#that's not at you I just generally get a lot of asks with questions that are answered.....in the pinned post......or linked there.....

[lunarsilver]

What awaits you in 2025?

REMEMBER

I’m not a doctor, a psychiatrist, a therapist nor a psychologist. Divination will never replace meetings with them.

It’s a general reading, so not everything will resonate.

If you can’t choose between two piles, probably both of them have some messages for you. You can also not identify with any of them, and that’s okay, too.

Readings can help you make a decision, but they shouldn’t be the main reason for making it.

1 ~ 2 ~ 3

4 ~ 5 ~ 6

PILE 1

What will this year teach you? 

Strength

The Major Arcana shining on your 2025 is Strength. That’s my favorite Tarot card if I’m being honest so I may be biased lol. You’ll learn this year you have way more strength than you thought you have - especially the psychological and mental one. This card is both about your inner strength and the way you are able to influence others. You’ll learn how to channel this power.

The main theme of each season for you

Winter: Summer (expansion, growth) - Spring: Leaves (renewal, revival, progress) - Summer: Bird (freedom, opportunity) - Fall: Moon (phases, cycles, intuition)

Funny that for the winter season we’ve got a card called Summer, huh? The first three months of this year you’ll find new ways to grow and work on it. This trend will continue in spring, though you’ll correct the course a bit, maybe come back to something (a hobby or a dream?) and realize that hey, you actually still like it. Summer is the time of vacations, so it only makes sense you’ll feel more freedom in your wings. An opportunity may come to you. Fall will be a more reflective season. Noticing patterns, being after some time again in a similar situation or place, getting more in tune with your intuition. 

Main blessings for you this year 

Longevity (Chrysanthemum) - Productivity (Kent pumpkin) - Hope (Daffodil)

Longevity suggests good health and a lot of energy. For some it may be even about curing a serious illness or surviving a dangerous situation, but obviously I won’t throw such statements lightly. With how we’ve already talked about your growth and nice opportunities during this year, it’s no brainer that you’ll be really productive and have a hopeful attitude.

The main challenge of this year

Ring - Moon - Sun

Commitment to the deep desire of being happy.

Okay, pile one, looks like your main challenge is literally being consistent lol. Literally the only person that can sabotage your huge growth this year is you yourself.

How will you grow? 

8 of Wands R - Justice R - The High Priestess 

After some time of frustration and slowing down, you’ll take full accountability for your actions and take your fate in your own hands. Thanks to this, you’ll be more in tune with your intuition and get more at peace with yourself.

A piece of advice 

Third Quarter Moon - Disseminating Moon - New Moon in Cancer

“Adjustments are required”, “Take time to breathe out”, “You and your loved ones are safe”

Think about what needs small changes. You’ll probably think mostly about what adjustments you should make during spring, as we’ve talked about it, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t do it now. Just take a deep breath and relax a little, it’s gonna be okay, both with you and your close ones, no need to stress out so much.

PILE 2

What will this year teach you?

The Sun R

This Major Arcana came up in reverse, so it’s more about your inner world. During this year you’ll learn how to take care of your inner child, how to balance optimism with realism and how to have fun with your hobbies that you thought you had buried a long time ago.

The main theme of each season for you

Winter: Cup of Tea (patience, reassessment) - Spring: Autumn (bounty, balance) - Summer: Tend (maintenance, encouragement, guidance) - Fall: Oak Tree (power, courage, strength)

The last card fell out even before I finished asking my question. This year will start slower for you, just to harvest the crops near the end of it. This winter you’ll reconsider what’s the best for you right now, patiently making plans with your interest in mind and seeing the first result of it in spring. Continuous work on it during summer will lead you to feeling way more empowered by the end of 2025. 

Main blessings for you this year

Refinement (Dahlia) - Healing (Geranium) - Duality (Banana)

The last card showed up as I was shuffling, so I consider it the most important one. Balance keeps coming back in this reading. I think healing refers to healing your inner child, and refinement is about getting better at what you already have; progress.

The main challenge of this year

Coffin - Fox - Heart

The end of a selfish love.

It looks like you’ll get over some crush/ex, though it may refer to any kind of love. Moving on will be hard but necessary.

How will you grow?

The Tower R - Two of Cups - Queen of Pentacles

Despite the fear of change, a personal transformation will take place. This will lead to a joyful partnership (a relationship, perhaps) and you being this confident, earthly Queen of Pentacles: a person good at finances and comfortable in their body.

A piece of advice

Void-of-Course-Moon - New Moon in Capricorn - Third Quarter Moon

“Nothing will come of this situation”, “Your hard work is paying off”, “Adjustments are required”

The thing with the end of a relationship of some kind keeps coming back. Nothing will come of it, so time to move on. It’ll only benefit you, pile two! Correct your course a little and act because you’ll reap your rewards.

PILE 3

What will this year teach you?

The Lovers

2025 will teach you how to make right choices, how to be in harmony with yourself as well as with others. You’ll learn a lot about navigating relationships and getting closer to people.

The main theme of each season for you

Winter: Basil (prosperity, luck, love) - Spring: Seeds (new ideas, hope, open-mindedness) - Summer: Sow (planning, setting intentions, optimism) - Winter: Leaves (reneval, revival, progress)

Winter looks very happy for you - good luck both in money and in love. During spring, you’ll stay open-minded and find new ideas thanks to this. With them in mind, you’ll start making plans and work on them till the end of the year.

Main blessings for you this year

Tranquility (violet) - Clarity (carrot) - Grounding (potato)

A pretty calm, steady vibe. You’ll be able to stay at peace, gain a better perspective on certain matters and be down to earth. Stability and a more mature approach .

The main challenge of this year

Mice - Book - Heart

Misinformation about love.

There’s something you won’t know at first or get a false impression regarding some kind of love. Someone may not have your best interest at heart.

How will you grow?

The Tower R - The Sun R - Knave of Wands

Something is going to end, and this will lead to you withdrawing and thinking more about what you actually want and need. This period of introspection is needed because it will help you to become this Knave of Wands - someone fierce, fiery and passionate. 

A piece of advice

New Moon in Scorpio - New Moon in Pisces - Full Moon in Aquarius

“Work through your fears”, “Meditate and contemplate”, “Show the world the real you”

The cards encourage you to face what you’re running away from. Think, meditate, maybe pray. Everything you need to make it easier for you to show the world what you have to offer.

PILE 4

What will this year teach you?

The Moon

You’ll get way more in tune with your intuition, as well as learn how to deal with your fears. You’ll mature a lot emotionally. You’ll get better at “reading” people but also at understanding your own patterns.

The main theme of each season for you

Winter: Cup of Tea (patience, reassessment) - Spring: Salt (protection, banishing negativity) - Summer: Earth (peace, grounding) - Fall: Hearth (safety, comfort, spiritual connection)

This year looks to be more on a quieter side. It’ll start off a little lazily. You’ll observe and revalue some things, and decide to leave what doesn’t serve you anymore; cut yourself off from toxic people. Thanks to this, you’ll have a much more peaceful life. You’ll get more in tune with nature, as well as more spiritual. You’ll feel more comfortable thanks to this decision of leaving people and situations that cause you harm.

Main blessings for you this year

Happiness (Marjoram) - Continuance (Apple) - Clarity (Carrot)

This year will be joyful and peaceful. You’ll move on from doesn’t serve you and get a better perspective on what surrounds you.

The main challenge of this year

Book - Birds - Mice

Knowledge about dirty gossip.

The thing with some people you should get rid of because they don’t have your best interest at heart keeps popping up. 

How will you grow?

Queen of Pentacle R - The Fool R - Seven of Cups R

You’ll start putting yourself first more often. It will take some time, but at last you’ll get more financially independent and prioritize your personal values. 

A piece of advice

New Moon in Aquarius - Waning Moon - New Moon in Cancer

“Bring love into the situation”, “What do you need to release?”, “You and your loved ones are safe”

Forgive yourself if there is anything you keep blaming yourself about. Release what doesn’t serve you. Both you and people you love are safe so make more room for the ones who want good for you.

PILE 5

What will this year teach you?

The Hermit R

The main thing you’ll learn about this year is being alone - depending on your situation, either that you should reflect and meditate more, or that it’s time to finish your solitude and go out to people. Based on other cards, I think for most of you it’s the latter.

The main theme of each season for you

Winter: Broom (energy clearing, freshening) - Spring: Potion (invigoration, empowerment) - Summer: Moon (phases, cycles, intuition) - Fall: Bird (freedom, opportunity)

You’ll start this year with cleansing - both physical and more metaphorical/spiritual. You’ll be very energetic during spring, as well as more in tune with your personal power. You can do so much, and this season will show this! Later, you’ll learn to be more intuitive, you’ll notice some patterns that were hidden before. Something from your past may show up again. Maybe vacations to the place you always come to, or your old friends or love coming back into your life. Some nice opportunities will show up for you in fall.

Main blessings for you this year

Healing (Geranium) - Focus (Stock) - Luck (Lime)

You’ll heal some part of you that was hurt in the past. You’ll find out what you should focus on and actually commit to it. “May the luck be ever in your favor”.

The main challenge of this year

Dog - Man - Clover

A friendly man’s offer.

Now, that’s interesting and can go a few ways.I highly doubt that the man represents you. Your main challenge of the year is this person that will probably give you some kind of opportunity. With how the cards before were, I think it’ll most likely happen either during summer or fall, so the second part of the year. The guy is a kind and loyal one, so don’t worry, the offer, while challenging, will be a good thing.

How will you grow?

Knave of Pentacles - Five of Wands - Queen of Pentacles

I think it’s lovely how you’ll grow from the Knave of Pentacles into the Queen of Pentacles. You’re starting as someone great already, and then become even better lol. You’re hardworking and productive. A challenge will show up, a conflict or disagreement between you and a few people. Probably a rivalry at work. You’ll emerge victorious and stronger than before: a royal who knows their worth and how to deal with earthly matters.

A piece of advice

New Moon in Taurus - Waxing Moon - New Moon in Aries

“Prosperity lies ahead”, “The energy is gaining momentum”, “It’s time to take action”

All the cards talk basically about the same thing: it’s your time. I think it’s about your career or your school. You have strong cards so time to play.

PILE 6

What will this year teach you?

The Empress

Regardless of your gender, you’ll learn the power that lies within femininity. Who said someone nurturing and empathetic isn’t strong? There are also lessons about utilizing creativity and discovering what makes you beautiful, as well as understanding better your sensual side. For some, this year may also teach you a lot about motherhood.

The main theme of each season for you 

Winter: Oak Tree (power, courage, strength) - Spring: Sage (wisdom, purification, harmony) - Summer: Pine Tree (vitality, longevity, perseverance) - Fall: Summer (expansion, growth)

You’ll start your year strong and then only continue at getting more knowledgeable and in tune with your needs and inner self. You’ll secure what’s important for you and grow even more. Looks like an intense and rewarding year, happy for you! 

Main blessings for you this year

Healing (Geranium) - Success (Peppermint) - Divination (Chives)

Yeah, we get further confirmation this year will be focused on you growing and learning how to nurture yourself. There will be work put into healing the part of you you’ve rejected and a lot of different kinds of successes. The Divination card is interesting. I think it means you’ll learn more about this topic (especially if you practice or think about practicing divination). Maybe you’ll have a spiritual awakening. For some, it’s simply about divination helping you navigate your journey.

The main challenge of this year

Heart - Garden - Moon

A loving community’s desires and expectations.

Social fear is your main challenge for this year. You’re scared of people’s judgement. But worry not, because there is a loving community for you out there, and they’ll love you the way you are. 

How will you grow?

Three of Cups R - The Devil R - Three of Pentacles

You’ll release limiting beliefs and limit contact with people who don’t have your best interest at heart. If you’re lonely, it’ll come to an end. There are people out there with whom you’ll communicate easily and work as a team. You’ll learn a lot from each other and probably do something creative together.

A piece of advice 

Full Moon in Capricorn - Full Moon in Taurus - New Moon in Scorpio

“The end of a tough cycle approaches”, “Your dreams need a practical plan”, “Work through your fears”

Yeah, it looks like it’s been kinda hard for you recently, huh? Well, this is coming to an end. Time to plan your next actions and face your worries. Time to deal with them, you can’t run away from them.

[witherby]

Could you make more Damian and mer!Reader? I wanna see them swim together!

Yeah, I can do that! The previous post surpassed 10 reblogs so y'all can have another installment :)

Part 2 of Human!Damian x Mer!Reader

Content: Fluff, Swimming, Language Barrier, Courtship Ritual (unbeknownst to Damian)

Part 1 is Here!

You swim in fast spirals through your enclosure, ducking around seaweed and colorful rocks and the fake castle spire they installed for you to hide in, tail brushing against the rough, stony texture. The lights all dimmed about thirty minutes ago, leaving just the bioluminescent foliage scattered throughout your tank and a few, small overhead lamps to illuminate the space. You know that this means all the Attention Time is done for the day, and that Damian will soon be around for dinner and playtime.

When you feel those familiar disturbances in the water, the gentle swish, swish, swish of your favorite caretaker's hand, you bolt towards it and surface with a splash and a chirp. Damian wipes the water off his face and levels you with an unamused look, which you preen at, and you rest your arms on the lip of the tank.

"Hello to you, too," he greets, holding up your bucket. "It's dinner time. You did great today, as though we could expect anything less than perfection at this point."

You take the bucket and start eating, offering a piece of squid to Damian. He scrunches his nose and politely refuses, so you shove it between your own, razor-sharp teeth instead.

"Visitors asked a lot of questions about you today," Damian says. You register the general idea of what he's talking about — the "visitors" are the creatures that come to stare at you in the funny tunnels. "Two of the tour groups asked if you were lonely, being the only mer we have in the aquarium."

The boy tilts his head, vibrant green eyes unusually pensive as he regards you. You stare back as you chew, the fins on either side of your head twitching. You love staring at his eyes, more vibrant than any foliage in your tank and endlessly entertaining to look at. When he speaks again, you do your best to keep following along.

"I didn't know how to answer them. Mers, from what few we've observed in the wild, travel in pods. You don't exhibit behaviors of loneliness or excessive stress, however; I don't think living here without pod-mates is causing you harm, otherwise we'd see you picking at your fins and scales, or lashing out more violently, or at the very least hiding more often."

You smile. How silly of your caretaker — he is your pod! You socialize with him plenty, even if he can't live in your enclosure with you! You click your tongue and trill, showing him your empty bucket to get the frown off his face.

Damian takes it back with a quick word of praise and dodges your grabby hands when you make to pull him into the water.

"Patience. Let me change into the wetsuit, okay, Princess?"

You perk up and chirrup with glee. You know that word! He's going to come into the tank and play!

Damian disappears through a set of doors several yards away from the edge of your tank. You slip under the water to rehydrate your gills, floating aimlessly for a few minutes. When you surface again, Damian is standing on the edge of your tank in a black wetsuit with a small apparatus on his face. After an accident (and it was an accident, you promise! How were you supposed to know the land creatures couldn't breathe water the same way you did?) where you almost drowned Damian trying to play with him, he showed up a few days later with the suit and small face-thing that you learned was important not to pull off of him.

You whistle and trill, arms extended in delight. Damian's eyes crinkle just slightly around the edges, as he can't smile around the rebreather, and he lets his body tip forward into your waiting arms.

You splash into the water together, squeezing him in a tight hug, then draw back to grab his hand and pull him along. Damian allows it, kicking the flippers on his feet to help propel him along, though they're no match for your huge tail.

Playtime always starts with you dragging Damian to the bottom of your tank, either to show him the latest way you've arranged your collection of colorful rocks, or to find a gift for him. Sometimes you give him a rock, sometimes you give him a piece of foliage, and once you gave him a loose brick taken from your castle spire (he put that one back).

Today, you release his hand to dart into your seaweed nest, pawing around until you find what you're looking for, then pop back out and press it into his hands. Damian's eyes go wide, clutching the small handful of shredded scales you passed over with the delicateness one would use to cradle a baby.

Mers tended to have hoarding tendencies, especially for shiny things. Your myriad of painted stones and other aquatic-safe decorations were proof of that. In the wild, shedded scales were kept and used as further decoration for a nest, or placed around the entrance of their home so it could be easily identifiable. To see you hand him what is typically considered a valuable resource to your species...

Well, he's nothing short of flattered. You must care for him a great deal to be willing to part with your scales.

He signs Thank You under the water and carefully tucks the gift into a bag on his hip, since the wetsuit has no pockets. You grin back and twirl around him, bumping him a bit with your tail. Damian can just barely make out the sound of you trilling under the water as you bump him back and forth a couple times, a behavior you've never exhibited before. He bumps you back, which makes you trill even louder. It's fascinating.

When you're done, you circle Damian a few times, chittering and chirping, then gently shove his shoulders and take off like a bullet through the water, off to find a space to tuck yourself into for hide and seek. You can't play tag with him, it's never fair, but other games like this are easily adaptable between the two of you, especially given that your enclosure spans several floors of the building.

As you dart across your expansive tank looking for a place to slip into, you can't fight the giddy little skip in your heart. Damian accepted your scales! He accepted them and thanked you! You're so happy he accepted your proposal to be mated!

-----

Thanks for your support! Reblogs = more content!

[genderqueerdykes]

How do you find out if you’re intersex? I have terrible periods, was diagnosed with PCOS and put on estrogen and some other birth control before I went on T, and found out during my first gyno check that I just….dont have a canal? Which explains a lot because bedroom activities were so excruciating that I avoid them but my doctor won’t diagnose anything?

This is my regular doctor. I have a heart condition so I see him often enough. But he just won’t talk about it? Am I losing it? It can’t be normal.

you were diagnosed with PCOS and you don't have a vaginal canal. you're intersex! you don't need to find any other additional information or do any tests, those are both intersex variations! if you'd like to learn more, you're definitely welcome to research those conditions, or reach out to other intersex people to discuss your situations!

most people don't really find out they're intersex in a formal manner, it's generally when someone learns about the intersex community that they realize it. very few people are diagnosed or medically referred to as intersex, most of us are out here with intersex variations, still forced into M or F markers.

this is actually very normal- but that means you're not alone and you're not losing it though- more often than not, you are not going to get told you're intersex in that wording by a medical professional. especially in medical settings. even OBGYNs and other reproductive health doctors will not use the "I" word. most people find out they're intersex due to the variations and conditions they're diagnosed with, not the "I" word.

you're intersex, you don't need to get that confimation from your doctor because it's more than likely not going to happen. most doctors really are not on the intersex person's side. when i was diagnosed with PCOS, hyperandrogenism and other issues as a teen, i was forced onto estrogen like you were. i was never told i was intersex, though. the only thing they told me was that i was more than likely sterile. they were more concerned about telling a teenager that they couldn't have children than telling me what being intersex was. they likely didn't even know the word or what it means. i don't think most medical professionals have even heard of intersexuality.

most doctors see intersexuality as a series of health conditions that are a "problem to fix" and not a state of being that a person can exist in naturally without needing to be modified.

i hope that helps! you're intersex :) feel free to ask any more questions you have, i'm definitely glad to help! take care for now!

[virgoilluminati]

Mistletoe

A christmas spinoff of world class

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone :) apologies i have been extremely busy with Uni, Work and life in general. I'm not sure whether I'll be back anytime soon but i found this christmas fic in the archive. Lots of love, V.

The gentle snowfall paints a serene backdrop as you and Jude, arms laden with bags from the car, approach Eden's door. The world around you seems to hush in anticipation of Christmas Eve.

Before setting the bags down on the doorstep, Jude's eyes gleam with a mischievous twinkle. "Look up," he softly suggests to you.

Your eyes follow his gaze, and there, just above the door, hangs a sprig of mistletoe. A playful smile tugs at Jude's lips as he subtly nods toward the festive decoration. You can't help but chuckle at the delightful surprise.

Without a word, Jude leans down, capturing your lips in a sweet, impromptu kiss beneath the mistletoe. The soft glow from the porch light seems to intensify for that fleeting moment, creating a picturesque scene of a winter's embrace.

As you pull back, the magic of the kiss lingers in the air. Jude's eyes search yours, a silent question of, "Everything okay?"

Your eyes sparkle with gratitude. "More than okay," you reply, your gaze lingering on Jude's. You plant a light kiss on his cheek, savoring the warmth of the moment. "I'm just glad to be here with everyone."

Jude, ever considerate, brings up the events of the past year, "We don't have to go in if it's too much, especially with what happened to Noah."

You shake your head, determination in your eyes. "No, I really want to be with them, especially on Christmas Eve. It's been too long, and I miss them. My time with Arsenal and the England national team keeps me busy, and these moments are precious. Let's make the most of it."

Jude smiles, understanding the significance of this gathering for you. Hand in hand, you approach the door, the soft glow of lights framing your silhouette against the winter night. The festive decorations and the promise of family embrace you as you step inside, ready to immerse yourselves in the warmth of the season and the magic of Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve unfolds with its customary enchantment, cocooning your heart in a warm embrace. The festive air, once a pure source of joy, now bears the weight of change after Noah’s car accident. The absence of his laughter hangs in the air, casting a somber hue over the annual celebration. Nevertheless, you, the youngest sibling, alongside your brothers Rowan and Marley, and your sister Eden, persist in navigating the delicate balance between celebration and remembrance.

Entering your childhood home with your boyfriend Jude, arms laden with Christmas presents, Eden greets you warmly. Nostalgia clings to the air, accentuating the significance of this Christmas—the first without Noah. The silent echoes of his presence linger, a testament to the changes the year has brought.

Yet, the family, determined to infuse the day with warmth and joy, rallies together. Isabella’s playful voice cuts through the melancholy, her innocent excitement breaking the somber tones. “Uncle Jude, did you get me a present?” she asks, her playful mispronunciation of Jude’s name eliciting smiles from everyone.

“Of course, I did, Bella. Want to know what it is?” Jude teases, reaching for the gift, only to be halted by your amused shake of the head. “It’s not Christmas day yet,” you remind him.

The family’s interactions unfold—a delicate dance between past and present. In the kitchen, you find Rowan and Marley engaged in an arm wrestle, prompting you to playfully scold them for their antics. “You’re both grown adults, with careers and real lives,” you quip.

“Nice to see you too, lil sis,” Marley responds, pulling you into a massive hug, soon followed by Rowan.

“You brought red wine! Ugh, you’re a lifesaver,” you exclaim, hearing your mother’s voice in the background. A sarcastic greeting follows, and soon you find yourself in your mother’s embrace, the matriarch overseeing the kitchen chaos.

“Where’s that hot boyfriend of yours?” Rowan asks, turning to spot a disgruntled Jude, already entangled in a hug with both brothers.

The family has known Jude since he was 10, his little crush on you not escaping the watchful eyes of your brothers. Yet, they embrace him as part of the family, the love evident in every interaction.

As the evening progresses, you delve into conversations about everyone’s lives—Rowan’s photography gig, Marley’s eco-friendly designs, your mother’s tales of baby Casper, and even your father's witty remarks that echo in your memory.

Amidst the banter, someone playfully calls out, “Oy, Grandma—what about you? Just got back from England camp—the stories you must have.”

You laugh, realizing you had neglected to share your own adventures. “England camp was a whirlwind. Met incredible people, learned a few tricks, and survived the English weather. But that’s a story for another time,” you tease, the room erupting in laughter.

Amidst the festivities, Eden offers you a drink of mulled wine. Together, you observe Jude harmoniously playing with Isabella. A sense of warmth and family unity fills the room.

As you watch, Eden turns to you with a twinkle in her eye. “He’s a natural, isn’t he? Do you ever think about having kids?”

The question catches you off guard, making you choke on your sip. You hadn’t expected to contemplate such matters for another good decade. The unexpected inquiry hangs in the air, leaving you momentarily lost in thoughts of a future you hadn’t actively considered.

As the question lingers in the air, you clear your throat, trying to compose yourself. Glancing at Jude, who is engrossed in playful banter with Isabella, blissfully unaware of the conversation taking place.

Eden, sensing your surprise, offers a comforting smile. "Sorry if that caught you off guard. You know, you'll have to have them at some point."

You nod, taking a moment to collect your thoughts. "Yeah, I know. But with my job right now... it's a bit complicated."

Esme, the elder sister, chimes in with a subtle dig, "Well, you might have to drop that job eventually if you want to start a family."

The remark hangs in the air, and the atmosphere grows slightly uncomfortable. You feel a pang in your chest; your career as a footballer, which you love deeply, reminds them all of Noah's absence.

Trying to diffuse the tension, you manage a faint smile. "Let's not delve into that right now. We're here to celebrate Christmas, right?"

The conversation shifts, and you find yourself engrossed in discussions about holiday plans, memories, and the delightful chaos of family dynamics. As the evening progresses, the initial discomfort gradually fades, replaced by the warmth of shared laughter and the comfort of familial bonds.

Jude, sensing a shift in the conversation, joins you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. "What's going on over here?" he teases.

Eden grins, casting a mischievous glance at you. "Just pondering the mysteries of the future. You and Isabella seem to have a natural connection."

Jude looks down at Isabella, who is now showing him a drawing she made. "Well, she's an amazing artist, and I'm just an appreciative audience."

Laughter echoes through the room as the family continues to celebrate Christmas Eve. The subtle undercurrent of the unexpected question about the future lingers, but in the embrace of the present moment, surrounded by loved ones, you feel a sense of gratitude and warmth that transcends any uncertainties about what lay ahead.

Later, as Jude notices your thoughtful expression, he comes over and asks, "Is everything okay?"

You smile, appreciating his concern, and kiss him gently. The warmth of the kiss drowns out the lingering discomfort from the conversation, and you choose to focus on the joyous moments of togetherness, leaving your elder sister's criticisms behind. "Everything is perfect."

As the warmth of the Christmas dinner lingers in the air, you decide it's time to unveil the carefully chosen presents. Casper coos with delight as he gazes at the adorable baby books, a perfect addition to his growing collection. Your family shares a collective "aww" as they admire the tiny football strip in the new set of baby clothes.

Finally, the anticipation builds as Jude hands you a small, beautifully wrapped box. Isabella watches with wide-eyed curiosity. With a smile, you unwrap it to reveal a stunning red dress.

"Oh, Isabella, look at this beautiful dress! You're going to shine in this," you say, holding it up for her to see. Isabella's face lights up with joy, and she claps her hands in excitement. Jude smiles, appreciating the infectious happiness radiating from Isabella.

Amidst the festive spirit, you bring out the last present—a meticulously crafted photo book. As you flip through the pages together, memories come to life. Laughter echoes as you recall shared adventures.

Isabella points to an old photo of a baby version of you, around 7 or 8 years old, wearing a massive Brighton jersey, standing proudly next to your brothers, Noah and Rowan, and your sister Eden. "Who's that?" she asks with curiosity.

Eden, your sister, smiles warmly. "That, little lady, is your uncle Noah." The room falls into a brief, reflective silence, a shared moment of remembrance.

Jude, who has met Noah, nods in understanding. "Ah, I remember that day. Noah was quite the character, always finding ways to make us laugh."

Rowan, your brother, chuckles, "Remember when he convinced us he could talk to squirrels? Had us all searching for a squirrel translator app."

Your dad joins in, "And the time he tried to teach Casper here how to make funny faces. Casper, show them the 'Noah face'!"

Casper, oblivious to the conversation, simply continues to coo and gurgle, bringing additional joy to the family gathering.

Amidst the stories and laughter, your mom adds, "Noah had a way of turning ordinary moments into extraordinary memories. We miss him dearly."

As the night unfolds, you find yourself reminiscing about more Noah stories. "Oh, and who could forget the time he challenged Dad to a pancake-flipping contest?" you share, prompting chuckles from the family. "Noah's pancakes ended up on the ceiling!"

Your dad laughs, "That was a sticky situation, but we had a good laugh about it. Noah always knew how to keep things entertaining."

The room fills with more laughter as each family member contributes to the tapestry of stories, creating a holiday celebration filled not only with the spirit of the season but also with the enduring joy that Noah's antics brought to your lives.

As the festivities wind down, and the house grows quiet, you and Jude find yourselves getting ready for bed. The twinkling lights of the Christmas tree cast a soft glow on the room.

Jude looks at you with a sincere expression, "You looked absolutely beautiful tonight."

You raise an eyebrow playfully, "What's the catch? Are you after the last piece of dessert?"

He chuckles, "No catch, just wanted to remind you how stunning you are."

You smile, "Well, thank you. It was a wonderful day."

Jude takes your hands gently, "You know, I was thinking about our family today."

You glance at him curiously, "Our family?"

"Yeah," he replies with a warmth in his eyes. "I couldn't help but imagine our own little ones running around, making memories like we did today."

You blink in surprise, "Little ones? Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

He grins, "Maybe. I just can't wait for the day when our home is filled with the laughter of our own children during the holidays."

You laugh, "Jude, are you proposing a Christmas baby plan?"

He nods, "Well, not necessarily tonight, but you know... in the future."

You playfully narrow your eyes, "Are you sure you're not just trying to sweet-talk me into doing the dishes?"

Jude laughs, "No, I promise. Just sharing some dreams for our future."

You pause, a tender smile forming, "That sounds wonderful, Jude. Our own little family someday."

As you both continue getting ready for bed, the conversation lingers in the air, filled with the warmth of shared dreams and the promise of a future together.

Wrapped in the quiet intimacy of the bedroom, you and Jude exchange affectionate glances. As you settle into bed, he pulls you closer, his arm draped over your shoulder.

Jude's voice is soft as he continues, "You know, seeing you with Isabella and the rest of your family today made me realize how much love and joy we can bring into our own family one day."

You nestle into his embrace, "It does sound incredible. I can imagine our kids playing in the snow, decorating the tree, and getting excited about Santa's visit."

He smiles, "Exactly. I can't wait to share those moments with you, creating our own traditions and memories."

The room is bathed in the gentle glow of moonlight, and you find solace in the dreams you're sharing with Jude. "I never thought about it much before, but imagining a future like that with you feels right," you admit.

Jude leans in, placing a tender kiss on your forehead, "You make everything feel right, Y/N. I'm grateful for the life we're building together."

As you both drift into the warmth of sleep, visions of a future filled with love, laughter, and a family of your own linger in the air, making this Christmas night even more special.

As the morning sunlight gently kissed the snow-covered landscape, Isabella’s excitement for another day of winter adventures was palpable. She tugged at your sleeve, her eyes sparkling with anticipation, “Can we go sledding, Aunt Y/N?”

You couldn’t resist her infectious enthusiasm, and soon the three of you were bundled up, sleds in hand, ready for a day of snowy escapades.

The nearby hill transformed into a playground of laughter and joy as you took turns racing down, leaving trails of excitement in the snow. Isabella’s giggles echoed through the frosty air, creating a soundtrack for the winter day.

After the exhilarating sledding session, Isabella’s attention turned to building a snow fort. With her imagination in full swing, the three of you crafted a winter fortress adorned with snowball ammunition. The snowball fights that ensued became legendary in Isabella’s book of cherished memories.

As the sun began to set, casting a warm golden hue over the snowy landscape, you suggested making snow angels. Isabella enthusiastically joined in, her tiny figure leaving a trail of celestial imprints in the fresh snow.

Back indoors, the aroma of hot cocoa filled the air as you prepared a cozy treat for Isabella. The living room transformed into a winter haven, adorned with twinkling lights and the glow of the fireplace.

Isabella, wrapped in a blanket, sipped her cocoa with a satisfied smile. “This is the best winter day ever, Aunt Y/N!”

Jude chimed in, “Couldn’t agree more. We’ve made some unforgettable memories.”

As night fell, Isabella’s energy waned, and you gathered around to read a winter-themed bedtime story. Tucked in with dreams of snowflakes and adventures, Isabella drifted into a peaceful sleep.

With Isabella settled for the night, you and Jude found a quiet moment to reflect on the day’s escapades. Jude smiled, “She really had a blast today.”

You nodded, “It was heartwarming to see the joy in her eyes. These are the moments that make holidays truly special.”

As the night embraced your home with a tranquil hush, you and Jude took a moment to savor the warmth of shared love and the magic created by a day of winter wonder with Isabella. The promise of more adventures together lingered in the air, turning this snowy weekend into a chapter of joy etched in your hearts.

Jude and Y/N stepped through the threshold into the warm embrace of Jude's childhood home, a symphony of festive scents greeting them as they shed the winter chill. The living room emanated a comforting glow, adorned with the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree, where Jobe's infectious laughter signaled the heartwarming chaos within.

"Hey, you made it! Ready for a Christmas to remember?" Jobe exclaimed, enveloping them in a bear hug.

After warm embraces and festive stockings were distributed, the family settled into the living room. The sound of crinkling wrapping paper mixed with shared stories, creating a symphony of joy.

"Remember the time Jobe and I tried to build a snow fort in the backyard, but it ended up collapsing on us?" Jude whispered to Y/N, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Y/N chuckled, "Sounds like a hilarious memory. Your family is so close-knit."

"You have no idea," Jude replied, his smile reflecting the deep love he had for his family.

Amidst the revelry, Y/N found herself in the bustling kitchen, donning an apron alongside Jude's mom. Together, they exchanged family recipes and laughter, weaving a new bond.

"You never told me about the legendary gingerbread cookie recipe!" Y/N said with a playful grin.

Jude's mom laughed, "It's a family secret, but you're part of the family now. Let's make them unforgettable!"

The air was filled with the tantalizing aroma of gingerbread cookies baking in the oven. Meanwhile, in the living room, Jude and Jobe continued their good-natured rivalry, setting up a Christmas-themed board game.

"You're going down, bro!" Jobe declared, playfully nudging Jude.

"Bring it on," Jude retorted, their competitive banter filling the room with laughter.

The evening deepened, and the family congregated around the piano, where Jude's mom skillfully played a melody of holiday classics.

"Dance with me?" Jude extended his hand to Y/N, a twinkle in his eyes.

With a smile, Y/N accepted, and they waltzed to the festive tunes. Whispers of childhood memories and shared dreams filled the air as Jude confessed, "I'm grateful for you, for this, for us."

Y/N smiled, "Me too. This is a Christmas I'll always remember."

The night unfolded with a Christmas movie marathon, the family cozily bundled together on the couch.

"This movie always makes me cry," Y/N admitted, wiping away a tear during a poignant scene.

Jude chuckled, "It's okay, it gets me every time too."

The porch beckoned with its snowy charm, and Jude and Y/N stole a quiet moment beneath the stars.

"The snow makes everything look magical," Y/N observed.

"Especially with you," Jude replied, pulling her closer.

Returning inside, Y/N noticed a beautifully wrapped gift under the tree with her name on it.

"For you," Jude said, a hint of excitement in his voice.

As she unwrapped it, she discovered a delicate necklace, a family heirloom. Jude, his eyes reflecting warmth, murmured, "I wanted you to have something special from us."

Touched by the gesture, Y/N thanked him with a lingering kiss. The night continued with spontaneous dance-offs initiated by Jobe, impromptu sing-alongs around the piano, and shared laughter that echoed through the halls.

As the clock neared midnight, the family gathered for heartfelt wishes for the coming year.

"Here's to many more holidays together," Jude whispered, his gaze locked with Y/N's.

The night concluded with a group photo, capturing the essence of the day.

Jude and Y/N left his parents' home hand in hand, hearts brimming with love, memories, and the promise of a shared future. The magical Christmas day spent with family and each other became a chapter in the story they were writing together, a tale of joy, connection, and the enduring magic of the holiday season.

The drive back to your place was filled with the quiet hum of the car engine and the warmth of shared glances. The gentle snowfall continued, a serene companion to the memories made during this extraordinary Christmas day.

As you entered your home, the enchantment of the day lingered. Jude turned to you with a soft smile, "Today was something special, wasn't it?"

You nodded, "Absolutely. I never expected to feel so connected, not just with your family, but with the idea of our own future."

Jude wrapped his arms around you, "I'm glad. It's moments like these that make everything worthwhile."

The twinkling lights of your own Christmas tree welcomed you, casting a cozy glow in the living room. As you settled in, thoughts of the day's laughter, love, and shared dreams filled your mind.

With a content sigh, you turned to Jude, "You know, I can't wait for the day when our own home is filled with the magic of Christmas, just like today."

Jude's eyes sparkled with anticipation, "Me neither. Our own traditions, our own memories—it's going to be amazing."

As the two of you curled up on the couch, wrapped in the warmth of the season and each other, the quiet magic of Christmas night continued to weave its spell, promising a future filled with love, joy, and countless more cherished moments.

[girlballs]

hi, im so impressed whenever i see you posting stuff about your game dev, and ive been wanting/trying to get into gamedev myself but im often held back by my health. sorry if this is unreasonable or too sincere, no pressure to answer. every time i see your work it just makes me want to make games even more but i barely know what im doing. how did you learn game dev? is game development something anyone can do if they work hard and keep trying?

hi it is absolutely possible for anyone to get into gamedev, even if you're starting off with literally zero programming experience (like i did!)

the main thing is like like. you need to train your brain's ability to take a problem and go "what's the simplest version of this problem and how do i solve *that*" which is unfortunately not something you're encouraged to do by the kinds of resources you can find online by googling about how to make games in the era of Youtube Content Creators

once you get into that habit it's a lot easier to find relevant information since you're no longer asking for gamey specifics i.e. "how do i put a dodge roll in my game" but more general "how do i play an animation and execute logic at specific points during that animation" type questions

don't get me wrong though there IS useful information to be gleaned from just going on youtube and watching gamedev videos, especially when it comes to the specifics of just Interacting With Your Engine Of Choice. you can learn a lot from just following tutorials 1:1 off youtube as long as you never never ever in your life assume that a given person on youtube is doing something The Objectively Correct Way. always be open to the possibility that there's a better way to do a thing

[kianamaiart]

Hi Kiana! Been following before the IDWTBAMG work, but I'm a fan of the concept lol. It's been really cool to see it start taking off like it has already! I've been wanting to ask some questions for a while, about how to-- not get a project popular exactly, I believe you've touched on your scenario there-- but how one might go about both getting it going and start getting it seen? I could be more specific if you'd like, but I'd hate to ramble in an ask, lol. Anyway, I would love if you happen to have any advice there, no troubles either way!

Aw thanks for your support!!

For getting going, just make sure it’s something you’re passionate about and want to do! It’s a time sink for sure and it takes a lot of work. That’s been the issue for me in the past. Just not liking the ideas I had previously enough to be consistent. This time around, I had so much fun working on the project at every step and didn’t get burnt out on it.

If you were talking more about on the production side and planning, I think it’s helpful to make general deadlines for yourself and gauge who’d be able to help on your project (and also your budget).

As for getting it seen, I’m not really sureeee. I’m lucky in that I’ve built up this following I have over the past 10+ years. So I have the fortune of having somewhat of a built in audience. But without that, genuinely just posting a lot, watching those analytics and finding optimal posting times on as many platforms as possible is a good way to get eyes. Occasional sneak peeks keeps up interest, getting people who are working on it to post about it too also helps~

Hopefully this is useful info haha

[nr1chaedickrider]

but my best enemy is you

pt.1!!!, angst, smut, violence, it's a mess

“you're the sweetest” she says, smiling at your flushed face. her thumb softly caresses your cheek.

you lean into her touch, her soft hand on your skin was a feeling which you love more than anything.

“i love you” you whisper against her lips, kissing her slowly and passionately.

“i love you too” her voice is full of love as well as the look on her face, her smile not fading from her lips.

oh, how you wished it would stay on her lips forever.

“you're fucking unbelievable”

“i'm unbelievable? are you seriously trying to blame me?”

“call it blaming, i call it being honest and seeing the truth”

you can't read momo's expression, you can't tell what she's feeling, if she's sad, mad, or just disappointed.

your hand shakes a little, as if you're scared.

you are actually scared.

“i can't”

“we're done”

is she too?

“so just like that? that was it?”

“you're not going to fight for us?”

“you're the better fighter between us, use it in the ring - not in our relationship,”

“or whatever it was.”

“you're an asshole”

“okay”

-

momo swirls the ice in her drink with the straw, watching the fight that's happening.

two men who she never saw before are fighting against each other, it doesn't quite peak her interest.

she thinks it's uninteresting watching them fight - or others in general. they don't have any tension in their fights.

they simply fight to win the money, not because they have a certain history with the person standing in front of them.

basically meaning, momo doesn't care if it's strangers, she only cares when she and you fight against each other.

she knows about the rumors, she knows that more people come into the bar just to watch the two of them.

but she also believes that you don't need to know both of those things, acting cold and like she has no idea about it instead.

the fight ends and everyone but her cheers for the fighters, she turns to the bartender and orders a shot of vodka.

“momo, right?” a red haired girl asks as she sits down next to her.

momo looks at her, nods and then downs the shot quickly.

“who's asking?” she knows.

“jihyo - i'm y/n's trainer” she replies, looking at the ring.

“what are you doing here?” momo asks her, also looking at the ring.

“the same as you, watching fights”

“y/n is actually up next” her eyes widen in shock, not expecting to hear that you're fighting someone else instead of her.

before momo can ask jihyo other questions - the crowd starts to yell and cheer as you enter the ring on the left side.

jeongyeon enters the ring on the right side, receiving a lot of support from the spectators.

momo has heard of jeongyeon before, even fought against her when she first started fighting.

she asks herself who will win.

you're a strong fighter - and the fact that you're not fighting against her makes momo think that you could easily win, since there is no history, nothing that could hold you back from hitting her with all the strength you have in your body.

the referee (again, who's actually just a random guy) blows in his whistle, signaling that the fight is starting.

you block your face with your hands as jeongyeon tries to hit you, moving to the side and hitting her stomach.

jeongyeon looks at you full of anger, as if you'd done something so terrible.

she walks over to you - almost even runs - and hits your throat.

an illegal move.

you gasp for air, falling against the border of the ring, looking up to her being right in front of you.

the referee is too slow, he doesn't stop jeongyeon and she hits another hit in your face.

then your stomach, your side, your chest - literally everything she could hit before getting dragged away by the referee.

you fall down on the floor, blood coming from your nose and mouth.

momo stares at the ring in shock, not being able to move.

what just happened?

jihyo next to her calls an ambulance, rushing to you to check if you're (somehow) alright.

momo slowly stands up and walks closer, a sigh of relief (which she hopes wasn't too loud) leaves her mouth when she sees you sitting up again, holding your head and talking to jihyo (or rather, jihyo talks to you and you try not to pass out).

the medics arrive quickly, a woman with blonde hair gets into the ring and kneels in front of you so she can look at what happened.

jihyo leaves you alone, the crowd slowly relaxes and decides on doing other things than staring at you and your wounds.

everyone but momo.

her eyes are fixed on you, and her.

she can't explain why, but seeing you and her - it makes her stomach drop, gives her this uncomfortable feeling.

“you're pretty” she hears you say to her, to which the girl replies to with a giggle.

she introduces herself as sana to you (a pretty name in momo's opinion, but that doesn't change anything).

momo thinks that she's pretty and nice, she isn't a bad woman.

but she can't help herself to feel jealous.

she has no right to be jealous, but she still feels it. it doesn't matter if she wants to feel that way or not - she is jealous.

-

it has been exactly one week.

one week since you fought against jeongyeon, which led to multiple serious injuries.

one week since you were laughing and giggling like idiots with that medic sana.

momo hasn't been able to stop thinking about it.

she sits down next to you at the bar without greeting you.

you look at the bartender and ask him for a shot of tequila which he places in front of momo before leaving you two alone.

“your favorite” you say, not looking at her. she interrupts you though.

“how are you doing? you looked rough last week” she asks, drinking the tequila quickly after finishing her sentence.

“why do you care?” you ask back, to which momo doesn't reply (or rather - she isn't able to reply).

“what’s up with sana and you?” she says, turning the bar stool so she can fully look at you.

you laugh a little, finishing your beer, “you know, you ask a lot of questions”

she waits for you to answer her question instead of saying something else.

you sigh, realizing she's as stubborn as you often are.

“nothing much. i dont get why you would care, but we're just talking. that's all” you answer.

you turn to her, looking in her eyes, but you quickly look away.

her eyes make you nervous, even after all this time - you still get nervous talking to her.

“if you excuse me, i have to go, was nice talking to you” you say, placing some money on the table as you walk out of the door of the bar.

maybe she's stupid - but she doesn't care.

she walks out of the bar quickly, walking after you.

she sees you walking away, so she runs after you.

her hand grips your wrist and stops you from walking.

you look at her, your mouth opens to say something, but she interrupts you, again.

but this time, she kisses you.

momo pins you to the stone wall behind you, her hands grip the collar of your cropped leather jacket as her lips are on yours.

you're shocked, but you kiss her back anyway.

oh, how much you missed this.

she leaves your lips after a while, salvia connecting you two.

“i don't know why i care,” she starts speaking, her eyes focused on yours.

“but what i know is that i was jealous,”

“seeing you and sana act like we used to,”

“it made me mad, it upset me,”

“she doesn't know you like i do -”

momo isn't a bold person often, but something about today is different.

“she wouldn't be able to fuck you like i do” she whispers against your lips, her hands gripping your waist.

you look at her in silence, her statement sounding not real, like you're in a dream.

you realize that this isn't a dream though.

this time you pull momo closer, kissing her.

“let's go to my place” you mumble in between kisses.

-

everything happens so fast that neither momo nor you can really comprehend what exactly happens.

it's messy and needy (something you always liked).

you sit on top of momo as you’re both making out.

you lean back just a little so your lips part, taking off your shirt.

momo can't help but stare.

it's nothing crazy in your opinion, a simple calvin klein bra.

momo thinks it's so much more than that though.

you're back to kissing her as you slowly kiss down momos neck, biting and sucking, leaving hickeys all over.

you were never this eager for something, ever.

“ah fuck-... i don't know if this is the smartest thing” she whimpers, hands gripping your naked waist, fingers curling into your skin as they slightly scratch you.

the burn you feel is delicious.

“you know i always thought you are a smart girl,” you breathe out against her neck, admiring your work before going for the other side.

“but this is your time to be stupid for once” you whisper, momo bites her lip at your statement.

she pushes you away so she's able to take off her shirt. you get off her lap so you can take her jeans off, being so eager that you're almost ripping them off (if you’d listen closely you would probably be able to hear it).

“come here” she orders, pulling you closer after kicking her pants off her feet.

you're back to kissing her again, opening your mouth so her tongue can explore it.

you can't help but let out a moan when she presses her knee up to your core, grinding onto it.

you push her back down onto the mattress, leaning down so you can place kisses all over her body.

momo watches you, her breath hitches when you press a kiss on her clit over the underwear.

“that sensitive?” you tease her as you lock eyes, momo bites her lip again.

“haven’t done it in a long time” she replies.

you pull off her underwear, it slightly sticks to her because of the slick, making you laugh at her.

“yeah i bet. it doesn't feel as good when you're doing it without me” you comment.

you don't waste your time and shove two of your fingers inside her wet cunt, fucking her in a fast rythmn.

“we should do something like this more often” you smirk, kissing her naked skin.

she simply just nods, moaning and whimpering at the feeling of your fingers inside of her after so long.

you don't wait long, putting another finger in.

momo moans at the stretch, gripping the bed sheets. her bottom lip starts to bleed a little at the pressure she's applying.

“you sound so pretty for me baby” you praise her, pulling your fingers out just to thrust them into her again.

you move your head right next to hers, whispering into her ear.

“such a desperate slut for me, god.. look at you momo” the way you say her name makes momo even needier, clenching around your fingers.

“please” she begs, if you would ask her what she's begging for, she wouldn't be able to answer. her mind is clouded and full of you and nothing else.

“can you take another one, good girl?” you ask, she looks at you, breathing heavily.

“too much-” she moans.

you know how to get what you want with her.

“please baby”

“you're my good girl aren't you? i know you can take it. please, for me” she looks into your eyes, they’re full of lust, full of the desire to ruin momo.

she nods, biting her lip again. if you look closely into her eyes you can even see how glassy they are.

“that's my good girl”

you slowly insert a fourth finger, giving her time to adjust.

momo throws her head back, breath hitching at the feeling.

“you're so tight baby” you tease, slowly starting to move your fingers.

“feel so full mommy-” she whimpers, the name makes you just increasingly eager to make her finish.

you start to thrust into her, making her moan louder and louder.

“i'm so close-” she moans.

“please- let me cum.. god please y/n-” the way she's asking you for permission, how could you say no to that?

“cum for me pretty girl” you keep moving your fingers and it doesn't take long for momo to cum all over you with a loud moan, her breath shaky as well as her legs, breathing heavily as she somehow tries to calm down.

but you don't take your fingers out, looking at her ruined state.

“please” you start begging, and momo knows what you're begging for.

she also knows that she will say yes.

she'll let you overstimulate her till she's crying and sore.

it feels too good to stop.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Okay, I've Read Worm: A Retrospective Part 5: What Was I Fucking Surprised By?

So, as you may remember, I got into Worm thoroughly spoiled by the wiki and Wormblr and r/parahumans and r/Wormfanfic and actual Worm fanfic. I knew pretty much all the basic details of all the plot twists. And yet, of course, there are things I didn't expect, things the fandom or the wiki mislead me about, etc. Things I was surprised by.

So let's talk about a few:

Taylor Hebert: As I've said, I kind of worried, before reading Worm, that I'd find Taylor insufferable. The sort of character that tries to be a hero and then convinces themselves to do all sorts of bad stuff while telling themselves they're still a hero/good person/etc is hard to write well without being really unpleasant to read/watc/etc. Self-righteousness in general is hard to enjoy for me. Taylor, honestly, stops thinking of herself as a good person partway through the post-Levi period, in most ways, and she never gets self-righteous about it. So Taylor was much more sufferable than I thought. Which is good, because I would have dropped Worm like a hot potato if she'd been insufferable as the main POV.

Eidolon & The Endbringers: (Sounds like a band name). The whole 'you needed Worthy opponents' thing, and the way people talked about Eidolon (seriously, this fandom as a whole is hugely unfair to the guy, istg) really gave me the impression of like, this vainglorious piece of shit guy who wants adulation and doesn't care how he gets it. And like... I don't get that impression from his Interlude at all? He doesn't seem to give two shits about fame, just about knowing what he did mattered. And he knew that well before the Endbringers. Obviously, he subconsciously created them, and then [High Priest] got all goddamn malicious in his compliance but he's not the vainglorious asshole who charges off to face Scion in single combat or w/e the way the fanfiction gave me that impression. Also, like, maybe it's just me, but I define 'Worthy Opponent' as 'something the person could have a reasonable chance of defeating in a solo fight'. So for me, a worthy opponent would be a rowdy 12 year old with maybe a white belt in karate. the Endbringers are not solo-able opponents for Eidolon. So absolutely not doing what he actually wanted. I really think the fandom is unfairly hard on Eidolon.

Interlude 15.x: Look, at the risk of starting discourse - I'm sorry. I've read 15.x Backwards and forwards and there is just Nothing pointing towards rape in the text, even looking for it as I was. I really expected I'd see some line, some implication, some fucking hint and there's just... absolutely nothing. The text of Worm as written, whatever Wildbow claims he meant and whatever he did mean, does not support a rape interpretation of events. And that sure as fuck surprised me.

Extinction 8.6: The way people - and even some fics - talked about the scene where Amy messes with Taylor post-Leviathan made it sound like Amy straight up ripped off Taylor's mask or something extreme like that, and then Taylor sees unmasked Sophia while trying to run and hide after being unmasked. What we got was Amy being a bit of a bitch, deliberately refusing to answer a question Taylor asked because she knew not answering would upset the girl (not cool), Amy's bedside manner being shit, and Taylor's own paranoia (and the godawful choice of the heroes to handcuff her to the bed) filling in the blanks. And this absolutely tepid-ass shit is pointed to by people as proof that 'Amy was a bitch the whole time'.

The Leviathan Fight: It was a lot shorter than I expected. I enjoyed reading it in ways I was worried I wouldn't.

Cauldron: Now, here's the thing. Characters that do bad things, knowing they're bad, but in pursuit of a greater good? That shit is my goddamn jam. I fucking love characters like that. They're my catnip! And I went into Worm sympathetic as FUCK to Cauldron. and I come out of Worm going 'Jesus Christ what a bunch of fucking idjits!' Their shoestring illuminati was run by a bunch of teenagers who never grew up and a college student who's a worse control freak than Taylor. Their incompetence appears to be the whole point (until Wildbow's WoGs turned everything into Cauldron social engineering and he went out of his way to make a big thing about how Cauldron was totes necessary for making things better. Man just cannot shut up). They try for decades to put some final fight against Scion together, and they fail epicly. No groundwork, no real success, and they turned to ACCORD for their post-apocalyptic plans. And apparently had no plan for a mass Case-53 breakout/attack. Which is... sure a choice. Dumping the Case-53s the way they did. The choice of which Case 53s to dump (Sveta sure was a choice of who to just... let out into the world. Like, not an issue with her personally, but you don't release that kind of uncontrollable murder tentacle out into the world, maybe? Just maybe?). I went into Worm thinking I'd be on Cauldron's side, at least a little, and I came out just... god no, you people are stupid.

Amy's Birdcage Arc: I really thought we'd see more of Amy's time in the birdcage, but 16.z really was all we got.

Alexandria's Death: I don't quite know what I did expect, but I didn't expect Alexandria's death to be so goddamn Darwin-award worthy. The woman died like the biggest of CHUMPs and that was much funnier than I expected.

The Drugs are Fantastic line: I knew it was being taken out of context, but it wasn't quite in the place I expected, I'll be honest. Not sure what I did expect.

Taylor's Weaver Arc/The Timeskip: I expected... I dunno. Less of an abrupt transition, I guess? I thought the timeskip would be like, a series of small scenes skipping ahead over two years between them? Instead, right in the middle of Arc 25, it just jumps ahead two years without ceremony. Did not expect that. At all.

Slaughterhouse Nine: I was not prepared for just how goddamn boring the Nine were. I don't think I read any spoilers about how Jack Slash being boring af was the point until I'd already started the S9 arc, but I especially didn't expect how pathetically bland as characters Manny the Kinless and Burnscar and Crawler and Sibby the Friendly Neighborhood Cannibal would be. Cherish managed to be interesting by being such a failure, and Bonebitch, to my eterntal frustration, managed to be funny, but the rest? Also, I thought Manton would die in the Bay, rather than be killed unceremoniously offscreen while in Boston.

The Butcher: For a character who appears in all of two chapters, the Butcher has a much larger presence in the fandom. But that is Worm for you, because groups like the Elite and the Fallen also show up more in the fics than their presence in the main story merits (Though the Fallen have more of a presence in Ward, even if I gather Ward kinda sorta retcons like half the details or at least presents irreconcilable visions of the organization)

Empire 88: They were way out of focus, compared to how much they appear in fics. But it is fun in fics to see Nazis get beat up all the time, so this is valid. But also, like, even their post-Levi remnants were weaksauce af. Someone in a server the other day said that taking out Marquis took out an entire faction, and that Levi proved that taking out Kaiser (or Allfather before him) doesn't stop the Empire, gesturing to the Aryan's Chosen and the Pure as proof but like... lbr. Both groups were pretty damn pathetic in the post-Leviathan bay. Regardless, I expected to see more of the Nazis getting beat in Worm itself, and we really didn't. But this is one time where I don't care, because as I said, seeing Nazis get beaten up over and over again in the fanfic is fun.

Ward: I was worried reading and finishing Worm might make me want to read Ward. Thankfully, it did not. *whew*

Now, there are probably others, but nothing else as major. But there are also some things I just plain wasn't surprised by.

Amy Dallon: I went into Worm expecting her to be my blorbo, and that didn't change. She's definitely my character type. I feel the same about her storyline in Worm as I did going into it.

Tattlebitch: I expcted to hate her, and I stayed hating her. Lisa sucks. Like, she has her redeeming moments and features, but overall, I still hate Lisa.

Carol Dallon: My Sympathy for Carol remains about as theoretical as it always was.

The PRT/Protectorate: I suspected the PRT/Protectorate was not as useless and incompetent and ACAB as a lot of fics painted it and... I was right.

My Ultimate Opinion: I went into Worm thinking it wasn't really for me, but that I'd probably find it well written and that many characters would be engaging. I figured it would have massive gaping plot holes and that I would never find it to be the 'amazeballs perfect wonderful' that some people seem to find it. And yeah, I was right about that too.

[sir-daniel-ernest-hemmingboone]

Welcome to Gleamfolk city OCs!

Drew these up just today, cause the ideas were neat.

Mr. Fluffe. This guy was the main idea! Local owner of a newly built golf course, and owner of a podcast with his pal Brax, this guy is the bee's knees when it comes to confidence! Over 7'ft tall, built like a fridge, and with some giant chompers ta boot, who WOULDN'T wanna know this guy?? Though, his views are a bit questionable. He's a bit greedy, and has no problems voicing his opinions about how weird he finds it that people who frown a lot aren't seen. I mean, come on! He's losing potential audiences! He is very, very loyal. Mainly to Brax, but if you humor him and let him interview you? He'd consider you a good pal, and WOULD defend you from whatever comes your way! He also has a lot of beef with Polly the news bird. He calls her 'very insensitive' and 'too orange'.

Next up is his best buddy, Brax! Brax is as normal as you can get. Minus the not-so-outgoing attitude. He's very reserved, only really having conversations with or around Mike. He trusts him, and Mike gives unrelenting support for what he does in return. He's more of the apologist of the two. He goes out of his way to apologize for Mike's general personality (Loud, grating, and overall kind of rude) in any way he can. A few dollars here, a candy or something there, and boom! He tries his best.

Storywise, if I am correct, Nero lives in an apartment. Now, out of pure coincidence, Mike got into an incredibly heated debate with multiple people about how the news is corrupt, and how the people there at Gleamfolk city are so stupid, it seems. So, out of anger, and mild caution, he decided to move! To the apartment. He's not even near Nero living space wise. He just went door-to-door introducing himself to the locals. To mixed results (some called him obnoxious, he took this very personally). Then, he went close to Nero's door, where they just got out of said door. Mike and Brax then loudly asked how he was doing, prompting a very forced interview. After that, the two just show up randomly at his door to try to chat, get to know him better, and see if he wants to go on the podcast!

@dictatortirah

[chrysanthemumgames]

I have a perhaps personal ask, and at the same time struggling with how to phrase it. I've been looking into making an interactive story myself, however, I... cannot code. For the life of me. I can tell one hell of a story, but coding it beyond my grasp, and the system I currently use, while it ought to be simple enough even someone like me could do so, isn't exactly working for how I want it to. Do you perhaps know anything anywhere that I might start looking for someone who would be willing to work with me? I am so sorry if this is a bothersome ask.

Hi anon!

I'm probably not the best person for advice on this, because I've never been in that situation before. I've put some thoughts under the cut, with the caveat that only a small portion of them actually address the question you've asked, with the majority being related but perhaps not helpful for you, depending.

So, I think where you'd go to find a coding person depends on what language you're using. If it's ChoiceScript, probably the forums. If it's Twine... I honestly don't know. Maybe the subreddit, though you'll want to double-check that such requests are not against the rules there.

I sincerely doubt you'll have an easy time finding someone, though. Most folks who code in the systems used for IF are IF authors who taught themselves the coding techniques in order to tell their own stories, not someone else's.

That said, and this is the part you can ignore, because you know yourself better than I do, but... I'm pretty sure you can learn to code. It's not easy, necessarily, and it doesn't come intuitively to everyone, but there are resources out there to help you. Again, this will depend on what system you're using, but the CS forums are very useful for figuring out CS (as is the wiki, once you know enough to parse it). For Twine, there are loads of archived posts on their forums and on the subreddit for specific questions, but for general ones, the documentation for your preferred program (e.g. SugarCube), the Twine Cookbook, and similar resources will break things down into smaller, more digestible chunks. I personally recommend the Twine Grimoire (volumes 1 and 2), for basic interface aesthetics, once you get to that point.

Here on tumblr, @/nyhelism, @/cerberus-writes, @/manonamora-if, @/idrellegames, and others have all answered questions about Twine coding or even in some cases made templates that take a lot of the work out of it. Most have a masterpost regarding things they've answered about Twine or made for others' use, but be sure to check that they're currently accepting coding questions before sending them any, of course.

Learning to code may be slow and incremental, and lots of people manage better if they start with a small project just to learn how to do the basic things in their language of choice. I'd really recommend figuring out what you need your game to be able to do, and learning those functions one by one—it's less overwhelming than trying to tackle everything at once while also writing a huge project.

If all else fails, my most esoteric suggestion is to familiarize yourself with the basic principles of symbolic logic. I took a class in it as part of my degree, and have since also taught that class, and I think understanding things like the logic of conditionals (if statements) as they're used in coding (rather than natural language) really gave me a leg up in learning to code. Not that I'm an expert, but I know enough to make a basic game, at least.

Most (all?) of these things should be findable with a google search; I know there are at least some Twine tutorials on youtube as well, though I'm unsure of CS or any of the languages I'm less familiar with, like Ink, etc.

I do apologize that the section where I encourage you to do the thing you don't think you can do is longer than the one where I answered your actual question, but that's the part I might actually have something useful to say about. If you're absolutely certain you can't do it, I'm sorry for banging on about it, but if you're not sure or on the fence, maybe give it another go before trying to find another person. I've seen a lot of writers looking for coders in the past, but maybe only once was a coder offering their services to writers (and that was a long time ago).

[thewitchblue]

"I told you not to touch that."

You had warned a very curious Tim repeatedly. This one wasn't anything harmful. You simply didn't want him touching your potions. It was a very annoying potion to make.

You had left it boiling on a burner while you got a snack, but Tim shut off the burner to touch your half-baked potion. You had no idea how long he's had it off the burner, but it wasn't boiling anymore.

"What does it do?"

He didn't have the guts to do anything but hold the boiling hot beaker. At least, not in front of you. He felt like he was a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"It was SUPPOSED to be a present for Jason, jackass. Now it's ruined."

You aggressively took the breaker from Tim and borderline slammed it down on your windowsill. You stormed over to your burner and turned it on again. Maybe you can salvage it. It had stopped boiling because Tim was too curious for his own good.

"Oh."

Tim looked embarrassed. You didn't bother to tell him it was liquid weed, so Jason could stop stinking up the manor when he smokes.

You were sick of getting accidentally drugged because Jason left brownies out without a "do not eat" sign. You think Jason secretly likes drugging people, but there was an unspoken agreement: shut up and leave the drugged person alone.

You were hoping this potion would get him to go to you instead of some shady drug dealer, but Tim doesn't need to know any of this. This is between you and Jason.

"Do me a favour and never touch my stuff. My next potion won't be so friendly."

You grumbled. You were the family witch. Yes, the stereotypical potions and general magic. You learned from Constantine and Zatanna how to use spells, but potions are where you shine.

You are called The Alchemist at night and are feared mainly due to how prepared you are. You had a potion for anything and everything.

The villains actively avoid you as a result of your preparation. You're seriously more prepared and paranoid than Batman in a lot of cases.

Scarecrow is the only one salty enough to go after you. He wanted you as an apprentice, but he's not getting anywhere by kidnapping you on the occasion. Come on, just give him one potion that he can replicate if he can't have you on his side!

Joker found you boring, Bane doesn't want to tango when you take away his muscles with a potion, Ra cares more about physical combat, and the list goes on. It's ridiculous, truly.

You were actually quite close to Poison Ivy, however, and she supplies you with various plants for you to use. You even send her photos to update her on how the plant is blooming with a thank you text (yes, you have her number, score!)

Being a Wayne helps with the potions as well. You can get you an endless supply of various metals, chemicals, and powders to work with alongside the plants. You often question if you are on a government list somewhere. It doesn't look good to order 15 kilograms of gunpowder and potassium nitrate.

The family doesn't know any of this, but then again, they don't know much about what you do. They rarely ask questions about your potions except nosy Tim, who refuses to leave your room until he knows more about whatever potion you are making at the time.

"I was curious!"

He tried to defend himself, which failed as you retorted,

"And you could have had your finger dissolved if you touched it! For the brains of the family, you really are stupid."

Does he have no sense of self-preservation? Why on earth would he touch a mysterious liquid? Survival of the fittest indeed.

Tim scoffed. How else is he supposed to find out more information if he knows nothing about the process? You had all your potions memorised! No recipe book, no paper trail, you even have a witch/magic users pack between Zatanna and Constantine, so they won't tell the family anything. He can't even identify all the plants you use so he could test them.

"You're lucky I make weapons for you guys. Some of this stuff takes weeks! I have 9 of you guys running around, using MY supply because you guys don't use your potions wisely. What if I needed the paralysing potion for Bane, but uh-oh, you stole it from me, so I can't do anything."

Tim had no excuse. He's, admittedly, stolen more than a handful of potions to reload his weapons, and he's not the only one. He tried to smooth over your irritation. In a nervous tone, he said,

"I'm sorry. I would be surprised if you didn't notice the missing potions, though."

Damn right, you'd notice it. What kind of alchemist would you be if you didn't notice your missing stash and resupply? Granted, you also have the power of bullshit spells that you learned from John and Zatanna, so you aren't entirely helpless, but it's annoying reaching for an imaginary potion on patrol and needing to trudge all the way home just to restock.

"I think you need to keep your hands to yourself. I might have to redo this potion now. Please tell me you didn't touch the potion itself."

You wouldn't know how to handle a high Tim Drake. You tried to keep your eyes on him while putting your potion back on the burner. Is the weed in his bloodstream, or are you safe to continue your drug cooking?

He gave an awkward smile. He may or may not have smelled the potion. It smelled like a freshly mowed lawn, and the tiny sip he took tasted like an apple. When all you got was silence, you groaned and said in disbelief,

"Oh, fuck, of course you did."

Just your luck. The drug will hit Tim any second now. You ran a stressed hand through your hair before turning to him and saying sternly,

"You are going to sleep on my bed and let the potion run its course. Do. Not. Leave. This. Room. Got it?"

Tim looked confused, but what does he know about magical potions? If you say let it work through him, he'll follow instructions. He sat on your bed and then it hit him.

"Woah, what the hell did you do to me? Were you trying to lace Jason with something?"

You frowned and physically pushed him onto the bed. You quickly swaddled him like a baby in a sea of blankets.

He can not leave this room. Bruce would murder you. You were supposed to be the good one. The only one who caused no problems (to their knowledge).

"Tim, look at me."

Tim did not, in fact, look at you. He was distracted by all the plants you have in your room. Did someone drop off more plants in the time he's last been in here?

"Did you get more plants?"

You huffed. You didn't. They have only grown since he's been snooping in your room. You tried to get his attention by snapping your fingers and calling his name,

"Tim?"

When he continued to look around with rapidly reddening eyes, you squished his face in your hand and forcefully pushed his face until it faced you.

"Tim, you are going to sleep. I'm going to play some music for you and we are going to forget all about this when you feel better."

You can make a potion to erase recent memories. Tim can't know you are making drugs in your room. Nobody can know except Jason.

You decided to turn on some calming music in hopes he would drift off, which seemed to be working as his eyes drooped, and he smiled at you like he knew something you didn't. He was lost in his thoughts, clearly.

You wondered what was going on in that big brain of his. It didn't matter. He can blaze in blissful peace while you deal with his mess.

You kept the music quiet and soft like he was at a spa. You hoped the combined warmth of the blankets with the soft music would work faster.

With a sigh, you stood up from your position at his bedside. This is not good. Tim needs to learn when to leave your stuff alone. What if you boiled his blood or poisoned him? It's best to leave the witchcraft to the witch.

You watched him like a hawk. His thoughts seemed to be slowed and sluggish. You supposed you can bottle your potion after all. Should you put a dropper on it? Normally, your potions soak through the skin and clothes, but you were extremely careful with this one.

You gave his forehead a small kiss once he fell asleep. You went to your bottles while shaking your head in disapproval. You were very happy with the results of the potion, not so much with the tester. You would hate to think about what could have happened if you didn't swaddle him. Would he be walking around high and babbling about funny potions? Probably. He was already hallucinating pleasantly by the time he passed out.

You were so lucky that Tim didn't get the potentially dangerous symptoms. You can handle a mellowed out Tim, but not if he was going through psychosis.

After successfully bottling and hiding the potion, you pulled out one of your memory potions.

You felt bad drugging him then making him forget about it, but you can't have him telling anybody, whether accidentally or purposefully.

You know you could just tell Bruce that Tim touched a memory potion on your burner, and he'd believe you, but why draw in the eyes of Batman? He would want to know about all future potion making.

You frowned as you put one drop on his forehead and watched it sink in. He won't remember any of this.

You were a bit overprepared, but you were Batman and Constantine trained. Of course you'd have some weaselly way out of accidentally drugging someone.

Oh, John would be so proud of you.

[kissedloveletters]

IN A WINTER WONDERLAND . ۫ ꣑ৎ . christmas activities w’ them

(˶ ˘ ³˘)ˆᵕ ˆ˶) warnings. fluff、fell-hard boys、gn!reader、established relationship、mild mention of burial [dazai]、minor ooc maybe .. [ jouno + atsushi]、vulnerability(?) ໒ ᩧ꒱ characters. akutagawa ryunosuke、dazai osamu、atsushi nakajima、ranpo edogawa、jouno saigiku、tetcho suehiro ♥ made with lots of love! / wc 3.1k

AKUTAGAWA RYUNOSUKE + MOVIE MARATHON

you knew akutagawa’s density of his general health and specifically his lungs is somewhat weak, he has a sensitive health so it’s bad for him to go outside when it was such cold weather and air. he still insists he has a strong health, he doesn’t want you to view him as weak or incapable.

putting that into thought you recommended a movie, though he actually enjoyed the thought. he urge you pick the movie and he can make the snacks, cue being he asks you what food or snacks you want and he gets or makes it.

you get a little conflicted about which movie you would choose, akutagawa notices this and suggests a random Christmas movie in which you hastily agree to choose and start playing it.

he doesn’t even know what the movie even is, he just overheard his coworkers talking about it T^T..

you both started watching the movie with your arms intertwined and a blanket on the both of you as you lean onto akutagawa’s shoulders, the snacks laid out on the coffee table in front.

you tilt your head up slightly to see akutagawa watching the movie with a blank expression, you know that stupidly cute doe-eye face he makes in bsd wan? he’s making that one.

you tried to fight the urge to ask him if he’s enjoying the movie or not, you let the question slip unfortunately and you’re replied by a strangely flustered akutagawa protesting he enjoys it, picking one popcorn and eats it

“are you…enjoying the movie ryu?” “I AM.”

he was caught off guard when you giggled and squeezed his arm once more and leaned back on his shoulder, the movie catching your attention again. he bites back a sigh and rests his head on yours.

when the movie is over—and his snarky comments—the credits starts rolling out in the screen; signaling you to get up, akutagawa is strangely quick to gently pull your arm back with a silent wait. you look surprised, mouth and eyes go slightly agape, he is also himself but doesn’t show it physically.

the small gesture was unusual for akutagawa. you’d think he isn’t fond of physical touch, maybe from others, but you’re not them. the thought is probably the reason why he likes your cozy touch so much, giving him the relaxation he never quite had since forever.

the words i love you flew out of his lips before he can stop it, he hates how his voice almost cracked. there was slight vulnerability in his voice if it was silent enough. his eyes that were once firm soften only-so-slightly, he bite the back-inside of his cheek on habit. the way your smile and eyes softening gets him every time.

“I love you too, ryunosuke”

DAZAI OSAMU + PLAYING IN THE SNOW

you firstly wanted to spend more time with you boyfriend, it’s the winter time so what’s more better than messing around with him in the snow?

apparently it seemed like dazai enjoyed it at first, he even went out of his way to find a way to annoy kunikida. which is to put—stuff—snow in kunikida’s locker (probably threw one or two snowballs at him when he’s caught), gets behind you when kunikida chases him out of the agency because he’s literally covered in snow ( he did so many snow angels, even one on the road? ) and made little puddles.

dug in the snow and made a literal burial, makes it dramatic and tells you he has a surprise and shows you it with a cheeky smile on his face, also does that thing when you revealing something with your arms and waving your hands. while you’re there looking like you’re sulking at your boyfriend he’s rambling on how great his creation is…

“feast your eyes belladonna!—” then there’s white noise for you after that…

you two did a snowball fight and he may or may not literally climbed on the tree like a animal. he’s basically holding the thick tree branch for his life, he looks so stupid.. whines in a dramatic tone how you’re torturing him..?

after some time, unfortunately, he’s now being more dramatic about being cold and faking his chattering teeth, lot of “my belladonna hates me. she wants me to die in the cold.” emphasizing the hate and die in the sentence while his hands are on both sides of his upper-arm as like he’s trying to warm himself with a pout on his face and a slightly red nose and cheeks.

you couldn’t help but chuckle at him, how couldn’t you when he looks so cute? (you tried to press on both of his cheeks when your hand was somewhat covered by snow and then he swats your hand away like it was hot iron) he looks at you with fake offense and starts whining about how you’re mocking him.

catering his needs, you both went inside. it was almost immediately when he tries to shake off the snow and make a brrr sound accompanying it, earning a major side-eye from you

(un)fortunately you found yourself later sandwiched between a clingyzai and the soft mattress, the cuddling would’ve been a warm moment if his weight wasn’t crushing on you. squeezing you more if you try to get up, you feel as if you’re dying, literally.

your hand found his soft, but moist, hair and started to caress his head. he leans in your hand more and visibly gotten more relaxed (and loosely let his vice grip on you)

you found sleep somehow and you both rested, when you woke up he’s snoring in your ear and drooling on you? you also had to wake him up because he was literally suffocating you.

ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA + BUILDING A SNOWMAN

atsushi had wanted to play in the snow since his childhood, he knew how childish it was, it’s because the orphanage didn’t allow for children to play out in the cold while it or after it snowed. the rule prevented the children to get sick but also leaving them yearning to do something simple like playing in the snow.

so, it was no surprise atsushi still wanted to do the activity, it’s even better when you’re with him. you both could see your own breaths, atsushi offers you his coat since he can use his ability to prevent him from freezing.

the two of you started rolling the snow and it slowly starts to pile on each other, it takes awhile but you swore it was longer than it felt.

atsushi (after awhile tried to do something to maybe impress you idfk ) tried to, like, form it with his tiger hands like it was sand?? T-T it was contrary to what he thought it would be like. it came out ok, but really bulky with lot of bumps and, okay it was not ok it was misshaped; it looked like a oval

kinda got embarrassed from that with you consoling him “it looks good babe, don’t worry!” and that got him feeling better but somehow more embarrassed? ( possibly from the pet name… )

the body was complete (and looked like a disaster) and it was just the head, atsushi was in charge with trying to find rocks and two sticks for the arm, face and buttons. you were making the head which looked like a gigantic snowball.

and then, wallah, the snowman is done! atsushi wanted to put his scarf and hat on it, being the good partner you were like “aren’t you gonna get cold?” and he was puzzled for a millisecond “yeah, you’re right..” you swore that was the most accidental dramatic sigh he let out

news-flash he still did and he got a cold the next day

RANPO EDOGAWA + BAKING COOKIES

ranpo was really just hungry and wanted an excuse to spend time with you, there’s many options to choose from when he needs both of these needs to be taken care of… then the very awesome idea crashed down at him, he was going to make christmas-y cookies with you!

ranpo really sometimes judges how things taste based the way they look, if a cookie is extraordinarily decorated he’ll assume it’ll taste as good as it looks, but simple goods as glazed donuts he enjoys so it doesn’t imply this for all sorts of baked goods, just perfectly in the middle…

he brought up the idea towards to you, and who knew, you of course would liked to! key word, liked.

most of the time you were the one baking it and he was… rambling about all of the cases he’s solved, poe’s recent mystery novel, the people that he called out as the perpetrator declining it idiotically and whatever comes to his mind.

while he was doing that, he ate most of the snacks he gotten yesterday and this morning, sometimes holds the chip bag in front of you as an indication for you to take one if you’d like, same with his half-eaten and wet lollipops…? which met him with a scrunch of your nose as an ew, he casually shrugs and puts it back in his mouth.

oh also eats the cookie batter when you’re away, when you caught him he declares it as taste testing as he takes another scoop of it with his finger and licks it ..

he eventually got bored of the routine and made (badly attempted) hot chocolate, it was a bit bitter than you expected but you’re glad it’s not overly sweet that your teeth would fall off… he putted those sweeteners in his cup

it was awhile when you two were chatting while the cookies were in the oven, the conversation was ranpo mostly doing he talking… per usual maybe? then gets the very bright idea to play in the snow… that may or may not be the best choice.

seconds later after your agreement he literally dashed to get his jacket, snow boots, mittens and hat (also yours dw). impatiently waits by the door tapping his feet while you’re putting on your jacket… “any day now” smh

he goes dashing out with your hand in his in the snow, literally trips and brings you down with him… makes so many snow angels with you it’s hardly countable, comes screaming to you later showing you his snowman, unfortunately … “looks like frosty the snowman’s child if it had a birth defect”

ranpo has the urge to check the cookie again, and again, and again until it was finally done. gets too distracted by the beep of the oven he forgot to put those oven gloves on and gets it anyways without it, but you literally slapped his hand away and handed them to him T_T.

defiantly eats the majority of them when your both done decorating, he also made one that he attempted to look like you and takes a fat bite out of it..?

theres many opportunities that ranpo could do this honestly, he just never found that much of the motivation or point if he got the store-bought ones, but he thinks the way you made it, even if the batter and all came from a recipe, he thinks yours is better than any pastries he tasted

JOUNO SAIGIKU + GINGERBREAD HOUSE

jouno’s eyes twitch in annoyance and grumbles when he got frosty on the wrong place again, he hates this. why would you choose out of any oh-so-festive activities out there in the world? he continues to let out a soft dramatic sigh every so often.

you wanted to spend some time with your boyfriend on christmas, he hates the snow (because it messes up his senses and his hair or something… and you make him do all the snow shoveling) so you recommend such a fun activity to do even though you had the possibility he would hate it, what a good partner you are!

the ugly sweater you basically asked ( forced ) to wear itches at his skin, he keeps shuffling on the wooden seat he’s sat at, uncomfortable. from the radius he’s at from the fireplace that’s no farther away than seven feet, he’s practically sweating from his sensitive senses. it’s taking his all to not ripe himself out of that hand-made sweater you made specifically for him…

you notice this, and he knows that. he pretends to imply he hate this, in result you feel a little guilty for making him do this, even if you ask him about it he’ll dismiss it anyways for whatever reasons…

“sai… you look sweaty an’ annoyed, wanna stop?” “no, it’s alright” “oh—okay!”

having such-a soft spot for someone like he has with you is something he never experienced, his tone changes when taking to you compared to his companions, his smile ever so widening and being softer if you look close enough when he hears your familiar heartbeat and smell.

even if it takes all of the strength in his body to protest what you ask of him, he couldn’t bring himself to.

unfortunately, he got frosting over his sweater… shit, guilt and annoyance tugging at his soul, he furrows his eyebrow, he ignores the feelings and tries to wipe it off with a nearby napkin. grimaces slightly when he hears your snort, looking back up at you like a mad kitten, only fueling you more to laugh.

he ends up taking off the sweater, leaving him in the plain white t-shirt, matching the frosting that he was outlining the house with.

there was no doubt that his house looked like a disaster, the white frosting sprawled everywhere on the architectural creeks. the way the house look so… silly made you giggle in your seat as you reach out to get another house set up and put it in front of him.

you sat closer to jouno, shoulders brushing each-other. you leaned in closer, basically sitting apart of his seat, your hands ghosting over his as you rest your head on his shoulder blade. instructing him silently for him to follow your movements.

you didn’t notice the way he tensed up when you brush your fingers against his and whisper in his left ear “just follow my lead, m’kay?” the mhm and nod of his head was slow and untimed.

there weren’t many, actually, no times where jouno was nervous, this was an expection. his heart quickens the way you’re so close to him, he forgot about this stupid gingerbread house making. all he’s focused on is you, only you. not the way you tried to push the plastic bag for the white frosting, only the way you intertwined your hands with his while doing it.

it feels shorter than it actually was, unfortunate for jouno. he grimaces silently when you let go of his hand, returning them back to your lap as you sat up, looking over slightly at the almost-decent gingerbread house, he made—no, you both made together

he lets out a snarky remark and sighs, leaning on the table with the backside of his hand. “are we finally done with this” he says, turning his head to you. you huffed, the yes you let out indicates him something, he gladly lets out a relieved-dramatic sigh, again.

“thank god, thought we’d be doing this forever” empathizing the thank god. he hastily gets up from his seat, tugging the hand of yours on his left, leading you to your shared room. “maybe we could if you would like?” “fuck no”

TETCHO SUEHIRO + MAKING S’MORES

tetcho was the one who actually asked you if you both could make s’mores. fukuchi left the group take a well-deserved day off after their patrol, being delighted by this, tetchou went to you immediately. he forgot to change out of his military uniform when visiting your apartment, he ended up wearing the clothes he left at your apartment a few times when coming over, or kept it on… he doesn’t mind, really.

due to his work, he’s determined to keep the city peaceful and safe, so on days when he gets the day off he doesn’t really know what to do and just patrols around the city some more… same goes with expenses, ends up buying useless trinkets? buys oddly perfect wrapped gifts for his coworkers with the random-est things inside.

once bought jouno those cheesy best-friends necklaces that haves magnets inside and stick on the side. in the corner of the room there’s teruko who was trying to stifle her laughs with an awkward tachihara on her side, an confused fukichi because he doesn’t know what he walked into, and an irritated jouno in front of him slapping his hand so the necklace with the words best engraved on it would fall.

“jouno, i got us best friend bracelets. they magnetize together.” … “we are not best friends, idiot, I hate you” “but we work together a lot?”—“against my will! and you’re so useless in missions, you’re no use until we’re at the enemy, ugh!” … “PFFF-tetcho is such an idiot, tachihara!” “teruko…” “jouno you could use a few friends” … “captain!?”

there wasn’t really a chance where tetcho would spend with someone, of course he didn’t mind this, he didn’t consider himself a lonely person but there’s times.

(anyways back to s’mores)

it was at a popular and crowded campsite, it already had that s’more-y setup that only needed to be lighted. you both sat at the same wooden bench, getting the (sanitized) wooden sticks out and putting the marshmallows on the tip then stabbing it in.

he didn’t knew how it worked; burnt it once, twice, then five times. he got a little frustrated but then perfected it after you helped him time it correctly.

since you didn’t specify when you asked for chocolate, he got the white Hershey ones, not ideal but it would work… until you thought wrong, he sprinkles salt on his s’more and eats it with his usual blank face.

made another (slightly failed attempted) s’more but gives it to you, encouraging you lightly to try it. he didn’t pressure you though, he knows his taste wasn’t suited for most majority of people (may or may not be from the hard way..)

you loved him too much to decline it… expecting the worse, it wasn’t that bad as you thought, or your taste buds are messed up as his. nevertheless his little smile grew a little more wider when you did, if you look close enough.

you tried to bribe him to try it without the salt, with no offense possible, he surprisingly took the chance, taking the s’more you had without a moment of hesitation with a sure, takes a bite out of it without a moment later. his eyes widen like he didn’t expect it to be delicious.. or decent?

“it’s tasty” “…thought it was gonna be poisonous?” your joke earning an airy-laugh and smile from tetcho as he nods his head, playing along.

© 2024 KISSEDLOVELETTERS. do not copy or modify any of my layouts and writing. do not translate or repost onto any other sites.

[danzinora-switch]

Bit of an odd question for you, but I can see you have more knowledge of RotTMNT than I do. Do you think Donnie lets people help him/be with him in the lab? I've seen it claimed in a few fics but I don't know how validated it is by "canon".

Oooh, it depends.

The best canon argument #1 is Mikey. In 'Bullhop', while they're talking to Bullhop while standing in Donnie's lab, there's a lot of orange cloth/clothes/fabric lying about, suggesting that it might be Mikey's stuff.

Mikey also assisted Donnie in building Todd's entire Puppy Sanctuary in 'Repo Mantis' - technically outside the lab, but still a large engineering project.

There's a dozen little details that imply how close those two are, working on various projects, schemes, etc. throughout the show. One of the most on-the-nose scenes that Mikey is the Igor to Donnie's Dr. Frankenstein actually comes from a script page shared by Ron Corcillo on Twitter for 'Gourd Almighty' (one of the axed-by-Nickelodeon episodes).

Mikey was totally in on whatever Donnie was working on.

So Mikey: definitely allowed to hang out and help out.

The second person would seem to be April, due to a lot of their shared projects. In 'Donnie vs Witch-Town' they scroll through a history of science projects they've worked on together. In 'The Purple Jacket' not only does Donnie help her out with her coding project at school, but he actively encourages her to use his tech. When she's flying the jetpack asking how it works, he replies "everyone's got their own style, just do what feels natural." I bank a LOT on this line: if everyone's got their own style, that implies that more people than just Donnie have at least used the jetpack. In fact, in 'Endgame' we see Leo riding one like a surfboard.

This segues into the general crux of Donnie's work: the VAST majority of his tech is not just for himself, but for others. The Turtle Tank features a chair specifically to Raph's lumbar settings, and motorcycles for Leo and Mikey. 'Donnie's Gifts' as an episode features presents backfiring spectacularly, but still shows him making tech for his bros. Shelldon is first presented as a gift for all of them, to help around the lair. Donnie is proud to present his tech and for people to use it. (What he doesn't like is for people to MISuse it; such as his brothers altering Shelldon, Splinter stealing the Turtle Tank, and Bullhop making a ruckus throughout his lab).

That, in my opinion, is the core distinction of Donnie allowing someone to help him out in the lab: that they are there to actually help, and not just be annoying.

In 'Mind Meld', when Donnie makes his brothers just like him, he is ecstatic at first, declaring it the greatest day of his life. And he's pretty surprised and impressed with what they come up with in his lab.

So yeah, Mikey seems to be there a lot because he genuinely wants to help out, and Donnie's good with that. But how often does Leo want to help out in the lab with the work? Less often, and so we don't really see him outside of being annoying (Leo tends to pan Donnie's work a lot, from talking about his pattern of failures in 'Smart Lair' to actually clarifying he's not being sarcastic when he says he things the Shellhogs are amazing in 'Stuck on You'. This implies he doesn't care as much about the nerdy things Donnie gets up to, and we also know Leo to value the lazy way of doing things, per 'One Man's Junk'). What about Raph? In 'Stuck on You', while we don't exactly know how they all ended up in a giant glue ball, to some degree it was planned by Raph as a teambuilding exercise. Not his brightest idea as no one was really happy about that. And in 'Cloak and Swaggart' it is further implied that Donnie's aware of a bad trend between Raph and shiny red buttons.

And yet, given how much Donnie makes tech with them each individually in mind, if ever Leo and Raph wanted to help Donnie out in the lab with a project I can't see why he would refuse them. He would probably be delighted that they're taking an interest in his work (as he shines EVERY TIME someone does), and would find something for them to do that matches their skill level and accounts for their accident-prone tendencies.

Really, the only people we see thrown out of the lab are the ones posing a risk or problem to the projects inside: Bullhop, indelicately breaking everything. Splinter, high on Rat Fever in Ninja mode, loose inside. Even Mikey triggers an automatic defense when he speaks while Donnie is accessing their mint-condition Jupiter Jim comic in 'Jupiter Jim Ahoy!' - something Donnie built to protect a thing beloved by all of them.

Tl;dr: whether or not someone would be allowed to stay and/or help Donnie in the lab depends on what they're there for. Here to help? Awesome, welcome! Here to break things or just be annoying? Get out.

[lolli-popples]

Okay I thought more about this, this reblog will be my Double Life thoughts since they're generally the most composed ATM.

So, the intrigue of Double Life comes ENTIRELY from when you swap them in. For many series, you'd swap them in once they get into their main alliance, maybe at the start of the second episode, or partway through the first.

However, the alliances in Double Life are kind of decided... at the start? Fundamentally, you need to pick whether you give them control before or after the Nether debacle.

Because the question is "would Cleo or Scott choose to go the nether with Martyn?"

See, I think the answer is no. I think their gut reaction is "I'm not making that mistake" and then they don't go.

Let's explore maybe what would happen with both options.

Cleo: In this timeline, Cleo's soulmate is *actually* Scott. And I don't think Pearl would actually care if Martyn went to the nether, I think it'd probably end up with both pairs in their "correct" alliances. But, a big reason WHY Pearl won was because she WASN'T allied with her soulmate. So, I don't actually know if Cleo would be ABLE to win in this way. In that story, you get to explore everything going "correct" but then Cleo doesn't win, and has to redo the whole series again, but this time intentionally breaking the relationship with Scott. And that's an interesting narrative IMO.

Scott: Now this timeline is odd, because the soulmates stay the same. Except obviously, you don't have Scott going to the nether. And so, he and Pearl are able to team up. But Martyn WOULD still go to the nether. And I kind of wonder if Cleo would decide to stay teamed with Scott and Pearl, and this would be a 3g's team-up. But it would absolutely change the dynamic, because ultimately, Cleo is kind of a 3rd wheel, although I'm sure Scott and Pearl would go out of their way to make sure she doesn't feel that way. Anyway, Scott and Pearl together are quite good at surviving, so idk if the whole "soulmates together" thing would effect them as much. But at the end of the day, Scott needs to win. Which means he has to kill Cleo and Martyn, and he has to kill Pearl at the end of it. And who knows if he'd be able to go through with that.

Okay now let's talk about if they DIDN'T have a choice-

Cleo: I *would* say "this is just what we discussed without the interest of the first part" but I actually don't think so. I don't believe Cleo would strike out on her own. I feel like she might actually join up with another team for part of the series, (until she inevitably needs to rejoin Scott). I think the most interesting choices here are either Scar and Grian or Ren and BigB. Ren and BigB would be kind of funny because that is sort of just reverse Last Life. Now I might also say "Cleo would burn their bridge and houses" however, Cleo HAS the benefit of hindsight. Another important question is; what does PEARL think of all this? And would her and Scott be more or less lenient to Cleo? Unsure.

Scott: This would kind of just be reverse Double Life. And all the angst that comes with that.

The MAIN question with these two options is ABSOLUTELY: Would Pearl go along with shutting out her original soulmate? Is that something she would do because of them going to the nether with Martyn? It would effect a lot of the story.

Okay now for the last question:

What happens if Martyn swaps in?

We don't need to ask the same question. Because Martyn would absolutely still take Pearl to the Nether. That would still happen. The benefit of hindsight does nothing, in Martyn's eyes, he almost won last time anyway, no reason to not do that.

And NGL, it's kind of the same story! Except this time, Scott is Martyn's soulmate, and Pearl is Cleo's. I think the only change is that Martyn actually does his math correctly and DOESN'T punch Scott off a cliff XD

But: Would he win? I'd need to analyze the deaths for that. But NGL it'd be PRETTY funny if Pearl still killed him. And he has to do the whole thing over again but this time be friends with Pearl. I'm down for a "Martyn faces the consequences of his actions" arc.

Anyway I'm not discussing swapping, Scar, Grian, or Joel in, because I think for this particular season, it functionally needs to be either Scott, Cleo, or Martyn, for the narrative intrigue that entails.

Life Series AU concept:

Swapping the victors. They wake up in a previous series, but at the base/ in the alliance of another victor, with the victor they're taking the place of in their alliance and base.

They have to win the series in the position and with the ruleset the other victor won in to escape.

[makiswirl]

can i just say. and this is probably a niche hill to die on. that i am so gobsmacked every time someone vaguely hints at the idea that jotaro doesn't care meaningfully for the other crusaders, usually particularly kakyoin and joseph, when those two actually tend to be the ones he reacts to being hurt the hardest

like he cares for his loved ones!!!! that literally plays into his character motives in every single part he shows up in!!! stop lying to me!!!!!!!

[forcedhesitation]

astarion origin playthrough worth it just for all the extra moments where he does the "sad wet cat" face