#so I don't know if I've access to the scanned pages

[ducktalesdonald]

Guess who, thanks to all the leaks, got sucked back into the Ducktales fandom? ... From what I've seen, several people, but me as well! Looking for some active people in the Donald Duck comics, Ducktales and/or Darkwing Duck fandoms to follow! Just like, reblog or comment on this post, thank you.~

[slayfics]

You tend to Katsuki.

1k words

You sat in the common room of the dorms making yourself busy at one of the tables studying. Absentmindedly you turned the pages of your book and scanned the materials, not actually digesting any of the information.

Secretly, you weren't concerned with studying. Your actual reason for hanging around the common room was to wait for Katsuki to come back. It was Saturday, which meant he was with Shoto at their supplemental classes to make up for not passing the provisional licensing exam.

Finally, after what seemed like too long, Katsuki came bursting through the door. An annoyed expression on his face as he turned to yell some obscenities back at Shoto.

Shoto followed him through the front door and Katsuki turned sharply away from him. It was apparent that Katsuki was eager to get away from the two-toned-haired boy.

Katsuki glanced over at you briefly but kept making his way through the common room. His cheek had a large bandage that was already turning crimson from whatever wound was on the other side.

You watched as the two boys split ways, Shoto made his way over to talk to Hanta and Katsuki vanished into the elevators to go up to his room.

You waited a moment before texting Katsuki.

[You]: That looks like a nasty cut. What happened?

[Katsuki]: I hate texting. Just come up.

You happily shut your book and rushed over to his dorm.

Knocking gently, you heard Katsuki's irritated yell on the other side, "Told ya already- just come in."

You opened the door and were met with the sight of him putting away the belongings he brought to the extra classes today. The bandage on his cheek being in better view, you could see that it was in desperate need of being tended to.

"That looks even worse up close," You stated.

"Tch- It's not even a big deal," he replied, downplaying the injury.

"How did it happen?" You asked.

Katsuki grunted as he finished putting away his stuff and sat down on the edge of his bed, "Some dumb ass training where we couldn't use our quirks. What the fuck is the point of that?!" He said irritated.

"Sounds like your worst nightmare," you laughed trying to lighten his mood. You fixated your eyes back on the bandage and the blood stain that now soaked through. "Why don't you let me change that for you?" You offered.

"HAH? I can do that myself idiot," he said being stubborn.

"I know you can but- I need practice. Tending to wounds is a part of hero work too, right? So- let me practice on you," you suggested, hoping that excuse would change his mind.

Katsuki thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders in agreement, "First aid is in the bathroom cabinet," he said gesturing to the bathroom.

You rummaged through his cabinet to find another bandage and antiseptic ointment. "I don't think I've ever done this for someone else before," you stated as you came back into the room and sat next to him on the bed.

"It isn't hard," Katsuki huffed. Resting his elbows on his thighs as he kept his gaze straight forward giving you better access to his cheek.

You scooted closer and crossed your legs onto the bed to tend to his wound. "These classes have really been a pain for you, hu?" You asked, gently peeling away the soiled badge on his cheek.

Katsuki clicked his tongue annoyed by your comment, "It's nothing I can't handle!" He barked, eyebrows furrowed, and nose scrunched.

You giggled at his response, "Such a tough guy," you teased and squeezed some of the antiseptic ointment onto your finger. "You know- it can be both things. Something you can handle and a pain at the same time."

Katsuki opened his mouth ready to make another snarky comment when your finger met his wound. Any snide remark he had ready, vanished at the gentle way your finger grazed over his cut. Eyebrows softened, and shoulders dropped he let out a sigh.

The ointment stung, but he wasn't focused on that at all. Instead, he was focused on the way his heart rate increased the second you made contact with him. He hated it- but wanted more at the same time.

"What? Going speechless on me now?" You asked teasing his sudden muteness. You prepared the new bandage and got it ready to place over his wound.

"No," he grunted, voice lower than before. Another moment passed before he spoke, "The classes are a pain. God dam Icy Hot gets on my nerves. Acting like we're friends now just because we're in these shitty classes together. He makes everything a hundred times worse." Katsuki explained as you gently pressed the new bandage on to his cheek.

You smiled at Katsuki's honesty and decided to tease him further. "Wait- you mean he isn't your best friend? That's strange he's been telling everyone that."

"The fuck? Are you serious?" Katsuki asked, turning to you, his eyes catching yours. Noticing for the first time how close you really were to him, his cheeks flushed.

You smiled and a giggle escaped you. Immediately he recognized the amusement on your face. If it was anyone else, he'd blow a fuse but- with you, he was distracted by the way your smile lit up your eyes and the way your laughter forced him to smile too.

"Tch- brat. Don't mess with me like that," he said and playfully shoved your shoulder, causing you to laugh even harder.

"I'm sorry- I couldn't help it," you said in between giggles.

If you weren't laughing so hard maybe you would have noticed the soft smile Katsuki had or the way his cheeks warmed slightly.

"Whatever-," he said brushing off his emotions. "You eat yet?" He asked.

"Nope," you answered laughter subsiding.

"Good- let's go downstairs I'll make us something." He offered.

sinners: @queenpiranhadon @unofficialmuilover @maddietries @fiannee @i-heart-carlisle @derangedmango @matchat3a @bakugouswaif @reneinii @peachsukii @pastelbakugou @abadbitchblogs @deluluforcarlos55 @b134ch-m4h-ey3z @pinkpurpledreams @that-one-fangirl69 @dreamcastgirl99

[oracle-of-dream]

Now that I know you write for svt can you please do a dom Mingyu x sub male reader smut with size kink?

I'll do you one better.

Photo Finisher

Minors DNI

Summary: Another day, another dick... A photoshoot for Cosmopolitan rolled your way with a promising model. Seventeen's largest member, Mingyu, asked for you by name...

Warnings: (Not Proofread) Male Reader, Size Kink, Massive Cock Mingyu, Creampie, Cockwarming, Carry/Lifting Sex, Struggles of fat cocks, Daddy nickname, Mention of blood (not related to sex), Cursing, Painful sex

Wordcount: 2k

Images flicked by as you tossed through the pages of recent issues of Cosmopolitan magazine. You could tell the photos were taken by professionals but lacked that glow that you enjoyed in your pictures. It just wasn't the same without it. You'd been commissioned by the magazine's owner to take photos for their next cover, apparently, their model asked for you specifically but withheld their identity from you.

Irritated, you walked into the studio, looking around for who your mystery client was. They have some nerve to call for you and not even give you a name. How the hell were you supposed to start and pre-work without knowing your client or studying other photos of them?

Your manager approached you, seeing your expression. "Y/n, I know you're not in the best of moods but let's not do anything to get us fired."

"Fired?" You raised your eyebrow. "Whoever this means so much to the company, I could get fired!?"

"No–" You ignored your manager's horrible attempt at recovery as you marched over to the dressing room door. He stepped in the way, blocking you from entering. "Just promise there won't be any blood to clean!"

"I'll make sure the bleeding will be internal. If you don't move, it'll be you internally bleeding."

They sheepishly moved aside, granting you access. You threw open the door to see a man with bronze skin, broad shoulders, and a military cut. He turned to you with a big smile. "Hello! You must be my photographer. I'm Mingyu, from Seventeen."

"Hi, Mingyu." You slowly entered the room, only the sound of your shoes clicking on the floor. "Why did you hide your name from me in the beginning?"

"I thought you might say no if you knew who I was... I've heard you're very picky with clients." Mingyu's head lowered like a puppy. "I hope that's not too much to ask."

You rolled your eyes. For someone so big, he was so docile... "Don't do that again. It's impolite." He nodded diligently. You sized him up; He was much taller than you, with a bicep the size of your head, and his chest bulged in the button-up he was wearing–the button held on for life. "Let's try and start again. I'm Y/n, and I'll be your photographer."

"I'm Mingyu, from Seventeen. It's nice to meet you." Mingyu stretched out a massive hand to shake yours, which made you feel small as he enclosed it in the handshake.

"Now we're acquaintances. Do you have any questions about my process?" You crossed your arms, trying to appear larger but it was useless against the mountain before you. Mingyu shifted his weight, looking around at the other staff in the dressing room. You scoffed, "Can we have the room please?" The makeup and clothing staff rushed out, relieved to get away from you. "Your questions. Speak."

Mingyu shifted awkwardly again before opening his mouth, "I-I didn't expect you to be so forward about things. I just want to look as good as possible, and you're very talented. So, I'd like to ask for whatever treatment is necessary."

It sounded like he practiced this speech a few times before speaking it. You smirked at the thought of him nervously practicing for you. "Sure. Do you know what you want?"

"W-What I want?"

"Yes. You've got to have something, right?"

"What can I ask for?"

"Nothing too physically damaging, I still need to work. But I want what you want, so tell me what you like about me."

Mingyu's eyes scanned you, as he'd been doing since you'd walked in. He honed in on your waist. "I wanna hold you."

"Okay, that's simple." You kicked off your shoes and waited for his embrace. When Mingyu lifted you off the ground by your waist, you gripped his arms for balance.

"Is this okay?"

"Fine. Just wasn't expecting to come off the ground..." You were level with his face now, about to admire his features much closer. His attached earlobes made his whole ear look larger cutely rounding out his face. But his sharp cheekbones and facial lines made him look more like a man–as well as his impressive figure.

"You're so... small." You'd never been called small before. The way Mingyu experimentally squeezed your sides forced a moan from you. "And you're voice is so... cute." Mingyu pulled you into him, holding you to his chest, you could feel his heartbeat racing.

"You're so excited already?"

"Maybe... I've got a thing for small things." He smirked at you, looking down at you. "When do we... do more?"

"Whenever you're ready. I've already prepared myself, but you may break me anyway..."

"I'm not a kid. I try not to break my toys," Mingyu's low voice rumbled in his chest as he lifted you to his lips easily. His lips engulfed yours as he shifted his arms to your legs, making you wrap around him. Even his tongue was thick when it forced past your lips. You twitched wrapping your arms around his neck to hold him close. Mingyu walked you to a chair, sitting down while setting you in his lap. "Come on, Mr. Photographer. Show me more." The smugness in his voice was completely different from the shy man you were talking to moments ago. You tried to lift your shirt over your head but Mingyu stopped you. "I want to fuck you in your clothes..."

"Fine. That's easier for me, but try not to mess your clothes up."

"I'll have to cum in you to not make a mess."

"Is that you trying to ask or are you telling me?"

"Depends on which one lets me cream you."

"Both do." You giggled as you slid your pants down enough for your ass to hang out.

Mingyu lifted you onto your knees, balancing you on his lap, to smack your ass a few times. One hand focused on kneading your ass while the other unbuttoned Mingyu's pants. Your hands on his massive shoulders, looking so small, Mingyu loved every second of watching you shake over him. When he managed to unleash his cock, he smiled up at you, "You wanna look first?"

You took a glance over your shoulder. It was at least ten inches. Probably–Definitely more. "That's going in me? You'll kill someone with that one day."

"No one's died yet."

"How do you want me?"

"You're gonna ride it."

You scoffed, "Are you serious? How could I lower myself onto that?"

"I'll help you. Don't worry, Daddy's got you." He winked.

"Fuck you." Your tongue poked your cheek as you reached down to line yourself with his cock. Mingyu's hands gripped your waist, their warms making your skin tingle. He held you tightly, ready to control how much cock you'd get at any time. "Just don't slam me down. I'd like to be able to walk for the rest of today."

"I thought I was supposed to get what I like."

"And I said no physical harm."

He nodded. "Of course. You're the boss."

"Sure, Daddy," You said as you slid onto his tip. It was so thick that your hole was already stretching more than you prepared yourself for. "Jesus," You whispered, trying to keep yourself stable on his shoulders.

"Leave on me as much as you need. Take your time, it's no rush."

"Don't piss me off," You grunted through gritted teeth. You were taking your time, but it just kept going. Every time you sank an inch, you used your hand to feel how much was left to go–and it always felt like you hadn't made any progress. "You fat cock, fucker."

"Are you cursing at me?" Mingyu raised an eyebrow.

"No, I was just–Holy fuck!" Mingyu pushed you down onto him, more than you were ready for. "What the fuck!?"

"Don't curse at me. I told you to take all the time you needed, and you're not listening. That's not my fault." You took deep breaths through your nose to keep yourself from crying. The pain raked through your whole body as your hole was still so tight it could barely stretch for Mingyu.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to curse."

"That's better. Now, let me help you." Mingyu lifted you, making your eyes roll as your guts moved back into place. Then he lowered you back down, making your nails dig into his shoulders. "That's it, squeeze as hard as you like. I've got you." Mingyu's words were soft-spoken and light as he moved you like a weight at the gym. At every down, he made you take more of him. He continued this pattern until you sat completely on his lap, his entire cock somehow buried inside you. Your mouth hung open but no sound could describe the full feeling you were experiencing. You'd had so many types of cocks, but one like this was different. He was a monster and he was balls deep inside you. "I don't think you can move, so I'll do it for you then." Mingyu used you, like a fleshlight, holding you tighter as he lifted his hips into you.

Your mouth overflowed with drool, dripping down onto your chest. Mingyu leaned forward and licked it up. "Such a mess slut, aren't you? You just use your job to get free cock from idols. Is the 'glow' thing even real, or do you just like getting stuffed?"

As much as you wanted to argue, your brain was full of static. You couldn't work your mouth right, only shallow gasps and soft moans spilled out.

"Let's end this now, we've still got work to do," Mingyu grunted as he stood, carrying you with him. He loosened his grip on you to let you slide until you were perpendicular to his torso. Your legs on his shoulders, his hands supporting your back and waist, and his cock pointing straight inside you. "Try not to scream. And don't bother holding your orgasm back. It's better to watch you cum all over yourself." Mingyu thrust once, forcing a loud moan out of you as your eyes rolled.

You had to focus on not letting your head dangle or you'd choke on your own tongue. But it was pretty difficult with the way you were pushed by each thrust and pulled back in with the momentum of your body. Mingyu moved at a moderate pace, but the strength behind each thrust made it feel like he was drilling you. You were being forced over the edge at 100 MPH.

"Please, cum... fast," You begged.

"For you cutie, I'll do just that. But, it'll be tough, so try not to bite your tongue off." Mingyu smiled as he cocked his hips back further and hit you with the same speed and power, but making more of his dick move. It was enough to instantly force you to cum, making a mess as ropes of cum shot all over your shirt. Your tightening hole made it harder for Mingyu to keep himself together as he went to town on you. His thrust had a moan behind it as his sweat dripped onto your body. "I'm gonna cum–come 'ere," Mingyu pulled you up as he hugged you tightly, fucking you through his high. The way his cock bulged with each wave of cum that passed through his cock was devilish. His whole body was made for fucking and it took you so long to realize it.

When you gained enough sanity to register the rest of the room around you, Mingyu was sitting back in the chair holding you as you laid on top of him–his cock still inside you.

"We've gotta work," You groaned as you tried to climb off. But Mingyu's grip on your body was so tight that you couldn't move.

"Five more minutes. Then work."

Mingyu held you hostage for almost fifteen minutes before you convinced him to let you go. You had to have an intern wheel you around in a chair to get your photos, but you still got them... All while Mingyu had that dumb smirk on his face, as he stared at you through the lens.

[cy-cyborg]

I've seen my new GP twice now, and omg I didn't realise how bad things were with my previous one until now. Like I knew it was bad, but having someone who actually listens and cares to contrast to makes the shitty treatment stand out so much more. Some of the highlights:

My memory isn't great, so my partner wrote out a full report of what had been happening with a list of symptoms and a timeline of the most recent events, as well as printed versions of whatever tests results we could get before we arrived. Id summerised it at the top because every doctor id been to never reads what i give them, even when its from other doctors, but he read all of it, and asked clarifying questions as he did to make sure we were on the same page.

He actually read what little bits of my medical history had access to (while I've never seen this doctor before, I attended this clinic as a child, which was when most of the stuff associated with my primary disability was happening, so he could see that) and agreed that there is almost certainly something chronic going on that he will gladly investigate once the immediate issue is dealt with.

The fact I was autistic came up at some point, and I explained that I'm not formally diagnosed. My current psychologist and one other has done all the testing they can and they were both very confident I am autistic, but we can't get the formal diagnosis without a review from a neuropsyc because of something in my history, and I don't have the money to do that. My autistic traits are in my medical files but they're incorrectly attributed to something else. He was incredibly understanding of that and told me not to stress about the diagnosis (unless i want to, in which case he said hed support me from his end if he can) and asked if I could get something from my psychologist to explain how this might effect my treatment (not noticing symptoms, not being able to articulate problems consistently etc) so he knows what additional support I might need in the clinic.

He admitted to not knowing things, and told me how he was going to go about fixing that gap in his knowledge before my next appointment. For example, He admitted to never having a trans patient before, but that he's going to do some research on his own time to learn what he needs to do to be a better Dr for me.

He asked me to get some scans from a previous hospital stay, and picked up that I was hesitant. mum was with me and explained my auditory processing issues and how it makes communicating via phone hard. he told me not to stress and said he can get the receptionist to do it with my concent.

A lot of these aren't big things, but they make the world of difference when you have a complex medical history and its so refreshing just to feel heard after all this

[jamsandsuch]

advice for first year uni students from a uni senior

the roommate(s) will always be more important than the room

+ for roommates, SET. CLEANING. EXPECTATIONS. EARLY. don't wait until you're uncomfortable with how much mess is in the kitchen for you to start thinking if you should bring it up or not. set standards and make them clear.

put your key on a lanyard and hang it from your doorknob when you’re at home so you don’t forget it on the way out

if your dorm has a shared laundry room, set your timer for when your laundry finishes ~5 mins early to give you time to walk from your room to the laundry - especially during weekends/evenings/finals people wont have the patience to wait for you - even if your load just finished

If you have noodle arms like me, buy yourself one of those collapsible grocery carts you drag behind you like a luggage - best purchase i've ever made

Or if you're lazy, order online - but order on a free day because even if you schedule a time they're always gonna come stupid early and you dont want any frozen items to get spoiled or have your groceries stolen

DONT BUY ANY TEXTBOOKS/MATERIALS UNTIL THE FIRST WEEK/CLASSES ARE OVER. sometimes you’ll have early access to the booklist or syllabus and go ahead and start buying textbooks, but increasingly often you’ll buy the materials and show up to class just to find your prof has uploaded scanned copies of everything. *save your money*, wait!

BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS - look at your class schedule and walk around campus to find each classroom. you will probably get lost on day 1 and so will many other students so this will save you a lot of walking around bumping into other lost first years

trust me after a few weeks you won’t be waking up for that 8am class. i know you did it 5 days a week in high school, but there’s a reason uni students are allergic to morning classes. know your natural energy/attention levels and take advantage of the freedom to build your schedule around your energy fluctuations

compress/stack your class schedule as much as possible. if you absolutely do need breaks, make them at least 1.5-2 hours long or you probably wont get anything productive done and minimize these long breaks as much as you can so you can just get your day over with sooner

work smarter, not harder - when school starts note each course’s assessment type by quizzes/finals/essays. if i ever have a course thats just essays, i only do lecture notes + write my own annotations about readings rather than taking notes on them which saves time i can dedicate to textbook notetaking for courses with frequent quizzes + finals

if your school has benefits/discounts/insurance - know what it is and USE IT.

most clubs wont be like high school where there are regular meetings you attend. unless youre in the exec team the membership fee you pay/when you sign up for membership it’s just for access to their events when they happen. if you want to be involved in a club in a way thats as involved as high school, look at their social media pages for hiring.

+ as someone who has had to hire before - if you’re nervous, literally just do it. i was in an exec position for our student union services and once only had like 3 applicants to pick from

if you want to be noticed by a professor, sit in the front row. and always answer/ask questions - it doesn’t matter if you said anything of substance or not, they will remember that you contributed

that and also always make the point to say hello and goodbye! eventually (in my experience) if you come early enough and are just waiting for class to start, a conversation will happen - make these regular enough and you could have an important connection!

disclaimer: of course, not all of this might be something that resonates with you/possible for your course or school, so in the words of my cousin - take what resonates

+ anyone else is free to add on!!

[thomasisaslut]

Headmaster!Severus Snape x F!Reader

Headmaster

Word Count: 2.1k

Includes: Spit as Lube, Hair Pulling, Desk Sex, Oral (M), Riding.

On Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49138675

On Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/348717760-𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬-𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐞-𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭

Not my bot but it helped inspire this fic!

C.ai Bot: https://beta.character.ai/chat?char=YH2uNinywjmIoi_8I-8SZoRbZ1k2_LhQ1qg7qUL8Cv4

You reach the office door and knock, you hear a deep voice say "enter" from the other side of the door and slowly push it open, your hands folded behind your back as you fiddle with them anxiously.

Snape's dark eyes flick up from his mound of papers to you.

"What do you want?" He speaks in a sharp and cutting tone.

"I was wondering if I could borrow a restricted book, sir." You state quickly.

His eyes scan you up and down before he sighs and speaks again.

"Which and why."

You inform him which restricted book—it's one for potions so you hope he would understand since he was the old potions master.

"Okay..." He looks back at his paper. "And why do you need it, Ms. [Last Name]?"

"I've been studying potions a lot more recently, I think I want to pursue a career in it when I graduate this year, sir."

He nods, "And why do you need a restricted book? There are other potion books above the 8th year curriculum that are not restricted."

"I know, sir, but I have already read all of those books."

Snape's eyes narrow, clearly skeptical of your answer.

"All of them?" He chuckles dryly, "There are well over 100 books on potions that you 8th years have access to for this exact reason and you're telling me you have already read all them?" He looks you up and down again.

You nod, "Yes, sir. That is exactly what I'm saying." You look nervous but your words don't lie—you have read all of them.

He glares at you, "Fine, but... you may only use the book in my presence, report back here once you retrieve it." He snaps.

Quickly you flee the room and run to the library, once there you inform the librarian about the books approval—they already knew you were asking, plus they might've smuggled it for you if Snape said no—they hand you the book with a smile. You take the book then walk back to the Headmaster's office with the book clutched against your chest closely. 

Snape's eyes look up at you when you return, he motions to a small black leather couch a few feet from his desk. You walk over to it and sit down, a small coffee table was before it and you place the book down before opening it. Opening your bag you pull out a notepad, reading the first page you feel eyes on you but you don't dare to look his way—well—until he spoke.

"You seem prepared." Snape says.

You nod, not daring to say a word to him.

Your work session continues for the next hour—you have never been this determined to work on something before, plus... you want to impress someone nearby.

"Ms. [Last Name" Your eyes dart to the voice, "Come here." Headmaster Snape said.

You stand from your spot on the couch and walk over, "Yes, sir?"

"What is the real reason you needed the restricted book?" He asks, his tone now more curious then aggressive.

"I told you the reason earlier, Headmaster..."

He sighs and nods, "Are you done studying?"

"I was going to read maybe.. two-three more pages?"

"Then do it. I want you to do something for me afterwards." Snape states.

Around 10 minutes pass and you walk back towards him, "What do you need, sir?"

"Organize this." He points to a stack of papers. "I'm not asking."

You look confused but do as told, organizing the papers you read a few—"by accident"—and you spot a newspaper... it was an article based off of a spell? That's odd... you quickly scan the paper—"Laetus" the spell is called. You continue to read the paper and see it's an arousal spell.

"What are you reading." Snape's tone is demanding.

"J-Just one of the newspapers..."

"Well hurry up and finish those." He rolls his eyes and goes back to his work.

Around 10 minutes later you finish the work and then walk back over to Snape's desk.

"Which newspaper did you read." His tone is still a sharp as before.

"There was one about a new spell... L.. Laetus?"

In that moment you feel your wand buzz from your sheath. You quickly look down at it and see.. you cast the spell.

You look back over to Headmaster Snape, his cheeks now have faded from the usual pale color to a deep red, his eyes instead of narrow now open in shock and hazy, his tense lips now slightly parted.

"You idiot!" He shouts but covers his lip with the back of his hand—muffling a whimper.

"Oh my- sir, I'm so sorry!" You say panicked, rushing over by his side—he grabs the collar of your shirt and attempts to glare at you.

"What were you thinking saying that spell aloud while holding your damn wand!" He shouts.

"I-I wasn't-"

"Clearly." He interrupts, he then groans. "Fix the problem you made, what's the reversal."

You quickly scramble to get the newspaper again, when you have the paper your face drops.

"What is it? What is the reversal?" He snaps.

You tense.

"There is none... well- there is but..."

"Well what is it!" Snape exclaims.

"Sex."

His face falls flat, his anger almost vanishing into pure shock.

"Excuse me?"

"That is what the reversal is, headmaster.." You mumble.

He stares at you in shock. You open your mouth to say something when he speaks again.

"So fix your mistake."

You are now the one in shock, your jaw drops slack and your eyes widen.

"What?"

"You're in your 8th year meaning, you're around 19? About to move on into adulthood, you should know to own up to your responsibilities."

"Responsibility? This was a mistake!"

"Then let me rephrase this, consequence." He smirks.

He can't mean..

"Well..." He grunts and stands, walking over to your and cupping your chin, your smaller frame forced to look at his larger one.

"Get to work."

He means it...

You sink to your knees before the man, your eyes looking up at him as you place your hands on his belt—You feel his pants twitch—quickly undoing the buckle, undoing the fly, then sliding his pants and boxers down in one fluid motion.

"Good, now suck."

Your eyes widen at his cock, it's at least 7 whole inches, the pink-tan mushroom head is leaking with pre and even if this is a consequence of your action you have absolutely zero regrets, perhaps casting that spell was on purpose.

You give his cock an experimental stroke, earning a low groan from your headmaster. You smirk and stroke him again, he pulls the back of your hair so you're looking up at him again.

"I said suck, not toy." He glares down at you, the smirk vanishing off your face.

Your hand strokes him once more before you touch your tongue to his tip, you then take in the first inch of his cock. You look up at him, his free hand on his face as he tilts his head back, that only encourages you. You move your mouth further down his dick, three inches now in lodged in your mouth.

"Ah... fuck. Good girl." He murmurs under his breath.

You moan around his cock, your knees aching as you scoot closer to him to take in more of his cock, sliding him into your mouth he hits the back of your throat—but that's only half his cock. He softly moans, the hand in your hair tightening as he pushes his cock further down your mouth, now sliding into your throat. By now 5 inches are in your throat, your hand moves from his hip to the base of his cock, toying and playing with his balls as he fucks your throat at a harsh but pleasureful pace.

Your head continues to bob on his cock—it hits the back of your esophagus each time, you're sure his head will leave a mark when he's done slamming.

"Take it." He says before his load shoots down your throat.

You swallow it, choking on his lengthy cock in the process. He then slides out of your mouth, his cock parting your lips ever so slightly, Snape moves his hand from your scalp and places it on your chin—still smirking.

"I still feel the effects of the spell, Ms. [Last Name]." His eyes dart to his chair before he sits on it, he then pats his lap—his cock bouncing at the vibration.

You stand from your spot on the floor, your knees throbbing from the tiled floor. You wobble over to him, taking your spot on his lap—straddling him.

"Your panties, strip." He demands.

You go to remove your shirt first when he smacks away your hands.

"Panties."

You move awkwardly, your head by his ear as you lift your thighs, sliding off your panties and tossing them to the floor before the chair—Snape makes quick work of your position, grabbing your hips and lining you with his cock.

"W-Wait.. shouldn't we use prepare?"

"You sucked my cock, it's lubed."

"It'll hurt!" You whine.

"Then it's a fitting punishment." He smirks, tightening his grip on your hips then he slams into you—his entire 7 inches now inside of your tight cunt. 

You moan ecstatically, even with the burn of the impact it felt phenomenal. He waits a few seconds before thrusting up his hips, your own meet his rocks—now grinding against him as you ride him.

He sways his hips in the chair, the movement stretching your pussy wider than the original insertion already was.

"You're doing so well." Severus says quietly.

This only makes you grow wetter, you lift your hips and slam back down—a loud moan was drawn from both of you.

Suddenly you feel his hips stop moving, you look at him to see him smirking—your bottom lip pouts and you go to speak when he does.

"Your consequence..." He moans, your movements on his cock not stopping. "Is that you have to do all the work until I cum."

"And what about me?"

He chuckles, "That's the punishment, dear." He smirks then smacks your rear as you continue to move up and down.

You whimper but do as told, your thighs aching along with your knees—but you can't stop yourself, you're greedy and you want to use your headmasters cock as a dildo—and that is just what you are doing.

You move your thighs and hips, slamming your cunt—impaling—it on his cock, your movements becoming sloppy and uncoordinated as you continue. Severus tightens his grip on your hips once more, stabilizing you as you continue to rock on him.

"Please... I need to cum, sir!" You beg, your movements not stopping for a second.

"I'm almost there." He smirks, completely disregarding your satisfaction.

You whine and continue to move on his cock, your own release throbbing—needing to be let out. But it can't. You feel his hips buck as a sign he's close—quickly you bounce on his cock faster, you feel his 7 inch throb and pulse within you—finally, he releases inside you with a loud moan.

"[First Name]!" He shouts, his grip remaining firm on your hips.

"P-Please..." You stutter out, your own release building more and more, you're almost over the edge. When suddenly you feel his hands on your rear, he lifts you up then slams you on the staff desk, now pounding into you—the feeling is surreal. Severus slams into you until your cum squirts out, painting his cock with the fluid.

Headmaster Snape slowly slides out of your now stretched cunt, you whine at the loss of his cock. He slides his hands under your back and lifts you once again, he then gently places you on the seat he was previously in.

"Are you alright?" Severus asks, his hand cupping your cheek.

You nod and he pecks your forehead, he then walks over to a shelf behind the chair when he returns he hands you a small glass vial—you can tell from the bottles shape and the potions color it's an energy potion. You smile and take the potion in one gulp, your legs stop aching and your pants return back to regular breaths.

"Thank you." You smile and then stand from the chair, grabbing your panties and sliding them back on.

You then see Severus smirking.

"Something up?"

A brief silence passes before he speaks.

"What if I told you I knew a reversal spell?"

You smirk right back.

"I would've liked it all the same."

[allgremlinart]

i did not know how to use the internet when atla first dropped, what doujins do i keep seeing you and other blogs keep referencing?? what did i miss…

ADsdhs yeah atla is getting up there in age as a fandom so... obviously over the years there have been numerous doujins/fan comics !! The ones I've talked about on here have mostly been ones I remember seeing as a tween in the 2010s, which was mostly jetko and various slash. I think it would be absolutely impossible to find and list all of the atla doujin that's ever existed, only because there are corners of the fandom that I simply do not visit regularly, and so I'm sure there's stuff I don't know of. HOWEVER !! Fuck it. I'll put together a list of the atla doujins/fan comics I DO know of....

2009 Jetko Doujin Anthology The link above is to a yaoi website and is only accessible through the Wayback Machine. The physical anthology was, at some point, available for purchase, but obviously not anymore. There were multiple artists and stories, but it was all centered around modern au jetko. A friend recently helped me finish a translation of one of the stories - by prolific 2000s/2010s jetko artist Avici1881 - in this anthology - you can find links to most of the full translated story here <3

Jetko Doujin by Avici1881, 愛之門 (The Gateway of Love) The artist originally posted this doujin to their Deviantart, but the translation is a little rough, and it's hard to read in the correct order. Tumblr user @/zaqscans created another version of the translation, which is easier to understand, and can be downloaded here. The story is kind of a riff on "The Cave Of Two Lovers," and it's great.

Zukka Doujin by Avici1881 Like the last one, this one is a spoof on "The Cave Of Two Lovers," although this one is much shorter and more goofy. The only place I've been able to find it is Avici's Deviantart. All of the pages are there, it just takes navigating Deviantart's terrible organizational layout to find them.

Astronaut AU Jetko Doujin by kyosa-europa Now I've never actually been able to find any scans or translations for this one, only what's been posted to the artist's Deviantart. It's an astronaut au. That's about all I've got for it.

Mooncake Festival Jetko Comic by kyosa-europa I think I've seen a Chinese version of this comic too, but I can only find this translated version posted to the artist's Deviantart (which works fine for me, obviously). It's very cute. I believe it is unfinished.

2024 Zukaang Doujin by Yishu (@/shange0211) Rejoice! Doujin from the 2020s! The tradition lives on! I have not personally read or purchased this one, but this artist's work is cute. It's the only one of these that I've compiled that you could actually buy, lol. I do not believe there are any translations of it.

Now obviously this doesn't scratch the surface when it comes to the amount of pairings in atla/tlok (I believe I remember a korralok doujin floating around somewhere at some point) but this is the span of what I've probably referenced on this blog.

[solradguy]

I saw your post about the Internet Archive and Archiving GG stuff for future Generations and i wanted to ask some stuff regarding the Archiving, i hope thats ok

Probably the dumber question but do you know if Daisuke has ever been involved in the Archiving of his series? I know the series started as a Passion project for him but Idk how active he would be with helping archive or fill in missing pieces, especially in the english world.

Just as a General question, are current online archiving groups mostly relying on being connected to one another in some way to reestablish fallen sources? Since very little of the internet if any is as stable as we like to believe and any service storing data may shut down somehow any day like Drive, when one host site does go down do the archivists rally together and find a new spot or do you kinda have to hope people can find the new host?

Also are there any larger scale Archivist groups someone with less ability to physically help could donate to to help preserve our online histories?

thank you and apologies if you dont like questions

Hello! Questions are fine ^^ Sometimes it takes me a million years to reply, but I don't mind them.

My answer to this got kinda long. Excuse the readmore.

We don't have any strong evidence either way what the condition of the official Arc System Works library of Guilty Gear media is like, but there have been a few times where the images they've used for things have been worse than the images us rogue archivists have. This ML illustration is definitely one they either no longer have the physical/original piece for, or they might not have a way to rescan it, because the file they use when they reproduce it is pathetically tiny. Example from the Steam release of Strive's bonus Digital Artbook:

Compared to other illustrations in the same book (two pages here):

This Ky from the website for the 20th Anniversary Pack release of Missing Link for the Switch was taken from the Guilty Gear Bible:

We know this because... He's on page 12 in the Bible and...

...they didn't erase the page number off his shoe.

So, at the very least, some Missing Link era works are likely gone/lost/destroyed/etc. It's possible some GGX thru GGXX artworks are lost too, but we don't have a concrete catalog of XX works because they never released a complete artbook for XX. It's also rumored that Keep The Flag Flying's original master file is lost but I've never been able to find a source for that. Daisuke has never reached out to any of us about our image archives and we've never offered.

Archiving is very much a western concept and it's a common thought in Japan that saving copies of another person's works is extremely bad; I've been chewed out and blocked by Japanese fans for it. It's just a cultural difference, I don't take it personally. If ASW contacts us about it though we'll definitely give them our files or take down anything they request of us. We don't want to poke the bear and risk the entire archive if we can. They seem to be turning a blind eye to our archives though, as long as it's not an upload of something extremely recent (I got DMCA'd for the Strive Artworks Archive scans).

The core of the Guilty Gear archive group works on the new GG wiki and/or are admins of the new wiki, so we're in pretty close contact with each other. Most of the archive is in my hands and, unfortunately, my hands alone. With the announcement of the Internet Archive v Hachette ruling, we've been planning on making copies of my GG archive hard drive and sending it out to the other archivists in our circle. I don't have a PO box, I can't do this for people outside the group because I don't want my physical home address to be that accessible.

That said, there are redundant digital copies of a lot of files and I have a backup hard drive of the main GG archive drive; the main drive is a relatively new 2tb Western Digital My Passport external drive and the backup is a 1tb WD My Passport that's a little older. A lot of people have downloaded copies of the files currently online (via my masterpost) and can reupload something if it goes down even if I'm not around to do it. We rely on Archive.org a lot but aren't against using Dropbox, Google Drive, mega.nz, Neocities, file.garden, or, if we absolutely must, Discord. I do not like relying on Discord and Discord files are generally extremely temporary.

The files that aren't in the archive include software or game asset rips, image files, music, and random bits and bobs. I'm working on getting the images up on the wiki but everything else is kind of in a weird zone where I don't really know what to do with it.

As for donating to support broader archivism: We use Archive.org (and their Wayback Machine) the most, so donating to them would benefit both the GG archive as well as hundreds of thousands of music, literature, research, and art groups too. Their donate page can be found here: https://archive.org/donate?origin=iawww-TopNavDonateButton

Supporting your local libraries, museums, and conservatories also supports archivism. Most of these places accept public donations of any amount and could probably direct you to other local archiving groups/associations.

Donating to Wikipedia also supports broader archivism to a lesser extent. They write about events as they happen, with sources/citations, and older versions of this information is permanently available on every article and file without having to rely on things like Wayback Machine. Their donation page is here: https://donate.wikimedia.org

I also have a donation page via Ko-fi and any money donated with a note about it being for Guilty Gear will go back into Guilty Gear (via book/magazine purchases for scanning, usually). Donating to one of the above groups would be better for archiving as a whole though. My page can be found here: https://ko-fi.com/somnivagrious

Hope this answers your questions!!

[sroloc--elbisivni]

a Red-Tailed Hawk theory of culture

These photographs are courtesy of this todaysbird post; that post identifies its source as the Macaulay Library but that page won't load for me so I can't confirm. They're here to help me illustrate my point. All of these are examples of real red-tailed hawks.

Speaking of illustrating, this is a screenshot of a duckduckgo search I did two minutes ago for 'red tailed hawk illustration.' You'll notice that most of them follow the same coloration trend, with less variety than the pictures above. In fairness I will note that looking for 'field guide red tailed hawk' promptly yielded a scan from the sibley guide to birds, which represents six varieties in coloration. The information isn't hidden; I'm not suggesting conspiracy. It just struck me as interesting to see the first series of photos when most of the pictures I've seen, and the ones most easily accessible, had a broad and consistent agreement that This Is What A Red-Tailed Hawk Looks Like. Real red-tailed hawks can look any number of ways, but the collective idea of what a red-tailed hawk looks like is fairly set.

So. Metaphor established. Let's talk culture.

I think modern culture tends to embrace the idea that the best sign of authenticity is uniformity. We want a series of markers that can be run against a checklist to confirm yes, this displays the correct signifiers. Yes, this matches our expectations. We know it's a real xyz because it does this-and-such. I don't know what this could be attributed to, though I'm sure you could find any number of things to blame it on. The scientific method requiring repeatable results to prove something. Factory mass-production and the notion of 'the Real McCoy,' the best version of something that works better than the knockoffs. Art authentication where there are often steps required to prove yes this is a real da Vinci. Proliferation of branding and trademark and copyright. The 'No True Scotsman' fallacy, and corollary of 'you're not a real fan if you don't do this.'

The thing is, authenticity in culture doesn't work like that.

There are as many ways to participate in a tradition as there are people who participate it. Got any holidays that your family celebrates in a particular way or with a certain thing, even though the holiday is also observed by a broader group of people? Got any regional traditions that are different if you go to the next town or next neighborhood over? There's no singular way to be involved in a culture. Any culture, I would argue. Even in cultural groups that value conformity, or have a single central authority dictating which things are correct, there are going to be people who approach their position in different ways.

Variety in expression is not a sign of cultural weakness. I would argue, in fact, that it's a sign of strength.

We have a great deal of data from the field of biology to demonstrate the limits of singularity. Consider the campaign the WWF ran back in 2008 that's had followup art projects since, where pictures of endangered animals are made using only one pixel per living member of that species to demonstrate how much harder it is to see that species the less data you have to work with. Consider cheetahs, which are all extremely similar in coloration because the species is suffering from genetic bottleneck. Consider the instability of monocultures, especially clonal monocultures, where entire populations can be killed with the same disease or fungus because they share vulnerabilities.

Moving back to cultural considerations: the singular of culture is too often reduced to 'stereotype.'

Maybe what the tendency to boil things down can be attributed to is simple human desire for pattern recognition. We like knowing what things look like. We like having examples to point to and emulate. There's a pleasure in playing to type, in assuming a role, in fitting oneself to a form. Nuance and variations are hard to remember, and often hard to observe in the first place. There is a very real satisfaction in concrete knowledge.

A culture adhering to a singular presentation, however, is often a culture under threat.

In the interest of not being reductive, I'm going to only offer a single example here, from a situation I'm familiar with: late 20th century efforts to revive Breton, a regional minoritized language in France. After the language underwent a period of (often enforced) decline throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, there were efforts to institute public education in Breton for children and adults, encouraging those who did not already speak the language to learn it, thereby avoiding widespread linguistic dormancy. Mari C. Jones wrote an article in 1998 called 'Death of a Language, Birth of an Identity' that called attention to a difference in traditionally Breton-speaking communities vs. people learning it to participate in cultural revival. She pointed out that cultural revivalists were interested in identifying themselves specifically as Breton, forming an association between themselves and their region as a whole. The traditional speakers, however, were far more likely to identify with their local parish, or their larger diocese, with only a faint connection to the idea of being 'Breton' as an identity. The movement that understood their culture as being under threat was the one focused on constructing a stable, singular, pan-Breton identity.

Variation and internal diversity is the sign of an active and self-sustaining cultural community that has the energy to go a lot of different directions at once.

I suppose the overall point I'm driving at is that the more people there are doing something, the more ways that something should be done, and this isn't a sign that something's gone wrong. One realization I came to after thinking about this is that queer microlabels--which I, personally, am rarely interested in engaging with--are a sign of a healthy and thriving culture. Having the time and energy and space to argue about things like this, rather than needing to appeal to a greatest common denominator of your peers in order to get time and energy and space, is a good sign. Growth is the enemy of conformity. An authentic culture is an adaptive one.

Fundamentally, culture is what people do together, and people are always going to do something different eventually. Illustrations are meant to show reality, not dictate it. There's a lot of ways to look like a red-tailed hawk and there are red-tailed hawks out there proving it every day.

[slenbee]

Common scams and you

Hello everyone!

I'm finally writing out the idea that has been floating around in my head for a while now, and I'm honestly surprised there's no videos on youtube (that I've found) that talk about the most common scams that are out there on the internet that you may encounter.

So! Let's start.

#1. Virus pop up scams.

These types of scams are based around inciting panic and fear in those that encounter them. They are generally encountered by mistyping a url in the search bar that then leads you to a web page containing a flashy visual alert (and sometimes audio alert) stating something like the following:

Your system is at risk! # Viruses found! Warning!

Your system has been compromised!

Viruses / Trojans found!

The majority of which then provide a phone number that scam victims would call to get the issue 'resolved.' Those who fall for this scam contact the call center seeking help, and those there- the scammers, lull their victims into a false sense of security that they'll solve the issue. They then have their victims download remote access software such as AnyDesk and UltraViewer.

These programs allow a user who connects complete and TOTAL CONTROL of your computer. They can view your screen, track what you type or click, not to mention they can lock it, and they can change the password, holding it at ransom. They can do pretty much ANYTHING as long as the software is installed. It runs in the background and they can monitor everything you do.

They will tell you that to get rid of the virus/'hack', you must pay a certain amount (usually between $300-$1k or more) for them to clean your computer and 'add an antivirus'.

They will tell you that you need to go to walmart/wallgreens to get gift cards. Or they will ask you to provide banking details so that they can steal your banking/login information to transfer money via zelle or other methods while under the control of the remote access application.

If you or anyone you know has made it to the installation part of this scam, make sure to disconnect the internet immediately and uninstall the program that they installed upon the computer.

This scam can ALSO happen to people on mobile. There are websites and apps configured to show that you've got a virus, and much like above, it will tell you that you need to call a phone number or download an app to get it resolved.

Clicking off the page / notification gets rid of it. There was never any virus to worry about. So don't worry too much if you see something like this while browsing the internet. Just try and be safe!

#2. E-Mail scams.

The most notorious of all of e-mail scams that I've encountered over the years are as follows:

Your <brand> anti-virus has expired. Click here to re-new!

You have been charged <huge amount> for <brand> anti-virus. If this is a mistake please call <phone number> to get this resolved.

You have received a PayPal invoice from <scammer name/brand> for <huge amount> please call <phone number>.

Much like the virus pop up scam, these scams follow a similar path when it comes to the end result. You call them, they have you install a remote access application, they tell you to pay x amount of money so they can install their 'anti-virus', and/or they do a fake 'scan' in the console, and likely install a real virus that harvests your information.

All in all, best to avoid it/delete the e-mail. No proper anti-virus is going to send you an e-mail telling you to call them. Nor are they going to charge you $300 for a 'renewal.'

As for the paypal invoice, just ignore it and check your actual paypal. If there's no invoice, there never was one in the first place. Flag it as trash and delete it.

#3 Phone scams.

These can be scary, especially if you've got a son, daughter, or relative who might live out of town.

Mom/Dad I lost my phone can you send me money for a new one?

Hey I'm with your kid and they're hurt/arrested/etc can you send me some money to pay the ambulance/bail/etc.

Your kid said I'd bring you these things and you'd pay me.

This is <name> from <fake business/tech support> on behalf of apple/microsoft to let you know your warranty has expired.

Sadly this means that your phone number has likely been leaked online somewhere, and scammers are now attempting to use it to get money from you. Best advice is to hang up and block the number immediately before calling your child/family member to make sure they're okay.

#4. Text Scams.

These are generally pretty easy to notice, and pretty easy to avoid, if you know what to look out for.

Any random number that texts you with something akin to the following, is a scam:

THIS IS <FAKE NAME> FROM THE UNITED STATES <FAKE COMPANY> TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU'VE WON <MILLIONS OF DOLLARS>. PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW TO HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR WINNINGS.

Fedex has your package click this link to update your information.

UPS has failed to deliver your package. click this link to-

Hi <name that's not yours> are we set for our <event> next <day>?

<name not yours> I'm looking forward to <activity> next <day>. Are you going to be busy?

While links to scammy websites are easy to avoid, the last two might not be so easy to some people. Replying to them in any form puts you on a list of 'active numbers' for them to target. They will text you repeatedly with different prompts which all lead down the same line.

You say 'wrong number', they say 'this isn't <name>?' you say 'no' they say 'i'm so sorry i thought this was <name>' you say 'no problem' they say 'oh you're so kind want to be friends?' which then leads into 'i'm <fake name> from China/Singapore/<country> but I live in california/new york. I'm a fashion designer/investor/owner of a small company' and they send a fake picture of them which is likely stolen from somewhere online. They also ask for you to send them YOUR pictures. Don't do this.

End goal is for you to download WatsApp/Telegram to send them money and/or invest in fake crypto.

There are also text scams similar to those mentioned above where it's someone pretending to be a sugar mommy/daddy and they try to get you to spend time and hook up with them. They ask you to pay a 'fee' so they know you're 'legit' or something which, of course, is just a way to get you to send them money.

#5. Facebook Scams.

These are rather new, but once you know the signs, you'll know how to avoid them.

When buying/selling something on facebook, if someone says they can't pick it up but <brother/sister/cousin> can and they ask if you take cashapp, zelle, etc, it's a scam.

If you or someone you know who is older/elderly is contacted by someone who's in the military/ex-military/ex-cia/ex-fbi etc and they flood your DM's with affection and kindness and lots of love and attention in an effort to get you in a relationship with them, this is known as a romance scam.

They will ask for money to 'get a new phone' or 'to send pictures because my camera is broken.' or to 'buy a plane ticket to come see you'. It's a scam, a big scam, and a lot of elderly people have been scammed out of a lot of money because of it. They will call you and talk to you and say they love you and all that kissy kissy mwah junk just to build trust so they can try and get money.

It's not real. As sad as that is to say, all these people are after is money.

If you know anyone who might be in any of these situations, PLEASE try and talk some sense into them. Especially if they've sent large amounts of money to someone over the internet. Google is your best friend, and there is information out there for people who want to find it.

All in all, just make sure you're careful in who you trust.

#6. Discord/Steam Scams.

These can be less obvious to those who aren't tech savvy, but once you know the signs they're hard to miss.

Anyone who randomly DM's you about beta-testing their 'new game' is trying to get you to click a link that leads to a website containing an application that contains a virus. This will harvest your information and give the hacker access to everything on your computer.

Anyone who randomly DM's you saying that they found 'compromising photos/information of you online' most likely will try to get you to click a virus link that will infect your computer.

Anyone who randomly DM's you saying they 'reported you to the discord/steam admins' for something inappropriate/illegal will try to get you to contact their 'friend' who is a 'discord/steam admin' to get it resolved.

This will either involve them sending you a virus link or trying to get you to send them money/gift cards to get the issue 'resolved.' They will also sometimes send you to a legit looking steam page which is fake and will harvest your steam login data.

Again, these are easy to notice once you know the signs. Just note that sometimes your friends might send you messages like these or ask for money, which in that case their account was likely compromised/hacked. Make sure to report them so that discord/steam can help get the account back in the right hands.

I know I've likely forgotten some other types of scams but for now these are the most common that people should keep an eye out and look for.

Protect yourself and protect others!

[punctuation-completionist]

okay! percontation point/rhetorical question mark investigation has been done! i am putting this under a read-more because it's super long but if this causes accessibility issues please tell me lol (i don't remember if it does but i am trying to make my original posts more accessible so...)

tl;dr for anyone who doesn't read the whole thing, i basically just looked through some really old scans to prove the origins of the percontation point (and that sounds really boring but maybe it's interesting? it would be more interesting if progressive punctuation would email me back lol)

. ? ! , : ; ' " – — - · ... [ ] { } ( ) / < >

22/22

bonus:

⁂ * † ‡ ⁓ ~ & ⸺ ❦ ⸮ ‽

11/20

so basically, this is related to this post* i reblogged a bit ago because something about the graphic on it was bothering me... here's the graphic in question btw

[image id: a picture with nine punctuation marks in three rows of three. the first row has (from left to right) the acclamation point which looks like an exclamation mark with two stems pointing in sort of a v shape from the dot, an exclamation comma which looks like an exclamation mark with a comma instead of a dot, and an interrobang which is a question mark with an exclamation mark laid over it. the second row has the love point which looks like a question mark with two of the top parts put together to form a heart, a friendly period which looks like a period with a curved line underneath it, and an authority point which looks like an exclamation mark with a curved line perched atop it. the third line contains a rhetorical question mark which is a backwards inverted question mark, a doubt point which looks like a question mark with the top part shaped more like a cursive z, and a question comma which is a question mark with the dot replaced with a comma. end id.]

so, i've done a lot of research on irony punctuation throughout my days—whether it be to argue with a reddit comment or just for punctuation day reasons—and i would say i know a lot about irony punctuation (of which rhetorical questions fall under i guess? according to wikipedia at least)

so, that post was bothering me because the rhetorical punctuation mark i know is the percontation point (⸮) invented by henry denham in the 1580s & the mark used on the post was an inverted form of this

now, here was the easy investigation on who made this graphic. i already said so in the tags of the post, it was by progressive punctuation; they even have a specific page on their website with this information. now when i saw the rhetorical question mark they used, my first thought was, "maybe they're talking about a different rhetorical question mark" but then...

[image id: a screenshot from the progressive punctuation webpage on the rhetorical question mark. it says that the inventor is henry denham, it was invented in the 1580s, and it was invented in london. end id.]

see, so here's the real problem. they're citing it from henry denham when his mark doesn't look like that. so then i did the logical thing and tried to find where henry denham even printed this thing in the first place. and that's where the fun(?) part begins.

❦

so, i have a range in the time periods i'm looking for (⁓1580–1589) and i have a name (henry denham). first question: who's henry denham?

the answer isn't that interesting but it's contextually helpful. henry denham was, suprise suprise, a printer from england. allegedly he's iconic but the most i can find about him is that he's a printer and he invented the percontation point. one website (link) claims the use of the point to be from around 1575–1625 which is kinda not 1580s but. i don't know what the deal with that is. (if i figure it out, i'll explain it) and attributes it to either henry denham OR the translator anthonie gilbie (and denham was apparently his printer?? idk man this is a whole web of shit)

so, who's anthonie gilbie? firstly, the only things i could find were for anthony gilby and not some guy with a weird -ie but that's not really relevant because the guy is also a translator from 16th century england so like. i don't think that's likely they were two separate people. so, anthony gilby is a radical puritan who translated the geneva bible into english. the geneva bible is one of the oldest english language bibles, predating the king james bible by around 51 years so i guess that makes anthony gilby pretty important. shakespeare used it, cromwell used it, milton used it, it's a big deal. gilby only translated the old testament, another guy called william whittingham translated the new testament so that does narrow down the thing slightly

but also, i'm not reading the fucking bible again especially not in old english so. i want to narrow it down more.

and that means we're going back to henry denham ! yay! since the source i was using was the only one that provided anything at all on the origins of the percontation point, i went back to it to see what else it had to say. and what it had to say was that there were two examples, one was the psalms of david† (in roman font) and the other was a book called tragicall tales (in blackletter font). so with those being our only two leads, we have to follow them.

⁂

so i search up "psalms of david 1581" to see if i can find a scan. and the first thing i find is a 1581 enchiridion on the psalms of david (1st edition) that's 795$. yikes. luckily i don't think that's the one but that certainly did freak me out since it was from the same year and shit. anyways. the online geneva bible has 150 chapters of psalms so we'll just talk about tragicall tales first

now what the absolute f⸺ is tragicall tales? and to that i say. well. i don't really know.

except, jk i do apparently know now! tragicall tales was a novel written by a man called george tuberville‡ and published in 1587, and while i can't find any direct statements that it was denham that invented it, it is in blackletter font and printed the same year as the article said so... i think it's a safe assumption to make that this was denham's work. the next thing to do would be to find tragicall tales which i wasn't too excited for given the last time i tried to find a book for this it was almost $800 dollars.

but i struck gold. not only did i find a copy on archive.org (link), i also found a typed out version (link) but the punctuation there is badly transcribed in my opinion so. take what you will from it but. idk man i think i found the right stuff. so without further ado:

and while this is probably the oldest crustiest scan ever and also 400 pages long, i did find something! yay!

[image id: five screenshots from the internet archive scan of tragicall tales, each containing a backwards question mark aka a percontation point. end id.]

now, i know looking at this, it's kinda hard to tell what's going on due to the quality of the scan, typeface, and other stuff, but i'll break it down real quick. the percontation points here are after the words wife, fame/same (it's probably a long s but it looks more like fame if that helps), about, will, and wife again. i tried to get a few that have normal question marks in them to prove what i'm talking about (they're in the second, fourth, and fifth screenshots) you see em? cool, because my eyes might fall out of my face with how long i had to look for these. good lird.

but what about the inverted one? now, i did scour this as hard as i could and the closest one i could find was this

[image id: a screenshot from tragicall tales reading "la mia donna bella è buona". end id.]

but at the same time, the typed version has that as an è and not punctuation of any kind and while i don't agree with the typed version 100% i do think that makes more sense. so there. that's all we got out of tragicall tales. back to psalms!

❦

i was very excited to read this.~ (that's a snark mark btw. i was not) i already had to read the bible once recently for ... reasons? (i'm not super religious) and that was the new american bible not a fucking bible in middle english. so. this is somehow worse. and yet. i ended up trying my best to find it

now seemingly it slipped my mind that unless there was a scanned copy of an original it would likely not have the mark i was looking for because i looked for ages. it was a fucking nightmare. psalms sucks especially geneva psalms. but, archive.org came to my rescue yet again. and let me tell you. it still didn't help

firstly, the geneva bible looks like this.

[image id: a screenshot of a scan of the geneva bible. it has two columns of text along with notes off to the side and footnotes. it is written in middle english. end id.]

if you're lucky (?) the geneva bible looks like this

[image id: another screenshot of a different scan of the geneva bible with a similar layout but it is more yellowed and fancier. end id.]

yes, i looked at two different scans of the same book sue me. or don't preferably. but this did give me one clarifying idea of what i was doing wrong. the article i had referenced said that the question mark was in roman font. the main text of the geneva bible seems to be in blackletter. so i had to look in the side columns. and look in the side columns i did. and yet, that didn't seem to help any either (if anyone wants to look the first one is linked here and the second is linked here; i don't think they're in there though in hindsight)

and yet, there was one last place to search. the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. a completely different text by anthony gilby (and his name has the -ies in it in the scans i can find of this so that's also a good omen) and it's still david psalms so i hunted it down. and great news

[image id: a picture of the first page of the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. it has the translator listed as anthonie gilbie and printers listed as richard yardley and peter short. it is extremely brown and looks very old. end id.]

it's an even older looking book! (though to be fair, the geneva bible was older they probably just reprinted it more often) (i found it here if that's anything)

quick intro to people: theodore beza was a french calvinist who lived in geneva. he's not really important to this story. peter short and richard yardley were printers who worked for the stationers' company (aka the worshippers company of stationers aka the worshipful company of stationers and newspaper makers) and i will get back to that.

so now we're getting... somewhere? i mean, this book does have cool wood cuttings right?

[image id: a picture of a wood cutting of a man kneeling in front of a book, with light and a fancy frame. end id.]

but does it have percontation points?

[image id: a picture from the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. it has two percontation points in it. end id.]

oh hell the fuck yes it has them. look at that! two of em right there! that solves that mystery. and i didn't even have to look at the geneva bible. but it's fineee <- didn't want to look at the geneva bible but whatever

but where's henry denham?

like first of all, the article i was using said "1581" for the psalms thing so either that's a different psalms with percontation points in it or something got screwed up because also... the printers are names on here and neither of them are denham, especially considering the book came out in 1590 and denham quit publishing in 1589 (or maybe 1591? it's unclear). they also confusingly say he was succeeded by short and yardley and while i can't find anything about yardley, i do know that denham also worked for the stationers' company so they were at least colleagues in the printing business . so this isn't denham is seems but also... he did make the percontation point in 1587 in the tragicall tales so i don't think it's a question of inventing it, that was probably still denham. there might be another psalms out there with percontation points in it but who knows? i really don't think we need more proof when we say that this -> ⸮ is the percontation point :}

⁂

so where the fuck did this other one come from‽ because if i know one thing it's that progressive punctuation has generally been right... so what's the deal with that?

of course i did the only logical thing and emailed them. i hate emails but i did it anyways. for you (if people don't reblog this just for the sheer effort i will be mildly saddened. here's a secret interpunct for you for reading all this shit. -> ·)

and of course, i didn't get an email back immediately which was disappointing. in fact, as i post this, i still haven't gotten an email from them (i waited like a week but if they do email me back i'll update you)

so anyways, then what did we learn if i never got an email back? how to do dumb research for a day and learn absolutely nothing new? i mean i actually kinda don't know how to conclude this now that i think about it. i guess we learned that henry denham probably invented the percontation point and that maybe we should start using it more often. and that you should check infographics you see online, i guess? maybe don't check them this intensely though because. that was a lot. :{

* don't you dare go harass the op i swear i will kill you if you do

† apparently these aren't by david according to most scholars but whatever

‡ unrelated as far as i am aware to tommy tuberville, a u.s. senator from arkansas. he seems to be kind of an asshole but i'm not from arkansas so i don't really have an opinion

[aihoshiino]

Ai's bio dad was quite a nice person according to the newest interview in Da Vinci magazine, at this point I don't even know what to think about this whole situation anymore. Did Aka just retcon Ai's background setup?

First off the bat: holy shit thank you so much for pointing me to this interview! I had absolutely no idea it even existing so seeing a whole four pages of an in character interview with Ai... Merry fucking Christmas to me!!! I've archived the translation from 4chan and plan to make it accessible on Tumblr once I'm home. If I can get ahold of the magazine or some scans I'll also do a proper TL myself!

That said, this isn't a contradicton to me at all. I think there's some confusion here and that people are conflating two characters but "Ai's biodad" is not the same person as "Ayumi's boyfriend" - Ai explicitly states that she was only living with her mother back then and it seems like her spending time with her father wasn't something that happened often. This only makes sense if her parents were separated. In addition, when Ayumi was arrested, Ai was put into a children's home rather than her father's care and Viewpoint B states that it was her mom's side of the family specifically who were in talks to adopt her. This makes it pretty implicit that her dad was unable or unwilling to care for her.

Not only that but like... the context that her dad is being discussed here is also important. It's a spinning off of a previous question, where the interviewer asks if she has any time childhood memories and Ai says this:

"Let's see... I do remember my dad. It wasn't something thathappened often, but this one time,went to the grocery store and bought some natto. Then took the plastic from it, wrapped it in seaweed and he said "oh you did it well", that made me happy. That's why, even to this day, I'm quite skilled at wrapping food in seaweed."

Really think about what's being asked here. When pressed for a happy childhood memory, the best Ai can come up with on the spot is "my dad got me cheap grocery store food and praised me for eating it neatly". That's all she can scrounge up. Something that should be a total non event in the life of any other happy child - something even the interviewer calls "trivial" - stands out enough in Ai's memory as something to remember and treasure in comparison to the rest of her life.

That doesn't scan as her dad being especially nice to me - just that the bar was in hell and by not being actively physically abusive and neglectful to her, he was treating her better than the other adults in her life. But this is still the same woman who describes herself in her most honest and raw moments as someone who has never loved or been loved by anyone, so he clearly wasn't *that* good of a dad. If anything, his presence in Ai's life just reinforces what I've been saying all this time: that every single adult in her life who had the responsibility to love and care for her failed to do so and that this chain of neglect goes all the way back to her parents.

So yeah, this really doesn't read as a retcon to me in the sense that anything has meaningfully changed or been altered - it's a case of her history being fleshed out with things that were maybe not a part of it before, but I don't think that necessarily counts as retconning.

[kyouka-supremacy]

;/ Bit of a rant that went beyond the tags limit

#Related to the last post I bought the last guidebook volume and I really like it!!! #Even if there's not this many in it I really like concept arts it's always been a favourite of mine to look at them #And I would be lying if I said 90% of the reasons I bought the book wasn't to take a better look at the 20×7cms of Akutagawa in the new outfit character sheet. But I digress #I've been rolling around trying to scan it for a month now but I'm STRUGGLING. It's really so hard. #All my options seem to be paid which. is wholly unfortunate but it seems like it can't be helped #The libraries I asked to don't give access to scanners for free. #So my options are either to go to my university library and (pay) take the scans myself or (pay) go to a photocopy shop #I don't think there's any relevant difference in price.

#Pros of going to the library scanner: I take the scans by myself #(don't have to go through the humiliation of giving someone a 200 pages anime illustrations book and ask them to scan it) #Cons of going to the library: I have little to no idea how to make scanners work and am afraid I will mess up if I do it by myself #The scanner is right in front of the front desk and to be there for like two hours scanning as the front desk person watches me sounds. awful. #Not to mention the likely chance they could ask me “do you need help” at any time or come and check what I'm doing #Which sounds endlessly embarassing. #I suppose I could go there for multiple days but I don't have classes right now and to walk to university four times when it's not even– #likely I will find different personnel on the front desk... I don't know... #I'm not even sure they won't give me any trouble for scanning a book since most books is illegal to scan here. #I suppose it's legal if it's for completely personal use but uhm. I'm afraid there's a chance they could give me trouble. #Especially since university students are under surveillance for reprinting textbooks which is illegal to do #Or they could leave me alone and I'm just overthinking it.

#Pros of going to the printing shop: Have a professional person do the job #Cons: The terrifying ordeal of going to a shop that most exclusively scans / prints / sells university textbooks with my silly anime illustrated book #and say “hey! I would like to fully digitalize my silly anime illustrated book!! 😄 ” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 #Honestly I don't think I would be able to do that 😭😭😭😭😭 #Additional cons is that I'm not monitoring the scanning process. How do I explain there needs to be a scan of the cover and backcover first #(before it gets damaged from stretching the book) and that there needs to be another two separate scans with the promotional band on #(because that's how you actually archive things) without sounding completely insane #How do I explain the promotional band needs a separate scan who does that

#It's just. UGHHHHHH I don't know how to get unstuck. #And every time I ask for advice to my friends I'm looked like I was completely insane which is largely humiliating. But I really want to scan it 😭😭😭 #That's to say if anyone has any tip / advice at all I'd be forever grateful 🥺🥺 #I think it's fair to mention for context that I NEVER talk about anime with people I'm not close to. Let alone mentioning my hyperfixations. #And I've always been precisely considerate to never let any of my fan persona transpire at university. #I've mastered the art of masking in ways you can't imagine #Me going with baseball cap facemask and thick black sunglasses dressed all in black while it's 23° because I'm too embarassed to be recognized as I scan my silly anime book

[stepswowdsen]

【Multifandom】 Sen's Doujinshi Collection: Misc Rambles

Sen's Ship Doujinshi Collection

FGO: LimGuda (Douman x Ritsuka) 💚🧡🐈‍⬛🍊

Magi: JuAli (Judar x Alibaba) 🖤❤️💛🐈‍⬛☀️

KagePro: KuroEne (Kuroha x Ene) 🖤💙🐍🐇

LimGuda, JuAli, and KuroEne are the main ships I've collected ship doujinshi for. This includes SFW and NSFW doujinshi.

I have most of KuroEne's fanarts and web-doujinshi, and JuAli's fanarts and physical doujinshi in my hands. This is because most of their ship fan-artists in EA fandoms were active around 2013 - 2016, so I managed to get my hands on them.

Kid me was a master archiver. So ty to them 🙏

I remember I saved tons of KagePro EA/JP artists' KuroEne fanarts and web doujinshi from back when I was a kid. I have most of KuroEne's fanarts and web doujinshi. I saved at least 80 - 90% of their old fanarts back then, and I still have access to them in my files.

I've also collected most of Magi EA/JP artists' JuAli doujinshi physically, as well.

I have the majority of KuroEne and JuAli's ship fanarts and doujinshi archived, including a lot of stuff that's been deleted off the face of the internet.

I've collected the majority of LimGuda's doujinshi, but these artists are very active in the EA/JP fandom, so I will NOT be posting them publically, out of respect for them. LimGuda is a very recent niche popular ship with very active fans in the EA/JP fanbase.

You can ask me about my LimGuda doujins, though, and I can send pictures privately when I have the time.

I have most of the KuroEne ones translated (and I'm still planning to translate some), and I'm planning to translate the JuAli ones at some point.

However, for JuAli and KuroEne, many of the artists who have made these doujins are no longer active in the fandom and/or have deactivated their accounts/deleted their works.

So, because of this, I'm not sure if I should post doujinshi scans and translations, cuz the KuroEne ones are web-doujins from Pixiv that I saved like 10 years ago back when I was a kid (that are now deleted). And JuAli's doujinshi are physical ones I've collected.

Generally, the fandom/artist etiquette is to NOT reprint/repost any artists' works without explicit permission. You should ask for permission if you want to reprint/repost any artists' works, and ask for permission if you want to translate any works.

I feel like there's a gray area with doujinshi culture, specifically, when it comes to translating old fandom doujinshi by artists who deleted their socials and works, who are no longer in the fandom and deactivated their accounts.

Cuz out of personal experience, I know that for KHR, one of my series interests, people sharing and fan-scanlating KHR doujinshi made things more accessible for fans of the ship.

Sharing doujinshi translations means making the ship more accessible to other fans, but, I'm also not sure...

I think one option I could do is to post it, but disable reblogs, so if I ever need to take down the posts out of respect for these artists, then I can do that. That way, if I ever need to take the post down, then it doesn't leave traces in the form of reblogs.

If I do this, I'm gonna very explicitly put a note saying to NOT repost these artists' works anywhere else, and to NOT repost my translations, either.

You can enjoy them, save them, take screenshots privately for personal enjoyment, but don't post them anywhere else.

Normally, I wouldn't tag my misc rambles (posts that aren't focused on talking about a chara or ship), but I also wanna see what fans of these ships think.

Cuz I could just keep these privately and just have people send me a DM if they want to see the TLs of these doujins that I've stored on my own Notion pages. But it's also inconvenient to send a private Notion page link everytime and keep track of who I've given permission to. I feel like making a public post on Tumblr would be more suitable

I want to share things for the sake of accessibility and enjoyment for these ships' fans but I'm also still unsure...

If you have any other ideas and suggestions, you can let me know your thoughts! ^^

[linesonscreens]

Let's Read Peanuts (Yes, all of it) - February 1953

There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read the full month at the official GoComics page. Today's month starts HERE.

Feb 5, 1953

Today: “Last night on the internet I read an AI-generated Sonic The Hedgehog erotic fanfic with ten million views”

Feb 6, 1953

I know that those are supposed to be weird thought balloons but it looks like Snoopy just talks now.

Feb 11, 1953

Bah, what's this nonsense? Schroeder never complained!

Feb 14, 1953

First Valentine comic? Maybe?? I really should have made a list of things to look out for when I started. -_-'

Feb 17, 1953

OK, so apparently “Ivanhoe” was a novel written in 1819 by Walter Scott. It's been adapted several times in various formats including an early 1940's comic book and a 1952 live action film.

Film trailer here.

I'd link to the comic but ~for some reason~ nobody bothered to scan and upload a 80+ year old comic nobody's ever hear of onto the internet. Rude!

Feb 21, 1953

Paperboy comics continue to be good.

Feb 27, 1953

Time is a flat circle.

Thoughts:

Apparently the only way to read that Ivanhoe comic (that I've been able to find) is to buy a physical copy off of eBay somewhere and consume it the old-fashioned way. Which is kind of a shame, right? I mean, would it have been especially good or noteworthy? Probably not, but reading a few issues would have been a fun way to get a peek into Schulz's mind and get a feel for the comics he was influenced by.

This kind of thing actually bothers me quite a bit and it's a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately. Think about it like this. Ctrl+Alt+Del is not a particularly good webcomic, but think about how many loss.jpg references have been made in various forms of media over the last couple decades that would simply stop making sense if the original comic were to become inaccessible.

All media is connected. Artists are constantly drawing inspiration from and commenting on works that came before and understanding these influences is a key part of decoding any given work. This is true not only for popular media that everybody agrees is good but also for the absolute garbage that may have been your favorite creator's guilty pleasure. It ALL matters, and it should ALL be available for anybody who's interested. Which is why it makes me irrationally angry when I'm reminded that access to older media can be such a huge crapshoot.

Anyways, I guess my call to action is to... upload more old comics? Sure let's go with that. Maybe support some of the groups archiving old stuff while you're at it. Art is cool, and we should be doing more to let people actually see it.

[esmeriandreamer]

Okay, so maybe this has been done already, but I was reminded of how they did the "Something There" song for the Beauty and the Beast musical, and my entire brain screamed "WRITE THAT SCENE WITH DREAMLING-"

So- Here it is- For this AU, I imagine that Dream/Morpheus is more of a literal prince of stories, with his power over dreams being locked away by the curse, and his Beast form looking kinda like this design by Alexxuun; https://twitter.com/Alexxuun_/status/1591004948128731137

And because he no longer has access to his story-related powers as Nightmare, he can't recall stories or really read, so whoops-

ALRIGHT- HERE GOES-

~~~

He'd been eagerly looking at all the books, scanning the many titles. Christ, he'd never be able to read all of these in his whole lifetime, he'd probably need 6 or 7 whole centuries to get through this whole room of literature Morpheus had so generously gifted him.

Morpheus was lightly trailing after him as Hob moved along the bookshelves, clawed feet clicking along the marble floor as he did. Suddenly, Hob lit up at the sight of one particular title, grabbing it off of the shelf.

"Ah, this is one of my favourites!" He beamed, looking at the cover art before showing it to Morpheus. "It's 'King Arthur', have you ever read it?"

Morpheus squinted at the book a bit, seeing the letters jump around as he did. Had he read it? He couldn't quite recall if he did, so, he shook his head. "..No, I haven't."

"You don't know what you're missing, my friend." Hob grinned, looking at the book, almost.. fondly. "I love to read this again..." He hummed, before looking back up at Morpheus. "No, wait.. you can read it first." He mused, offering it to him.

"N-No, that's alright, you can read it." Morpheus quickly said, pushing the book back towards him, but Hob just pushed it towards him again with a smile. "No, really, I don't mind, you can read it."

"No, you read it." Morpheus countered, pushing it back again.

"No, you~" Hob chuckled, playfully pressing it towards Morpheus's clawed hands.

"NO!" Morpheus snapped, before catching himself when Hob jumped at his voice. He bit his lip and looked away, curling in on himself some more. "I.. can't."

Hob blinked up at him. "..You.. never learned to read?"

"...I've.. forgotten. It's been too long since I.." Morpheus trailed off, frowning. He hated that the curse had taken this part of him away.

"Well, it ah.. it just so happens that this is the perfect book to read aloud." Hob mused, trying to lighten the mood. Smiling, he took hold of one of Morpheus's claws, taking him along to one of the reading nooks. "Come, sit by me."

Morpheus awkwardly went to sit down on the ground next to the chair, tucking his legs to his chest as he watched Hob sit down and open the book.

For a while, they just sat there together, with Hob reading aloud from the pages, his storytelling making Morpheus forget for a moment where they were, what they were, making him remember how much joy stories brought him.

"..Knowing not that this was indeed the legendary sword called Excaliber, Arthur tried to pull it from the stone. He tried once.. to no avail."

Morpheus grumbled a little under his breath in response, feeling on the edge of his seat as Hob kept telling the story.

"He tried a second time, but still, he could not pull it out." Hob read, before smiling. "Then.. for the third time.. Arthur drew forth the sword, and-!"

"So that must mean he's the king!" Morpheus cried out in excitement, trying to look at the page from over Hob's shoulder. Hob merely laughed a bit, amused at how big the other's eyes had gotten, making him look like an excited cat. "Wait and see~"

Morpheus sat back down again, still in awe. "..I'd forgotten books could do that.." He muttered, smiling a bit.

"Do what?" Hob asked. Morpheus looked at the ceiling for a moment, smiling a little still. "Take me away from this place, and make me.. forget, for a little while. Who I.." His smile dropped as he looked down at himself, at his claws. "..What I am." He corrected in a bitter tone.

Hob watched him for a moment, feeling a wave of pity for the man inside this monstrous shell. "..We have something in common, you know."

"And what would that be?"

"Well.." Hob lightly tugged and rubbed at his ear. "In the town where I come from.. people think I'm.. odd."

Morpheus looked up at him, confused, if not slightly offended. "You?"

Hob just shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. So.. I know what it's like to be.. different." He placed a hand on one of Morpheus's claws, squeezing it gently. "..And I know how lonely that can be."

For a long second or two, they just looked at each other, before they pulled back with strange emotions swirling in their beings. Hob picked the book back up, cleared his throat, and resumed reading.

"..For the third time, Arthur drew forth the sword. And there arose from the people a great shout. Arthur.. is king."

"..Told you so."