#this is a /gen post just feel like i should clarify that because of what today is

[nexus-nebulae]

urgh i love waking up and finding out i immediately have to leave the house

[gotta-pet-em-all]

hey @goldenrodchef and @feeling-seasickness get over here

sea. you stepped out of line, and in "trying to help" you took the side of the oppressor a lot. Even if you meant it as a "know thine enemy" thing, you didn't clarify that, and gen saw the vague statement and assumed the worst because frankly he's used to getting hatred from all sides and can't afford the benefit of the doubt. You need to be more aware of your privilege or lack thereof. This doesn't mean you lost the oppression olympics, it means you need to work to be a better ally, because this stuff doesn't come easily. you will fuck up. everyone will fuck up. but learning to own up to it is a valuable skill you need to learn.

gen. if you get self deprecating and start apologizing at vague statements, you make people around you uncomfortable because you're treating them like bombs waiting to hurt you and they don't know how to deal with it. You don't need to put yourself down like that. And frankly, you shouldn't be the head of this movement because it's putting far too much strain on you to try and shoulder all of it. Learn to delegate.

and for my part. sea, i'm sorry i went off on you without fully checking the context. i didn't think to check your age, or the notes of the post. gen, sorry if that made you uncomfortable that i kept escalating the conflict on your behalf.

both of you should read up on some theory to try and understand this better-- disability theory, particularly by amputees, those with facial disfigurements, and regarding infantilization, would help. Transgender theory would be great as well! It's not perfect but we do have existing literature on bodies that have been othered by the collective, so build on it.

if you really want to talk about names, seriously look up euphemism treadmill theory. hell, social linguistics has a lot to say about this. the original name isn't going away. if you dislike it, make some new ones, see what the group itself likes to use.

sea, look up youth liberation, or youth for human rights. I think it would help you work through some biases. gen, try the nap ministry, for rest as a form of resistance against the oppressive forces capitalism.

finally. you guys need to work it out. don't just assume the other person hates you. talk it out. please.

[strayheartless]

Inspired by this post that was sent to me by @salternateunreality2 and I immediately had to write AGSZC (I should clarify that you should always assume Cloud is aged up appropriately in these. ALWAYS, if I’m writing AGSZC I will never not age him up.)

Anywho,

It’s not uncommon for Cloud to be the last one in the apartment on any given day. Being a newly minted Captain in the infantry, and still putting all his effort into obtaining that coveted third class title, he’s usually putting extra hours in either at the library or chasing down green horn cadets about disciplinary slips. Had he known just how tiring the job would be he… probably still would have taken the rank as Captain.

It wasn’t that the others didn’t have the work load he did. It was just that as Firsts they had a far more specific case type to take on, and with the war in Wutai coming to a close, work was pretty slim for them all things considered. At the very least they were not being bothered with City patrols and parade Drill.

If Cloud had to yell at one more person about Tick tocking their damn arms when they marched he might scream.

All this to say, Cloud was a busy guy these days. Busy and oh so tired. All he wanted now was to curl up under a blanket with his head in one of his lovers laps and go the fuck to sleep.

Opening the door, he stepped into the hallway, kicking off his boots and setting them on the rack, before taking off his helmet, scarf and jacket and sticking them in the hall closet. This way a pattern that was familiar to him now. Since the great purge that was Zacks old apartment the year previous, Angeal had made a rule that before anyone sat down in an evening they all had to do chores together. Didn’t matter if they were exhausted, they had to or people (Zack and Genesis) would sit down and be taken by the brain fog.

It seemed to be working for now. The apartment had stayed clean for a long while, though Cloud suspected that was because Zack had moved into a new place and was motivated to clean it because of the dopamine of it being new. Regardless, they’d all agreed it was a good way to not be overwhelmed by chores.

He crossed into the living room, feeling the hunger that had been nagging at him since 11:20AM naw at his insides. It was fine; as long as he doesn’t let on that he hadn’t eaten all day, Angeal wouldn’t ask and Cloud would remain nag free.

“I’m home!” He announced making Genesis look up from his position on the floor, as he sprayed wood polish on the coffee table. Something on his face must have given him away, because Genesis takes one look at him and throws the Cloth down.

Fuck… welp, so much for home free without a lecture.

“Your white as a sheet precious.” He says with no preamble or attempt at playing fair.

“That’s what happens when you grow up in butt fuck nowhere behind a mountain.” Cloud snarks back in an attempt to cover his own ass. It doesn’t work.

Genesis takes his chin ant tilts his face into the light of the over head bulb. Why was that bastard thing even on? He must look worse than he thought, because Gen sucks on his tongue in irritation and blows air out of his nose aggressively.

“What have you eaten today?” He asks and then tags on a quick “and don’t lie,” for good measure.

Cloud rolls his eyes and pulls his chin out of Gens hands. He hates being cornered like this.

“Coffee,” he mutters petulantly.

“You need to eat!” Genesis says, louder than necessary but definatly purposefully, because a second later there’s a scrape of a kitchen chair and three other bodies emerge from the kitchen, bedroom and office.

“Who’s not eating?” Angeal says, knowing full well who it is.

Genesis looks pointedly at Cloud, “who do you think?” He says and steps out of the way for Angeal to stand in front of their youngest partner and check his face.

“You’re pale,” he mutters and Cloud has to seriously resist rolling his eyes as he picks a spot just under Angeal’s eyes and on his cheek to look at. He may be in trouble but eyecontact -even with his partners- was still extremely uncomfortable. In fact being in trouble mode the feeling even worse.

“I keep telling you, that’s just my skin,” he pouts.

Zack comes up to lean on the back of the armchair opposite where they are standing. “Right, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that your doctor says your severely low on iron at all.” He sasses and Cloud lifts his hand to flip the man off.

“As if your one to be lecturing people about not eating puppy,” Genesis snarked and Sephiroth snorted slightly.

“I believe the appropriate phrase here would be ‘pot meet kettle’ no?” He pointed between the two of them making Genesis let out a laugh of his own.

“As if you are any better mr ‘hunger strike’.” He pokes back.

“That’s enough,” Angeal grouses. “You’re all as bad as each other,” he turns Cloud around and starts guiding him to the kitchen.

“You know the rules baby bird. You don’t eat enough and it’s supplements and a protein bar at the very least before dinner.” Cloud groans loudly and tries to dig his heels in but Angeal picks him up and throws him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and deposited him by the sink.

After a little shuffling round, he hands Cloud a glass of water and the iron supplement Cloud despises so much. It’s not that he wants to be iron deficient; in fact if you asked Cloud he’d quite happily not be. The problem is that Cloud logic seems to run on the assumption that if he ignores his anemia it can’t stop him from becoming a SOLDIER. The Army already ignore it for the sake of his performance, why couldn’t RnD?

The fact that anemia plays a large part in mako sensitivity is by the by. Cloud logic demands that it is not there.

Despite this Cloud grudgingly downs the pills and angrily shoves the protein bar that Zack hands him, into his mouth.

“Whafs fo dinner?” He asks around a huge bite.

Angeal sighs and turns on the stove. “Well I was going to do stuffed mushrooms,” Sephiroth gagged behind him immaturely (that man has been spending too much time with Zack, cloud thinks.) at the thought of the horribly spongy vegetable. “But now I suppose I should try that kjötsúpa recipe your Ma sent me. Might need to double the amount of Lamb though…”

Cloud frowns, “please tell me you didn’t tattle on me to my ma?” He groans.

“Oh I didn’t,” Angeal chuckled. “You can thank Sephiroth for that one, I just got the recipes in reply.”

Cloud glared at the silver soldier in irritation, but gets a serene smile in return.

He really fucking hated these boys….

No he really didn’t.

[returning-spring]

KPTS recs list

Most of these recs are rarepairs or VegasPete, but there are a couple recs for KinnPorsche and KimChay in here! Some Gen fic too.

Note: I read a lot of these fics months ago, so I can’t give any content warnings that aren’t already on AO3. I can only rec the fics, so curate your experience and have fun!!

KinnPorsche

the house don’t fall (when the bones are good) (E rated) by bytheriveriwept

The reality of Kinn is at times a grasping, hungry thing even when he is standing still. Or: Porsche and Kinn are the Theerapanyakun agency's best team. They live in each other's pockets and share their deepest secrets. But when Porsche takes on the role of bait in their latest mission, it throws their entire relationship into a spiral.

playing with fire (M rated) by @fractured-ice

For a long time in Porsche’s life, smoking was a constant.

Safe and Sound (T rated) by @achray1

Five times Kinn was nearly kidnapped, and one time he was.

VegasPete

in the shape of your dreams (E rated) by @t4tvegaspete

“Kinn,” Pete clarified, as he regarded Vegas. “You egg him on. You seek out his attention.” “That’s because I hate him,” Vegas said. “And he’s a scourge on my general existence and I want to make him suffer. Simple.” “He’s also very good-looking.” The words dropped like a pin to the ground. “Did you honestly just say that to me right now?” — Vegas is in a dark place. Pete can tell Kinn has something to do with it.

Comfort (E rated) by @ghost--houses

"Well, that was excruciating," Vegas says as they walk through the front door.

Business Sense (E rated) by duty_free

Vegas uses sex to help Porsche with a deal.

fool’s gold landed on my shoulder (M rated) by @phneltwrites​

Today is the day the minor family attacks the major family’s compound. It’s the seventh time for Vegas. (Time loop fic)

life's too short to drink bad wine (M rated) by @wedielike

When Kinn sends Pete to check out Vegas' undisclosed wine bar, Pete expects to find some dirty dealings. He doesn't expect Vegas' invitation to taste something special and all that it entails.

A Rock and a Hard Place (E rated) by rivers_bend

Pete knows what he wants, and that he'd be an idiot to go after it. But Vegas isn't someone he can resist.

KimChay

lessons in shooting sparrows (T rated) by violetsky

"Can you teach me how to shoot a gun?"

Love's a Two-Way Dream (E rated) by @giraffeter​

Kim stands up as well and slips an arm around Chay’s waist to steady him. Chay’s body melts under Kim’s touch. Waves ripple and rebound through him, concentric rings spreading from Kim’s fingertips. Chay sags into him, half-expecting to float. “I don’t…” Chay mumbles. “What… hmm…” He can’t think. He’s so warm. “Did you…?” “I gave you a little something,” Kim says. His voice is so smooth. Chay wants to swim in it. “To help you relax.” ~ Post-canon, Chay and Kim are back together, but Kim wants to keep Chay all to himself. Forever. He's got some ideas for how to do it. AKA: "The Kimchay Atticwife Fic"

Other Ships

Inevitability (T rated) by @static-abyss (KinnTay)

"We'll always have each other, you know that right?" Tay says, turning on his side to look at Kinn. "It doesn't matter what happens. You always have me."

Built for Sin series (E rated) by @kat8porgs and @queerebrum (Porsche/Kinn/Pete/Vegas)

Someone had tried to strangle Pete. Kinn had a bad feeling about who. He’d known, after all, exactly where he was sending Pete. But, a part of him had refused to believe that Vegas was capable of this. -- Kinn comes up with a plan to get back at Vegas for what he's done to Pete. Or at least, Kinn's dick has a plan.

goodnight (M rated) by @any-open-eye (VegasPorsche)

“You should have come home with me, Porsche,” Vegas says, barely over a whisper. “Just once.” Porsche grips the edge of the table. Fuck this. “You had me on your bike,” he says. “Seems like you could have brought me home if that’s what you wanted.” Vegas grins, and this time it looks less polished. “Do you think either of us would have survived me kidnapping my cousin’s new favorite?” (vegas and porsche are out on a job. they consider lost possibilities.)

no tenderness (E rated) by @veliseraptor (KinnVegas)

He felt dizzy, reckless, his pulse throbbing in his ears. Drunker than he knew he was. “Which one, Kinn? Am I your dog or your whore?” Vegas and Kinn make very, very bad choices.

fuck it all back down (E rated) by @syzyg3tic (VegasBig, VegasPorsche, VegasKen, VegasTawan, VegasPete)

Everything about sex is performative. There is no such thing as fucking without an agenda, at least in Vegas’s experience. He wouldn’t have survived to adulthood if he was precious about shit like that. Vegas and some of the men he sleeps with in his desperate, rage-filled attempts to be loved or hated--either will work.

drain the wellspring dry. (M rated) by @evashougouki (VegasTawan)

“Vegas,” he told him a few minutes after the knots had been tied, “Vegas, I don’t think I like this. Can you untie me?” For a second, when Vegas had looked down at him, Tawan had thought he had seen a flash of anger in his eyes, dark and fathomless. It was gone in a second, and Tawan convinced himself it had never been there in the first place— he was just on edge from trying something new. "Does it hurt?" "No." “Then we don’t have to stop, do we?" (Tawan's trapped in a haunted house of his own making.)

safe (right here in your arms) (M rated) by @toomoonfic (ArmTankhun)

Arm chokes on his own spit. “Um, I’m sorry, sir,” he says, “but Mr. Kinn implicitly told us that we shouldn’t let you watch any of that series anymore. At least not in the family theater.” Tankhun hums thoughtfully. “Do you think Kinn might be more receptive if we put some gay porn on?” he says. “At least Porsche should know what’s going to happen to him if he keeps returning my brother’s longing glances.” or, someone tries to kidnap Tankhun again. Porsche bleeds all over an expensive car. Pol is exasperated. And Arm is perfect, as usual.

Gen

no longer children (T rated) by alone_ghost (Tankhun & Kinn)

"Do you hate me?" Kinn and Tankhun struggle to find their place after Kinn takes over as heir to the main family.

blindside (T rated) by @lu-sn (Macau & Pete)

While Vegas is still in a coma, Korn summons Macau to have a talk with him. Macau's pretty sure everything's about to go to shit.

Civil Hands (T rated) by @ameliarating (Pete-centric, brief VegasPete)

There's legitimate violence and there's illegitimate violence. Pete finds a way to live in this filthy world.

I hope you’ve found something new in these recs! I’m thinking of making another rec post in the future. Now for some shameless promo, if there are particular ships or concepts you’ve been looking for in KPTS fics, check out the @kptskinkmeme​! You can request fics on AO3 or Dreamwidth, and if you’re a writer you might find a prompt that speaks to you!

[blueskyportrait]

hi hi, posting an ask to clarify a few things: apparently the budgets for v9 and the JL league were separate and the real reason for v9's delay was the transition to working at home at covid. i dont like spreading misinformation (good lord the rwby fanbase has enough of it already) so i think this was fair to bring up. while i dont doubt the validity of the animators who worked on v9 and the JL cross over, i can't help but to feel weary due to the fact that this is freaking roosterteeth. a company notorious for their abuse of animators to the point of disability, how their shows are produced on slave labour, how they abuse their starry eye fans for cheap labour, how the higher ups of the company are very much either incompetent or rotten to the core. how can i in good conscious give this company the benefit of the doubt that the JL crossover didnt went through the same crunch or workplace issues? sure the animators got more worked, but were you guys properly paid for it? arianna fillipini's twitlonger details the MASSIVE amount of crunch (50 hr/weeks), how the pay was still below industry standard, how the leadership in v9 didnt help the animators, how everyone got laid off cus RT taking away full time employment, and this was all during VOLUME 9. something produced in 2020-2021, not 5 years ago. im glad the animators got a year of work, im glad they had an opportunity to network with other artists. im not upset that the JL happened, im worried that the same crunch and workplace abuse from v9 was carried over as a consequences of these crossovers being developed in house. while its really dumb to knowingly spread misinformation of RWBY's budget and production, i cant help feel this uneasiness towards every rwby fan on twitter just taking their word that the JL was 'totally a good thing!!!' and anyone upset by how they assumed that the JL took away resources for v9 (because it happened to v6 with gray smuggling money for gen:lock) are 'stupid little haters who use the poor animators at cudgels to flame roosterteeth!!!' am i supposed to trust the notion that suddenly all of the decades workplace abuse and mistreatment that persisted to it's latest season all went away? that suddenly the animators were given enough time and compensation for their work? that suddenly management became leagues better? suddenly all of our concerns towards the production of RT's shows and RT as a company are nonsensical? idk, the entire thing is really weird and the uneasiness i have towards CRWBY's production isnt exactly alleviated by the fact that the JL had a seperate budget :P at least we got to see the beacon designs again 🥃

@unovaslankiite your concerns are completely valid and you're not wrong feeling this way. Even if the budgets for vol 9 and JL were separate, that doesn't make what the animators revelaed just last year what they've been through all go away. Ar*yn Tr*che (who I personally belive is an RT shill so they can keep their job) should not be treated as the only source of info. Their words mean nothing to me. Like, ok, the JL and vol 9 budgets were separate. That doesn't excuse the animation department having to work double time during covid. Yeah you want to ensure they got work, and yet they were snubbed of their overtime pay.

And you're right, why should any of us believe Rooster Teeth? They've been proven over and over again to be liars, and it really isn't hard to notice the patterns of behavior over the years. They said crunch issues in production have been resolved and that was a fucking lie. The cuts to vol 9 and the production of the JL movie sound very similar to what happened to vol 5 when Gen Lock was being made. So people are right to assume the crossover movie affected vol 9.

Pointing all of this out doesn't make you "a bad faith rwby critic" or "wanting to pin blame on crwby" as some stans like to accuse others of. People like you and I are not content with just taking Ar*yn and K*rry's words at face value so they can continue to bury the truth. The stans who try to convince themselves that MKEK and the vas of crwby are separate from RT just want to ease their guilty conscious in wanting to continue to consume rwby content.

That's why they spam #greenlightvol10 on every rwby related post they make. It's a sign of sheer copium.

[morganinez]

tldr at the end i think this is pretty annoying to read idk its in red

normally i wouldn't send this kinda stuff but honestly the ever changing list of reasons you dislike/like having me interact is making it really hard to decide whether to send one of those character interaction things .

because if you're fine with me then it's good to send it because you want interactions and i like writing but if you don't like me then if i send it you'd just be irritated and i wouldn't be able to tell

because you obvs haven't confirmed or denied such things considering the list was made by my brain which i wrote down to try and rationalise

not trying to bring down your mood or anything just giving context for the question im about to ask

is it like weird or annoying or clingy if someone keeps like sending you stuff about morgan or just like interacting with you

i dont want to do that if it is you get what i mean

because it feels like you don't like me but at the same time it could be anxiety speaking and i don't want to like put assumptions on you

but at the same time i don't want to assume that you're fine with me and then have it turn out i've been annoying all this while

idk why i'm typing this because even if you did dislike me / my characters people don't usually just say that kinda stuff to people's faces

this is like the tenth? time i've revised this ask it should not be this long (very sorry for that /gen )

are there like interactions that annoy you so like i can avoid that i guess /genq

please like feel free to ignore this i mean something this long in your inbox is probably also pretty annoying i guess it just felt like i should clarify things but at the same time what if this makes me annoying

i should probably stop like revising this ask every time i do it i feel the need to clarify more like at first it really really formal but it felt too not genuine but if i send like this what if you can tell who i am and then think i'm making things up for pity points or something and what if you didn't dislike me but now you do because of this and its getting really long i am so sorry

TLDR: are there like any forms of interaction that annoy you like ,,. someone interacting with your blog too much or something because i'd like to avoid annoying you and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff that i don't dare to delete because what if you want the context to this question or something but

yeah please feel free to delete this or something i don't know i've been pondering over sending something like this for days who knows how long which may make me seem weird i don't know i just need to know if i should or shouldn't interact i guess ? sorry

i feel like this is like about some asks i haven’t replied to (or won’t reply to) so here are the reasons why i don’t

i have no clue how to reply (this is like … the major reason and the biggest reason)

some people have sent asks like their character & mine have interacted before… when they haven’t… so i dont reply to that bc… how will i when i dont know where their relationship stands ifykwim?

asks that just says “hi” or something along the lines of that .. IM SORRY I JUST ?? idk i don’t vibe w it bc i love interactions w flavour you know?

connected to number 1; i have no clue how to reply because i don’t get it (and maybe the reason why i don’t get it because the ask is like the one in number 2 or i’m just slow as fuck)

i guess that’s all ?? should’ve clarified that i’m more comfortable doing novella with people i know / morgan has an actual relationship with — if you want that, interact with her posts (then again, it didn’t mean i will reply because of the reasons above)

i do try to formulate replies but in the end it’s just turns into an ugly writing that i give up .

[lean-mean-demon-genevieve]

Hello, that "creepy" question about if you have kids was me, a bit of an incomplete thought on my part so my apologies. I really do not care personally how many kids you have if any at all. I was asking this as I have others IN REAL LIFE because multiple times in the past, you seemed a bit defensive of Gen at times when it came to questions about her parenting.

I saw your comments prior to them being deleted and that of the other user's. Frankly, I think you missed their overall point. Generally you don't miss the mark with Gen but when it comes to the kids and what is being shared, you sometimes word things in a way that makes me think "hmmm, maybe this person doesn't have children", almost a bit more clinical than not. That's 💯 okay but there are some differences in how parents versus non parents speak when it comes to any topic pertaining to children. Yes, Gen overshares like you said and the other user was aware he was "overwhelmed with love"... but also aware he seemed upset about Jared seemingly departing to film Fire Country.

I get we all have bad days or moments we feel like being bitchy or petty or whatever. Personally, I think your answer was at best a knee jerk reaction and that is generous. I know you've disagreed with this user in the past multiple times, and it is your right to block whoever you want. Calling her and the others you've blocked bigots is a stretch at best and frankly is a statement you are making because you got heated and probably still are. According to Oxford languages, a bigot is "a person who is obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion or faction, especially one who is prejudiced against or antagonistic toward a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group." (Hence the last 9 words and is the point of my sharing this definition word for word from a quick Google search).

Yes, she stuck to her guns and may have come across as stubborn for not agreeing with you but a bigot? Please refrain from calling people bigots until you see actual proof they're discriminating against someone based on their socioeconomic class, race, political group, sex or gender, etc. I think based on your last few posts going back to that post, the one clutching their pearls is in fact you. Your followers may not agree but I believe you should do some self reflecting before you call others bigots simply because they disagreed with you and stuck to their guns.

That question about the photo was NOT that other user you think it was you were going back and forth with, nor was the post asking if you've had kids. Both of those were me in fact on my main account. I went anonymous merely for the sake of encouraging possible discussions maybe without biases attached based on who it is coming from. It has absolutely nothing to do with being a coward or hiding. I've sent you other asjs in the past anonymously for the purpose of encouraging some more in depth conversations.

I promise you, I have absolutely no qualms with saying or asking unpleasant things to people right to their face, even if they blow up in my face in the flesh. That is just how I roll, I believe in giving it straight even if people get their panties bunched up over it. Frankly, I liked your page because you often come across as someone who can be welcoming to others' opinions. I do have to ask, why does it matter whether someone is right winged or left winged for why they dislike Gen? We can unite on our opinions of something or someone regardless of our backgrounds or other views. I thought this was how you felt too but perhaps I was wrong. Before you go calling people bigots for disagreeing with you, perhaps you should rethink some of your statements.

You are again free to write what you want and block who you want on your page. I wanted to just clarify my intentions and reasoning on why I sent those asks. This isn't me wanting to start an argument or be rude, this is merely me saying do a little more self reflecting on things.

Whew…I have been putting this off, as I’ve already mentioned, just due to being busy and overwhelmed with life but also because I didn’t even know where to start.

Buckle up, reader, this is going to be a ride. It’s probably not what you expected when I said I was going to respond to a blog who had been throwing my name around, but I will get to that later.

I’m going to begin with a timeline of how we got here, Khalaseer7. I bet you will disagree or deny from wherever you are, but that part isn’t important to me. I will answer some of your questions on my way to a big finish where I will address the remaining…claims…in this ask directly.

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned having been followed and reblogged by some “right-wing” blogs that I didn’t want to be associated with (link). After their interactions with my blog, I had looked at their blogs and found content that I just outright didn’t want to be connected to, so I blocked them. Not everyone has to run their blog that way, but I do. If you’re out there pushing a MAGA agenda and spewing misogynist and anti-trans rhetoric on your blog, for some examples, I don’t want you sharing my content. We are not cool with each other. That’s just how I feel. I don’t believe that your interest in anti-gen content should preclude you from criticism and/or consequences for your dangerous takes. I don’t need friends that badly.

I don’t feel like it’s my job to kindly interact with blogs who display hateful content. I’m not a peacemaker in that way. That’s not what I’m here for and I don’t believe that entertaining oppressive ideas with openness, especially on this type of platform, ever brings about the types of change that I would want to see. I’m a firm believer in the quote by Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

I hope that answers one your main questions, Khalaseer7.

But there’s actually a bit more to the above linked post than meets the eye. This ask about witchcraft clearly had an agenda, because a nearly identical ask showed up on another blog.

Let’s call that blog, Blue (because even though that blog has called me out by my name, I’m not interested in doing the same to them, and a pseudonym feels like I’m drawing less attention to them and therefore not giving them what they so desperately want)…Blue and I had some chats via dm previously and had overall cordial interactions. But in their response to their witchcraft anon, they took issue with MY response and felt called to defend themselves:

I had gotten the feeling through my interactions with Blue that they wanted to provide me with their own research in the hopes that I would post about it, but it usually wasn’t topics in which I had much interest so we chatted a bit but that was the end of it. Sometimes anons in my inbox seemed to mirror my conversations with Blue. Almost as if they were baiting me to continue the conversation outside of private messages. It doesn’t feel like a stretch to me to say that witchcraft was a topic of THEIR interest that they were hoping I would help them launch. And when that didn’t work, they or a buddy or a sock account supplied their blog with their own ask.

Now, why would one take personal offense to my response and feel compelled to defend their political leanings for several paragraphs (which I won’t be including) if they didn’t write the ask? Hmmmm 🤔 🙄

To clear it up now, Blue was NOT one of the blogs to which I was referring when I said “right-wing.” Blue did, however, entertain one of those right-wing blogs’ ideas about how Out Youth, the Austin LGBTQ+ non-profit org, “grooms” children. This far-right blog believes that Gen forces Jared to interact with Out Youth and can’t fathom a world where Jared would support LGBTQ+ causes of his own free will. Let’s call that blog Thor. (Not going to link or screenshot the post…too gross and not enough room.) Grooming on the part of the LGBTQ+ community or drag artists is a baseless claim rooted only in hatred and bigotry. It’s not something to invite more conversation around. But Blue did just that:

(And by the way, those “facts and logic” around the grooming allegations were never presented by either party. At least not in the reblogs where it would matter. Just a bunch of anti-trans generalizations…aka bigotry.)

Also on 8/23, I responded to this anon (link) that resulted in a back-and-forth in the notes (summarized in this link) with a blog we will call Other Blocked Blog, or OBB for short. That exchange was quickly followed by the ask about whether or not I have children (link) for which Khalaseer7 is now taking credit in the above ask received on 8/28.

(For full context, on 8/24 I used the word “bigot” to describe some blogs which will come up later (link) as it is referenced by Khalaseer7.)

On 9/4, I had not yet been able to respond to Khalaseer7 and I was directed by a mutual to the following anon on Blue’s blog:

Lol, this is so transparent and childish.

When that didn’t get a response out of me either, Blue and her crew/sock accounts continued the conversation the next day with this more detailed critique of me and arrogant praise for themselves:

Hey real quick, how does one be “CIVIL” and have “sound reasoning” for anti-trans beliefs? Or for dangerous, unsubstantiated beliefs that accuse people of grooming children? If it sounds civil and sound to you, that’s because you agree. It’s not because you’re such a benevolent good listener who values unity. Hop off your high horse made of love and light.

And now we’re all caught up…

Khalaseer7 is an admitted sock account, per their own admission all the way back at the top of this post, but they have left me several clues to their identity/main account.

Spoiler alert: It’s none other than Blue.

I know this because of the writing style/length, the propensity for using the dictionary as smug proof as evidenced in several of Blue’s posts, and most significantly both Khalaseer7 and Blue referring to me as defensive as the basis of their critique while also hiding behind a persona of good-vibes-only. And then there’s the major clue in the username itself. A seer is exactly how Blue describes themselves on their main blog: a person who uses divination.

Khalaseer7 is Blue. Hey girl! 👋🏼

Let’s try to wrap this up, Khala-Blue. You’ve had enough of my time:

1. If you did not care about how many kids I do or do not have then you would not have asked. You had an agenda with that question. So own it. Stop hiding behind disingenuous niceties and “curiosity.”

2.) I’m not “defensive.” I’m everything that you wish you were: factual and logical in my responses. I pay attention to tangible patterns and practice emotion regulation when coming to conclusions. I don’t swing a pendulum or ask Posiedon. (That’s a clue. If you know, you know.) Since you like the Oxford dictionary so much, here it is again from another “quick Google search,” no less: To be defensive is described as very anxious towards challenge or to avoid criticism; self-justifying or oversensitive.

I think the word you were looking for is “discerning,” but I think that’s a new one for you.

3.) I didn’t miss the point of OBB’s argument. They presented assumptions and projections as facts, to which I provided a counter-argument. Your condescension when stating that there are differences between how parents and non-parents speak about issues pertaining to children is noted. And to use your words: that’s 💯 okay. But what you’re describing is merely “bias”…and parental bias doesn’t mean that you or OBB was correct. In fact, you’re still assuming that Jared was leaving in that photo based on nothing more than confirmation bias. Because where exactly was it confirmed to be a photo of Jared leaving for filming?

(Answer: Nowhere)

4.) You can keep your so-called generosity in calling me knee-jerk in using the word “bigot.” I’ve already explained where I stand on this in the first couple paragraphs of this response. Even bigot-adjacent is too close for me.

OBB had come in my notes with her own unearned confidence and borderline disrespectful sarcasm more than once, and I wasn’t interested in providing a space for it to continue. So she was blocked. Before that though, I peeked at her blog and saw this reblog:

The OP shared a question from a recent con in which the guys are asked hypothetically who they would want to play them if Sam and Dean were gender-swapped in an episode. And OP was celebrating Jared’s response.

The first reblog is the anti-LGBTQ blog from earlier, your pal Thor, who has misunderstood the question and Jared’s answer completely having been blinded by their ultra conservative lens. It’s a hypothetical, innocuous question that, to me and my lens, seems to be attempting to be outside of the box for the purpose of keeping the cons interesting. And would you look at that? That’s not me clutching my pearls in the thread, Khala-Blue, that’s you! You’re the one I’ve smudged out in blue responding affirmatively to Thor’s rantings and egging it on. “Yeah! Stop catering to those people and their woke bullshit!” (Is the woke bullshit in the room with us??) And I can only assume that OBB agrees with you and Thor as she is reblogging without comment.

These were the connected dots I was referring to and no one was called a bigot only because they disagreed with me or “stuck to their guns.” I had planned to keep all of this to myself, but since you presumed to know my train of thought, I’m here with proof to clarify. You don’t know nearly as much as you so confidently claim. Please keep that in mind the next time you try not to be rude while also calling someone a defensive fence-sitter who needs to reevaluate their thought processes.

I don’t need to rethink a single thing or self-reflect around this particular issue. Your arrogance knows no bounds with all your polite little suggestions. I’ll repeat: Bigot-adjacent is too close for me. You’re not honoring diversity or building unity as you think you are. You are merely empowering oppressive language and ideals. No one needs that kind of faux “diversity.” If you’re making a space where people feel comfortable regurgitating hateful misinformation, then I don’t want to be in that space and I don’t want you in mine.

Cope how you need to.

5.) Finally, thank you for confirming that you’ve tried to manipulate my content both in my dm’s and my inbox so that you could riff off of it and generate your own blog activity. I always knew it, but this validation is a bonus. I’m honestly glad that you’ve decided to try your hand at your own anti-Gen posts that speak to your individual concerns. Let’s keep it that way and keep my name out of your mouth from now on, whether that be on your main or any sock account you create.

[bluravenite]

(I’m gonna mention age regression in this, just a heads up!)

Hi :) I saw in the notes on one of your posts that you mentioned age regression and specifically “BAD age regression” and bad age regression headcanons, and I was wondering if you could possibly expand on what you meant by that? (/gen) I’m just a bit confused as to what you mean and as someone who writes age regression, I obviously don’t want to be writing anything that people think is “bad” but I’m just not quite sure what your definition of that is…?

I hope this comes off as/gen because I’m just genuinely curious and if you’re willing to clarify, I would appreciate it, but if not then that’s okay too. I hope you have a good day/night!

Yes of course I am willing to clarify!!

I don't want anyone to feel like writing age regression itself is bad, I am referring to instances where I have not been aware of the contents within a headcanon or a fic about age regression that became triggering.

I am talking about glorification of self harm and eating disorders, grooming and sexual harassment.

Instances where ghouls who are experiencing age regression are put into situations that are mishandled. Because as someone who deals with littles IRL it's just very upsetting to see triggering content not be filtered or tagged properly and especially under age regression content!!

THIS BEING SAID, that is not a callout to anyone, the content I am talking about is also things that I have spoken about with the respective creators either to let them know I needed to block their page because of it, or that they should work to tag things properly so that nobody will be triggered by that sort of content anymore.

It's just something that at the time caught me vERY off guard in a BAD mental place (this year has been hell) and I remember talking about it to groups of people who agreed it was upsetting, so my brain simply dubbed it the BAD AGE REG

That doesn't mean all age regression content is bad AT ALL, in fact I too enjoyed going to the specific tags or blogs sometimes and scrolling through them, I've never had issues with that, please don't ever feel discouraged from writing what you love!! Especially if it makes others happy, just because one person says they don't like something shouldn't make you feel like you need to stop. In fact double it and post more!! If it's what you love.

I hope this made sense? And please feel free to contact me through the messages or here if you want to talk more or clarify anything more I genuinely promise I don't bite and I'm not trying to be mean, I am just unfortunately bad at wording stuff, which I need to fix.

[cheese-water]

i made my post at like 1am so yeah more things I wanted to say and response now :D

Ok the J being the antagonist would and could totally happen, but I don’t think that won’t be the case. I know Ranboo isn’t like professional film person (bro is still 19 lol), but usually in films and shows the secret villain won’t be a like main character best friend yknow? A lot it’s a side character who flys under the radar, but J could still be like main antagonist side-kick person. (I hope that makes sense

Omg just realized dsmp Ranboo and Zero- ok ok ok. In the first one an expert says to categorize their thoughts and memory loss could be why however Ranboo did that in dsmp and has already said he wants to keep Ranboo and genloss separate, so I don’t really think so(???) im not sure because memory loss for Zero does REALLY make a lot of sense.

Ok, im not a phycologist or anything but writing like good things down can help like awareness that not everything in the world is bad? And writing bad things can help people realize there can be things to improve upon, or like that they gotten past trauma that type of stuff.

Ok the dog thing could’ve been to clarify that like it is a dog because let’s say if it was like Spot it could easily been confused with like a human and if it was like food could be confused for the food etc

So I’d assume gen 1 started around 2023 because of the technology, in the journal its now 1900s which I think might be a good thing to take into account for the future. Anyways im assuming this is being seen through the eyes of the founder? Ranboo said he wanted to make a founders cut for chronicle 0 so maybe.

“Who do you think Zero will assume wrote that down? Their nameless dog” 💀 i-

 I feel like the ?s are not J because if J was writing stuff and Zero trusts J I think Zero(im sorry I give up on pronouns just calling them as they/them at this point) would probably answer the questions. Now heres my out there therory of of the options we get to pick are usually ? But one is says choose and one says radio. Currently out decisions didn’t matter until radio and we vote on next tweet radio is on and doing weird crap. So maybe the audience have a lot more control than we think?

Also in good thing part of journal it mentions a Jay and in the journal it mentions says J. They probably aren’t the same person.

Ending thoughts: I really like chronicle 0 I love the concept of ONLY getting words and no visuals or pictures because in gen 1 it was mainly videos. Also the the writing is just so cool like how the characters have so much personality and we don’t even know what they look like. The tweets used to be daily, but stopped so I think this is the part of nothing happens for 8 months lol, but until then I will be excitedly waiting for any continuation and proceed to get hyper-fixated on 19 tweets 3 of them being completely unhinged tweets!

That one idiot who should be focusing on 50 other more important things:

-☁︎🪷

POLLS THATS WHAT THEY ARE I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING WHY DOESNT NITTER SHOW PAST POLLS LMAOOO???? I thought they were just tweeting “?” oh my god everything makes sense now😭

[derww]

TL;DR: 2.6k words gen, post-Abyss arc, Devotion Duo-centric + Bacon, Roshambo, Jumper and Minute. Zam's origin makes it so he adopts small physical traits from people he trusts and considers his teammates. It backfires after Jumper's betrayal. Very poorly.

TW: Violence, blood, killings, temporary death, lethal poisoning, swearing, maybe spoilers

Disclamer: Not everything are stream-reliable, I have no real knowledge of biology, I actually like Jumper.

First of all, he is so, so angry. Because how dare she. How dare she betray them. How dare she leak all their plans, how dare she dismiss all their beliefs, how dare she never be on their side.

He wants to kill her. He wants her to die. He wants her to suffer. And, with it, he feels so much fucking pain. Because he trusted her, and she betrayed them. Three months. Three fucking months. And he is so fucking angry and furious, and pained and-

And then another kind of pain comes to him, and for one second, he actually thinks he'll just die in the place. He clings to the wall, feeling terribly dizzy and nauseous, and something is very, very fucking wrong-

His hearts drops from 12 to 10. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a message about Jumper's death. He hysterically laughs. It still hurts so much, and people are so fucking loud. He disconnects from the general chat.

You whisper to Mapicc: i'm gonna fucking die

Mapicc calls him. He answers.

– Were you attacked? – Mapicc asks him; It seems like he's running.

– No, I, – he starts terribly coughing, – where are you?

– Killed Jumper and blew up her base, – Mapicc reports with a smirk, – im trying to leave, but here is Minute and fucking Clownpierce. 

Good shit. Now Mapicc just has to survive. He laughs.

– Good. I'll add Bacon? I don't know if i believe Pentar now. 

– Sure.

Bacon picks up immediately.

– What's the situation right now? – he asks, – it seems like we all are kill on sight, because there are two people who want me dead. Fortunately, I managed to escape.

– I'm fucking dying, – he shares.

– Are you losing hearts? 

– Yes, and it hurts like fuck. Its like- like- eyesight is blurry, and head is spinning, and im like going to throw up, and, and, – he loses words.

– Did something happen that– wait, before all of this, go and eat a golden apple.

– An apple? – he clarifies, perplexed and angry, and with great effort takes out a stack of golden apples from an enderchest. He takes a bite, and his vision partially clears. – oh, you are right. It's much better. I still feel terrible, but at least now I can stand on my feet.

– The fuck is this? – asks Mapicc. He's breathing heavily, still running.

– Actually, i have no idea. – Bacon says, – but it sounds like some kind of heavy poisoning.

– The fuck? – Mapicc asks again, – did fucking Jumper bit you?

– No??? – he answers, still alarmed, – when would she? 

– She's not a fucking black widow, – Bacon pointed, – you should remember, when Zam got her trai-i-i-, – he stops, dumbfounded, – oh, fuck.

– What? – Zam asks. His head is still spinning. He bites the golden apple again.

– Zam, – Bacon says, seems angry and uncomfortable at the same time, – its your Jumper's trait. This shit can be fucking lethal.

He freezes in place.

– Fuck.

– Be right back, gotta kill her again, – says Mapicc and deafens.

***

Team Awesome Zam had gray hair and red horns. Eclipse Federation Zam had black horns and fox ears. Solar Union Zam had the halo and the wings – and, still, the horns. Pirate Zam had pangolin scales on his arms and legs. Abyss Zam had red horns and spider's fangs with a weak poison. Wormhole Zam had nothing.

After leaving Team Awesome he was getting very dizzy while being in Nether for another month. After leaving Eclipse being in the End were making him throw up. leaving Solar Union made him weak to the sunlight. Pangolin scales fell off, but it never caused him any pain or discomfort.

He forgot. He forgot. He fucking forgot.

He packs up his kit, adds more golden apples, drinks regen and swaps chestplate with an elytra. It hurts like death, but he's been placing pistons around the clock for the last week, what's it to him. 

He knows where to fly, and he's dropping into the fight like a fish jumps into the water. Its not good – people are here, and Mapicc struggles, and with Zam it only becomes bearable. They fight, and fight, and he coughs blood and stares at the Jumper and only now does she actually look at least a little scared. 

They can't win this in the long run, it's just a few minutes before they have to go or die, and all that's left is a small window of opportunities and unlikely options.

It's just a split second. Blink of the eye. Jumper reaches for the golden apples, Clown attacks Mapicc, Minute switches to him. Zam places rail, tnt minecart, shouts "Escape!" (because, of course, who even says "Charge" if the enemy hears them) and Mapicc shoots it with a flame bow.

He doesn't have time to cover himself with a shield – he forgets that he even has a shield – but he survives, being further out, and Jumper doesn't, and that's the only thing he cares about. He's shell-shocked, but he can still walk, and they run, and then they walk, and then they hide, because he's bleeding from both nose and ears and suffocating and god knows what else. Mapicc tells him how they'll ban Jumper from the server, like he's telling a bedtime story, and for a moment Zam really believes him.

They need Bacon's help for it, but eventually succeed in outrunning them. All of their bases are unsafe, so they mine very deep into a wall and make themself some beds and chests. Zam drinks too many regen pots and ends up passing out–

– Do you remember? – asks Bacon to Mapicc, – like, closer to the end of the fourth season, he still had this stupid Subz's horns. 

– Oh, yeah, that shit, – Mapicc understandingly nods, – he looked so stupid, fucking Planet's halo, Jaron's wings, and these shitty horns.

– You got it, – Bacon nods, – he still had them after all Eclipse stuff because he still deemed him his ally and trusted him and all this stuff. 

– How does this even relate to our problem? 

– Don't interrupt me. – he frowns, easily irritated, – After Subz banned himself, the horns just fell off. Because there was no one to cling to anymore, i guess- i don't fucking know, it's Zam's shit and i dont think even he knows how this all works.

– So-o we have to ban Jumper. – Mapicc catches up. – good, – he approves. – I was just about to.

He wakes up from pain and coughing. Mapicc gives him his Jumper heart and he applies both, with one he got from her. They lie too heavy in his chest, but he has no actual choice. It'll get worse, he knows. The poison is everywhere in him, and he can slow down the process, but he can't stop it. He'll die, and he'll respawn, and he'll still be dying, because its a part of him.

***

Seeing Mapicc, Ro, of course, gets ready for a fight. He heard about the destruction of Jumper's base, he knows that Mapicc is angry and wants more blood – but something is very, very wrong, and Mapicc unperturbedly parries his preventive blow, and instead of actually fighting, he goes close and puts his hand on Ro's shoulder.

Despite them being enemies for the last several months, he freezes on the place.

– Zam is fucking dying, – Mapicc says, – we have to ban Jumper for him to survive. 

Ro stares Mapicc right in the eyes. Something inside him clicks.

– Then why the fuck did you blow up her base, dumbass, – he hisses, pushing Mapicc's hand off his shoulder, – we could've just spawnkill her and now she's on the run.

– Fuck no, we could not, – Mapicc rolls his eyes up, – she knew we know where her base is. She is not that stupid. 

– We still could've used it! – he disappointedly waves his arms, – doesn't matter. Too late. Kill me, I'll try to get info.

Mapicc nods. Before making a blow, he speaks with composure: 

– Welcome back, Ro.

– We will have a proper reunion when Zam will be okay, – he shrugs it off, and Mapicc strikes him. And then again. And again.

***

He dies on the second day. Its fucking painful. His insides curl into a knot, everything goes wrong, and he fucking hates the taste of the golden apples, and he still dies and respawns, and he is still dying. He did not drop a heart.

Instead of crying and lying to himself, he gathers his shit and goes to spawn to finish voiding spawn because fuck Jumper and fuck the Foundation, he doesn't have to obey an agreement in which the other party has never played fair. 

Mapicc goes with him, and it's not even a fucking question, and it angers him, but not being completely alone is also cool i guess.

And the spawn is so fucking empty because the war ended yesterday, but not actually. Even with a dizzy head and sloppy movements, he repairs Freakinator at the record pace and then just watches void to unveil while sitting right on the edge.

It's beautiful. It's so, so beautiful. He thinks of a world where he would never have seen it, and it makes him sad. And then he thinks that he would like to watch it with all the Abyss members and starts getting angry again. 

– Maybe I'll get rid of Jumper's trait before losing all of my hearts, – he says to Mapicc almost optimistically, – I don't remember how long it took after leaving Team Awesome when i stopped throwing up and overheating in Nether. At some point it became just too usual to pay attention to this, and then it just stopped.

He feels Mapicc's gaze burning into the back of his head. Pistons keep falling into the void.

– Do you like the void? – he asks Mapicc.

– Yea.

– Why?

– It creates a challenge, a reason, and it gives me an opportunity to kill people and make them lose everything that they had on them. And it's just fun.

– Does it really explain why you were okay to die if it meant that someone else fell into the void?

– It really does.

They don't have time to finish voiding: Ro blows up Mapicc's communicator with warnings. Zam reads them carefully, looking over Mapicc's shoulder, and still stays in place. After a couple more minutes, someone comes at the spawn. Three minutes later, Minute carefully lands next to them on his black armored cicada wings. 

The first thing he does is break Freakinator – three lines; she didn't finish just three lines. After that, he says:

– I thought we agreed to never touch the bedrock again.

Zam laughs back at him.

– What's so funny? – Minute asks. It doesnt seems like he wants to fight, but maybe he's just waiting for the teammates.

– We gave you a chance to stop us as a sign of respect, recognition of equal play. Because we thought the steaks were real, that we had achieved our goal. But you've never tried to play fair. You sent a mole to us, and all the bets were never real. So why should I stick to the deal, then? Jumper might as well have just sent you a link.

– So we're going back in our words, – says Minute, but it doesn't seem like he really wants to defend himself here, – what's fun.

– You know what? I don't even care. Think what you want. – he coughs and spits blood and eats gapple. He thinks about how he will be tearing Jumper apart. It's the only thing that keeps him stable. Maybe Minute will call her and he'll be able to fight her again – killing her now, regrouped, calmed down and for sure on twenty hearts will be much more difficult than last time, but he is ready try and try and try until it breaks him into a bloody mess.

He's staring into the abyss. It's really beautiful. He can't imagine a world where they would have stopped at that moment, and the last layer was never broken. That's what they really started all this for. But not really. That's a lie.

Minutes, in the end, actually calls for help, but the Jumper is not among them, and they escape. He plans to blow up the spawn so as to expose the entire void. At least he now knows how to build TNT dupers with his eyes closed.

***

By nightfall, he stops regenerating health above eight hearts. With a hundred precautions, Ro goes into their bunker and casts a hex on him that temporarily stops the pain and slows down the spread of the poison a little. He asks several times if they need him more here or there. Zam repeats as many times that he must remain a double agent. Then Ro jokes about shit for the next half an hour, and only then leaves.

They grab reluctant Bacon with them, divide the world into three, and spend the whole night flying across the sky on elytras with the piechart turned on. They are unlucky for a long time – they find lonely enderchestes, barely touched villages, and abandoned bases. Then they find what, according to the Ro, is the base of the Foundation – and fly on, because the Jumper is not here and she should be at least somewhere. And, once again finding the enderchest and going to explore it, Mapicc triangulates its location for half an hour, and then, having dug through one block more, stumbles upon the amethyst wall. 

He hides in the walls for another 30 minutes. He sees the name tag. He writes the coordinates in the chat.

They jump on her from the ceiling together, and she's so fucking terrified, but for some reason she finds an almost complete battle kit in her inventory, and she's holding up really well, but there is only so much you can actually do in such a bad situation. She dies, and they find her bed, but she breaks it before and dies only one more time.

– This is not enough,– Bacon says distantly, hiding the sword, staring at her disappearing body, – She has Vi's hearts. She's still at 20.

– Yes, but she just died inside her own base twice, – Mapicc points, – we'll blow up it. When she builds a new one, we'll find it too. If she hides in someone else's base, we'll find that, and when she shows up on spawn, we'll kill her. It will affect her. She won't be able to hold on forever.

– We should have told Ro to wait for her at spawn, – Bacon shakes his head.

– She just wouldn't respawn and wait for a Minute to save her, – Mapicc rolls his eyes, – she won't let us just kill her. It's a long war. But we'll make it. She will break before Zam gets banned.

Bacon shakes his head. They blow up the base, fight the Foundation and leave.

Zam applies both of her hearts to himself and dies fourteen hours later, suffocating for the last two. It's an ugly death, but at some point, he comes to terms with it.

Maybe one day I'll be able to hate her a little less, he thinks, and for a single moment the pain recedes.

[randomstuffhewwo]

Tone Indicators, a Masterlist

Tone indicators are shorthand for words used to convey tone, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as "a quality in the voice that expresses the speaker's feelings or thoughts". Tone can do so much to change the meaning and implications of a sentence. The intended use of tone indicators is in text, and they are prevalent on social media where miscommunication is rife, and posts and messages are often misinterpreted. Tone can be especially difficult to parse for neurodivergent people. This is not to say that neurotypical people never misunderstand tone through text, or even face-to-face, because they do — but that neurodivergent people may experience and interpret tone differently. They are simply paralinguistic signifiers used at the ends of statements to help readers fill in the blanks. They can also be called written shorthand for the poster’s (OP's) intent and emotion.

It's entirely too easy to use them, simply use them after, or even before, the sentence that you wish to clarify. "Can you explain this for me? /gen"

I'm going to make a masterlist of all the tone indicators I've seen so far, adding some that aren't in popular usage, some I personally use with my friends, some that I believe should exist, under the cut. In some cases, I've seen multiple versions of the tone indicator, in which case I've put the more popular one first (at least by what I've seen).

Tone Indicators I've Seen Popularly Used

/j: joking "i'll have to deactivate my account now /j"

/hj: half-joking "we should definitely date /hj"

/s, /sarc, /sarcasm: sarcasm "i absolutely love being sad /s"

/srs: serious "i'm just so very tired /srs"

/nsrs: not serious "my leg's hurting a little bit but i'm okay /nsrs"

/g: genuine statement "i'm thankful that you're talking to me right now /g"

/lh: light-hearted "isn't is spelled 'unnecessary'? /lh"

/nm: not really mad or upset "i think you got that fact wrong /nm"

/pos, /pc: positive connotation "the movie's back on for tomorrow! /pos"

/neg, /nc: negative connotation "i have work tomorrow /neg"

/ly, /l: lyrics "she's a, she's a lady, and i am just a boy /ly"

/p: platonic "i just want to hug you /p"

/gen: genuine question "are you okay with me talking right now? /gen"

/t: teasing "it seems your sense of humour is horrible /t"

Tone Indicators I Haven't Seen Popularly, but I Have Seen, and Also Sometimes Use

/ref: reference "it's like none pizza with left beef /ref"

/nbh: nobody here, for vague mentioning "i'm just so angry at someone /nbh"

/r: romantic "i really want to cuddle with you right now /r"

/sx, /x: sexual intent (Used for sexual innuendos, or similar hinting)

/nsx, /nx: non-sexual intent (Used to clarify the lack of any such sexual intent in a statement)

/m: metaphorical "i was just swept away by a wave /m"

/li: literal "the fish was as big as my torso /li"

/ij: inside joke "it's a whale on dry land /ij"

/rh, /rt: rhetorical "who even cares? /rh"

/hyp: hyperbole (exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally) "i've told her ten thousand times to stop playing that song /hyp"

/c: copypasta (a block of text which is copied and pasted across the Internet by individuals through online forums and social networking websites)

/f: fake "i saw this post yesterday /f", which could be accompanied by an edited or modified post

/th: threat "i will get you to read that book /th"

/cb: clickbait "this website saved my life! /cb"

Tone Indicators I Use With My Friends, or Believe Should Be Mainstream

/a: affectionate "you're a bitch /a"

/q: quote "get up, get up, there are worlds to conquer /q"

/nf: not forced "do you want to go out with me today? /nf"

/pa: passive-aggressive "looks like someone has been talking to someone else behind my back /pa"

/npa: not passive-aggressive "i think someone has stolen my pen /npa"

[toskarin]

so re: urobu chi in madoka we are just replacing the "man/ghost" with a girl with grey hair, right? I buy that.

I think he has strayed away from these basic conventions a lot as of late, but he also has been working a lot less in general. I'm curious if you have a favorite of gen's work or if you feel you haven't absorbed enough of it to have an opinion (or maybe you just don't like any of it). while it does boil down to the basic framework you describe I feel like on the journey to that he explores some pretty interesting ideas. Just as well I also like the different ways he resolves his "everything sucks" narratives. at least I feel by the end usually there is more there than that basic idea but sometimes it takes too long to get there.

As far as zero is concerned, Nasu approved it basically all the way through its release and worked with gen on it so there is that. And when you consider Gen was basically given free reign there's no real reason for him to stick to the original concepts, I don't think (but I understand the argument for him to do just that). I guess my takeaway is if you find them incompatible (zero and stay) then that's fine because they were made by two completely different people, the same way I don't have Aliens in the same headspace as Aliens. They are different things that just happen to have the same characters.

I spent a lot of time just stating my own opinions rather than asking yours, sorry. Whatever you feel about Gen (I'm not a big fan but he's made some stuff I like), it's hard for me to say he did some interesting things that a lot of authors would be too afraid to do (or perhaps simply wouldn't be allowed to by their publishers).

anyway if you can/want to point me to where you've written more about these topics I'd be curious to see it!

I'm gonna apologize in advance because I'm using your ask to write my most comprehensive (and sympathetic) post on Urobuchi so far lmao

I should definitely open by clarifying that when I drop an opinion like that, I'm exaggerating my actual stance because I think it's funny to do it, so I'm not actually as anti-Urobuchi as I come off, it's just that I'm just not especially a fan (and at the end of the day, no matter what I say on here, I'm a pretty big Madoka fan who thinks Saya no Uta is a fantastic piece of horror and likes Nitroplus vns as a whole)

in general, when I sound overly negative about an author, it's usually because I don't feel the need to write out every time I find a piece of media okay or even good, so playing up some stronger opinions for a punchier line is always gonna result in what looks like a paradigm of blind praise and seething hatred. it can come off especially rough when preexisting connotations attach themselves to my rambles and rants

for example, me complaining about the misogynist tendencies of Urobuchi's writing is more of a ribbing than a hard moral judgment on whether it's got merit. I've got no idea what he's like outside of his work, besides that we like a lot of the same movies and he seems to get along with other people I hold in high regard. that's a big part of why I make a point of tending towards more tongue-in-cheek references to his choking fetish as opposed to anything with real substance

all that being said!

even though my stated opinions are oversimplifications of what I actually believe, I'm a little unfair to him, and I'm fully willing to acknowledge that. I disagree heavily with the way Zero was handled, especially in regards to how it handled preexisting characters, and it's one of those few situations where I wonder whether Nasu was actually right to lend so much creative freedom to a partner on a project he was (by all accounts) so closely involved with

Gen has a fantastic sense for horror and despair, and it's solely because he produces stories so close to what I'd consider amazing that I complain about the things holding them back. an example I'll point out is that I've never gone after the low hanging fruit of gun jokes because, while it is a recurring theme in his writing, I genuinely appreciate his fixation on the specifics of firearms

I haven't kept up with Urobuchi's stuff recently, largely because of time constraints, but I really do hope he's been working his way out of the boxes he worked himself into. if he were a purely mediocre writer who made consistently okay work, I don't think I'd have any opinions on him at all, after all

in the end, I really dislike Zero because of both what it tries to be and what it doesn't try to be. if it had been a more boring production, I'd have much less to say about it. I think that's a pretty good encapsulation of my feelings on him. I'm never bored, regardless of whether I'm having a good time

[cvntyblogger]

okay, im trying to say this in the most non-offensive way possible. i've been thinking about how much i dont want kids in the future because, well, i've never found the idea of pregnancy and taking care of children particularly appealing. to me, parenthood should include being with your child quite a lot and that sounds emotionally taxing and bad for the mental health of adults who are already stressed out due to their tedious jobs (capitalism am i right?). now, if theres one thing we know, it is the fact that most parents till date have not been all-round responsible to have kids, but due to irrational things like societal pressure or 'kids are cute 🥺', they've have them. i made a post earlier about how complicated relationships with your parents are, and i didnt expect it to blow up, but it did, and the fact that more than 74 thousand people can relate is not okay. to clarify, i dont come from an abusive household, i was simply talking about the (emotional) damage parents can do to their kids without even realising. so yeah, im safe, fyi lol.

About what i was saying: my sister once told me that people have kids for selfish reasons as well, aka not getting lonely. if u have kids with ur partner, at least in indian households u are affiliated with your partner's parents, siblings and relatives, so you have a larger family and more people to turn to in times of trouble, in old age or to simply hang out with, incl your kids. and having kids seals the deal of being accepted completely in society, and if u dont people treat you like you committed a crime.

Heres the thing, ok. i have seen people from all generations, incl gen Z, talk about having kids as something SO OBVIOUS in every person's life that it makes me scared because i feel like i will never find a partner in the future who will like to reman childfree. im young so i know this may seem like im overthinking the far future, but im really not, so let me have this.

not everyone wants to have kids and its time we stop pushing those people aside just because theyre a supposed minority. not all but many people who dont want kids change their minds, yes, but it is NOT YOUR PLACE to say that. by telling someone who wants to remain childfree, that they will "eventually change their mind", is directly devaluing their current desires and decisions, so stop it.

i just- please understand that having kids is a huge responsibility and one you cannot go back from, so unless you have healed your own trauma (same with ur partner) and have a stable relationship with your partner, im begging u to not have kids. TOO MANY people come from broken homes because their parents didnt know better and it boils my blood that that is the case. if we are taught this stuff in educational institutions, i can guarantee that the number of people traumatised by their parents would decrease.

also !! people have much more rational reasons to NOT have kids than to have them tbh. be it mental health, no desire, generational trauma, etc. im not shitting on people who want kids, but im just being realistic.

[hologramcowboy]

In response to the double standard anon, that's not true. And just to clarify, I'm not an AA or a Danneel stan. I could care less about either one to be honest nor do I want to hate on one or defend the other in any way, but I feel like I need to speak on this to show how that point of double standards is incorrect. I don't know if I consider myself an anti, but I definitely am a part of the 'critical' crowd all around.

I have two instances that I think are worse than my alleged husband waving at Hooters' waitresses, where I absolutely would have lost my crap in this type of scenario if I were married to Jensen myself. Or if this had say happened with Jared and I was in Gen's position. Or with whoever I was married to, celebrity and non-celebrity alike.

One, the Liv Likar thing. Whether people agree or disagree with me, it doesn't matter. What happened with her was disrespectful. Not the whole noncon thing AA's like to claim (puh-leeze, if he had truly been uncomfortable, he would have politely or not so politely pulled away). No, because the man is married, this girl just met him, she knows he's married, she asks for a picture as a fan which should mean there are automatic boundaries in place due to the dynamic/context (again he's also married and that's public knowledge), and then she purposely kisses his cheek in an area that had he turned less than a quarter inch towards her say not knowing what she was about to do, her lips would have connected with his or at the very least touched the corner of his mouth. (for doubters, watch that video again, she even purposely makes the kissing sound which isn't necessary for the action she's doing) And regardless of however she acted, he knows better and I would hold him fully accountable. If my husband had done that when I wasn't around and then liked the post she made on social media on top of it (especially when he doesn't really interact with fans on SM all that much) and saw that same girl agreeing with a comment someone made on her post saying my husband has more chemistry in a photo with her more than he does me, I promise you anon, that wouldn't fly with me. At all. I don't care if he was surprised by her actions or he was playing fully to the public persona he represents or what. Not. Cool.

Secondly, there is one photo op that has circulated out there with that girl named Abichristine -whatever her name is- that imho is also disrespectful. It's pre-pandemic and she is sitting on Jensen's knee and she's lifting his chin with her finger as he looks up at her I think it is. His hand is resting on her bare upper thigh, granted right above the knee and they keep a respectable distance for her requested pose and his other hand is in a safe area, but his other hand could have been on her knee if needed for balance or the pose or whatever but it's not. While this, to me, is a little less disrespectful than the one I mentioned above, I still wouldn't be okay with it. Especially knowing that this girl is present at every single convention, taking photo ops with him, and is always present as much as possible at every social event Jensen and I would attend, especially in our hometown. I might not be as humiliated or pissed off as I would be above (it is only a photo op after all) but still I would turn to my husband and go "wtf is that? Why is your hand there?" Especially considering that it's obvious that she's one of those "superfans" and is around him every chance she gets. Again, I would hold him fully accountable because he should know better and he obviously has total control over what poses he allows to be done in his photo ops.

And it should be mentioned that both of these happened in the public eye, not just in front of their families or friends or co-workers, and while she wasn't even there. (imagine how much worse the demeaning would have been if she had been)

I just rolled my eyes at the photo op thing when it happened but when the Liv thing happened, you can bet I was very vocal on how wrong Jensen was for that one. His wife may suck as a person (she does, again see the hooters video) and he may not be in a happy marriage (he's obviously not) but if you want to talk about respect and double standards and all of that crap, trust me, Jensen is no saint either. And a lot of people in this crowd, including this blog, have no problem saying that and have, often. (see this blog's posts on how Jensen and Danneel met & what happened with Riley for instance, Danneel isn't the only one that is stated as being wrong in that scenario, the blame is placed on both parties equally so your double standards theory goes right out the window)

Here's the thing, if I was married to Jensen or whoever, you would never see me handling it on a drunken livestream number one, and you would never see me being abusive towards him. An argument might ensue, sure, but I wouldn't demean him. I wouldn't feel the urge to point out that these attractive women might not have wanted to talk to him, whether to him himself or to the people around us. I would instead handle it between him and I, most likely when we're sober. If I needed to talk to my girlfriends because I was upset, I would do it another time. I know everyone is different and would handle this in their own ways but I myself would lock that shit down as tightly as I could and then deal with it with him in private. I might not be able to go about hunky dory the rest of the night until I dealt with it but I also wouldn't make it everyone else's problem either. No one should have their night ruined just because my husband might be an inconsiderate asshole at times. But I also would keep in mind that he's been drinking, all he did was wave, and while it might be embarrassing, hey it's not like the two examples above. But, if it had embarrassed me like it did Danneel, then that's how I would personally go about it.

Because if you yell at him and tell him "omg stop looking at them! I'm right here!" then it causes a scene, you look mad jealous and it might come off as you trying to be controlling (not that you care about your image in that instance unless you are public figures but it also invites everyone else into something that should be discussed between the two of you), and it's not going to accomplish what you really want: letting him know how much that embarrassed you, how much it might have hurt, and for him to hopefully be more considerate in the future. So now imagine what Danneel said in this video and what it accomplishes (which also shows her actual intentions). What is the purpose for it? Simple: to demean him, to save face in front of their friends, and to make herself feel better by putting him down because she is embarrassed and jealous (evidenced by "none of the girls in Hooters would wave to Jensen" said to her friends laughingly after the situation passed & then her shirking his hand off of her later on and telling him to stop, then acting annoyed to her girlfriends). Which anon, her comments are indeed abusive, bullying at the very least. Which again, bullying is abusive. Google it if you need to. It's time all of society was schooled on what actually constitutes as abuse and how our attitudes towards it need to change.

I hope I don't come across rudely here, that's not my intention, but I can't stand that whole double standards/misogyny claim especially when it's baseless and incorrect (like here on this blog for example) and total bullshit as a whole because people dare to call a woman out for her abusive behavior for the right reasons, not because her husband is "hot" or whatever. There's way worse shit he could have done than drunkenly waving to waitresses, and it still wouldn't justify what Danneel said to him and about him. Had Danneel been in his position and did the same thing like you claim, and he said those things to her and about her, I promise you no one here would have a problem calling him out about that type of abusive behavior.

"It's time all of society was schooled on what actually constitutes as abuse and how our attitudes towards it need to change." Especially since a lot of people take abuse without knowing it qualifies as that and then they blame themselves thinking they are not enough instead of realizing they are being gaslighted, emotionally abused, etc. Jensen needs exames of healthy, thriving relationships so he can learn the difference and realize his marriage is far from ideal. He needs to stop advertising his home life because it comes across as extremely toxic and I don't think he realizes that. I think to him that's all normal because he doesn't know what a healthy relationship is like.

[nemotunovi]

so fun story

they only pokemon game i played as a kid was ruby. and don't get me wrong, i loved it. but pokemon was never a franchise i was IN LOVE with.

but during college, i found myself surrounded by discord furries and felt compelled to finally give the franchise a shot. And its the single most profitable multimedia franchise on planet earth, so it's probably i should be keeping tabs of regardless.

so i played through all 7 games that had been released by that point- playing the most up-to-date versions (so instead of the original red/blue, i'd be playing leaf green. instead of silver, i'd be playing soul silver. etc.)

And here's my full, zero nostalgia goggle review:

Gen 1- Genuinely kind of bad, but every gameboy game was bad in some way or the other. It's a miracle what was able to be accomplished, even if it was never super engaging.

Gen 2- Genuinely a very captivating handheld RPG experience. I still felt like it was on the easy side, but that's going to be an complaint with the series.

Gen 3- Just kind of okay. I liked it, and it has some of my favorite mons (shedinja, tropius) but I feel like it lags during the final third. And I know the IGN "Too Much Water" is a meme thing, but let me clarify the complaint- water in these games are super boring and lacking in dimension. The reason the game feels like it starts dragging in the third act is because the last third of the map is almost entirely water-based. The issue isnt that there's too much of it, it's that there's too much of it AND it's boring and poorly designed. With that said, it's still good.

Gen 4- Just kind of okay. It feels like much of the game is actively wasting your time. Like those tiles that serve no purpose but to take up twice the time to move through? The complete drought of fire types? Apparently a lot of the issues with the game were addressed in platinum, which I should have played.

Gen 5- Genuinely spectacular. It was this first game since Johto where I was looking forward to every play session. Every room had some fun little easter egg in it if you went exploring. Every map was bursting in charm and style. I played this game and UNDERSTOOD the appeal of the series. I even sunk dozens of hours into the post-game, because there was just so much of it. I cannot stress enough how much I genuinely adored this title.

Gen 6- Just kind of okay. It was lacking in a lot of the features of earlier games and the new stuff they added felt VERY gimmicky (mega evolutions, pokemon ami). But ultimately... I couldn't be TOO mad at the game since they were on new tech, and it would be unfair to expect every game to be a masterpiece

But then with gen 7... I noticed something

the game wasn't good. It wasn't "just okay" like most of the entries thus far. It was actively bad. Everything just felt so... rushed and phoned in. The world was boring and ugly. The designs lacked charm. The pokemon lacked charm. The story lacked charm. And that's when I realized so much of the games were crutched up BY the charm and visuals and cute designs and attention to detail that when those are all stripped away... pokemon at its core is kinda shit.

Cut to years later.

Then Gen 8 came along and it too was lacking in anything to love. The production values got worse. It got lazier. The world got more empty. The animations got worse. And I began getting frustrated with it. The shallow systems. The repetitive gameplay. The story that is both completely uninteresting, intrusive, and obnoxious. And the gimmicks got even more gimmicky. These are all issues that have been with the franchise since gen 1. For the first time, this was a mainline game on a home console. It was widely publicized that they would be DRASTICALLY cutting back on features and scope. When I first heard it, my naive ass was thinking "This was the perfect opportunity to rework the core of the franchise and fix the issues that have been with it since day 1." But they didn't fix anything. They didn't add anything either! They just did the exact same thing they've been doing for 20 years, but worse!

It was the most profitable game in the series up until that point.

Then gen 9 is just more of the same. I bought it when it first came out and of all of these listed, it is the ONLY one I couldn't bring myself to finish. I resold it after 9-ish hours.

Just like... What the fuck happened to pokemon? I know most of the people who say that are nostalgia-blinded and have some drooling investment in the property and think daddy nintendo actually likes them and they hold up whatever game they grew up with on a pedestal and just call anything new shit...

But objectively speaking, as someone with no investment in the property or loyalty to nintendo, there was a noticeable and drastic drop in quality that happened at the start of gen 7.

Was it the switch to 3d? I don't think so, because gen 6 was their first attempt at 3d and it wasn't bad.

Was it the switch to home console? I don't think it could have been that as gen 7 was where it started and that released on the 3ds.

What was the shift in the company culture and ethos that caused this dramatic and consistent drop in quality? Please tell me i'm not the only one who noticed this.

Another for scientific reasons poll

[tsarisfanfiction]

Carry Me Home

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Gen Genre: Family Characters: John, Scott, Virgil

Back to back rescues is a recipe for exhaustion.  Luckily, Scott’s got an eye in the sky looking out for him.

A random discussion with @janetm74 about how much we love sleepy Scott fics somehow turned into this...  Well, it feels like it’s been a while since I posted any fluff, so here you go.

John didn’t have alarms rigged to alert him just before his eldest brother crashed out, although at times that certainly sounded like an appealing prospect.  Maybe one day he’d implement it, considering Scott’s penchant for working until he dropped – literally – but for now it remained a vague concept in the back of his mind.

Today was one day where it might be useful.  It was, he supposed, fortunate that the rest of his brothers had just returned from their respective rescues, leaving him with only Scott to monitor as his big brother packed up after his own rescue.  If he’d been distracted by another brother, or some new stream of important data that needed instant attention, he wouldn’t have caught the signs in time.  As it was, the only thing on his conscious radar at that moment was Scott, and John saw the moment his older brother’s vitals plummeted.

His immediate reaction was panic, his heart jumping up to land in his throat as Scott’s blood pressure and heart rate dropped from its high, adrenaline-fuelled state.  But Scott didn’t keel over, or faint, or outwardly show any reaction at all, and logic sidled its way in before John did something unadvisable.

This was Scott’s third rescue in the past twenty-four hours.  None of them had been easy, but this final one had been particularly physically demanding, with his brother clambering in and around a large and challenging area of craggy rocks - in a couple of cases having to carry a rescuee while doing so.  John was also aware that Scott hadn’t had much by way of sleep, and while he hadn’t been tracking his brother’s every move, he suspected food probably hadn’t featured as much as it should have done, either.

It was the perfect storm.

He watched the camera feed closely as Scott packed away the last of his harness equipment before sitting down heavily in his pilot seat.  A dirty, tired hand rubbed at his face, leaving streaks on the skin in an admittance John knew Scott wouldn’t have made if he’d realised he was being watched.  The yawn, splitting his brother’s face in two and beading moisture in the corner of his scrunched closed eyes, was the last straw.

Scott was not piloting anywhere like that.

Pulling up Thunderbird One’s controls took barely a thought.  By the time Scott’s weary hands rested on the levers, ready to guide his ‘bird into the air, John had locked him out and activated her remote pilot.

It only took a second for Scott to realise that Thunderbird One’s controls weren’t responding to him, but a second was far too long for a man who lived and breathed flight.  John let his hologram flicker into view as Scott grumbled and poked at the controls again, clearly not yet realising that the reason they weren’t working was because John had decreed it.

His brother jumped when he noticed him.

“Everything’s fine, John,” he said, although he was still scowling at his ‘bird’s controls as if he thought there was something wrong.  “I’ll be in the air in a minute.”

“I know,” John agreed pleasantly, and was relieved to see the scowling blue eyes turn suspiciously towards him.  Scott was exhausted, but could at least still do the bare minimum of realise when a brother was up to something.  “Strap yourself in.”  Scott gestured at his shoulder harness, and John barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “The turbulence straps,” he clarified. While the shoulder harnesses did their job in most conditions, Thunderbird One’s pilot seat also came with additional security in the case of heavy turbulence – or, in a worst-case scenario, a crash landing.  Considering Scott was undeniably more creeping further towards sleep every moment – proven by another yawn which he couldn’t stifle – John wanted him fully strapped in.

“Don’t need ‘em,” Scott grumbled.  “Conditions are clear.”

“Scott.”  John had mastered the disappointed parent voice years ago out of necessity, and sometimes even Scott reacted to it. Today, with the older man more asleep than awake, the stars aligned in John’s favour, and the turbulence straps were fastened.  Scott still grumbled, but John didn’t care as long as he was secure.

“What is the point of this?” his brother demanded, failing to hide yet another yawn.  His eyes were half-lidded at best, and another glance at his vitals showed that it was only Scott’s stubbornness that was keeping him awake.  There was absolutely no way he was fit to fly, and John was going to enforce that.

“Relax,” he said, keeping his voice level and low.  “I’ll get you home, big brother.”

“Wha-?”  Blue eyes shot open.  “John, what are-”

John didn’t let him finish his sentence before powering up Thunderbird One’s VTOL and lifting his brother’s ‘bird – complete with said brother safely ensconced within – into the sky.

“You’re dead on your feet, Scott,” he pointed out calmly.  “Get some rest.  You’re in no state to pilot.”

“I’m fine,” Scott tried to protest, but yet another yawn interrupted him and he involuntarily slumped back in the seat.  John took the opportunity to ignite Thunderbird One’s rear boosters and accelerate her up through the sound barrier.

“Scott.”  This time it wasn’t the disappointed parent, but rather the wheedling little brother.  Scott was always weak to wheedling little brothers, and this was no exception.  He slumped back further in the chair, head resting back against the headrest.

“Fine,” he huffed, finally accepting that this was a debate he was never going to win.  Another yawn crossed his face and his eyelids fluttered closed for several moments before they were wrenched open again.  “Just for now.”

The fact that he had caved at all proved how unfit to fly he was.

Blue eyes fluttered closed again, but this time they didn’t re-open.  Scott’s vitals stabilised themselves, far too low for consciousness to be on the cards at all, and John kept an eye on the camera feed as Scott’s chest rose and fell in slow and even breaths.  His brother badly needed the sleep.

After a moment, during which he brought Thunderbird One to a safe, comfortable cruising speed of Mach seven and confirmed nothing was in her flight path, he opened a line to Tracy Island, and his immediate younger brother.

Virgil wasn’t long back from a rescue himself, and still had a smudge of grime on his nose that no-one had pointed out to him yet.

“Another rescue?” he asked. He looked somewhat weary himself, although far from Scott’s own level of exhaustion.  John shook his head.

“No,” he promised.  “Scott’s fallen asleep.”

That perked Virgil up straight away.  “In Thunderbird One?” he demanded, incredulously.  John gave a wry smile in response.

“I’m in control,” he assured him.  “Scott’s exhausted, but safe.”  To prove it, he sent along a copy of Scott’s suit telemetry, which was currently reading vitals consistent with a deep sleep.  Virgil scrutinised them closely for several moments before sighing.

“He needs to stop pushing himself so hard,” he despaired quietly, before collecting himself.  “What’s Thunderbird One’s ETA?”

John glanced across at the figures.  “Half an hour,” he said.  “Scott’s probably not going to wake up before she lands.”  He hoped he didn’t.  Scott needed actual sleep, not a half hour nap in his Thunderbird.  “Judging by his vitals, I wouldn’t be surprised if he sleeps right through.”

Virgil’s eyes glanced over the data again, and his lips thinned in agreement.

“Get him home, John,” he said.  “I’ll take it from there.”

“F.A.B,” John agreed. He didn’t close the line with Virgil, but he did turn away from his younger brother to instead watch his older brother as he continued to guide Thunderbird One home.

As predicted, Scott slept right through the landing half an hour later.  There was a slight stir as she decelerated and rotated, but his eyes stayed closed and he remained slumped bonelessly in his seat as John settled the Thunderbird on her castors and allowed her to roll back to the hangar.

Virgil was ready and waiting on the gantry when John let his hologram flicker back into view.

“Still asleep?” the middle Tracy asked as the Thunderbird came to a stop.  John nodded.  “Okay, I’ve got this.”  Virgil stepped forwards onto the extending loading ramp, and as he neared the cockpit, John disengaged the pilot seat so that it swung out to meet him.  His younger brother didn’t hesitate, reaching out and releasing all the straps and harnesses holding Scott in place before scooping the still-sleeping man up into his arms.

That was, in theory, the end of John’s domain.  With Scott safe and still slumbering away in Virgil’s arms, he was the dark-haired Tracy’s responsibility now, and his hologram stopped projecting so as not to distract Virgil.

Still, John watched as the platform retracted, bringing his brothers back to the gantry, and Virgil walked across the metal towards the elevator.  In his arms, Scott shifted, a sleepy murmur indicating that his sleep wasn’t quite so deep any more.  Virgil was no stranger to handling him, however, and a small, fond, smile crept onto John’s face as his younger brother murmured something quiet and melodic.

The microphones couldn’t pick up exactly what it was Virgil was saying – or, John suspected, humming – but whatever it was seemed to do the trick as Scott settled back down.

There were no blind spots in Thunderbird Five’s coverage of the villa.  John didn’t normally pay close attention to areas outside of the den, kitchen and hangars, largely content to let his family get on with their personal lives without him spying on them, but today he tracked Virgil the entire way from the hangars to Scott’s bedroom.  Virgil was frowning a little by the time he got there, clearly a little suspicious at how little effort it had taken to keep their big brother asleep, and the same unease filtered through John’s mind.

Was Scott really just that exhausted, or had they missed something?

John watched the feed like a hawk as Virgil gently stripped off Scott’s uniform, revealing the plain undershirt and shorts, and his telemetry data disappeared.  Nothing new flagged up as a point of concern, except for the ongoing fact that Scott barely stirred.  Virgil rested a hand on their brother’s chest, and instantly made a face.

The next moment, Scott’s underclothes were also being stripped away, leaving him in just his underwear, and Virgil was dropping them on the floor by the uniform judgementally. Despite the underlying concern, John smirked a little.  Scott had done a lot of physical work on the last mission; it made sense for his clothes to have absorbed the sweat that came with that and he didn’t envy Virgil for dealing with that at all.

Pyjamas were retrieved, but before Virgil began the unenviable task of trying to dress their sleeping brother without waking him, a familiar yellow light skipped over Scott’s body.  John immediately tapped in to the medscanner as Virgil scrutinised the results; just like the suit telemetry, it simply flagged up sheer exhaustion, but with a small caution for dehydration added in as well.

Shoulders slumping in what John assumed was relief, Virgil eased the still-sleeping figure of their brother into loose pyjamas and tugged at the comforter until Scott was nestled snugly in bed.  Just before he pulled it all the way up to Scott’s chin Virgil hesitated for a brief moment, and then a monitor was being carefully attached to Scott’s pyjama top.

John tapped into that as well, relieved that Virgil had thought to attach one, and immediately got the data streaming straight into Thunderbird Five for him to check periodically. Just like the scan, it currently declared no causes for concern, barring an advisory for mild dehydration, and a little bit of tension bled from John’s shoulders.

Seemingly satisfied, Virgil then pulled the comforter the rest of the way, tucking Scott in firmly, only for their brother to stir again.  The pianist’s hand immediately threaded into brown locks, and John watched fondly as Virgil ran his fingers gently through Scott’s hair soothingly.  The microphones in Scott’s room were more sensitive, adjusted for quiet night time conversations, and while earlier John hadn’t been able to hear how Virgil settled their brother, now his voice resonated through Thunderbird Five.

John recognised it instantly.  How could he not, when he’d heard it so many times as a child, first from Mom, and then overheard as Scott did his best to fill in the gaps after the avalanche?  A quiet and gentle lullaby from years long gone by did the trick to settle Scott again, but Virgil didn’t stop singing even after Scott stopped stirring.

That, John decided, was his cue to leave.  Scott was home safe and in good hands – and he had the readings from the monitor to keep an eye on if he wanted to check up on him.  There was no point lurking around and listening to a brother who may or may not realise he was still watching.

He dismissed the feed just as Virgil finished a verse, suddenly plunging Thunderbird Five into silence before the quiet background hum of his ‘bird’s ever-running machinery registered again.  A glance at the monitor readings brought his attention back to the dehydration caution, and John checked to see who was near the kitchen.  Virgil, no doubt, would be staying with Scott for a little while yet, but there was no harm in sending someone else up with some electrolyte drinks for when Scott finally woke.

Well, no harm as long as he made it perfectly clear to the rest of the family that Scott was getting some long overdue and well-deserved rest, and anyone who disturbed him would find out exactly how creative John could get with technology.