#there's a LOT more to say about the various other Bad Stuff in these books

[chaifighter]

Ok but what if I really want to hear your Orson Scott Card rant?

...You asked for this.

This is definitely harder to deliver in text format than verbally, but I'll do my best.

Ender's Game is a seminal science fiction novel from the mid 80's about a space war between Earth and an insectoid alien species referred to as "buggers" (they have an actual name I think but I don't remember it). The war has been raging for years, Earth has effectively united to fight it, and particularly intelligent children are taken by the military to train at an orbital boot camp to be the next generation of soldiers. Our protagonist Ender Wiggin, a genius to end all geniuses, is taken to this space station to begin this training. (Ender is a usually-illegal third child who the government gave his parents special permission to produce, since their first two children were both unaccountably brilliant but too violent (Peter) or too gentle (Valentine) to be good child soldiers, which is uhhhh pretty eugenicist BUT THAT'S NOT THE SUBJECT OF THIS PARTICULAR TED TALK-)

The main body of the book covers Ender's time at battle school and is pretty solidly entertaining, with some genuinely interesting thought experiments on zero-g battles and psychological management and manipulation of a young fighting force (though it's, yanno, undercut by the full-page out of nowhere antisemitic raving. I'm not fucking kidding, there's slurs and everything, it's. Fucking wild.) but the really important stuff comes at the end of the book, when Ender and his trusted group of friends are put through a grueling series of simulations designed as a graduation test. Through this series of simulations, Ender, gifted and cursed with an incredible depth of empathy, begins to understand the buggers in a way that no one has before, and by understanding them, knows how to end them. To quote directly:

"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves."

Through this understanding, he realizes that the buggers are a hive mind, and that by destroying the center of that hive mind, he can win. So he does, and the simulation ends. And then they tell him he just won the war. He has given real orders to real soldiers, and he has exterminated the buggers. He has loved his enemy, and he has destroyed them.

Compassion is the key theme of Ender's Game. It is what makes Ender and what breaks him when it is exploited. Empathy and understanding for someone deeply, incomprehensibly different from you.

So then we come to Orson Scott Card, great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, a virulent homophobe, a racist (called Obama "a black man who talks like a white man" as an explanation of his success in politics) and antisemite (looking at that FUCKING page again). He wrote this entire book that hinges on empathy, but either refuses or abjectly fails to apply that notion to his own life. It is genuinely remarkable to me that someone can craft a narrative so explicitly about the one trait they seem to lack entirely and not allow it to open some window of understanding into their own shortcomings.

But we're not quite done yet. Let's talk about Xenocide.

Xenocide is the first of 3 sequels to Ender's Game, set some hundreds/thousands (can't remember, it's a long fuckin time) of years after the events of the first book. Humanity has spread across the universe and settled other planets. The book tells the story of a small human community on a planet predominantly inhabited by the pequeninos, a race of piglike sentients with whom human contact is limited to two specific researchers. The researchers' interactions with the pequeninos are going well -- until one day the body of one of the humans is found vivisected by the pequeninos. Later in the book, it happens to the other researcher as well. All this, very understandably, threatens to spark a war.

Then the discovery is made -- the late life cycle stage of a pequenino is to transition from one of the piglike creatures into a tree, which is the form that is actually capable of reproduction. This transition, bestowed upon members of the species who have done something significant or remarkable, is done by vivisection, after which the body sprouts. The pequeninos believed they were bestowing an honor upon the researchers they killed, and were confused when they did not proceed into the next stage of life. When they learn that they in fact killed them, they mourn.

I am so genuinely fascinated by this story as a work of science fiction. I read this book pretty young, but this is all from memory, it stuck with me that vividly. When two species so utterly alien to each other begin to interact, a simple assumption of similarity can end in tragedy, even during acts of respect or good will. It's juicy! It's thought-provoking! The pequeninos are convincingly alien and the scenario makes sense. And the key thing is that they are people, they cared, they wanted to show their respect for the humans they admired. Empathy, speaking with them and understanding their view of the situation, was the only way to move forward in a constructive way, to avoid war and prevent further tragedy.

Another fascinating thing in this book: the concept of a Speaker for the Dead. Through the time-distorting effects of intergalactic travel, Ender is in his mid-30's in Xenocide, having spent the intervening centuries as a Speaker for the Dead, a position named after the role he assumed in writing his own book about the buggers as a species, laying out their story postmortem. The job of a Speaker is to tell the story of a life as the person viewed themselves -- returning once again to empathy, this time as an almost ritualized practice, as a Speaker arrives to a place where they have been requested and has to piece together the life of the deceased in order to tell the tale. (A friend of mine once promised to be my Speaker if I died first, if I'd promise the same. I think that promise still holds, though I somehow doubt both our capabilities toward the task as writ.)

Orson Scott Card loves empathy. It's one of his main themes. He keeps coming back to it, keeps emphasizing it in new and varied ways. And then he turns around and is a fucking asshole in real life. And you can't help but wonder - does he think he's succeeded? Does he think that he's managed to interact with the world in a kind and empathetic way? Does he somehow believe that he truly understands all these groups he seems to actively disdain, to campaign against, to view as alien? Does he think he loves them the way they love themselves?

After 71 spiteful little years on this planet, I somehow don't think change is in the cards for this man before he shuffles off the mortal coil. And yet I can't help thinking... he could stand to read his own books sometime. He might learn something.

[sh0jun]

Ikemen Sengoku Modern AU

Boys as various university professors or teachers--

I'm not elaborating it much for now

Maybe there would be updates idk--

Oda forces

→ Nobunaga Oda (Academic Head/Economics teacher)

He's gonna have a separate drawer in his office FILLED with candies

That drawer has a lock on it all the time (he doesn't want Hideyoshi to find out about it)

→ Hideyoshi Toyotomi (history teacher)

Really looks up to the department head

Very patient with all the students and will help each and every single one of them :)

You'd see him in the halls A LOT

so be careful. If you get caught breaking the rules you WILL be lectured by him

He keeps a check on every teacher's health too- also he would tell you to take it easy if he sees that you're not well

Also pretty good at giving motivational speech

→ Mitsuhide Akechi (computer science)

Okay hear me out. This man will be GOOD with computers and technology.

The event stories prove it

He's the teacher you'll go to every time there's something wrong with your iPad

And he WILL tease you endlessly

→ Mitsunari Ishida (Maths teacher)

For obvious reasons.

Our clumsy but very smart angel.

He'll be very kind. And calmly teach you if you're having trouble with a math problem no matter how many times you come to him

But no matter what you do, you won't be able to get his attention if he's reading

The janitor has caught him several times in the library reading books in a secluded corner when it's late in the night

Librarians sometimes have to kick him out

→ Masamune Date (food tech)

Yes.

I think it's self explanatory (I don't have anything to say about him I'm sorry-)

You'd always. ALWAYS. catch him at the farmers market.

→ Ieyasu Tokugawa (Biology/ chemistry teacher)

Yes.

He knows his stuff when it comes to plant and medicine

He'd be very cranky if you come to his with a question but he will answer it in full detail

He does NOT like the math teacher

The math teacher and the physics teacher seem to constantly fawn over him which he does not enjoy.

→ Keiji Maeda (Drama/music teacher)

Pretty self explanatory this one.

He and the literature teacher are good friends :3

Best friends in fact.

He's the cheery teacher. Very enthusiastic.

→ Ranmaru Mori (teacher assistant)

The principal's assistant to be more specific

Running around doing errands for Nobunaga. Looks very cute and is very helpful

The students love him

Kasugayama forces

→ Kenshin Uesugi (specialist PE teacher/sports department head)

Martial arts. Fencing. Horse riding. Swimming. Sword fighting. You name it

This guys knows EVERYTHING

he trains students in these sports for competitions.

The group sports activities go to the other gym teacher

Very cold. And seems very rude and icy. But will teach you if you ask for his help

Also do NOT expect him to go easy on you

It's your first time learning judo? Will TOO bad. You will be thoroughly beaten up by this guy

→Shingen Takeda (DT/department head)

The hot teacher who's at the carpentry workshop

Many students attend the workshop JUST to see him

Very nice. Flirt to everything that breathes

Loves sweets just like the academics Department head.

But doesn't like Nobunaga at all

→Yukimura Sanada (PE teacher)

The worst PE teacher you'll ever have 💀

Doesn't know how to talk to students or teachers which result in him getting some pretty snarky comments

Is in charge of preparing sports teams for sports competitions

Does not like Kenshin's guys but has to put up with them

He's best friends with the physics teacher and they sometimes show experiments together (yuki is the lab rat of course)

→Sasuke Sarutoki (Physics teacher)

That fun physics teacher that shows experiments in the class

Uses memes in his lectures

All his lectures are extremely fun

The students are often confused as to how does he always has a straight face

The PE teacher is his guinea pig at times

The sports department head has some beef with him for some reason

→ Yoshimoto Imagawa (Arts teacher)

The guy LOVES art and appreciates it to his fullest

This job was MEANT for him

Will appreciate your art and also give you pointers if you ask for it

Very charming

Students fawn over him

Has a very soothing voice along with a pretty face

→ Kanetsugu Naoe (Literature teacher)

Teaches English along with Japanese

Very strict

He's pretty and has little fangs but the students are afraid of him

A very good teacher

But also does some very strict marking in tests

Do not try to fight with him cause he will point out all the grammatic errors

Lone forces

→ Kicho (linguistics teacher)

Teaches other foreign languages

Like French, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, German, arabic, Russian. You name it.

This guy is a genius

He and the computer tech teacher are cousins

Seems very tired always (cough blackholes cough)

→ Motonari Mouri (portugese teacher)

Yes.

No comment on him.

Those who know him well will probably get it.

Will teach you every single curse word there is >:D

→ Kennyo (History teacher/ religious studies)

He does not like how modern studies are taking over

No phones allowed in his class

Very calm but also hella intimidating

Uhhh- does not put up well with the Computer tech teacher's antiques

Usually eats alone outside with cats.

Animals love him <3

Mai

→ Mai Mitsuzaki (Textiles teacher)

Das right. Mah girl gets her own category

The most fashionable teacher on campus

Everyone loves her

Shingen, Masa and she are the DT trio

Will teach you all there is to know about clothes and fashion

Designs the best clothes

She should be a designer.

Tags: cause idk who wants to be tagged--

@ikesenanigans (we came up with these together<3)

@rubia8 @bakersgrief @nightvers @ginshoujo @y2ashlee

UHHHH IDK WHO ELSE :(

Anyways Enjoy :D

This is my first hc that i wrote--

Leave in the comments whatever else you want to add? Idk how this works bro- (　-̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥᷄◞ω◟-̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥᷅ )

[creature-wizard]

Magical Correspondences 101

So I figured I should put all of my stuff on correspondences in one place for convenience's sake, since having them spread in a bunch of short posts isn't really helpful if I need to link them. Anyway, for those of you getting into magical correspondences, here's what I've got!

So, what are correspondences?

A lot of modern witchcraft operates on the belief that things like stones, plants, colors, and so on have certain metaphysical properties. Why do they have these properties? There are multiple explanations. Sometimes the properties are supposed to be innate. Sometimes they supposedly exist because the object in question is a symbol for something else. You'll find that many spells combine these two ideas, such as using an herb because of its inherent properties it's believed to have, then also using a flower because it's a symbol of a deity.

(Will it hurt anything to mix these concepts? Personally, I don't think so. Spiritual beliefs and metaphysical models are often messy, and occasionally contradict each other. I've never really seen it hurt anything.)

If you search around, you can easily find charts that describe various properties associated with various things. People sometimes assume that these properties were handed down to us from authorities who were so in tune with magic or the divine that they were basically infallible, and newbie witches just have no hope of figuring things out for themselves.

Fortunately, that's not really true!

Some correspondences are informed by nature. Others are social constructs.

You might see correspondence lists say that gold is associated with wealth, that apples are associated with love, and pink is associated with femininity. These are all social constructs that have nothing to do with the natural qualities of these things.

Other correspondences are informed by nature, however. Green is associated with life because healthy leaves are typically green. Hot peppers are associated with pain and torment because capsaicin produces a burning sensation.

(This isn't to say that social construct correspondences are all inherently bad, or even lesser. But it's good to be mindful of the differences, because it makes it easier to figure out what you can change and mess around with, and how!)

Even when correspondences are informed by nature, they can still be subjective.

The world is full of vastly different ecosystems, climates, and geological structures. Different regions have their own plants and animals. And even within your own region, you'll find that nature lends to many different correspondences for the same thing. Hot peppers might be orange or red, but so are many sweet fruits. Water can nurture life, or it can drown it.

Some people who acknowledge this will say that it's all about intent, but I personally believe it's a bit more about context. Just look at at the infamous children's hospital with the red path on the floor, and how the it creates an unnerving atmosphere despite whatever "positive connotations" red can have. I think if you're trying to figure out what to put in your spell, thinking contextually can help you make appropriate decisions.

In any case, I do think it's important to lean toward correspondences that have meaning to you. What some ancient guy who lived and died on the other side of the planet thought doesn't override your lived reality and your cultural experiences.

If you want to really learn correspondences, observe the world around you!

Correspondence lists can be good references, but they don't really help you develop a proper understanding. To do this, pay attention to plants, stones, colors, shapes, etc. and ask yourself:

Where do they turn up naturally?

How do they behave? What do they do?

Where and how do people use them, and what are they associated with in these contexts?

Where are things often grouped with other things? What is the significance of these groupings?

(If you keep a Book of Shadows or other magical journal, I recommend writing down your findings!)

So yeah, that's the basics on magical correspondences. They can look a little intimidating at first, but they're actually a lot more simple and straightforward than you might realize.

Happy witchin'!

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Recently, through Twitter, I have become aware of the fact that modern American parents have been very ignorant of their parental duties when it comes to their children. Parents are banding together to complain about the schools their children attend because their kids are getting bad grades in class, or they're getting detentions for doing bad consistently, or they're being held back because they're just not at the same level as their peers.

There was an entire thread of some woman whining about how the school was failing her kid, because his English class grade was so bad. There were thousands of comments agreeing and various reposts with anecdotes from other parents with similar experiences.

"My 26 y/o son can't even write a check for God's sake!"

And one single person finally replied with, "Do you guys not teach your kids anything at home before they start going to school?" Which then spawned people with actual common sense questioning the level of involvement these people had in the lives of their kids.

This is what led to a large surge of people complaining about how it's the school's job to teach them everything and they did their job just keeping them alive.

Now, I don't want to be mean, but it's gonna come across that way.

Parents are lazy these days.

When I was a child, my Nana and mom had me learning with Hooked on Phonics before I entered pre-K. I was 3 years old and already sounding out words that rhymed. I was practicing how quickly I could say them in under 30 seconds so I could progress to the next lesson.

mat hat sat that cat vat pat bat fat lat rat brat

etc...

When I was in pre-K(4 years old), they had a single, really old computer that had a bunch of Winnie the Pooh CD-ROM games. Because I always got my work done faster than everybody else, they let me use the computer because I could actually read and follow Pooh's instructions, and it kept me busy.

And when I entered kindergarten for the first time, I was really surprised to see that Hooked on Phonics was actually part of my curriculum and I was already very well ahead of everyone else. My mom and Nana took traching me very seriously. They not only read to me, but they would also get me Madeline books and cassette tapes from the children's library downtown. And then I would listen to the cassettes telling the story while reading the book at the same time to get used to the words.

At three years old, I was helping out in the kitchen, learning all of the different kitchen utensils and types of measurement. My mom often went between English, French and American Sign Language at random times so I picked up a lot of stuff that way. We never had a computer in the house for the first 12 years of my life, but I did have an old keyboard to learn how to type. Nana gave me basic piano lessons for a couple years. Mom taught me how to hem my clothes because she would buy me bigger clothes, hem them to size, and then let them out as I grew. Hell, Sperm Donor taught me how to write a check when I was 8. He was also a Financial Adviser, so I got a lot of lessons on money management, investments, and 401Ks and shit.

All these incredibly simple things ended up benefiting me later on, because I was so far ahead of all of the other students that it consistently put me at odds with them. I was better at reading, cooking, sewing, music, languages, etc... I was allowed time to do whatever I wanted while the rest of them had to catch up.

There is a lot more to being a parent than just making sure your kid eats three meals a day and doesn't die in a stupid way. And it seems like a lot of parents these days have completely forgotten that they have a duty to their kids beyond the feeding and clothing thing.

Certain things SHOULD be taught in schools, like how to balance a checkbook. But if it's clear that the school won't cover it, why aren't YOU doing something about that? And why do so many parents have no clue what the hell their kids are even getting up to in school? Why don't y'all get involved in your kid's lives?

[dailycass-cain]

2023 was another big stepping stone with Cass. The character was featured in A LOT of stuff this year amongst a few negative antics.

But unlike prior years the good really outweighed the bad. BY A LOT.

So let's take a look back one final time #CAINAISSANCE2023...

The year started STRONG with the release of Batgirls #14 aka the BEST solo story that involved the character this year.

I've gone in LENGTH on how AMAZING this tale was. If you haven't read it DO SO. You don't need any context but to just take in the masterpiece given.

Writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad gave artist Jonathan Case just this canvas of an issue to tell AN EPIC mostly silent issue.

If there's a tale Batgirls will be remembered for it'll BE THIS ISSUE.

I've lost count to just taking in the gorgeous art Case delivers here and just letting the actions and emotions tell the tale.

The only regret is well no full payoff to what is fully learned within this issue.

It just hits EVERY mark and is something any Cass fan CRAVED, but never got in Batgirl Vol. 1. Batgirls #14 was a worthy issue that should be talked about amongst fans of Cass for quite some time.

February gave us Cass's grand entrance to Ram V's Detective Comics run (#1069) and what an entrance it was! Literally, I can't let it go of how AMAZING it was.

And the run itself? It just keeps delivering as THE Batman book out currently.

It's a slow burn and when the run lays the payoffs IT HITS THOSE PAYOFFS. The series just ended an exceptional bi-weekly event that featured Cass and well, I'm extremely curious where this run goes with the character.

If anything, I just want MOAR from Ram V or a smaller secondary story involving Cass. But given the various characters he's been rotating and given next year is 2024 (more on that later) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for ALL OF THIS.

This run does work in trade but I digress you'd be missing the GORGEOUS covers this series has been shelling out. If anything BUY the single issues and read the run this way until you get to the present.

Or reread them like I've been doing. 😋

The early half of 2023 marked Cass's surprise return to an actual role in mega crossovers. She took part in the final issue of Batman vs. Robin being one of the random factors to stall the possessed Batman until ALL of DC's magical users came to cast it out of him.

The weakest of the crossovers the character was involved in I have to say was Gotham War. It was a nothing burger that made me swear off the Chip Zdarsky run of Batman completely.

Honestly, I feel more rewarded reading Tec more. Unless Chip pulls off a miracle turnaround in 2024.

But I digress Zdarsky was only half of the problems with the other being Tini Howard and yeah, if you were a Bat Family member who wasn't Jason Todd (how did that mini turn out to be more entertaining then the ENTIRE event?!)?

This story SUUUUUUUUCKED. Quite possibly the worst Batman event story since War Games/Crimes for me.

Sadly, the most disappointing stories I'd have to say are on equal ground in Beast World and Knight Terrors. As there was interesting concepts with Cass involving them, and both stories just go NOWHERE.

I feel more so robbed with Knight Terrors as the design for Cass within it went hard. It's just that you give us THIS design and tease us with this little nugget and give us NOTHING?

COME ON!

Beast World was a whole nothing burger as well, save the pretty art and a full confirmation that Cass's old NML is now canonically her defacto one again.

Even if we had it mentioned earlier last year and again in the best crossover event involving Cass...

WHICH WAS IN LAZARUS PLANET: DARK FATE #1. It gave us Alyssa Wong returning for a THIRD time to write Cass and they were joined by Haining on art which introduced us to the world of Xanthe.

That in itself led to a spinoff mini-series that had Cass in it with SPIRIT WORLD. It did more with the new character Xanthe and laid out their origins and powerset nicely while also laying some seeds for MAYBE future Cass stories.

Again, I feel like a repeating record on how GOOD this series was. Like, I can't wait for the trade next year to take it all in again. But besides the creative team delivering it gave us Dustin Nguyen AND Marcio Takara drawing Cass again OFFICIALLY AS BATGIRL!!

Even when this series ended, I STILL WANT MOAR!! Like what memories did Cass lose? What the heck happened with Spirit World twisting her memories of Batgirl Vol. 1 #72?! How will Xanthe be with the Jade Court?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

Something else that left me with MANY questions was DCeased universe as even though the story ended back in April.

I still crave more starring Cass, because let's face it STEPH/TALIA DESERVE CLOSURE!! Cass could be the gateway to that.

Doing so would tie up the final loose ends as well. Let's see how Rose is raising her kid with Jason. Silent Olsen. Harley/Ivy. Ollie/Dinah. Jim Gordon.

But I digress. It gives us more Cazzam. We need more Cazzam.

But an alternate universe Cass just didn't pop up there we had a Cass show up in various other comics. Knights of Steel which also had me hankering for MOAR and Harley Quinn & the Legion of Bats.

I know some didn't like it, but me? I think it was LEAPS and BOUNDS better than what we got in the actual season of HQ.

Let us never talk about that season again…

Now something we SHOULD talk about more is the first actual appearance of Cass in a DC ANIMATED MOVIE!! Yes, Kai Li Cain from Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham.

I was blown away at the extended role they gave the character in the film (to the, "Oh right Tim is here and alive." role in the books).

Kai Li voiced perfectly by Tati Gabrielle gave a balance of innocence and reason with the batshit craziness this film throws at us.

Like, I really REALLY want a sequel. Just to see what she'd do now given full access to Bruce's fortune? Will she follow his path? I mean yeah we want steampunk Bat!

Speaking of which artists we need designs for this stat still!

It just adds that anchor where you want to see more of this universe and the characters that inhabit it. I mean that's the sign of a REALLY good Elseworlds. Where you want more and sometimes you get just that.

But with all this good came the sad, and that was the canceling of Batgirls. I know many were against the series (especially after #7-8), but the series found its footing with #9 and ran into something I hope more positively can be talked about it.

It's true failing wasn't the creators behind the series, more just elements outside that just slotted it's end (Batgirl movie getting canned making #7-8 more wasteful), Evil Oracle #4 aka the pitch, and just being something it couldn't be).

I'm grateful for each and every creator who worked on this book because it was a GIFT that I'll always be appreciative of.

I'll say it again, THANK YOU TO ALL! 🙏

And its spirit lived on in the Nightwing back up a few months ago. It was something that was TRULY needed after the garbage fire that was Gotham War. It gave us this Cass/Dick sibling stuff and GIVE ME MOAR!!!

Unlike the past where we'd be done, DC brought us back up giving us the current BIRDS OF PREY ongoing which has Cass in it.

Really the series is a revelation of giving us things I always wanted that I'd never thought we get. Cass with Dinah? CHECK.

Cass meeting Big Barda and the two having a bond? HELLS YEAH CHECK! Anytime that bond grows I squee even more.

Just give writer Kelly Thompson ALL the time and ideas she has to churn this out to the proper conclusion she has envisioned. Just give me fifty-plus issues of her, Leonardo Romero, and Jordie Bellaire.

Finally of course there was Batman: Wayne Family Adventures which gave us THREE banger Cass stories. One where she and Steph are a MENANCE (as they should), Cass scaring the crapbaskets out of EVERYONE and of course...

Season 2 gave us A LOT of things I wanted in general (her interacting with Damian) and just showing the world why I really really love this character. Why I talk about her daily.

Really as 2023 closes and 2024 is about to begin... Well, it's the character's TWENTIETH-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 25 years of kicking ass and ripping our hearts out.

It's been a journey for sure.

really REALLY hope DC honors this anniversary and continues to mend the bridges burned all those years ago.

Give us that Omnibus. Give us a mini or SOMETHING to celebrate this character. If not, I'll take whatever Ram V and Thompson give us.

#CAINAISSANCE2023 may be over, but #CAINAISSANCE2024 will be the most important year yet.

25 YEARS OF CASS!! LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN ON JANUARY 1st!

[kiwioala]

since early day lore keeps being referenced, here are some good early qsmp lore vods to watch if you're ever curious about what all went down:

any day 1 pov: really good introductory content (obviously), even for the lore. there’s a lot of cutscenes from that specific day iirc as well which i always think are beneficial to watch! also everyone’s first reactions to cucurucho/osito bimbo are fucking hilarious

roier, day 4: explains his and osito bimbo’s dynamic, they spend a large part of the day together.

roier, day 5: the betrayal the day of spreens betrayal, self explanatory. this is also the day we get the book from osito bimbo where it calls roier "0037"

any day 7 pov: egg's introduction morse code transmission about an “experiment,” the day the original eggs got adopted, shows how the attitude toward the eggs has changed since then, possibly could help explain some of the family dynamics?? at least how they function and treat the kids

roier, day 10: osito bimbo makes it's return but now it's different, (sort of) the day cucurucho officially takes osito bimbo's place

slime or roier, day 16: tilin's death the day of tilin's death, ultimately had a lot of impacts on various characters on the island like slime, roier, and quackity, for example.

slime, day 20: avenging juanaflippa slime tries to get flippa another chance at life by forcing a reset of all the eggs lives, meaning he goes after and targets the other player's eggs.

day 21: "save the baby" quest aka the first egg kidnapping/disappearance (continued in day 22 due to server maintenance). a rescue mission given to the islanders via egg tasks to go retrieve their eggs!

day 22 (slime, mariana, roier, bbh, quackity, foolish, jaiden, philza): juanaflippa's custody trial and revival really fucking funny but also a part of the servers history that i feel like got brushed over too fast. confirms the federation can give extra lives to the eggs if they are so willing and some other stuff.

luzu, day 24: final (physical) arin appearance explains why arin was there, what his purpose is, and how the codes are related to him. can also been seen in foolish and bbh's vod from this day.

foolish, day 26: introduction to leo’s “friends” and a few island entities, the founding of the theory bros (now ordo theoritas) which can also be seen in max and bad’s pov that day!

day 27: the funeral a funeral is held for all the dead eggs (trump, tilin, and flippa) and i believe it's the first time the federation allows parents to talk to their children after their death. for this day, most pov's do go to the funeral service, but only parents of the dead eggs (quackity, slime, mariana, and maxo) get to see their children.

anyones pov, day 34: “the countdown begins, 6 days left.” codes intercept the ducks transmission (again?) and alert the parents that the eggs will die/disappear in 6 days. we know now this obviously isn't true but still a lore-ish day

roier, day 34: even more osito bimbo content! the day when osito bimbo tells roier more about the federation, such as the existence of the "host" and how it has a specific set of duties it must follow/complete.

quackity, day 36: quackitys interrogation & las casualonas debut disguised, roier and vegetta interrogate quackity about his plans regarding the eggs (which iirc was a rumor started by roier saying he was going to murder them) and the island.

maxo, day 50: sofias creator visits maxo important for current lore seeing as the person who gave him said instructions is now known to be a part of the revolution etoiles was recruited into.

[nevertoomanyspiders]

it's a Wheeler!

for literally no goddamn reason, have an assortment of Wheelers from various adaptations and depictions ...that aren't John R. Neill's art or Return to Oz stuff, everyone already knows those, haha.

...well ok except this one from the endpaper of Ozma of Oz because it's new to me, at least, and the gutenberg.org copy doesn't have it.

what a dang dork, bless. glad he and Tik-Tok set aside their differences to watch the race.

Illustration

from 1976 Polish edition of Ozma of Oz with art by Zbigniew Rychlicki, via Reddit:

these lads are so stylish and their oversized heads are pretty freaky, dang.

a very 17th century Wheeler from 1970 Japanese edition of Ozma of Oz, art by Sonoko Arai, via Hungry Tiger Talk:

a dang goofy Wheeler by Vlada Stolikovich, 1976. also via Hungry Tiger Talk:

anyway, fuck, um, everything else is under a cut because this post ended up a bit too long oops.

something I have a hard time finding information on beyond that what I assume to be a Korean translation (?) of an Indonesian edition (???) of Ozma of Oz with 3D CGI illustrations. would be fun to see if there's more images within. not a damn clue who made these illustrations, either.

gosh those Wheelers. dunno what the artist was going for but there's a bit of a renaissance vibe. what if this was an animated thing? on that note...

Animated adaptations

the 1987 direct-to-video short Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz has uh. these fuckers. seemingly there's only two. probably because of low animation budget, lol.

well, I say there's two, but it's just one design with a palette swap one has blonde hair and pink coat, the other has black hair and orange coat or something. also it's not evident from the screenshots but these dorks have long, pretty eyelashes and GAWD the voice acting is. well. hear for yourselves.

one of my favourite moments is Ozma turning up, saying "Enough." and bonking a Wheeler on the head with her scepter. here's the time stamp.

oh yeah I'm sure a bunch of folks have seen the Wheelers as seen in Oz Kids courtesy of this post. they appear in the episode Who Stole Santa. (and no it wasn't the Wheelers, obviously, they're just here to be annoying and trying to prevent the characters from taking a specific path.)

the guy in purple, who I'm calling Squeky Wheel, looks a lot like the Wheeler in this Ozma of Oz chapter art by John R. Neill. poor guy got walloped pretty hard.

anyway only Squeaky talks while his two buddies remain silent. these guys are such pushovers and the kids aren't scared of them at all.

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz (2017-2020) has these little bobble-headed goobers.

can't say I'm crazy about how they look but their characterization as reckless speedsters is a fun one. in one episode they even make friends with Tin Man after he replaces a busted wheel.

Ozu no Mahotsukai (オズの魔法使い, 1986-1987) has a... very strange interpretation of the Wheelers, but then, the series does play fast and loose with the source material as it is, which I don't mind! an adaptation doing something fun with the source material adds an element of unpredictability which I like... so, I'm not terribly surprised by how much they deviate from the book descriptions.

they wouldn't look too out of place in the B.C. comic strip.

and this segues perfectly to...

Comics

the Marvel comic adaptation of Ozma of Oz by Eric Shanower (writer) and Skottie Young (artist) probably has some of my fav depictions of the Wheelers, and I really like this variant cover (I believe it's by Eric Shanower?)

these guys are utterly freaky but also dang silly. watching these fucked up abominations bumble around defuses the terror.

there he go

so, there's the ones I've seen so far. if there's more that you know of, SEND THEM TO ME I NEED THEM SO BAD HELP

edit: OK there were some earlier Wheeler things I forgot about!

this Japanese edition has these kinda menacing looking Wheelers. I like the Osamu Tezuka influence here.

another Japanese version also covered by Hungry Tiger Talk with more robotic looking, super evil looking Wheelers, lol.

also as far as illustration, there's this old Italian edition of Ozma of Oz.

not exactly the most menacing looking Wheeler but he does have a fancy embroidered jacket.

and Billina has an adorable bonnet!

anyway that's all for now, at least.

[arienai]

You've heard the Miyazawa memes, now it's time to

Read Otherside Picnic

A post by me

What is it? Otherside Picnic is a book series by Japanese author Iori Miyazawa. They are often called light novels for marketing purposes, but are technically considered "full" science fiction novels. The series is loosely based off of Soviet science fiction novel Roadside Picnic, which itself inspired the film Stalker as well as the video game STALKER.

What is it about? At its core, Otherside Picnic is about two girls who stumble into a weird alternate universe filled with creatures from Japanese internet myths and creepypastas. They go into that world frequently to explore it.

It is primarily a series of novels as I mentioned, however, there are also anime and manga adaptations.

Otherside Picnic is yuri (F/F), explicitly so, however, only the novels have reached this point in the story. If you want canon lesbians, you want to read the novels. I cannot stress this enough.

Okay but what about the characters, are they good? I'm super biased but honestly these are some of the most tumblrina characters I've seen in a while and I'm shocked they aren't more popular.

Sorawo Kamikoshi had a deeply traumatic childhood (though she likes to deny it) and today is a self professed "grumpy otaku" at university who is extremely into spooky shit and creepypastas, which she tends to infodump about. She is very bad at making friends and before discovering the Otherside she often spent her time watching Dark Souls Let's Plays and Minecraft build videos. No, like, canonically. She is a huge loser and I love her so much.

Toriko Nishina was born and raised in Canada with her two lesbian moms but now she's going to university in Japan. She is extremely gay and knows it but is also a complete disaster about it. She has an outgoing personality but struggles to make friends unless she's attaching herself to a new cute girl. I don't want to get too far into spoiler territory but she has a violent streak and has some hot and extremely badass Tiktok Lesbian With an Axe moments.

There are a lot of other great characters too, but you'll have to read to meet them!

And it's explicitly gay, you say? YES, this is a lesbian romance story. Girls hold hands. Girls kiss (with tongue!) Girls ogle other girls' boobs. Apparently the latest volume (not yet available in English) amps it up even more 😳

You're telling me it's literally gay despite being written by the meme "yuri is two wild beasts/a field/etc." Guy? Yes.

Where did the memes come from then? They come from a couple of interviews with Miyazawa where he compared various abstract concepts to yuri. Some of this can be seen in his work, but for the most part it is a straightforward and easy to read lesbian story.

Okay! Where do I read it!: Since they are novels you can find them at many bookstores! You can also buy the ebooks for relatively cheap and read them on your phone.

I hate reading, can't I do the manga/anime? You can if you want but the anime doesn't really go beyond flirty territory with the two girls and the manga is still ongoing and hasn't hit the gay stuff yet. So it's up to you.

Is the series finished? No, it's ongoing. There are currently seven volumes available in English. But we have an extremely dedicated fanbase. Join ussssss you know you want to. Look at these two cuties

Anyway I have so many good things to say about this series, I love the way the main characters are outcasts who come together and help each other learn to love themselves. I love the spooky setting, I love the side characters and of course I love how gay it is, I feel like most weirdo disaster gays on here will find something here to like. And the characters are in their 20's!!! That's still relatively young but it's so nice to read gay stuff about people who are old enough to drink (which they do a lot of).

So yes in closing

Read Otherside Picnic

[child-of-the-nights]

Could u please do some domestic Aro Volturi headcanons?🥰 thx

Absolutely! ^^

A/N: The mate is human in this one but let me know if you'd like a vampire mate version.

TW: None

Domestic Aro Volturi Headcanons

~Reader is gender neutral~

Since vampires don't require food, cooking isn't something Aro does. Now, I do believe that The Volturi has some human staff outside the secretaries. In fact, I think that there are some cooks in the palazzo and they serve food for the secretaries (kind of in a 'free lunch' way).

But if Aro's mate insisted on wanting to cook, who was he to deny it? If he had the time, he would even linger around to see what they are making. Aro has seen thousands of minds and has useful information tucked away in his own. That includes some tips and tricks on cooking.

I fully believe he would help them out with something if they asked him to. He would ask for a favor in return of course, but that's a story for another day.

His mate struck gold with this ancient vampire when it comes to domestic stuff. Why? Because Aro is curious about MANY things.

So when it comes to his mate doing something to keep themselves busy while Aro is working, he would be delighted to hear them ramble about it. Crocheting? Oh yes, he had seen some people do that. Redecorating their room? Aro would love to help them with ideas if they cannot decide on something. Whatever it is, he is ready to share his opinion.

Whenever he is free, he likes to take his mate to his private library. Now, I'm not saying Aro is a hoarder, but he kind of is. As a result, his mate should expect to find a wide variety of books on various domestic themes. After all, who wouldn't want to learn about the ancient art of tea-making?

He also loves fashion and had tried out most trends. What I'm saying is that Aro would love to share his clothes with his mate if given the chance. Heck, he would even dress them up himself if they let him.

What Aro would most appreciate is if his mate could provide him with new information. He just wants to know everything, regardless of what it is about. I mean, with his mind reading ability, it's not that difficult for him to find it out, but he just loves hearing them say it.

When it comes to sleeping, he usually stays by their side until they are asleep. If he doesn't have too much work, that is. If he has time, he would read to them or cuddle with them. He finds dreams to be incredibly fascinating and would enjoy watching them like "movies".

Aro would never expect his mate to clean their room because they have staff for that as well, but if they insisted, he would gladly let them. His eyesight is far superior to that of a human, so they can expect some snarky remarks about how they missed a spot. But it's only a joke. Aro actually enjoys listening to his partner singing their favorite song while tidying the room up. He would never make them feel bad about themselves.

Gardening, on the other hand, is bittersweet for Aro. His sister used to garden a lot, and it reminds him of those times. Nevertheless, he offers advice to his partner when they ask for it. While they are working, Aro might even share some interesting tales about his sister. He gently reminds them to respect his sister's work, or more precisely, what's left of it. For everyone's sake.

Overall, I think he's a great mate to have when it comes to domestic things.

[austinslounge]

I honestly tried to like Kaia, I truly did, but I can’t stand this shit anymore. Her desperate attempts to be popular, seem interesting and ”deep” are driving me insane at this point. I know it’s probably not her fault, but her parents’, they made her this cringy attention-seeker after all. I can’t understand what Austin sees in her other than her family’s connections or just a plain PR agreement. She has no personality, she always tries to gain popularity by copying her mother(or people she’s dating). It’s funny how she doesn’t even look that much like Cindy, sure, she’s beautiful, but Presley literally stole Cindy’s face. Her attempts to seem intelligent are also miserable. I’ve never seen any of her book club readings, because for me, most of her book recommendations are just airplane reads, but I’ve seen many people say that even when she’s talking about books, it seems scripted and staged. Like someone just gave her a summary and she retells what happened in the book, that’s it. I mean, what intelligence? She never even bothered to take basic acting classes. Her comments about nepotism speak volumes too. During the pandemic she bragged about having dinner reservations and partying with her friends. Her merch is awful. With all her money and resources, she could have made some really good stuff, but why would she?Her small insane fan base will pay 50$ for an ugly white shirt with a caption either way. She’s desperately clinging to anyone who can give her even the smallest amount of fame, her following people and then unfollowing them if they don’t follow back. The way she was clinging to Austin hardcore in July, dragging him away from his fans, when he wanted to interact with them. Her stupid cake for his birthday. Don’t even get me started on how she makes out with her female friends constantly or throws herself on her male costars or short SNL guys. I don’t know why I feel so annoyed and disgusted by her all the time. I swear, this girl spoils my excitement for Austin and his work every fucking time. Nepotism is not always a bad thing, there are talented nepo babies, but she’s like the epitome of everything I hate about nepotism. I don’t know how she can rub shoulders with people who actually have talent, get invited to all these awards and red carpets. Kaia had plenty of time to prove that she’s worth something, she’s been in the industry since she was a child, but no. Why would she prove anything? Her mother is Cindy Crawford, her father is a millionaire worth 400 million, her boyfriend is Austin Butler. I just wish she will go away finally. No matter how hard I try, I can’t warm up to her. Sadly, looking at the state she is now, you can clearly tell that the girl has issues, but sadly,having no brain,she can’t understand that she’s a tragedy about to happen.

💯

Girl! I wish I could give you an award for this post. You basically hit the nail squarely on the head with the many various reasons why a lot of us in Austin's fandom don't like this girl! I'd be saying the exact same thing if Austin were dating another woman just like this. I'm actually verrry surprised that people haven't called Kaia out on her very obvious clout-chasing by now.

I'll be honest, I never really cared for her even when she was dating Elordi. I don't hate her, she's just meh to me. Always has been. So my thoughts and feelings about her are not about Austin. It's more so about what I've observed about her over the years.

Her dating Austin just makes things even more unbearable though -- especially when you know that he could do so much better. 😩 But hey, it's his life, not mine!

When I realized they were dating however, I really did try to like her too, or at least give her a chance. I saw that Austin was with her, so I was trying to be a "good fan"and see what he may see in her. But last year, I started seeing more and more negative things that I just didn't like about her.

I really don't have much to add to this wonderful post, because you basically touched on the many various reasons why a lot of AB fans don't really care for her. I also think she makes Austin look cheap with her weird behavior and interests. 👀 She really cheapens his brand imo. But that's a topic for another day lol.

[ohitsjustgen]

Bakugo x Soft Reader

_______________________________________________________

Fluff, fluff and more fluff and maybe a bit of insecurity?

_______________________________________________________

It was the weekend and you came to visit bakugo. You walked up to the front door and began to ring the doorbell. Knowing that he was probably in the middle of training you ring it continuously.

Since bakugo's parents were out of town for a business trip you wanted to check up on him..just to make sure he was ok..and to make sure he didn't burn the house down some how.

Bakugo, who was still training hears the doorbell and huffs to the door to answer feeling a little agitated. "Who is i- oh it's you" he says calming down his anger a bit. He makes a 'Tch' sound with his mouth after a long silence.

"Is right now a bad time? I mean I can come back some other day if you're busy." Trailing off on the last part of your sentence you look down at your feet, slightly intimidated by the man's presence.

Somehow your shy, quiet personality and bakugo's angered, loud, personality collided to build a relationship. Who would've known?

With his red irises examining your facial features he sighs deeply. He moves aside and crosses his arms. "Nope, it's alright you can stay. I was training for the exam coming up next week but I'm a little tired anyway." He says uncrossing one of his arms to rub the back of his neck.

Not wanting to be too hopeful you look up at him making sure it was really ok. "Are you really sure? Like I really don't want to bother."

The blonde haired boys face changed a bit and the annoyance started to become obvious in his tone as he answered in a cold manner. "Yes I'm goddamn sure hurry before I change my mind"  He says letting another "Tch" leave his mouth before turning around and entering the house. You, not to far behind him, follow like a lost puppy begging for food.

"Why exactly did you come here dumbass? He asks coldly. He walks into the kitchen and opens the modern fridge to pull out a bottle of water.

"Well, I just thought maybe we can hangout? We haven't done anything together since we've been official" You state sitting onto a barstool at the island his kitchen equipped.

He pops open the bottle and takes a swig letting the cold liquid slide down his throat. All you see from your position is his adams apple bobbing up and down with each swallow.

When he's finished he twists the cap back on and looks at you with his ruby red eyes. You can tell he's thinking about something..but what?

"Fine" he finally says "But only for a short while ok? I don't want you to think I need you or something understood?"

You vigorously shake your head in agreement. Once again the 'Tch' sound was made before he starts to think for a moment. Once he's done he speaks but this time in a less irritated tone. "Let's go to my room to talk I guess"

"Ok!" You say hopping off the stool. You follow behind the blond boy letting your eyes examine everything you pass. "Your house is nice bakugo" you say trying to soften the mood a bit. The angered boy doesn't respond though he just huffs at the compliment. Before long he feels bad for not responding "Thanks I guess." It was more of a mumble but you could care less. He accepted the compliment and that's all that mattered.

Once you eventually made it to bakugo's room you couldn't help but to look around. It's a pretty nice room with lots of various things in it, mostly his hero equipment and stuff he uses for training. Although it is a bit messy. 

"Sit" he says pointing to his desk littered with notes and books. You do as you're told and sit at the desk. He does the same action and sits on the edge of his bed.

"..."

"...."

Honestly, the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife. So of course you would try to make small talk.

"Your posters are cool" you say pointing at them. One was a poster of All Might and the other was of A hero agency you didn't quite recognize.

He grunts at your compliment.

Seconds go by but with how thick this atmosphere was it felt more like hours.

"Ugh what's the point, I'm sorry for coming I'll just see myself out" you say attempting to exit the room.

Bakugo quickly gets up from the bed and grabs your arm to prevent you from leaving him..from exiting his life. He looks at you with..guilt in his eyes? He huffed and closed his eyes, releasing your wrist from his veiny hand.

"Look just because I don't want you to think I'm needy or whatever don't mean I don't want you..here with me." The blonde strokes his arm feeling bad about the situation. He sits back down on the bed and pats his lap. You comply and sit onto his lap. Looking into your (e/c/e) he speaks again saying; "I'm sorry if I act a bit cold sometimes, I'm trying I really am. I do like it when you come to visit sometimes." knowing him personally you know that when he looked away he felt slightly embarrassed.

"Really?" You ask looking up at him with doe eyes.

"I may be too prideful to say it out loud but..yea"

Hearing this you hug him tight but gentle as he whispers out the words

"I love you Y/N"

As he hugs back just as tight you whisper it back

"I love you more Katsuki"

A/N: So cute 🥹 maybe a bit of character development is in place?

[starryeyedjanai]

kinktober prompt: free use, overstimulation | read on ao3 steddie and polyam cc | explicit cw: free use eddie, transmasc eddie, sloppy seconds, creampie, come eating

Eddie is a little afraid for Steve to find out the kind of arrangement he has with the rest of his band.

Because they're not just the rest of his band, they're his guys, his other boyfriends. And Steve knows this of course, but he didn't exactly tell him how it is between them.

It's not something they ever really had to talk about before, is the thing.

Eddie has lived with his band in various living situations for years now, sometimes sharing a bed with one or more of them when times were tough and they didn't have the money for anything bigger.

They'd shared a one bedroom apartment at one point with a mattress on the ground and a pull out couch in the living room and it was fine.

It was always fine.

Living on top of each other, and trying to make something of their music while also having to work day jobs to afford living in LA was hard sometimes. They'd get annoyed with each other about stuff with their music or just in general about the shitty day they had at their shitty jobs.

But they had each other and that always made it enough and it always made it worth it.

They'd hash it out and apologize for being in a bad mood and go to bed, never angry at each other, sometimes curling up all four of them on their mattress, somehow able to fit.

Eventually, they stopped rotating who had to sleep on the shitty pull out bed that had springs that hurt and just started sleeping on the same mattress, switching it out for a larger size when they had the money to better accommodate them.

It's on the tail end of living there that it all starts. When Corroded Coffin is finally starting to pick up and get booked places, when they're in talks with a fucking producer, that things start to change.

Because with more people seeing their band and actually starting to gain fans, it can't all be good news all the time.

The thing with the producer falls through and even though there are other producers and other people that might be able to help them get a foot in the door eventually, it feels like such a blow to all of them.

The apartment is silent when they get home after their show, after Eddie gets the call and has to break the news to them.

They're all sad and they're all sulking and Eddie can't take it, can't take the silence and can't take his best friends being sad.

Because he had to be the one to tell them and because he can't fix it and he doesn't know how to talk about it, he says, "Someone should fuck me," out into the open air of their bedroom.

All three of them pause what they were doing and turn to look at him. He can see the wheels turning in their heads and can't take the words back now that they're out of his mouth.

It's not like he hasn't felt the tension between all of them at times. He's not immune to the fact that all of his friends are fucking hot. He sees the way they all look at each other, the way they look at him sometimes and he knows they're not immune either.

Living in close quarters means a lot of walking in on things you weren't supposed to see - walking in on someone getting out of the shower because they were taking too long and the other person had to piss, someone thinking they had the apartment to themselves for half an hour and the other three walking in on them with their hand on their dick - it all comes with the territory of having to share an apartment like this.

So he looks each of them in the eye after he says it, because he doesn't want to take it back.

"Eddie, what- the fuck?" Grant asks, looking between Jeff and Gareth and him.

"We're all fucking miserable and we barely got to come down from a frankly amazing show tonight, so we have to do something," Eddie says.

"And, and, and fucking was the first thing that came to mind?" Gareth asks, his voice incredulous.

"What else are we gonna do? Go to bed? You're angry and sad, we all are. Why not do something we know is gonna make us feel better?" Eddie asks, his heart beating so fast in his chest.

Gareth opens and closes his mouth a few times and looks at the others. "Do either of you think this is a good idea?" he asks.

Grant stays silent, but Jeff speaks up after a minute.

He says, "It's not, like, the worst idea in the world," and Eddie can't help the smile that overtakes his face. Somehow he knew Jeff would be on his side with this.

He's usually the type to go after what he wants and Eddie can understand why he wouldn't go after what he wants when it comes to the band because so many things could go wrong, but when it's offered?

"You can't be fucking serious," Gareth says, letting out a heavy breath. "What, if Grant and I say no, you're gonna fuck in our bed while we wait in the living room?" He asks as if it's normal for four grown men to share a mattress most nights, like they've ever been normal about each other even before now.

"You wouldn't have to wait in the living room," Eddie mumbles. "Even if you don't want to actually do anything, you can still stay and watch. But I don't want it to be just Jeff - I want it to be all of us, in some way, so if you're not into it, we won't do anything."

"Yeah," Jeff says. "It's all of us or none of us."

Gareth looks between them and his mouth twists.

"If we- I don't want this to mess us up," Grant says.

"It doesn't have to," Eddie says gently. "We can be smart about it."

Jeff says, "You know I'm like the most level-headed one here and if I thought we were gonna screw things up, I'd say something. But we care about each other too much to do that."

Grant nods and asks, "You really think we can do this without it becoming weird?"

Jeff and Eddie both nod.

Jeff says, "I think so."

"Then I'm in," Grant says.

"What say you, little one?" Eddie asks, turning to Gareth.

Gare glares at him and says, "I think you're all fucking crazy, but you, I mean you know how I feel, so, obviously, if you're all in, then so am I."

"We're not trying to pressure you," Eddie says insistently. "If you want to say no, you can."

Gareth gets up from where he was sitting on the couch and walks up to Eddie. He has his signature bitchy look on his face as he says, "I'm saying yes, idiot," and then he kisses him.

That night is one that Eddie will remember for the rest of his life - his first time taking more than one person at a time, Jeff pressing into his ass while Gareth fucked his cunt, turning his head to mouth at Grant's cock as best he could with so much stimulation happening.

It just sort of came together like that, and Eddie found that he really liked being stuffed full, all his holes being used.

It felt like belonging, felt like he was theirs.

It's not awkward after, falling in their bed, wrapped up in them, head pillowed on Grant's chest.

It's not awkward the next morning when they wake up and remember the heat, the electricity, they all felt last night.

So it's not hard for Eddie to roll over and offer himself up again to whoever wants to take him, still bleary eyed and sleep warm and stretched open.

They don't put a name to it, they don't talk about it beyond checking in every now and then to make sure this is still working, the three of them using Eddie like they own him.

They've since moved into a bigger apartment, once they got a little bit of notoriety and could afford it. So they don't have to share a bed and most nights they don't - they rotate who shares with who because they still only have a two bedroom and it just made more sense to get two king sized beds instead of four fulls.

So now, whenever they're home, Eddie can count on someone's hands being on him.

He can count on Grant pulling him into his lap as the four of them watch TV and sitting him on his cock, just letting him feel the stretch of his cock inside him.

He can count on Jeff joining him in the shower and putting him on his perpetually bruised knees to have Eddie suck his cock and come down his throat.

He can count on Gareth bending him over the kitchen table and pressing slowly inside his asshole that was held open with a plug, filled with someone else's come from when they used him earlier.

He's stuffed full of come in whatever hole they want to use when they're at home.

He doesn't mind the way they paw at him- he likes it.

He makes it easy for them. He walks around wearing very little, if anything, waiting for them to use him. It's like their favorite pasttime now.

He'll be wearing just a pair of tiny shorts as he does the dishes and he'll end up with a cunt that's leaking come, his hands still submerged in the dishwater and his finger pruned.

He walks by them sitting on the couch wearing nothing, and he's pulled onto the couch, his cunt stuffed, someone else's cock right in front of his face where his head dangles off the arm of the chair.

He's kind of living his dream, making music with his best friends, getting fucked into oblivion every single day, feeling loved every single day.

And then he meets Steve, a volunteer at the animal shelter that Eddie and the others visit sometimes.

There's an instant connection, something he wants to pursue, something he's only ever felt with his band.

He instantly knew he wanted to be friends with Jeff and Grant, that he wanted to make music with Gareth.

He looks at Steve and he instantly knows he has to get to know him.

And that's where things get sticky. Because since starting this whole fucking within the band thing, none of them have really dated anyone.

A couple of very casual dates that didn't lead anywhere have happened, but none of them have found anyone that they would want to be in a relationship with.

And after hanging out with Steve a few times, Eddie knows he wants to date him, knows he wants more with him.

So he has the big, scary conversation with his guys, telling them how he feels about Steve and they all but roll their eyes.

"You mean the guy you get all moon-eyed over whenever we go to the shelter?" Gareth asks.

"The guy you won't shut up about?" Jeff asks.

"Oh, you mean the guy you've been on four dates with, looking lovestruck every time you come home," Grant says.

He hasn't been going on dates with Steve, not really. They haven't called them dates. They haven't even kissed yet, but he wants to kiss him so badly.

And- yeah, okay. He gets it. He's never been very subtle about his affections, but goddamn. They could have at least pretended to be surprised.

"You guys fucking suck, man," he says even though there's this giddy feeling brewing underneath his skin.

"You don't need our blessing," Gareth says, "but if you want it, you have it."

Eddie walks over to Gareth and kisses him, a slow, chaste kiss.

"This isn't going to change anything," Eddie says when he pulls back. "I'll tell him who you are to me and we'll figure it out."

-

The next time he hangs out with Steve, he tells him that he wants to take him on a date.

Steve flushes and smiles at him. He says, "I wasn't sure if you were interested, but I am very, very glad that you are."

They're standing at Steve's door, and okay- he can see how this probably looks like a date. He took Steve to see a movie and now they're at his front door like they're teenagers about to have their first kiss. Maybe he should have had this conversation with Steve a while ago.

So he bites the bullet and he tells him, the words spilling out of his mouth.

"Oh," is what Steve says when Eddie's done with his spiel and Eddie's heart plummets. But only a few moments pass before he says, "I've never dated someone polyamorous before, but I think we could make it work."

Eddie lets out a breath of relief and says, "Okay, good. Um, I really want to kiss you."

"I really want to kiss you too," Steve says, leaning forward.

Their lips meet and Eddie sighs against his mouth. Steve's lips are soft and plump and Eddie wants to spend hours kissing them. But he pulls away and says goodnight because he really wants this to work and jumping him two seconds after he agrees to go on a date with him maybe wouldn't send the right message.

-

Dating Steve and fucking Steve is so fucking fun.

He's spent years with his guys, getting fucked every way possible, but there's something really fun about learning what makes someone tick.

There's fun in the familiarity that he has with Grant, Gareth, and Jeff, don't get him wrong, but accidentally discovering that Steve likes to fuck him when he's sloppy with someone else's come inside him is fucking spectacular.

He wasn't even looking to get fucked the night he found that out, at least not by Steve.

They had all had a long day in the studio, recording stuff for their album, and he's tired when Jeff pulls him into his lap and has him ride him. Grant and Gareth already went to bed, too tired to fuck around.

He rides him slowly, kissing him the entire time, licking into his mouth, sucking on his top lip while Jeff sucks on his bottom lip. It's intimate and Jeff comes in his ass like he always does.

And Steve texts him after he's been plugged up and is getting ready for bed, asking if he wants to sleep over. Just to sleep the text says.

So he says yes, and Jeff goes to the other room to curl up around Gareth for the night.

He isn't even thinking about it, driving over with an overnight bag.

He isn't thinking when they get into bed together and he starts kissing Steve, not really looking for it to go anywhere, just kissing to kiss.

He isn't thinking when Steve runs his hand down his back and squeezes his ass, his fingers brushing the base of the plug.

He pulls away from Eddie's mouth and asks, "Are you wearing a plug?" There's a spark in his eyes, his gaze heated as he's realizing what it probably means. Because they've had the talk about how Eddie and the others don't use condoms because they only fuck each other. And now that Steve is a part of that, everyone got tested before he and Steve fucked raw.

He's never come over with someone else's come inside him, though, because that feels rude. He plans it out usually, letting the guys know what days are off limits because he's seeing Steve.

But he totally blanked when he said he'd come over.

So he says, "Yeah, I. Uh. Jeff fucked me before I came over here."

Steve's hand snakes underneath Eddie's sleep shorts and he touches the plug, pulling it against his rim. "So you're all wet with Jeff's come right now, huh?"

The tone of his voice, the way he said it - something about it makes Eddie's dick hard, his cunt clenching around nothing as Steve plays with the plug inside him.

"Yes," he whispers, looking at the way Steve is looking at him.

"Can I fuck you?" Steve asks, pressing his hips forward, his hard cock rubbing against Eddie's hip.

Eddie nods slowly and says, "Yes."

Steve pulls his hand out of his pants to undress them both and lays Eddie on his back, hips propped up on a pillow. He pulls the plug out of Eddie, his eyes transfixed on his hole.

Eddie shivers under the heat of his gaze. He can feel Jeff's come trickle out of him.

Steve notches his dick up against Eddie asshole, spreading Jeff's come around his hole a little and he groans, still looking down at where the head of his dick is touching Jeff's come.

"Is this a thing for you?" Eddie asks, feeling a rush of excitement thrumming through his veins.

"I didn't think it was," Steve says, pressing the head of his cock inside.

The slide of his dick inside is easy, from the leftover lube, from Jeff's come, from Eddie already being stretched out.

Steve looks so affected and that's really doing something for Eddie, too, the fact that he's so into it.

"Is it weird that I kind of want to lick it out of you?" Steve asks, his fingers dancing around where they're connected, fingertips coming away slick with Jeff's come. He rolls his hips slowly, his cock sliding out and grinding in deep.

Eddie moans and says, "I don't think it's weird. I think it's fucking hot as hell."

Steve brings his hand up to Eddie's mouth and touches his come slick fingers to Eddie's bottom lip, spreading the come there. Then he leans down and sucks Eddie's lip into his mouth, his hips humping forward roughly as he tastes Jeff's come.

They both groan and it's frantic after that - Steve fucking Eddie into the mattress with fast strokes.

"What's it like when you're with them?" Steve asks, panting as he drives his hips into Eddie's ass.

Eddie's gasping in breaths, but between shaky breaths, he manages to answer, "They use me- however they want. Just, pick a hole and fuck me whenever they want."

Steve jackrabbits his hips into Eddie, humping into him like he couldn't stop if he wanted to. He says, "Yeah? You give it up for them whenever they want, no matter what you were doing before?"

Eddie nods quickly. "Doesn't matter what I'm doing. Dishes, they just pull my underwear down and fuck me until I'm dripping. Hanging out, just pull me into their lap. I wake up with someone inside me. F-fuck, even in the studio, they-"

Steve's hips snap into him, startling a moan out of both of them.

"In the studio? You can't even get your work done without leaving filled with someone's come, can you?"

"I love it," Eddie gasps.

"Yeah, you do," Steve says, gritting his teeth, the sound of their hips slapping together loud in the room. "You're suck a fucking cockslut. Always filled to the brim, come leaking out of both holes."

"You love it too," Eddie says, looking up at Steve's face, one hand snaking down to rub at his cock.

"Having their sloppy seconds? Fuck, I really fucking do. Wanna have their sloppy fourths, watch them come inside you one after the other and then fuck you, eat all of it out of you after," Steve says, his hips stuttering as he gets close.

"You can have it," Eddie moans. "You can have whatever you want."

The onslaught of images from Steve's words pushing him close to the edge. The thought of Steve being a part of that, watching and seeing it all, wanting it-

Eddie tenses up and shudders as he comes, his fingers working his dick quickly, both holes clenching as his eyes roll back.

Steve groans again, grinding his hips in and stilling as he pulses come into Eddie's ass, adding to the mess.

Eddie's shivering and gasping through it all, slick from his cunt dripping down onto Steve's cock as he slowly pulls out.

"Jesus fucking christ," Steve says, sliding down the bed.

Fuck, he's really gonna do it.

Eddie shakes as Steve buries his between his legs, sucking Eddie's dick into his mouth to start, then dipping his tongue inside Eddie's wet cunt, tasting his slick, pulling back and looking up at Eddie, his chin wet with Eddie's juices.

"Do it," Eddie says, still breathing heavily, so incredibly affected by this.

Steve dips his head and drags his tongue over Eddie's asshole in a broad stroke. He groans and pulls Eddie's hips against him, his tongue spearing into him, licking the taste of his and Jeff's come out of him.

Steve throws Eddie's leg over his shoulder, his hand coming up so he can thumb at Eddie's cock as he licks the come out of him.

Eddie feels like he's on a hair trigger because he's coming again with barely any stimulation, shaking through it and crying out as Steve just keeps going, his tongue still licking inside him, his thumb still stroking slow circles over his dick.

He seems content to just lay there on his stomach, licking the mess out of him.

He licks him through another orgasm, Eddie's legs shaking as he gasps and sheds a few tears from the overstimulation.

Steve pulls back and nuzzles his face into Eddie's hip, kissing his way up his body before rearranging them with Eddie's back to Steve's front.

Eddie comes down with Steve cuddling up against him, one hand thumbing at his nipple, cupping his tit.

"Was that okay?" Steve asks after a couple minutes.

Eddie turns over in Steve's arms. "You just gave me like three earth shattering orgasms, and you're asking if it was okay?"

"We didn't really talk about it before-"

Eddie cuts him off and says, "It was good. Like really fucking good, okay?"

Steve takes him at his word and says, "Okay. Good. I'm glad." He has this shy little smile on his face as he leans forward to kiss him and Eddie so badly wants to kiss him, but-

"I am so sorry, but I need you to brush your teeth before you kiss me," Eddie says, rearing back.

Steve takes it in stride and says, "Come keep me company?" sitting up and holding his hand out.

Eddie sits on the counter as Steve brushes his teeth and then lets Steve stand between his legs and kiss him with a minty fresh mouth for as long as he likes.

[zaacoy]

Freeeeeeeeeenooodles where!!!

✦ They bundle up together while they watch movies, they often end up falling asleep leaning against each other like this.

✦ Tang is REALLY BAD at dealing with horror, Pigsy's just okay with it. Whenever they watch a horror movie Tang tends to clutch onto Pigsy for dear life and buries his face in Pigsy's shoulder or neck whenever a jumpscare comes up. Pigsy has been scared more times by Tang screaming directly in his ear than he has by any of the movies they've watched. Married/Established relationship freenoodles: Pigsy tends to move Tang from his side to his lap so as to make him feel safer. They end up hugging the entire time, Tang occasionally falls asleep there if he's comfortable enough.

✦ Tang gets REALLY excited about a story he's rereading again or something new he's found and he immediately bolts to pigsy to frantically tell him everything. He also rants to Pigsy whenever he's trying to investigate how certain contradicting legends and story points fit together in the hopes that saying it out loud helps him make sense of it. Even if he doesn't understand and remember everything Tang says, Pigsy tends to listen to these findings and tangents anyway just because he likes to hear Tang talk.

✦ Though he does earnestly love hearing Tang's voice, sometimes (due to sensory overload probably) Pigsy just needs quiet. Tang has an unfortunate habit of not really noticing his surroundings and failing to pick up social ques when he's really deep in a lecture he's passionate about. Whenever Pigsy needs some silence for a while and Tang doesn't notice Pigsy grabs his face, gives him a kiss, taps his lips twice with a finger as a silent "no more talking" gesture, and then slides him over a free bowl of noodles before going back to work. This never fails to fluster the crap out of Tang for a few moments, Pigsy finds his reaction cute. Pigsy takes note of whatever story Tang was talking about at the moment and asks him to continue it at a different time when he can handle more noise.

✦ They're both susceptible to flirting but in different ways. Tang is a fairly good smooth talker and tends to get a flustered reaction out of Pigsy via excessive attention and compliments. Pigsy on the other hand starts addressing Tang by various different pet names in a loving tone of voice and Tang melts.

✦ With the exception of when there's a situation where one of them needs extra comfort from the other, there really isn't any big or little spoon. They're always cuddled together but its more so like a tangled pressed together mess than anything else.

✦ Pigsy snores at a volume equivalent to a truck horn but Tang sleeps like a rock so it evens out. Tang drools a river in his sleep and Pigsy has just gradually gotten used to it over the years.

✦ In college they tended to crash at each others' dorms for study sessions. Whenever Pigsy was trying out a new recipe Tang was THE resident taste tester!! Unless he was busy and Sandy or a classmate could take his place Tang was always there and more than happy to try out Pigsy's food. Pigsy frequently had to drag Tang away from schoolwork to make him take needed breaks. Sandy and Pigsy were the ones who used to break stuff and get in trouble when they were young, Tang just enjoyed watching it all go down. Both of them were more than willing to throw hands to protect Tang if need be.

✦ Unmarried freenoodles: baby mk learned somehow through books or Mei that parents were usually married. He was devastated when he found out that his two dad's were, in fact, not married and tried several times to try and make a wedding for them to the best of his 5-8 year old abilities. Baby mk also made them hold hands because that's what parents do according to baby logic, it was a necessity really.

✦ Forehead kisses. LOTS of forehead kisses. As a hello, goodbye, subtle display of affection, etc. Many many forehead kisses.

✦ Tang's ankle injury is legitimate and Pigsy has had to carry Tang around on rare occasion because of it. Pigsy likes to do so by literally sweeping him off his feet and carrying him bridal style, resulting in a momentarily surprised and flustered Tang.

Freenoodles :3

[prawndip]

Genshin Characters and Hair

CHARACTERS: Albedo, Alhaitham, Amber, Itto, Kazuha, Zhongli + gn!reader

TAGS: headcanons, can be seen as romantic and platonic, alhaitham is probably ooc

SYNOPSIS: all things hair. playing with it, styling it. heck, what do they do with YOUR hair?

NOTES: after writing for diluc, I felt like I needed to do more stuff relating to hair. I’m willing to write more parts to this with other characters too.

ALBEDO:

if there’s one thing you’ve learned about albedo. it’s that his hair is really. really soft. and fluffy. you wonder what albedo uses to have such wonderful hair. is there a special conditioner out there? anyways sometimes albedo’s hair can get quite messy after a long day of research, and it’s then when you offer to do his hair back up for him. of course you do it out of kindness and to give albedo a break from his work, but you also do it as an excuse to touch his hair, so you can run your hands through it and admire how it feels like silk on your fingers, how when you’re done with it it sits so nicely and so perfectly even though you thought you did a bad job. it still looks great. and even if you sometimes get distracted and just play with his hair absent mindedly without htinking, albedo doesn’t mind, just sitting there quietly with a small smile on his face. wonderful.

of course, he’ll return the favour when he can, sitting you down somewhere and begins running a comb through your hair. you don’t know how he does it. he handkes tangled knots in your hair with such care and yet takes care of them with such ease and quickness you wonder if your hair was tangled up at all in the first place. he’s so gentle with it you find yourself nodding off as he works on it. you can’t help it, his hands working your hair was just to relaxing and soothing, the way he gently combs it has you falling asleep right there and then. he doesn’t mind, the finds it quite endearing, keeping your head upright so that your head doesn’t roll to the side and pull on your hair while he’s holding it. by the time you wake up, you’ve never has such untangled hair in your life. he even put it into a simple hairstyle for you. how nice.

ALHAITHAM:

you and alhaitham always have lots of moments together, and for various reasons too. sometimes youre both writing papers, or your both trying ot get away from annoying people and need a break, or you’re both reading a book and needed someplace quiet to read. although, between the two of you, you tend to be more distracted than alhaitham. why? well mostly because you’re not as disiplined as alhaitham, but you also can’t help but eye the little strand of hair that sticks out of your head. seriously, what is up with it? how does he get it like that? is it on purpose? you askes alhaitham such a question and he shrugged, saying that it just appears like that. heasitantly you reach out a fingle to wiggle it, and suddenly you’ve found a new source of joy (and distraction), twirling it around your fingers as alhaitham is working on his paper, though he eventually had to acknoledge the ticking sensation on his head as you keep playing with his mysterious hair stand. he doesn’t seem to mind, lowering his head so your arm wouldn’t get as tired.

of course, no way he wasn’t going to get some sort of “payback” for that. so the next time the two of you are reading together you are forced to stop when you feel a tug at your hair. without looking away from his book, alhaitham had taken a strand of it and has begun twirling it around his fingers, almost unconsiously. he only stopped when he had to turn his page, and then would pick up another strand and resume, rinse and repeat. somewhere along the way you stopped paying attention to it and you found yourself softly smiling whenever you did remember what he was doing with your hair. sometimes alhaitham would stop reading to admire your hair in his hands, but when he felt your head moving to look at him, his gaze would snap back to his book without a second thought. this has since become normal routine between the two of you.

AMBER:

recently the two of you have been conducting "experiments" together. you are no alchemist, nor are you a scholar. you are just a feeble little adventurer with too much time on their hands, but you and amber are still lured in by the fascination of science. your question? which hairstyles are best for gliding. listen, you and amber insist. this is a very important research topic. how is one supposed to look fashionable while gliding? and so the tests began. you do amber's hair, she flies around, and then you record how the hair looks afterwards. many questions need to be answered. does the hairstyle keep the hair out of your face? does it fall apart while gliding? does it get blown around by the wind? does it still look good when you're done? is there more than one hairstyle out there that fits all the criteria that amber has set out? or does she just have to cut her hair short?

similarly, you've also been conducting a similar experiment, but with adventuring. amber does your hair, and you do out and do your daily commissions. you have your own host of questions, probably even more than amber would. for example, does it get in your face when fighting? will it get caught in low-hanging trees when you're running away? how likely is it to catch on fire if you get too close to a hillichurl? will it get in the way of drawing your weapon? if you get stuck in bad weather, is it convenient to sleep on? how easily does it get dirty? is that even a concern? or do you also have to cut your hair short/keep it short? it's a silly thing to spend time on, you and amber must admit, but it's fun, so it must be alright!

ITTO:

somewhere along the way itto decided that if HE has the coolest hairstyle around, YOU also must have the coolest hairstyle around. he’s stubborn too, and ocmmitted to his goal of giving you the most killer hairstyle inazuma has ever seen. he’ll plop you down somewhere and he’ll start putting in cool accessories and temporary hair dye, tie up and clip your hair up using with (surprisingly) good skill. not only that, you find his touch to be gentle and caring. he works with such passion yet handles your hair with such care, not once tugging too hard on your hair or getting it so tangled he has to cut it off. it surprises you a little, to say the least, but when you think about the way he handles his own hair with just as much care, you figured he wanted to treat yours the same way. when he’s done he shows it off to the rest of the arataki gang, laughing and saying something along the lines of “check out my hard work! whaddya think? don’t they look great?”

you on the other hand, just ifnd itto’s hair absolutely lovely to play with. for its spikiness it’s quite soft and fluffy, and it was then you realized he puts a lot of effort into keeping his hair happy and healthy. he’d laugh and tell you he has to if he wants to best looking hairstyle in all of inazuma (besides yours) and will ramble about his days endeavours as you brush your fingers through his hair. sometimes he’ll give you the comb he uses so you can brush his hair with it. he has to admit, it feels nice to have his hair combed by you, and you don’t mind, either, it just gives you more opportunities to admire the amount of care he puts into his hair on a daily basis, seriously, it’s quite impressive.

KAZUHA:

you've become a big fan of wandering around with kazuha, but when the two of you sit down to take a break, eat something, or even write down that line of poetry that kazuha was finally able to come up with, you find yourself absent-mindedly playing with his ponytail. braiding it and unbraiding it, twisting it into a bun and then letting it unravel, anything as you sit and enjoy the sun on your skin. kazuha doesn't mind though. in fact, he enjoys it when you play with this hair, and has said so out loud, too.

because of all this wandering, he takes a liking to finding stuff in nature to put in your hair. a bright dendrobium, a shiny leaf, whatever it is, he'll turn it into a hairpin. if you're wandering through a town of city, he might even buy one for you. it’s only when the two of you are alone that hell give it to you, softly smiling and telling you to consider it a memory of that day’s journey in that particular place. so whenever you run you hands over the accessory, it’s like you’re taken back to the very place he got it from, and you can see him smiling at the accessory in adoration as he thinks about how he’s going to give it to you later that day, and the way he stores it with such care as to not damage it, escpecially if the accessory is one the more delicate side. it’s like a treasure to him.

ZHONGLI:

now that's someone who knows how to do hair. when you first complained to him that today it just doesn't look right no matter what you do to it, he'll offer to help you out. If you accept, he'll sit you down somewhere and put over 5000 years of hair doing to work. short hair or long hair, he'll work your hair with so much finesse but also with so much ease (hey, where did he get that hairclip from? did he have that on him this whole time?). suddenly you've got the best looking hair in all of teyvat. when you try to give him back any accessories he puts in your hair, he declines, insisting that you keep them so you can use them in the future.

of course, he wants you to be able to the styles yourself, and he'll offer to teach them to you, patiently guiding you through even the most complex of hairstyles. he lets you practice on his hair so that you have an easier time seeing what you're doing. listening to a story and drinking tea? you're right behind him, trying to do his hair while holding clips in your mouth. he won't stop there either. he'd tell you the best ways to care for your hair, the best products out there. even his favourite place to buy accessories. why he buys accessories and keeps them on his person? no one knows.

[amuseoffyre]

You've mentioned that the quote "There will come a tempest, and darkness, and great storms and the dead will leave their graves and walk the earth once more and there will be great lamentations. Every day, it’s getting closer" from Gabriel/God is a mash up of different bible quotes about the second coming. Do you know which ones? I'd love to see an in depth analysis of this, it seems super important, but I haven't seen a lot of talk in the fandom. Who does the tempest refer to? My apologies if you've already talked about this in your metas.

There's stuff scattered all over the place, so I'll try and find the ones I can remember:

And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. (Revelation 16:18)

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first (Thessalonians 1:4)

And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:11)

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)

You can see they all share a very similar vibe of "ALL WILL BE BAD AND EVERYONE WILL BE IN DISTRESS"

There's also a lot of stuff in/around the death of Jesus with similar terminology and metaphors with saints crawling out their graves and things like that. But especially the Revelation quote - that's the book mentioned in season one of the show. Aziraphale owns a signed copy of the scroll of St. John of Patmos (aka the saint who wrote the book of Relevation, which is the Go-To text for the end of the world stuff).

Generally, I think the whole little speech is foreshadowing the Second Coming (aka the plot of season 3), because a lot of those quotes are direct references in the Bible to the death and return of Jesus.

However, I'm also pretty much sure this is God speaking directly through Gabriel, because if you listen, there's a second voice - a female voice - overlaying his. Gabriel was always her messenger and I have this whole other theory about God's absence from this season and the significance of Gabriel saying his memory is "everywhere". I think he's catching fragments of God's memories and spouting them, ie. the prophecies and things she has said to prophets. He quoted what she said to Job first and now this? Not a coincidence.

[lazywriter-artist]

Unconventional Company

Warhammer/Helldivers/Halo crossover + writing warmup

Slowly Night clutched its wispy black tendrils around the planet and travel became difficult, forcing the Trio of trained soldiers to set up camp for the night. Seated around the fire the Space Marine would reach back into his satchel, digging out a large book as he leaned back some.

His voice, cutting through the settling air, rumbled the question “So pray tell guardsman, have you all finished your prayers? I hadn’t seen even a single one before battle…” He questioned, strangely nonchalant for how confused the other two were left. The other armored figures glanced to each other with small shrugs.

“prayers?” The spartan echoed, he had heard of a variety of religions back home and on various planets but with the mystery shrouding this giant already he really hadn’t taken the ‘marine’ to be much of a religious man. The Helldiver didn’t seem to be a fan of this topic however as he crossed his arms, leaning back with an aura of disapproval. He didn’t really trust this brick wall much already. Was too big of a guy. Never took off his armor…maybe he was an automaton. These prayers sounded very UN-democratic. Hmph.

Though their confusion deepened as the marine looked appalled, gently digging out an almost rosary like item with a large double headed eagle attached “ahah…yes?— your prayers to the God Emperor?” He pressed, the duo again glancing to one another.

“Doesn’t sound very democratic-“ growled the Helldiver as the marine gave off a sudden menacing aura. The spartan swiftly clapped the back of the helldiver’s helmet with his armored hand, clearing his throat to try and recover the situation, “Right! Right!! our prayers! How could we forget!?” He’d swiftly nod with growing anxiety as the Helldiver grumbled in complaint over being hit. The spartan wasn’t about to be ripped in two by this muscle man freak in super armor because the quack Helldivers like this one couldn’t see the writing on the wall.

“How indeed.” Snorted the armor clad wall of a man before allowing his original aggression, hesitantly, to fall away. “But it is only natural when fighting for the God Emperor.” He nodded matter of factly.

“For Liberty ya mean.” grumbled the Helldiver, receiving another smack to the helmet as the spartan cleared his throat once more “RIGHT! Yes! Perhaps you should lead us through one? We are a bit rusty—“

He gulped, worried of the marines reaction, hoping this would smooth it over. Even still he braced for the worst until— the marine seemed to light up? “Of course! I always am ready to show guardsmen new prayers for our God Emperor!” His deep voice bellowed as he would readjust to be closer to the two.

Despite the Helldiver disliking the idea the spartan forced ‘convinced’ him to go along with it, if only to just please this ‘Space Marine’ into not crushing them under his boot— and he had to admit, it was kind of endearing the joy the marine displayed as he traced over the strange words within his book, explaining these ‘prayers’ he picked out for them and how to say them.

…Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad?

Lovely dividers by @squishyowl (Imperial) and myself :) (Helldiver)

Yapping below the cut

Oh BROTHER this one took a lot. Idk y but hey it happens (mostly due to my inability to stay on a project for too long—) but anyhow

This bad boy had say in my inbox for a WHILE and in my notes even longer….i think I ported it over to tumblr around the time I made the original au post, meanwhile it’s been written since about I first made the au, so woof a while ago

This bad boy took a few months on and off again to complete just due to my spelling and grammatical errors and the whole not working 100% of the time on it X.X

But here it is!!! Idk if it was obvious but the crossover is a really fun idea to me and I definitely wanna do more with if- so we shall see 🥰

I’m just a big huge sucker for sci-fi stuff especially sci-fi battle stuff and these three being big poster children for that idk how I couldn’t

Anywho- thank you all for reading and u all are so cool and thanks to my moots who proof read it for me 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶✨✨✨💪💪💪💪

Everyone have a good day 🫶