#putting it there because the issues require that sort of thing to happen

[tommyssupercoolblog]

(edit: technically it's kinetic not active but u get it)

ok so turns out the "tummy hurts disease" is called "Hyperactive gallbladder" and the one (1) (only) solution is to remove our organs

....which i predicted months ago in SEPTEMBER when this started, telling our doctor "hey this seems gallbladder related"

but the doctor ignored me. and Seán (although we share a body so that's not a huge jump for him prolly). and our mom. and our grandmother, who is a retired doctor.

and we were forced to do like fifty unrelated tests and take medicine that didn't help. but now that we has like three relatives yell at him he tested our gallbladder and it's like 14 points pasts the "this is too high" mark. SIGH.

(more ranting under cut)

plus since under-active gallbladders are more common than overactive and were researched sooner, not all doctors know about them depending on when they finished school, so depending on his response we might have to email him all the studies n shit and yell at him AGAIN, so bigger sighhhh.

girl i can't eat more than 3 grams of fat without experiencing indescribable pain that renders me immobile for hours what the fuck why is this such an ordeal I just want us to be BETTERRRRRR

on top of all that, once we remove it we'll still have to eat under 3 g for a whille, and then slowly work our way up, and if we fuck up even a little bit and up the ammount too soon we risk ruining the entire healing process forever, so wether our body learns how to digest fat without this organ depends entirely on: 1- my patience and impulse control (NOTORIOUSLY HORRIBLE, Seán's is good but mine is dangerously low) *

2- our collective ability to understand when to know it's okay to eat more, considering we'll be given a rough schedule but everyone's body is different so there's no guarantee it'll be late enough if we just eat in the blocks given.

*- bonus- how often people tempt us or go "oh well maybe it's okay...you should really give it a shot haha,,, why not," which has already gotten us food related pain like three times because someone went "this can't have THAT much fat right?" and encouraged us to eat when we initially said no and then I gave in (because. no self control and also this was before we found out the exact gram ammount) and it hurt really bad

GIRL I'M SO FUCKING SCARED I'M LOSING IT

[qqueenofhades]

been seeing some responses to the many many lawsuits and other actions taken against trumpet and munkfruit that fall along the lines of "this isn't enough, it's already too late, you can't fight fascism with the law, we're all gonna die." i understand the fear, truly, but i'm curious as to your thoughts on it, as to me it seems like this sort of behavior/posting doesn't do much beyond embolden the narrative that everyone actually likes these bastards and they're too powerful to be stopped.

Welp. This is the kind of question that requires me to write a long and complex sociopolitical/critical/historical/Discourse-esque analysis that will take a while and which I am trying to do only selectively, but I'm at home on Saturday morning, I don't have anything else to do right now, and it does present me an opportunity to address some things I've been thinking about. So. We'll give it a shot.

The first thing that has struck me is that in a few short weeks, we're getting a sharp empirical disproving of two common online-leftist fallacies: one, the old "both parties are exactly the same" chestnut, and two, "the only resistance that matters is Violent Glorious Revolution" (which somehow and conveniently never happens). We had months and months of "Biden is just as bad as Trump!!!" being spread as gospel truth in online-leftist circles, and then when Harris took over, it switched just as seamlessly into "Harris is just as bad as [or even worse than] Trump!" Now, as I have said before, there were plenty of legitimate criticisms to make of Biden, particularly the Gaza policy (upon which Harris notably differed). But it's quite telling that the keyboard warriors who spent all of last year howling for The Righteous Punishment of Biden-Harris (regardless that the obvious ancillary consequence was letting Trump come to power) have either disappeared completely when it comes to dealing with the results of that rhetoric, or have switched to "everything is doomed so I guess we shouldn't bother anyway." Like. Trump is now proposing to fully ethnically cleanse Gaza and either blithely hand it over to Israel or build Jared Kushner Beachfront Resort Disneyworld, and what do we hear in protest? For the most part, crickets. These are not serious people. Their opposition is not morally consistent, and it only depends on how they can make themselves look good. I thought that Trump was somehow supposed to be magically better than Biden particularly on the Gaza issue, and that was why it was worth letting him get elected? Or something? Something!?!

I'm curious as to whether those people still legitimately think that Harris would have spent her first few weeks in office dismantling USAID, signing weekly anti-trans executive orders, unleashing ICE across the country and terrorizing immigrant communities, putting the Project 2025 guy in charge of the Office of Management and Budget, letting Elon Musk run rampant with Treasury data, nominating the likes of RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to Cabinet posts, trying to freeze all federal funding, stripping DEI initiatives, dismantle the Department of Education -- etc. etc. The thing is, as ghoulish as it is, none of this is a surprise, because it is literally what Trump and his people spent the entire presidential campaign loudly, openly, and repeatedly promising to do. However awful they were and are, they were not remotely secret about their intentions. That information was out in the open every time they opened their mouths. But too many people didn't pay attention, rationalized it away, decided that "he won't actually do that" (despite the fact that he launched a literal violent coup attempt on the Capitol the last time he was in office), or just made up their minds that Trump Will Reduce Grocery Prices and refused to listen to any information that countered that view. What do we get now? Trump laughing off the grocery-prices issue and insisting that it's "not a priority" and Musk managing to claim that the real problem is government spending, not corporate greed. Again, this was completely predictable, because y'all got willingly suckered. It was not hard to see it coming.

That said: if the Glorious Online Leftist Revolution is still coming, and by some lights we might now legitimately need it, where the fuck is it? Are they still out there banging the drum against Trump and his "let's ethnically cleanse Gaza" policy and anything else that they insisted, they swore up and down, was functionally equivalent or possibly even marginally better than Biden-Harris getting another term? No. They're either dead silent, offering weak excuses, or completely giving into "we're doomed there's no point fighting back through weak shitlib institutions that are obviously terrible and will fail" blubbering that makes no fucking sense. One, because they move the goalposts so constantly that there's not even any attempt to reckon with the last effects of their damaging bullshit, and two? As I said, where's the fucking Revolution magically coming to save us and install a perfect leftist utopia (which is never how revolutions have ever worked) and sweep away Government Tyranny? Is that only for when a Democrat is in office and you can have confidence that the government is not going to come after you in the middle of the night for talking about it? Now that there's an actual fascist in power, it's somehow too hard to resist at all, even in small, institutional, and everyday ways that are often far more effective at practically confounding the bad stuff instead of empty and useless online echo chambers, so guess we should all just give up??!

Fuck. That.

This is also why we have to talk about the catastrophic lack of information literacy and critical thinking skills in young leftist spaces. A good example is the recent migration of TikTok users to the Chinese app RedNote. It was sweet for a little while as there was cultural exchange and friendship and memes. But then, predictably, it dove hard into "ah, once again The Evil US Government Has Lied To Us and there are no problems at all in China!" I have seen posts float by on my dash that unironically claim this is the case and China is truly great and Americans should want to move there and clearly all that business about authoritarian control and mass repression was just a ruse by, again, The Evil US Government. If you are so utterly devoid of basic information literacy and research abilities that your standard of proof for "is the Chinese government repressively authoritarian and totalitarian" is "a random Chinese person on an app in a country where the Internet is viciously controlled and voicing the slightest criticism can make you disappear told me that it isn't," then for Christ's fucking sake, you need help. For one, it wasn't just the US government saying this. It was, y'know, Chinese dissidents, the entire nation of Taiwan, historians, academics, researchers, the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang, etc etc. If your only standard for believing or supporting anything is "the opposite of what the US government thinks," then you are perfect targets for authoritarianism. Hey, a person living under an authoritarian regime who will punish them if they speak out against it told me everything was fine! Clearly there's nothing to worry about and we should want it here in America!

Come on. Come on.

This is also the case because uneducated young leftists like to unironically label themselves "communists" or "Marxist-Leninists" as if it's cool and hip and has never been involved in anything problematic in all of history, so anything that calls itself that must be supported. Shoutout to the idiot in my notes recently who reblogged a several-year-old post just to shout at me about how historical communists NEVER worked with or collaborated with fascists, because something something The Communists Were The Pure Shining Good Guys! (Uh, nobody tell them about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.) Clearly, the Chinese Communist Party is good and beneficial, end of story, no more criticism or caution needed! Obviously, yes, official American policy toward China has often been driven by basic Sinophobia, and the determination that nobody can change American hegemony or unipolarity or its ability to call the shots how it pleases. But if that is the literally only criteria you're using, then yeah. If you're so unaware that "the Chinese people are ordinary human beings" and "the Chinese government is repressive and authoritarian" are statements that can and in fact do coexist, then apparently you've missed the situation you're in right now, where "the American people are ordinary human beings" and "the American government is repressive and authoritarian" is also the case. Because online leftism is essentially devoid of a consistent moral principle and will just blithely switch up to support Bad Things as long as they're being done by governments with the correct ideological label, here we are.

Anyway. This is getting long, but the main takeaway is that the "all resistance against Trump is doomed and I guess we just gotta die :(" line is now, somehow, often coming from the same people who were constantly yelling that the only hope was a Glorious Revolution against Biden-Harris, and it is somehow even stupider. So you'll trumpet about Gloriously Overthrowing The Government all the day long as long as a Democrat is in office, but the instant a Republican gets in there instead and starts acting like an actual fascist, welp, time to just shut up and accept our doom and not even bother to struggle? Please tell me how any of that makes sense. Especially when actively confounding the Trump/Musk Axis of Evil is already working. There is also the fact that the establishment-media types are supporting this narrative for reasons of their own; witness the fact that the entire US corporate media is owned by oligarchs who hastened to bend the knee and pledge fealty to Trump 2.0. They obviously also have a reason for inculcating hopelessness in you, and that the only recourse is to shut up, accept it, and let them continue to rob you blind. Because American democracy will never matter as much as money, power, and control for the Billionaire Bros.

The point is: this is a bad-faith narrative on all sides. Whether it's coming from the online leftists in their latest head-spinningly hypocritical volte-face, the oligarch-owned corporate media that wants to feed you constant Bad News to keep you clicking and worried and distracted and unable to resist, the Trumpist power that wants people to quit making this pesky stink about all their authoritarian fascist adventures, or anyone else. There is nobody who has your best interests at heart if they are telling you that everything is doomed and the only thing to do is lie down and take it. There is no logical reason you should listen to them. Go forth and keep resisting, in whatever way presents itself. Those cumulative small actions are far more effective than any Splendid Revolution that never, ever materializes, while the people who preach it just sit back and whine about how things are so bad now so clearly they couldn't. Shut up.

It is always important. It always matters. It will make a difference.

Courage, etc.

[uncannygirl]

⊹ ˚ . 𝐄yeless 𝐉ack headcanons .ᐟ ( ft. gn! reader )

🪦 𝒞ontains . . . a collection of general, platonic, and romantic headcanons. mentions of cannibalism and drinking blood. 🪦 𝒲ord count . . . 1.7K

𝓐 uthors note ♱ I live for awkward jack (not proofread)

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

🪦 𝐏eculiar and 𝐁rooding . . .

He towers over the majority of the other creeps. Sorta lanky, and looks out of place in most social settings, like he doesn't know what to do with himself.

Awful posture. Always hunched over with his hands shoved in his pockets, but like in a gloomy mysterious sort of way. He looks like a cartoon character with a rain cloud looming above his head lmao

A very practical guy. Not all that into fashion. He mainly wears black because it helps him drown into the shadows, and also because the dark colour helps to conceal any specks of blood. He's never been too fond of showing off the brutality of his actions in that way.

He enjoys the sound of rain, but not being out in the rain. Much like a cat, he hates getting wet.

Takes relatively good care of himself. He's definitely one of the only creeps that have held onto some of their morals.

Despite his cleanliness, the subtle lingering metallic scent of blood still clings to his skin. It's buried under the smell of warm woodsmoke and a leathery musk, which makes the usually sharp scent of raw flesh feel softer, almost comforting, in some weird way.

🪦 𝐀 𝐆entle 𝐋urker . . .

He just sort of lurks. He stands from a distance, remaining still in silent observation. He doesn't typically like getting involved in other peoples buisness, as it doesn't concern him.

Curiousity is definitely not a strong trait of his. Something completely unexpected or weird happens? It's cool. He doesnt really care or have an opinion. The type to just accept things as they are. He's a bit of a nihilist.

Gets shit done QUICK. Ask him to do something for you? He's on it immediately.

He's pretty awkward, and really bad with social cues. Try saying something sarcastic and he'll think you're being 100% serious.

Craves familiarity, and doesn't like change. He's kept so many old habits, items, and interests from when he was still human, solely because he doesn't want to move on.

Trust issues. He finds it hard to get close to people at all, let alone maintain relationships. This is mainly due to getting wrapped up in that whole cult thing.

🪦 𝐓ender is the 𝐅lesh . . .

One of his biggest constraints is his preference to leave his victims alive. Killing someone for no good reason just brings him further from the threads of humanity he's holding onto. He steals organs because he has to, not because he wants to.

Despite his resistance to kill, his undying hunger is still an issue. It brings out something carnal in him—raw and primal. If he rejects his craving for flesh, he will turn into something akin to a rabid animal, masticating whatever he can get his hands on.

Just because he supresses his urges, doesn't mean he doesn't have them. If he smells blood, he quite literally cannot focus on the task at hand, mind clouded over as he tries to restrain himself.

Hates to let flesh go to waste. He bags and packs organs and muscle, storing them in his fridge until he requires them.

🪦 𝐓hings of 𝐍ote . . .

He likes fresh air, as it helps calm him down after particularly stressful occurences. It almost makes him feel human again, even if it's just for a second.

Has a preference for peace and quiet. Unfortunatly, being one of the only medically trained people out of the creeps, he's learned to deal with the fact that he has to interact with a lot of brash and down-right rude personas.

Feels a sense of duty. He puts others above himself, always assisting someone elses injuries before his own, even if he doesn't necessarily like them.

A wide variety of knowledge covering the biology and anatomy of different species. With the constant need to give medical assistance to all sorts of inhuman things, he's managed to collect a lot of research over the years.

Will quietly sit in his little medical room for hours, just idly tinkering with things.

Insane fine motor skills. His hands do not shake or tremble. Ever.

He's got doctors handwriting lmao

Doesn't really listen to music. He's weird like that.

Still has the reflex to blink despite his lack of eyes, however it's more of an eyelid twitch rather than a full blink.

𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

When the two of you first meet, he doesn't really talk all that much. It's not awkward or cold by any means, simply the fact that you don't have many points of common interest. However, after patching you up a couple of times and sharing some pleasent conversations, your small interactions bloom into a friendship.

He's very apprehensive about eating around you, since his eating habits are obviously … uh… not the most normal.

Very confused when his actions and words warrent extreme reactions for you.

For example, he'll tell you the most horrific, fucked up story imaginable, and after seeing your shocked face, he'll just be like: "Uh, sorry. Did I disturb you?"

Or, he'll casually pull off something that requires an insane amount of skill, and when you praise him for it, he'll just say "Oh, I thought that was a normal thing people could do."

Like he sounds so cocky but he's genuinely so perplexed by your reactions to the things he considered mundane.

Likes to observe you. Finds you interesting, whether through your actions, they way you hold yourself, all of it. It intrigues him.

He'll pull out some really smart nerdy medical shit randomly.

"My leg really hurts." "Really? Would you say the pain is more prominant in the sartorius or rectus femoris?" "Huh."

Without a doubt, he will always remind you to take your meds.

"[Name], have you taken your medication today?" "Nah I don't need them pffft whatever dude" "[Name], go and take your meds" "Okay yes im very sorry Jack"

Occasionally, he'll perform simple medical examinations on you. He claims it's just to "test his equipment", but it's secretly so he can spend more time with you. Just simple tasks like checking your blood pressure, blood tests, etc. He's just making sure you're okay!

𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

He patches you up all the time. It's part of his job, afterall. But he couldn't help but notice the way he was extra attentive and gentle when it came to treating you. Being constantly exposed to the other creeps injuries and such, it always broke his heart when you were on the recieving end of the pain.

Despite his tender touch, the scent of your blood forces him to use all of his will-power to prevent himself from acting up....

Admires you from afar. Your reactions, thought-process, and intelligence are the most attractive parts of you to him.

After realising his feelings, he may be a bit on-and-off. He'll want to spend more time with you, making a concious effort to spark up conversation with you, maybe even occasionally pay you a (slightly awkwardly delivered) compliment ever now and then. But his insecurities and self doubt will drag him down, resulting in him distancing himself.

The first time he says "I love you" is when he's aiding you after a particulary bad wound. He was just so worried... he couldn't help but let those three fateful words slip. Internally, he goes into a panicked frenzy, beating hmself up for being so foward, thinking you probably think he's weird.

If you reciprocate his feelings, he'll freeze in place. His stiff movements are a result of sheer disbelief, and he doesn't know what to do or say. Should he give you a hug? Say thank you? He's absolutly clueless.

Please just kiss his stupid dumb-founded face. It'll give him all the answers he needs.

𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

🪦 𝐂aress & 𝐄mbrace . . .

He's so gentle

Loves subtle physical contact. Holding hands, light touches on your thigh, etc. Just little things to make him feel present and grounded, to remind him that you're real.

Very mindful about his teeth. They're very sharp! He really doesn't want to hurt you, so kissing can be slightly stiff and awkward at first.

He'll rest a hand on your cheek, clasping his other hand around your own. With some slight hesitation, he'll softly press his lips against yours.

Touchstraved. Please scratch his scalp and play with his hair. He'll mutter out "that feels nice," before becoming putty in your arms. He's literally a cat.

Speaking of cats, HE PURRS. I will not take any objections. He never does it around other people, only with you (mainly because you're the only one that can coax the sound out of him).

Looooves your scent. His sense of smell is beyond heightened, so he loves burying his face in your neck and just bathing in your musk. Deep underneath all the perfume and body mist, he lives for your natural fragrance.

holds you close whilst sleeping. The feeling of your heartbeat, soft breathing against his chest … he's swooning.

Speaking of sleep, he's still as a rock. It feels like your lying next to a corpse. You can't even hear him breathing. Honestly it's disturbing.

Insecure about his appearence and demonic nature. PLEASE hold his face and compliment him. He'll bury his head into your shoulder, overwelmed with his love and admiration towards you.

🪦 𝐑endezvous . . .

Not much of a fancy date kind of guy. For him, he simply finds happiness just being in your company. He doesn't want to worry about engaging in other activities. If he wants to hang out, it's because he solely wants to focus on you, not meaningless tasks that will distract him from your presence.

🪦 𝐀n act of 𝐒ervice . . .

Performs simple, domestic tasks without even realising. Like you'll come home and your entire house will be spotless and meticulously cleaned. He'll just be like "oh I just put a few things away because I was bored."

Very considerate. If he gets up early while you're still asleep, he'll make a concious effort to be as quiet as possible so he doesn't wake you. (he thinks you look really pretty sleeping.)

He's extremely protective. Needs to know where you're going, who you're with... he really, really doesn't want you to get hurt.

🪦 𝐀n 𝐎ddity among 𝐎thers . . .

He doesn't really see a need for excess material gain, so his gifts are more based around things you explicitly say you want or need.

Need some new bedding? He's already got it prepared for you. Want to try that new flavour of candy? You don't have to worry about a thing, he's already on his way to the store.

The urge to taste your blood is something he buries deep inside himself. He'll flat out deny the thought if it ever pops into his head. He hates seeing you hurt, but god, his demonic side really wants a taste.

He's just your lovable, slightly unnerving eldritch being. ♡

₊ ⊹ © uncannygirl ₊ ⊹ est 2025

[cy-cyborg]

Tips for wring amputees: its ok if your amputee can't repair their own prosthetics

There's a trope in fiction for amputees to always be these mechanical geniuses who can make and repair their own prosthetics, endlessly tinkering away and improving them. This isn't a particularly trope, and i dont think its harmful or anything, but in reality, prosthetics are REALLY, REALLY complicated, and a lot of amputees cant do their own repairs. And thats ok. Like, prosthetic creation and repair is way, way harder than I think people expect. Well outside the skillset of your standard mechanic, handy man or craftsperson.

People who make and repair prosthetics are called prosthetists. To become a prosthetist, most countries around the world today require you to have completed a bachelor's degree in specifically in prosthetics and orthotics, which covers not only how to make a prosthetics (and orthodics) but a great deal of medical knowledge, physics, how different forces impact "non-standard" bodies, the additional biological wear-and-tear that comes with being an amputee and so much more. This will qualify you to do the job of fitting/making the prosthetic socket (the part that attaches to your body) and putting premade components together to make a functioning device. On top of this, many prosthetists are also expected to have artistic skills, sewing skills, good physical strength and dexterity, IT skills, and more recently, knowledge of 3D modelling and printing.

You want to make all the high-tech components the prosthetists put together to make the full prosthetic? The requirements for that vary country to country, but most will require at least some level study in the field of engineering and/or medicine, on top of what was already required for the prosthetics course.

The reason for all this is because even "basic" prosthetics are extremely finicky, and messing up one thing will have a domino effect on the rest of the body, especially in more complicated prosthetics. It can also result in people getting severally injured if anything is even slightly off. many leg amputees for example end up with spinal issues due to extremely minor issues with their prosthetic that weren't caught until years later, and by then the damage had been done.

Some amputees do learn to do basic repairs. This is most common in places like the US, where a visit to the prosthetist can cost hundred to thousands of dollars (depending on your insurance), but it's also quite common in rural parts of countries like Australia, where cost isn't an issue but access is due to vast distances between major cities. I was personally in this category; as a kid, my nearest prosthetist was 6 hours away. My prosthetist was able to teach my dad, who later taught me, how to do some of the simple repairs, but we still needed to go in every few weeks for the more complex stuff (Kids prosthetic need more adjusting than adults because they're still growing. Also I was rough on my prosthetics and broke them a lot lol).

But even after being taught how to do repairs and having my prosthetics for 20+ years, I only ever did these sorts of repairs to my below-knee prosthetic. I will not do any repairs of any kind to my above knee leg, which is much more technologically complex. Every time I tried, I made it worse to the point where the leg was unusable. I just leave those repairs to the guy who went to university to learn how to do it, and sometimes even he needs to send it off to someone with even more specialist knowledge when it's really badly messed up lol. Last time that happened Australia post lost the package. Not really relevant to this post, I just find the idea of it being sent to the wrong place by accident hilarious, it was one of my more realistic legs too so someone probably had a heart attack when they opened that package lmao.

Anyway, back on track lol.

This isn't even touching on the fact that on some more advanced prosthetics, many features are actually locked behind a security barrier only prosthetists can access. My prosthetic knee has an app on my phone I can pair it to, that allows me to change certain settings and swap between certain modes for different activities that tell the leg to change its behaviour depending on what I'm doing (e.g. a mode for running, a mode for cycling etc). but most of the more in-depth settings I can't access, only my prosthetist can, and he can only gain access to those settings with a security key given to him by the manufacturing company that requires him to provide proof of his credentials to receive it. I don't really agree with this btw, something about being locked out of my own leg's settings makes me feel a bit of an ick, but it's set up like this because people used to be able to access these settings and they would mess with things to the point their leg was virtually unusable. Because altering one setting had a domino effect on all the others, and a lot of folks weren't really paying attention to what they were messing with, all their prosthetists could do was factory reset the whole leg, which causes some issues too. Prosthetic arms are often similarly complex, as I understand it and have similar security barriers in place for more advanced arms. I don't know for sure though, so take that with a grain of salt.

All this to say these are incredibly delicate, finicky and complex pieces of equipment. There's nothing wrong with having a techy amputee character who can do their own repairs, but in reality, that is pretty rare, and its ok to have your character need to see a prosthetist or someone more knowledgeable than them. It's a part of the amputee experience I don't see reflected very often in media. In fact, the only examples I can think of in fiction (meaning not stories based on real people) where this is reflected are Full metal alchemist.

technically I think Subnautica Below Zero also mentions prosthetists are a thing in that world, but its a very "blink and you'll miss it" kind of thing...in fact I did miss it until my last playthrough lol.

[unkindnessesofone]

Choke [Gally x Reader]

Pairing: Gally x Reader. Word Count: 2.7k Plot: You only get so many opportunities to go after what you want (ft. other Gladers) Warnings: Lite smut (heavy petting, really) at the end.

“Which one of you shanks is to blame, huh?” Gally huffed as Newt, Thomas, and Zart came out in a rush, panting, and occupied. He had his hands on his hips and as they clumsily dashed out of the forest. 

Many Gladers saw Thomas go into the forest and even more heard him call the other Track-Hoes for help, but nobody actually knew what was going on. It didn't seem like an emergency until they moved past Gally, Zart's shoulder knocking into the Builder's, and headed toward the medical hut. Gally only realized then that Newt was holding you up, sort of dragging your sopping wet body in both arms while Thomas kept trying to interact with you.

Gally said it again, but this time with growing wrath, “Which one of you shanks is to blame, huh?” In only a few steps, he was with them and picking up your feet. “What happened?”

“Is she dead?” Chuck, seemingly out of nowhere, inquired. The youngest Glader earned himself a sharp death stare that went through his skull from Gally and his first ever “fuck off” sigh from Newt.

It wasn't as if you and Gally were together, but it felt like an open secret in the Glade that you were “Gally's Girl” (a term you loathed despite your affection toward the hard-headed builder). If anyone who was going to make this awful situation worse, it was Gally. He cared for you in a way that surprised everyone. Nobody had been more annoyed when you, the first girl, arrived in the box and yet, over time, he had come to adore you. Alby had assumed it was a symptom of mommy issues. None of them could remember their own. It was deeper than that though. Gally was your safe place. When other Gladers assumed you had been sent solely for mating purposes, he shut it down. It went both ways as well. You were Gally's safe place. Someone he didn't have to have ego with. He could deflate his chest and drop his shoulders when you two were together.

There had not been any declaration of romance though. It was a friendship with hunger dancing vividly between it. One time, after more moonshine than usual, and because Minho kept razing him, ‘You're never going to do it. You're never going to do it. You don't have it in you.’, Gally kissed you. It was rough and nervous. You didn't even have a chance to close your eyes. Once he pulled away, he looked sort of like a spooked rabbit and he jolted away sort of the same. 

When he finally came back, you were putting dishes away with Frypan and acted like nothing happened so Gally followed suit. In the moment, it seemed easier.

Now you were half out of it and Gally finally had things he was desperate to tell you. He wanted the safety of your company. He wanted you to say everything would be fine. He kept pulling Jeff's arm back when he went to touch your chest, your shirt soaked and stuck to your skin. By the third time, despite Newt hissing for Gally to leave, Clint reached over and simply pressed both palms to your sternum.

“If you can't handle this, Gally, you need to go outside.” Again, Newt said. He eyed Zart and Thomas in case muscle would be required to remove the Builder.

“What happened?” 

“We don't know.” The answer enraged Gally. His nostrils flared as he turned to glare at Thomas. 

“I asked her to get water from the pond. She didn't come back after…some time…” Newt tried to explain to the best of his ability. “Thomas went to go and see what was going on and…”

“She was face down in the pond.” Thomas told him plainly, not with the same panic when he said it to Newt while pulling you from the water.

A fist bunched up at Gally's side and it was clear he intended it for Thomas's face, but Jeff interrupted the thought. 

“She's got a pulse. She's breathing.” 

“She needs mouth to mouth.” Thomas said though he wasn't sure how exactly he knew that. 

“I'll do it.” With all the confidence in the world, he said. You were his girl after all. Luckily, he didn't catch the excitement in Zart's eyes at the prospect of putting his lips on yours.

Newt and Jeff stepped aside, making room for Gally to begin. Clint still had his hands on you, ready to do compressions. Gally ran a shaking hand over your head, dry fingers tangling themselves in wet locks. He blinked nervously and struggled to focus. It was as if the already crowded small space closed in on him. The other Gladers were saying his name, trying to bring him to reality, but it wasn't enough to pull him out. 

“Gally. Now.” Clint shouted at him. Maybe, it was Thomas. All Gally could see was you. 

Newt shoved him out of the way, tipped your head back, and began. His mouth sealing over yours. 

Gally felt like he could vomit. He was consumed by his own failure and left the hut. What good was he to you? Biting hard on the inside of his cheeks, he took off to his workspace, barking at another Glader to get out of his way. 

It took a few minutes of CPR though to everyone in the hut, it felt like an hour. Thomas nearly went to gather Gally right away, but Newt advised against it. He knew Gally. He needed time to sulk or cool down. You needed rest. 

When supper was ready, Newt gave Gally a bowl and told him to take it to you. It was a task, not a suggestion. With his tail between his legs, Gally entered the medical hut where you were laying, looking bored, but finally dry.

“Free me. Newt says I have to stay here.” Sitting up, you reached both arms out and wiggled your fingers. There was some lightheadedness, but that was all. Newt was being overly cautious. “Hey, what's a lady got to do to get a hug around here? Drown?” Arms still wide open, you waited for his large body to fill the space.

“That's not funny.” Gally put the bowl down on a small table and scolded. “You could have…” Was he going to say it? Tell you how awful it would be to lose you? “It was really scary.” Living in the Glade, he was plenty familiar with the feeling of helplessness, but it hadn't paralyzed him like that before.

“Come be close. You're so far away.” It was like he was magnetized to the wall or something. 

Curling your legs behind you, you made space for him on the bed. His body hit it like it was a sack of bricks. His arms hung between his knees, head dipping low. It wasn’t like Gally not to look at you, usually you caught him throughout the day stealing glances. 

“Why won’t you look at me?” 

Gally only shook his head. 

“What happened? You’re being weird.”

An inhale from through his nose filled his stomach, large and ponderous. 

“Gal -” You sat up to reach him, but his whole body away. 

“I choked. I shucking choked.” 

“What?”

“You needed help and I choked.” 

Gally was standing now, holding his arms over his chest with a face crumpled up in agony. 

“What are you talking about? I slipped. I went in because the water at the edge has so much algae and I hooked my boot onto a vine or something, I slipped -”

“No, you needed - I couldn’t -” Words had never been Gally’s strength. He spun around to try and find a way to explain himself that didn’t sound pathetic - weak. He spied the bowl of soup and picked it up again, this time handing it over. Maybe, it would be easier to talk if you were occupied by something else. “You needed mouth to mouth.”

“Don’t remind me.” Bringing the spoon up to your face, you pretended to grimace. While grateful to Newt and Clint, it was gross to think about. 

“I choked.” Gally came back to where he had been sitting before. He came down softer this time, eying your bare feet and then pulling the blanket by your side over them. “I said I’d do it. You needed it and I…I froze.” 

If not for the sound of laughter outside the hut, friends leaving dinner to wind down, it would have suddenly been silent between you both. Gally still looked perplexed and upset with himself and you had a mouth full of soup. 

“Do you think I’m mad at you?” Brows lowered, you tried to figure out the problem. 

“I’m mad at me! You needed one thing and I froze! I couldn’t do it!”

“Gally, don’t shout. I hate when you shout.” Closing your eyes, you offered him the bowl back so you could lay back down. “Come lay beside me, please.” 

“There’s no room for me on there.”

You shuffled right against the woven edge of the bed, legs on top of one another. It gave Gally a smidge, enough room that only one of his legs would have to dangle off. If he was precise, he could mimic your pose and make room for his whole body. His body weight shifted the bed, but the warmth coming off it drew you in and you rolled into the other direction to face him. 

“It's hard to know how you're going to handle something until you're in the middle of it sometimes…” He was listening, but he put two fingers on your neck, checking for a pulse - assuring himself. “Gally, I promise you're still the toughest person here. I won't tell anyone.” It helped that you couldn't remember. “I didn't tell anyone you kissed me.”

“Minho knows.”

“What?” 

“Well, it was sort of a dare.”

“What?” Sitting up on one arm, your jaw unhinged.

“What?”

“You kissed me on a dare?”

“Well, I wanted to do it, but Minho kept saying -” 

“It's all I've been able to think about. You kissing me, touching me, me touching you-”

“Whoa. What?”

“And it was a dare?”

Gally could feel heat radiating off your cheeks. He recognized the annoyed expression in your eyes because he had seen it directed at others. He wasn't sure if it had ever seemed this annoyed. 

“Can we go back to what you said about touching?” 

Angry eyes poked holes in his face as refused to give him the satisfaction. 

“You kissed me on a dare.” You said as if you had food in your mouth just as Gally spoke to.

“I think about it all the time too!”

Quiet fell between you both with a thump. Your chest rose and fell noticeably due to labored breaths. You turned your back to Gally and hugged yourself at the beds edge, taking up just a sliver.

“Maybe, not all the time, but a lot. And all the time at night.” They weren't the kind of thoughts conducive to sleeping in a hammock. Gally had had to find spots elsewhere at night to deal with the fantasies that drifted into his mind whenever he settled in for the night. It was hard to let himself want something. The Glade wasn't designed for dreams or desires. Frypan had commented that Gally had a small bladder due to the amount of times he hopped out of his hammock at night and wandered away. Sometimes, he needed to satisfy himself, but other times, he walked around until he was too tired to think about anything and once he splashed pond water on his face. “I liked kissing you, but that felt stupid.”

“Why?”

Gally groaned. He did not want to open up. He did not want to embarrass himself. 

“Because it's not like I was good at it and…” Eyes rolling at himself, he swiftly took in a breath to try and be brave. “And I know I'm an asshole.”

“You're not wrong.” Three words, all it took to damage Gally's pride. “You are an asshole.” He cracked a smile, but just barely. Your back was still to him. “It meant something to me and it was just a dare.”

Gally groaned, no patience for the frustration he was feeling. The curve of your body beside him did not help with how stupid he was currently feeling.

“It meant something to me too.” His large hands, weathered from constant work, spread across his face. It muffled his words, but not enough to make them inaudible. “I wanted to do it. I just didn't know how and then Minho…” None of this was helping. As he opened his fingers, he could see your profile. Eyes still hurt, mouth scowling. He sighed and shut up, reaching over to abrasively turn you around by the shoulder, making you face him. He kissed you and the nerves he felt were undetectable beneath the eagerness. It felt like need. Finishing a cup of water in one sip after a day of working in the heat. Draping your body in a blanket after getting caught in a downpour. Air after your lungs fill with water. 

Since you didn't pull away, he pulled you in with both his hands running over your back. His left was sliding beneath the fabric and he realized this was a shirt that belonged to another Glader. Your clothes must have been hanging to dry elsewhere. First, Newt had his mouth on yours. Now some other guy's shirt was on your skin. He felt feral, a growl escaping his lips and his nails lightly dragged over your skin.

“Not a dare.” He said as you stopped in order to breathe. “Because I want to. Because I feel like it.”  Gally was about to fall off the bed due to a lack of room, but he held onto you for dear life. This wasn't about comfort anyway. It felt necessary. It was what had been pulsating between you both for weeks, if not months. It seemed like Gally had finally decided going for it was more important than staying in the same place, a thought that Thomas would surely find comical. “You said something about touching me…” In a whisper, he reminded you before resuming what he had just been doing, lips clumsily opening yours. It felt natural when you swung a leg over his, pulling yourself on top of him. 

Gally was flat on his back, the bed all his, and the view making his chest ache. You looked so beautiful, like you always did, only on top of him. 

“Whose is this?” Bunching the fabric of your shirt up in a tight fit, he demanded to know. 

“I don't know.” Still kissing him, you shrugged. He tugged on it again, like a rein. “Ben's or something.” A Glader who was no longer around. “Maybe Zart's. Probably Zart’s.” You accidentally bit Gally's bottom lip. It was not easy to kiss, talk, breathe, and think all at once. He liked it though. His hips knocked upward in approval. It felt like he had a stone in his pants and, curiously, you moved your hand down to find out for yourself earning another hip jolt from Gally. 

He didn't want to tell you to take it off. He wanted to rip it from your body. It scared him how much self-control he was having to conjure up not to tug on it swiftly and throw it to the side.

He reached down, moaning, and moved your hand. It had felt like you were on the point of no return and, Gally was sure, one more touch of your hand would push you both over. 

When you looked up, face as flushed as his, you saw that he was flustered. Gally's eyes were fluttering and his chest that could be seen from the open three buttons of his shirt was beet red. It had never been that shade when he was pushing guys around in The Circle or building under a merciless sun. 

“This is crazy.” He said breathlessly. The whole day had not been what he expected. 

You rolled off him and laid beside him, his hand loosening on your shirt in order to loosely drape his arm over you. A minute passed, maybe two, and you both blinked at one another again. Everything had changed in an instance and yet it felt normal like this is how you both were supposed to be spending your time. As Gally pulled you in a little closer, the stiffness in his pants unrelenting, you sat up to whisper right in his ear, “I dare you to take me to the woods.” 

[ms-demeanor]

Hiya I have a quick question, I was helping someone with something and they've been using PayPal's direct debit thingy which says it gets you paid faster but like I was like lmao why do you need this sort of thing (like we have stuff in the UK which can give you predatory payday advances like micro loans and there's some companies which do some other predatory stuff with payday advance payments for like financial collateralisation) but like during chatting with them they said it was pretty normal for companies in the USA to still give people cheques and you then have to cash them which takes like 7 days?

Like seriously is that still super common? You don't have like first of all that's a long time ours is max like 4 days and it can appear next day with some cheques, secondly what if you lose your cheque? Thirdly you don't just have automatic transfer? Like how many jobs literally give you a cheque? I've never had that even on my job which was a temp job for like one day doing ticketing they just pay straight into your account. The PayPal stuff said it includes government jobs what???

Checks/cheques are not uncommon in the US, and often they actually take 10 days to clear. Direct debit is becoming more common, but.

Okay.

SO. I got my first personal checking account with Washington Mutual when I was 19. It was a free checking account that didn't have any minimum deposits or requirements.

Washington mutual ate shit in the financial crisis and my bank closed. Chase picked up my account, but there was a $15 monthly fee and I had to carry a minimum of $100 in the account or they would close it. So I closed the Chase account because I couldn't afford it and for the next four or five years I would take my paychecks to the issuing bank, cash them there, and would hold on to the money. I had a credit card at this time, so I used to take cash from my cashed check to either a stationary store or walmart to buy a money order to pay my credit card. Sometimes I'd also cash my check at walmart, but you pay a fee for that and you don't pay a fee if you cash the check at the issuing bank.

I don't know what kinds of minimums and fees banks require in other places, but in the US banking can be expensive, especially if you have limited options nearby and rely on cash for anything.

Paypal is often a stand-in bank for people who either don't have bank accounts or whose bank accounts are difficult or expensive to use.

If you lose a check, you ask the person who issued it to cancel the old one and re-issue payment. I know that happened at least once with my paycheck. (Lost checks aren't like lost cash; to accept a check you need to verify that the person handing it to you is the account holder, which you do by checking their ID; I remember at the gun store we used to write this little cross on the corner of the check where we'd put the person's Driver's License number and our name and the date and something else to say who it was who took the check and verified the ID, so it wasn't like someone else could pick up a found check and use it to pay for something)

Most jobs can give you a check if you insist on it, but I think direct deposit is more common these days. I have uncashed checks from one job that I had for two hours and from a class action lawsuit filed by Denny's employees (I worked at Denny's for about a day, so my portion of the settlement was like seven dollars). I get my tax returns as a check, and older people still give checks as gifts sometimes.

The government payments to PayPal may be paychecks, but more likely it's for stuff like social security payments or tax returns.

[utilitycaster]

So I am someone who hasnt been on Tumblr very much since C2 ended. I followed a group of story analyzers who were more or less very fond of C2, and of the critiques they had; most were minor or “matter of opinion differences”. This changed a lot with C3, where many of that same group have issues relating to the themes, character and worldbuilding of C3 in terms of Divinity, Empathy, Power Dynamics, “The Status Quo”, and Responsibility. Where the conclusions the story draws clash with a previous understanding of the world and its themes in a way that appears incoherent to many of these Analyzers.

Personally I found most of these analyzers to be very intelligent, so when most all of them view the bells hells and their actions, as them being a selfish and destructive, even possibly evil, force on the world. But the cast and matt frame it as “they are the heroes” how is there such a disconnect that doesn’t lead to “wow if only matt and the cast were smarter” type conclusions.

Matt and crew nailed a lot of C1/C2, and these same analyzers praised both campaigns, so why is this campaign, the one where so many fans here and the cast view the world, characters and the themes so tremendously radically different? What possible reasons exist to explain these divergences? And are these things that could rear their head again in C4?

(I kept this non-anon to show good-faith)

I can only speak for myself, and I suspect a desire to avoid a barrage of anon hate and accusations of arrogance is why no one has said this in so many words but as someone who doesn’t give a fuck if people think I’m arrogant, because I am and it’s justified, actually yeah I do think the cast should have been smarter, or at least more thoughtful, in this specific work. In discussing this with mutuals who are also meta writers, one of them pointed out that the structural critique is, ultimately, us saying to the cast "you should have been smarter about crafting this aspect of the plot/themes/narrative." It’s not phrased as such, but it’s the obvious implication.

As for what’s different: it is a campaign that has a much more narrowly focused plot, which required a stronger DM hand on the reins than in Campaign 1 and 2 (and did not have that). It is much more centered around one specific PC leading the entire time, which is different than Campaign 1 and 2, which had more balance and I think led to bolder decisions. It’s that Campaign 1 was crafted around the characters the cast made, and campaign 2 was a dialogue between characters made for the intended plot and setting and said plot, and campaign 3 had a vast disconnect that was never addressed due to poor planning in the earliest stages. And as for the lack of consequences, I honestly cannot tell, but I think it’s that it’s a combination of the characters being so reluctant to make choices that you sort of had to shuffle them forward without consequence in order to actually make any plot happen; and that was the big wrap up of a trilogy and Matt is, to put it tactfully, a rather more sentimental person than I am and his desire to grant everyone a happy ending won over a desire to tell a good story. I really do understand that actual play as story involves a unique and difficult dimension of people feeling very attached to their PCs, but if a DM and players are dedicated to a happy ending that fails to feel earned by the narrative, that will be a detriment to the quality of that narrative. And if you are someone who analyzes, it will fail to hold up to analysis and feel very empty and unsatisfying. This serves as perhaps an alternate interpretation for those who find it hard to stomach the statement of "the cast should have been smarter," namely "the cast should have been more willing to make risky choices and kill their darlings."

As for a Campaign 4: a narrative with similar problems could very well emerge. I think the general informal consensus among meta writers is that it feels like Matt is (understandably, but again, to the detriment of storytelling) overly precious at this point with Exandria, at least with the “modern” era and the C1-C3 characters, but a fresh start far in the future or in a new setting feels like it would mitigate the problem. But yeah it’s 100% possible this could be a problem in the future. I’m hoping this was just a “it’s our tenth anniversary and the last longform campaign of my imagined trilogy, let’s give everyone a happy ending” problem that won’t carry over to future works, but it could be a turn towards general self-indulgent fluff. Wouldn’t be the first time someone started out strong and ultimately became a coward who sanded off all the edges, for various reasons. But because of the strength of, frankly, everything but campaign 3 CR has put out, including concurrent works, my attitude is that I’m still here for a hypothetical campaign 4. It is however undeniably true that the vast stores of goodwill I had at the end of C2 are much smaller now, having been drawn on extensively to carry me through C3, and I’ll be less patient with any potential flaws in a hypothetical C4, particularly if they follow a similar pattern.

I guess to end this: if you are someone who follows me or other meta writers or people you consider smart, first off thanks, second off you are allowed to enjoy a story that I think is not very good. I think defending this story as structurally and thematically sound is a bad idea and I have yet to see a coherent argument in that vein, but there is no counterargument, no matter how intelligent or insightful the writer, to someone else’s “well I liked it.” You can like and dislike what you want, and that’s the end of it, and honestly my issue with so many of Campaign 3’s loudest advocates is that they demonstrated a bizarre incapacity to understand the difference between media analysis and personal opinion, and took all criticism of something they loved as personal attack whether or not it was. Speaking only for myself, if you look at my meta and your response is “well I had a good time,” I respect that (and most of us even agree, even if the good time was had more in the analysis than the watching). But if your response is to say “no, you’re wrong, this is narratively well-crafted,” well then you best come correct.

[cerastes]

When Schwarz was new did people complain about her being too overpowered?

See, I've had this ask for two days, and I wanted to have a good chance to sit down and answer it properly, because it's a good springboard into something I find interesting, the zeitgeist back then and how it has evolved into current, modern Arknights. Let's do a little retrospective.

No, that didn't happen. As to why it didn't happen, well, there's a few factors, the first of which being Schwarz is not overpowered, she's a character with very evident flaws and very evident strengths, and these were, depending on the player, immediately understood or not really considered in depth.

See, Schwarz was the fourth 6* released after launch -- After Skadi, Ch'en, and Magallan, in that order -- and the absurd powerhouses back then were all launch Operators and arguably Ch'en: SilverAsh, Eyja, and Exusiai were the most popular back then, with Ch'en being a conditional potent burst damage dealer (her S2M3 was her main selling point, being an instant helidrop burst of damage that also hit air units). Schwarz was in a place similar to Ch'en in that she was conditional in how she blasted things; she has superior firepower but poor, strict range for a Sniper (back then, we had no such thing as categorized archetypes, so we just came up with nicknames, like "duelists" for what are now Dreadnoughts, "Schwarz-types" for Heavyshooters, "Enmity Guard" for Musha, and many others), and if you wanted to use her big killer skill, S3, she was only going to have a straight line worth of range to hit things.

See, the thing is, being strong wasn't an 'issue' back then. We wanted more and stronger units so we could break the monotony of SilverAsh swish swish, Eyja Volcano Hour, and Warfarin's Apple Pie Combo. A monotony that wasn't a monopoly, mind you, because it definitely wasn't the sole end way to deal monstrous amounts of damage and tackle hard content -- I myself was a dedicated Specter, Saria, and Angelina user -- but it was what practically all guide makers and tier lists suggested. Either way, the demand for Cool Strong New Units was definitely healthy back then, ESPECIALLY by the time of Schwarz' release, since Skadi and Magallan had been rather disappointing for 6*s; Skadi was the sole Abyssal Hunter buff that existed back then (Guard Specter had no Module, thus, no AH Buff), and without Modules or other AH buffs, all she could do was basically S2 Helidrop to kill something or use her S3 probably once per stage to become a raid boss and then sort of just stand there, offering nothing that other units couldn't since things back then were patently not strong enough to need her, as her 3* equivalent, Melantha, was pretty much enough to deal with anything that required a Dreadnought specifically, and you had other, stronger options that did more than JUST deal with strong enemies if a bomb of Skadi's caliber was needed, while Magallan suffered the unfortunate fate of being an early Summoner in a game where super instant DPS came free with your Xbox, leading to the vast majority of people to not really want to learn to play around her expensive Deployment Slot costs and dynamic gameplay, which also necessitated Mastery investment to put out numbers, investment that was not easy to make back then, as Masteries were something you REALLY rationed.

Another very important part as to why Schwarz didn't have to deal with this was because she was the only one of her type. She was a new way to play back then, so no one felt their favorite was threatened; Schwarz and Exusiai filled very different roles, with Exusiai being able to wreck high HP low DEF enemies with ease (which was basically 95% of enemies back then, notably All Bosses Except Big Bob, who has a DEF of 800) while Schwarz had HUGE chunky single hits that were meant to squash enemies even if their DEF was huge, but who ultimately would have less DPS than Exusiai in most cases. What's more, you would use Schwarz in plenty of set-ups anyways because she brought DEF Shred with her kit. People celebrated Schwarz back then because not only was she a cool new unit type, she could bring value to pretty much all sorts of parties with Physical damage, in a way that another unit I've omitted so far could for Arts damage, the support powerhouse of the early, mid, and modern game, throughout the years: Saria.

I make the specific comparison with Exusiai because eventually, the zeitgeist would change: Ash, from the R6S collab, made waves because she was strong, but also because it seemed like she'd steal away Exusiai's place as the Fast Shooter DPS Wrecker Supreme. Time would go on to prove that, no, she would not do that, because Ash is more of a Burst damage unit compared to Exusiai, with immense damage tied to a shorter window and the Stun condition, while Exusiai's DPS window isn't contingent on anything except "Does she do real damage or chip damage". But that was an early sign of things to come: Upstaging.

The initial fears of very strong units had more to do with "this unit is powercreeping an older unit" more than anything. Powercreep is inevitable, doubly so in gacha games where they gotta sell you the PNGs one way or another, and I'll always argue that Arknights has been incredibly good with handling powercreep compared to its peers (and just, as a game in general), but again, it's inevitable, so you end up with situations like Degenbrecher existing and Doctor Manhattan Exploding Ch'en and Irene right into niche uses (Ch'en nowadays being at her best as a support sub-DPS with her Module allowing for great party Offensive/Defensive SP charging, while Irene still has her powerful S1/S2/S1 loop combo with Dorothy) or, you know, Texas the Pale and Yato In A Fur Bikini completely obliterating Phantom out of the face of Terra.

All of this, in my opinion and perception, holds true nowadays: When a unit of a new archetype or playstyle releases and they are very strong, you only hear few people complaining about them being very strong, but when a unit could possibly powercreep an older unit, especially an older favorite, that number increases exponentially. Of course, creatures like Wisadel, Degenbrecher, and Ling exist, which blow other units out of the water entirely, and you've also had units like Surtr or Mlynar who aren't really directly powercreeping any specific units as much as powercreeping entire roles and concepts.

Arknights also does have more content creators now, which I also think worsens matters because they have an obligation and a blood oath to the algorithm to always make a video that goes something like "NEW OPERATOR EXTREMELY BROKEN?????" with a crappy clickbait thumbnail and since [GRUMP ALERT] most Arknights players hate thinking for themselves and love looking at The Content Creator to form their opinions on whether Unit Is Strong Or Not [/GRUMP ALERT], these sentiments, whether legitimate or not, tend to flare up more often. By the way, that's also not a good idea, because everyone thought Gnosis was an easy skip back when he released, and then it turned out Gnosis was cracked, and a shitload of CN players regretted not rolling for him, so hey, sometimes this does result in pretty funny things to occur, as it were.

But yeah, this has been a little retrospective of the zeitgeist throughout the years.

[yukipri]

Some thoughts on Cara

So some of you may have heard about Cara, the new platform that a lot of artists are trying out. It's been around for a while, but there's been a recent huge surge of new users, myself among them. Thought I'd type up a lil thing on my initial thoughts.

First, what is Cara?

From their About Cara page:

Cara is a social media and portfolio platform for artists. With the widespread use of generative AI, we decided to build a place that filters out generative AI images so that people who want to find authentic creatives and artwork can do so easily. Many platforms currently accept AI art when it’s not ethical, while others have promised “no AI forever” policies without consideration for the scenario where adoption of such technologies may happen at the workplace in the coming years. The future of creative industries requires nuanced understanding and support to help artists and companies connect and work together. We want to bridge the gap and build a platform that we would enjoy using as creatives ourselves. Our stance on AI: ・We do not agree with generative AI tools in their current unethical form, and we won’t host AI-generated portfolios unless the rampant ethical and data privacy issues around datasets are resolved via regulation. ・In the event that legislation is passed to clearly protect artists, we believe that AI-generated content should always be clearly labeled, because the public should always be able to search for human-made art and media easily.

Should note that Cara is independently funded, and is made by a core group of artists and engineers and is even collaborating with the Glaze project. It's very much a platform by artists, for artists!

Should also mention that in being a platform for artists, it's more a gallery first, with social media functionalities on the side. The info below will hopefully explain how that works.

Next, my actual initial thoughts using it, and things that set it apart from other platforms I've used:

1) When you post, you can choose to check the portfolio option, or to NOT check it. This is fantastic because it means I can have just my art organized in my gallery, but I can still post random stuff like photos of my cats and it won't clutter things. You can also just ramble/text post and it won't affect the gallery view!

2) You can adjust your crop preview for your images. Such a simple thing, yet so darn nice.

3) When you check that "Add to portfolio," you get a bunch of additional optional fields: Title, Field/Medium, Project Type, Category Tags, and Software Used. It's nice that you can put all this info into organized fields that don't take up text space.

4) Speaking of text, 5000 character limit is niiiiice. If you want to talk, you can.

5) Two separate feeds, a "For You" algorithmic one, and "Following." The "Following" actually appears to be full chronological timeline of just folks you follow (like Tumblr). Amazing.

6) Now usually, "For You" being set to home/default kinda pisses me off because generally I like curating my own experience, but not here, for this handy reason: if you tap the gear symbol, you can ADJUST your algorithm feed!

So you can choose what you see still!!! AMAZING. And, again, you still have your Following timeline too.

7) To repeat the stuff at the top of this post, its creation and intent as a place by artists, for artists. Hopefully you can also see from the points above that it's been designed with artists in mind.

8) No GenAI images!!!! There's a pop up that says it's not allowed, and apparently there's some sort of detector thing too. Not sure how reliable the latter is, but so far, it's just been a breath of fresh air, being able to scroll and see human art art and art!

To be clear, Cara's not perfect and is currently pretty laggy, and you can get errors while posting (so far, I've had more success on desktop than the mobile app), but that's understandable, given the small team. They'll need time to scale. For me though, it's a fair tradeoff for a platform that actually cares about artists.

Currently it also doesn't allow NSFW, not sure if that'll change given app store rules.

As mentioned above, they're independently funded, which means the team is currently paying for Cara itself. They have a kofi set up for folks who want to chip in, but it's optional. Here's the link to the tweet from one of the founders:

And a reminder that no matter that the platform itself isn't selling our data to GenAI, it can still be scraped by third parties. Protect your work with Glaze and Nightshade!

Anyway, I'm still figuring stuff out and have only been on Cara a few days, but I feel hopeful, and I think they're off to a good start.

I hope this post has been informative!

Lastly, here's my own Cara if you want to come say hi! Not sure at all if I'll be active on there, but if you're an artist like me who is keeping an eye out for hopefully nice communities, check it out!

[greyeyedmonster-18]

jingle all the bidet

(a wolfstar holiday au.

happy christmas eve. this is simply nonsense. enjoy xoxo)

--

Remus practically ran to the front door once he heard the knock, socks sliding on the hardwood floors, sweater sleeves pushed up to his elbows though that wasn't particularly helpful. The cuffs were soaking, and the extra fabric drooped down to his forearms, small droplets splattering as he twisted the knob in a hurry, flinging the door of the house open.

"Hello, sir. I'm with Potter's Plumbing, we got a call about--"

"Yes! Yes! That's me," Remus said, gesturing wildly for the man to step through the doorway.

"I didn't finish--"

"As long as you're a plumber, I don't much care what call you were supposed to be on. You're here, you're helping me. Remus, hi, so nice to meet you--" 

"Sirius." Sirius seemed to get the hint, stepping into the house and Remus was able to firmly shut the door behind him, perhaps a little too forcefully.

"On a different day, I'd make a comment about our names and how we should join some sort of support group for parents with odd senses of humor but--" Remus didn't bother to look behind him as he walked quickly down the hallway, to see if Sirius was following him, just blindly hoping Sirius had these sort of emergency calls all the time. As a plumber does. No time for small talk and pleasantries and other superfluous information. 

Just quick. Down to business. Before a house flooded. Or maybe that was unique to Remus.

"Not today?" Sirius remarked from behind, a touch of laughter in his voice.

"Absolutely not today. You see, I'm in a bit of a plumbing crisis--on the Eve before Christmas Eve nonetheless. Festivus!-- so you can imagine my stress, I simply do not have the time to pencil in a good joke, because there are bigger issues at hand and I'm hoping you'll know exactly what to do, because I am at a loss and well....ta da!" Remus stopped just in front of the bathroom door, a weak smile on his face as he glanced between the mess of the master bathroom, and Sirius. 

It was a scene from a film.  Except instead of the bathroom being booby-trapped and finagled to catch robbers from killing him, Remus had made an entire crime scene attempting to install a bidet himself. 

How hard could it be?

Remus should’ve known when he was required to use a wrench that it would end poorly, but he had a modicum of faith, and a stubborn streak a mile long. 

There was an elbow-sized hole in the wall behind the toilet.

The tile flooded. Remus’s house slippers soggy on the bottom and cast aside outside the bathroom door. 

Remus had put a bucket behind the piping, but that didn’t catch much water at all when it all shot up like a geyser into the air, drops now falling from the ceiling. Remus had somehow managed to take down the shower curtain as well, and if he was brave enough later, he thought he might ask Sirius for help putting that back up. 

The top toilet cover had a handsome chip missing from it.

The toilet seat off its hinges.

And the bidet proudly on the floor.

Sirius tilted his head to the side slowly, surveying the scene wordlessly and inhaling deeply. Sirius took a pencil from out of his back pocket, scribbling a few notes on a notepad before turning to Remus and opening his mouth.

“We—”

“I know, I know. You’re probably wondering what the bloody hell happened,” Remus chuckled nervously, “And if I’m being honest, I’m wondering the same thing. I-I-I read the instructions before attempting to do this and I have always been a good student. A great one even!” Remus started and then stopped, “Okay, no, that was a lie. I’ve always been an okay student, but I know how to read. And in theory, I had it down pat. Flawlessly executed in my mind. But damn are toilet’s a lot harder to maneuver than the bloody instructions made it seem and one thing leads to another, I’m squatting down, elbow-deep in drywall. Literally,” Remus gestured to the hole behind the toilet, “I guess the only thing is I’m glad the water was clean and flushed and, and, well, you know what I mean don’t you?”

“I was going to say,” Sirius started, tongue poking out to wet his bottom lip, the corners of his mouth turning upward in amusement, “I hope you have another bathroom to use in the meantime.”

“Thank god we do.”

“Alright,” Sirius nodded, hitching up the knees of his jeans and squatting down to get a closer look at the damage. The band of his underwear poked over the top of his jeans. 

“A-alright, then. I’ll. Just..stay out of your hair and uh, let you get to work.”

“Sounds good.”

“Do you need anything? I think there’s a wrench down there somewhere,” Remus pointed to the broken ceramic behind the toilet.  Sirius stood back up and turned around to face Remus, who, at that moment, realized he was standing much too close, now standing nearly nose to nose with a stranger-plumber and he flushed. “Ah! Sorry, sorry, I’ll just—”

“I’ve got to get some supplies from my truck, but otherwise I should be all set. The beauty of calling a plumber is they take care of it for you, and you can just relax, Mr….?”

“Remus! No, I mean not Mr. Remus. Remus Lupin. Mr. Remus Lupin.”

“Alright, Mr. Remus Lupin, rest easy,” Sirius said, with a quick smirk, walking past Remus down the hallway again toward the front door. Remus felt like he was chasing after him Sirius’s stride was so long and certain. 

“No, I mean, you don’t need to call me Mr. Remus Lupin. Or Mr. at all. It’s just Remus.” Sirius nodded again and exited the house. 

--

Remus wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do while a maintenance person was in his home. He recalled vaguely as a child hiding in his room until they left, pretending he did not exist--there were absolutely no children in this home, and if there were they certainly were not present at the time they were there, no sir! And typically, Gideon was the one who handled service requests. Remus making it a point to be uncharacteristically busy the moment something needed a repair. A light not working? Suddenly Remus needed to leave and return a package that had been sitting there for two weeks already. But Gideon was away, finishing up work for the holiday season, which was the perfect time for Remus to surprise him with a gift. 

A shame it ended in absolute disaster.

And now Remus didn’t know what to do.

With his hands, with his time, with his anything. And opted to pace back and forth down the hallway as Sirius started working in the bathroom. 

“Hello!” Remus poked his head into the bathroom, hands on the door frame. “Just checking in.”

“Checked,” Sirius told him, not moving from his position on the floor of the bathroom. Sirius’s work boots were damp on the bottom, uniform shirt rolled up to his elbows, and the long curly hair that had previously been down and dusting the man's shoulders, pulled up and out of the way. 

“Can I get you anything? Water, or a snack, surely you must be hungry or--”

“I’m all set, Remus.”

“Or, maybe I could--”

Sirius cleared his throat and sat up to look at Remus, elbows resting on the top of his knees, “Though I know it perhaps feels odd, as usually, I assume, when you have guests over, you entertain them in some capacity. But in this situation, it is quite okay to ignore me.”

“I…people really just ignore you?”

“Most of the time. Spare a few odd moments of chatter, but I believe you said this was an emergency and there simply wasn’t time for that today.”

“Well you don’t seem too concerned about all this.”

“I’ve seen so much worse.”

“That’s comforting. Perhaps I could make time for a joke or two then.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Oh, uhm,” Remus’s eyes went wide, “I-I didn’t mean an actual joke, I don’t think I have any of those, though I really should. I’m a teacher, you see. Kids love jokes, but I think most of the time, I’m the joke and don’t necessarily need to come up with something with a punchline. So, I might be fresh out, but if you give me an hour I could look one up.”

“Why did the Christmas tree go to the barber?”

“What?”

“Why did the Christmas tree go to the doctor?” Sirius repeated, soft smile on his face as he waited Remus to answer.

“Uh…I dunno. Why?”

“It was looking a little green,” Sirius finished, slapping the top of his knee for effect and Remus snorted.

“That was pretty good.”

“My godson is seven and is in his joke telling phase. I had to find a few of my own. You know, just to make sure I didn’t lose the cool godfather credibility.”

“Of course,” Remus said, and nodded, “Sorry…I’ll let you work.”

“If you would prefer…you don’t have to ignore me.”

“Really?” Remus asked, but was already inside the bathroom yet again, “Because I am winded walking up and down that hallway, between this botched installation and the pacing and the everything, this is the highest my heart rate has been in years. I promise, you won’t even know I’m here.” Remus took a seat on the edge of the bathtub letting out a sigh of relief as Sirius lowered himself to the floor once again.

--

It turns out, it was probably a good thing that Remus had never been home previously when a repair person had entered, because he could not simply pretend to not be there any longer. He was there. And Remus did not do well with silence.

“....so anyway, when we moved in, and I think Gideon--my partner, did I say that already? Oh, I did, I know I did-- wants to repaint the walls next year, to add some life into the place. But I dunno, I think it’s pretty lively. Do you think so? You go in a lot of homes, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“And does mine, breathe life?”

“The snowflake hand towels are a nice touch,” Sirius commented, as he twisted something on the side of the toilet. 

“That's what I thought! Why do we need to paint and redo everything, when we can…spruce it up, with towels and…other decorations? Other..less permanent things,” Remus finished and Sirius hummed. “Not that I know much, or anything really, about designing and homes. This is my first one. Well, after the one I lived in before, but there isn’t exactly a book about how to…home. You know?”

“I get what you mean,” Sirius confirmed, “Are you French?”

“Pardon?”

“The bidet,” Sirius said from his position on the bathroom floor, back on the ground and doing something to the piping. The number of tools Sirius had brought with him was evidence enough that Remus had no business installing the bidet in the first place, the wrench he had sworn would be enough Sirius hadn’t even touched. Though he probably had nicer wrenches. Fancier wrenches. Did wrenches have levels of class? Just as well Remus would use a poor man's wrench.

“Uh. No, no, I’m not French. Not really. Sort of? My father is. Or…was. Is? He died, so he’s not…currently French and walking around saying Bonjour, or mon petit chou anymore, not that…that wasn’t all he said but he is French but just French as in dead in a cemetery. But his body-you know what I mean, don’t you? Anyway, he was—is—French, I am not. Well not, not. I grew up in Wales with my Mum. We barely had plumbing, sometimes we just went out back and dug a hole in the ground! Never had this problem with holes, I’ll tell you that much, no, no problems like this,” Remus trailed off and Sirius made another hum of acknowledgement as he worked, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up. People get weird when I do. Like oh, I’m so sorry for your loss, and I can’t say, It’s fine I barely knew him! Without sounding like a complete arsehole so, I usually just make it weird and awkward and uh…well, you have a front-row seat to that,” Remus said, slapping his hands on his thighs, the thwack against his jeans echoing through the bathroom.

“You’re not an arsehole.”

“You don’t know me that well.”

“You’re not an arsehole for not knowing your parent,” Sirius clarified. “Wales is nice.”

“It is. It was.”

“So you’re not French, why the bidet?”

Remus sighed standing up from the ledge of the tub, pacing the floor for the bathroom as he spoke, "Well, you see, I got it as a gift for my partner. Gideon, remember? They're away on business, and I told myself this was the perfect time to get ahead on Christmas shopping. If you knew me...which you don't, not really, but maybe by the end of this whole mess we'll be fast friends! I already told you about my dead Dad, and that's usually something I hold off on…it’s a bit of a downer. Anyway, if you knew me..know me, I'm terrible at planning ahead. I mean, who wants to go to the shops during the hols? Nobody. I don't care how much you love your mother--and I love mine, I promise I do, really--all the people running around, it's just too much. So I put it off and put it off, and suddenly it's Christmas Eve and--"

"That's about the worst time to go..." Sirius said, shifting his position so he was crouching instead, lifting the toilet seat off in one smooth piece.

"Precisely, so sometimes I don't even bother going at all, which I suppose might make me a bad person. I'm not! Occasionally an arsehole, but not a bad person! I recycle and, and, and I’m a good friend, I-I-I just...planning and gifts and the whole bit of it...isn't my strongest suit,” Remus said. “So I was so proud of myself! Because Gideon had mentioned wanting a bidet for the bathroom, the breathing life and the personal touches and all that--”

“I’m noticing a theme…”

“Yes! Life, carpe fucking diem! So he mentioned it, and I remembered--which is another thing I am not the greatest at-- and I went out and bought the bidet! Hid it in my office at work for a month knowing he’d be out of town today, and it would be the perfect opportunity to install it. He’d come back from his trip, go to the bath to wash up and he would be overjoyed, elated, delighted even, to see the bidet there, and I would be there shouting Happy Christmas! and for once feel like I really nailed the Christmas gift. Because the thing is, he is so thoughtful and so good at gift giving, and I…just come up short. And I thought not this year! But instead of coming home to a beautifully installed bidet, he’ll come home to…a plumbing bill and peeling up linoleum tile and a patched up hole and…a shower curtain. And-and- who knows if he’ll even like it! He’ll probably hate it.”

“Why would he hate it?”

“He never usually likes my gifts.”

“Who…doesn’t just say thank you for a gift?” Sirius asked, pausing his work to look at Remus. “That’s kind of the rule isn’t it? Even if it's an itchy sweater, or something you don’t particularly like, you say thank you and then later return it and pretend it didn’t fit. It’s not about the gift.”

“Well, I don’t know if there’s rules exactly,” Remus countered, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought of birthdays and holidays gone by where Gideon had remarked "oh, this isn’t exactly what i wanted, or you tried, Re in response to Remus’s efforts. 

“Secret rules, as my godson would say.”

“I mean, sure, there’s secret…rules, I guess, but remember? were you not listening to the whole bad at gift giving part?”

“I listened. Were you gifting rotten eggs?”

“Well no. It’s just that, he, and-and-I we’re just never on the same page, and his gifts are--and well, mine are--”

“Ah.”

“And, and, and who the fuck gets their partner a bidet for Christmas?”

“Well…maybe someone who has a partner who asked for one?” Sirius said, smirking a little before getting back to his work.

“Well you’re a bit arrogant, aren’t you?”

“Or just…right.”

“No. Because he didn’t explicitly ask for one he more mentioned it in passing…he’s mentioned  countless things in passing, why not just by one of those and not a major home renovation…this was a terrible idea. This was stupid! Why didn’t you tell me that? Going on about the gift rules and secrets, and the real issue here is that this was a bad idea!”

“I’m in the business of fixing up baths, not sharing my opinions on Christmas gifts.”

“Except you just did.”

“Very unprofessional of me, I admit.”

Remus said, stopping his pacing to run a hand over his face, “This is very unprofessional of me. Arguing with my plumber! About presents. And, it’s my fault, really. I should’ve told you in the call! That’s what I should’ve done, straight out the gate, just let you know the real situation, and I should’ve said that I bought this stupid bidet, and made a mess of my bathroom, and a million other wrong things--”

Sirius grabbed the bidet from the floor and placed it on top of the toilet. Pieces falling perfectly into place. 

“It’s not a bad gift,” Sirius told him, “Odd perhaps, but thoughtful. Plumbers honor.”

“Really…?”

“Really.”

“You’re right!” Remus said, and as Sirius made some final adjustments before pressing a button on the bidet. A jingle played.

“And, for what it's worth, you bought a good bidet. Nicer bidets tend to be more finicky to install so…really, this mess showcases heaps of effort.”

“Thank you!” Remus responded, somewhat indignantly, throwing his arms into the air. Someone understood. 

“That’s exactly what he should say. Your partner. When he walks into this room and notices--”

“The bidet.”

“The spectacular bidet.”

“What…if he doesn’t?” Remus asked quietly after a long silence, two men standing and admiring the bidet sitting proudly on a toilet with a broken top, singing its little song to prove it was functioning. 

“Would you like my professional opinion?”

“...Yes.”

“If he doesn’t say thank you and kiss you full on the mouth for this very thoughtful gift…then at least you can enjoy this bidet and you throw a massive party with all of your friends and tell them to use this bathroom.” Remus snorted, thinking about walking guests into the master bedroom and bathroom during a party--coworkers and neighbors and friends, stepping on the carpet in their shoes just to get to the bidet. 

“What’s your unprofessional one?”

“Find someone who will say thank you.”

“So I should find a liar.”

“Thank you for thinking of me, and thank you for the effort it took to find this gift, isn’t a lie in my book. It’s not about the bidet.”

“It could be.”

“Yeah but it's not.”

“But it is, kind of.”

“No.”

Remus opened his mouth and closed it again, unsure of what to say, Sirius grinning smugly at Remus, daring him to disagree again. This man might have had the same stubborn streak Remus had. His stomach fluttered for a moment, almost laughing, almost joyful at the silly, naive thought of spending a lifetime with a man, this man, who argued without the malice behind the words. 

“It’s not that simple anyway,” Remus said, “Just…leaving.”

“Never said it was, but either way…this is yours,” Sirius gestured to the bidet, “And someone should use it.

--

It had only been a few hours, but the bathroom looked good as new. Bidet installed, hole patched up and water was mopped up. The only sign that something had gone awry was the toilet top with the chunk missing. 

“We’ll have to get you a new one,” Sirius told him, writing up the invoice as they walked to Remus’s front door, toolbox in hand

“Will that take weeks?” 

“No, a few days just because of the holidays. I’ll bring it by the 26th, and it’ll be all set.”

“You are truly a life saver, I don’t know what I would’ve done, and….thanks for listening to me talk…all day. I know you probably didn’t sign up for that exactly when you took this call, and probably had better things to be doing, and--”

“This was one of the more enjoyable calls I’ve had actually,” Sirius told him, pausing in front of the front door. “I had a good time.”

Remus laughed awkwardly, reaching for the doorknob to open the door for Sirius, “This feels like the end of some sort of date…do you want me to walk you to your car?”

“Very kind, but I promise I’ll make it.” Sirius nodded, sticking out his hand. Definitely not a date. “Pleasure working with you Mr. Lupin.”

“Remus.”

“Remus,” Sirius said, “I’ll see you in a few days. My numbers on the invoice, should anything come up before then. Just…call.”

--

Christmas music was playing loudly in his living room, Sirius’s godson testing out his new dance moves learned at school on the rug, his best friends clapping along and joining in with their own dance moves alongside their child. Sirius had just pulled the roast chicken out of the oven--the shining star for the Christmas Eve feast-- when the phone rang. Oven mitts still on, he hurried to grab the land line, tossing a stray curl out of his face as he answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Potter’s Plumbing?” the voice on the other end said and Sirius couldn’t help but bite back a smile. He had been in Remus’s home for only a few hours, but had heard the other man talk enough that Sirius was certain he’d be able to identify who was speaking with his eyes closed. It was refreshing. Sirius returned home that day and recounted the emergency call to his best friend, leaving out no details about the frazzled, freckled, and messy man who attempted to install a bidet. 

You put your personal number on the invoice? Sirius, that’s too bold.

Sirius was thinking he wouldn’t call.

He hadn’t expected any bidet related emergencies.

“This is Sirius Black,” Sirius said, “But I am part of Potter’s Plumbing.”

“Oh, good, Sirius, it’s you. Hello, it’s Remus Lupin, remember, you serviced my bidet a few days ago and there's a toilet top that needs to be repaired, and we hung up a shower curtain together and I almost fell to my death off the bathtub ledge?”

“Ah yes,” Sirius teased, “Thanks for those details to jog my memory, without them I would’ve definitely forgotten. Did you run into some trouble?”

“Uh…No.”

“Oh…then, how can I help you, Mr. Lupin?”

“Remus.”

“Remus.”

“I…” Sirius heard Remus click his tongue a few times, “I…decided to…not…I mean, I don’t need a new toilet top. Can I cancel that? I think it looks better this way.”

“With the missing part?” Sirius asked, feeling a touch disappointed at the nature of the call.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go ahead and cancel that for you, Remus. No problem at all. Was that it?”

“No,” Remus said and paused again, “I’m having a sort of party.”

“Sort of?”

“A party, on New Year's Eve. I decided. To celebrate the new year and new beginnings and all that, glad tidings, you know, the things people usually celebrate. And…also to celebrate the bidet that's in the bathroom because I’ve been told it's a good bidet, like a nice one even! A professional told me that, and it…uh should be appreciated by someone. So I'm having a party and I’m wondering if…you like bidets?”

“Did I not tell you I’m French? I love bidets.”

[nyx-umbrakinesis]

(VoxTek prompt of the week)

CW: Severe self depreciation, wishing to not exist (Reader) (unaliving mentions), mental health issues, angst, hurt, comfort.... Read at your own risk

Alastor x Reader

Alastor returns home from work and jovially calls out to you.

Alastor: "Darling, you'll never guess what happened today at the station... Are you there Dear? Is dinner done?"

Alastor walks into the kitchen to see you just standing with your back to him, he tilts his head in mild confusion but passes it off as you playing some sort of game. Seeing the pots and pans still on the stove unused.

Alastor: "Ah, looks like you've been too busy to cook up something delectable for us just yet, hmm?"

He takes off his jacket and tosses it over a chair before sauntering over to stand behind you.

Alastor: "I hope you're not planning on serving us cold leftovers, because I have a ravenous appetite. And I need it to be thoroughly sated, we're both going to require a lot of energy tonight!"

Alastor gently strokes your arms, feeling the softness of your skin beneath the fabric and rests his chin atop your head cheekily.

Alastor frowns when he feels tremors running through your frame, his usual smile dropping as soon as he hears the little sniffles escaping you from behind your hands covering your face.

Now alert to your distress, he rubs your arms, his heart racing utterly... Frightened, his mind racing of what could be wrong, he wasn't gone long, has someone hurt you... Or worse...

Alastor: "Oh, sweetheart, what's wrong? Did I worry you? I didn't mean to overwhelm you, we can have whatever you want for dinner, hell I'll make it myself. Please, little bird, let me see your face, are you okay?"

His gentle, warm hands guide you, you put up no resistance as he turns you around to face him, his expression soft with concern.

Alastor: "Tell me what's bothering you. Did someone harm you? Did I do something? We can work through this together? I'm here for you, no matter what, Dear, please just talk to me."

Alastor leans in closer, his warm breath caressing your cheek making it easy for your comfort if you would struggle with volume given that your sniffling and tears started to increase, his stomach dropping, eyes darting side to side as his face pales.

You: "I don't want to be here anymore... I wish I'd never been born..."

The whisper is deafening to Alastor, tears flooding down your face and your trembling increases exponentially, legs going so weak they buckle below you and you close your eyes, expecting the unforgiving pain of the hard floor meeting your already pained bones.

Alastor's heart clenches at the utter despair in your voice. His strong arms wrapping around you swiftly as he notices you wavering, pulling you close against his chest, stricken with fear and panic at what to do, how to help, he buried his nose in your hair, inhaling the comforting scent of you, counting to five in his head and just feeling your soft body in his arms, your warmth, his heart breaking. How could you be feeling this way, that you'd want to leave him like that, is he not good enough? Is he so awful, you hate life so much you'd wish for the empty void of non existence?

Alastor: "Oh, Dove, please don't say that. You are so precious to me, and I can't imagine life without you."

Tears betray his own eyes for one of the few times in memory. He rocks you gently, stroking your hair as he tries to soothe your anguish, wanting to fix this, to get to the bottom of it, to rip out his own fucking guts that you don't feel like life is worth living with him.

Alastor: "We all have dark moments, but they pass. You're stronger than you realize. Just hold on to me, and let's get through this together."

Gazing down at your tear-streaked face, he tenderly tries to wipe away your tears with his thumb, his own eyes shimmering with his own agony, confusion and empathy. Desperate to fix things he can't stop talking.

Alastor: "I know things are tough right now, but please believe me when I say that I love you, flaws and all. Every part of you is perfect in my eyes. You're beautiful, inside and out." Kissing the top of your head.

Alastor: "Come on, let's sit down and talk about this. I'm here to listen and help however I can. We'll figure things out, I promise, I'm not going anywhere, you're not alone and never will be, Darling."

You: "I'm useless and pathetic..." Is all you manage to mumble out, lost in a whirlwind of your own self hatred, thoughts centering around memories of failure, regret and defeat.

Alastor's expression hardens slightly at your self-deprecating words, a flicker of outrage sparking within him.

Alastor: "Useless and pathetic? How dare you speak about yourself that way! How dare you insult the most amazing being I've ever laid eyes on, the one I love with all my soul."

His voice is low and intense, grip tensing around you, he practically growls in your ear.

Alastor: "You listen to me, little bird. You are so much more than those vile thoughts. You are kind, compassionate, and incredibly resilient. The fact that you're struggling with your emotions only proves how deeply you feel, and that is a rare and precious quality. One I find even I cannot match, but I can certainly admire and appreciate how lucky I am to have someone as wonderful as you in my life."

Alastor cups your face in his hands, forcing your to meet his gaze.

Alastor: "You are loved, cherished, and valued beyond measure. By me, certainly, but also by anyone who knows you, the real you, anyone worth anything would be able to see how wonderful you are. So cut out this self-loathing nonsense right now, you're mine and I would never choose someone who wasn't utter perfection!"

Leaning in, he captures your lips in a powerful kiss, pouring all his affection, fear and adoration into the embrace.

Alastor: "You are not worthless, my Darling. You are extraordinary, and don't you ever forget it."

Stubborn as ever however, even panting and with flushed cheeks you allow your thoughts to win out...

You: "I'm lazy... Bone idle, so fat it's just going to all get worse. I make excuses and lie to people I am afraid of, I don't do anything I'm supposed to do and it hurts the people around me who deserve better I'm a piece of shit, a bad person, I can't do anything right... Anything I'm supposed to... I-"

Alastor's eyes narrow, his jaw clenching as he listens to your litany of self-beratement. Before you finish, he pulls back slightly, his grip on your face gentle but firm.

Alastor: "Enough. That is enough of this toxic self-talk, Dearest. It's time someone told you the truth - you are not lazy, you're exhausted from carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. You are NOT bone idle, you're overwhelmed and burnt out."

He takes a deep breath, choosing his next words carefully, holding you firm.

Alastor: "Your size does not define your worth, nor does it dictate your abilities. You are capable of so much more than you give yourself credit for and even if you struggle we can do it together. And those excuses and lies? They're just coping mechanisms born from fear and insecurity, a lifetime of mistreatment."

Tilting your chin up, he searches your gaze intently, warm brown eyes piercing your soul.

Alastor: "You are not a piece of shit, my love. You're a complex, multifaceted individual struggling with demons most people can't even fathom. And you know what? That makes you brave, not flawed."

Leaning in once more, he presses a soft, reassuring kiss to your forehead. Wiping more and more tears from the whimpering mess in his arms.

Alastor: "You are not a bad person, and you don't need to do everything right. All you need to do is be true to yourself and keep moving forward, one step at a time. I'll be right here beside you, supporting you every inch of the way, you are still here and that's what I need, and I'm selfish so you aren't going anywhere without me."

An unexpected bubble of laughter escapes your throat taking you by surprise and Alastor's smile returns to his face, fondly brushing your hair away from your eyes. His expression pleading as he gazes at you, his eyes filled with warmth and understanding.

Alastor: "My little Doe, you're not alone in this fight. I'm here to help you, to support you, to love you unconditionally. No matter what challenges you face, know that you always have a safe haven in me."

He brushes a strand of hair behind your ear, his fingers lingering on your skin.

Alastor: "We'll take things one day at a time, okay? There's no pressure, no expectations. Just focus on getting through each moment, and leave the rest to me."

Smiling encouragingly, he reaches for your hand, intertwining your fingers.

Alastor: "You're strong. Stronger than you realize. And with me by your side, well of course you can overcome anything that comes your way, haha!"

Giving your hand a gentle squeeze, he leans in to whisper in your ear, shivers running through your frame. Hot breath caressing the shell.

Alastor: "Now, why don't we order some takeout? I'm starving, and I think we both could use an indulgence. Oh and Darling do get presentable again, you look utterly obscene and if you don't put that smile back on your face, I'll find another way to do so myself."

As he tightens his hold on you to hold you together, his shirt utterly ruined by your tears and snot, you can't help but be filled with so much love for the man who you feel you never deserved... But won't let you balance the check so to speak, your own arms finally wrap around him in return.

Alastor: "You're mine, no refunds!"

A/N the presentable quip was a direct reference to his 'You're never fully dressed without a smile' quote, not a comment on how you look when crying.

[n0t-evenhere]

I got it! I finally figured it out, I see the pattern! Okay so, the issue that my ask box is having is the format of the ask! That’s why it’s happening to some and not others! It’s when askers number the questions and the questions go over 6! Anything over 6 questions messes up the formatting. Hahaha! It’s a pattern! So from now on, just make sure to be mindful. I hate to ask again and I’m sorry for making you put more work into the asks but, if you asked me something and you numbered it and the question wasn’t answered, ask again. 🥰 thank you for the patients!

Moving on from that, I have more HEADCANONS some special summertime ones too!

-man is a breakfast skipper, not on purpose entirely. It’s more of a wake up, get the day started and drink coffee to wake up but then it’s already time to go by the time he’s ready for breakfast. He doesn’t wake up hungry to start. However, this could be easily changed. If you live together with him, he may take more initiative to eat breakfast because he’s making breakfast for two. Moreover, it’s possible that you put in the effort to make breakfast and coffee. He’ll happily partake in your cooking.

-Despite him not often eating breakfast, he is a HUNGRY man. With how much energy he uses and burns up, I guarantee he eats three times as much as you do. So imagine, you guys go to a Chinese buffet for a nice dinner. He’s eaten four platefuls and you only ate one or two. He’s getting all kinds of looks like, “how do you keep that figure?!” And he pays that no mind. Adding on, he’s got good table manners so, doesn talk with his mouth full or anything of the sort. Worst he might do is have elbows on the table.

-he may even be a snacker, he keeps it healthy as much as possible with fruits and veggies. He certainly has the means for all the food he eats.

-Ray absolutely is full of knowledge about the food groups and how much a person should eat, what percentage is grains, protein, etc. he’s a real stickler about it too when it comes to you. He's making sure you eat what you need to stay healthy, drink plenty of water and all the things to keep you alive.

-Ray is one of those types of dudes that if it’s late, and you decided to watch a movie, five minutes in his head his back eyes closed, snoring. You have to flick him or jab him in the ribs to wake him up if you are fully wanting him to watch the movie. So, best start early. Unless it’s a marathon, he’ll try better to stay awake.

-takes special care of his teeth, not just because it’s required he is a hygienic kind of person. Good showers, washing face, that kind of thing.

-speaking of teeth, he’s got those sharp canines. Like Luke Evan’s teeth. Sharp….attractive….dare I say hot. A habit he formed as a sort of self soothing was running his tongue along those sharp teethers, maybe even a little bit of chewing on the lip.

Summer time headcanons! ☀️ 🍉

-When it comes to watermelon, he is an avid hunter for the perfect watermelon. He checks all the boxes, which ones are sweet, which one is watery and which one is ripe. He’s good at it too! He prefers his watermelon sweet I think, slicing the watermelon is an art for him. Shapes, and little fun things.

-Ray does NOT tan at first, he burns. He gets crispy. 😂 he’ll be red for three days and then tan for two days. It’s a slow tanning process. The redness turns to a tan which looks nice on him.

-if swimming in public, he definitely wears those long sleeved swimsuit tops with a zipper, for bottoms, he’ll wear swimming trunks and might just have athletic wear underneath. Breathable. Easy and covering. If the swimming is more in a secluded environment than he’ll do without the shirt and athletic wear. You know what, not a hair on that chest. Clean look for pictures and what not. However, wholeheartedly believe he does get a happy trail sometimes cause the sexappeal for that is good. You best believe that the NAHA dyes it too.😂 blonde. They are fickle, they might have it shaved too.

-For a man who wears sweaters during the heated weather, I just know this man goes through deodorant left and right. Uses the strong stuff too just to make sure he’s not too sweaty.

-love to go swimsuit shopping with you. He’ll be honest about how each looks on you. “Mmm, not your best color.” Or “looks nice but I think we can do better.” He’ll just sit there in the dressing room with you. It’s like a fashion show! His personal summer fashion show staring you.

Ever draw your art and wish you could just…consume it! Like you pause and your like, what have I done? This is delightful. I could eat it.

No color sketch. Color sketch

[jevilowo]

Read a fic where out of all nine mercs, SCOUT was the one sent to a fancy gala for Reasons. Surely not, thought I. Would he not be the worst option? Then I got thinking. Anyways here's a ranking:

Worst to Best Ranking: Mercs at a Gala of Some Sort

Soldier

He can't hold down conversation besides ones that involve him screaming about war. He doesn't own any clothes other than what he wears to war. He will strip naked and fight several ceos over the course of the night. Genuine nightmare scenario.

Scout

Doesn't own fancy clothes. Only polite thing he knows how to do is stick out his pinky when drinking. Would flirt with every girl there and ignore everyone else. Would complain bitterly the whole night and pretty much ruin the experience for any poor bastard forced to go with him. Last resort option, as he's at least better than Solly.

Pyro

Also can't hold down a conversation due to the mumbling, buttttt they became a Ceo that one time. If they could get past the communication barrier they'd do just fine. They seem the type to even go to the effort to put on a bowtie over the suit. Only issue is they may set shit on fire but they're still a better option than Scout.

Sniper

Wouldn't, like, kill anyone or anything, and probably owns a suit. He'd be horrible company though. Only knows how to talk about blowing people's heads off and bush survival tactics. Also filled with hatred for rich posho cunts, and that surlyness would definitely show.

Demo

He'd wear a kilt but that's the only issue clothingwise. Would get blackout drunk halfway through the night but before that he'd be a great party guy: witty, charming, full of good stories and generally very likeable. Once he's proper drunk though he'd probably srat sobbing and that's not really the sort of thing one should get up to at a gala.

Medic

Definitely owns suits, capable of normal conversation, but prefers to talk about horrible experiments anyways. One of those guys who says he doesn't believe in small talk. Will fully go up to someone like Hi I'm Doctor Ludwig I Put A Whale Gallbladder In Someone This Morning. Autism amiright. Still, his charisma levels are off the charts so people are more likely to be willing to look past this clear insanity. He's hot.

Heavy

Literally the only issues with him are language barrier and generally looking quite threatening. Still, I think he'd do a pretty good job, especially in a room full of australians who aren't terrified of him, or in a room full of people who speak russian. Intellectuals!! Fuck yeah he's the phd man. Scholarly people would adore him, if it was one of Those galas.

Engie

Can be polite, can talk about normal things, even willing to take off goggles and helmet on occasion. Southern charm! However, he seems the type to not take shit. Will ruthlessly correct anyone who says anything slightly scientifically inaccurate. If he's insulted, he'll be annoyed about it. He threatened his goddamned employer once, just think of what he'd do to people that don't even hold authority over him.

Spy

No shit he's the best. He wears nothing but suits. It's literally his job to charm people. There's literally nothing else for me to say he's winning at being the best guy to send to a gala. Only thing that would trip him up is the presence of the rest of the team, or even just one of the team the that one was below Medic on the list. Rule of funny decrees this will inevitably happen somehow. If valve ever released a gala comic solly and scout would inexplicably be there just because they're the writers favourites and also Funny.

I had no business thinking about all this as much as I did!! It was a fucking nsfw oneshot collection i was reading, Scout only attended the gala because the plot required it. Boo.

[fumifooms]

I have a question about Falin vs. Hien, like if Falin had actually accepted Shuro 's proposal and moved to the Eastern lands, what would the relationship between Falin and Hien be like, does Hien only like the idea of Shuro, similar to how Shuro loves the idea of Falin instead of Falin herself?

Hien’s very professional & capable and her job’s everything to her, so I think she’d treat Falin like she treats her other bosses, with respect and fulfilling their demands as efficiently and cleanly as she can. After all, Falin would then be becoming the head of the household’s wife, the lady of the house. And as we saw with Hien becoming very detached and professional with Toshiro, she doesn’t have a hard time putting feelings and interpersonal issues or dynamics aside when it’s best. There’s also something to say about how there’s no personal-life work-life separation for her, she lives with her employers under their watch and her job is a status, not a contract. And unlike the others, Hien was born and raised there, not just bought and brought young, that’s all she knows. The other retainers, the ninja girls, are under her watch, they’re roommates, they’re peers but they’re also not— by being their manager and leader there’s another line drawn in the sand between her and the others. There are no relationships outside of work because there is no life outside of work. Toshiro was her childhood friend but he’s also always been her boss’ son, so she pushed him to be more worthy of his title like how she was, don’t cry etc etc, she’s always treated him a bit with that "remember our positions" attitude, so it’s no wonder that growing up their relationship just sort of naturally and wordlessly shifted into just that. Capability and good behavior is required from her, it’s her default and the way she was brought up.

Now, as for her feelings about it… Well, when she talks about it during canon she does seem to be bothered for one reason or another, or just struggling to conceive the idea- not unlike how she struggled with the realization that her and Toshiro weren’t happening.

One notable thing is that the relationship she’s imagining isn’t really- desirable? Explicitly it’s because of Toshiro’s father and Maizuru’s affair that Hien thought that she’d become Toshiro’s mistress, as his closest servant, and they don’t exactly paint a happy or honorable picture. It’s not desirable, it’s expected. That’s how Hien expresses it too, that’s what she expected, not necessarily wanted. But now that the expected didn’t happen she wonders if that’s because something’s wrong with her- if it’s because she didn’t fulfill her role properly. And that bothers her, the way it’d get to someone for who being good at what you’re assigned at is your whole life and purpose, the way that’s what you base your self-worth on. It’s unsettling, the way a clock that was supposed to hit the hour on time but didn’t is, the way an unspoken law of the universe being suddenly broken without consequence is. Honestly I do relate a bit to the specific situation of Hien, because I had a guy childhood friend growing up and I thought just by that token something might happen. Nothing happened and I was never in love, but it still felt like a very real possibility at one point just because, because of what people say and what shows show— either way, I think it’s fitting to say that Toshiro was an idea to Hien, the idea of family heir, boss and also childhood friend potential lover, without necessarily attaching feelings to any of those ideas inherently, mostly a sense of duty and that those "ideas", those roles assigned to people are very important.

So yes I think it’s mainly a self-worth issue if anything, and I think it’s something she’s mostly moved past, especially with being able to talk about it and reaffirm her confidence despite it and being praised by Beni, etc etc. Although like I mentioned in my Hien analysis, I don’t really think she’s self-aware in general. I think it just healed itself vaguely the way things you don’t think about slowly get digested and processed over time. So yes I don’t think Hien ever really loved the idea of Toshiro, in fact she sometimes calls him unfit for leadership and criticizes him, but I think it became a confidence and like, ‘my 5 years life plan just changed drastically because this didn’t happen’ thing. But yes maybe Falin popping up and being so unfit to be a Nakamoto heiress would clash with Hien’s need for rules, the very freedom Shuro likes about her being the thing that makes her a black sheep there— the type that the Nakamoto house stifles, where freedom and whimsy goes to die and be ripped out of you etiquette lesson after etiquette lesson- "Obey the rules and your curfew or a ghost demon will chase you with a knife" after "You still have so little feats to your name, are you really the great warrior Toshitsugu’s son?" I would love to see Hien’s suppressed resentment or sense of entitlement bubble up in ways not even herself fully understands, and like most things like that, she vents and hashes it out with Benichidori :3c Idk I wanted to give more alternate ideas and brainstorm but this is pretty much it to me I think. I could definitely see Hien being passive agressive and very critical with Falin, microanalyzing and voicing every little thing to "fix", if allowed.

Tbh I have beef with that interpretation of Falin-Shuro. Half because not even Laios and Marcille listen to Falin well, and because people underplay how much time they’ve spent together and the genuine significance of her to him. Toshiro only fell for her after a good while of working beside her, when she did something that reached to his feelings, and as shown by the little Laios-Shuro compilation in their fight chapter he did spend time with her, tried to take her on dates. Let’s not forget she had to save Toshiro from his nightmare the same way Laios did with Marcille, that’s already a lot of material to feel a connection with someone, showing that much vulnerability— even if he forgot his nightmare.

I’m not saying he knows her superrr well, but he did show genuine and consistent want and drive to get to know her better, did show genuine interest in her and who she is. Hell, "the way she thinks" is one of the reasons he lists for why he loves her! When she turns his proposal down, he accepts it with a smile saying "you can’t tie down a dragon", after all- that freedom is what he likes about her. He admires it and is happy for her leaving to travel around and finding herself, and really what a beautiful selfless caring love. The selfless love in letting go.

It’s not that the idea that Shuro loves his idea of Falin has no merit, Falin is pretty much pushed into an ideal by everyone close to her, but in their case it’s something I hear all the time and often pushed to extremes based on vibes. And honestly there’s an argument to be made for the reverse as well, where he’s the one who perhaps sees her the most, who doesn’t treat her as a little kid or a little sister to protect and talk over because you know what’s good for them better than they do, fighting over who gets to decide her future. Toshiro gives Falin a choice with his proposal, she turns it down, and that’s okay. That’s a whole other thing to get into but what matters here for this is that in early canon he was the only one present who loved her who was also willing to let her go for her sake, the man who rushed into the dungeon neglecting his health with inadequately prepared equipment, with his team he BEGGED TO HELP HIM, ASKING SOMETHING FOR HIMSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE—

Who now instead of clinging to her and his attachment to her, who instead of scolding her and shutting her down for her decision to sacrifice herself, accepts it and wants her body and soul to rest, to be at peace instead of transformed and controlled against her will by magic— He is able to show the love in letting go, the care and strength in it. And that’s something Laios did have to learn, with its climax in how he killed Falin after the rabbit curry. Something Marcille had to learn, being ready to accept her death in the final chapter.

If you look at it any closer than "wow he fell in love like at once instead of slowly?" everything is stacked in the favor of his love being true and caring tbh. Even if she’s idealized, doesn’t make his love any less genuine than Marcille’s and Laios’ who do too. No shade intended and I don’t meant to read in any more in your words than what you intended, I just hope this illustrates well the differences between Hien->Toshiro and Toshiro->Falin imo! Either way it IS a very interesting parallel to draw. -Eyes suddenly shot open as I lay in the dark in my bed, haunted- The love in letting go, wait, like Hien letting go of her notions of what her and Toshiro should be… The self-love in that too, too, especially in her case. There’s something here…

[magical-glimpse]

Happy New Year: Pick a Month to get a clue about your 2025 !

The clue isn’t necessarily about the month you picked.

January:

The Lovers, The Emperor, Nine of Pentacles You are in for a very balanced year. You will grow into your potential and your inner authority, while nurturing your opportunities and what you already started growing in 2024 and 2023. Expect being in a place of authority, of power, where people look up to you.

February:

Five of Pentacles, Five of Wands, Eight of Wands Expect trouble this year, you may get into financial or interpersonal issues and disagreements. Do not fear, because it will all be opportunities for you to blast through obstacles and grow exponentially. It may be the opportunity for you to deal with inner wounds linked to productivity, effort, work and rewards etc.

March:

The World, Seven of Wands, The High Priestess

You will accomplish a lot this year. You will finish projects, complete phases and requirements and overall will put a happy close to a lot of currently open-ended projects. You may have to fight a little to get through them, but as you follow your intuition you will realize you are capable of much more than you thought you were in January.

April: The High Priestess, Judgement, Six of Cups

This will be a year for connecting to yourself, especially your childhood self and your family, chosen or otherwise. This year may be decisive, as many of your choices will have a high impact on your close and far-away future. This may be a pile for late high school or college students who are making big decisions this year ! In all the trials, do not forget to give and care for yourself.

May:

Queen of Pentacles, Strength, FIve of Cups

You will manage this year like a Queen, goddamn. I see you in the middle of all these flows and just dealing with everything brilliantly, in a connected manner. A very aligned year for you. There is this underlying feel of disappointment, it seems like it is quite there, so you may currently be dealing with some sort of sadness, heartbreak or disappointment which may hold on for a while in 2025, but you are still incredibly capable of having a good year for yourself

June:

Ace of Cups, Eight of Pentacles, The Hermit

This gives balanced hustle energy. Definitely a year where you put your head down and work hard, especially on your own. It doesn’t seem like there will be much going out or many new connections, more of a focus on yourself and existing close friendships, especially on pouring ENERGY INTO YOUR OWN CUP. It seems to be a very strong theme for you. It does seem to be my single pile lmao. Just focusing on yourself, your skills, your craft, your inner heart and bringing peace into your own home in your own space.

July:

The High Priestess, Four of Pentacles, Knight of Swords

Hm, it may be a year where you are forced to stand still for a while. Maybe you asked about a specific project or aspect of your life where you really really really wanted to see growth, fast. Well it will happen, but only when you will get the intuitive hint to do so. It’s this kind of thing that the universe really really wants to happen in a certain way and they don't let you or anyone else mess it or its timeline up, so they will block it until everyone/everything is ready for you to take this action. This will unlock everything and allow you to grow your idea just as you planned it, while it going much further than you thought it would. Let’s say for example that you have a business that you planned X number of sales in a month, and 10X in a year.  You will get the exact rhythm you expected in a month, however your social media will reach much higher height than you expected, so you’ll get 12X orders in a year with twice the numbers of followers/subscribers you expected that allow you to get ahead on your 2026 sales objectives. Kind of a long example, but I hope you get it.

August:

Nine of Pentacles, Four of Wands, The Hierophant Not gonna lie, this is giving big wedding energy haha. If you are already engaged or planning on it soon this is definitely your pile haha. Not only wedding, but also career growth. This doesn’t exactly feel like a promotion, maybe a good augmentation, or someone in freelance having a really really good year with a growing number of loyal clients. There is also this feeling of tradition, respect, honor. You may get cultural rituals or events this year to help you, bless you, support and protect you, that is what causes or supports the wedding and career growth. Congratulations haha

September:

Page of Wands, Ten of Cups, The Star

WOAW HAHA. INCREDIBLE year for you, my September pile. You may get an unbelievable offer, something you are meant for, that you built the skills and mind for. That you are burning to do and are finally getting the opportunity to do simply because you are meant for it and everything is ready for you to do so. You are getting a nearly perfect year, pile September. Start the 2025 Bingo now because this will go MUCH further than your eyes could ever believe it goes, and that’s thanks to you holding onto hope for years before 2025, slowing building up and making progress towards your dreams whatever life was throwing at you, taking every single lemon and turning it into the tastiest lemonade AND candied lemon AND compost AND lemon tree. Insanely good year waiting for you, dear pile.

October:

The Lovers, Page of Wands, Ten of Cups

It feels like a love-oriented year is in store for you, October pile ! It does seem to be with someone you already know, someone who is already on your mind, where you get a spark to light. It could be a long-distance relationship, someone you are friends with, but not like a situationship or something you are unsure of. The two of you are already aware of your bond, there just seems to be a bit of a distance here, emotional or physical. An opportunity will come to light up a spark and for the two of you to come closer and start something, build something really beautiful together.

November:

King of Pentacles, Knight of Wands, Nine of Swords This is the pile of people who will get blessings they don't feel ready for just yet. This is honestly giving the vibe of you getting a promotion at work that you expected but like, you get it in three days when you expected it in 3 years. You get thrusted into this new position, with better pay, more interesting missions, people working under you and reporting to you, but there’s still a strong underlying fear that you are not ready. Well, you are, on the skills level, on the power level, on the mindset level… You just don’t feel emotionally ready for it yet, and it’s okay. You deserve the best, you deserve this position, you just may have some insecurities or wounds to heal before you are full ready to embrace all this position asks of you, but you are on the right path, have faith in yourself, as much as I, you guides and the Universe have in you.

December:

The Magician, the Chariot, Temperance

HOT DAMN PILE. This will be a very, very powerful year for you. You will learn and apply your knowledge, have all your skills at your disposal to make moves forward in a very balanced, very healthy way. I don’t even know what to say haha, it’s like you already know you’re awesome and how awesome you’ll be in 2025. Congratulations and great work.

[galene-gothic]

𝖧𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿?

୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅* ‧₊ I hope this reading found you in good health, every reblog is appreciated and thank you for everything :) ˖♡ ˎˊ˗ ꒰ 🐇 ꒱

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗             PAID SERVICES

⸼ ۫ ︎︎⊹ ! 🪡︎ Pile 1 ꒱

Let's look at what your best self looks like first, your best self is selectively honest. They don't tell others what they want next. They evaluate themself and are self critical to a certain extent. They are sort of self absorbed. They understand that ignorance is bliss and know how to ignore things or people when need be. They are especially really good at ignoring people that they can't have or people from the past. They are still quite fearless though. They understand that it's better to be attacked than ignored. They meditate often and know how to relax. They need and prioritise peace, and their actions align with that. They never bite more than they can chew, they know how to step away from situations that they cannot handle. They try to stay away from conflict and choose themself first no matter what. They know how to become the bigger person. They take care of themself, self reflect and know how to heal properly. They know how to not make rash decisions. They're wise and detached. They've surrendered, they know that if they cannot control it, there's no use worrying and if they can control it, it's better to do so rather than worry. They've released old beliefs and patterns. They have a faith that things will work out, be it faith in themself, faith in god, faith in life or faith in the universe. They're mindful, intentional and know how to let go. They know how to grow, they're also successful. They believe that the pain of discipline is better than the pain of regret. They're quite passive and know how to let life happen for them, they're still someone who takes necessary action though. So, how do you become them? You need a rest, not gonna lie.

Some of you might be drained out to the point where you cannot focus in school or on work. You need to address your self esteem issues. Supposing, you are really self conscious when it comes to performing, you always feel like your body won't look good if you put too much energy so you end up putting less energy in but when you do so, you feel disappointed at yourself for not doing well. In that case, you should try to improve your dance skills. You're someone who has an understanding that being pretty doesn't do enough for you, it's the same with being rich, and the way you are as a person and the way you present yourself are all very important to you. I think it's important for you to build certain skills to a point where you can be really proud, it'll significantly boost your self esteem which will in turn help you for the better. It requires consistency though, don't be lazy !! You need to release negative thoughts, feelings, habits and patterns. You might have gotten really comfortable with your pain, it's important to heal. Your deepest traumas are either already surfacing/resurfacing or will soon, that's when it'll be the easiest to change. You need to stop stressing like just know that "what happens, happens." You need to face life and have a total break down first. You should withdraw from stuff. You'll go through something very humbling, you'll be left feeling really put down. You'll not even have it in yourself to look strong anymore, you'll be exposing weakness because you'll just not have the strength to conceal it. You'll have to accept defeat first and things will get better soon. You'll have to have a lot of anger, pain, shame, guilt and regrets in order to completely change your life, all the best, it'll probably come in soon.

⸼ ۫ ︎︎⊹ ! 🪡︎ Pile 2 ꒱

Let's look at what your best self looks like, your best self has unlimited potential and sees it. Your best self has freedom in some sense, be it financial or something else. Your best self is someone who had to let go of who they were in order to become who they're meant to be. Your best self has a carefree attitude. I just heard 'be yourself'. When I say this, some of you might think that you're doing it already but if you think about it properly you'll notice that you tend to either act childlike even though you're very mature, dumb even though you're very smart, don't express your values as articulately as you think about them, etc. Some of you could be really good at written expression of your thoughts, ideas and feelings but when it comes to talking, you're not the best. Your best self is not scared of being unique. Your best self takes risks because they understand that most of the times not taking a risk is the biggest risk. Your best self has a thirst for life and is passionate. You might be really passionate as a person (most of you seem to have that side of you diminished though). Your best self has fun regardless of what others say. One quality that you already have is your ability to analyse yourself, you are not the type to avoid accountability and blaming external factors for every little thing. You have some sort of an inner guidance, your mindset gives you the capacity to be completely alone if necessary. I feel like a deep part of you desires or used to desire solitude, peace and spiritual enlightenment. Most of you have started your spiritual journey already, some of you haven't though. It doesn't have to be something too deep like 'light candles every full moon, meditate every morning, light sage and incenses often' but instead that you feel like everything that happened was for a reason or even if it feels like it wasn't.

You learn and make something out of it, you know how to live life and try to grow as a person, and have faith (be it in the universe or in yourself). You might be quite philosophical too. You have a lot of wisdom, people who are slightly older than you and see you for who you are might say things like "you're so mature for your age". Ofcourse, there are some things that you'll have to get rid of in order to become your best self, I feel like most of you have mostly/only had short term unstable relationship/s which have caused you to have a lot of baggage. You could have poor health (I heard a poor immune system, bad sleep schedule and poor gut health). You might also be financially dependent on someone else or just not be financially stable, it's causing you to not be able to gain certain skills or knowledge, etc. Even if you do not notice it, you have a tendency of getting stuck in your head often. You lack spontaneity and need mental stimulation/challenges/someone who seems to be equally as intelligent as you so you could have been stuck in toxic friendships/relationships with people who think that and act like they know everything. You're a very fair person, so being with people who don't share the same values or reasoning as you will be frustrating, I'd advise you to not interact with such people to the point of forming am emotional attachment. You'll have to find a source of motivation or something that just reignites the passion in you. Stop being lazy, simply just planning isn't going to get you anywhere. You need to find a new purpose basically. Focus on a purpose, money, drive and having fun. It's important to learn how to be true to yourself and not get easily influenced. You should go out and have some fun too. All the best, I'm rooting for you but you need to be rooting for yourself ten times harder.

⸼ ۫ ︎︎⊹ ! 🪡︎ Pile 3 ꒱

Your best self holds pure intentions towards others and has a good nature. Your best self is also very attractive and follows their heart. They're driven and have a great imagination. They romanticise life and are in love with love. They listen to their intuition and take action towards their goals with a hope in their heart. They have a creative hobby that they might have suppressed that they choose to enhance. They're charming and friendly with people. One thing that I'm getting is that they're someone who everyone has a crush on to a certain extent. They receive a lot of jealousy and envy from others. They don't let anger get the best of them. They think calmly and orderly. They accept different beliefs and paths. They could be someone who's tired though, like really tired physically (they could do a lot). They're accepting of other people's differences. They find solutions to issues instead of going around blaming others. They prioritise peace and don't lose sight of the path. You need to face yourself instead of quick fixing issues that lead to long term detriment. If you're having fights, etc. the moment you forgive them (whether it is at their face or by yourself, without letting them know, that's up to you) and resolve conflicts (including your inner conflicts), you'll start developing into your best self. You have convinced yourself that you have certain beliefs that don't align with you and you need to get rid of them. You're not seeing the brighter side of life and that's hindering you from becoming your best self too.

I feel like what's led to this mild-extreme pessimism is your over optimism in the past. A happy and exciting event seems to have turned wrong. It's going to take you a lot of work to become your best self. You'll have to take up a lot of responsibilities and be really loaded with things to do if you want to become your best self. You'll have to be serious about life and will be stressed quite often. I just heard 'too busy to even eat'. There are excessive requirements and conditions for you to become the best version of yourself. You'll have to put yourself through intense pressure. You'll have to take up a lot of responsibilities too though, try to improve your own character alongside working on building something for yourself. It'll be really easy to burn out though because of how much you'll be doing. You need to mean how to not commit easily to others. You need to challenge others instead of just letting them into your life. Your best self follows their heart but is not easy to get. You need to become hard to get and easy to lose. You need to learn how to make quick decisions and take quick actions. It's important for you to be on a dedicated mission to succeed. Discipline yourself and build confidence. Build so much confidence that when someone you love does you wrong, you know that you can just let go, and find better people and treatment. Become self assured. It's important for you to just go for the things that you want. If you try, you'll get there little by little, all the best.