. Bill turned a shade of red. Not quite completely angry, but irritated.

"Listen to me. If you keep this up I will summon up a carrier and put you in there. Is that what you want Sixer?"

From Bill's tone it was clear that Bill was done playing around now. And being put into a carrier did not sound like it be pleasant. Not to mention possibly harder to escape from. So Ford grumbled into his muzzle and stopped pulling. For now anyways.

Bill, pleased turned back to a yellow color.

"Better. Now come on Fordsy. Bringing you home."