#pledge day

[nonotnolan]

Rush Week

You develop a special sort of bond with a guy when you've swapped bodies and you're touching each other's dick. It's the justification that Sigma Epsilon Chi gave for their partnership with Cuerpo Inc. during rush week, and I had to admit it makes sense. More to the point, Sig-Ep is THE frat to be in, so I knew I was going to do whatever it took to become a member, hazing be damned.

My face has never been much to look at-- my ears have always been huge, my hair is hopelessly curly, and I think my features are more rugged than handsome. I certainly don't have legacy money or family connections. I pledged with the hope that my muscles or my vibes would get me a ticket in, and I was so relieved to get that offer letter.

They said the house would swap bodies at random for the weekend, but I know that the machinery they use allows you to specify certain swaps and randomize others. I was convinced one of the upperclassmen will be taking my body while I ended up in some twig body for maximum embarrassment... and I wasn't wrong.

Henry is... he's a good guy, honestly. His parents are loaded and he can eat damn near anything and it doesn't affect his figure. I've never been fashion forward, so having access to his closet has been wild. The guy actually owns a sewing machine! He's also one of those guys who is never seen without product in his hair-- he actually left me instructions on how to take care of it. I can only imagine what he's gonna do in my low maintenance body-- all I own are tank tops and gym shirts. I'm half-expecting to come back to a new wardrobe and a manicure. But holy hell, the dude is thin and lanky in ways I didn't think was possible. I hope he enjoys having some actual meat on his bones.

The biggest thing is that Henry is gay. Which, you know, that's totally cool by me! More chicks for the rest of us. But once I was put into his body, seeing all of my fellow bros roaming around shirtless and feeling up their new muscles... I don't know how Henry can wear these skinny jeans all the time. I was rock-hard within minutes and it physically hurt to have my new eight inches constrained by denim. I almost feel guilty, giving him the shorter end of the stick.

I'm pretty sure Henry is an insatiable bottom, so all of that size seems wasted but... what can you do? Anyway, we're allowed to hook up this weekend as long as we use condoms and... when else am I gonna have this opportunity, you know? If I don't take this chance, I'm gonna be consumed by the 'what if's forever. Also the part where I'm horny as fuck in his body.

Lucky for me, whoever ended up in Joey's body was giving me the side-eye the whole time we were at the opening mixer, so I don't think it will take much effort to get my dick wet. His body has the type of smooth skin I've always envied, and I'm honestly jealous at how handsome his face looks. He's got a dirty blonde dye job that plays into his charm, and his muscles are... well, they might be bigger than mine. My real muscles, anyway.

"You wanna head upstairs to my room?" Joey asked, grabbing my bulge in his hand. He flashed a dazzling grin, and I could feel myself swooning from the confidence. God, I wanted him so bad. But Joey was just a Sophomore, which meant he still had one of the smaller bedrooms.

"My room," I said, shaking my head. A thought crossed my mind, and once again I figured I may as well follow the impulse. I threw my arms around Joey's neck and jumped into his arms. He stumbled a bit, but pretty soon his arms were hooked underneath my body to support my weight. So many of my friends back home did that all the time, and now I understood why they found it addicting. I leaned in close enough for him to feel the heat of my breath as I whispered into his ear, "I want you inside me."

---------------------------------------------

"I really needed that," I said, putting some clothes back on after the most intense session of my life. "Can't say that I had ever imagined getting fucked by a man before, but, uhh... I enjoyed it, it was good. Hopefully that was good for you, too?" I could feel myself starting to blush. "I've never been a gay man before, but I think I got the hang of it there at the end."

"Bro, you were great, don't even worry about it," Joey said, resting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "But, uhh... what do you mean, you've never been a gay man before?"

I paused, trying to figure out whether or not he was messing with me. "I mean... I'm in Henry's body right now? It's me, Matty. I'm not actually gay. But, you know... when in Rome."

He just laughed at me. "Bro, that's not how it works. Attraction is all in the brain. Like... yeah, the real Henry is out and proud, but you being in his body doesn't make you gay. If you were into that, you've always been into dudes. You were just too afraid to admit it."

His face was all smiles, but his words felt like a punch to the gut. "Wait, but... I can't be gay, I've had girlfriends, I..." I tried to come up with some sort of defense, but nothing came to mind. I thought I was caught up in what other guys looked like because I was jealous. Was that just some warped form of attraction? "Are you sure the swap works like that?"

Joey wrapped me in a warm hug. "I'm sure. Sorry, bro. Didn't mean to give you a existential crisis. I thought you knew. You may not be gay, if it helps? You might be, like... Bi or Pan instead. And no one's gonna make you pick a label right away. Take your time, see what feels right."

He had a point. Being attracted to dudes wasn't limited to just gay men. And anyway, it's not like being gay would be a bad thing. I just... I didn't think it was me. "Hey, thanks bro," I said, hugging him back. "And... sorry if I sounded insulting. There's nothing wrong with being gay, I just didn't think... well, I'll definitely have to figure out my, uhh... my truth, I guess."

I started lowering my hands back down to his ass, and pretty soon we were making out again. "Hey, are you sure this is what you want?" Joey asked, pausing as I started to strip again. "Feels like you're moving fast, and I want to make sure you're not, like... pressured or whatever."

"Yeah, I'm sure," I replied, smiling at him. "You're the one who told me to see what feels right. That was my first time having sex with a dude, and it felt pretty good. So I think I'm gonna have sex with a guy for a second time. See what happens."

He smiled back, and I could feel myself melt. I don't know who's in Joey's body right now, but I hope it's someone hot. There's no way we aren't hooking up once we swap back.

[duckprintspress]

Urgent: Help Us Not Get Screwed

Anyone who follows us has seen us screaming from the hill-tops about our current crowdfunding campaign for Aether Beyond the Binary (17 aetherpunk stories! Outside the gender binary main characters!). We've only got 50 hours left...and we just got screwed.

Our Anthology Kickstarter is being scammed.

About two hours ago, with us still roughly $1,500 from our goal, we got a junk pledge for almost $2,000. This pushed us into being marked as "funded" but there is zero chance it's a real pledge, it's from a shell account marked as being in Turkey. This kind of money doesn't just fall like a miracle into the laps of small business like ours.

The timing on this attack is devastating. The final 48 hours of a campaign are absolutely critical, especially for one as close to meeting our goal as we are. We were very likely to hit our target, but doing so was going to require appeals to y'all that started with "hey, we're so close, please help spread the word." Further, the campaign has hundreds of followers who will get a notification at the 48 hour mark, and many who might have backed to help get us to the finish line will now think "oh, they're there, they don't need me," and not back. Meanwhile, one of two things will happen with the spam pledge: either it will get removed by Kickstarter, which could take hours or a day+, totally nuking us during this crucial window, or it won't get removed until the payment bounces post-campaign, at which point we won't actually have enough money to do fulfillment.

Either way, we are fucked.

Please, please don't let these dipshits ruin the love and passion that 30+ people have poured into this project for over a year.

Our campaign IS NOT FUNDED, and it won't be without help. I'm begging, help spread the word about how we're getting screwed, and help spread the word about Aether Beyond the Binary (visit the link for so much info!) so that we can get enough real pledges to fund this project we've poured our hearts and souls into.

SUPPORT THE QUEER ANTHOLOGY KICKSTARTER FOR AETHER BEYOND THE BINARY (with your pledges or with signal boosts!)

[continuousmeowing]

(gritting my teeth) danger days……is a no skip album. (the american national anthem plays faintly in the background)

[warwickroyals]

WARWICK | Lady Dior II

Part two of my ongoing Lady Dior collection, I was inspired to do a Met Gala look since the event is right around the corner. You get Diana's iconic Dior slip dress and her seven-strand pearl and sapphire choker, probably her most recognizable piece of jewelry. Hope you enjoy.

Teen to elder

Base game compatible

All maps and LODS

Custom thumbnails + disabled for random

The choker is very high poly

📌 Inspiration — Diana, Princess of Wales at the 1996 Met Gala

DOWNLOAD (Early Access - Free May 14)

MY SIMBLR STORY👑 | LINKTREE🌳| TERMS OF SERVICE 📃

@sssvitlanz | @itsjessicaccfinds | @mmfinds | @oshinsimfinds | @elfdor | @simseyccfinds | @oatfindss | @helgatishaccreblog | @clovermilktea | @farfallafinds | @dreamstatesimsfinds | @llamasfinds  | @oakiyocc | @sojufinds | @pgriegr | @mmoutfitters @farfallafinds | @simylafinds

[dirtytransmasc]

imagine if Aeron and Davos survived the burning of the mill and had to witness the merciless carnage of the Blackwoods against the Bracken's after Daemon orders Willem to turn the Bracken's to Daemon's side.

imagine them finding each other in the chaos. Davos cannot stand for it, because he loves Aeron, and these are Aeron's people, and they are but women and children, even if they're still Bracken's. they could be his aunt's or little cousins or even nieces or nephews. hurting his family feels wrong.

Aeron is angry, his people are being pillaged and tortured, women and children are going missing and being slaughtered in their homes, in their beds. his lovers kin is doing this, they're savaging his people for holding strong.

and then they find one another. Aeron is blazing with fury, even as the flames lick at and singe his still healing wounds. Davos, usually the one itching for a fight, for the spill of blood, looks pale at the scene around them.

Aeron throws a punch, not giving the Blackwood a chance to attack him and move onto the next victim, not able to see anything past the others red clothing and Blackwood sigil, but Davos catches it, hiking the other's hand gently.

"Babe killers, all of you, you- why are you doing this?" comes Aeron's agonized cry, unable to free his hand, choosing to swing with his non-dominant hand, aiming for Davos's chest. Davos lets him, before taking that one too. "you stoop so low to attack women in their beds, spill their and their children's blood on their very own sheets, steal our food, all because we had honor?"

he's teary eyed even as his face flushes with anger, his ears tinge bright red, his beautiful hair hanging in his face, in his eyes. his lips look like they're red from crying and biting. it's still torn, like the high of his cheek. he favors one leg over the other. he's still wounded from battle.

Davos can see that he is beautiful, even in a moment like this, and his kin are tarnishing that beauty.

"I'm sorry," is all he can say. he squeezes Aeron's hands in his own. "I'm sorry, I-" what does he say? what could he say? does he betray his house and apologize for their actions? would he even be believed? would that hurt Aeron's heart more?

he doesn't say anything else, not yet, just drops Aeron's hands so he can take his face, holding just tight enough that Aeron can't pull away. he doesn't kiss him, just looks in his eyes, lets their pain and fury wash over him.

"this is wrong!" Aeron cursed

"I know."

"can't you see it's wrong?"

"I do"

"why won't you stop them? why won't you make it stop?"

"I can't."

"can't? or won't?" his eyes were dark now.

"can't. if I stop them, try to stop them, they will put a blade in my heart, it will have been for nothing."

"then you're a coward." it felt like a punch. it was true. even if he could stop this, he wouldn't. he was afraid. he could not stand between his kin and the Bracken's.

"I am... but if it were the other way around, would you?"

Aeron sighed, the fight leaving him. he leaned into Davos, their foreheads coming together.

"no."

Davos was not angry at the answer - they were just boys and this was war. they were boys and their people had been fighting for longer than they could comprehend. they were just boys and they were afraid- instead, he just kissed him softly, praying no one would see them, or if they did, then they would just strike them down here where they stood, that they would let them die together, tangled into one.

"they had honor. they would not be forced to pledge for another simply because they were afraid of death. their honor was meant with depravity." Aeron whispers through tears now.

Davos nodded. they did have honor. more honor than his own kin had.

"I'm sorry."

Aeron didn't speak again, just held onto him, wrapping his arms around his back, taking hold of his cloak, balling it up in shaking fists. Davos moved to copy him, threading one hand into his soft hair, gently smoothing it with his thumb, and the other wrapping around his waist.

they stayed there. through the screams and the cries and the smell of smoke and the calls of animals being herded from their fields. they were together, two boys hiding in the forest as their houses slaughtered each other.

[silverskye13]

Trying to draw my Oath of Conquest paladin, take two.....

[lukesskywalkerr]

i had a payneland idea inspired by @thefutureandonceking’s post about dps and dead boy detectives and the second i read that i had an idea

what if edwin started the dead poets society and was the first member? what if when charles went to st. hilarions he was a pledge and then became a member?

what kind of ghost stories could come out of that and how would they be described in terms of the societies history, i mean it’s founding member died under mysterious circumstances right? he would be a legend, not just because of his infamy of never bringing in a piece that wasn’t his own, pieces that should have been published for the world itself, but for also dying mysteriously and possibly violently like all the great poets.

charles was already a surprising member having poetry be something he wouldn’t seem interested in, however be the most inthralled with poetry out of anyone at the time. maybe not writing the best poetry out of anyone but being able to find and read poetry with the emotional weight of a naval ship. a member who would have made the founders proud. now of course he dies and joins the ranks of those others in the club who had not just lived but experienced life.

imagine charles confusion as he hides from his once friends and he figures he’s hallucinating the face of the founder of his club whom’s face he’s memorized just like all the others in the societies past. he probably figured he was dying already and wanted a face he could not only recognize but relate to. now of course imagine his confusion as he realized he’s not having death visions he’s actually seeing the ghost of edwin payne, the myth and legend, who created that little club.

[todaysdocument]

Joint Resolution of June 14, 1954, Public Law 83-396, 68 STAT 249, to Amend the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America

Record Group 11: General Records of the United States GovernmentSeries: Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress

THE WHITE HOUSE [STAMPED ON LEFT MARGIN]

[THE REST OF THE STAMP IS CUT OFF]

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

RECEIVED [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

JUN 14 1954 [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

NARS [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

FEDERAL REGISTER DIVISON [STAMPED ON RIGHT MARGIN]

PUBLIC LAW [STAMPED] 396 [HANDWRITTEN]

CHAPTER [STAMPED] 297 [HANDWRITTEN]

H. J. Res. 243

Eighty-third Congress of the United States of America [centered]

AT THE SECOND SESSION [CENTERED]

Begun and held at the CIty of Washington on Wednesday, the sixth day of January, [centered]

one thousand nine hundred and fifty-four [centered]

Joint Resolution [centered]

To amend the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United

States of America in Congress assembled, That section 7 of the joint

resolution entitled "Joint resolution to codify and emphasize existing

rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the

United States of America", approved June 22, 1942, as amended (36

U.S.C. sec. 172), is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 7. The following is designated as the pledge of allegiance to

the flag: 'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of

America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under

God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all'. Such pledge should

be rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart. However,

civilians will always show repsect to the flag when the pledge

is given by merely standing at attention, men removing the headdress.

Persons in uniform shall render the military salute."

Joseph W. Martin Jr. [signature]

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Styles Bridges [signature]

President of the Senate. [typeset] pro Tempore [handwritten]

APPROVED [STAMPED]

JUN 14 1954 [STAMPED]

Dwight D. Eisenhower [signature]

[blood-orange-juice]

Ok, Childe as a wuxia/xianxia trope. It's honestly a bit embarrassing how well this fits.

(blame @a-yarn-of-purple-prose for this post and if anyone here is a wuxia fan feel free to correct me, I'm new to the genre)

Wuxia is a Chinese martial arts fantasy genre you are all familiar with. An adjacent genre is called xianxia, "immortal heroes", it ramps all the fantasy elements up to eleven and skews tropes a bit (we'll get back to that).

A common trope is some kind of unorthodox school/sect or technique, allowing to achieve greater power without the usual decades of training. It could be straight-out evil or just revolving around chaos.

Such a martial school is usually called an evil/demonic sect (sect is more like a clan in that setting, not the modern concept of sect) and their techniques tend to drive practitioners to insanity. Either because they are inherently corrupting or because getting too much power without growing as a person is really not the best thing for your mental health. They are also often cast from hp points.

And then there's the archetype of a demonic sect heir. The best pupil or simply someone who has inherited a lost art. Proud, always greedy for more strength, often noble in some weird way.

*points to our calamity of a boy*

Common elements of such stories include:

Falling into some weird realm or meeting a weird person who teaches the hero a Forbidden Technique

Learning a technique too quickly through some sort of magic/alchemy/memory manipulation

Some people are so singular in their pursuit they become insane (走火入魔)

Ambition bad, loyalty and family good

Conflicting loyalties, generally a conflict between a chosen path and personal weaknesses/attachments (could be both ego and familal love, and this is more of a xianxia trope)

Fits like a horoscope so far but wait.

There's a very interesting case of Korean murim genre (their version of wuxia) where sects are less varied (I recommend this post for a basic introduction) and we get three paths:

Justice/Righteous/Orthodox/Light — theoretically they keep the Evil Faction at bay, and protect innocent people, but usually are corrupt to the core

Evil/Unorthodox/Dark — these try gaining as much power as possible and attempt ruling the whole world

Demonic Cult — usually dont take part in evil and justice battles, follow their own code of conduct based on their religion, value strength above all else.

(I'm sure there's a similar distinction in wuxia too, I just can't find it in the deluge of lore)

"Demonic" is closer to "pagan" or "heathen" than Christian idea of demonic here, their beliefs are often based on Zoroastrianism and worshipping a sacred flame. Do you remember all the Persian themes used for Khaenri'ah? And Surtalogi being the flame on Surtr's sword in Norse mythology. I also had the impression that Genshin gnostic references are based on the Zoroastrian-flavoured branch of Gnosticism.

In murim the trope of demonic sect heir is called "heavenly demon" (I believe, a more correct translation would be "supreme heathen"), they are utterly badass, live for the glory of battle, seem more like forces of nature and follow a very strict honour code often conflicting with normal human ethics.

(do I need to spell it out)

TvTropes also says this about Korean stories:

(do I need to spell it out pt.2)

I'm not sure why a Chinese studio would focus on the Korean version of this trope but I'm sure something like this exists in China as well or maybe there's a popular manhwa that inspired authors.

Xianxia extends the fantastic element further, focusing on Taoist concepts and practices and adding all kinds of magical realms (celestial, demonic, etc) and magical beings and making immortality achievable. I still need to read more about it but if I understand that right, demonic heir trope turns into a demon prince in this case. An actual visitor from the demon realm or a practitioner who achieved immortality through dubious means.

These are fae-coded in a way very similar to Childe and have a certain nonchalance towards things most humans would consider traumatic. They are simply not bothered by them, having a different set of morals or faring from a realm that is much worse.

Our boy isn't that (he's still very much human) but he's aesthetically coded like one, same as Scaramouche is yokai-coded, despite not being a yokai.

So. When people say Childe's arc is a reference to Journey to the West, it's not entirely untrue, JttW is the classic of xianxia genre and Childe does belong to the same genre. He, however, is not Sun Wukong but a different, darker trope.

This also explains why he has that "shonen anime protag but not quite" vibe. Shonen was heavily influenced by wuxia but this trope never quite made it to anime or maybe never became popular enough. It's not a deconstruction, it's a different story. Or perhaps a deconstruction of that different story.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

One day

One day I hope people realize that Kitsunami already "broke through his programming" back by issue #56 of Idw Sonic

He had an entire mini arc where he dealt with being without Surge for the first time, and in the real world. He met Sonic and his friends directly, tried to work out what his purpose would be without Surge in his life (gave it a shot trying to devote himself to Sonic, seeing him as the next best thing after Surge). And when it was all said and done, he decided after experiencing more that at Surge's side is where he wanted to be.

As of the recent IDW issues, Kit isn't sticking with Surge "because of programming" and "because he just needs for other characters to friend him and turn him into a better person". He is at her side because he wants to be. He protects her and aids her because he cares about her, not just because he's serving the strongest guy in the room. And he's not interacting with others because he's decided not to give a shit about anyone else other than Surge (because from his pov, even the "good guys" are fake. From his pov, everyone is someone trying to lie and manipulate their way into pulling him and Surge to their side)

Kit already has decided what he wants to do with his life. And he decided it on his own. Not because of anyone else's wants or wishes. That's the whole point of his speech at the end of #56.

He's burying whatever his and Surge's past is and moving forward with his conviction to be with Surge because it's what he wants.

[baravaggio]

This week’s nail theme: 𝔦 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 ⛓️🥀

[ultravioletlightwaves]

Rogers, who has worked as the catcher for all of Skubal's starts, jogged to the mound at Globe Life Field to examine his batterymate. He investigated by poking just beneath Skubal's eye with his left index finger, and then, for no reason in particular, he slapped Skubal softly on the other side of his face with his right hand.

"I gave him a little love tap there," Rogers said.

Skubal couldn't help but smile.

"He's a beauty," Skubal said.

------

"I think we have a better relationship off the field than we do on the field," said Skubal, who spent two weeks with Rogers at the alternate site before making his MLB debut in August 2020. "That's not to say we don't get along on the field. It's just, that's how close I am with that guy."

-------

Before every game, Skubal and Rogers complete the USA TODAY crossword puzzle as part of their individual pregame routines.

...

Skubal has improved significantly at the USA TODAY crossword, thanks to lessons learned from Alexander and Rogers along the way, but he still asks Rogers for help.

"I'd say, every other day I need good help," Skubal said, "but some other days I can get it. Today, I got it by myself. Typically, if you can get going and get some clues, it helps you out. If you get stuck in one area, and then you get one word, it'll unlock like 15 words. He'll help me get the one. He's like, 'OK, this is the one that will unlock the puzzle.' And then I'll be able to do a lot of it."

Skubal and Rogers also exchange at least one text message every single day, whether the Tigers are in spring training, the regular season or the offseason.

It's because Skubal and Rogers play Wordle, a web-based game in which players have six attempts to guess a daily five-letter word that's the same for all players. They have texted each other their results every day for the past two years. There's usually lively banter between them, especially if someone doesn't get the word within the allotted six guesses.

-------

Skubal had talked about getting Rogers a gift at the end of last season for catching every pitch of his incredible campaign, much like Justin Verlander would buy a watch for his catcher after throwing a no-hitter. Before the follow-up season begins, Skubal delivered in his usual low-key fashion.

“He got a nice little gift on his wrist, a nice Rolex,” Skubal said Friday. “I just gave it to him the first day I saw him here.”

Actually, two watches.

As a left-handed pitcher with a 100+ mph fastball and a nasty changeup and slider, Skubal is arguably one of one. The watch he gave Rogers is one of two, with Skubal buying the other for himself.

------

The gift is a reflection of that trust. Since then, Rogers has been trying to find occasions to wear the watch, which he joked might be the most expensive thing he owns.

“I’ve been [in] ragged shorts and a t-shirt wearing it,” he said. “I’m wearing it every day. I just got engaged and we got engagement pictures, so I got to wear it last night and show it off a little bit -- hopefully not taking away from her ring. …

“But again, it means a lot to me, so I’m going to try to wear it as much as I can.”

(source one) (source two)

[egberts]

I'm just gonna start blocking people who send me essay length asks trying to argue about stupid shit because their personal experience was different

[michyeosseo]

I am always indebted to you.   – It will cost quite a lot.

Honey Lee and Yoon Sa Bong as JO YEO-HWA & JANG SO-WOON

KNIGHT FLOWER (2024)

[neonnautilus]

Hello fans of the My Time series and newcomers alike! Welcome back once again to the Alliance of Free Cities, set three hundred years after the Day of Calamity! Our fans and Kickstarter have been such a blessing for us, allowing us to get early funding and important feedback, that we thought: why the heck not, let’s do it again! We really grew as a team from Portia to Sandrock, so we’re expecting to see the same qualitative jump going forward! We hope you come along for the ride! 3 years have passed since the end of the Sandrock storyline. The Duvos Empire has taken over the Orzu Ruins which Ethea also claims as their own, leading to a tense situation just north of the Alliance border in the Northern Eufaula region. To counter this, the Alliance initiated the North Development Plan to move more settlers into the region in hopes of establishing a new City State for a better defensive posture. It is calling on anyone interested in new opportunities to move to the region...

September 26 edit: Updated stretch goal image(s!) - Congrats on breaking $1mil so quickly!

[fakeuwus]

good morning world heres some jaycep for the day: