#posted one of them here maybe ill finish it next year. the other one will definitely see the light when i have proper time

[aprito]

another year of showing appreciation to my fav naruto ship and "how did i even manage this without dropping out 5 times". thank you to @fantasy-author-xanna-renae, @tsukihoshino and @seoulfulnights who let little me collab with them TT

let me know what your fav entry was!

[ihaveforgortoomany]

The dichotomy of Greenlake and Highway 77: rambling.

(Just general thoughts on both horror patches - I will be discussing spoilers for 2.1 here, and uh 1.2's as well if anyone is worried about spoilers for a almost year old patch)

I will give credit to Bluepoch here, having the next horror patch take a darker tone in the form of the Western Horror in comparison to 1.2's slasher horror genre was very cool.

You can see the impression of 1.2 effect people's inital perception of 2.1 from the first trailer and poster.

"Oh maybe its gonna be like Jessica and this is an illusion and no one dies!" 🙃

The signs of this patch taking a more serious and darker turn did become obvious in the pv, a literal body, actual red blood, the music and framing of scenes in the pv aimed at this darker tone, having Kimberely here, after the impression she left in 2.0 as such a terrifying and powerful character to be absolutely terrified here also adds to the theme. Then you have Tuesday's character trailer, maybe by this point you think, "shes a little creepy like Isolde but not that bad. right?"

Then you play the actual story and I think Tuesday's character really does shine in "how crazy is she?" question slowly becoming more and more apparent until it becomes "how fucked up is she?".

Case and point:

With Jessica, the scary part about her was the extent she fully tended to keep Blonney, and rhe Greenlake gang there; plus her misunderstanding that "maybe people do not like to be subject to slasher horror style scenarios outside of the film screen". Jessica is very much harmless and really desires companionship after being isolated to the campsite for so long.

Tuesday? She is partially influenced by the tragdey that befell her prior to 2.1 (Ill finish her character story later), there is this active enjoyment and thrill she gets from her victims and fear, either from others or even herself when Argus threatens to shoot her.

Tuesday is scary how she actively enjoys the fears she instills in others, this balance between a gentle and caring maid vs the terrifying fear enjoying person we fully see by the end. Part of it comes down to the va, who as of this post is unknown but the way her voice balances between caring and sinister is amazing.

Even genre wise is fascinating: in terms of Slasher Horror 1.2 plays on the satirical and overused aspect of the genre, literally Horrorpedia embodies this overused tropes and predictability the genre has come be known for. Alot of the patch was about noticing these tropes and attempting to avoid them.

In contrast I think its safe to say Western Horror is much more scarier and arguably less well known horror: fear of the mysteries of open roads, small towns, cult activity, the strange motel in the middle of nowhere - the fear of the unknown is a stable of the Western Horror.

Summary - the contrast between the 1.2 and 2.1 patches is very fun, I like seeing a horror genre that got me into horror initially getting the spotlight here.

[pierregazly]

1+ 2 = ...4? ꨄ pierre gasly smau

pierre gasly x wife!russell!reader

warnings: pregnancy, mentions of twins, george having a meltdown

in which pierre put his tripod to use and caused two major outcomes, george has a meltdown, and all the fans just want to know what's going on?

ynrussell

liked by pierregasly, charles_leclerc, georgerussell63, and 23,407 others

tagged pierregasly

ynrussell joyeux anniversaire mon amour. three years ago today i married the love of my life and became the official mrs. gasly, so excited to give you your present tonight 🫶🏻

view all 220 comments

username omg babes post the present!!! let us all be jealous

username happy anniversary mom and dad

charles_leclerc 🥳💗

username feel like it was just yesterday that i was jealous out of my mind about their wedding... still jealous tho

pierregasly joyeux anniversaire ma chère, i am the luckiest man in the world

pierregasly can't wait to give your your own present tonight

pierregasly it rhymes with tierod

username TRIPOD PIERRE

username im SCREAMING send this man right to PRISON

georgerussell63 god every time i see anything to do with you two i have to bleach my bloody eyes. happy anniversary you two, im disgusted.

username poor george, him and carmen are so tame compared to these two... i love the polar opposite sibling trope

ynrussell has posted a story

liked by pierregasly, georgerussell63, and others

replies

pierregasly i hope the pizza was good ma chérie, and hope it satisfied the little bean's cravings

ynrussell it was delicious... but we kind of want chocolate now too :(

pierregasly ill check ubereats and see what i can do

ynrussell mine and the bean's saviour 🫶🏻

pierregasly

liked by ynrussell, charles_leclerc, alpinef1team, and 209,444 others

tagged alpinef1team

pierregasly unfortunately not the finish we would have liked, the 15 second penalty cost us significantly and i apologize to my team and all our fans for it. will come back bigger and better next time 💪 now time to go and spend some well deserved time off with my family

view all 3,309 comments

username thank you for pushing through and giving us an awesome race to watch pierre!

username loved your helmet this weekend pierre!

username sad that mother ynrussell wasn't here this weekend, but happy to see her in the likes

username 'well deserved time off with my family' do we think that's alluding to something else????

username girl he's obviously talking about his wife and his family??? like what

username ummm sorry he almost always says 'my loved ones' gotta push the pregnancy rumour agenda some more

ynrussell we're all so proud of you pear 🫶🏻 the track limits and penalties are bullshit and i'll be sending a strongly worded letter to whoever costs you anything good

liked by charles_leclerc, georgerussell63, and others

pierregasly 😂😭🤍

username who is 'we're all' who is the plural that she's referring to omg

username i'm telling y'all... mother is becoming a real mother idc what any of y'all say

pierregasly has posted a story

liked by ynrussell, georgerussell63, and others

ynrussell omf make sure you get extra cheesecake... and extra elcairs, and a few brownies... maybe get a few of everything??? the bean's want them!!!!

pierregasly well if the bean's want them....

username this SCREAMS my wife is pregnant and sent me on a late night snack run omf

username tell us your secret!!!!

ynrussell

liked by pierregasly, georgerussell63, carmenmmundt, and 46,578 others

tagged pierregasly

ynrussell sorry just have to appreciate how incredibly sexy it is seeing my super sexy amazing husband with kids!!! like how lucky am i!!! can't wait til' you're holding our future babies (my ovaries are exploding, i am crying, it's going to be a long day)

view all 398 comments

username girl this seems a little feral idk

georgerussell63 this is certifiably disgusting. please grow up.

username you know who would post something like this??? a wife expecting a baby who is getting more excited about that baby seeing her husband with kids

username seems legit idk

pierregasly is this your nice way of asking me to pickup more eclairs on the way home?

ynrussell cinnamon buns too?? please?? je t'aime

pierregasly can't wait to hold our future bean's too ma chérie

username pierre as a dad is going to be so sexy, ynrussell is so right??? those babies are going to be beautiful omf

ynrussell and pierregasly

liked by charles_leclerc, carmenmmundt, georgerussell63, and 566,493 others

pierregasly october 2024 / gasly thing 1 and gasly thing 2 🐣🚼

view all 4,533 comments

ynrussell omg i'm pregnant???? SURPRISE

ynrussell maman is begging for them to come sooner, her poor back.

username AH I KNEW IT. I CALLED IT. MY HEART.

username THING 1 AND THING 2 AHHHHH

username pierre is gonna be a girl dad AND a boy dad?????? we're so blessed

georgerussell63 excuse me????

georgerussell63 you knocked my sister up????

georgerussell63 i told you to stay away from her??? this is outrageous i am disgusted

pierregasly sorry, tripod's work well.

ynrussell pierre delete this comment rn, i swear to god.

georgerussell63 (i am so excited to meet my baby niece and baby nephew. uncle georgie loves you both so much)

lewishamilton congratulations! roscoe is so excited 🤍

charles_leclerc uncle cha reporting for duty 🫡 congratulations, you two.

georgerussell63 i'd like to emphasize i'm still having a meltdown from when you casually gave me a bottle of gin to announce this. gasly genes should not be casually mixed like this.

username i dont think anyone understands the joy im feeling??? im honoured to be alive to see this

username they're gonna be such amazing parents im literally ????? so excited??????

carmenmmundt has posted a story

liked by ynrussell, pierregasly, alexandrasaintmleux, and others

replies

ynrussell thank you for the beautiful baby shower, auntie carmen already has spot number 1 🫶🏻

username omg omg omg omg

username this is SO CUTE

ynrussell has posted a story

liked by pierregasly, carmenmmundt, georgerussell63, and others

replies

username girl u look like ur about to pop (lovingly)

pierregasly my beautiful wife

ynrussell i don't feel very beautiful right now. i feel huge and tired and exhausted.

pierregasly still the most beautiful woman in the world

ynrussell

liked by pierregasly, alexandrasaintmleux, georgerussell63, and 56,439 others

ynrussell things are getting very, very real (not real enough for my back to not hurt, thing 1 and 2 you both are killing me)

view all 165 comments

username this aesthetic is so CUTE (that room is fucking beautiful i want a house tour????)

username they're literally due in like less than 2 months???? pierre is gonna be a dad that soon???? praying for u ynrussell

charles_leclerc im personally demanding compensation for the bruises i have from putting the nursery together

ynrussell shut up cha, you literally offered and begged to be involved

pierregasly yeah shut up cha

alexandrasaintmleux can't wait to see my art piece up in the bébé's room 🫶🏻

ynrussell knew i could always count on you angel

username im so invested in this pregnancy none of you even understand

username starting a poll asap on the babies names omf

ynrussell and pierregasly

liked by charles_leclerc, georgerussell63, roscoelovescoco, and 675,487 others

ynrussell 2024.10.16 / welcome to the world my precious théodore and éloïse. maman and papa love you so much.

view all 5,640 comments

username omg congratulations!!! such beautiful names.

username they share a birthday with charles im crying

lewishamilton congratulations! so beautiful, you are a rockstar ynrussell

charles_leclerc truly the best birthday present i could've asked for. ellie and théo should be so proud of their maman.

pierregasly the happiest day of my life, given to me by the most important woman in my life. thank you for blessing me.

username again i am so invested in this. i am so happy for these two, they're going to be incredible parents.

alpinef1team welcome to the family baby éloïse and baby théodore!

mercedesamg welcome to the family x2

username oh girl the racing teams are gonna FIGHT over these two just you wait

and there she is! after weeks of gasly!twin asks, i finally decided it was time to bring them to life in the realest way i could. i hope you all loved this as much as i loved writing it. thank you to everyone for all the incredible inspiration, and for continuing my obsession.

taglist

@leclercdream @myescapefromthislife @princessria127 @iloveyou3000morgan @love4lando @asfaraslifegets @decseptapril @somanyfandomsbruh @fangirl125reader @imagandom @motorsp0rt @jspitwall @glitterf1 @christianpulisic10 @carlandonorri-s @smoothopz @eugene-emt-roe @epitios @myloverjk-blog @glow-ish @goldenmclaren @mercunty @success78 @nicolereinara

if you're missing from the taglist, pls dont hesitate to send me a message!!

[timelyrmdoodle]

Okay it's about time I made a masterpost!!

Hello!! My name's Leo, I use He/Him pronouns, I like, run this account or something? And there's a good chance you're looking for info on it! Soooo-

First things first, some things you might know me by!

This account, obviously

My main, @leounderseas, where I post more cookie-unrelated stuff!

My instagram

My tiktok (currently inactive)

You don't know me from twitter because I don't use that!!! Twitter is banned in my country, so I do not have a twitter account.

Also some artworks you might recognize!!

Now that introductions are out of the way, here's some more info on me and this account specifically! This a daily doodle account for Royal Margarine Cookie from Cookie Run Kingdom! I am very normal about him. That's pretty much all I post about here, though other cookie related things do pop in every once in awhile!

This account was meant to be daily, but I am still finishing up highschool, and it's been very stressfull, so sadly I don't have the time to actually make that work. The plan is still to post a doodle daily! But maybe I'll only be able to do that once I finish up with school, sadly.

I have two main hashtags in here!

#my art and my stuffff, for any art or similar things I end up making and posting! If you're expecting a daily doodle and haven't seen it, or just wanna browse, you might wanna check the hashtag :)

#questions and rambling and stuff, for askbox questions that I answered or just general rambling about characters or any other topic! If you're interested about my insight on things (or my analysis of a certain cookie, whom this account happens to be about....) it'll be there!

My askbox is open, and anonymous is an option! Feel comfortable to ask me questions, don't be shy! Just, yknow, be civilized? And not mean? Or any kind of -phobic or -ist or anything like that

Projects I currently have in the works are:

My marge shimeji! It is still in production sadly because I haven't had the time to work on it.... but I plan on finishing it and making it downloadable for anybody who wants it once it's done!!

Another related thing is my character playlists! I make those for fun in my freetime :) I have a lot of them, and some of them are longer than others because I am obviously biased (staareeess....) but I still enjoy all of them! Here are the links if anybody is interested!

Royal Margarine Cookie playlist (longest by VEEERY FAR. You need commitment to finish this one. Also lowkey suggestive. Tread carefully.)

Black Pearl Cookie playlist (Second favorite! Nowhere near as long but still very dear to me :])

Butter Roll Cookie playlist

Matcha Cookie playlist (Third favorite,,,,,, ouuugh blorbo....)

Pure Vanilla Cookie playlist (Has purelily undertones fyi, i like purelily)

White Lily Cookie playlist (Fourth favorite, SHE'S JUST LIKE ME FOR REAAAALLL,,,,,)

Golden Cheese Cookie playlist (Fifth favorite! Not really that long, but pleeeaasee recommend me songs for it)

Shadow Milk Cookie playlist

Black Lemonade Cookie playlist (very unfinished...)

Shining Glitter Cookie playlist (very unfinished....)

Snapdragon Cookie playlist (very unfinished, IM SO SORRY BABYYYY,,,,)

I also have non cookie playlists! Though they are few

Furina de Fontaine (Genshin Impact) playlist (Second longest playlist I have. I LOVE HER SO MUUUUCHHH YOU GUYS DONT GET ITTT)

Kieran (Pokemon Scarlet & Violet DLC) playlist (This kid is ill and I care him)

To finalize, I don't take comissions right now, but I do take requests in my askbox! Depending on the request ofc. I plan on taking comissions someday, but that'll probably have to wait until I finish highschool next year! And with all that said.... You're caught up!!! *confetti falls Have any questions? Lmk!! I'll answer them! Have a good day :]

[safe-from-sharp-teeth]

Ayo! I haven't answered asks in FOREVER, so it's time for some spring cleaning :) Also answering other stuff, like what I've been up to.

If you sent an ask and it's not here, sorry! I may have deleted it because the prompt required too much work of me and I wasn't feeling it, or I was uncomfortable.

Let's gooooo !

Firstly - where have I been? Work REALLY picked up in a way I wasn't expecting over the last...4 months? I was working double and often triple the hours I was used to. With work, vacations, random illnesses, and many video games I got a bit too obsessed with, this blog took a backseat. Plus, sometimes I get disinterested in vore when obsessed with something else. Sometimes, that lasts months, and it did this time.

But now I can confirm that work will FINALLY chill for a long period of time. I'm free! And more motivated than ever! Wahoo! Thanks for your support ALWAYS.

Next big question - when am I going to do more of my story? The one with Asyr? AHHHHHGHHGHH this story has consumed my life. I think about it daily. I dream about it. And yet I'm not as comfortable writing as I am drawing, so writing is a slow process that my perfectionist ass struggles with. I can assure you that there is a story in the works - and I am working on it at a snail's pace.

Okay, ask time...

@ponyluvesonic09 AYO maybe I'll make a full ghost pred pros/con list for you, because that sounds awesome! Kir//by is one of the silliest canon preds out there. Honestly getting eaten by him would be like getting vored by a vacuum, LOL. Galaxy tummy!! Imagine a prey floating around in one of those item bubbles all grumpy. Thank u for the ask, this is good stuff.

no. ( /・・)ノ

UWAGHHHHH I LIKE HER!!! Never played O/verwat/ch but what a gem!! I have a random fondness for centaur-like preds nowadays. She looks so cozy. THANK U I LOVE HER!!!

@tiger9o0 I have not played r//ain w//orld or know what it's about, LOL. Looks like a platformer? Man, I'm terrrriiiiibblleee at those. But whoever this is on the cover, I LIKE EM. A+. (That might not answer ur question shdjbghkjg SORRY)

@heimkoheimkofan LOVE THAT I GOT THE ROBOT ENJOYERS AFTER THAT ONE POST....YES yall are so right and I'm so wrong for just hard metal robot tums. I will rectify my mistake soon I PROMISE. Also oh! You were the one asking about stomachs other than elemental ones! IVE HAD THAT IN MY DRAFTS FOREVER IM SORRY AHHHH. I REALLY love your imagination with tums and you've inspired me to think of some awesome environments! THANKS

@fastfur07 BWAH?? Ugh I'm all over the place when it comes to art. Some pieces take 30 min (like the zangooc I drew at the top of this post), most take 2 days. Some really hard drawings like my wolf bat creechur from a few months ago and my shrimp from last year took a month. THANK U??

We're going back so far that I think this is about my naga oc (which I'm in the midst of redesigning cough cough). For him, he would never tolerate being prey, extremely unwilling bahaha. In general, I haven't thought much about naga or snake prey! I get the appeal of slurping up a noodle, but I just prefer human prey :)

@fastfur07 you fiend, you always give me the best drawing ideas. UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't have time to draw something for this one. BUTTTT....

(i've had this next one in my drafts for forever)

then i had a silly comic. I'll post the wip here because I won't finish it, so enjoy bahaha.

@blizzaria123-blog THANK U im rapidly melting into a puddle from ur words

@mrpotatomanversionsix relevant. i will continue drawing them 4 u

?!??!!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!? how dare u enter my ask box with this blasphemy

@sfwsillynoms WAH!!! you!!! I'm currently redesigning my naga oc but when I finish I'll tag you, if you're still around! And he can 100% be drawn with ur preysona :)

@mystorl i am SO late to this, but SMART. I like it. I shall give my lil guy this friend. I just want to let u know that I see this and it's wonderful and I will do something abt it.

I remember this ask made me laugh a ton when I first got it. thank u. idk why I find this so funny

@sillylilprey IM CRYING RIGHT BACK AHHHH this is an ancient ask, but thank u! hope you're still enjoying!

@terrytheinsane finally, the last ask in my askbox. I love it. You have been wronged with how long it took me to answer you. I have gained knowledge from your ask. THANKS

AND THAT'S IT!! Thanks guys, I hope to make you proud! Feel free to send more asks, and hopefully I will answer in a TIMELY manner.

Goodnight! And remember: Nice Vore ᕕ༼⌐■-■༽ᕗ

[cryptidghostgirl]

heyhey! You said you had a request but couldn’t see it and in case it was mine here i am once again humbling asking you to feed my delusions. I am the same person who asked for the one with the fake dating trope and the one where reader spawns into the lobby :))

But i am here now going for a more angsty route! >:) Granted, this is more of an OC x Alastor but im describing it more generic for the populace BUT HERE GOES

right before “Cover me” reader kept silently glancing over at Alastor which was on the dance floor, subconsciously making him approach her. He goes of course they have a (Important for later) conversation like “I havent seen you around here. Are you new around town?” “Just moved in actually~” “Well, Id love to give you a tour someday, the names Alastor” and he kisses her hand “Ah a charmer, ill have to be careful around you” (OR A MORE ELEGANT CONVERSATION THEN THAT I SUCK AT DIALOGUE) then theres the knife and gun scene and the team up

And then they get together after about a year or two and I dont wanna say theyre legally married but eventually use wife and husband terms because its more fancy and gives them more respect in eyes of others but they have been together for around 5 years at this point.

but then the events of 1925 happen where readers twin brother dies because some bastards set fire to his house and Reader has an argument with Alastor before eventually going alone to avenge her brother (theyre like “theres too many, youll die” “so be it!”)

Reader kills them all (duh) but because it was January and extremely cold she eventually gets hypothermia and during the delusions it gives she stumbles and gets impaled on an abandoned rusty fence spike and dies :3

Alastor find her and gives her a proper burial and 8 years later in 1933 while visiting readers grave he gets shot canonically

But these 8 years gave reader enoigh time in hell to establish her own dominance and due to the life she lived and the death of hypothermia- she gets turned into a sort of blizzard demon. Around 180 cm with black limbs, white fluffy hair and fluffy ears and a white tail as a sinner form and for the demon form im thinking of the faceless Room Guardians by Anyaboz on Instagram (incredible artist btw) with ice powers like summoning weapons and ice spikes and ice touches and moving freely (like Kindred’s wolf in League) in her blizzard. Taking over half the pentagram like this-

Until 1933 when Alastor pops up in hell, does his demon business and eventually wants to check out these frozen parts and goes into a bar very similar to the one they met and sees reader at the table and then THEY HAVE THE EXACT SAME CONVERSATION THEY HAD WHEN THEY FIRST MET (maybe with the knife and gun scene too hehe) and theyre both like “i forgive you” or smth idk maybe they just have a silent agreement- either way.

After they met the blizzard stops and no one knows why or who did it :>, readers identity as the blizzard demon remaining a secret

BTW I LOVE YOU FOR MAKING MY DREAMS COME TRUE- if you want more i have a ton of ideas because brain rot- (also lil side note i kind of imagine reader as albino because it would fit my ocs lore a bit more- but keeping it basic would fit everyones ideas of their own reader so! do what you please you already made my day better by reading my ideas come to life :3))

yes!! i did see yours and it is currently in third place for requests i need to fill so ill probably get it done by this weekend, early next week at the latest. it’s just taking me a bit because i’m in midterms rn and also i want to make sure i get in all the details :) i think it might’ve been a request for alastor’s mom reader x lucifer?? i recall getting one about that but can’t seem to find it anywhere. long story short,, your request is in progress and i will post it as soon as i have the time to finish it up :)

UPDATE: This piece has officially been posted as of Friday February 23rd, 2024.

Frostbite (Alastor x Reader)

[briar-ffxiv]

FFXIV Write #10 - Stable

FFXIV Write 2024 Master Post

Prompt #10 - Stable

Briar sighed loudly, sitting back on his heels and glaring at his patch of strawberries. "You're criminals," he announced quietly. "Every single one of you! Look at this!"

It was late in the season so the harvest wasn't as large as it had been in summer, but still, there were plenty enough for him to make jams and jellies and other preservatives. The 'criminals' were several runner-plants creeping with ill intent toward the nearby vegetables. Years ago Briar had learned to use raised beds to help control them. Still, some of his more robust strawberry plants had decided to bid for freedom. Or destruction as strawberries were happy to choke other plants to death in their attempts to spread.

"Ugh," he muttered as he gathered the berries in the baskets. "I need to do something with you." He eyed the runner-plants with a sigh, reluctant to just dig them up and throw them away. It seemed such a waste and, for all his grumbling, it was merely Nature doing as Nature does.

Looking around, Briar tilted his head and made a thoughtful noise before rising. He moved away from the cottage and into the pasture. He paused to pet a few sheep, scratching Ajax's ears briefly as he made his way to a sandy ridge that led into the forest. He crouched to check if the soil was dry and stable enough, brushing his fingers through it before nodding to himself. "Perfect."

In short order, he finished gathering the strawberries and set them in his kitchen. Next, he started to dig up the strawberry runners, chuckling when Jack came to help, tossing soil about a little. "Good boy," he hummed, patting the sheepdog's mismatched ears as he gathered the extra plants into a basket.

With Jack at his heels, Briar went to the spot of ground he'd chosen. It was not too wet and nice and sunny, just as strawberries loved. Jack tilted his head to watch glancing at the garden and woofing at his master in confusion. "What?" Briar chuckled, hands still busily putting the small plants into the soil. Jack lay down and huffed at him. "Mmm, well, these are extras," he explained to the dog. "I figure if they do thrive through the winter, maybe some strawberries here will help keep the deer and rabbits out of my garden proper. And no harm in letting them have a treat too, right?"

Jack woofed again, short tail giving a few wags as he watched Briar finish placing all the spare strawberries. He jumped off to follow once the half-Elezen headed back toward the cottage. "Worse comes to it," Briar smiled. "The sheep will have some fresh strawberry leaves in spring, won't they?" He glanced over his shoulder and frowned. "I'll just have to make sure they don't take over the whole pasture… The only thing worse than strawberries is mint. That's why I only grow my mint in a pot," he declared to Jack, opening the door so the dog could bound inside with Briar behind.

[hana-no-seiiki]

why does ‘it’ give me so much gender euphoria? i’ve been reading way too much monster! reader fics.

anyways have an old fic of mine from quotev i never got to continue writing lolz have fun. next chapters will be posted on yoru-no-seiiki if ever.

LOVE MULTIPLIED : MONSTER

PROLOGUE:

THE BEAST.

IT WAS A BEING WITH NO NAME, no face, no identity in this world except the cruel things it was designated as by the people it tormented.

By all intents, constructions and purposes, the being was an enigma to humankind. An enigma of atypically molded flesh and bone ; of blood; of darkness — of the heavens and the universe.

When it awoke on this planet, it already knew its purpose.

To tear down humanity’s knowledge that edged far too close to the divine the being called its creator.

Yet, it had underestimated the tenacity of these new creations. 

It had taken them centuries, sure. A number of years enough to carry half a dozen generations. But they had won against it.

It was a being with nothing but the overflowing intent to destroy humanity —

So that one day it may build it back up again to where it will stay juvenile and naïve for eternity.

“You have been captured, Alien. There’s no use to this.” A human that the others called a scientist spoke. They watched with focused eyes, and the creature was almost sure they did not stop to blink for a second.

Alien. It was one of the things humanity thought it was. If anything humanity were the true aliens to this world. How awfully ironic of them to call it that.

It only responded with a deep trill.

“It took us almost a millennium but we did it. We finally — “ The scientist choked on their words for a moment, overwhelmed with sadness, excitement, and most of all anxiety.

”We finally defeated you.”

If their enemy still being alive and capable of destroying several moons with just a thought was considered a victory for humanity. Then maybe the beast had overestimated its quarry. Still it could not deny the impressive feat that is its capture. Though it was mostly its fault for taking so long to finish the job, humanity was nonetheless impressive.

And that is exactly why humankind must be cut off where it stands.

”And… I have you here. All to myself.” The scientist muttered. Fortunately — or was it unfortunately — the forcefield did nothing to stop the sounds coming from outside. So the beast could hear their whispers , and every sound there is and could be in the universe , just as well as them shouting these words out.

It leaned forward, inches away from the forcefield that separated it from tearing the human apart. Is this the type of person that they usually call— what was it again— a creep?

Unfortunately this action only made the scientist blush. Either at the success in finally getting it to do more than growl or from being incredibly close to the murderer of billions. It did not know. 

“The strongest being in this universe — and me, about to be the most knowledgeable human this world has to offer. “ The beast adjusted itself back to a ‘sitting’ position. The scientist took the action as one made in fear — how utterly ridiculous — and waved their hands, ”Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you . . . too much.”

This person was the exact epitome of why the divine creator had sent it here. Humans who venture too far into the unknown turned to fall ill with madness. Really, the creature was doing these beings a favor.

A favor paid in the souls of billions.

Though it knew that if it hadn’t gone through with its divine mission, humanity would inevitably destroyed itself. The creature only accelerated the process and gave them a villain to blame.

”I never experienced the war myself, as old as I am. While those brutes out there kept themselves busy with attempting to destroy you. I knew from the moment I first saw you towering the black skies that the true way to achieve a triumph was to keep you locked. For us to observe.” The human continued musing while they walked around the room.

At this point the monster wasn’t even listening anymore and was thinking of the infinite ways it could reshape this rather annoying scientist.

”For us to learn about.”

It growled. There was nothing to learn about it. Nothing at all. The leathery detached skin in front of its mouth fluttered as the sound emitted across the gigantic chamber.

”And who knows — for us to one day replicate.”

It attempted to reach through the forcefield, the urge to destroy to unbearable. But it is reminded of how they were exactly kept here.

The moment flesh made contact with field, it burns. The creature knew no pain before for it had only known its creator and darkness. But pain, oh how —

— distracting it was.

The scientist paid no mind to its loud roars of agony. Instead they smile as they leave the observation room. 

“I’ll see the next day then, Beast of Judgement.”

ART BY MARK HILYER

©️ hana-no-seiiki - yun | 2023

[lbhslefttiddie]

WIP folder game

Rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Tag as many people as you have WIPs. People can send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, then post a little snippet/preview or tell them something about it!

tagged by @gaywarcriminals hi fish!!!!!

oh god. oh man okay ummmm. so here the Thing. i dont have a WIP "folder" so we gon be parsing through literally every file ive ever written okay bear with me. ive done my best to compile them, there is really no organization to speak of. im so sorry

since my works really runs a wide range of content im gonna include a tag on any explicit works (E) and anything with explicit noncon (ENC). thas not to say theyre the only things in the wip or the part ill share, necessarily, but it feels like something worth being upfront about.

also there are MANY files in here that are various future points of Mouse on the Thorn, which i think im gonna label as such for clarity and spoiler potential. (MotT) for MotT. you may look a the number of WIPs here for MotT alone and think, wow Lucien, maybe you should just finish the next chapter of MotT. you would be correct.

anything more specific than that ill cover in the post itself if its brought up but in the spirit of the game ill leave it at that here

anyways:

recognition of other through the self

an exercise in hubris

79 abo

when ur 2ic disappears for five years only to come back with a son

bad time (ENC)

i keep my closet free of skeletons

liujiu cave omegaverse

bite (E, MotT)

beastboy (MotT)

mott dreamscape (MotT)

sy pov (MotT, ENC)

Mott sy Strugle (MotT, E)

visit

spiader (MotT)

*sounds of screaming and crying* (E)

mott sqh pov (MotT)

ayuan nseaky (MotT)

early presentation (MotT)

lbh abnormal (MotT)

7 atticwifing 9 (E)

9 atticwifing 7 (E)

Xuan Su (E)

Xmsy but qi deviating unseals his demonic energy

tentaclezun

Cumplane explaining various modern world bullshit to lbh

Disciple shen yuan oh no (ENC)

archangel sqq

Osj

Binghe finds out what yogurt is

Drunk sqqs

Osqq thug bullying (ENC, E)

Sqq actually kills himself whoops

Shadows house au

Shen yuan dying??? In MY presence? Its more likely thn you think

hes dissociating now nice job you broke him (ENC)

Truthed

Turbo omega plant body AU :-) (E)

A..... a murder mystery???

Hehe Bingge sexc

sy introduces lbg to toilets and other 21 century clownery

wow would you look at that, abruptly it would seem i have forgotten how to read and cannot see the rules of this game so im just gonna tag @fictionalcreator and no one else bc i dont often "talk" to people, however feel free to join if u wanna, or if youre fict, feel free to ignore if you wanna

[mythosidhesdollhouse]

Fair warning up front this post is going to be a bit of a ramble XD

Soooo where to begin? Poor health has put me in a decided weird mood over the last few weeks, which has extended into my recent doll collecting activities. My continuing boredom/dissatisfaction with the current 1/6th-ish fashion doll landscape has pushed me into considering other types of dolls I normally wouldn't pay much attention to. The doll featured in this post, Littlelistas Baby Lily, is a perfect example. As an adult collector I have a rather fraught relationship with baby dolls, for reasons that could (and likely eventually will) be the subject of an entirely separate post, but suffice to say for the most part I tend ignore or even avoid them.

But THIS one. I came across her while I was poking around the Purpose Toys site in search of info about the new wave of Naturalistas, and when I saw her my heart just melted. I've spoken a bit in the past about being mixed and growing up without any Black dolls, and how the internalized racism that fostered has affected me into adulthood. In a way I can't quite articulate my instant connection with this doll felt like another small step towards healing all that. As a child I know I would have absolutely adored this doll...so I bought her, for my younger self.

(More introspective rambling, and some crafty stuff--)

Once baby Lisa, or as I quickly renamed her, Charlotte (Lottie for short) arrived, I was even more charmed by her than I'd been by her stock photos; and beyond that, I started to get inspired. Almost immediately upon unboxing her I began to have ideas for ways to embellish her (regrettable not removable) outfit. I remembered I have a spool of craft lace in a very similar shade of pink, and by the end of the afternoon I had stitched a row of this to the hem of her skirt. But why stop there? After I finished with the lace I sat down to have a dig through my supply stash, assembled an assortment of complimentary beads, and even turned up a small quantity of ribbon roses to add to the mix.

(I changed out the white seed beads for pink ones I found after I took this photo)

Below you can see the additional progress I've made over the past couple of days. It's slow-going, but honestly hand-stitched beading and applique is a welcome change from crochet, which I must confess I've been growing rather bored with as well. This little side project is a fun variation from my typical crafting outlet. I used to do this sort of thing all the time to embellish my embroidery projects, but since my vision has become increasingly worse with age it's been quite awhile since I made use of my needlework skills. I've missed it.

Not quite sure where I plan to go from here--it's been a bad fatigue day so I'm having a rest while I ponder what I want to add next. In a way it feels like I'm making this doll 'special' as a gift to my inner child, which sounds unbelievably cringe as I write it, and yet is probably the most genuine sentiment I've had in quite some time. The past few years have been a huge learning curve for me as I figure out how to have patience with myself as I get used to navigating life with chronic illness/disability, and maybe giving myself space to do this kind of slow, contemplative, relatively simple project is part of that process as well. Healing the child and the cantankerous middle-aged woman at the same time XD

[estrophore]

Signalis Post (barely coherent thought vomit)

So I finished signalis on Monday and i think ive just about recovered enough for me to make a gush post about it on tumblr dot com, which i think i have to do cause i dont think any other game has really hit me as hard as this one. Spoilers obvs.

Being pre-transion, with that associated depression and closing off from oneself, ive always found it difficult to get out my feelings, even in private with just myself, and yet signalis has filled me throughout with its beautiful romantic melancholy and left me genuinely sobbing for the gay robot and her space girlfriend (almost worried that if id played this game on estrogen it might actually have just killed me on the spot). the only other times i can think of where i really cried were playing We Know The Devil near the beginning of the year, which really fkin hit the part of me that struggles to accept myself, and that time i rewatched the last episode of she-ra after reading the ‘Word War Etheria’ fanfic, which brings the characters so much more to life i fell for them all over again.

Signalis is a game that calls back to a lot of classic horror like resident evil and silent hill, which i havent got round to playing any of yet, but i think nostalgia works both ways sometimes and i’ll be playing them sooner now. sometimes horror gets stereotyped as all death and violence, some games fill themselves with skulls and corpses, and big ugly monsters and basically shout ‘DEATH!’ in your face repeatedly and it all just comes off as a bit garish and ridiculous and not actually very scary really. Signalis sits at the other end of that scale (with some of my other fav horror games like soma, cry of fear) where its environs are most usually just… quiet. Still. Muffled. Sad. just as often as theres tension or creeping fear because of this i find theres a strange kind of comfort too. Maybe its just that in most other genres of games theres so much of music, UI elements, pickups and interactibles with vibrant design. Here, theres room for your mind to just occupy the space. A soft fog. A dimly lit room. An empty train. Snow out a window. Liminal spaces that dont expect anything from you.

Signalis is a game thats just simply, unapologetically gay, and i dont think i would have been quite so invested in Elster and Ariane’s relationship if they were a straight couple. Its why representation is important, if art’s way for us to explore our emotions then its important to have media that we can relate to. Even Adler’s role isnt typically masculine. Our replika characters are manufactured, designed for certain roles in the base. Notes from the tough Stars and Storchs in the shooting range, the dollish Eules with the fairy lights and music player in the dorm. I couldnt help but think of groups of Eules sat around chatting, together, and im yearning for that feeling of togetherness, of understanding a friend that closely. I somehow missed the couple in the mineshaft (next playthough, ill find you v_v ). Despite the harshness of life in the Eusan nation (especially for the gestalts) the characters in it are defined by their feelings of belonging and hope. With the obvious parallels to east germany, i think of posters of cosmonauts and space travel from the time. Propaganda, sure but also made with the genuine belief in something greater. When the events of the game take this away, well, we find the last Kolibri, whod rather lose herself than lose her [ah. Im not sure theres a word here to properly describe the relationship they embody]. Its a game defined by loneliness.

We dont lie up at night scared by some corrupted android. We arent stuck with horror at the flesh everywhere, not on its own. We lie awake thinking about Elster and Ariane’s love for each other, the horror of their decline, the futility of trying to hold on forever. Its existential horror done perfectly. It shows an ending postponed and stretched far beyond its limits, and so squarely reminds you that you do, in fact, have to die one day. You’ll break down. One day you’ll say your last words to the people you love and you wont even know you have. Ariane’s final few diaries arrive with the full force of the narrative behind it, like a spear through my heart. For the record, I got the promise ending. Im still sad. It's a game about raging desperately against an unfair ending. I might think about this game for the rest of my life. I would sincerely say its an artistic masterpiece, by the sure definition of video games as art.

I like that the story leaves a lot open and abstract. I think it makes the emotional themes takes centre stage more. And i havent had nearly enough time to sift through it and come up with my own takes, we’ll need a few more playthroughs for that. And theres so much more to say that cant go in just these few paragraphs! Signalis is a game about two girls who had to run away from everything to find someone they belonged with. The universe may be cold and bleak, but you have to try, you might just find something beautiful, even if it doesnt last forever. I think if anything, we should all have the chance to find love and happiness like that, and we shouldnt have abandon a world that doesnt work for us to do it.

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep : I don't know the episode numbers anymore I never wrote them down, so from here on out, I'm just going to number up from my previous post. So I guess episode 49

Fun fact I finished this post a week ago and then never pressed send. I can blame this on a lot of things, (work, illness, brain fog, etc) but at this point we just know it's the universe trying to keep me from finishing S5 of my Yugioh reblog, lmao.

So, last we left off, Sad Seto was next to die.

What makes this extra weird is that the other Seto is going to just watch this entire thing happen. He apparently didn't have enough traumatic disassociating while watching his Blue Eyes Wife die, now he will disassociate from watching himself go out in a blaze of glory, too.

Sad Seto's strategy against Zorc is not really what you'd expect out of the #2 of Egypt's court. Although...I guess before everyone biffed it, Seto was more like #5? #6?

He's above Mana I feel. Barely. Mostly because Mana probably isn't the right age to legally work, even in ancient Egypt when the working age is like...if you can walk.

But he was apparently so busy doing Aknadin's taxes that he's decided it's good judgement to throw himself at a 800 ft tall dragon/crotch/man.

for his credit, Sun Tzu's art of war hasn't been written yet.

And Sad Seto realizes his true purpose, which is that he has a smarter, stronger, and more powerful girlfriend (ish.) Which is a running theme on this show, as we all know.

In a bizarre cut that I can't believe they left on US TV...other than I think they couldn't cut this any other way, the penis dragon attached to Zork extended it's neck up to grab Blue eyes by her neck and just fling her into the ground, killing her instantly.

I don't like that the neck can extend longer. I don't like that it's a function of the dragon crotch. They knew. They knew what this looked like. Thanks, I hate it.

Also what an embarrassing way for Seto's past self to die. Truly the hieroglyphs about this event will be wild, and thousands of years later, Grandma Muto probably looked at this event etched into stone and just thought it was weird ancient pervert stuff.

Sorry if you were thinking Sad Seto would recover last minute and realize he's like the most OP person in Yugioh. He instead rotted from his hand and joined the rest of our Egyptian cast in Shadow Hell.

Leaving us with just Mana. And like kudos to her, but how on EARTH did she survive so freakin long!? Like of all of them, I thought Seto would be the last one. Not Mana. Not in a million years did I think it'd be the girl who hid in a pot.

But youknow maybe that's why she survived?

And then Bakura casually walked away from the only Seto who matters. Which is fitting, because if memory serves, that's also what Yami did to Seto for like half of the Battle City tourney.

It's such a weird strange bod on this dragon. It's such a strange bod. He's both got kind of a belly, but also is ripped to shreds. Such a weird bod.

In case you were like "We haven't given Seto enough motivation," we also toss in a few nearly dead brothers just to make sure we have properly traumatized this boy to the point where he'd duel someone who isn't Yugi Muto.

Seto decided magic exists 6 minutes ago, and he's already better at magic than Yugi Muto who's had access to it for YEARS.

Like he learned about magic in a different culture, a different time, a different language, and now he's fighting the final boss.

But it's Seto, so I buy it. He would speedrun his life like this.

That's the dialogue of the show where he says his first words were "neutron blast attack" and youknow...he probably has very few memories of himself as a child since his parents died and his other family put him up for adoption...but he knows his first words?

That, or Seto likes making his brand a reality by making up whatever nonsense it takes to make that brand legit. Which I can also see him doing.

Also please don't look at this foreshortened hand, don't look at it, ignore that this happened.

So thanks to Bakura's weird choice to drag Seto into this universe in the first place, now Bakura has to fight Seto and his 3 blue eyes that would not have existed here otherwise.

++++++ME RANTING ABOUT THE SETO ARC FEEL FREE TO SKIP++++

TBH it kinda makes the whole Sad Seto arc feel kind of like it didn't need to exist. Like this is the Seto fight that matters. This one right here, and although they share a name, it's not with the same guy who fought Zorc at the beginning of this episode.

And like I could add it to a list of problems with this season. But Sad Seto started out so interesting, and then forgot. It was like he only existed to introduce the dragon, and not explain anything at all about the nature of Seto Kaiba we know and love. Like the possession of Aknadin can be a parallel to how Seto was raised following Gozaburo's footsteps, but youknow...that's all old territory.

Like, I wish I had any sort of new growth from the interaction of either of the Seto's together in the same room, much like we've been getting from Yami facing his past self. Yami's been growing a lot, he's been facing his demons, but Seto? Seto's been walking around this desert trying find wifi.

(which like he did find a "wifey" which is almost wifi but wasn't as helpful because she was dead)

The Seto Kaiba who is fighting Bakura right now, is the same exact guy we saw at the end of the last arc against Zeigfried Von Schroeder.

Which means the reason that Seto is now souped up and capable of going up against Bakura isn't because of anything we witnessed here in this arc, but because of the weird horse guy last arc who taught him how to put up a better firewall.

And maybe there was a draft where Seto decides he is a spiritual reincarnation of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Maybe there was a draft where he gained a new ability. Maybe there was a draft where he realized the gravity of what was happening and wanted to save the world.

But it ain't this draft, unfortunately.

Seto is here not because of an internal growth reason, but because he was on a tablet in S2, and we have to know where that plot thread went to have an ending...but the show rewrote what it initially said in S2.

Like in the OG timeline, it was Seto who killed Pharaoh. But here we found out it was actually Aknadin who possessed Seto to kill Pharaoh. (and at some point in that fight, Pharaoh stuck his soul in a box and sealed away Zorc)

Sad Seto was apparently a chill bro the entire time. Just a nice guy who arrested half of Cairo and had a sort-of-girlfriend for about 8 hours before she biffed it.

And I would have been OK with that, if it were more interesting than what we initially thought happened in the past: where we thought it was a kickass Seto launching a coup. But unfortunately, it's not, instead it's a boy who started out powerless, and continued to be powerless despite working in Pharaoh's literal court. He didn't even have the power to not get possessed.

And I am sure there were other drafts, and endings are hard, and the author did get hella hospitalized while he wrote this season, animation is a miracle of many moving parts and budgets, and we were lucky to even get an ending to this show. So I don't want to sound like I'm complaining when there are so many worse directions this show could have gone. I'm just a little surprised it went this direction, mostly.

But say what you will about Yugioh, it doesn't like to be predictable, doesn't it?

+++++++++++++++++++OK I'M DONE++++++++++++++++++++++

Speaking of characters who haven't gained anything from being here, Tristan is no longer possessed!

Tristan begs his apologies and Yugi takes it gracefully. Which means, it's time for the main character of this entire show to finally re-enter the plot.

And they do so, in style.

Y'all I remember being excited about the look and style of extreme sports, but I do not remember this many heelies in the 00's.

Anyway, this is the link to read these in chrono order, you know the drill. See you next time to see yet another girlfriend biff it!

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[fandomsnstuff]

One of these days ill post at a reasonable time

@taznovembercelebration

Day 22: silly

Lup's birthday is coming up, and the present from her long distance boyfriend is haunting her in all it's wrapped glory. Doesn't help that her brother thinks her boyfriend is fake.

Read it on AO3

Dearest Apologies

From: barry.j.bluejeans@gmail.com

To: luptaaco@gmail.com

Good morning Lup,

I would like to deeply apologise for being unable to provide you with the goodnight text you were expecting last night.

Turns out, it is unwise to use one's phone above a pot of boiling water when one is easily startled. According to the respectable phone repairman in my local mall, the damage is fixable and the repair will be cheaper than a new phone, but I am without said device until wednesday. In the meantime, I shall send my missives to you by electronic mail of the g variety.

I hope you slept well. I stayed up far too late, as usual. I write to you as I await the energising effects of my coffee.

Have a wonderful day, my darling.

Yours,

Barry

Re: Dearest Apologies

From: luptaaco@gmail.com

To: barry.j.bluejeans@gmail.com

Barry,

I suppose I can forgive you, given the harrowing phone experience you've gone through. I pray for your phone's survival.

I did sleep well, I had many dreams of you. I miss you more every day.

I would scold you for staying up late, but alas, I have done the same. But I suppose I have stronger coffee than you, as I'm already set to face the day.

I received the parcel you sent me. You're far too clever, putting a note on top telling me not to open it until my birthday. You're also a cruel lover for it. You know I adore packages, I long to tear it open and see what's inside. But I adore you, so I shall follow your instructions.

Forever yours,

L

“What're you writing?”

Lup jumps out of her skin as Taako's suddenly standing behind her. “Jesus fucking christ, maybe warn a girl next time?!”

“I made so much noise walking over here.” He grabs her phone from where she dropped it. “What's got you smiling like a fool?”

She snatches the phone back. “Nothing!” She finishes typing her name and sends the email. “It's just a silly thing with Barry.”

Taako groans. “Not this again. Lulu, I'm not stupid.”

Kravitz pokes his head out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, “who's Barry?”

Taako gives her a look that says, go on. Lup sighs irritably, “Barry's my boyfriend.”

Kravitz's eyebrows go up. He ducks back into the bathroom, presumably to spit his toothpaste out, then says, “since when do you have a boyfriend?”

“She doesn't,” Taako interjects, “there's no way he's real.”

“He's real! I've shown you pictures! He sent me a birthday present!”

“You one hundred percent just googled pictures of white men and showed me one.” He looks to Kravitz, “she said his name is Barry Bluejeans. Tell me that's not fake.”

“Your name is taco twice.”

“Thank you!” She says. “See, Kravitz thinks my boyfriend is real.”

“Now I didn't say that.” She glares at him and holds up his hands defensively. “I have some followup questions.”

She crosses her arms. “Fine. Shoot.”

“Where does this guy live?”

“Connecticut.”

“On the other side of the country? How the hell did you meet him?”

“Conferences. We've been flirting for years.”

“Years, Krav!” Taako exclaims. “And I never heard a word about him, until a month ago! She went away for a week and came back with a boyfriend.”

Kravitz looks between the two of them, then says, decisively, “he's fake.”

Lup throws her hands up. “I get texts, I get calls, I get emails, I got a package, but he's fake! Sure!”

“I'm just saying it sounds a whole lot like the fake Canadian girlfriend I had in middle school before I knew being gay was an option.”

She pouts up at Taako, “I thought you wanted me to be happy.”

“I do, but this is closer to delusional.”

She sticks her tongue out at him then stands up. “Fine,” she says, marching to her room, “believe what you want, but one of these days you're going to feel real stupid!”

A few days later, her phone lights up with a text.

🐻E👖

> Hello

> I've returned to the modern world

> How are you?

Lup ❤️

> welcome back

> im trying to bully taako into letting me help plan the menu for my birthday party tomorrow, but he won't let me

🐻E👖

> how rude of him

> Are you going out for it?

Lup ❤️

> nah, it's cheaper and honestly more fun to stay in with the crew and be stupid than going out and being stupid

> other people's stupidity can interfere with our

🐻E👖

> I can understand that

> good luck bullying him, I gotta run

> I love you

Lup ❤️

> love you too, bear

> also when can I open my birthday present

🐻E👖

> I'll let you know

Lup ❤️

> mean

🐻E👖

> you'll love it, promise

Lup's birthday party is in full swing. There's lots of finger foods and cake, the games are as unnecessarily competitive as always, and Lup's having a blast. But she can't help but check her phone a little too often. Barry called her last night, and sent her a happy birthday text in the morning, but he said he'd be busy all day and wouldn't be able to talk until later. It's later, and she still hasn't heard. He hasn't even told her that she's allowed to open her gift yet, which has been sitting in her room taunting her for days now. She even shook the small wrapped box, but the faint rattling gave her nothing.

She's halfway through a very intense round of poker when she vaguely registers a knock on the door. She dismisses it, far too focused on watching every microexpression on Kravitz's face. Then she hears Taako say, “well I'll be damned.” He calls to her, “Lup! You've got a visitor!”

Confused, she turns her attention away from the game to the door. All her guests are here. Who else–

She practically knocks over her chair as she scrambles up and tackles Barry in a hug. She kisses him hard and says, “what are you doing here?!”

He laughs. “I wanted to surprise you!” His cheeks are tinged a little pink. “I hope that's okay? I don't want to intrude. I have a hotel room, so I can go if you–”

“No!” She fists her hands in his shirt and pulls him into another kiss. “You're not going anywhere. If anything,” she leans in close and lowers her voice, “you'll take me back to that hotel room later.”

“Yeah– yes. Absolutely.”

“Lulu, you gonna introduce me?” Taako says from behind her.

“Taako,” she extracts herself from Barry's arms and stands next to him, linking their arms together, “this is Barry, my boyfriend whom you and your boyfriend so rudely assumed was fake. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“Glad you're not a figment of my sister's imagination, my man. Come on in, we have hors d'oeuvres.”

Barry slots in seamlessly with the group. It's around a game of Monopoly that he says, “oh, Lup, your gift.”

She perks up, “can I open it now?”

“Yeah, I almost forgot after all the travel.”

She goes and gets it from her room, already tearing into it as she sits back down beside him. She lifts the lid of the box to reveal a folded piece of paper. She takes it out and unfolds it. It's booking confirmations. She turns to him slowly. “Did you book us a trip?”

He's gotten sheepish now. “I did. I thought… you know, you said you'd never really been on a proper tropical vacation, and you wanted to go to an all inclusive one day, and I had the money, and we're together now, so… yeah.”

“Barry, this is… holy shit. The only travel I've ever done is for work conferences.”

“I know. I've wanted to do this for you for a while, but it felt inappropriate as just a work conference friend that you flirt with. It's not until next year, so there's plenty of time to book off work and whatever. Otherwise, it's all taken care of, all you have to do is show up.”

“Thank you,” she breathes, still scanning over the page in her hands. She looks up and across the table, “a fake boyfriend couldn't do this, could he, Taako?”

[vickyvicarious]

"Why not go on?" I asked. She shook her head, and, coming back, sat down in her place. Then, looking at me with open eyes, as of one waked from sleep, she said simply:— "I cannot!" and remained silent. I rejoiced, for I knew that what she could not, none of those that we dreaded could. Though there might be danger to her body, yet her soul was safe!

Somehow, I had thought last year that Van Helsing was bunking down with Mina inside the wafer circle. But it doesn't seem that he is, since here he mentions the fire being outside of it, and later on when they're being circled by the vampire ladies, he attributes his own safety to the holy wafer he is holding up at them, and Mina's to the circle.

This is interesting on a couple of levels, because on the one hand it points pretty definitively towards him not feeling safe resting next to her. It makes me feel like he really strongly suspects he might've been drunk from the night before, or at least that he fears she might do so tonight. And yet, he is also willing to give her all the surefire protection, and rely on only a wafer in the hand for himself. He didn't even make himself a separate circle. I suspect his supply is finally running low and he wants to make sure he has enough for the job in the morning/anything that might have to be done with Dracula, so he's trying to save the rest. That means that him giving up some of his finite supply is a real sacrifice, one which again places her own safety over his own. He's holding true to his promise to protect her to the fullest extent of his abilities, regardless of the risk to himself. If he faltered in his vigilance during the night, he could have fallen prey to the vampire women.

EDIT: disregard the above paragraph, literally right after posting I noticed that he does (and Mina also) actually mention he is in the circle too, haha. Guess I had reason for thinking that before, and this was more a brainfart moment. But actually that raises the question of how much is he trusting her, here. I still feel like he fears her a lot at this point but even after he sees she cannot cross the line he stays within it with her, which is a big show of deliberate trust in a way. Maybe his supply is running low so he doesn't know if he has enough for a second circle, but still. He's choosing to believe in her and to take the best interpretation of her reaction here.

Of course, there's also the risk of wolves for both of them. But he says he is happy because her soul will be safe, even if Mina could be killed by wolves. Is he taking comfort that the vampire women can't get to her? Well, that seems to be the case, but at the same time, it doesn't make much sense because Van Helsing is the one who has repeatedly said Mina is doomed to turn when she dies regardless of what kills her at this point. So I don't really think that's it. I think it's that, not only can the vampire women (or Van Helsing if they turn him, or even Dracula if he returns) not get to her, but also if Mina dies for any reason, if she finishes turning, she can't leave. She'll remain in the circle, and he will at least save her soul from the crimes it would commit as a vampire, by holding her in place and preventing her from ever committing them. None of the other vampires can approach so they can't let her out. The only way she gets out is if someone human helps her (and Van Helsing is the only one around for miles), or if she regains enough humanity to do so on her own (which will happen if they kill Dracula as planned).

Her reaction to the vampire women gives him hope that it's really not too late for her, and later on he takes comfort in her pale and ill appearance, but it kinda seems like he was planning for ways to minimize the harm to her soul even in a worst-case scenario.

[borkborkheresadork]

checking in on friends, mutuals and following list, How are you? feel free to use this ask to talk about recent life happenings, something you're passionate about, or anything <33 remember I and I'm sure others care about you and your posts <33

I'll start with the good bits.

The semester is officially over for me and once i finish up work and once I go on break next week, ill have 3 weeks for break. I get to meet up with a online friend irl and spend time with my family and friends during that time so im actually very excited to go back home for so long! Also, I just gained 2 boyfriends and am in a wonderful throuple now :3. Next semester I'm taking classes that are easy but also fun and are less focus on my degree and more focused on my interest, so I'm hoping that will help with my burnout. Over the course of the semester I also got involved with a progress group up here and have been assigned to be their mutual aid coordinator!

I started writing more (nothing that will be posted to this blog) both with music and fanfic. It's nice that I'm at a place where i can (mostly) freely write my ideas.

There's a lot of bad bits, though.

So I've come to the very difficult decision of cutting off my mom. After break i'm going to get a bank account separate from hers and cut contact. There was a bit where we were both communicating well, but I got into a fight with her after she tried to guilt trip me into calling her on thanksgiving (I wasn't talking to her outside of documented forms of communication since she is a habitual gaslighter and likes to say she didn't say things when she very obviously did, and I like to have my receipts when I call her out). After idk maybe like 10 years or something she finally admitted I'm on the spectrum but only because it was convenient to aid in her argument of 'you never understand me and thats clearly because you're autistic and not because im in the middle of a manic episode and i'm not being rational'. So that will be fun to deal with, especially since I'm worried for her safety if I do cut contact, being her only child and her telling me pretty consistantly throughout my life that im her only reason to live. Scary stuff, but necessary for me to stop holding on to that guilt and working through a lot of trauma.

I finished my semester withdrawing from 3 classes and likely failing another, and feeling burnt out to keep going. I need to go to college for a lot of reasons (degree required for the job I want, first gen student/family pressure), but im considering taking it at a considerably slower pace.

I just got on testosterone but thanks to an insurance complication I might have to go without it for a bit. I was previously getting it through my school, but I just got on state insurance and that fucked with my access to it. The good news is that i will likely have a lower co-pay, the bad is that I'll probably have to wait another month to get back on it. One step forward one step back.

The person I thought to be my best friend dropped me out of the blue, which sucks on its own, but the fact that it's been a consistent pattern of people in my life ghosting/dropping me with very little reasoning or with one's ive not found to be true just sucks. I think I'm a loving person in my own way, and the fact that I was called selfish when I A) show a lot of affection towards my friends and B) know my own boundaries when it comes to my relationships with them, it makes me upset. The other person wasn't entirely at fault, I did handle the situation kind of poorly, but I also contributed more to that friendship then that person ever did. I bought food. I made the plans. I hosted. And I thought when the argument that broke us up happened, we just needed space from each other. I guess that wasn't the case and it's sad that the person couldn't communicate their needs earlier so we could have resolved the situation. That being said, on a less neutral perspective. Fuck him. He claimed to be loving and whimsical and had no patience for anyone. Everything pissed him off and he didn't cope in healthy ways and when I tried to help him he didn't take it. He was uncommunicative and disrespectful of other people's boundaries and expectations for friendship. I wish him the best with the realizations he's going to have later in life.

Even though I'm excited for family during the holidays, my dad is coming to town and I'll have to navigate them with him. I stay with my grandmother during breaks, so I'll have to look for another place to stay while he's in town and crashing with her. I feel a little ostracized knowing that they'll accept a bigoted abuser into their homes and make me wait upstairs until he's gone.

Then there's everything else. I live in a country that refuses to care about it's people. I'm one person dealing with a world full of struggles. Those previous things are nothing compared to what's to come, and I'm shocked that I'm rethinking my morals to live and feel safe. I'm a trans guy fresh on T, who, for years thought guns needed to be restricted, and i plan on strapping up over the break. Everything feels broken and I've been dealing with a lot of suicidality since probably late september or october. The horrors are persisting and I don't have much silly in response. I can't even scrape by with my job. And my physical health is catching up making things worse. I don't think I've thrown up this much since I was getting bullied in elementary school. So, uh, yeah.

Not to e-beg, but if you've read this and wanna help me out my venmo is in my bio. I don't have the energy to link anything rn but there's that.

Thanks for letting me rant o7

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

i miss running this poll... ill try to finish the canon showdown this week, and then ill need a proper break before i try again so i dont end up pausing 300 times again sjsbnsbs

maybe during the break ill finally post the other honorable mentions... ill also always be happy to share rep that u guys wanna recommend via asks or if i get @ed on smth.

that said, even if i decide to stop modding for a few months, ill still share other polls here! and you guys are always welcome to @ me if some of our classics are competing in other tournaments (like how i try to reblog orv, leverage, three caballeros, sweetcapncakes, and others whenever i see them)

Thank you for the patience while i come and go, been a rough first half of 2023 but im slowly making progress, i think. im thankful to every single one of you who stuck around through my inactivity, and id like to offer a hug (if you guys are comfortable) to everyone whos been kind to me everytime i had to step away, on asks or replies. If i ever forgot to reply to anyone i promise you i read it and it helped a lot. Im thankful for what we have here, and i do hope to come back with a new competition eventually, maybe next year depending how long of a break ill need.

to reiterate i will try to finish the ongoing showdown this week, its not being abandoned!! im also not giving up on the tma poll, for those of you who also follow me there, so dw about that. Thanks to my tma brainrot i cam actually work on that one without feeling as drained, which is nice.

Anyway sorry for rambling hsbshjs TLDR canon polycule showdown will likely end this week, after that ill take a break from poll modding on this blog, and focus on @best-magnus-archives-character . i do hope to come back to pps eventually, but it might take a few months. Ill continue to share other polls!