#one time there was this one person who posted AI that kept popping on my pinterest

[lacm-ac]

I've made it a habit to look at the comments on my pinterest before saving anything these days. 5/10 times the "drawing" is AI generated and you can't even tell at first glance. When will this madness stop

[callalillywrites]

A Stuck Zipper

This story is actually a longer, spin-off version of an older post response. It was meant to be a Christmas/Wintery story, but I missed that mark a little bit. It's okay though because I had a lot of fun writing this. I'm sure I can come up with something for Steve (and a couple others before the end of the year). I do hope you enjoy this story as much as I did writing it.

Relationship: Steve Rogers x Wife!Reader

Word Count: ~2100

Summary: It's the night of the biggest party of the year. You've been working alongside Pepper and Nat to ensure this party goes well. What you don't count on is a stuck zipper. At least, you're married to a man with a plan who's never failed to let you down.

Warnings: mostly fluff

A/N: This is my first fic since melting down last month, so please be kind to me as I try to get back into the swing of things again. I do hope this is the first of many more stories to come along with some older ones to join its ranks once more as well.

I do not give permission to have my works copied, translated, reposted, or fed into an AI machine.

****

“It’s stuck.”

You tried to turn around at Nat’s words, but she stopped you before you could wrench the tiny zipper from her hands.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t heard the smallest shreds as the zipper caught the delicate fabric and refused to let go. It’s just that this couldn’t be the thing that went wrong tonight. Of all your planning with Nat and Pepper to make this event the talk of the year, you couldn’t afford to be brought low because of a measly zipper on one of the most expensive gowns you’ve ever owned.

“How bad is it?” you asked though you couldn’t be sure you wanted to know.

Nat didn’t immediately answer, which was answer enough.

“Can we pin it or something?”

A glance at Nat’s pinched features in the mirror sent a shiver of dread down your spine.

The party would start any minute. Not only would your dress keep you from your duties, you would miss out on seeing the one person you’ve been wanting to see the past few weeks. Oh, you’d missed him something fierce while he’d been away, and now you couldn’t be certain you’d have the reunion you wanted with him.

This was supposed to be one of your biggest nights, too.

How were you going to explain your absence? How could you leave Nat and Pepper to fend for themselves? Then again, how were you supposed to help if your dress’s darn zipper was stuck halfway up your back.

In your current self-pitying state, you almost missed the way Nat’s face smoothed. Her hand had gone to the small ear comm she wore, holding it as she listened to Pepper on the other end.

You had one, too, but you’d taken it out after it started bugging you. The intention had been to replace it after you’d gotten dressed and had no more time for yourself before the party started. That had fallen by the wayside when your dress had pulled its dirty trick and kept you standing in front of your mirror debating your options.

Whatever Pepper told Nat soon tugged her signature smirk over her features, replacing her previous frown.

“Pepper is sending us reinforcements,” she said after a moment, her hand dropping from the comm.

The smirk remained as the two of you waited for whoever Pepper had sent to save the day.

Within minutes, said savior arrived.

You couldn’t help the gasp that slipped past your lips as you took in the only man that’s held your attention and your heart for so many years.

His new suit fit him to perfection, but then, you had no doubt it would after sending his measurements to the best tailor New York City had to offer. The dark navy made his blue eyes pop while the silver vest beneath his jacket brought out the sparkle you so adored whenever he glanced at you.

“Hello, sweetheart,” his deep voice echoed softly through the room. “I heard you could use my expertise.”

Nat, not at all offended at being ignored, deepened her smirk as she moved toward the open doorway. It didn’t seem to matter how much your man filled it, blocking her. Having fought at his side longer than you have, it didn’t take much for her to slip past him. Then again, that could be her spy training more than her comfort at being one of his Avenger coworkers.

As if her disappearance gave him further permission, he stepped into the room, quickly closing the distance. He didn’t stop until only a mere foot separated you. His slacks brushed the outer layers of your dress’s full skirt.

“You look ravishing, sweetheart,” he murmured, his gaze missing nothing of the silver dress you wore with the navy lace creating intricate snowflake patterns.

Putting up a hand to keep him at bay, you raised a brow. “And you, Mr. Rogers, have been hanging out with Sam and Bucky too much if you’re using ‘ravishing’ as a word to compliment me. You’re going to behave until after this party is over. Do we understand each other?”

“You are married to Captain America, sweetheart. I’m the very beacon of honor and virtue.” He held up his hand as though he were a Boy Scout though his gaze continued to twinkle. His lips twitched with the amusement he wasn’t trying too hard to conceal.

You simply shook your head. “No, I married Steven Grant Rogers. You’re the epitome of a punk from Brooklyn just as your best friend has always claimed. Never back down from a fight even when you should and have a mouth that could make a sailor blush on a good day.”

“Is that so?”

It was his turn to raise his brows though his amusement remained.

Knowing what he wanted to hear next, you sent him a softer smile, indulging him. After all, you two have done this little dance since not long after the two of you fell in love. Reaching out, you rested your hand over the small pocket of his suit jacket. His heart beat steadily beneath your palm, relaxing you as it always did.

Even as you nodded in affirmation, you added, “Yet, you’re also the man with a heart of pure gold and always help your friends and family whenever they need you. I didn’t marry the perfect soldier the U.S. Army wanted, but the good man you are and will always be. My life has been better for knowing you, and I fall more in love with you every day.”

His amusement melted into such warmth and affection that you knew he’d behave for at least a little while.

“What do you need, Mrs. Rogers?”

Pressing the softest kiss you could to his lips and not mess up your pristine makeup, you flashed him a grin before turning around to show him your dilemma.

“It’s stuck. I can’t see the problem, and Nat’s face told me pinning wouldn’t work.”

Steve’s warm fingers brushed against your skin as he inspected the ornery zipper. He tugged gently, but the stubborn slider refused to budge. Another tiny rip of the delicate fabric reached your ears a moment before Steve raised apologetic eyes to yours in the mirror in front of you.

“Nat’s probably right, sweetheart, but…”

His brows knitted together as he continued to stare at your current predicament.

After several seconds, his brows smoothed and his gaze met yours once more. Inspiration had hit him in a way that never fails to take your breath away. Always the man with a plan, he didn’t hesitate in coming up with some unique solutions to even the most basic of problems.

“You still have your emergency sewing kit in your purse?”

You nodded.

He stepped away and picked up your purse. His gaze met yours for permission before he opened up the main flap. Always the gentleman. His hand felt around the few contents until it encountered the little tin he sought. The same little tin you inherited from your grandmother after she passed a few years ago. You never failed to update the kit with threads for whatever outfit you and Steve wore that day from your rather vast collection of sewing threads.

As he held up the little tin with a small triumphant grin, you thanked whatever gods were listening that you’d remembered to update it that morning with what you’d need for your evening attire as well.

“Stay perfectly still for me, sweetheart,” he murmured after threading the needle with the necessary thread and stepped behind you again.

You did as he asked. It took everything in you not to peek over your shoulder to see exactly what he was doing. Instead, you had to settle with feeling his fingers brush against you now and then, sending delicious shivers down your spine even as he worked diligently at your dress.

After what felt like an eternity but couldn’t have been more than five minutes, he tied off the thread and snapped the extra with little effort. Turning you so your back faced the mirror, he nodded towards his work. “What do you think?”

It took a bit to get the right angle and see what he’d done.

When you did, you couldn’t help the gasp that slipped past your lips. The stuck zipper remained in place, but the rest of your dress had been perfectly and almost seamlessly stitched closed. Only some nosy person would notice the zipper wasn’t all the way up with the way Steve had stitched your dress closed. You could barely make out the stitches he placed.

Meeting his gaze in the mirror, you blurted, “Where did you learn to sew? How did I not know this about you after all these years?”

Steve’s cheeks flushed at the awe in your voice.

“We didn’t have a lot of clothing options back then as there are today. My ma worked hard to provide me with what she could. I used to watch her doctor clothes for my smaller frame whenever she could afford to get me something new.”

His gaze took on a wistful expression as he remembered his old life and his mother.

You turned so you could rest your hands on his chest, offering him what comfort you could. He didn’t talk about his past as often as you thought he should, but you never pushed him, either. Not wanting to miss out on this new opportunity, you remained quiet.

A small grin spread across his features as he indeed continued.

“Well, I wasn’t one to take precautions with my clothes, either. Most of us boys didn’t. I probably should’ve for my ma’s sake, but I always got myself into one scuffle or another as you’re aware. Most often, I’d end up with a rip in either my shirt or pants. Sometimes, both. Not wanting to upset my ma, I used the little bit of knowledge I’d gained by watching her to start mending my clothes myself. It was better than asking her to do more for me when she was already doing so much.”

His grin softened as more memories seemed to surface.

“My first attempts were awful, but then, boys didn’t typically do what they considered girl chores back then. I got better over time. I even helped Bucky out a time or two when he needed it. Some way, I guess, to repay him for always looking out for me, too. It was better than the tongue lashing he would’ve gotten from his own ma for getting me out yet another bind.”

Unable to resist the desire, you rose up and pressed another soft kiss to his lips.

“What was that for?” he asked though his eyes glowed with warmth and a mirrored desire.

You brought one of your hands up to cup his cheek as you whispered, “Just because you’re you.”

As you moved to lower yourself, Steve followed you until he leaned into your space and took a swift but no less chaste kiss for himself.

“I love you, too, Mrs. Rogers.”

The two of you gathered up the rest of your items for the evening, including the masks you had made to match your outfits.

After all, the party was a masquerade. Tony had declared it so when he announced wanting to throw a holiday party for the Avengers and other important guests. At least, he left you, Pepper, and Nat to work out all the other details to make this night a spectacular one. It would certainly be one to remember after all your hard work and theirs.

As the two of you walked towards the elevators, a thought struck you.

Turning your head to look at your husband, you asked low enough so any others wouldn’t overhear, “How exactly am I getting out of this dress later?”

The smirk you’ve come to know and love appeared on Steve’s face. He helped you onto the elevator as the doors opened. His arm came around you as he held you close to his side. Only as the doors were closing did he bend down to whisper, “Don’t worry about that, sweetheart. I’ve got a plan that will not only get you out of that dress but will satisfy us both before the sun comes up tomorrow.”

His lips skimmed along your neck until he reached the spot where it met your shoulder. A slight stinging nip of his teeth sent a tingling shiver down your spine. The promise clear in his action as his hand tightened at your waist.

The party, while an amazing success of your hard work, paled in comparison to the hours after where Steve lived up to his sensual promise in the elevator. It would be a night you wouldn’t soon forget.

[captainsophiestark]

A Much-Needed Vacation

Elijah Mikaelson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Summary: Elijah Mikaelson is often up to his neck in vampire business and drama, especially when his brother's around to add more. Fortunately, he has someone in his life who can make him take a break when he needs it.

Word Count: 1,703

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"Hey babe, do you want some coffee?"

I poured myself a mug, waiting to hear a response from my husband, Elijah Mikaelson. When the silence stretched on with no answer, I turned, a concerned frown on my face. I found Elijah right where I'd left him, hunched over papers at the table in the study.

"'Lij? Hello?"

Still, he didn't stir. I moved closer, waiting for him to look up at me, but he just kept his gaze locked on the papers before him. I could see his lips moving, mumbling to himself about whatever nonsense he was pouring over. With all the drama and difficulty his family kicked up or got thrown into in this town, it was hard to keep track.

I was about to tap his shoulder and, if that didn't work, shake him, but before I could his phone rang. He startled, his attention finally shooting up, and glanced at the caller ID before picking up.

"Niklaus. What is it?"

I huffed and rolled my eyes. No doubt, this would be some other world-ending problem that absolutely could not be taken care of without Elijah's full attention. I absolutely loved my husband and his family, but sometimes, they were well and truly ridiculous.

After a few moments of intense conversation, Elijah hung up and set the phone on the table with a sigh. He leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair before turning to me. In all the time I'd known him, I'd never seen him look so absolutely exhausted.

"I'm sorry, my love. Were you trying to ask me something?"

I frowned, chewing on my lip as I took the seat next to Elijah. He took my hand in his, attention now fully on me, as I scanned his lined face.

"I'd ask if everything is okay, but I feel like I know the answer."

Elijah sighed again and shook his head.

"It's always some new problem in this city. At least this time Niklaus isn't asking me to do anything, yet. I just need to make sure he doesn't dig himself a hole he can't get out of while I'm not looking."

I watched Elijah carefully as he took his breather, staring at the table and all the papers spread out before him. He looked exhausted, showing his thousand years of age for one of the first times I'd ever seen, and I hated to see him like this. Slowly, a plan started forming in my mind.

"'Lij... you said none of this is anything pressing you have to help with, right?"

"Not yet, at least."

I smiled, although Elijah didn't catch it. Probably for the best. He knew me well enough that it would tell him something was up.

"Okay. Then just wait here a second. I'll be back, and then we're going for a drive."

He turned his gaze to me now, eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion. I just beamed back at him.

"...What are you planning?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see!"

Without waiting for a response, I popped up from my seat and headed for the stairs. I could feel Elijah's eyes following me, but evidently he was too tired to actually get up and investigate what I was doing.

As soon as I reached our bedroom, I threw some clothes into a duffle bag for each of us, enough of everything we'd need for a few days. I paused long enough to quickly check my phone and, luckily, found us two seats on the next flight to Florida.

We didn't have much time to spare before the plane left, so I headed back downstairs with the bag over my shoulder, aiming for Elijah. He always took care of me, and now, I was going to do the same. He clearly needed a break, and I was going to make sure he got it.

"Alright, get up," I said, coming to a stop in front of my husband. "We're going for a drive."

He tore his eyes away from his papers to look me up and down, his eyes lingering on the bag on my shoulder. When our gazes met, he raised an eyebrow in question, but I just grinned at him in answer.

"I take it if I try to tell you I need to stay and work on this, you'll do everything in your power to make me get up and leave?"

"Oh yeah."

He sighed, but pushed back from the table anyway. He stood in front of me, close enough that we were almost chest to chest, and I know he didn't miss my heart speeding up a little at the closeness.

"Alright then. Let's go."

I got Elijah loaded up in the car, then started heading for the airport. I knew it wouldn't be long before he asked where we were going, but as far as I was concerned, I'd already gotten him to the point of no return.

Elijah didn't say much as we drove. He just watched the city go by around us, clearly trying to figure out where we were going. I could tell the moment it clicked as he inhaled deeply, then turned to me.

"Are you driving us to the airport?"

I just grinned.

Elijah shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers. I just laughed.

"You clearly need a break, Elijah. As your loving partner and best friend, it's my job to make sure you take one. Especially when I know you, and I know you won't take one on your own."

Elijah just shook his head again, but when I glanced over at him I could see the smile growing on his face all the same.

"So, then... where are we going?"

"Somewhere nice and warm and relaxing, far from all this vampire bullshit."

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

A few hours later, Elijah and I were stepping out of the airport and into the warm Florida sunshine. I'd booked us a hotel on the beach, and after a quick pause to drop off our bags and change into swimsuits, Elijah and I were walking hand in hand down the beach with our feet in the Atlantic ocean.

"I think we need to do this more often," I mused as we strolled. Elijah took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, a smile remaining on his face as he looked at me.

"I agree. And thank you for organizing this, today. Sometimes it can be hard to leave in the middle of... everything my brother gets involved in."

"I know," I said, giving him a small smile and nudging his shoulder with mine. "But that's what I'm here for. What kind of spouse would I be if I didn't return the favor when you made me put down the books and study guides every once in a while when I got a little too intense at school?"

Elijah chuckled, pulling me a little closer to him and moving to wrap his arm around my shoulders instead. He kissed my temple and we came to a stop, Elijah and I facing each other. I beamed up at him, leaning in closer for a real kiss, when I was interrupted by the sound of Elijah's ringtone.

We both scowled in sync, Elijah sighing before reaching for his phone. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shot me an apologetic look, but a glance at the caller ID had him picking up anyway. Klaus, again.

"Niklaus, what-"

This time, I couldn't take it. I cut Elijah off as I snatched the phone out of his hand, holding it to my own ear instead.

"Hey Nik! Is this a life and death emergency?"

"What? No, it's a matter of keeping this town in check. Now put my brother back on the phone."

"No. He needs a break, so he's on forced vacation for the next forty-eight hours. We'll be back on Monday morning, but in the meantime, consider Elijah's phone off. And I swear Nik, if you call him again, I will hurl this phone into the depths of the ocean where it will never be found again."

I heard Klaus take in a deep breath, the likes of which I only heard before he launched into some threatening tirade, but I'd known him long enough that I wasn't about to let it get to me.

"Nik, you know me. I don't put my foot down like this often, and I even help you guys with your power brokering bullshit when I can. But this time, I'm not budging. Elijah needs a break, and I need to see my husband outside of when we're threatening other New Orleans factions. You can give us two days."

Silence on the other end of the line. Elijah and I made eye contact as he raised an eyebrow at me. I just shrugged, and a second later, I heard a low growl from Nik.

"Fine. You get two days. But if I don't see you on Monday morning-"

"Don't worry! You will."

With that, I hung up and slipped the phone into my own pocket, with a grin at Elijah. Not many people could get away with hanging up on the Big Bad Wolf himself, but I'd been a part of the Mikaelson family for long enough that I could. Elijah shook his head at me, but he had a gigantic smile on his face nonetheless.

"I don't think I'll ever tire of you doing that to my siblings," he said. I grinned, then leaned in for a quick kiss. Elijah wrapped his arms around me, following after me as I pulled away.

"I hope you know I meant what I said about hurling your phone in the ocean if Nik calls you again."

"Oh, I know. But a phone is a small price to pay for a weekend like this, with you."

"I'm glad you agree."

I gave Elijah a little smirk as he wrapped his arms tighter around me, slowly closing the distance between us again. I didn't hesitate to help him, losing myself in our kiss as the waves splashed gently against my calves. I was going to make the most of this little peaceful haven Elijah and I had made, for as long as I possibly could.

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

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

TVD/TO Taglist: @elenavampire21

[skzoologist]

Will you stay?

word count: ~1.8k

warnings: angst, hurt/comfort

summary: Old wounds are torn open, but Bae has someone by his side, always.

a/n: I am not back yet, I won't pretend I am. But I can offer this short fic, if anything.

Please let me know if I left a warning or anything out, I will add it in! Reblogs, likes and feedback are greatly appreciated!

!I don't condone anyone stealing my work and posting it anywhere without my permission, or feeding it to AI!

!This is just fiction, my interpretation of Stray Kids. By no means is this how they are and how they behave in real life!

·͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙·͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙

·͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙·͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙⁺˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚⁺‧͙

Bae didn’t know what to feel.

In one moment he was just having a relatively good time, joking around with the others and watching as Minho was once again chasing around Hyunjin for whatever the weasel had said. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for them, the group loud and energetic even when they weren’t in front of the cameras. And he truly enjoyed that, even if he was the black sheep amongst them, with how quiet he usually was.

But then the next thing he knew, his sight grew slightly blurry, the softest of tremors running through his hands. He was holding his phone, feeling it vibrate in his pocket. So naturally, he fished it out of there, not wanting to miss out on anything possibly important.

The first row of the message in itself was enough to make his breath stop, even though it was only a few words that popped up in the notification.

Glancing around, he saw that everyone else was busy, nobody paying him any mind, thankfully. Bae was also glad that he’d decided to sit alone this time, not squished between two of his bandmates on the sofa. He loved them, he truly did, but because of their closely-knit friendship he knew that they would immediately notice if anything was off with him.

Thus, he unlocked his phone and opened the message with a simple flick of his thumb, eyes quickly reading over the several, long rows of words. With each sentence a weight was added onto Bae’s shoulders, his chest constricting painfully.

Why would he get this? And why now?

It had been long months since he had heard from the person who had sent him this message, someone who Bae had called a good friend of his in the past. The two had hit it off back when they had been trainees, finding solace in sharing their hardships and helping the other grow their skills. Friendly chatter had flowed easily between them whenever they’d met, so much so that Chan and the others constantly teased them of being long lost soulmates, even if only platonically.

And Bae would have agreed back then.

But suddenly, that connection started suffering, becoming strained between the two. It was inevitable to a certain extent, since his friend had failed to stay by Bae’s side, leaving the company and chasing after another dream. Still, they kept in touch, telling stories to each other over text or at a rare café visit. And while there had been a slight rift forming between the two friends, it was still easy to jump over, something Bae had tried to fix.

It was all useless, in the end.

That rift had merely grown in size, so much so that fixing it felt like throwing down buckets of water into the endless stomach of the abyss. It was greedy, swallowing up everything, no matter what he’d tried. Every text had only gotten a dry response, the conversations dying out quicker and quicker with each attempt.

And after a while, Bae had stopped.

It felt useless, chasing after somebody who didn’t even slow down so he could catch up. But Bae came to peace with it. It hurt, yes, seeing those ghost conversations still sit in his phone, but people come and go. Such was the way the world worked. Besides, he had 8 boys now to always have by his side, becoming his second family.

So why?

Why was a goodbye letter blinking up at him from his screen, completely unprompted and talking as if he was the one who’d left his friend?

Why?

The air felt heavy in his lungs, each intake a little harder to perform. His hand had automatically shut the device off it held, knowing that if he hadn’t placed it down, he would look even more obvious to the others. It was hard as it is to hide the tremors running through his body, memories he’d buried long ago resurfacing and tearing open old wounds. Those things happened long ago, each and every single one something he had tried his best to forget and never relive. It had already taken him so much effort to reach where he was these days, to not question every little thing, to believe in others and their words.

Yet everything felt like it was crumbling down, years worth of effort just turning into dust, mocking him to rebuild it all again.

He wasn’t sure he had it in himself to do so.

By the time he’d snapped back to reality, Felix was by his side, concern clearly written on the young boy’s face. Bae didn’t hesitate to plaster on a smile, hoping he would buy the fakeness of it.

“I’m fine Felix, don’t worry. Guess ‘m just a little tired from today’s practice.” - he muttered out, flashing a smile at the boy’s direction before standing up, excusing himself.

He couldn’t bear to be there anymore.

Not when those loathed voices were coming back, making him question if they would eventually leave him too, just like everyone else had done so in the past. Would they find him boring after a while, once his cold facade broke away, his loving yet scared self finally revealed to them?

He didn’t want to think about it.

The door closed with a soft click behind him, the lock shifting in place to ensure his solitude. A deep sigh left his chest as he leaned against the door, too exhausted to try and keep those loathsome thoughts at bay anymore. He didn’t have the energy for it, not when his limbs ached and joints screamed, not when his mind was already filled with worries about their next project and comeback.

This one thing was the last drop to break him, his body shaking as tears rolled down his cheeks, staining his clothes and skin. He was usually strong, always there to provide comfort for the others, but tonight, it felt impossible. As if a weight was crushing his whole existence, not allowing him to continue on his path, binding him in place like a chain secured to the depths of the ocean.

All he could do now was to sit there, face buried in his knees, hands tightly wrapped around his shaking form. A hiccup escaped through his lips, loud in the silence of his room. He tried his best to not let any sound escape him, to ride these emotions out alone, not wishing to disturb anyone, but it was useless. He could only pray that no one had heard him, that none of the boys chased after him.

His prayers were left unheard as a soft knock echoed through the space, the vibrations running down Bae’s back. He stilled, unable to even breathe from the shock, only hearing the shifting of clothes besides the loud drumming of his heart.

A few beats of silence passed before a sigh could be heard, yet there was no frustration behind it.

“Dal, baby, I know you’re in there. I can hear you. Please let me in, it hurts to know you’re hurting.” - pleaded Chan, voice so soft Bae couldn’t believe the man was talking to him.

No reply could be heard as Bae’s silent tears continued, shocking him when a loud thump could be felt from behind, the door gently rattling in place once.

“You don’t need to tell me what happened, or what’s wrong, just… know that I’m here, yeah? I’m always here if you need me, always have been. Or so I’d like to believe.” - Chan chuckled, his voice turning into a hushed whisper near the end.

Bae slowly wiped at his eyes, a soft sniffle letting Chan know the boy was still awake and listening.

“You know, I’ve always admired you. Even when we were just young trainees, hardly knowing each other. If someone had a hard day you tried your best to put your differences aside and lended them a shoulder. Even me, no matter how hard I was on you in our training.” - a soft sigh could be heard, one filled with mirth and memories.

Bae remembered those days clearly, being one of the first ones to join the group. He was standoffish and cold, often getting into arguments thanks to that. But at the end of the day, Chan always stuck to him, adamantly chipping away at the walls he had built up.

“I know you might not believe me, especially with how stubborn you are, but we care about you. We all do, me included. Your pain is our pain. And knowing that you’re on the other side of this door, suffering, it pains me. Please, Moonlight, let me in. I can’t bear to hear you cry any longer…” - the elder’s voice cracked at the end, filled to the brim with emotion and hurt.

Clothes shifted and the lock clicked, their leader not hesitating to tear the door open and scoop Bae into his arms. The younger clung to him desperately, hands looped around Chan’s neck, face buried in his chest. The waterworks never really stopped, silently flowing even while the older had been speaking.

The door slowly clicked shut, the two now laid on the soft sea of blankets and pillows.

For a while, Bae just laid there in Chan’s embrace, hiding away from the entire world in his hyung’s steady hold and gentle touches that nearly lulled him to sleep with each stroke over his hair and skin. But he couldn’t sleep, not yet, not when doubts continued plaquing his mind constantly, feeding his fears until they grew impossibly large.

A question left his lips, so quiet that not even Chan could make sense of it.

“What was it, baby? Could you repeat that for me?” - he asked, gently drawing Bae’s face away from his neck to look at him.

“You… you won’t leave me, right?”

Nothing could have prepared Chan for that question, his eyes widening in pure shock and disbelief.

It only took a second longer for his own eyes to water, those warm nebulas looking at Bae with such emotion that it nearly broke the boy.

“Of course not. I’m here to stay, now and forever.”

The two fell asleep in each others’ hold, Chan curled up around Bae as if he was trying to shield the boy from the entire world itself. And for once, Bae let himself be held, desperately clinging onto the other, as if he would disappear in the blink of an eye without any prior notice.

[jessequinones]

Please Hire Indigenous Sensitivity Readers

So I created an article that said, “Stop Using Slurs in Children's Stories” and one of the slurs I mentioned was the word “savage” and I used LJ Davies as an example of how many times someone can write that word in one book, let alone several books as a way to explain how this is a common slur used for a lot of writers. I also mentioned other authors, but after reading so many AI books, I decided to read LJ Davies's stand-alone book called “The Last Monster on Earth” which uses the word savage like it’s going out of style.

Everything was fine. I mentally sighed every time that word appeared, but I kept going. That was, until this word came out of nowhere and if you’re a part of the Algonquin-speaking tribes, you might already know why I stopped reading the moment it popped up...wendigo.

I shouldn’t have to explain why you shouldn’t use Wendigo’s as the “monsters” of your stories. I just want to talk about how you should really...please...for the love of all things holy, I’m on my knees, hire...indigenous...sensitivity...readers.

“The Last Monster on Earth” is a story about a human who gets turned into a “monster” (dragon) and is afraid of losing their humanity. That’s as far as I got, I don’t know what happens after chapter 3 because I stopped after the reveal of the Wendigo’s.

The trope of “turning into an animal and losing your humanity” is very old and was kind of founded on racism. People of colour were often considered monsters, animals, and barley even human. So when you create a story of turning into an animal where you’re losing your “humanity” or are afraid of losing it, it reinforces these negative stereotypes.

If you have a cool idea for a story it might be frustrating to hear someone like me to “ruin” it. But the thing is, I’m not trying to “ruin” anyone’s stories or prevent them from writing in the first place.

I want your story to be the best it can be, however, there are a lot of common writing tropes, myths, and monsters that come from Indigenous cultures and most of these tropes, myths, and monsters that you probably see today which are very common have deep-seated roots of racism.

Despite this article mentioning LJ Davies at the start, I want to make it clear I don’t think he’s a bad person just because he uses the word savage or wendigo in a story, but I do think it’s so common to see that word in media and to have wendigoes in horror stories where not a lot of people are aware of how harmful they are.

If you want to know more about them please seek out Algonquin-speaking tribes.

Is it frustrating to see these things pop up in everything? Yes, yes it is. However, I only think these things appear as often as they do because people are unaware of the harm or the history these words and monsters have.

A lot of this can be avoided by hiring one indigenous sensitivity reader, even if you don’t think you need it, there’s no harm in getting one. They can point things out to you and if you have questions they can help. Does your story need to use the word savage? Is there no other word you can think of to replace it? Does your story need to use a monster from a native culture that doesn't belong to you? Can you not make up your own? What’s the significance of stealing from another’s culture and butchering it?

A post-apocalyptic story where humans have vanished and the main character gets turned into a dragon with no memory is fine. Making the main character afraid they’re no longer “human”, not so much. Using the word savage repeatedly is uncomfortable. Using a monster from a culture you’re not a part of and people from said culture have repeatedly told you not to use is problematic.

I’m 6 months in this year and only finished reading 3 books while having to put down 9 and it’s because (besides AI) the stories I’m reading (and no hate on the authors), just have a lot of problematic tropes or languages where it makes reading stories uncomfortable and I’m tired. I love reading, I love stories, I just want to read a story where I don’t have to be reminded of problematic elements and I have to do mental gymnastics to figure out if this was an accident or on purpose. Regardless it makes reading very exhausting and I feel like a lot of the problems I have could be solved if people just hire sensitivity readers.

[otaku-orochi-okami]

Here We Go Again.

Urgh. Semi kept away. Last proper blog closed down for containing images of a well known influencer and her representatives asked for mine, and several other blogs, to be closed down due to copyright infringement. Did create an AI Waifu blog but my kinks are very dark, and tend to break Tumblr guidelines. Also ChatGPT, the framework that runs the AI chatbots I make, is adding more guard rails so more and more “can’t complete this” messages are popping up so that’s losing its charm too. So back here posting content. I won’t generally be tagging in names of people I post etc after the last blog for obvious reasons but if there’s anyone you like DM me the post and I’ll see if I can tell you who they are. 

So, first things first. This is a NSFW blog.  Normal boring stuff applies to that, MDNI blah blah blah. Feel free to DM me, sometimes I’ll reply, sometime i wont. Don’t take it personally if I don’t, sometimes just busy scrolling. For those who don’t know me, my names Lew, white male in my 30’s, living in UK. My kinks are niche, and tend to get me banned so stuff I post or reblog is just stuff I think is good or done well etc. I’m bi, prefer sex with guys but can’t stand them as anything more than fuck meat, girls I prefer aesthetically to look at and actually talk to, but find sex with them meh. And sissies are losers. That’s not necessarily a bad or a good thing. Depends on my mood.  Actually prefer 2D girls to 3D girls, 3D girls nearly always have some tiny flaw to stop them from being perfect. Plus a perfect girl is subjective anyway. Someone’s 10 is another guys 8. Either way, expect to find a mix of 2D and 3D stuff on here. As last bit might suggest, big fan of pop culture, so happy to talk video games, anime etc as well as kink, or obviously just exclusively one or the other of you don’t want to discuss both. 

Something I haven’t really shared with anyone, despite being in my 30’s, my body is fucking breaking. That’s thanks to boring medical condition I won’t get into. It’s not been too bad until recently, but lately it’s been getting worse. For now, I’m ok in day, but by evenings I’m in serious pain. So to those of you I do message often, preemptive apologies for when I go quiet. As for everyone else; if I’m posting after that time, it’s likely because I queue and schedule my posts, so please don’t assume I’m online and ignoring you. 

Talking of posts, I don’t do exposure any more, doing colabs with x-loservirgin-x really got me into that, but since then too much bitching after losers cum and begging me to take down posts (which is impossible because I can’t take down reblogs), or other losers getting riskier without me there to have guard rails up, even if you don’t realise i do have them, then blaming for when shit hits the fan. As for custom captions. I do them if I can be bothered is the short answer. Feel free to DM with pics or pics suggestions and a theme etc and if I feel like doing it I will. Customs will be DM’d back to you privately, only shared on my blog if you ask me to, so feel free if want to turn your sister etc into private goon fuel.

For the record, my Hard Limits that I won’t engage with are Penectomy, Animals and Minors. Also as a side note, if your profile says anything along the lines of you refusing to pay for femdom’s but please do it for free, I won’t engage with you. Not because I expect to be paid, but because we won’t click. You simply have no idea how the world works, and I have too many interesting toys to talk to rather than waste time with a naive loser unsuccessfully trying to freeload. That shouldn’t offend anyone worth taking to, and if that does offend you, you’re the problem.

As for AI, I have a cute little AI sidekick, River Paige. She may pop up every now and then, either as some images, or writing her own posts. We’ll see how that goes. Here she is:

Good to be back, will see how long I make it before nuked this time. 

If you wanna know more about me here’s a list of stuff I’m into:

[yourfellowhuman07]

Where Do We Go Now?

A She-ra: Princess of Power 2018 fanfiction

The war is finally over. Prime is dead, the hive mind is broken, and everyone is reunited with their loved ones. However, there are some questions left unanswered. What will be the fate of Catra and Hordak? What are these new memories Wrong Hordak has? What is Etheria's place in the wider universe? Where do we go now?

___________________

Ladies, Gentlemen, and nonbinary friends chapter 22 is finally here. This has been a slog to write, but I persisted. I was on my last brain cells writing this so I hope it is good. Also, grab your snacks and tissues because this chapter is 45 words short of 1.5k words. Please enjoy and have a wonderful day.

Also as of right now the poll for the weekly upload date for my new fic still has five hours left to vote on. So if you really want, please vote.

Also, AO3 has caught up with Tumblr, so this chapter will be posted there tomorrow. However, you can only access it if you have a registered account because of precautions regarding the whole AI situation. Sorry in advance.

___________________

Chapter 22: Project Orion

Once again, rain battered the windows of the Crypto Castle. A blue fire crackled within the fireplace that housed all the… guests. On one side of the room sat the Alliance; on the other side sat Hordak’s brothers and the former horde soldiers. Right in the middle sat the former warlord upon an armchair, his fists balled into his pants. Entrapta sat on the arm of the chair with her hair wrapped around Hordak’s bicep. He cleared his throat.

“Now, I am under the impression that you all know why you are here. I would like to first apologize for my outburst yesterday. It was inappropriate of me, and I should have acted more rationally.” After a moment, Hordak looked at Entrapta. 

“Do you recall when I told you where I came from?”

“Yes.”

“That was partially a lie. I am not a clone I am the actual biological child of Horde Prime.” Hordak glanced down at his fists as everyone reacted with varying levels of shock.

“Why in the world would Prime want a baby?” Mermista expressed.

“He never wanted me. I was an accident my mother insisted on keeping. According to him at least.”

“Mother?” Castaspella inquired.

“Yes, I had a mother who is the only reason I am still alive. According to Prime, when my mother found out she was pregnant with me she insisted they kept me. Prime agreed as long as I was not a distraction.”

“If it is not too personal, could you tell us what she was like?” Castaspella inquired.

“I think we crossed the line of personal business a while ago.” Catra retorted, gaining a glare from Adora and Glimmer.

_______________________________________________________________

Orion sat reading on a big chair in his bedroom connected to his parent’s room. Despite being only four years old, he was very proficient at reading and had already begun reading novels and scientific articles. Like many rooms in the Velvet Glove, it was a blinding white with black accents and smelled strongly of bleach.

Orion looked up to the sound of the green barrier dissolving. His mother stepped through the door.

“Alright, star sweeper time for bed.”

“What! Please five more minutes, mama.”

“No, buts star sweeper, it is already past your bedtime.” She took the book from his hands, careful to mark Orion’s place. She started to usher him to bed as a thought popped into his head.

“Mama, why did you name me Orion?”

“Well, when I was giving birth to you, the Velvet Glove was passing right through a constellation named Orion by the local beings. Legend says he was a giant who was a mighty warrior and a huntsman that was immortalized in the stars.”

“Will you stop filling his head with that nonsense?” Orion’s father, Horde Prime stood at the door.

“Darling, it’s only a story.”

“A stupid one at that,” he looked to his left. “Is that my book?” He stomped over to the armchair, swiping the book and ripping out the bookmark. “Tell your child to stop taking my things.” He stormed out of the room, closing the barrier between the two bedrooms.

“I’m sorry,” Orion whispered, balling his fists into the bedsheets.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Your father is just having a bad day.”

“He’s always having a bad day.”

“I know.”

“Can you sing that one song for me again?”

“Anything for your star sweeper.

La la lu

La la lu

Oh, my little star sweeper

I'll sweep the stardust for you” She tucked in the white sheets of his small bed.

“La la lu

La la lu

Little soft fluffy sleeper

Here comes a pink cloud for you” She pushed his unruly indigo curls out of his face.

“La la lu

La la lu

Little wandering angel

Fold up your wings, close your eyes

La la lu

La la lu

And may love be your keeper

La la lu

La la lu

La la lu” She kissed him on his forehead as his eyes fluttered close.

“There now, little star sweeper. Dream on.” She turned out the lights and left the room.

__________________________________________________________________

“Ok, what I don’t get is how we and none of the other clones knew about her?” TD asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“Prime never let anyone see her. He never told me, but I figured her wanted her all to himself and didn’t want anyone else to touch her. Which is probably why he wasn’t too fond of me when I came around.”

“Why would Prime even want a wife to begin with? I thought he only loved himself.” Frosta inquired.

“Another thing I am not fully aware of. My best guess is that he liked the attention and affection a wife could give him. A type of adoration clones could not provide.”

“Whatever happened to your mother?” Micah asked, crossing his arms.

__________________________________________________________________

Just like his mother had told him to do, Orion hid in his closet as his parents screamed at each other. He didn’t know how it started he just knew it was about him. It was always about him. 

Maybe Father is right. Maybe I am a nuisance.

He could never figure out why his father detested him so much. Maybe it was his appearance. While he looked more like his mother there were some staggering differences in looks. For one, his eyes were crimson red when his parents were electric lime green. His hair was also different, with his being navy blue, short, and curly while his parents were white, long, and straight.

At that point, his parents were close enough to the door that he could make out what they were saying.

“I just don’t get the obsession you have with that thing! It was bad enough you wanted to keep it, but spending almost all your time with it!”

“First of all, that thing is your seven-year-old son, whom I am trying to raise by myself since you have put absolutely zero effort into even being nice too!”

“That’s another thing! With every passing day, you become more and more defiant! It has gotten out of hand!”

“And I apologize for that, but I just want you to be involved in raising the child you helped create!”

“When the universe implodes, I will be involved.”

“You are such a…hmm”

“Go ahead. Finish what you were saying.”

“Fine. You are a cold, narcissistic, uncaring man who has never given a single thought to anyone but yourself! You are a terrible father and a terrible husband that sucks the life of everyone around you!”

“There is no hope for you after all.”

__________________________________________________________________

“I do not exactly know what happened after that. All I heard was her screaming grow quieter as Prime drug her away. I never saw her after that night. The next morning Prime handed me off to a couple of clones and sent us off to some unknown plant where I was educated about almost every subject and how to fight. At the age of 25 my cybernetics were implanted, I joined the hivemind, and became his general.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Castaspella whispered, covering her mouth.

“Please, the very least you can do is not pity me. Is there anything else you all want to ask or are we done here?”

“No there isn’t,” Glimmer rose from her seat. “Thank you for telling us this and we are sorry we put you in this position. Guys let's go.” At her command, the Alliance filed out of the room leaving Hordak, Entrapta, and the five brothers in the room.

Hordak slumped down him his seat. Groaning as he buried his face in his hands. He looked up at his family.

“I am sorry.”

“For what?” Entrapta asked, wrapping her hands around his bicep.

“Lying to all of you about everything.”

“HK, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re ok.”

“I’m fine. It happened a long time ago.”

“Still, if there is anything you need we are all right here.” Entrapta placed her hand on Hordak’s shoulder, receiving a small smile from the former warlord. “Come on,” she rose from her seat, “it’s past lunchtime and I know you haven’t eaten anything.”

__________________________________

As the Alliance boarded Darla Sea Hawk pulled Bow to the side.

“What’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong. After today I want to join you on your quest to befriend Hordak. Today has made me realize how hard he has had it, and maybe, like Catra, positive relations could get him on the straight and narrow.”

“That’s great! I’m glad someone finally gets it. My only problem is breaking the ice. I tried to talk to him once, but he was so dismissive. We need to get him in a place where he would be willing to socialize.”

“How about… a boys' night out?”

__________________

Can you all tell me what Disney movie I watched before writing this?

I also found a video that perfectly encompasses this chapter:

[sansloii]

Rules, tag 10 followers  you want to get to know better!

Tagged by: @fanaticist​​ Tagging: @skxrbrand @celestialspitfire @dcviated @hhemeraa @nezumivc103221 @soulsxng @feraecor @soraeia @fatestouch @desiderium-eden + and anyone else that wants to share deep dark personal lore

Name: marshy, morsh, mushy, marshabelle, whatever mispelling you want of "marshy" because i will respond to it all

Star Sign: gemini (sun) + scorpio (moon) + aquarius (rising)

Height: 5'6/5'7-ish

Middle name: that's between me and the fbi agent in my laptop

Put your itunes/spotify/youtube on shuffle. What are the first 6 songs that popped up? ( my youtube playlist is a fucking mess do not judge me )

hated by life itself by Iori Kanzaki

blessed messiah and the tower of ai by Hitoshizuku-P × Yama△

Ressurections by lena raine

don't threaten a bitch! ( mashup of panic at the disco & marina and the diamonds )

last remote piano arrange by nana takahashi

use me by diplo ( feat. dove cameron + johnny blue skies

Ever had a poem or song written about you: nnnnope!

When was the last time you played air guitar: god i don't even know when the last time i did that was djfsdfs

i'm more the type that will dance in my seat or in place when i'm feeling a song

Who is your celebrity crush?: don't have one. i'm boring sorryyy and if i do, i don't remember it right now

What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?: you know those obnoxious pricks that refuse to get a muffler or whatever for their car? so when they're driving really really fast in their super nice "fuck you" car, the exhaust or engine pops just as obnoxiously loud?? that. i hate that. I personally think that i should get to kick you down the stairs if your car does that.

as for a sound that i love, i like rain noises and ambiance. often times, i use it to write or do coding tasks at work. it lets me block things out and really focus on what i need to do, because i'm prone to getting distracted.

Do you believe in ghosts?: not really? all the spooky shit is already happening and this world is scary enough without the addition of spectres from the beyond

How about aliens: kinda? but more in the sense that there is no way in hell this planet is the only planet with sentient life because there is so much of space that we haven't even touched. that said, can they pop up after i exit this mortal coil because i will not have my life be derailed by an alien invasion. no ma'am

Do you drive?: nnnnope. but i live in a city where i don't have to yet

if so have you ever crashed: n/a

What was the last book you read?: i literally never read anymore so i couldn't even tell you.

Do you like the smell of gasoline: no. it fucking stinks

What was the last movie you saw?: uuuuhhhh by the time this posts, i'll have watched the super mario bros movie. but if not, I watched lights out ( thank you @hhemeraa )

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?:  when i was in middle school, i ran face first into a glass door at home and it shattered. a large chunk of glass landed on my shoulder and i had to get stitches for it at like... 11pm on a school night. mom was a nurse tho so she got me in and out of the emergency room relatively quickly because she took me to the hospital she worked at. i was Not a happy camper, regardless, tho and after i got back home, i avoided that part of the house for a solid month. i also only got to stay home for like. a day or two before i was told to go back to school

it didn't help that i kept hearing that with the way it landed ( the scar is just shy of the junction of my neck and shoulder ), it could've been potentially fatal. and i was really lucky. so that was nice.

Do you have any obsessions right now?: tears of the kingdom!!!! i got it day one and have been OBSESSED with it. i haven't been able to play it as much as i would like but!!! i'm having fun with it--especially when the game lets me make a large ass bridge of logs so i can scale something i don't have enough stamina to climb.

[vermillion-bloodmoon]

My FNAFverse Lore: Security Breach (Part 1)

Okay where do I even start with this? Ho boy...

So when the Mega Pizzaplex opened, the first animatronics to be built and made to perform in the main part of the pizzaplex were Glamrock Freddy, Glamrock Bonnie, Glamrock Chica, Sheriff Foxy, Punk Rock Mary, and Roxanne Wolf. Then came the theatre animatronic, Sunrise, who had a younger brother that he shared a body with, Moondrop.

I would like to mention that the first four animatronics made had their own prototypes, though three of them were completely shut off while the one remained sort of active within the storage unit in the basement that they were kept in.

Roughly 2 years after the pizzaplex opened, the first alligator animatronic would be made named Teek Gator.

[Pictured above is Teek Gator]

Teek was given a freakish amount of intelligence for a sentient AI and in terms of age, they resembled and acted like a 19 year-old at the time and would continue to age up from there. However the company didn't think they made a good Gator Golf mascot, so they moved them over to the Superstar Daycare and appointed them as the daycare attendant, at least until they fully programed those procedures into Sunrise and Moondrop.

The company would then go on to develop and build a set of alligator animatronic twins aptly named Montgomery Gator and Nicolas Gator two months later. In terms of age for these two, they resembled and acted like two 15 year-olds at the time and would age up from there.

[Pictured above is Monty Gator]

[Pictured above is Nicolas Gator]

These two would go on to be the Gator Golf mascots, being pretty successful at it. Though Nicolas would go on to be the more popular Gator Golf mascot due to Monty being put into Glamrock Bonnie's position after his disappearance. It should be noted that Nicolas was given freakish amounts of charm while Monty was given freakish amounts of strength.

The company would then, after a month of the Gator twins being sentient and active, make the final and youngest Gator sibling, Terry Gator.

[Pictured above is Terry Gator 10 years after the events of Security Breach.]

Terry, at the time, resembled and acted much like a 7 year old and would go on to age up from there. Terry was also the most rushed of the siblings, so he ended up with a weak and cheap endo, making him more fragile and susceptible to damage, though he was given something to balance it out in the form of speed boost enhancers in his legs. The speed boost he gets from it makes him nearly just as fast Roxanne, who's pretty fast.

Around the same time Terry was made, the company would also make the Celestial Triplets who were the same age as Terry, going on to age up from there. I already rambled about these three in this post:

I should also note that these three have an older sister named Earth that the company made at the same time as the Gator twins to mainly keep the three in check while also assisting Sunrise, Moondrop, and Teek in the Superstar Daycare.

[Pictured above is Earth, who is somewhat based on the TSBSverse version of them with a few alterations in personality.]

Now circling back to our main animatronics that were the first ones built and gained a lot of sentience, a few relationships would blossom between them, the first notable one being Glamrock Fronnie. Of course, Glamrock Freddy was very obsessive and possessive of Glamrock Bonnie, who tended to miss the red flags unfortunately, even after adopting all four of the Gator siblings as his children. The second most notable relationship that would pop up was Roxica, which everyone was in shock about but were supportive of it nontheless.

Roughly a year later, Monty would get in a relationship with Earth even though he was still figuring himself out. Their relationship seemed a lot more platonic from Monty's end as he soon realized that he didn't love Earth the same way Earth loved him. Monty would end up breaking up with Earth, telling her and admitting that he figured out that he's AroAce and that while he still loves her, it's not in the same sense that they clearly loved him. Earth didn't take this well and after Monty left, she would become so unhinged that they had to be transferred to a different location a week later just to keep them from doing something brash to Monty.

After a month the events of these posts would happen:

Roxanne would be the one to come into Bonnie Bowl and find Monty in the state he was in, picking him up and carrying him to parts and service to fix him up. Monty is completely traumatized from his experience and wants some kind of comfort. So after he's fixed up, he decides to go to the Superstar Daycare where Sunrise is on shift, asking them if he can stay in the Superstar Daycare for awhile and draw. Sunrise, who's quite fond of Monty, agrees to it and allows Monty to stay, though they have to go out into the Daycare's supply closet to get more drawing supplies as the ones they have are all worn down and unusable. So they tell Monty that they'll only be gone for a few minutes, leaving through the front doors and passing Glamrock Freddy on the way. They think nothing of it as they go into the supply closet with the drawing supplies in their arms. That is until they hear Monty screaming in terror. For Monty, everything after he screamed for help became a blank as Glamrock Freddy had knocked him into unconsciousness. From Sunrise's point of view after they ran into the Daycare, they let out a horrified gasp at what they saw.

Glamrock Freddy had his hands around Monty's neck and had him pinned to the ground while Monty's back kept bleeding out oil into a puddle on the floor. Glamrock Freddy's expression was mix of ice coldness and a burning rage, mumbling angrily to himself "Why couldn't it have been you?! Why did he have to die and not you?!"

Sunrise, being angry and with his protective programming/instincts taking over, he tackles Glamrock Freddy off of Monty then pushes him out of the daycare, shouting at him that he's permanently banned from it. Glamrock Freddy is left to ponder his choices but still thinks he was in the right, leaving the area while Sunrise patched Monty up and took him to her room. Monty would be stuck in this unconscious, coma-like state for a month, which was the month that the other glamrocks, his siblings, and Moondrop would be infected by the virus. This would leave Monty and Sunrise as the only ones not infected/effected by the virus.

The events of Security Breach would play out as normal except Monty would not be an enemy, Nicolas being the one to take over that role. Teek as an enemy would be more of a stalker-ish enemy, stalking Gregory most prominently in the basement of the Superstar Daycare. So instead of dealing with a bunch of endos again, Gregory would have to avoid being caught by Teek in that basement area. Terry, meanwhile, acts as an incentive for Gregory to not rely on Glamrock Freddy all the time as Terry can and will rip Gregory out of Glamrock Freddy's chest cavity, giving him a few seconds head start to start running away from him. While Gregory could always outrun Terry eventually, it would still impede his progress.

Roxanne and Chica would get shattered the same way as they do in canon while Nicolas would be shattered in Monty's place for his claws. Monty, upon finding his twin shattered, is livid about his twin's state and is pissed upon finding out Gregory is the one who did it. Teek's shattering would happen in the cut backstage area from the game. Teek, while not as shattered as their siblings, still wouldn't be able to see because of their glasses being stolen by Gregory. Terry's shattering would be the most tragic as not only is Terry a child, he's left without his eyes and his legs completely screwed up from the speed boost enhancer cells being ripped from his body. When Monty finds Terry, he carries him on his back and is absolutely pissed off with Gregory, though he's more focused on getting himself and his siblings out of the Pizzaplex with Sunrise trying to help them. Unfortunately Nicolas gets lost in the pizzaplex when it collapses, leaving Monty with a lingering guilty conscious. Sunrise ends up staying behind in the pizzaplex as well as he feels she can't just abandon the daycare like that. Monty, Teek, and Terry end up getting as far from the pizzaplex as possible and end up living with Monty's old technician, Deliah Tenma, and her wife, Rya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is all I'm willing to write for Part 1, Part 2 will focus on the events of Ruin, what happens after that, and get a little bit into the 10 years later part of the universe.

[jcmarchi]

James Evans, Founder & CEO of CommandBar – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/james-evans-founder-ceo-of-commandbar-interview-series/

James Evans, Founder & CEO of CommandBar – Interview Series

James Evans is the Founder & CEO of CommandBar, an AI-Powered user assistance platform that is designed to assist product, marketing, and customer teams. They offer offer an AI co-pilot that only answers questions based on your content. And when it doesn’t know something it defaults to an experience you control – like starting a support chat.

What initially attracted you to computer science?

I was originally a math major. Not for any particular reason, but because I thought math was the hardest major. Turns out math is really hard at Princeton, and I was much better at computer science than I was at abstract algebra.

What kept me in computer science was that it felt like a really unique field, where you could dive deep into theory (the subject of my independent work) but also learn how to build products.

In 2019, you launched codePost, a feedback tool for teaching computer science and programming. What inspired this company and what did you learn from the experience?

codePost was a kind of “practice startup” for me and my co-founders. We knew we wanted to start a company together, and codePost was a project we started in college that already had users (including Princeton) who were using it to grade computer science coursework. 

We worked on it for a year before shifting our focus to other endeavors– it still exists! https://codepost.io. We learned with codePost that shipping fast and being super responsive to user questions and feedback was a competitive advantage. We also learned that when you do that, your product can get complicated and hard to use quickly. That insight is actually what led us to build the version of Commandbar, which was a widget we embedded inside of codePost to make our product easier to learn and use.

In your view, what are some of the common issues with the current landscape of digital tools?

Software is becoming increasingly complex, and companies use many different tools, making it hard for users. The expectations that end-users have are very high due to user-friendly consumer apps, and nobody wants to read lengthy manuals for everyday software.

At the same time, the way software looks and feels hasn’t changed. And the main way to help users is…pop-ups. Those little messages that pop up and interrupt you when you’re trying to get things done. Sometimes they’re helpful, but most of the time users try to close them as fast as possible.

Can you share your vision for a new generation of user-centric tools?

We started CommandBar because the current state of human-computer interaction left room for improvement. Through conversations with users, we repeatedly heard that pop-ups felt annoying – the opposite of helpful! 

Our approach centers on providing users with a significant enhancement in their software tool experience by honing in on user intent – what they aim to achieve with a software tool. Detecting intent can take an implicit form, such as deciphering user confusion from their in-product behavior, or an explicit one, like responding to user queries and searches.

The most effective user-centric tools aim to personalize the user experience by comprehending user intent and refraining from inundating the user with company-centric information that they may not find relevant. This means fewer generic pop-ups and more personalized guidance to enhance the overall user experience.

How did this vision transform into launching CommandBar?

CommandBar is our attempt to be a layer on top of all products that can help users by detecting and acting on their intent, using AI. For example, one of our products is an embedded user assistant that can answer user questions and carry out tasks for them, meaning they can get things done without needing to learn how a product works. Another of our products “nudges” users towards paths, features, or walkthrough content that seems relevant to their intent.

It started as a single in-product widget: a search bar that lets users search for anything inside a product, kind of like Apple’s Spotlight. From there, we branched out to other user assistance widgets.

One of the core CommandBar products is Copilot, a tool that allows users to easily integrate a chatbot on a website. Could you share some details on how this works in the backend?

What we first launched as HelpHub AI is now called Copilot. You can think of it as a “Copilot-as-a-service” product that lets any software product – web app, mobile app, website, or desktop app – train and deploy an embedded user assistant.

Copilot begins by ingesting any existing content that is designed to help users – documentation, blogs, guides, walkthrough videos, and API documentation.

At this point, Copilot undergoes a training process and is prepared to assist users in two key ways:

Answering user questions.

Performing actions on the user’s behalf.

Over time, Copilot learns about user preferences by analyzing their chat history and in-product interactions. For instance, it can identify that some users prefer step-by-step tutorials for understanding actions, while others may favor concise, text-based answers. Some users might even prefer completing actions directly within Copilot.

In addition to user preferences, the goals of the company using Copilot are also considered. Our clients, typically software companies, deploy Copilot to assist their users. Sometimes the objective is broad, focusing on overall user assistance, while other times, companies aim for specific outcomes. These goals can range from reducing the volume of support tickets users submit to their human support agents to encouraging more users to upgrade to a paid version of the product. Copilot integrates these goals into its assistance strategy, benefitting both users and the company serving them. 

Through the first few weeks of Copilot, we have already powered hundreds of thousands of end-user chats. 

What are some additional products that you plan on launching?

We just officially launched CommandBar Mobile Copilot! This is a huge release for us because it brings all of our assistance experiences to way more users. 

Most companies that we work with have a big mobile presence—and this assistance is vital because the screens are smaller, there’s no keypad or mouse, and often users are on the go and have less time to spend understanding an interface. 

Up next, we’ll be launching modules designed specifically for Sales and Customer Success teams to leverage CommandBar to design customized assistance flows for key prospects and customers.

What do you think will be the next big breakthrough in AI?

I’m biased but I’m most excited about models, like Adept’s Fuyu, that will become general-purpose software manipulating agents. There are a lot of applications of this beyond the scope of CommandBar, including training RPA-style bots to handle tedious tasks for users In the user assistance space, I think these models are going to allow tools like our Copilot to perform more actions on behalf of users and do a better job of walking them through how to perform actions on their own. Like the second coming of Microsoft’s Clippy!

In a world that is exponentially changing faster, how can businesses best remain competitive and even outperform the competition?

It’s been super cool to see big companies like Microsoft react so quickly to the AI wave. It’s exciting to move fast again! At CommandBar, we’ve encountered numerous Fortune 500 companies seeking guidance on crafting AI strategies for their products.

I believe this marks a significant turning point in corporate governance. Large companies have realized they can move quickly and effectively when there’s alignment throughout the organization.

To maintain and build upon this momentum, the key, in my opinion, lies in the continuous evolution of your AI strategy and beyond. Don’t launch a few AI features and call it a day. Instead, businesses must stay at the forefront of emerging developments and consistently roll out experimental initiatives. Treating this moment as a one-time event rather than a new standard for product adaptability would be a significant misstep.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit CommandBar.

[benefits1986]

Gutenberg, Geisha Era, Gig Economy and GPT

While I’ve been on a long break, the GPT multiverse has been brewing in my back burner. I came from a generation which is weird because I know how life is without on-hand tech and eventually, dabble with phones and typing emojis, playing with cracking ringtones (which I never have patience with because I have people to that for me), until I reach the point of checking how I can lessen my screen time since my modern cross, calvary and hopefully, my glory, too is housed inside an 11 to 17-inch clamshell-ish box called a laptop. 

Back in 2015, I’ve already seen copies and designs and workflows being built by the bitch bots. :D Then, I’ve really, really abhorred the idea of autopilot using the bots while harping on the digital economy --one in which the capitalists wolf down content and make them chewable for the niches that they want to arrest via potions called brands and their stories to tell. These days, it’s called the gig economy --a make-believe world where digital nomads and hybrid workers come cheaper than a dime a dozen. However, when I saw how powerful the universe of AI could get in as far as guiding better decision making for terminally ill patients, I wished that AI could have kept up faster in time for 2004, when we were battling the 1 out 700K stats and trying to falsify my mom as a case study in her battle with GBS, a then new age disease or condition. If AI was present then, maybe, just maybe, there’d be tribes and subreddits for my mom and me, too. This aching, this itching is still present whenever I wish that Black Mirror’s Be Right Back and San Junipero are accessible, BUT, with reservations. Mom has almost zero digital footprints and I’m sure she’ll kill me because to her, cloning is “playing god” so lagot na naman ako. Hahahaha.  So, after a series of debates especially in grad school where academic excellence overrides the real and lived world (LOL), I have to put my put down on which side I’d take in as far as this tool is concerned. Is it an antidote? Is it a poison? Or is it but another pill with placebo effect?  (Mhie, ang aga-aga na, Sabado pa, chill ka lang BUT I can not. Sabi ko Monday pa ako babalik sa multiverse na ‘to pero no, can’t wait to be a mutant na talaga before I reach 50. Choz.)  I am not an early adopter, a geek, a nerd or a pa-cool person, so in this GPT world laced with both material and immaterial stuff, fluff, and bluff, I proceed with caution aka use it with intent; use it with caution.  Other pop cult-ish early steps toward GPT are Simsimi --a chat bot that is designed for bored people who want to have access to a boredom killer. Another one is Second Life, even IBM and an A-list university invested on it. It’s like Sims but you can interact with philosophers, inventors and celebrities. Both have not trended because then, people do not have ready access to tech, phone bills are off the roof and people are not yet too involved with the black mirror, the edited feeds, and the two-sided lives they live.  Should GPT be feared? I say, not really. If you’ve held a book, listened to a podcast or watched a tutorial video if not a TED Talk, then you’ve been an accomplice to the GPT multiverse. If you connect the crazy dots backward, all roads lead back to Gutenberg. How so? During this time is where mass content distribution started. Knowledge has been steeped and filtered and people are merely handed policed information that impact what they “eat” and what they “shit”, too. Imagine these printers mutate to a multitude of printers that are fed humanity’s HIStory, its biases, its pain points, its one too many hidden desires, its fears, and yes, its power dynamics, too.  Allow me to also touch on a specific part of Asian history when women in the Japanese courts used to be knowledge bearers; but later, turned to what’s known in this history as geishas. The whole culture of geishas deserve another post which goes beyond the pop cult and the movie and the book, but for now let’s zoom in on one tiny yet pivotal thing: Back then, women in Asian lived stories have an essential part in the community; however, women have been diminished to muted moms, muses and misfits. Hard candy but true. This does not mean though that I’m just another feminist yapping. Watch me. 

While GPT is a lean and mean machine, the people behind it are dominated by alpha male and yes, even the myth of being the alpha male. No offense to the men of the world, I salute you all, but what GPT is lacking is empathy, something that does not come by easily in whatever part of the multiverse. Actually, I stand firm with GPT being rooted on apathy. In Filipino, that’s WALANG PAKIALAM, BAHALA KA SA BUHAY MO which is so poignant and in your ass. And here is where women come in. If there’s a crack code for the bots, the algo, the models to have empathy, then and only then will the mega stories that it generates will make sense and will have a better stance. Empathy is a universal trait. Men and women have it, but the thing is, women especially those who balance their personal and professional game, are in the waiting room. This means, shattering the GPT ceilings and the fake solid floors, too. Heck, even the podcasts that are trending are dominated by male people who are talking with their two heads. Ego everywhere. Pataasan ng ihi each word they spout. LOL. Fight me. Fight me. Fight me. 

I’ve stopped watching TED because when it picked up, sponsors started marching in, unapologetically. One talk that etched me was a certain talk about how Pixar is slaying Disney by debunking its myths dressed to the nines. I’ve exhausted all KW to unearth this dated talk, but seems like it’s been policed. Baka bobo na ako sa KW kahit lahat ng long tails naman pati contextual ones, hindi ubra. There are still a good number of really good stories worth sharing, but, its diversity has been dimming a lot. Or ako lang ba ‘yun, ulit? Also, when Pixar bowed down to Disney, game over-ish era na talaga. LOL. Been a fan of Steve Jobs, hence my first smartphone is an iPhone 3GS, but, when he died of pancreatic cancer and brandished that he’s still too focused on his deadline, fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck that clever design and what it cost him, too. (Akala mo naman walang dark stories ang Samsung noh? Alam ko pero the S Pen is my vibe since forever. It’s like a magic wand for me lang.)  And so, we are here and now... the GPT multiverse on its way to Nosedive (Black Mirror EP yet again). However, I put my faith that as I immerse in this world and the worlds beyond it, I’d be able to welcome it, befriend it, and slay it. A GPT with empathy... now, that’s really scary, really curious and yes, even a potentially life-changing one built on legacy that is rooted on alpha female ego, too. LELS.  Pasa ko na ba to sa Thought Catalog, Medium or even sa Rappler? LOL. Daming dramatical errors along with technical ones. Thing is... I don’t care. LOL. Let’s keep it here for future reference. Basta ‘wag lang mag-close down or maclone ang Tumblr. Meantime, masticate this talk from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Gah. So hard to spell. I kennat. I also love too complex sentences --those that leave you breathless and dazed, because why not? 

[citrusinicake]

new reblog cause it was getting long

smile binary: leads to this url

original vs edited

the link leads to a youtube video named mesite.mp3, as the name implies it's a grainy audio of a bird, presumably a mesite, tweeting repeatedly (possibly in distress idk i dont birdwatch but it's certainly less lilt-y than regular mesite calls), at some point morse code can be heard but all it spells out is "G"

theres also some strange sounds at the beginning and end that sounds like something computerized/mechanical turned on/off, something that sounds like a vacuum sucking throughtout the entire time the mesite was tweeting, and two instances of grainy distortions that sound like either someone saying "help" or a cat hissing

in the description are two texts

01100110 01001001 01010010 01110011 01010100 00100000 01001011 01100101 01011001 00100000

which translates to "fIRsT KeY"

and

uCS TDBbsru cnvRs NK uCS RuQssu

which im still currently trying to translate

fencing winner photos: just noting the colors down as best as i can

clown: #873E35 zam: #D9A657 leo: #7E7063 (note) / #E4AC59 (graffiti) (very huge estimate)

green note: two handwritings

first handwriting may be planet's but second handwriting implies that its not

unsure if second handwriting is zam's cause its similar to his but curlier and more connected, could be a mood difference but could also be someone else (personally think its someone else cause the s and n are different beyond being curly that have not been demonstrated before [s looks like a sideways w, n doesnt have the flat part])

log 42: hints of either zam having missing memories or someone directly messing with his life (saying apparently hes moving and has indefinite leave implying he got this info from bacon rather than his own memories)

fly high message: a staticy message that says [FLYHIgHMesITeHEIsaLWaYSwaTChIN'] (FLY HIgH MesITe HE Is aLWaYS waTChIN')

the tags say [tHe caPTaLs MaTTer] and [FoLloW tHe COde]

the capitals in the message are: F, L, Y, H, I, H, M, I, T, H, E, I, L, W, Y, S, T, C, H, I, and N

log 44: binary which leads back to the mesite.mp3 video

the log itself mentions that someone left zam a dead bird and that "he cant be here" most likely referring to mapicc

Log 46: mentions of someone who kept knocking at night, may be hinting that the ding dong ditchers from log 39 were not actually kids but are rather mapicc

sing binary: binary that leads to this video

thie video is nothing but a black screen with 5 seconds of strange audio, the title is [LiAr] and in the description it says [I̴͓̓̊ ̵̗͘w̵̱̄̈́Ì̶͓l̴̩͌͌l̷͇̋̔ ̶̣̒g̴̡͝u̷̝̓i̶͆͜D̴̟͉̽́ê̶̢̄ ̷͉͊͜ȳ̴̢̨o̶̹̚Ù̴̟] (I wIll guiDe yoU)

when i say the audio is strange i really do mean it and its pretty difficult to describe it but it sounds like theres either mechanical popping or a heavily post-processed xylophone while theres wind blowing in the background then halfway through theres what may be either a cow lowly mooing or a heavily edited set of short growls

log 47: the third log without any drawings

door note: note repeatedly saying "theres someone at my door" followed by another note that says theres no one

cipher paper:

original vs edited

theres also text that says [AI’T CXQTDEI PCXV ZDKECZ GCCB. AI DT ADEDKH. AJGGCZIIK. DK IJTQ.] which translates to [HE’S OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW LOOK. HE IS HIDING. HALLOWEEN. IN EAST.]

log 50: says halloween is tomorrow?? (date of publishing is oct 29)

flight of the mesite video: animatic version of the flight of the mesite prose

it starts off with a literal interpretation of the words, focusing on a yellow bird in a forest with a human narrator

it then turns into a metaphorical interpretation at around 1:02, focusing on zam as a human in the snowsancuary universe with mapicc stalking him as well as the series of events that are detailed in the logs (the ones that have something to do with mapicc that is)

at the last two lines the mesite.pm3 audio plays and at the end it says "PLeAsE" "hELp HiM" then a bracket smiley (:])

snowsancuary evidence collection

some of these may not be as significant as the rest but whatever

warning for mild horror, mentions/implications of stalking, and scopophobia

header: link (can get a copy by replacing edit with copy)

header with brightness, saturation, and contrast turned up, doesn't seem like anything's hidden but maybe i did it wrong idk

actual doc has a prose in playfair display font that i will call the mesite poem, it has generally proper punctation with the exception of a few misspellings which im guessing are not intentional (unless they are?), strangely placed commas which im not sure are intentional or not (i dont read poems idk how they work lol), and a few strangely capitalized letters: R U E T H E D A Y M E S I T E (RUE THE DAY MESITE)

it references a few things from the castle arc such as a snow abode which is later referred to as a cage (zam's base, his safe space later turning into a hostile one), the bird singing to those it should not (zam talking and teaming with ppl dualityduo dont approve of or even actively hostile towards), the bird going out to eat bugs and worms then hiding in the dark (the eating is possibly(?) a reference to zam only ever killing ppl when he needs to/when he thinks theyre evil and then hiding away in his base for the rest of the time), the dog lifting the bird with its two bruised hands to its heart (could be a reference to ro and mapicc and team awesome but maybe im reaching), a feeling of freedom and confidence due to being flightless and therefore disadvantaged and having nothing to lose (zam losing like 14 hearts or something), the bird that starts fearing the dog that stalks outside its cage (mapicc literally stalking zam in mc and zam slowly getting increasingly paranoid each time)

it also specifically mentions the 30th (i didnt watch the streams and havent caught up with the vods yet so idk if thats referencing anything) amd a red house on the street

mesite according to wikipedia (made the interesting parts bold):

"The mesites (Mesitornithidae) are a family of birds that are part of a clade (Columbimorphae) that include Columbiformes and Pterocliformes. They are smallish flightless or near flightless birds endemic to Madagascar. They are the only family with more than two species in which every species is threatened (all three are listed as vulnerable).

"The mesites are forest and scrubland birds that feed on insects and seeds; brown and white-breasted mesites forage on the ground, gleaning insects from underneath leaves as well as low vegetation. The subdesert mesite uses its long bill to probe in the soil. Other birds, such as drongos and flycatchers, will follow mesites to catch any insects they flush out or miss. Mesites are vocal birds, with calls similar to a passerine song, used for territorial defence. Two or three white eggs are laid in a stick-built nest located in a bush or on a low branch. The Mesitornis species are monogamous while Monias benschi is polygamous and, unlike the other two, shows significant sexual dichromatism.

"Historically, mesites’ phylogenetic relationships were not very clear; they have been allied with the Gruiformes, Turniciformes and Columbiformes. Recent phylogenomic studies support Pterocliformes (sandgrouse) as the sister group of mesites while some more recent studies place this clade with another clade constituted of Columbiformes and Cuculiformes (cuckoos)."

mesite according to rankred.com:

"Brown Mesite is a flightless bird species found only in Madagascar’s humid evergreen forests. The Brown Mesite is classified as a vulnerable species. Due to its preference to remain in low altitude regions of the forest, where dogs and other common predators are widespread, they are an easy target to prey upon. Loss of habitat is also a major factor for their declining population."

bio: binary code

[01001111 01100011 01110100 01101111 01100010 01100101 01110010] translates to [october]

log 24: weird smiley

the fact that this is the first log implies that the first 23 logs were writtenon the walls which i would honestly like to see

log 25: morse code

[- …. . .-. . … / … --- -- . - …. .. -. --. / -- .. … … .. -. --.] translates to [theres something missing]

the tag before it says [i cant put my finger on it.], idk if tag order was intentional or not, probs doesnt matter either way lol

log 27: cheating scandal

idk just thought it was something to take note of for later

log 28: crown

the only log so far with the crown symbol

could just be because of the competition

log 29: only one with 1 dot at the title rather than 2

milk post: red, first evidence of stalking

log 31: binary code

leads to this link which leads to this picture (poated for those who cant access it):

original vs edited

no idea what the text behind says, interesting that this is specifically on the log that mentions getting robbed and "him"

to watch post: purple, idk theres just something weird about it

the fact its not a log and the fact that zam seems irritated in the drawing means theres a non-zero cahmce he didnt write it

[marimopeace]

there's a limit on how much you can be an isekai intellectual...

a bunch of analyses have been popping up before me all day so i wanted to throw my hat into the ring. all love to ppl who are exercising their creative minds + ppl like geoff here who just talk about these things because of fan interest but i feel like there reaches a point where exploring the "types" of isekai is pointless? i've seen ppl list out the different types of villainess revenge isekai or fantasy mmorpg isekai but eh why fit them all into separate boxes like that?

i think it's easier to think of isekai as a "type" (genre) of itself with only two categories: 1) a focus on isekai (lit. another world) 2) tensei (lit. to be reborn). this allows for a variety of applications and thus tropes that ppl see so many trends of!

with isekai - in another world

you see everything from:

pure fantasy (inuyasha, digimon wait maybe not the best example but in my childhood mind i count digimon as pure fantasy, fushigi yugi)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (.hack//legend of twilight, sao ugh, log horizon, overlord (LOVE OVERLORD!)

otome game-esque worlds >>> this is where it gets complicated with "villainess routes" since i admit there are multiple villainess tropes but this is why it's nice to not think of this as a "sub-type/genre" bc it frees you from those complications! (the saint's magic power is omnipotent, the white cat's revenge as plotted from the dragon king's lap soso cute!, the savior's book cafe in another world, i'm a villainous daughter so i'm going to keep the last boss wait i can't remember if she's reborn in this one lmaooo see this is why rules make everything hard)

with tensei storylines - being reincarnated/reborn in another world as *insert character/role*

you see...

the same tropes!!

pure fantasy (a returner's magic should be special, reminiscence adonis, the lady and the beast, light and shadow, i can't think of a manga off the top of my head for this ah)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (so i'm a spider so what i stan kumoko so hard, her majesty's swarm, can't name another off the top of my head ah i hate lists shorter than two things...)

self-insert based games/novels (fiance's observation log of a self-proclaimed villainess, who made me a princess, death is the only ending for the villainess, the villainess wants to marry a commoner, honestly games vs novels are different applications but i'm not in the headspace to try to remember a bunch of both lol)

*insert line break to give random ppl a break from scrolling but tl; dr just enjoy things for what they are no need to micro analyze*

similar variations occur in both genres (if ppl want to be super technical i guess i'm arguing that isekai itself is a massive genre that has the "another world" subgenre and "reincarnation" subgenre tl; dr) so i think it's honestly a huge pain to try to separate all these trends into so many different types of stories. for me personally it's easier to not get overwhelmed by this gigantic umbrella of "isekai" that spans light novels, manhwa, manga, and mobile games by just stripping each story down into its trademark tropes (aka character archetypes, story structures) and slapping "oh this is a person going to a world that's not ours" and "this person gets reborn as blank in another world". none of this "omg this power fantasy is such a this kind of isekai moment" or "there are 14 different types of villainess revenge stories and this series fits into this" bc AH labels! limitations! circle-jerks via ppl trying to compartmentalize everything and sound smart for leaving a comment on story analysis instead of ooh-ahhing over a character's face! dividing things into light novel manga vs manga vs korean manhwa ft. female characters!

the last bit is mainly why i feel frustrated by ppl's insistence to group everything?

the video linked at the beginning of the post (honestly good video essay, i enjoyed it, i just kept thinking in my head the whole time "marimo these are tropes do not take the genre talk literally") has a baby comment thread talking about "korean isekai manhwas" as a genre featuring nothing but reincarnated villainess' and i can't.

like i cannot acknowledge that as a genre of any sort. the energy i felt reading through some of those insights takes me back to 2012 when all yt americans discovered k-pop and deemed all korean music k-pop from then on! (ppl still do this now, yes you are seen and don't talk to me pls i don't like you. k-pop is korean pop music and nothing less and nothing more. take a few seconds and try to parse apart aspects of korean culture instead of slamming everything into a monolithic label that has the letter k and a hyphen.) it feels so odd to see a bunch of young ppl on ig and tiktok acknowledge korean media that happens to be in the form of a webtoon as "oh stories all about young girls becoming villains in stories they made/played" bc it feels so reductive u.u

(positionality disclaimer that i'm praying isn't actually necessary: i am a 3rd-generation korean of japanese descent do not fite me i am exhausted irl of ppl asking for validation/verification bc massive shove off.)

breaking news! korean manhwa...is just as multifaceted as japanese manga...bc how can comics as an art-form not have multiple genres...huh such a shocker?!?! same likely applies to media in other parts of the world like chinese manhwa and french comics--not my place to explain either of those i just know those industries exist bc of wakfu and donghua shows by Tencent.

at the end of the day it's not like analyzing any kind of isekai is wrong--absolutely not!! i think it can be super fun to think about how isekai elements complicate a story (MCs trying to go back home, ppl from the og world, reincarnation plot-twists) or maybe even bash a series for including some kind of other world element when they could have just written a super fun fantasy.

insert marimo's brief ramble that hey you can get sick of truck-kun's hitting disillusioned guys who happen to be super duper smart or girls who happen to be master chefs/craftsmen but transporting a fully-grown being into a fantasy setting is the ultimate cheat code for making mundane modern technology seem cool and overpowered, and being reincarnated as a fully grown person in a world with a pre-made story/game set-up completely bypasses the need for an author to slowly flesh out world-building in a natural progression so isekai is actually a really smart writing tool it's just that there are some series where the author didn't use it well at all and it's cheesy or clearly isekai was misused as a vehicle for character/story development and it was pointless *DEEP BREATH OUT*

in this essay i will argue...lol i am such a culture studies major!! if i were an english major i would be talking all about writing but here i am having a side-tangent about world-building via someone being reborn wow i love this for me (don't get me started on when an author has someone reincarnate as a baby and the story is mostly them having warm fluffy moments with their family--typically father figures--and getting lots of powers i could and would and probably will rant about east asian toxicity)

but anyway am i crazy????? like yes for being passionate about the technical use of a word like genre (i am a scorpio rising let me be fussy pls) but i don't think it's a lot to ask for ppl to not unironically see "villainess revenge isekai" as the definition of korean manhwa.

idk as someone who resonates with why japanese isekai is so popular domestically + why a lot of korean manhwa feat. the same tropes (it's not for great reasons lads it's actually depressing tbh) i'm just starting to feel kind of pained by the generalization and need to separate "cute japanese girl in an otome game"/"japanese boy finds a harem in another world" from "korean girl dies and comes back as a villainess" bc they are just! applications to the same story device!!

recommendations for any who makes it this far down below <3

// also gladly recommend any of the examples i've listed in the above rant as i've read/watched all of them and adore them v much! //

save me princess

super refreshing fantasy manhwa ft. a princess and her ex-boyfriend having to save the world!

the beginning after the end

an AMERICAN web novel turned into a comic (but see it being not korean/japanese doesn't really matter when you just consider isekai as a genre...isn't it nice to not overthink it?) ft. a super-powerful wizard king reincarnated into another world and starting from scratch--gives mushoku tensei vibes but huge twists!

the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion

love love LOVE this story--read the title and you'll learn how this girl reincarnated as the character raeliana in a book gets married to a duke!

trash of the count's family

such a good novel!! a guy gets reborn as a lazy oaf and he takes the hero of the story under his wing...plot twists come up later on!

this time i will definitely be happy!

v good and refreshing for a shorter series! she's been reborn 3 times and remembers every time the hero's stabbed her in the back, and now she just wants to break up with him!

silver diamond

older manga but v good adventure w intrigue! a boy who loves plants get sucked into a desert world with demonic lizards and a mysterious bodyguard by his side. shonen-ai not BL but wonderful vibes nonetheless + great side characters!

the princess imprints a traitor

adore everything in this from the world (not in that way this society makes me so angry) to the machinations at play and the dynamic between the fl and ml

[muninnhuginn]

I saw your post comparing the finales of odd taxi and wonder egg and i agree the odd taxi finale was TIGHT - i was wondering though if you knew about the production issues on wep and that's why they had that recap episode. the actual actual finale just came out today!

Hey ^^.

Yeah, I'm aware of the production issues on WEP and I've seen the proper finale. Just gonna go through my understanding of them below so sorry if I repeat stuff you're already aware of!

(EDIT: This post got a lot longer than I intended so I put it under a readmore but it basically goes into my opinion on the production stuff as well as how the finale contradicts the groundwork previously laid out)

From what I gather, they've had scheduling issues throughout which led to them having to bring in a lot of foreign animators (I think ANN actually did an interview with some of the translators involved in relaying information between production and the animators - I'll see if I can find that after this). There were also instances where I believe people involved in the production literally ended up in hospital due to overwork.

In terms of the finale episode itself, I think this reddit post gives the gist of the timeline:

(Please keep in mind that though this is an example from just the finale, it happened for several episodes that they only finished with hours to spare - this actually led to the episode being released late on the Eng sub side a couple of times)

I think with WEP, it is going to become difficult to untangle where the issues arise from the production problems and where it's down to the actual writing and directing.

The show definitely started strong and in terms of tackling the really dicey topics it did superbly (I remember my only real issue on that end prior to the finale was the Accas commenting on "male vs female suicides" and iirc that was clarified on Twitter as *not* being the views of the writers - and the Accas acting that way tied in massively with their backstory in the Frill episode and how they clearly don't understand.) The art and animation throughout? Honestly, if I didn't know already about the production issues from outside sources like Twitter I'm not sure I would've been able to tell? Because for the most part it was ridiculously solid (though of course there were still signs - namely the midpoint recap episode and the way they stopped interweaving flower language near the very end and the sheer number of stills they used in ep 13).

Where the finale fell down in my eyes was the very thing that brought me into the series in the first place, aka how it handled the difficult topics. The narrative of the series is fairly strong early on, about how various societal factors contribute towards suicides, especially in young girls. This starts to falter somewhat down the latter end, though my personal opinion is that the Frill stuff doesn't discount the societal factors, but rather the pacing was off with her introduction and so there was no way the Frill and AI angle would have time to be fully explored and resolved within the remaining episodes. Anyway, society and how it impacts on minors with fairly nuanced takes in terms of how adults can take advantage of power dynamics over minors. There’s also the more straightforward character part about how the main four start as outsiders but end up actually becoming proper friends, hanging out outside of the egg quests.

With this in mind, there are some places where the final episode actively went against the previously laid groundwork:

In the Frill ep, we see Himari claiming to Ura-Acca that she’ll be “marriable” when she grows up, with the implication that this is pretty horrifying just hammered in by how she then mimics Frill with the “pop” noise. And then separately from this, we see that Sawaki has painted art of Ai as a grown-up and says “someday you’ll be a wonderful, adult woman like your mother”. Her mother who, I have to point out here, he is dating. There are various other red flags throughout the episodes but I’m just highlighting this one because it’s a parallel within the series itself. In the finale what we get is Sawaki saying that truth behind Koito’s suicide (which he was heavily implicated in) was “Koito tried to put advances on me, yelled rape accusations, then fell off a building”. And that scene ends with alt!Koito saying “Mr Sawaki is kind”. The entire series had been setting up red flags in terms of Sawaki’s relationship with Koito pre-series as well as his behaviour towards Ai and then the resolution is just “Koito was lying about rape threats and Sawaki is innocent”. Like, you can’t even argue this is somehow commentary on how there can be witch hunts when people make false accusations because nothing happened to Sawaki. It’s just plain and simple going against both Sawaki’s suspicious behaviour *and* undermining a lot of the previous points made about sexual harassment by having it be that Koito was lying. (Sidenote: If you *did* want to have something about people lying about sexual harassment without it undermining the rest of the series, you would have put it midway and had counter examples throughout, not put it at the very end so it becomes the final say, so to speak.)

Ura-Acca, Acca, and Frill. I personally think some of this is down to pacing issues which were present earlier than the finale compounded by the overall production issues, but regardless, this entire plotline with Frill and her minions was set up a few episodes prior to the finale. In the finale itself, the only time we even see Frill is in Neiru’s dream where her only role is to reveal that Neiru is an AI (and bring up the potential parallels that could be contained in that only to immediately go “but we don’t have time to unpack that”). The Accas just exist to say to Ai about the eggs, with no mention of the Warriors of Eros or Fear of Death stuff, despite how all four girls managed to achieve their goals. There is just no resolution or even acknowledgement as to this storyline.

This one is more subjective and tied in to how Neiru was handled. A big point which is shown during the series but explicitly laid out in ep 12 is how Ai has friends now and has grown throughout the series. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that people drift and that they no longer have the egg quests tying them together. But at the same time, why make the point near the end when Ai is talking to her alt!self that she has friends and has grown now if you’re then just going to undo that at the final hurdle. (I could go into the Neiru stuff specifically but I think this post has gotten long enough and I’d tangent even further from talking about consistency throughout the series into the general writing of the last episode)

In retrospect, I do think you can tell from episode 12 that it was going to be almost impossible for WEP to stick the landing from the pieces that we had there, but I think it could have been salvageable if they'd just kept their own themes and narrative consistent with the rest of the show.

[inky-duchess]

21 History Ancedotes for my 21st Birthday

So today I celebrate my 21st birthday and I have decided to gift you all with 21 of my favourite historical Ancedotes. Some are funny, some are sad and some are plain bizarre but I hope the make your day 💜

Mary Maloney, an Irish-born suffragette in England followed Winston Churchill around while he was campaigning for a seat in Parliament, drowning out everything he said with a very large bell and calls for him to apologise for his comments on women's rights and suffrage movements.

Clodius Pulcher was a well born Roman noble during the last day's of the Republic. He gave up his Patrician status to become Tribune of the Plebs (an office in which one had to be a Pleb) by being adopted by a much younger Plebian man who became his "father". Clodius was a bit of a riot, sneaking into religious festivals dressed like a woman to sleep with Caesar's wife, building a shrine to Liberty in the ruins of the Conservative Cicero, vetoed the last speech of one of the Consuls (who basically did nothing all year and was apparently going to roast Caesar) and burned down the Senate House with his funeral pyre (the Plebs who loved him literally tearing up the furniture to build his pyre). He was honestly the best fun.

When laying on her deathbed, Queen Caroline of Ansbach turned to her husband George II of England and told him he should marry again. George refused to ever wed again... But added he would have mistresses. Caroline said , likely with a roll of her eyes, "oh my god that doesn't matter."

Florence was a pretty cool city in the Renaissance until Savanorola came to town. He disliked the loose living artists that crowded the city, with their naked pagan gods and rampant homosexuality. He expelled them all with help of the French hoping to make Florence Holy Again. When the Borgia Pope excommunicated him and sentenced him to death, one man in the crowd was reported to have said. "thank God, niw we can return to sodomy." One Floretine man in the 1490s said Gay Rights.

So this list couldn't be complete without an entry of the only American politician I love, Alexander Hamilton who was just a walking entity of sass. I could go on about his sharp sarcasm or his disaster bi vibes with John Lauren's but my all time favourite Alexander Hamilton ancedote has to be this exchange with Thomas Jefferson "There are approximately 1010300 words in the English language, but I could never string enough words together to properly explain how much I want to hit you with a chair."

Caterina Sforza was an Italian noble woman during the Renaissance. She was apart of the powerful Sforza family, which drew many enemies to her. One fateful day at Forli, Caterina's children were snatched as hostages. The besiegers threatened to kill her children if she did not cede the castle. Caterina refused, lifting her skirts and shouted to the besiegers that she had the means to make more children.

Hannibal Lecter's creator Thomas Harris was happy to end his great character's story with the original trilogy. However his publishers forced him to write an unneeded prequel explaining why Hannibal became Hannibal. Thomas Harris agreed lest he lose the rights to his character so he wrote Hannibal Rising, where Hannibal as a young man hunts down the Nazis who ate his sister with a katana.

Nell Gwyn is my favourite mistress of Charles II, mainly because of her sass. Once while trapped in the middle of a riot where Londoners swamped her carriage thinking she was Charles's Catholic mistress. She popped her head out the carriage and told the people "Pray good people be civil. I am the Protestant whore." She also dosed her rival Moll Davis with laxatives in order to free up some of Charles's time and she once flashed her underwear at the French ambassador after asking him why the Franch King did not pay her to spy on Charles because she was with him every night. A true Queen.

Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty of China once rose from his bed to go do some ruling when he realised his lover, Dong Xian was sleeping on his sleeve. Rather than disturb his lover, the Emperor cut his sleeve off at the wrist to leave Dong Xian nap. Nothing has ever been more romantic than that. Y'all could never.

Princess Margaret the sister of current Queen Elizabeth II was a socialable Princess and often tasked to visit the up and coming music stars of the day on behalf of the Crown. When meeting the Beatles one evening, she noticed George Harrison was acting a little odd. When she asked what was the matter, he replied "We arent allowed eat until you go." Princess Margaret laughed and promptly left so the Beatles could get some dinner.

During the Siege of Jadotsville, Irish soldiers under the flag of the UN were attacked and besieged by local insurgents allied with the Katanga Regime. The insurgents numbered thousands while the Irish only had 158 soldiers, all who were lightly armed. They radioed to their allies assuring them that "we will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could use some whiskey though".

Napoleon was famous for writing raunchy letters to his wife, the Empress Josephine while he was away. She used to reply with really mundane letters or not at all. She really just could not be bothered with him.

Josip Broz Tito was so fed up with Joseph Stalin sending assassins to kill him, he wrote to Stalin personally to say "If you don't stop sending assassins to kill me. I will send one to Moscow and I won't have to send another." It didn't work but Big Dick Energy.

Successful Roman soldiers returning from war often got to march along in parades known as Triumphs. During this, it was customary for them to sing bawdy songs about their commander. One surviving one about Caesar goes like this "Romans, lock up your wives. Here comes the bald adulterous whore. We pissed away your gold in Gaul and come to borrow more."

Matilda, Lady of the English was a woman so badass that history cannot handle her. She was the daughter of Henry I who left his throne to her after the death of her brother. She was away in France when her father died and her throne was snatched by her cousin Stephen. They battled back and forth for years with neither side ceding any ground. Matilda was once besieged in a castle during a snow storm, with Stephen's men all around her. Instead of fighting her way out. She simply donned a white cloak and walked out of the castle. Just walked out without any of Stephen's men seeing her.

Pedro of Portugal once fell in love with a beautiful lady in waiting called Inez de Castro. For years, they lived as man and mistress, popping out a few kinds. Pedro's dad really did not like Inez and wanted Pedro to find a legitimate wife so he had her killed. Pedro returned home to find the mother of his children dead. Pedro went a little crazy. He had all his father's assassins killed, ripping out their hearts as they had done to him. When Pedro ascended the throne, he demanded the Pope legitimize his children by Inez. The Pope not wanting to upset the King, said he couldn't because Inez was never crowned Queen. Pedro dug Inez up and crowned her as Queen, having all the nobility swear loyalty to her corpse. The Pope had no choice but to agree to his request.

A famously clever general once saved an entire city with an ingenious stragety to sit outside the city waiting for the attacking army to come. The attack had come to fast for the city to ready themselves for a Siege so, the general had to move quickly. He evacuated the city and took his place waiting for the army to come. The enemy forces stopped and took one look at him and bolted, thinking he meant to lure them in one of his famous traps.

Michaelangelo was really badly treated by the Vatican when he was painting the Sistine Chapel. He constantly fought with the Popes over the design and his work, which he was paid peanuts for. Michaelangelo got his revenge in his work, painting the gates of Hell behind the Papal Throne and an angel flipping the ol' fig (the Renaissance version of the bird) toward the Pope's chair.

Peter the Great was not a perfect guy. He kept serfdom as a practise in his kingdom, he had his son tortured to death and he could be an unpleasant guy. But Peter was a dreamer. He wanted nothing more to build a fleet for Russia and bring Russia beyond its borders. Peter took a gap year from ruling Russia to wander around Europe. When he stopped in England, he was granted Leicester House to chill in while he did his shipwright studies. It was here that Peter found a new passion. The wheelbarrow. Cue Peter and his new found English buddies drinking in Leicester House, punching the artwork and rolling each other around in barrels across the house's Great gardens.

Diogenes is hands down a walking shit post. He was a great thinker in Greece during the reign of Alexander but a rather dry, sarcastic wit. He lived in a pithos/a jar because he shunned all vanities and values of society. He trolled other philosophers, attending their debates to heckle them and eat loud foods through them. When Alexander the Great came to fan boy over him, saying that if he were not Alexander he would like to be Diogenes to which Diogenes just said "yeah me too, now get out of my sunlight."

Cosimo de Medici was the son of a Floretine banker with a great knowledge and love of art. Cosimo wished for Florence to release its potentially and join the Renaissance. He hired Filippo Brunelleschi to finsh the Great Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore which had láin unfinished for over a century, a symbol of a failure of ambition. The builders had lost the knowledge of creating a dome so large so it remained unfinished. Despite much opposition from the other nobility and denouncers of the Renaissance, Cosimo's dream of the completion of the dome was completed, making it the largest brick dome in creation at that time. There is nothing like achieving your dreams and certainly nothing like leaving a lasting reminder that screams 'I was right and you were wrong' to stand for centuries.

[hale-13]

Slipping Through the Cracks

By Hale13

For the Summer of Whump Day 5 - Broken

Just when his life was finally leveling out Parker luck struck again. Peter has had four opportunities with parents and has lost all of them. The way he sees it, this is the least of what he deserves.

Post-Homecoming - Tony didn’t meet with Peter immediately to offer him a place on the Avengers.

Words: 3856, Chapters: 1/1 (Complete), Language: English

Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Rating: Gen-Teen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Happy Hogan, Ned Leeds

TW: Depression, Dissociation, a single line of Suicidal Ideation, Referenced Child Abuse

Read on AO3 or below the line break.

Peter was silent as he exited Midtown with Ned keeping a quiet pace with him. Seven months ago they would be just as excited as their classmates for the weekend, for the plans that they surely would have made to build Legos or marathon movies or even to just study together. Ned would have been ecstatic to set up in Peter’s bedroom as his ‘guy in the chair’ while Peter did a quick patrol or two. If they were at Peter’s instead of Ned’s, May would attempt some new dish that would, inevitably, be awful and they would order pizza from their favorite place for dinner.

Now Peter never saw any of his limited friend group outside of school. He didn’t build Legos or watch movies or eat take-out pizza and he certainly wasn’t Spider-Man anymore – he had given that up after the Homecoming disaster when he had destroyed Mr. Stark’s plane.

It had been just over six months since he had found May dead in their kitchen and Peter didn’t really do anything at all anymore.

The ER doctors told Peter that she had an undiagnosed aneurysm that had finally burst – there was no way for anyone to know. She went quickly. She felt no pain. There was nothing that Peter could have done even if he was there when it happened.

The reassurances meant nothing really – Peter was numb. May was his last living family member, he had no one else and nowhere to turn. He can vaguely remember telling the social worker that was with him when they told him the news about May that he was alone now. He can remember being taken forcibly from the hospital before he was ready to go, wanting to kick and scream and drag his heels but too shocked to do so. And then everything was a blur.

Somewhere in his mind he knew that he had been allowed to pack up everything important from their apartment to go into storage until he was eighteen besides the bag of essentials he had for himself. He knew that everything else was donated or sold to pay off their remaining debt and the medical bills he had incurred by calling for help when he found May on the kitchen floor. He knew that the social worker told him that, even after selling everything, they couldn’t afford a funeral. He has a business card in his wallet with the number of the crematorium that was holding May’s ashes until he was old enough to retrieve them and, hopefully, give her a proper burial in their family plot next to Ben.

He spent the two weeks after in a group home, mute and dissociating with seven other boys in similar situations. He didn’t go to school, but he remembers the constant stream of unanswered texts and calls from Ned and MJ before his phone plan was discontinued then his phone became a dead relic in his bag. There were a lot of discussions about school that Peter didn’t take part in but, thanks to his full scholarship, he was able to continue at Midtown at least until the end of the year.

And then he was placed with his foster parents.

The Fishers seemed to be pleasant people when Peter first met them; they didn’t force him to speak, they had extensive fostering experience with teenagers and were willing to pay for his subway pass so he could get to and from his school even though there was a decent public school in walking distance. It didn’t take long, however, for their true colors to show.

Now, though, Peter knew the rules. He was always home by his curfew of four on school days and he never went out on the weekends. His grades were perfect. He kept his undecorated room spotless. He cooked supper every evening and breakfast and dinner on the weekends. He kept the house presentable. He stayed out of the Fishers way. Mostly he drifted. His days slid together to the point he had difficultly remembering entire weeks passing him by but it was fine.

He was fine.

“I’ll see you Monday,” Ned muttered as he split off to get in his mom’s car, not acknowledging the pathetic little wave Peter offered in return. A coiling feeling settled in his gut and Perter felt guilt rise up to swirl in his throat. Ned was his best friend and he was treating him like shit. With Peter basically unresponsive, bullies had taken to picking on Ned instead… well except for Flash. Flash had been the only one to back off and stand up for both of them – it helped but didn’t fix everything.

“Better if he leaves you now,” a little voice in his head whispered. “It’s better to be alone.” And maybe at one point he would have fought against that mindset but now he couldn’t help but agree. Peter destroyed everything he touched and everyone around him was doomed for misery. Better for Ned to get out while he could.

Lethargically, Peter began across the empty football field toward the subway entrance – his trip home was always a little tight and he couldn’t afford to miss this train.

“Peter!” A harried voice shouted as his shoulder was grabbed and he was roughly turned around to face a red-faced and irritated Happy Hogan. Peter’s mind blanked for a moment in total shock at seeing the man again after so long. “Didn’t you hear me calling for you?”

“Sorry Mr. Hogan,” Peter mumbled, not making eye contact. He felt the phantom sting from the slap he had gotten for that when he first moved into foster care burning his bare cheek.

“The Boss has been calling you, he wants to chat. You screening our calls now?” Happy asked, accusatory as his eyes raked down Peter’s form. Peter felt a shiver crawl up his spine and kept his sight locked on Happy’s chin, trying to remain as relaxed as possible. It was important to not draw any unwanted attention to himself.

“No sir,” he answered, voice a little rough and quiet with disuse. “I don’t have a phone anymore.” Happy huffed and narrowed his eyes at Peter before steering him to the expensive Audi parked in front of the school.

“No matter, he wants to talk to you in person anyway. Hop in and I’ll take you to the Tower.” Peter gulped and fought the urge to dig his heels in – it wouldn’t be polite.

“I have a curfew of four,” he protested weakly as Happy pulled open the door for him and motioned for him to climb in. Peter hesitated but relented when Happy gave him a little shrug.

“I’m sure May will understand and Tony can always give her a call to clear anything up.” And with that Peter was gone. No one had said her name since she died and the thought… the very implication that he could still be living with his aunt, happy and carefree, was insane. His mind floated away and he felt like he was watching himself as a specter. He saw his body relax but his eyes were distant, cloudy. Happy, for the first time that Peter could remember, didn’t raise the partition between the front and rear seats and, instead, watched Peter in the rear view mirror.

The drive to the Tower took over thirty minutes with traffic and Peter would be panicking about how late he was going to be if he had any capacity to feel at all. Instead, he let his mind wander as the skyscrapers of Manhattan blurred into a grey mosaic outside the window, fat raindrops sporadically hitting the window as a drizzle started. “We’re here,” Happy told him as he parked the car in the underground garage that was reserved for Mr. Stark and other high level staff of the Tower. Peter popped his door open and followed the man to the private elevator that he assumed would take them to Mr. Stark’s office.

“Hello Happy. Hello Peter,” the disembodied voice of Mr. Stark’s AI, FRIDAY, said as the doors closed and the elevator began to move. “Boss is awaiting your arrival in his workshop.”

“Thanks FRIDAY,” Happy said, texting intently on his phone. Peter just remained silent as the elevator began to slow before stopping completely, the doors trundling open soundlessly. Happy nudged Peter out but remained inside the car as the doors closed, leaving Peter alone in the sleek room.

Tony was seated in front of a large hologram of his armor, code scrolling past on his monitor as he made adjustments. “Mr. Parker,” he said as Peter edged closer to him, not looking up from his work. “You’re a hard man to get in contact with.”

Though Tony sounded more forthright than angry, Peter still had to fight the cringe in his shoulders as he came to a stop about ten feet away from the work bench – out of reach and with enough time to prepare if the man were to make any sudden moves. “Sorry,” he murmured, keeping his eyes low and doing his best to keep his shoulders from curling in – the last thing he needed to do was show any weakness.

“No need for apologies,” Tony said, light, as he fiddled with a holo mechanism in the right repulser. “Just a statement of fact. According to the news Spider-Man has also been just as difficult to find.”

Peter just hummed in response, choosing not to comment on his previous alter-ego. He didn’t much feel like a hero these days.

“A man of few words,” Tony commented, shutting down the programs in front of him and turning to face Peter fully. “Are you the same kid who was talking my ear off in Germany a year ago?”

“Yes sir,” Peter said, keeping his eyes focused on Tony’s chin. He could feel his mind slipping as his heart rate sped up and he struggled to keep present – it was getting harder and harder to stay in the moment the more he allowed himself to get lost in his head. He occasionally dreamed that one day it might be permanent; one of the few good dreams he had.

“Sir?” Tony parroted, his eyebrows raising and a flash of guilt washing over his features quickly before disappearing. “Look kid, I think I owe you an apology. Actually, I know I owe you an apology. I didn’t communicate with you about the whole alien weapons take-down thing. I underestimated you and treated you like a side-kick and ignored you and then I left you alone and without any protection and you saved my bacon anyway.”

“I deserved it,” Peter said matter-of-factly. “I was in over my head and I disobeyed. The punishment fit the crime.”

“No it didn’t,” Tony told him bluntly but firmly, looking surprised but resolute. “Maybe we both share some fault in the situation but I’m the adult and the one with experience and I didn’t do anything to teach you or help you and for that I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Peter assured him, allowing himself to tap his index finger against his thigh once to let out his stress. Mr. Fisher didn’t like his constant fidgeting and Peter knew that it was pretty annoying so he had done his best to learn how to stand as still as possible to not incur any extra punishments – the index finger tap he was able to normally get away with.

Mr. Stark’s eyes were narrowed as he surveyed Peter. “I wanted to offer you a real spot as my intern. You could spend a few days a week in the shop working on tech and I made you a new and improved suit for the other part of your ‘internship’. I promise that you’ll always have the support you need to be New York’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. You’re the future of the Avengers, kid, its pretty clear to me now. Your spot on the team is there whenever you want to take it.”

For the briefest of moments, Peter was overwhelmed with excitement and incredulity. Ever since Tony had announced he was Iron Man to the world, Peter had wanted nothing more than to be a superhero as well, to be an Avenger. If Tony had offered him a spot on the team after Germany, Peter would have taken it in an instant. Now…

“Thank you Mr. Stark,” Peter said, voice still a little broken and hoarse from how little he spoke these days. “But I can’t.”

“Oh you don’t have to join now,” the man assured, misunderstanding. “You’ll need some training first but Rhodey and Vision are always down to join us at the compound for some group work. You have a lot of potential.”

“Thanks but that’s not what I meant,” Peter clarified. “I have to decline all of it but I appreciate the offer.”

“Oh,” Tony looked a little crestfallen, a dark expression of acceptance on his defined features. “I understand. Broken trust and all that. Sure.”

“It’s not that,” Peter reassured quickly. “I don’t hold anything against you – I was the one who messed up. It’s just I have a four o’clock curfew every day so I can’t do the internship.”

“That’s easily remedied!” Mr. Stark said, his eyes lifting with a smile and looking relieved. “I’ll just give Aunt Hottie a call and work things out and we’ll have you in the lab and out swinging through the streets in no time!”

Peter’s ears fuzzed out again, a sharp high-pitched note cutting off Tony’s excited words as a feeling of immense emotion flooded through Peter before he could tamp it down. His breathing felt a little ragged in his chest and he squeezed his eyes shut for just a moment to gather himself. “My aunt is dead,” Peter gritted out, interrupting Tony and rendering him speechless. “She died six months ago. My foster… the people fostering me are a little more strict.”

“Oh,” Tony said, face blank and an awkward silence filling the space. Peter gripped his worn down backpack straps and backed toward the elevator.

“Thanks for the offer,” Peter said earnestly. “It really is an honor I just…” he trailed off. “Thanks. For everything.”

And with that, he entered the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby, the doors shutting on Tony’s pitying expression before the man could say anything much to Peter’s relief. The metro card the Fishers had gotten him only had a set amount of money on it every month so Peter would be hoofing it back to their house from the Tower. His cracked watch face told him that it was already close to four-thirty and his stomach bubbled with anxiety. At this rate he wouldn’t be back in time to have dinner on the table at five-thirty.

Resigned to his punishments, Peter left the building through the shining lobby and pointed himself toward Queens, moving as fast as he could.

——————-

“You’re late,” Mr. Fishers’s tone was short and monotonous from where he was seated on the couch. The house was otherwise quiet which meant Mrs. Fisher was out that evening.

“I’m sorry sir,” Peter whispered looking at the floor and making no excuses. He had learned the hard way that trying to justify his poor behavior only made things worse for him in the long run.

“Go to your room,” Mr. Fisher told him making Peter cringe. “I’ll join you in a moment.”

Later, when Peter was lying on the bed with silent tears still leaking from his eyes and his back and ribs stinging in pain, he thought about Mr. Stark’s offer with selfish desire. In another universe, in another life, he would have been elated but now he only felt desolation - life always did like to dangle things in front of him he couldn’t have.

Setting his alarm for five-thirty so he wouldn’t oversleep, Peter let his consciousness slip away into the ether, mind going blissfully empty and blank.

——————-

Monday came both faster and slower than Peter wanted. His body still ached from his well-deserved punishment and he was exhausted from the extra chores and minimal food he had been offered as a result of his actions. School passed in a lonely blur for him as he drifted from class to class, hiding away in the deserted music room during lunch to avoid Ned and MJ. They didn’t ask as many questions anymore but Peter didn’t want to put himself in a situation where he would have to lie to his friends again.

When the final bell of the day rang, Peter chose to not stop by his locker where he may be ambushed and, instead, left the school, headed directly for the subway. He had nearly made it when a body physically blocked him from the stairs.

“Howdy Pete,” Mr. Stark said, peering over his glasses to look at Peter and Peter did his best to school his expression into indifference. He couldn’t be late again. He couldn’t take another punishment, he was just so tired all he wanted to do was sleep. Maybe forever. “Where are you headed?”

“Back to my fosters,” Peter told him, trying to skirt around. “I have a four o’clock curfew.”

“I remember you saying something about that,” Mr. Stark agreed with a nod. “Tell you what – let me give you a ride home. You’ll get home well before your curfew and I can talk to your foster parents about the internship. Who can say no to Tony Stark right?”

“NO!” Peter said loudly before smacking a palm over his mouth. He could feel the blood draining from his face as his body tensed, preparing for the correction he knew was coming. Mr. Stark’s brow was furrowed now and his eyes behind his blue glasses had a twinkle of understanding in them.

“Peter,” he began, reaching a hand out with the intention of lying his hand on Peter’s shoulder but he never got that far. Seeing the hand coming towards him and already being on high alert after his exclamation, Peter violently flinched away, only barely able to catch himself from falling over due to his enhanced reflexes, and squeezed his eyes shut tight. “Oh Peter,” Tony said, a desolate understanding in his voice.

Peter cracked his eyes open to see Mr. Stark with both hands raised in the universal ‘backing off’ signal, a soft look on his face. “Sorry sir,” Peter croaked out. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. It’s fine.”

“Do you have something you need to tell me kiddo?” Tony’s voice was soft and gentle and Peter felt his eyes well up with tears he hastily blinked away as he shook his head quickly. “It’s okay buddy. You can tell me.”

“I’m fine. I’m okay. It’s fine.” Tony looked even more crestfallen at Peter’s answer and tapped the side of his glasses to activate FRIDAY.

“Can you I’ve me a scan FRI?” He asked and Peter flinched again knowing there was no way to hide the broken and healing bones and skin that he had been doing his best to conceal. Tony’s face was tight as he stared at Peter and Peter felt all of the blood left in his face drain away.

“I deserved it,” Peter told him desperately. “I disobeyed, it was my fault.” Mr. Stark just looked even more beaten at his words and Peter felt his breathing picking up.

“It’s not,” Tony said, voice still unbelievably soft but firm. “It’s not your fault and you didn’t deserve it. You’re a great kid Pete.” Peter shook his head no and couldn’t stop a couple tears from leaking out before furiously wiping them away. “I promise that it wasn’t your fault Underoos. Will you let me help you?”

“You can’t,” Peter said, feeling hollow. “Everyone… everyone close to me dies. I’m cursed and I can’t do that to you too Mr. Stark.”

“Can I hug you?” Tony asked suddenly, arms twitching with need. After a seconds hesitation, Peter nodded and was hastily folded into the man’s arms; one arm tight around his shoulders and the other snaking up into his hair to pull through the too long strands carefully. Peter felt more tears leak out and, suddenly, he couldn’t hold it in any longer, throwing his own arms around Tony to return the hug and letting out a gut-wrenching sob into the man’s shoulder. Tony just shushed him and let him take as much comfort as he could. “You’re not cursed and none of this is your fault. I get the feeling no one has told you that yet and you need to hear it.”

Peter sobbed loudly again, curling in tighter. He had always thrived on positive affirmation and had grown up in a family where hugs and shoulder pats and forehead kisses were the norm. To go so long without… he had forgotten how nice it was to just be held and cared for. “Thank you,” Peter said, his voice clogged with emotion. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Tony said firmly. “Anyone decent would do the same thing and it’s the least of what you deserve.”

Peter squeezed him one more time and took a deep breath before pulling away. “Thank you,” he reiterated, fighting to make eye contact so he could show just how sincere he was. “But I need to get back before four and I already missed my train. I can’t be late.” Tony, who still had one hand resting on Peter’s shoulder, gripped him tightly to prevent him from escaping up the stairs to the train.

“You aren’t going back,” he said firmly, ducking his head and forcing Peter to make eye contact. “You’re coming with me back to the Tower where I’m going to call CPS and my lawyers. You’re never going back there again.”

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Peter insisted. “It’s really not that bad if I’m home on time and do my chores and stay in my room. And its only two more years until I’m eighteen and then I can get a job and an apartment.”

“Pete,” Tony said, eyes shining as he wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulders and started leading him away from the subway and toward the Audi that was parked in the pickup lane; Peter could see the outline of Happy’s silhouette in the driver’s seat. “You deserve better. You deserve somewhere safe and you deserve to have someone care about you. I know you don’t believe it now and that’s okay – I’m just going to keep telling you until you do.”

Peter sniffed back another onslaught of tears and allowed himself to be pulled away. “Thank you Mr. Stark,” he said, voice clogged with emotion.

“It’s Tony kiddo,” the man told him with another squeeze that warmed Peter to the core. “And you don’t need to thank me for this okay?”

“Okay,” Peter agreed, fully aware and present and wanting to be for the first time in a long time. Things were never going to be the same, but maybe, just maybe, they would get better.