#the members of each family that would go? that depends. my most likely guess would be kath

[simplydnp]

Do you think their families are going to their shows?

i'm sure some will hit at least one. my guess would be to a london show simply because they'd stay with dan and phil

[ilovejeongintoo]

"𝕀 𝕎𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕡 𝕄𝕖"

The Hitcher (The Hitcher) & the Unlucky Driver Kink: Dom/Sub Warnings: Degradation(once), cumeating, fingering, receiving(m), cnc Prompt: You pick up a wandering hitchhiker not realizing what danger you have gotten into before it is too late. Your road trip quickly turns into a living nightmare or biggest fantasy of yours.

The first installment to my Kinktober List 2024.

This was it, the constant sun beaming from above, your road-trip playlist at the best volume, the scenery of passing mountains and forests passing by. Nothing was better than this. There was a good reason for all this, you don't just get up one day and say you're taking an adventure across the country.

You were simple like that though, only driven by one reason. The risk and unknown of driving alone and going anywhere that interested you.

It's been going well, spending nights in different hotels, some better than others. Making friends with locals or making enemies, depending on where you were trying the most amazing street food, and praying not to get food poisoning.

Your phone was blissfully on “do not disturb” to not irritate you when you would no doubt get countless calls from each family member asking where you were and all that boring stuff. You were not even in the mood to talk to your friends lately, just some much-needed alone time and the tickling thrill of no one having a single clue.

Your foot was back on the gas pedal and your hands were on your trusty steering wheel, you had stopped and gotten some food but weren’t tired yet so you just continued driving at night this time. It also had its allure now combined with your night-drive playlist and roads where there was no other car, this was exactly your type of excitement. However, that quickly wore off into a more relaxed and slow drive.

The road you were on was in the middle of nowhere, you took it because there was no way you were going to get stuck in traffic for hours on end. It was through a mountain range surrounded by a thick forest with big pine trees, not that you could make them out that well in this darkness.

The moon and your headlights were the only thing illuminating the place at all.

Going down further on the road you notice a silhouette at the roadside getting bigger and clearer the closer you drive to it. You decided to slow down and see a man hand out in the typical “hitchhiker” symbol. At this time of night? You’d check on him and maybe take him with you for a while. You wanted to experience new things and this was definitely new. Poor dude must be freezing, you had your heating on full blast because of the night cold.

His hand dropped at his side.

You pulled um slightly next to him rolling down the window on the other side and leaning over so you could properly talk to him. He didn’t look that much like someone who would need a free ride, a big duffel bag, and clean clothes his hair was a bit of a mess but that was the only thing that was out of order.

You spoke first as his eyes were already on you: “Hey where are you headed to? If you need a ride I’ll take you if you want.”

“Yeah, I could really use a ride I’m headed a few states over but you can take as far as you're going that’s fine.”

He had a heavy Australian accent and his voice had a pleasant ring to it.

You nodded unlocking his door and he stepped in putting his black bag at his feet with a loud clang. In this lighting you could take a better look at him, he had on a simple T-shirt and some jeans a black shirt layered over it but unbuttoned.

He immediately took off his shirt letting you get a glimpse of an arm tattoo, small but nonetheless visible, a dagger with a snake wrapping around it. That seemed kind of cool you guessed. It slightly disappeared under the sleeve of his left arm only the tip of the knife could still be seen.

It looked like a dangerous symbol of a simple man sending a thrill under your skin.

You put your car back into drive pulling fully onto the road again. Curious you spoke up again “So where exactly are you going? If we’re lucky we might have the same destination.”

You watched him a little not too worried on keeping your eyes on this desolate route.

He seemed relaxed and you could see a smirk from this side. 

He was grinning now  “I’ve got plans to cross the border. A place where the beaches are endless, and the cops don’t care about people like me.”

That made you twitch a bit  “What kind of place is that?”

He shrugged his shoulder preoccupied with playing with his shirt buttons “A place where I can disappear. You’d like it—if you ever get there.”

He glances at you from the corner of your eye  His answer was pretty vague, but it made you smile and think about a place like that. “What’s your name? Since we might be spending a while with each other. You told him your name, his head was turned up in thought. “Sim Jaehyun but people usually call me Jake.” 

The name fit him, especially with the accent. Smiling the car got quiet after that for a while, him looking outside the window and you kept your attention on the empty road.

From time to time you would find him looking at you for long periods of time, you didn’t dare turn to face him and confront him about it.

This made you slightly more aware? paranoid? He was just a little unsettling but maybe he didn’t know it was rude to stare or something. You couldn’t just kick him out of the car not after seeing the weather turn from cold to freezing temperatures.

You just tightened your hands on the steering wheel each time.

“You ever see those nature documentaries?” His voice snapped you out of the trance that you were in staring outside.  His hand rested against his hand propped against the window.

“The ones where the predator locks onto its prey? Doesn’t matter how fast the prey runs… it always ends up in the same place. Right in the predator’s jaws.” His head turned to you. Prey? He sounded as if he was fascinated by what he was saying.

You chuckled slightly confused “I’m not some animal” You weren’t really understanding what he had meant by that.

“No, but the end’s the same. You and me? We’re headed for the same place, no matter what.”

Okay

That’s weird. But maybe he just had some questionable interest with some even more questionable philosophy. You didn’t really know how to respond and just turned on the radio in the hopes it would keep him from saying anything odd.

Some music was playing but you’d rather listen to listen to something quieter as to not embarrass yourself and start singing in front of the stranger. You pressed the radio button going through each radio station until you left it on the local news one, you could at least find out if all the roads around here were free and they weren’t randomly having construction sites popping up when you further drove.

You tuned it out a little until it suddenly a news bulletin interrupted.

A professional-sounding voice of a woman was heard: “Breaking news: Police are on the lookout for a man considered armed and dangerous. Authorities have identified him as Sim Jaehyun also going by the alias Jake, wanted in connection with several violent crimes, including armed robbery and murder. Jaehyun was last seen in the vicinity of—"

You froze glancing at Jake in shock and trying to figure out if they meant him. 

He smirked not even looking at you seemingly already knowing what you were thinking “Guess I’m famous.”

You broke out into a cold sweat with the realization that this really was him, a wanted criminal. Your eyes were wide open and you stopped the car abruptly. What the fuck were you supposed to do now?

“I-I, you’re, look I don’t want any problems.” You curled into your seat making yourself as small and as non-threatening as possible. 

“Oh” He leaned from his seat now actually looking at you. “That’s where you’re wrong, the moment you decided to help the helpless-looking hitchhiker on the side of road, you were stupid enough to not think it through.”

Your mouth was open in shock, his own in mock frown.

“You got yourself in this situation and I'm the embodiment of your consequences, so if you may, drive.”

As if you would just continue on.

You reached for the handle of your door, trying to open forgetting that you usually lock it. And you froze. Although that split second gave him more than enough time.

He calmly reached behind himself your eyes following in fear "I wouldn’t do that if I were you."

Your voice shook "What the hell…?" There was no way this was happening, no, not to you.

He casually pointed the gun at you his voice cool "You’re not going anywhere. Not unless I say so."

You backed away from the door his gun waving away from it "Y-you’re not going to shoot me…"

He smiled slightly "Aren’t I?"  His other hand cocked it back, making your eyes even wider "You willing to bet your life on that?" His finger was caressing the trigger, a wicked grin on his face, he definitely wasn’t joking.

And then he was laughing, loud, like someone just said the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Leaning his head back swinging the gun around so casually, making you cringe away scared.

He looked back at you still recovering from laughing. Yepp he’s clearly crazy, completely psychotic.

“You should have seen your face, looking like you’re about to cry just because of a little gun.”

“If you don’t want me to blow your brains out right now, you better start driving again, I don’t like repeating myself.” He pointed the gun at the steering wheel, which your hands immediately found themselves on. Getting back on the road, he didn’t put the gun away again, keeping it in his lap or hand.

You tried taking deep breaths, calming your racing heart. You felt hot and cold all over as if your body was being fried in an electric current and then plunged into freezing cold with each passing second.

You tried staying as calm as possible so as not to do anything stupid with an armed man but your voice still trembled pathetically "You don’t have to do this. Just… just put the gun down, I’m sure we can find a solution to all this." You made sure not to make your movements too big when gesturing. He sat back in the black leather seat hand lazily wrapped around the pistol.

"It’s funny, isn’t it? How one little thing can change everything. One wrong move, and it’s over. Just like that." He picks the gun up slightly pointing at your head again and his voice dropping in a deep threat "So, here’s what’s going to happen—you’re going to listen, and you’re going to do exactly what I tell you. Otherwise…"

You were afraid to find out and whispered: "Otherwise what?"

"Otherwise, I’ll pull this trigger, and you’ll find out what it feels like to have your world end in an instant." His voice was devoid of any humor from before, back to the coldness of a killer. The criminal that he truly was, the danger that he undoubtedly represented. He raised an eyebrow and then turned back to watch the road.

Jakes’ mood swings were unpredictable in the next hours or so that your drive continued, having lost your sense of time and focused more on the impending doom of what would happen once he reached his destination. He would switch from normal, casual conversation to straight-up threats, he kept reminding you how you had absolutely no power here. Not with him here.

You tried to keep the conversation nonetheless, hoping to garner some sympathy. They say you should tell your potential murderer about yourself so they’d hesitate. You unconsciously leaned closer. Or maybe you just wanted some kind of attention in your last few moments.

He’d sometimes comfort you in a sick and twisted way, how you would take care of a stray dog, petting your hair and giving you sweet little lies, “I’m not gonna kill you” or “Don’t be scared” with big puppy eyes, that same sunny accent belonging to a killer.

And it would work, make a little something stir again inside you, not just from adrenaline and fear, and if the line was blurring bit by bit.

 The roads he chose were nowhere near any cities, you were barely passing any gas stations. The few times you stopped at one, he would keep his eye and body close to your form. You tried using any excuse to get away from him, getting some food, trying to use the bathroom but he refused each time.

And there was nowhere to run to. You had no choice but to listen. You were completely and utterly at his mercy. And the seriousness of the situation was slowly starting to settle in.

Another thing that was becoming more and more apparent was the lack of sleep. You must have been driving for a straight 6 hours if the setting sun was anything to go by, maybe more. Your eyes were drooping and your hands shook, dozing off came more often to you now. Quickly you shook yourself more awake there was no way you could fall asleep at the wheel and you refused to let Jake take hold of driving the car. Driving was the last thing that you were able to do on your own. Your vision was blurring shapes blending into one. 

Jake watches closely seizing the moment. His voice was smooth making it almost easy to sleep "You're tired. Why don’t you let me drive for a bit? You need rest, and we wouldn’t want anything bad to happen on the road, would we?"

You glanced at him trembling sitting up straighter to fake being more awake  "I’m fine. I can make it."

He sighed leaning in "No, you're not fine. Pull over. You’re not in control anymore."

“No”

“I’m starting to think that your exhaustion is fucking with your pretty head. You’re forgetting who the one with the gun is.”

You just bit your tongue pulling onto the dirt next to the road that you were currently on. The quiet didn’t last long though.

“I just need a minute. Just… a minute.”

He smirked in victory leaning back on the seat in a relaxed manner, your car seat. "Take all the time you need. It’s not as if you're going anywhere without me."

When you closed your eyes you just wanted to rest them for a few seconds, like you said a minute. So you shook awake startled when you realized you had succumbed to your tiredness. Blinking away the blurriness from your eyes and looking around your car. Yours and Jake's positions were reversed now, him in the driver's seat and you in the passenger.

“Sleeping beauty’s finally awake for someone that’s apparently so scared of me you sleep pretty well.” You were curling into your seat not feeling any safer than before, especially with the last bit of control out of your hands. Now anything could happen with him driving.

You weren’t even in the woods anymore, it looked like a dirt road. In the middle of nowhere, like a desert, and completely off the grid. Maybe that was his plan. Get you to a secluded place that he knew to shoot you and let you bleed out.

You stole glances when you thought he wasn’t looking, his veiny pale hands on the steering wheel, the sharp jaw, and the perfect slump in his nose. Every time it lingered a little longer and a thrill ran through you.

Your heart was racing, you were trying to see if there was even a slight chance of anyone being out here. You shouldn’t have picked him up, you shouldn’t have allowed yourself to sleep.

It was probably about to be sunrise with the slight sun streams coming from the horizon in the distance. You could only think about one thing at that moment.

Run

So you did, you jumped out of the moving car. Rolling around for a few seconds before getting up as fast as possible not caring about the scratches and bruises and running as far to some rocks in the distance to hide. If there was even a slight possibility of making it out alive it would be now.

Your heart was jumping out of your chest, your breathing becoming more labored with each rushed step. You looked behind yourself to see if he was following.

He was.

Though not running.

He was taking slow, calculated steps in your direction.

It threw you off but you moved behind some sandy rocks to catch a breath, you were sure that he hadn’t seen you hide there. The feeling of sharper rocks digging into your knees didn’t even register from the adrenaline. You were paralyzed in fear, completely frozen into your spot on the ground.

In that moment his words from before rang loudly in your head.

“It doesn’t matter how fast the prey runs… it always ends up in the same place. Right in the predator’s jaws.”

It made you anxious and peeked your head up from your hiding position, a grave mistake. You locked eyes with the exact predator currently after you. You closed your eyes holding your breath and praying he didn’t make out your figure and just thought it was nothing. Pressing yourself closer to the big rock trying to ground yourself, take you away from the confusion swirling inside you.

Next thing you know you felt a piercing pain on your head, and your hair was pulled making you kneel uncomfortably on your knees and clutch whatever was holding it.

“Found you.” 

His grip tightened making you face him, his other hand dragged the gun along your cheek.

“You didn’t actually think you could just run away right?” The laugh he let out was pure evil.

He looked your face up and down, tracing your features with the weapon. His face was close enough to feel his warm breath on your face, which was just as uneven as yours. And sending signals of unwanted heat through your body. He for certain hadn’t been running, the excitement was marked in his deep black eyes. This was one big game of chase for him. His teeth were on full display, lips stretched in a wide smile.

The burning of your scalp didn’t bother you as much now, just a tingling feeling. You should be scared- downright terrified but beneath all the obvious terror was something else. Something that made you shudder in his touch, that made your clutch on his wrist tighten but not from pain.

He pulled you with him, back in the direction of your car, which wasn’t even that far away. You hadn’t even made it far with all that effort. 

He was oddly quiet now. Scarily so since he didn’t seem to keep his mouth shut before. His hand had luckily left your hair and settled in a grip in your hand.

He let go just as quickly though shoving you in front of your car with the momentum. Jake settled on the hood, eyes locked onto your form. His eyes were aflame like before, making them hooded. His legs were spread out and his hand with the gun was resting in between them.

A pulse ran through your core at the sight.

“You know the more you resist, the more it makes me crave breaking that little mask of yours. Since the first second I saw you, I knew there was a small, dark part hiding.”

“So run all you want, fight me, scream, because I want you to stop me.”

You didn’t know what to do now, you were caught. So you did the next best thing you could think of to appease the evergrowing energy around him. You slowly lowered yourself to your knees looking up at him slightly. 

Immediately a dusty red ran across your cheeks in the power display you were submitting yourself to. It may have seemed like you were just trying to beg him for your life now. But no, you were begging for so much more now.

His eyes followed all your movements, looking down at you. 

“Crawl, come to me, pretty girl.” The accent coming out thick.

The softness that he called you with was met with the threatening juxtaposition of the sheer danger of Jake.

You did just as he asked, dragging your legs on the sandy ground and stopping in between his spread legs. 

“Come come.” He beckoned like you were his little doggie on a leash. His hand wrapped around the back of your head again in a possessive grip. He pulled you slightly up making you meet his eyes, with the other hand he dragged the gun against your face once more.

The shivers that ran through you were even stronger, making your legs squeeze together in response to the coolness of the gun. He slapped it against your cheek softly a few times, your horny brain conjured up the nastiest thoughts in that moment.

Him slapping your cheek with his big fucking dick. Smearing the precum all over your skin in the process. You wanted to be utterly ruined by the man in front of you. And by the clear imprint in Jake's pants, his thoughts were of a similar nature.

You were so close to the seam of his dark jeans and his body heat was almost felt through them. You quickly glanced down at his length and back up. Jake fully catching you in the act.

“See, and then you give me these eyes. The ones that just scream at me to bend you over the nearest surface.”

You just stared at him, not even denying it anymore. There was no way you could with the way that your panties stuck to your core. How it was so easily soaked. He had put down the gun before running a thumb along your cheek. He pressed in slightly, picking your head up with a bit of force leaning down to your face. 

“Are you afraid?” His question hung in the air, completely unrelated yet thickening the tension between you, sparking an intoxicating thrill.

“Yes, yes I am.” Your voice came out breathless, laced with a mix of vulnerability and desire.

“Does that turn you on? Being scared, knowing I control what happens to you?” His gaze was intense, and you felt it deep in your core.

“God yes.” The admission slipped from your lips as you leaned closer, brushing against him, the closeness igniting a fiery need within you.

Your hands found their way to the tops of his muscular thighs, gripping him tightly, anchoring yourself to him. The commanding presence in his eyes sent shivers down your spine. You could feel the heat radiating from his body, and instinctively, you pressed your head down against his zipper, a silent acknowledgment of the game you both were playing.

With an obedient nod, you nestled against him, inhaling his scent and eliciting a low groan from his parted lips. You took it a step further, your mouth trailing along the stitching of his jeans before you enveloped the zipper with your lips, slowly tugging it down while maintaining eye contact. The hunger in his gaze only spurred you on.

As the zipper gave way, he pulled himself out, fully hard and glistening, a vision of raw desire. The sight made your mouth water—his cock was beautiful, slightly curved with a tip a desperate shade of red, begging for attention.

You ran your tongue along the underside, tracing the prominent veins, savoring his taste. He was long, and while not the thickest, he was perfect in every way. The moment you saw his Adam’s apple bob and his head lean back, you made it your mission to give him the best head of his life.

You focused, hollowing your cheeks, taking him deeper with each movement, determined not to gag as he hit the back of your throat. His groans were higher, a contrast to the deep, intimidating voice you’d grown accustomed to hearing.

With every thrust, he became more demanding, his hands weaving through your hair, pulling you closer. Each groan only intensified your need, the ache between your thighs growing unbearable. Your untouched clit was begging for friction, and you could no longer ignore it.

As you played with yourself, fingers slipping beneath your shorts and into your folds, you moaned in time with your movements, desperate to match the rhythm of your head bobbing. His hands tightened in your hair, guiding you down faster, thrusting into your mouth with an insatiable hunger.

Tears began to prick your eyes as he thrust deeper, barely allowing you a moment to breathe. Each time you met his gaze, you saw the pleasure in his eyes, a wicked grin spreading across his face as your glossy tears spilled over.

“Ah—fuck, crying now? But the best is just about to come—ah.” His voice dripped with satisfaction, making your heart race.

“You better fucking swallow, you hear me? You dirty fucking whore.” The command sent waves of arousal through you, and you felt yourself tightening around your fingers as he thrust into your mouth relentlessly.

Your fingers moved faster, curling inside you, circling your clit with urgency as his thrusts grew less careful. The heady mix of his dirty words and the overwhelming sensations pushed you closer to the edge.

With a few final thrusts, he buried himself deep, keeping you connected, and you shook in a climax that sent shockwaves through your body. Your fingers continued their relentless pace, stuffing yourself full as you rode out the waves of pleasure.

A warm rush filled your mouth as you struggled to swallow, forced to obey or risk suffocation. Some of his essence spilled from the corners of your mouth, trickling down your chin and soaking into his pants, a messy testament to your submission.

You reveled in the aftermath, the satisfaction of having finally surrendered yourself completely to him.

[bonefall]

how do surrogacies for cats in another Clan work, socially? With honor siring you don't have to stick around once the cat you're siring for is pregnant; but with surrogacies you're going through an entire pregnancy and kitting process, which your Clan will probably catch onto at some point. Do you just... go off to give birth and come back and tell your Clan "bad news they didn't make it :( they all got uhhh eaten by a hawk sry all" after dropping them off with the cats you surrogated for

The out of universe reason is simple logistics. Some parents can't give birth but they still need a visit from the stork, with how small Clan sizes are.

In-universe, it's a whole process.

MOST surrogacies are done by family, or are in-Clan. A sibling who is able to get pregnant will do so, with the expectation that their family member will take and raise the kits.

More are done on a sort of "open book" policy. Onestar and Whitetail are an example of this; One wanted kits and asked White, but didn't want to coparent. She agreed, and neither one kept it a secret.

So Whitetail is not Heathertail's MOTHER, but it is known she was the honor-sire.

Likewise though, it's within your rights to keep it secret, even within a Clan. If you asked Onestar where the kit came from, invoking Queen’s Rights would shut it down.

But you could put two and two together that Whitetail was probably pregnant and stopped being so right when Onestar became a Mi.

For the record though. Listen carefully.

not every cat who is expecting will suddenly flash like a neon sign indicating it. The whole Clan will not suddenly get a text saying "DUDEHEART IS PREGNANT." Some people just don't show. Some cats don't smell that different. It's rude to ask unprompted and even worse if you guess wrong. Like real life.

Please understand.

On the Anthro-Scale, from 100% feral cat to 100% fuzzy human, BB cat gestation is closer to the feral cat than most of their other behaviors. So this is not the same "big deal" as a human pregnancy.

In general, I write "medical" topics closer to real cats than the Erins do. I mostly take "liberties" in the portrayal of disabilities so THOSE are closer to the real humans in my audience

intelligent cats are not going to be correcting me on my incorrect portrayal of Feline Diabetes, but I could unwittingly cause harm in spreading diabetic misconceptions that real people try to clear up, y'know?

Anyway. What that means is that warriors giving birth is not the federal issue that it is for humans. It's still not TOTALLY safe, but dying in childbirth is exceptionally rare, plus being much less painful and considerably faster

"The Birthing Stick" means something is wrong.

So there's several factors at play within Clans, but Out-of-Clan surrogacies are much more interesting.

These are usually arranged at Aftergatherings. They were rarer before the move to the Lake, which now sees waaaay more cross-clan friendships.

USUALLY the Clan's Cleric will be involved, which IS technically a waiving of the Queen’s Rights. Leafpool simply doesn't interpret it that way.

A more "traditional" Cleric, like Littlecloud, will NOT be involved for personal safety and comfort reasons. This makes a bad situation but that's the reality of QR (and is a reason why Fire Alone cats think QR doesn't go far enough.)

Kits are always given to the parent before 1 moon. Fading Kits aren't socially questioned if they fade before that 1st moon. So it's pretty easy to hide it.

"All of my litter was faders" is unfortunate in the way that a car accident is unfortunate. "Shit, are you ok?" "Is StarClan trying to keep a close eye on you? Are you going to try again?" Etc.

"Frequent Flyer" surrogates, like Brightheart, often keep a single kitten from each litter to avoid the implication of "bad omens."

If they aren't Brightheart who likes raising kittens with her mate, the kitten is often given to an in-Clan parent who wanted a child.

Most surrogacies aren't "free," but it does depend on who's doing it for you.

Like all other things in BB, this looks very different between generations, and depends heavily on the "attitudes" of the Clans at the tine. But, Queen’s Rights will protect you from revealing too much. STILL, surrogacies ARE harder than sirings. Just not impossible.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

i have a request! + a little bit of a ranting because i love talking about this game (if you don't want to see the long rant you can skip to the two last paragraphs with the actual request :3)

ok so, i played SDV multiple times (although i never did the 100% challenge, i played at least 9 to 10 different saves), and i noticed that, throughout the entire game, the farmer's parents only send 4 letters for them, and for you to even receive said letters, you need to obtain certain amount of gold. plus, another detail is that only one of the parents will send you a letter (depending of the gender option you chose in-game), while the other one is never mentioned even once.

additionally, i also found interesting how, whenever Harvey mentions having to do "an emergency surgery" on the player, the parents never even send a letter mentioning it or anything. i would assume that for something as serious as a surgery, a family member would be contacted in case anything went south, but that never seemed to be the case. you simply wake up from the surgery, go home, sleep, and your parents never even show sign of being alive.

i know Eric most likely did this to 1. keep the past of the farmer as vague as possible for people who enjoy creating OCs/sonas to not have to ignore canon details, and 2. in regards of the letters, to reward the player for reaching x milestone. however, my little brain could not help but assume that the reason the farmer barely receives any letters from their parents (and when they do it's only from one of them) it's because they bought some heavy mommy/daddy issues™ baggage with them to the valley.

and that's where my request comes from: how would the older villagers (preferably those with no children and/or spouses, like Gus, Marlon, Willy, Linus, etc) react to the farmer accidentally calling them mom/dad, because the farmer views them as the parental figure they wish they had in their life? would it be awkward? would they be flattered? would they comfort the farmer? i NEED to know.

additionally, i would prefer if you could make it a mixture of angst and fluff. plus, you can choose any villager you want, i just ask you to include Willy, since he's the one that i made a father/child relationship with my OC and who inspired this request in the first place.

thank you, hope it wasn't too much!!! and take care :3

I have to say, when I first played the very first save, I was also interested in the fact that only one parent sent letters, and even the letter itself didn't say "me and your mom/dad are proud of you", but just "I'm proud of you, with love dad/mom). Then the letters stopped coming altogether. My first guess and failed headcanon for my OC is that Farmer only had one parent (the other parent abandon family/dead), and when the letters stopped coming, the other parent passed away as well. And then I thought it was a pretty dark headcanon and scrapped the idea. Don't want too much angst, nope!

I really like this ask, because in my opinion, even if Farmer has living and loving parents, they will still see some people in Stardew Valley as a parental figure, because Farmer's family is far away.

I hope you enjoy the stories, I tried to make them both sad and fluffy at the same time. Thanks for ask and enjoy! ❤️

Willy, Marlon, Linus and Gil react to Farmer calling them dad.

Willy:

Amazement, laughter and pride is what Willy felt as Farmer very emotionally showed how they caught the Legendary fish in the mountain lake, not forgetting to gesticulate. They and Willy were sitting on the docks on a late summer night when, a little tired from fishing, they began to tell each other their fishing stories over a bottle of mead.

"That fish almost tore the fishing line, but I still managed to pull it out. I swore and puffed, but I pulled it out! It was huge!" The farmer summarized his story.

"What a fisherman! Well done, lad/lass!" The old fisherman's heart rejoiced that young people were still interested in fishing.

"Thanks, Dad!" The Farmer quickly said the last phrase on emotion, but their smile quickly slipped and they slapped themselves on the mouth. Willy also sat silent, a little surprised at the last word. Dad... The sea wolf had his heart broken more than once in his youth, and he had already resigned himself to the fact that he would never hear that word. He wasn't sad, for fishing did bring him happiness. And still...

"Sorry, that was... Ugh, I didn't mean to-" The Farmer was already trying to get out of the awkward situation, except that they felt the old sailor's hand on their shoulder, Willy's eyes looking at them with pride and warmth.

"You're welcome, son/daughter. I'm really proud of you". Never did Willy think he could say such words, the words of a proud parent for his growing child. Willy did not have a wife or children, so he could not feel the pain of loss from something he never had. And yet, after that word, he felt as if a stone had been lifted from his shoulders, and a warmth flooded into the old sailor's heart when the Farmer, crying, hugged him back after his words.

Marlon:

"Kid!"

"I'm fine!" The Farmer's voice came up from the bottom floor of the mine, letting Marlon know that they weren't under a rubble pile of rocks or in a nest of monsters. After a moment, Farmer was able to climb out of the hole in the floor on their own, unharmed, just a couple of scratches and with dirt.

Seeing that the Farmer was standing on their feet and unharmed, Marlon sighed in relief. But immediately, anger filled the old one-eyed adventurer's chest. Using a mega bomb on slimes - how did they even think of this!? The uppermost levels of the mines can collapse from a not too strong explosion, and then there's explosives of such power!

"Things went a little off plan, but we still destroyed those slimes. I call it success," the Farmer didn't have time to finish, as Marlon walked up to them quickly and gave them a not too strong, but quite painful smack upside the head. The Farmer immediately writhed in discomfort.

"Ouch! Why?"

"What were you thinking!?" It was the first time the Farmer saw Marlon so angry, the one-eyed monster hunter rarely lost his temper, "Have you lost your mind? Using a bomb, here! You could have died under that rubble!"

"But I-" Marlon interrupted Farmer again, raising his hand in a gesture.

"We have to think about every step we make in a fight, and what did you do?" Marlon was already speaking more calmly, but his tone remained the same steely. The Farmer had already feel ashamed and regretted their careless decision.

Yet, when Marlon calmed down and scolded the Farmer, taking their word that they would never act so recklessly again, the elder adventurer offered to return to their Guild, since it was getting dark. The Farmer breathed a sigh of relief, and on the exhale they said: "You're such a dad..."

Marlon stopped after that, turning to face the Farmer, who seemed to be surprised at their own words. And Marlon himself was surprised at how he snapped at the shout: he knows that the life of an adventurer is a constant risk, but Farmer had become a close person to him to let them risk their lives so recklessly. Just like... Just like his own child. And then they call him dad...

After Farmer's words, the one-eyed adventurer hummed playfully:

"In that cases, I, as a 'dad', officially declare to you: once again you use a mega bomb at the first levels, or do another stupid act, and I will flog you with a belt so that you won't be able to sit for a week, let alone swing a sword", Marlon is unlikely to ever carry out his threat, but he must make it clear to the Farmer that he is not joking.

"Ok, ok! I won't do it again! Sheesh...", Not wanting to argue with their mentor any further, the Farmer quickly followed Marlon to the exit of the mines. Before they left the cave, Marlon put a hand on their shoulder.

"Stay vigilant, adventurer. I've lost many people dear to me to let this happen again..."

Linus:

Linus hadn't noticed that the Farmer had managed to doze off by the camping fire. After all, a hearty supper of fried mushrooms had put the Farmers to sleep and made them fall into the realm of dreams. Early fall had already rewarded the Stardew Valley with cool nights, and so Linus decided to wake the Farmer so they could head to their warm home. The task was not an easy one: besides the delicious food, the Farmer had been very tired lately, and so he slept like a dead man.

"Get up, my friend, it's time for you to go home," alas, all of Linus' efforts were unsuccessful, and then stopped altogether when Farmer sleepily said: "Dad, please, five more minutes..."

"...Dad?"

Linus heard many words for himself: homeless, crazy, wild man, freak, stinker, weirdo. But Dad...?

While Linus was processing the information, Farmer had already managed to fall back into a deep sleep. The wild man decided to let Farmer finish his sleep in peace here near his tent. He took out a warm blanket from the tent, which he had made himself from fur, and covered Farmer, who was shivering a little from the cold night.

"Sweet dreams, my child", Linus had never thought that Fate would let him consider someone his child and pass on his wisdom, even if they were not related by blood. He made a promise to himself to always keep an eye on this kid and to help them in any way he could, whether by advice or deed.

Gil:

The knocking of stone against stone. Bang. And another ban

Another failure.

"Ah, damn it..." The Farmer cursed, throwing two geodes at their feet.

"Try it again, kid, you'll learn in time. See, you do it like this..." Gil again demonstrates how to open the geodes by himself, without Clint's hammer. With movements that had been honed over the years, he again held two halves of a split geode in his hands, from which amethyst and rock crystal druzes glistened.

"You didn't get into farming the first time either, yeah? You told me yourself, kiddo". Gil was absolutely right - to achieve a prosperous farm, the young Farmer had to work really hard, and success did not come immediately. So Farmer, sighing tiredly, took the geodes in their hands again in an attempt to open the mineral. Knock, knock, knock.

Crash.... Pop.

It worked!

"Told ya, kid", Gil smiled at the excited Farmer, who, twisting the two halves of the open geode, couldn't believe their own eyes.

"Yo, I finally did it! Thanks, Papa!"

It took the Farmer about ten seconds to realize what they had just said. Their cheeks flushed. Oh...

Gil, on the other hand, was quite ok to such a word in his address. In fact, he did not even miss the opportunity to tease the young adventurer a little.

"Papa, huh?" Though deep down Gil was touched by the fact that he had become this kind of father figure to Farmer, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to have a little fun. Especially since he knows that Farmer, though embarrassed by their confession, will also catch Gil's mood.

And the old adventurer is not mistaken.

"Well, should I call you mom then?" The Farmer was not in debt, deciding to play along with Gil as well.

"And that's how you talk to your papa, kid?" Gil rewarded the Farmer with a playful slap on their shoulder, "Come on, get outside. There's a whole bag of geodes lying by the supply boxes. Bring it over here and we'll practice some more," Farmer nodded and ran merrily toward the Guild exit, almost hitting Marlon, who was just entering the building.

The one-eyed adventurer, seeing his cheerful friend (it was rare to find Gil in such a good mood):

"Did something happen while I was gone?" Marlon hummed favorably and waited for Gil to stop snickering and calm down.

"You can congratulate me, brother," Gil said, "I just became a dad."

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

So it's basically Malfoy family tradition to only have one kid per generation to avoid splitting the inherited wealth. But what happens if that firstborn kid is a daughter? Do they have her keep her maiden name after marriage and insist on passing it to their children over her husband's to keep the family name from going extinct? Try again until a son is born, and then marry all previous daughters to wealthy pureblood houses where the Malfoys won't have to let them inherit any money because they already have their husbands'?

The Malfoys and Sons and Caveats

To be fair, we don't know that this is the case.

The way things are in canon, we don't even know if Lucius is the only son or if he has brothers who don't get mentioned for some reason or sisters who were married off and also don't get mentioned.

JKR has drawn a tree for those interested in Pottermore things in which it's a hilarious single line, but that could be because she was only drawing the sons and not the daughters/wives.

@therealvinelle and I buy into the "they have only one son, somehow, every time" bit because it's hilarious and means that all of them are weirdly similar to each other one generation to the next, and that they have to be doing something to make sure this keeps happening, but it's mostly for the lulz/storytelling and not because I couldn't go either way.

The Malfoys Have a Firstborn Daughter

The obvious caveat here is that, since we never saw this, I really don't know. My guess is as good as anyone's.

But to go ahead and guess...

Probably depends who the father is/what the circumstances are. If the wife was very unlikely to have a second child, then there's the age old dilemma of "oh no, the line ends with me" that could be solved in a number of ways. One is the adoption of a close family member so they take on the line, one is an illegitimate child from the line becoming heir, and the other is "THIS IS MY SON NOW", or just suck it up and deal.

I think it having to be a blood relative would be very important to the Malfoys given their staunch belief in blood purity. Can't exactly remain the Malfoys if the line/your magical abilities died out, can you? It's more than just the name that wizards care about, it's all about genetics (which leads to these kinds of problems and more).

Though they do also seem to care about the surnames in that people take great pride in the patrilinear line, e.g. Draco being a Malfoy, Ron being a Weasley, so on and so forth. So, it probably wouldn't be good enough of "ah, the line lives on through my daughters in another family".

If a second child is possible or else likely, I imagine they do the normal thing and try until they get a son who inherits the name and, as you noted, most of the money/assets beyond whatever it is wizards do for dowries/if they do dowries.

[weeewooobitsfallout]

hey! It’s my birthday! Jew, how do you thingk peole in the wasteland celebrate birthdays and shit? Like cannonicly they celebrate Christmas and Halloween but what else?

How people celebrate birthdays in the fallout universe!

I did this by faction, hope that’s ok :)

Do raiders/watelanders know their birthdays? Their parents would have to survive through childbirth and to the point where a child can grasp the concept. Even then, would they celebrate? For many, being born in the post-nuclear apocalypse feels like a curse but do they still value their souls to the point they accept their existence? What about ghouls? Do they still keep living out of fear of the unknown, yet resent growing older with each passing day? Would they still care? 

Personally, I love the concept of raiders being akin to a kindergarten class when it comes to birthdays. Someone brings in a huge box of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes and they go to town. Most likely not presents, but a bit more respect and kindness. After all, isn’t that the best gift in the wasteland? To know someone cares?

The brotherhood would probably award the participating party with half a day off to do whatever. Many probably have family members who are outside of the brotherhood’s ranks, or in Fo4, back in the capital wastes. Giving time off (as a reward) can allow for communication between loved ones, boosting morale and giving something to work for. I can just see a knight stepping out of their power armor and heading downtown to see magnolia sing. 

No one in the institute would celebrate birthdays in a sentimental manner. Many will be recognized for a good job they did since they were first created/employed, but aside from that, birthdays will be scarce.

In the railroad, parties are kinda a big thing, mostly due to decon. Dez thinks it’s all a waste of time, but also secretly enjoys some levity. Lots of pranks and shananagins and cake smashing. It’ll be fun until someone runs in interrupting about some synth or safe house lost.  Then back to business as usual.  - (Side note: I headcannon the brotherhood interrupting during glory’s birthday party :). )

Minutemen is a bit tricky tbh. As a group, they definitely can spare a bit of supplies for a higher-ups birthday. If it’s just a regular soldier, they’ll probably get a pat on the back and a few nice words from Preston, with maybe so ammo. They don’t have a lot of time to spare, as well as materials to make it happen. 

At home, (with the individual families and settlements), it’s hard to day. Depends on the person’s situation and preferences.

I think a lot of people celebrate turning a year older on new years. I’m guessing NYE is kinda a big deal. Like, we survived another year! Isn’t that great? And notjust us, but the world as we know it. Things shift, but they also stay the same. But war. War never changes. 

Thanks anon for giving me this prompt!

[hopefull-mindset]

How do you feel about the difference in Nagito's confession in Japanese and English?

In Japanese he kinda pauses saying something along the lines of 'in love with y...' before going on about hope inside.

But in English it's straight to loving the hope in Hajime.

I was hoping I’d be able to talk about this! If anyone needs a further explanation on the translation error, I recommend reading this first. It’s my favorite explanation because it deconstructs the Japanese to English process thoroughly, and the ambiguity of the whole thing really explains why Hajime was so confused. I’ve seen doubt as to fan translations being right at all, so I hope this helps out.

Now there isn’t many new things to say about a game this old with a large fanbase like this, but with new fans means more information to be spread (and misinformation respectively), so I’d be happy to speak!

UMMM I have no idea if anything I said down below is even what you were asking me, maybe you were just asking me about the decision of changing it, which um I don’t blame the official translators for going straight into it because it’s a fairly ambiguous line and most japanese fans go straight into it too when they qoute it, but official translators are not credible for their care of finer details that could be clearly translated into English, so it’s whatever I guess. Japanese fans also shouldn’t be our guide to consuming media of their language since they’re also just people, and I think it’s probably just easier to quote it like that without it sounding confusing the way it does in text.

This has been practically common knowledge by now to know that it was an aborted love confession, meaning there isn’t much to be said on its own. With all that’s been spread about this, a common misunderstanding is with the use of “Aishiteru” (愛してる) being “more romantic” than any other form of “I like/love you” (Suki/Daisuki), which is not true. It’s much more intense than the other two because of it directly using “Ai” (愛) and in turn used less compared to them because of its intensity. In same line of thinking, usually it’s reserved for serious occasions like marriage, a loved one on their death bed, a final goodbye for someone you care for deeply, etc. but none of it makes it anymore romantic because all three can be used platonically. It’s solely dependent on the context it’s used for.

It’s just like how we use “I love you” in English and how many things it could mean at once, albeit we don’t have three separate ways to express it. Well there’s actually more ways to express love, but you only really need to know these three. I know a lot of sources tend to say “Aishiteru” (愛してる) is romantic, but that’s most likely because you’re looking at sources that are talking about it in a romantic context. It’s not platonic in the sense that you’d go up to your friend and say it, that sends a lot of mixed messages and real odd to attempt, but platonic in that someone you truly have a deep connection with, family member or otherwise.

On the contrary, it’s much more common to use Suki/Daisuki (好き / 大好き) in a love confession and everyday life. Usually you wouldn’t even use “Aishiteru” (愛してる) in your entire life, that isn’t uncommon. So typically the most you’ll see or hear “Aishiteru” (愛してる) used is in fictional japanese media or songs. Using it in a confession like Komaeda almost did is like… imagine going up to someone and telling them that you want to spend your entire life together, meet their parents, fully commit to each other, raise children (if that’s what you want), and die together before you’re even in the relationship or even had your first kiss yet. Like obviously you’re not saying all of that, you might not even mean that, but it’s implied with the intensity of it. It’s that extreme and would definitely confuse someone if you tried. It’s not exactly for someone you just started dating either.

Why does “Ai” (愛) make it so intense though? Compared to other ways of saying love like “Koi” (恋) for example (not gonna explain that one), it’s the purest, most heightened form of expressing love verbally in japanese culture because of the giving and profound nature of it. It’s loving in a way that encases a warm feeling all around you, so painfully genuine yet committed. Its something that’s formed over time with much care, and doesn’t ask for anything back. It’s that big to use, but siamotainously it’s awkward and a little embarrassing to use because it’s practically unsaid irl. There is a lot to personal reservations and such, but as a culture, japan is more reserved with their verbal expressions. This doesn’t speak for the entire country, but just in general actions speak louder than something as literal like “Aishiteru” (愛してる).

I had to go over that before I talked about Komaeda because I don’t want there to be a misunderstanding with what I’m about to say. Sorry to break the news to anymore who was star-eyed after learning what “Ai” (愛) meant in context, but the reason I went over that first with extensive context is because Komaeda is not at all liberated when he uses it. Not only does he use it here in the infamous error of all errors in sdr2, he uses it when he talks about hope, talent, and Junko. Shocking I know, but that’s why I had to go over that “Ai” (愛) is not just romantic love so this will be less awkward for all of us.

Ignoring the oddness of it and how dramatic this usage is, it’s incredibly in-character for Komaeda to use it like that considering his sincere and devoted nature when it comes to hope and talent. He says himself that what he feels is selfless, so that’s going to reflect in his speech, but he uses it so casually that it feels like a joke. It’s a quite poetic expression of love, even with all the cultural context, so it’s fitting. He’s pretty no filter with how he talks about it, but with anything else with Komaeda—it’s more complex than that. While being 100% honest with everything he says, his deep connection with hope and talent is borderline obsessive and that brings into question his relationship with love.

I have many thoughts on how his hope/despair stuff works, but let’s stay on topic this one time because a lot is intertwined. With his usage of “Ai” (愛) with reference of Junko, we should all know he doesn’t love her. He doesn’t love the embodiment of despair and despises it in the same breath he even expressed love for it at all. What he feels for Junko is obsession through and through, but what he feels is still genuine connection, it’s just absurdly twisted. It’s why he still uses it, even though at most what he feels for her is contempt. He “loves” it because it’ll be destroyed for what will truly shine in the end. The connection is deep enough for him to take her hand and finally become one with it.

Junko didn’t twist his concept of love completely, it was already a little off, she exploited the potential of it. I’ve mentioned this point before in my twitter thread, but when faced with the motivations in trials 1, 2, and 3 he cannot see past their motivations other than their “hopes”, rather than their actual reasons: various forms of love. My immediate thought while writing was, “was it not really absolute hope that he needed or wanted, but instead the selfless love people like Naegi or Hajime could wield for others?” I can’t tell you how correct that is, but it holds close to when he said what he wanted was somebody’s love before he died.

To really talk about that with more depth, I’d have to do a separate post about his view of people in general. If you’d like to see that, just let me know. I really would like to stay on topic, and you weren’t exactly asking about that.

Now don’t be weird guys, it doesn’t make his confession any less genuine just because his concept of love is kinda fucked due to only being able to feel it through his obsession with hope since all genuine connection is very limited (non-existent) for him, it just puts into more context as to why Hajime was confused. He’s said something similar about his feelings of hope as early as chapter 1.

Does this mean he really did just meant the hope that sleeps inside Hajime? Well obviously not, otherwise I wouldn’t be talking about this. It also doesn’t mean that his love for Hajime is on the same obsessive level as Hope, talent, or freaking Junko for the matter. Junko was a whole other situation when his mental stability was at its worst. Here’s what actually happened: right when he admitted he wanted somebody’s love, he immediately backpedaled that claiming everything he said was just something he lied about because he started to see that Hajime might want to grow closer and forgive him, and then then started rambling about total bullshit about Hajime killing him and the potential hope in him, even though he just said that he didn’t get the same feeling from him as other ultimates.

Very funny Komaeda, though I don’t think he wasn’t being genuine there. Maybe he did think that regardless of the “both miserable bystanders” comment because he also thought he himself could be ultimate hope in chapter 5. I feel like we knew this part well enough, so I’ll talk about the confession finally. I don’t know what compelled him to try and confess like that, but maybe he was trying to be more honest after what he did to derail him and backtracked again? Who knows.

He was starting with an actual confession, but why did he backtrack the way he did? I have two potential answers. First answer was that he didn’t want to weigh Hajime down with the burden of his feelings, and made it sound like his typical Komaeda bullshit instead. Second answer is that Komaeda doesn’t know how to express his love for Hajime and derailed it to Hajime’s hope instead because that’s the only context he’s used “Ai” (愛) in and is used to that. Him using it here doesn’t make it less sincere in his almost-confession, it’s just… complex.

Maybe if this was his only hint of loving Hajime, his feelings for him would be more controversial as “canon”, thankfully it isn’t! Maybe both answers are right in their own right, it would definitely correlate with my own thoughts about his stupidly complicated justification’s for getting closer to Hajime and making excuses for him. If you haven’t read it, I said that while Komaeda was catching feelings for Hajime as an individual, he made excuses for himself that the reason he cared for him was because he was an ultimate (meaning someone who carried potential Hope), but the only reason he let himself be close to a “supposed ultimate” was because we felt that they were similar and that he had “an air unlike the others”. Which was probably why he was so confused as to why he still cared after finding out what he did in chapter 4 because his justification no longer worked.

Although we know that Komaeda absolutely does love Hajime, I am relieved that they used different expressions of love here (both Suki and Dasuki) to make sure we know he does love him. Can it be used platonically? Sure, but the context does not position it like that.

That’s my um opinion I guess?? Hope you got more than what you were expecting? I wonder why I keep making long posts when it’s not going to get that much attention…. I was originally going to say that what’s important about him using “Ai” (愛) is the genuine intent there and not the romantic implication of it since context matters more, and that hasn’t changed at all, but this turned into a completely different conversation. My bad.

[piillow]

xdinary heroes as your younger sibling

(7-8 year age gap)

wc : ??? | genre : short imagines, silly stuff really | a/n : NO i did NOT take things me and my very much older sibling do irl and assigned them to xdh members NOOOO...

(∩^o^)⊃━☆

GUNIL 건일

he'll pretend to not care about you when you're both at home

but will praise you like his life depended on it if he was talking to his friends or at school

SO SWEETTTT i could cry

gives you silly gifts for your birthday so he can see you smile :')

especially if you've been out of it for a while

moving out for college.......

he's definitely gonna shed a few tears on the car ride home

i can picture it tbh

LOVES when you play videogames with him too

and if he sleeps in your room overnight he'll call them "sleepovers" LMAOO

he'd be so cute omfg

JUNGSU 정수

will cling to you 24/7. oh my goodness he's like the most adorable leech you've ever seen

at home? probably sitting next to you. in public? holding your hand and swinging your arms.

so cute tho like cmon 😭

he would also defo ask you to help him with his homework

"you're gonna teach it to me better :(" WHAT IF I CRIED

omg GRADUATIONS?

he's gonna scream his whole lungs out when your name is called, and will not gaf if anyone stares at him

AND WILL SPRINT TO YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THE CEREMONY (and cling to you while probably crying LMAO)

oh he'd also pretend to out you to your parents but... your parents aren't actually gonna yell at you

they're gonna pretend to, but they don't mean anything lol

GAON 가온

LMAOO he's gonna take one look at your [whatever highschool level subject] homework and say

"oh! let me help you!" in the CUTEST voice ever 😭

but then he'll actually look at it and say "ummm this is too hard... nevermind... sorry.. :(" queue my sobs

BUT he will beg you to help him with his homework LMAOO

... then you end up doing all of it for him (。_。)

anyways, you got a school event? sports game/competition? musical performance?

he'll be there! every single one.

and will also cheer for you the loudest :)

ohhh and also if your parents aren't home and it's almost your dinner time he will set the table and wait for you to come eat with him

what if i cry in a hole 😭

ODE 오드

the most adorable leech you've ever seen number two

also yaps about you to his friends a lot LMAOO

literally about almost anything you do

"omg guys guess what y/n got a 100 on their test!" "... okay?"

will lowkey (high key) get defensive if someone starts saying something barely negative about you

he can also not talk to you at home

like... he can't go a few hours without doing it

he'll talk to you about his day at school, practices, etc. and give you every little detail he remembers

and when he gets a phone, he'll spam you texts when he's free and hope you reply

but like... who wouldn't tho?

he also buys lots of things that remind him of you, and eventually a tattoo when he's older (like how he did with his family <3)

JUNHAN 준한

likes spending time with you a lot, even if you two aren't talking to each other

just working on your homework with him there is nice for the both of you

a very comforting silence :)

LMAO he also will sometimes hide from you when you come home so you have to play hide and seek with him

... and then you two will end up playing it outside for like two hours

omg NOOO if you get sick he will be so sad :(

"y/n... who will i play hide and seek with now?" OHHH MY GOD 😭

and if you're crying for whatever reason...

he'll feel his heart break a little too :(

(why did i end this one so sadly im so sorry??)

JOOYEON 주연

teasing MACHINE 9000 oh my god

will tease you for everything you do

you dropped your hairbrush?

"HAHAHAAA y/n remember that one time you dropped your hairbrush"

yeah... that.

he'll also bang on the bathroom door if you take too long

"Y/NNNN HURRY UPPP I NEED TO BRUSH MY TEETH" 😭

spam texter number two, except his goal is to piss you off

if you send him a dry af response he will know because he'll hear your attitude through the screen

but if he's out with friends he'll send you random pictures of things that remind him of you

(and he'll keep them in a folder in his camera roll <3)

send requests........ please....... rules are here!

[bangbangay]

Decided to finally post my bg3/d&d ocs: Ruago Duskryn and Nyloth Zolorel! A few details under the cut.

Edit 7/5/24: fleshed out some (actually a lot) more details. They are, of course, below with the others.

Also, I appreciate likes/reblogs/whatever you wanna give. Thank you for even looking at it tbh.

Ruago is a Lolth-sworn drow fighter, specifically of the "soldier" background. He was sworn to service by his family and became known as the "Quaggoth General" for his notoriously beastly demeanor whilst in the throes of battle (as well as his abnormally large appearance compared to other male drow), reminding many of the Underdark's well-known bear-like creature. He eventually has a cape/cloak created from a Quaggoth pelt, to show pride in the name he has earned for himself. The title of General does not dictate his actual standing in any form of militia, instead referring to the instinctual obedience he brings out in fellow soldiers from their fear of bringing forth his ire.

Nyloth is a half-drow ranger, born in a small forest home. He was raised to believe all as equal, and that health of the body and mind are of topmost priority. He helps his family by tracking various beasts and harvesting what he can for food. He gets his drow blood from his mother, who ran from the Underdark when a neighboring family's militia "disbanded" her House. She met his human ranger father after breaking into his basement to seek refuge from the bright daylight, and the rest was history (aka: I haven't fully thought out the parental story besides the Drama lol).

I haven't fully fleshed everything, so here's some notes:

someone finds out that a member of House Zolorel still lives and hires someone to go up and finish her off (said "someone" being the Quaggoth General, ofc)

Ruago gets up there and depending on how angsty I wanna make it, may or may not kill Nyloth's parents while he's out foraging/hunting

non-angsty ending would be more like: Nyloth gets attacked by him, they tussle around for a bit, one of em gets knocked out - either by the other or by one of the 'rents coming into the scene and saving the day

if one knocks the other out, I think it would be funny if it was Ruago with like a rock or smth

if it was the 'rents, then it was probably mom with like, gardening gear and a big sun hat hitting Ru-Ru over the head real hard with a shovel

it would then that the nautiloid shows up, and Nyloth having a newly knocked out soldier on top of him/beside him/idk has a few moments that he can't move either bc of the 200-ish pounds of probably concussed man on his legs/chest, bc his good-naturedness makes him hesitate to leave a guy on the ground, or one of the prevs + he prioritized his mom being safe before himself

and that is how they get Wormed

After the tadpole, I ran a bit with where I would want them to be once the nautiloid crashes, and sorta decided that they should probably end up somewhere that another recruited companion is not (I myself picture them as like. NPCs so. They would eventually have to meet the Tav/Durge somewhere). Which leaves a few areas in chapter 1+2. Since these two would most likely get into another tussle immediately, it's important to me that they have another focus to distract them from immediately killing each other. So, I wanted them to be put in a markedly dangerous area in either chapter. This leaves:

hag swamp - lots of death traps, a monster hunter, a literal hag, and a fucked up frog who will cause death if you don't take care of aforementioned hag. I like this one bc I personally think a really bad experience with probably his first frog ever would make Ruago distrust frogs everywhere. And that is hilarious.

the Underdark - I think them ending up here via landing near like a secret entrance or something (the well in the village, the goblin camp, the zhent hideout I guess??) would be neat and Ru-Ru would probably appreciate some familiar grounds and maybe have like, a teaching moment for Nyloth on where his mom came from? There isn't much else to me wanting them here lol

the mountains near the Creche - there's like, a whole gang of dead things that are here and have kicked my in-game ass super hard so. There's that. The entrance to the Shadow-Cursed lands is there, too. Mr. Ranger would like the mountains, Mr. Quaggoth not so much.

As for the interaction they would have w/ Durge/Tav, there are a few things I thought of:

they're in the middle of beating the shit out of each other and Tav/Durge can choose whether or not to intervene (much like the Rolan/Zevlor interaction in the Grove, except this time there is already Violence happening)

the party meets one, then the other, which triggers an argument/fighting that requires breaking up (one accuses the other of being part of the problem like Astarion, they fight)

the party finds Nyloth with Ruago's knocked out self (either bc Nyloth Won, he got injured in the swamp/wherever, etc.) and Nyloth wants them to help cause even though he had bad experiences w/ him, surely he doesn't deserve to die? (Good-Good boy lol)

[usafphantom2]

SR-71 pilot recalls the tense mission over the Barents Sea where he spotted a Soviet MiG-31 scrambled to intercept his Blackbird

The SR-71 Blackbird

The SR-71 spy plane, the most advanced member of the Blackbird family that included the A-12 and YF-12, was designed by a team of Lockheed personnel led by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, then vice president of Lockheed’s Advanced Development Company Projects, commonly known as the “Skunk Works” and now a part of Lockheed Martin. The Blackbird completed its first flight on Dec. 22, 1964.

SR-71 T-Shirts

CLICK HERE to see The Aviation Geek Club contributor Linda Sheffield’s T-shirt designs! Linda has a personal relationship with the SR-71 because her father Butch Sheffield flew the Blackbird from test flight in 1965 until 1973. Butch’s Granddaughter’s Lisa Burroughs and Susan Miller are graphic designers. They designed most of the merchandise that is for sale on Threadless. A percentage of the profits go to Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force Base. This nonprofit charity is personal to the Sheffield family because they are raising money to house SR-71, #955. This was the first Blackbird that Butch Sheffield flew on Oct. 4, 1965.

The SR-71 was designed to cruise at “Mach 3+,” just over three times the speed of sound or more than 2,200 miles per hour and at altitudes up to 85,000 feet.

Soviet MiG-31 too close to for comfort

On Oct. 6, 1986, an SR-71 was just outside the territorial waters of Russia’s Murmansk area coastline. This was not the first time an SR-71 had flown along the coast of the Soviet Union and it wouldn’t be the last. It was the Blackbird’s job to take side looking pictures. The reason why the US were looking at the Soviet Union was they were looking for a nuclear submarine activity. However, this time a Soviet interceptor got a little too close for comfort. Ed Yeilding explained to Paul Crickmore, for his book Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions (Revised Edition);

‘Flying straight toward each other in our supersonic jets, I was reminded of two gallant medieval knights galloping full speed toward each other, only I did not have a weapon,’ Ed Yeilding, former SR-71 Blackbird pilot recalls.

‘In the distance far ahead, at perhaps 100 miles, I could see a long, bright white Russian contrail flying directly towards us, but at much lower altitude.

SR-71 print

This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. SR-71A Blackbird 61-7972 “Skunkworks”

‘I knew it must be a Soviet fighter, probably a MiG-31, then the newest Soviet interceptor.

‘I raised my periscope and saw too that we were leaving a long contrail and I knew the fighter could see our contrail as easily as I could see his.

Orders to fire missiles at USAF SR-71 Blackbird

‘I also assumed he had orders to fire his missiles if I was late with my turn and slipped over Soviet territorial waters to within 12nm of Soviet land, and I assumed the pilot would like nothing better than an opportunity to fire his missiles at an SR-71 Blackbird.

‘I believed the Soviet fighter would not fire his missiles as long as we stayed on our usual track, but I also knew he or his ground controllers could mistake our position as being closer than we actually were.

‘We had no defences like flares against heat-seeking missiles, but again, we believed that missile “probability of kill” was very low due to our high speed and altitude.

‘I was determined to fly the track as planned and get the pictures.

‘For survival, Curt [RSO Lt Col Curt Osterheld] and I depended on accurate navigation to keep us just outside Soviet territorial waters to prevent a launch, and we depended on our superior speed and altitude in case missiles were launched.

MiG-31

‘From my F-4 experience with intercepts and visual acuity, my best guess is that eight miles was his closest approach.

‘He appeared to run out of airspeed at the top of his contrail, at maybe 65,000ft or 10,000ft below us.

‘I saw his nose below the horizon and fall away. Curt and I stayed on course and got the pictures.

The MiG-31, the premier Soviet supersonic interceptor

“During my three years of flying overseas reconnaissance missions, I frequently saw contrails far below of potentially hostile fighters, but that day, above the Arctic Circle over the Barents Sea, was the only time I saw a Soviet fighter get close enough that I could actually see metal, though barely larger than a dot and only because our routine track was predictable. Back at Mildenhall, during our debriefing, our intelligence officer told us, with near certainty, that the interceptor was a MiG-31, the premier Soviet supersonic interceptor at that time.”

Be sure to check out Linda Sheffield Miller (Col Richard (Butch) Sheffield’s daughter, Col. Sheffield was an SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer) Twitter X Page Habubrats SR-71 and Facebook Page Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder for awesome Blackbird’s photos and stories.

@Habubrats71 via X

[ad-astra-per-asparagus]

Ok dumping my thoughts right here now that I’ve collected them since reading Batman 138. It’s a doozy, so bear with me.

Honestly, the premise of Gotham War is intriguing and could’ve been good if not for the sloppy execution. It’s interesting to see Bruce’s psyche rapidly declining, but how Zdarsky is going about it is ham-fisted and forced. First off, Selina’s method is outlandish and riddled with plot holes. There’s no skirting around that. Now logically I could see the batfamily members not declaring an allegiance to either side because both Bruce and Selina are in the wrong here; Bruce is losing his mind because Zur is hijacking it while Selina thinks training criminals will magically solve all violent crime in Gotham and everything will be sunshine and rainbows. But having the kids blindly fall into line with Selina because they agree with her plan is dogwater writing that I’m surprised Zdarsky cooked up after his spectacular Daredevil run. Have them form their own faction and let them actually act like they have agency and purpose instead of shoving them into roles that don’t fit.

Now I’m a little skeptical on the whole Jason/failsafe stuff. On one end, it’s a daring concept to play with. It shows how Bruce is going off the deep end and raises the stakes of the plot. On the other end, it’s going to drive an enormous wedge between Jason and Bruce for the foreseeable future. Like, there is no forgiving Bruce for this easily. Maybe that’s a good thing though, considering Jason for the past few years has been cycling through the same character arc over and over again like a washing machine that spits out clothes that are more worn-out after every load. Taking him out of the batfamily fold and inserting him into his own corner of DC sequestered away from Batman might actually force DC to write him organically, depending on whether or not Jason doesn’t go insane himself because what Bruce did to him was quite literally torture that will now be perpetual. Wowza.

My next gripe is the timing between comics. Batman and Robin’s timeframe is vague, but after reading 138 it makes zero sense why Damian would steadfastly stick by Bruce’s side—unless of course B&R happens way later, and somehow Bruce regains minor control of his mental state. Or the most realistic explanation being that the writers didn’t communicate the timelines, leaving their stories to contradict each other. But what are comics if not zany contradictions of stories? So I guess this gripe can slide…for now. Benefit of the doubt to Williamson at least because he planned B&R way in advance, meanwhile Gotham War was strung together as a myopic copy of Marvel’s Civil War in order to—I’m spitballing here—have Bruce be alone for a while in his own comics because he’s “a loner”…despite his character being, at his core, a family man, and whose character revolved around family for decades. Family rift stories can be good. Packed with drama. Exciting. This is none of the above.

Finally, arguably my biggest complaint about this dumpster fire, is Tim. Writers tend to be biased toward characters, I understand that, but when favoritism bleeds into the writing it sours the story altogether. Having Tim assume this role of “Bruce’s savior” is incredibly cheap and a little laughable at times. I see that they’re trying to establish him as important again, reliving his glory days as the Robin who helped guide Bruce back onto the right path after Jason’s death, but throwing other characters under the bus to lift him up is crazy. Especially Damian, because Damian saved his dad’s life twice in the last few months. Seriously, I’d brush it off if Tim hadn’t told Damian he was the one who helped Bruce out of the darkness while Damian only pushed Bruce further into it. Paraphrasing, but that’s the general idea: Tim is a saint and the rest of his siblings (Cassandra? Who?) are a cut below him when it comes to helping dear old dad out of his bad place. That hug was cute, but it was sugar spread on a pile of shit.

[tadbitfooled]

so, since my brain says all my Tavs and my Durge exist together, I guess I'll give a break down of what that means if anyone wants to get involved in that chaos. And how they get along with each other.

Talilah

Talilah is the designated leader because she's just like "Fuck this let's get this done." She's decently smart and clever, able to come up with plans, but has some mild impulse issues and very much a "I wonder what that does." Very fearless and willing to step up when need be.

The others

Briza - there are tensions at first due to Talilah's sun elf genes being very strong and sun elves tend not to ask questions first when meeting drow. But they eventually get along, especially because Talilah catches onto her dry humor quickly and they play off of each other with that.

Durante - absolute chaos enabler duo. They enjoy being a bit jesty with each other and maybe pick on the other members of the party together as a team. They have running bet pools on the most random of things and you'll see them toss a coin between each other, depending on who won the bet. At the most random moments.

Frits - She likes to play pranks on him. Not anything mean, just a few things here or there because he's got a good nature about it. What she doesn't realize at first is he's very intent on returning the favor, and does take her by surprise when he does. Sometimes she finds his habit of going on about something tiring but she'll humor him and he appreciates it.

Gwenifar - Gwenifar plays a bit of a right hand for Talilah, as she's probably the most qualified for being leader, but Talilah jumped at it first. She helps to control Talilah's impulses and keep her on track when she needs to be reminded of what needs to be done.

Tavinkas - Talilah rescued Tavinkas from a pod on the ship. This has caused her to have his undying loyalty because, well, first person to be helpful to him in a while, all things considered. He's definitely protective of her and Talilah's intent on pushing him out of his comfort zones and helping him find himself.

Gwenifar

Takes on the roll of leader if Talilah is unable to. She's basically second-in-command and able to keep everyone on track with what needs to be done besides Durante. She tries to keep peace in the party but isn't afraid of putting her foot down and showing a rather terrifying sternness.

Briza - The two get along decently, with Briza maybe even having found Gwenifar attractive in some instances, but nothing more. They both enjoy animals and spend time discussing the best care for Scratch and the Owlbear.

Durante - Durante's favorite hobby is getting under Gwenifar's skin. He has no issues taking cheap shots at her and ruffling her feathers, to which she finds him irksome and childish. The pair often clash due to Durante's attitude and he's lucky she's a cleric of Ilmater some days.

Frits - The pair are both academically minded and with Frits's family having been florist, also have a shared interest in herbology. The two will spend time talking about plants and different theories, and are good friends.

Tavinkas - There is something about Tavinkas that makes her uneasy and Tavinkas realizes this. When it comes to light, it makes sense, and Gwenifar does what she can to help him and he appreciates it. It takes a bit but they do eventually become friends.

Tavinkas

I would list him as third in pecking order of my muses of who's the leader (I would rank Wyll or Gale above him in the overall pecking order though). He has the skills and the capability, it's just he has so much on his plate with his amnesia and urges, he prefers someone with a constant level head to handle things while he works himself out.

Briza - they bond over being the ones less involved in the group and observing, as well as a similar morbid humor. They're often seen standing by each other and making dry remarks about the others in the party.

Durante - Tavinkas is probably one of the few that can actually get Durante to listen and behave. A stern word and a dark look from him is enough for the tiefling warlock to rethink what he's doing. It could due to a slight attraction on Durante's part, though.

Frits - Tavinkas finds Frits to be utterly fascinating. He doesn't quite understand how someone can be so bright and optimistic about...Almost everything. In turn, Frits is quite interested in Tavinkas's ailments and often has some idea to try to work out what it is, often coming up to Tavinkas and suggesting options.

Frits

A reliable intellect, who's gracious and willing to discuss what may need to be done and help plan out things which may require a higher level of learning. While not the strongest, he does try his best to be of as much assistance to the party as he can.

Briza - He finds Briza to be a bit intimidating, to be honest. But he doesn't let that stop him from attempting to befriend her. He can't tell if it's worked or not, due to her attitude. (It's worked. If anything happened to Frits, Briza would kill everyone in this room and then herself).

Durante - Despite Frits's attempts, Durante seems to lack any interest in having more than a working relationship with him. He says he finds most of Frits's topics of discussion to be a bit dull for him. Save for when Frits mentions a past flame of his, which Durante finds hard to believe to be true.

Briza

Briza prefers to act as a scout for the party, taking orders as needed and finding out information for the path forward. She's not one for pointless socialization and prefers to consider what needs to be done next.

Durante - She finds him insufferable and takes any chance she can to remind him of that. In turn, Durante tries to push her buttons when he sees a chance but does avoid her otherwise. It takes some time for any chance of warm feelings to even start to glimmer between them.

Durante

This man has no desire to have any responsibility and just wants the tadpole out of his head. He pulls his weight as need be, but prefers to be in the backseat and let the others deal with decisions and other issues. It may come from past trauma and how he feels about his contract, though.

[dogmeatthedead]

Wilson Family Flowers

I could have sworn that I posted this here before but I guess I haven’t so here it is. If I missed it, then here it is

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

Comics have a long history with naming patterns. Superman and the double L's being the most well known example. However lots of characters has similar naming patters, the one that I want to talk about today is Deathstroke. (go fig)

Slade Wilson and the flower connection

Over the past 11 years of being a Deathstroke fan I've noticed a connection between Slade Wilson and the characters around him being linked to plants or flowers. Almost all of the "main" cast of characters can be linked to flowers, and in many cases, their relationships can be represented by flowers. The only two which don't have a direct connection is Joseph and Grant, so for these two, I've chosen flowers that would represent their relationship to Slade.

All flowers are flowers that I know of. If I've missed one that would have worked better, then chances are good, I just didn't know it existed.

Rose

I chose a Orange Rose to symbolize Rose Worth-Wilson. I know that red is the standard when thinking of roses, but I'm going based of off what flowers symbolize as well as what they are named and red roses are to closely tied to romance for my liking. White roses will be used later even though that would tie with Rose and Slade's hair, but I chose Orange because it symbolizes enthusiasm and new beginnings.

Rose was Slade's second chance, she was (run dependent) excited to become a hero, thus I think that a orange rose would best represent Rose.

Wintergreen

In the rotating cast of Wilson characters, Wintergreen is known second to only maybe the Wilson kids. William Wintergreen is the lifelong best friend of Slade Wilson, known by longtime fans as Slade's anchor from insanity, the wintergreen plant is known for its bright red berries and green leaves.

When Slade and Will met which you can read about here on my tumblr, Will was saving Slade. Their friendship went on to be strengthen over the years by them trading off saving each others lives.

Like wintergreen in the real world, Will provides Slade with health care, and is likely the only thing keeping Slade's mental health in the green.

Sweet Lilly

Amazing Art is from  alegonbilldeathstroke  

Lily's are rich in symbolism and is probably my favorite to write about. Most of you most likely know that lily's are connected to purity which would seem ironic given that Lily was a single mom and ran a call girl company. However in some cultures lily's are connected to rebirth (Slade's second chance as a father) and motherhood.

I think that tiger lilies best represent Sweet Lilly though. They are connected to confidence, wealth and pride. Lilly was proud of everything that she had accomplished and was confident in both who she was and in her skill as a parent and her choice to keep Rose hidden from Slade.

Poppy

Anyone who's known me for a hot minute would know me as Poppy. It was one of many names I went by on here, named after the forgotten daughter of Deathstroke. Poppy first made her appearance in terror titans before being bought back in Deathstroke: faces of evil, and becoming a cast member in outsiders before disappearing forever. I'd written in the past about why I think that this was a huge mistake for the fates of both characters and the Wilson family as a whole. You can read about that here although be warned, its now 4 and a half years old (damn I'm getting old.)

In pop culture poppies are tied to the idea of death and sleep, however I'm opting for the lesser known classical interpretation. The poppy flower is known for its bright scarlet color which in olden times was tied to the idea of resurrection after death, and in more modern times, it is worn as a symbol of remembering tragedy.

Moving away from more traditional forms of interpretation, to some poppies may invoke a sense of childhood, or childhood fear. In the wizard of Oz, Dorthey and friends fall asleep in a field of poppies. The idea of poppies bring on sleep is tied to the drug Opium which is derived from poppies its undeniably a dark theme for a children's story, but I would argue that it represents a child companion of Deathstroke quite well.

Pat

Geranium ‘Patricia are known for being incredibly hardy, however on a broader note, geraniums are known to symbolize both friendship and romance. I think that in terms of true fits, Pat Trayce's flower is the most representative of her character.  Geraniums also symbolize foolishness, cleverness, melancholy, expected and unexpected meetings and the dried leaves can be used to treat pain.

Pat and Slade love each other deeply, yet Slade accepts that they're relationship couldn't work out as Pat wants to replace Addie and Slade understands how unhealthy that is. Pat's desire for Slade is often shown to be foolish, and she swings between morning never having Slade undivided love, and accepting it. She was originally Slade's student but that mentor/ mentee relationship ends with Pat outsmarting Slade and when they next meet, they are on even footing.

Like Wintergreen, Pat heals Slade. She helps Slade move on from his relationship, and becomes the first long term relationship. Not counting Marly who is only mentioned, although she and Slade likely would have been engaged.

Adeline Rosemary Wilson

This was the name that sealed the connection for me. In Rebirth, Adeline was given that middle name of Rosemary giving a concrete connection to plants. Representing love, lust, and loyalty. Mourning and remembrance. Happiness and tragedy. Rosemary is probably the most layered plant that I've named here.

Adeline loves Slade, even after everything that happened in their relationship Slade never got over Slade. And yet, she could never truly take him back since her heart would always remember the tragedy that he put her family though.

I've talked in the past about how much I dislike Adeline's character, however she truly is a tragic character, she never gets a happy ending in the same way that Slade does. And like the herb she is named for, Adeline became bitter after being though so much hell.

Joseph

I think that a white rose best represents Joseph William Wilson. Like his sister Rose's orange rose, I think that a white one has just as much symbolism. White roses represent many things: Youthfulness, hope, new beginnings, a connection between two people, humility and silence.

While some like silence appears to be self explanatory when discussing Joe, others like humility may not be. Slade learned to put down his pride after Joe was hurt, and both men would carry a visible scar which would always connect them in a shared tragedy. Joe's injury represents a new beginning for all members of the Wilson family, although it was a good beginning for precious few. Still Joe represented the hope of the Wilsons and at times his youthfully optimism still shown though.

Grant

Perhaps an odd choice, but I chose orange and yellow zinnia's to represent Grant. Mixed colored zinnia's represent thinking of an absent friend, while the yellow ones specifically deal with daily remembrance of a dead loved one. Originally from Mexico, zinnia's were a dull color that was scorned by the ruler as being an eyesore. Over years of breeding, zinnias became the flower that we know today. Zinnias are known to grow quickly and heavily but, they only last for a year and once their time is up, they will wither and die, never to grow again on their own.

Morbid perhaps but of all the Wilsons, Grant always gets the shaft. He dies once and stays dead, he might come back once or twice, but he dies again quickly. Zinnias, like Grant is rather plain at first but both can be developed into something much better. Slade carried the memory of Grant everywhere with him and it really shaped the way that Slade would carry himself and his relationship with others.

Here is a commission I had of all the flowers together. <3

[raw-law]

Hey, umm.. Although this may not be the perfect place to ask this but

How does one deal with a toxic household?

L:

well, i'd say it highly depends on what's going on in the household specifically. not every issue is the same and solutions have to be tailored to the household specifically in order to get the best outcome. and even then, the best outcome doesn't necessarily mean it'd be a good outcome..

i am far from a licensed therapist, and i don't plan on becoming one anytime soon, but i'll try to list some general advice that i've observed from other households:

if conversations between family members are generally toxic, don't entertain them. the more they're engaged with, the more the conversation will escalate. you might have to push your own beliefs aside in order to do this, but it's a much easier route in the long run.

toxic households are a waiting game. the only way to win is by surviving for as long as possible until you can leave. that also means focusing on yourself so that you have a game plan for when you're able to be on your own. focus on your future. don't get sucked into the present that they're trying to push onto you.

if your physical health is at risk, consider finding an authority figure to confide in first. telling them the situation will give them a chance to help you without escalating the situation and putting you in greater danger.

this is definitely a hard question to answer. i can only give what i think would help generally. overall, just stay safe and don't pull anything that puts you in more risk. i wish you the best, autumn.

Light:

Well. Like Ryuzaki said, it's really dependent on the situation at hand; each case can differ greatly.

I have absolutely no experience with this, and I suggest you seek help from a licensed professional, but I'll offer some advice that I've observed to work in most general cases:

- Create boundaries between you and your family. This is somewhat on a case-by-case basis, but it can help in situations where your family members may not fully be aware of what they're doing. This can (possibly) limit their behaviour and make it more difficult for them to get a handle on you.

- If you still can't move out yet, limit contact with them as much as humanly possible. Still be civil and polite to them, though. Spend as little time in your house as possible. It would be good if you found some hobbies to while away the time with, I guess.

- If you're in any sort of physical danger, seek help from an authority figure as soon as possible.

- The moment you can get away, move out of the house. In my opinion, it's unlikely they'll ever change, and it's best to get away from these kinds of people as fast as you can.

Please keep in mind that this is just general advice that seems to be helpful for some of the families I've seen and heard about. Feel free to follow this as you deem fit; I must stress that this is definitely not a definitive or professional guide on how to deal with those kinds of people.

With that being said, I wish you the best, Autumn.

[rust-bearer]

Hmmm… I come bearing brain gifts.

As someone who has spent a good portion of my life living with 10+ family members in an average sized house on and off (not enough room, never enough room), I’m curious how things would work for our resident apocalypse survivors. From my experience, at least, children typically aren’t as affected? At certain ages, at least, and it depends on the personality, of course. Anyway:

• This feels like a good layout, so… I’m assuming the kids probably spend most of their time together as a whole. The oldest takes care of them, the younger ones probably get that I’m a big brother/sister/sibling now mindset and “Take Care” of the youngest (super serious about it, too. First Aid probably thinks it’s adorable while also being mildly terrified for them). They watch out for each other, etc etc.

• I’m just gonna go ahead and assume that the Combaticons are always, always either together or invading each other’s space. Whether it’s sneaking into the kitchen at midnight while everyone else sleeps and accidentally waking the entire fucking house with what sounds like the most dramatic home invasion ever, baking huge breakfast spreads on the “weekends” (who even knows what day it is anymore, someone keeps count as the weeks go by and properly designates certain days as Weekend Days) and ultimately ending with a very tasty feast but very, very messy kitchen, standing around in the only bathroom for an hour after getting into excited talks and debates while someone stands outside pounding on the door because they actually need in there, goddamnit, and just…

• I dunno, I would guess the Combaticons are just generally seen as this family unit that wouldn’t hesitate to murder an entire store full of the undead but also like to cuddle up on their huge couch for VHS tape nights and premade popcorn that expired about six months ago.

• I could be alone in my assessment, but I see First Aid as a sort of loner, but not in that “mysterious and edgy” way, just kind of an anxious person naturally who needs lots of downtime to process things. He probably spends lots of time wandering the farm, keeping an eye on the kids (who are almost always playing outside, weather permitting) and checking up on the farm equipment, the dog, Butcher Meat Cow, other survivors… he worries about everyone, and he worries about the future, and he worries about the present, and—well, his mind races constantly. He needs some downtime, some alone time, just time away from interacting and socializing to just decompress. It’s tough sometimes, seeing the Combaticon family, the kids, the fellow survivors, and knowing that his family, his brothers, are probably still out there, either barely making it by or lurching about the world with rotting flesh and an insatiable desire for humans.

• Sleeping arrangements again: I’m guessing the children probably sleep very close together, not like dog piles or anything, but back to back, rows of tiny little bodies tucked inside shredded sleeping bags and stacked blankets/pillows.

• When it comes to sleeping, I can imagine the Combaticons probably just nap throughout the day. There isn’t really a “bed” or specific time frame. If they’re tired, they’ll sleep. This helps a lot for safety and protection of the home, since there’s less than a 1% chance all five of them will be asleep at the same time.

• First Aid probably sleeps in the same room as the children, to be honest. He doesn’t like to be apart from them; not in the beginning, at least. At the same time, it helps him keep an eye on everyone, he can make sure they’re safe, he can make sure no one’s sick, and if they wake up from a bad dream, he’s right there.

• Final thoughts for this: some people are morning people, some people are night owls… with so few grown adults, it isn’t that big of a deal. First Aid isn’t much of a morning or night person anymore, to be honest. The overall lack of sleep has left him chronically exhausted, drained from constant anxiety and the stress of their current situation. I’d say it differs for the Combaticons, though. Maybe half are early risers, the other half night owls. Either way, they’re kind of… loud. In such a small house (how did they end up with such a small house?? Didn’t Swindle spend, like, a shit-ton on the place?), noise travels very well. During the night, First Aid is usually kept up by talking and laughing that filters up through the vents from the floor beneath him. In the morning, the sound of slamming pots and pans and drawers being repeatedly open and closed is constant, and doesn’t usually stop. It only gets worse as more people wake up for the day. On his next supply run, he’s gonna have to find some noise canceling headphones or something. The kids seem unaffected, at least, which… well, it’s a blessing.

I think that’s all for the moment. If you have any other ideas for what you think it’d be like to share such a small space with so many people, I’d love to hear them!

Distinct childhood memories of my young nephew waking up super early to watch television, but he kept the volume up extremely high, so everyone would wake up telling him to turn it down (he would not). Imagining that but with deciding to make breakfast or shouting matches or etc

It’s a zombie cliche but I imagine first aid would stand the best shot at finding a cure for the zombie infection, based off of him in canon- or it could be the opposite, I’d have to think about it. Either way, giving him a reason to go on scavenging runs to hospitals and libraries and labs. (BARING pharma of course but. Is he even alive in this version? Who knows! Could be)

On the topic of water: they likely have lots of houseplants. Someone in first aid’s original safehouse had them, and the kids took them with them, and they don’t even need clean water so it’s incredibly easy to tend to them. Gives someone a hobby too

[oonajaeadira]

15 questions to get to know me!

Thank you for tagging me, dearests @something-tofightfor and @songsformonkeys!!!

1. are you named after anyone?

No. Unless you count my middle name. My paternal grandmother had two middle names and my sister and I got one each.

2. when was the last time you cried?

About a month ago in a psychopomp lecture during a guided meditation. When guided to talk to an ancestor, my Auntie B came up and it was waterworks. She's a good one, my Auntie.

3. do you have kids?

Nope. I've known from an early age that I would be a child-free lady.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yes. It's usually in the form of tough love when my SO or my artists need to be given a little correction but also need to take it with a spoonful of playfulness.

5. what’s the first thing you notice about people?

Their aesthetic. I acknowledge my initial learned prejudices about them and wait for the delightful moment when they prove my societally-engineered expectations wrong. (The N and J are strong in this INFJ. And then my F/T toggle kicks in real hard.)

6. what’s your eye colour?

I just put gray on my ID, but they're blue-grey on the rims and green-grey inside? And they're more blue or green or grey depending on reflection from what the sky is doing and what I'm wearing so...?

7. scary movies or happy endings?

Both. I am obviously a sucker for a soft, happy ending. But I love love love horror films to the point where most of them do not scare me anymore. But when I do find one that gives me the tingles, I will love it forever.

8. any special talents?

I have a lot of special skills that I've honed, but inherent talents? (Where skills = learned and practiced acts and talents = just good at it from the get go.) I guess the biggest one is being able to pick up an instrument for the first time and play a song on it by ear. I guess also I'm pretty empathic. Oh! And I'm very very good at always choosing the slowest line in the supermarket; I don't even have to try!

9. where were you born?

In Minnesota, but not in Minneapolis. I was born in the city I was raised in and then escaped to my college town and then escaped the country altogether for a little while before coming back to Minnesota.

10: what are your hobbies?

Writing Pedro fic, reading Pedro fic. Reading in general. Video games, embroidery/cross stitch, collecting tarot decks and stickers. dinking around with musical instruments and trolling Etsy/Ebay/Craigslist for new ones. Online shopping's a big one. Puzzles--logic puzzles, sudoku, word puzzles. Thrifting for wardrobe and art purposes. Making weird shit out of thrifted junk. Board and card games.

11. have you any pets?

Right now, we just have the one dog and we're on senior care with her. She's a black lab mix that we took in from a neglectful family member when she was 12, riddled with tapeworm, heartworm, and tooth problems (all of which we fixed). Thinking we could give her some pretty happy golden years, I was like, sure. I can put up with this very stupid, very neurotic dog for a couple of years if it means she gets to go down happy and warm.

Well, it may be too happy and too warm in our house, because she's 19.5 and the welcome was worn out years ago. Girl just keeps on ticking. She needs help getting up half the time and her back legs don't work very well so she needs to be lifted to go outside (both doors require stairs which she can't do anymore). She has accidents in the house not just daily, but multiple times a day and we just keep dog pads down in the bedroom and my hands just constantly smell of bleach now. She's mostly deaf and fairly blind and is, without hyperbole, the dumbest dog I've ever known or owned in my life. But that also makes her constantly hilarious. And very happy despite her struggles....we often say in this house that "she's just too happy to live and too dumb to die."

I wish I could say that I loved her, and in a way I do. But while she's very sweet and very friendly, she's not interested in the exchange of affection or in any way that "shows she knows what you're feeling" kind of pet, so we've never really bonded. Even after all these years, she feels more like a guest than family. She just exists to be a benevolent force of fur, odors, and amusement in our house for now. And we just try to keep her as comfortable as possible for as long as we can.

12: what sports do you play/have you played?

When I was young, my folks tried to get me into softball and skiing, but I always shied from the ball and never wanted to ski too fast because I didn't want to get hurt. I was on the swim and gymnastics teams in junior high and did pretty well there, but was only really doing it to stay close to my grade school bestie. I couldn't keep up with her and found the performing arts instead. So now, nothing.

13: how tall are you?

5′5″

14. favourite subject in school?

I actually really loved biology and chemistry. And anything where I got to use my hands like art, home ec, woodshop. I excelled in English and music, but I think I really enjoyed my science classes more.

15. dream job?

I have my dream job! I help new artists produce their work and experienced artists challenge themselves! AND I'M GOOD AT IT.

But if I didn't have this job? I'd probably love to be a PA to someone artistic and kind. I know somebody that used to be Neil Gaiman's PA and that sounded like the best thing ever.

tagging: @unbound-space-trash @lowlights @nicolethered @beecastle