#to be deleted I think bc I'm already worried about how this will come off LOL

[g1rlken]

I'm so excited you're taking requests for Rupert Campbell-Black!!

Do you think you could maybe fo #15 from your prompt list about him showing up for the reader bc they don't have anyone else?

Idk if just love that trope and I think it works with him.

If you don't feel inspired by that one no worries!

Someone in the crowd

prompt15 Rupert Campbell Black x fem!reader

word count: 5.3k+

warnings: parental neglect, mild swearing, hurt comfort, FLUFF

AN: Ahhhhhhh ANON I love you this is my fav prompt I was initially planning on the same one anyways thanks for platform ing my Rupert obsession you’re the first one

The chronicles of the country side for a veterinary sciences PhD student included more than just animals, main reason she selected a university so far from the hustle and bustle of the city. Peculiar animals in their natural state, she came across more than just peculiar animals.

Trespassing loses its meaning for the engrossed researcher, she didn’t realise when she passed the forest to a private estate land whilst following the slow worm. The most advanced high end camera, that Rupert had only seen with those media folks and proper film production. However he assumed the girl in a camouflage jungle vest to be an intern in a tabloid firm, trying to prove herself to be ever so efficient to her superiors by sneaking in to his property for a few pictures. Too naive to realise he could sue her for all her fortune perhaps. Rather an amateur at her job perhaps, she was there to snap him yet her attention didn’t avert to him on his horse before he approached her himself, “Young lady” he cleared his throat sternly “You do realise you’re trespassing here?”

“Oh?” She looked out of her camera lens to the voice that called out her and in an instant she lost sight of the slow worm she was following. “Fuck!”

“And if you don’t delete the pictures and get off of this land right this second I will be suing you for all the jobs you don’t already have.” Rupert threatened, he truly misliked this breach of his privacy to no end. But because the girl seemed unskilled and gullible to her supposedly first job he felt he could let her get off easily.

“I’m not deleting any pictures I barely got two” she said with a heavy sigh, her eyes frantically searching for her subject within the grass again not too bothered by his threat. “And I don’t have any job as it is”

“Oh” he amused, getting off of the saddle of his horse to level with her, “are you one of those fans then? How many times do I have to tell you people-“

“What?” Her attention broke from her subjected reptile to the man this time, “a fan? I don’t even know you…”

“Oh right” he scoffed placing his hands by his hips, “surely you don’t.”

“I truly don’t. I was following my subject for today from the forest lands and I ended up here it was an honest mistake” she explained herself as she opened her camera to show him the pictures, they were all reptiles and not…him.

“You were following a snake?” He asked rather confused and somewhat intrigued as to what would bring her to this.

“It’s not a snake, it’s a is a legless lizard. Anguis Fragilis” she corrected the man, ever so casually as if it were the most common of knowledges to attain.

The man just burst into laughter letting go of the horse chain to contain it, his hand on his chest he could find the joke in the name and the scenario extremely comical. “You have got to be kidding me!”

Y/n felt a bit embarrassed as if she’d said the wrong name so she went through it in her head again and she wasn’t, wrong. It was perhaps like college again, info dumping on the wrong set of people who poke fun at peculiar passions. But the man seemed to be too old to be like those immature college kids who mock others so she was left rather confused “what is so funny?” She asked hesitantly, “it’s rather rare and native to this area we don’t come across them in the city…” she trailed off trying to fill in his boastful laughter with something to feel less uncomfortable.

“Oh is it now?” Rupert asked as his laughter subsided and he realised the girl was an enthusiast in a true fashion. He just found the name of the godforsaken reptile to have a double meaning to it, he thought she made it up but when she got awkward and explained further he realised she wasn’t joking. “My apologies, are you new here?”

“Yes Ive actually moved here for research, I’m studying veterinary sciences for PhD… ” she said still feeling a bit self conscious after he’d laughed like that.

“Anus Fragilis huh?” He repeated trying his best to suppress another set of laughter but he failed at it ever so evidently.

“Anguis…er-slow worm.” She cringed as she picked up on the joke that had him loosing his composure like that. Perhaps she judged him to act his age which he looked so fast. “It’s also called slow worm. I lost him regardless, so I’ll get going. Sorry to bother you.”

“No, no hang on a second darling” he said gripping her elbow as she attempted to leave but as she returned to face him again he left it just instantly. “Since you’re already here, allow me to indulge you in a coffee or so? It would be very disappointing if I don’t get to learn more about…” he wanted to say it, the joke. But the awkwardly offended look on her face of feeling small wasn’t worth it so he kept it to himself “slow worms and legless lizards”

“They’re the same.” She briefed him feeling his ignorance, the PhD aspirant did not seem to have time to entertain his indulgence. “Forgive me but I have to go, I’ve walked too far from my car.”

“Well then allow me to drop you?” Rupert offered with his usual charm which didn’t leave to phase a lot.

Not her perhaps, “It’s not that far” she said curtly. Packing her camera equipment in a hurry. “Thanks. And sorry for trespassing.”

Rupert watched as she hastily packed her lenses and the rolls. Just when he thought he could work on himself to not offend people on first impressions, he generally didn’t do so with ladies so perhaps this was a first. “I’m Rupert Campbell Black” He put his hand forward for a handshake, “Sports Minister.” He introduced himself.

She had both her hands full with her books and camera, which she could rearrange back in the bag to accept his handshake but she’d rather not so she just nodded shortly. “Yes, Mr. Rupert, so nice to meet you.” She said with half a smile, then paced away not even waiting for his reply.

“I suppose I’ll see you around?” He said with his usual grin but she was already pacing away back to the path she’d come from.

That is how the two first met. Not her most memorable nor pleasant interaction but surely intriguing for the minister. The next time he met her, late early evening at a cafe. It took a second to recognise her with her head down in a book but there was enough lighting cast on her against the window where she sat. “Slow worm!” He exclaimed as he approached her causing her to avert her attention from the book to him.

“You…” she trailed off however her tone didn’t match the same enthusiasm as his. “Hi.” She said as he gestured to the chair across her on her table, asking if someone was there but she shrugged and nodded “Please, go ahead” she said being polite, internally bracing herself for another awful interaction.

“I was hoping I’d run into you” he told her leaning forward on the table crossing his arms, “turns out, your little bugger is a frequent visitor of the stable sheds back at the estate.”

“That explains yeah” she nodded closing her book, the size of it gigantic and hardcover it made a small thud, “it eats slugs and snails, spiders too…”

“Wonderful aspect” Rupert complimented, under informed on the subject he didn’t know what to say. “Did you get proper observations for your research?”

“Superficially yes” she nodded, “I’ll run into more of those one of these days.”

“You can always just visit my place again…I would be honoured to help out a bright mind.” Rupert offered leaning back in the chair, unbuttoning his blazer.

“That is so kind of you, I’m very sorry for trespassing that day” she said it again, obviously not friendly enough with him to take him up on that offer.

“Well you could make up for it by telling me your name.” He shrugged as his lips formulated a smile.

“Y/n.” She told him. As the conversation progressed, learning more of him, telling him more about her research and the subjects she’d come across so far. For someone in a vastly different field he was such an attentive listener. She’d told him a lot, about the animals, her thesis, her lectures and sessions, being a TA, moving here.

“And what of your friends?” He asked her over his second cup of coffee in the same conversation because he wanted to keep it going.

“I don’t live on campus so I don’t have roommates to be friends with, then I’m a TA but everyone else is a bachelors and third year student. Had I done college here I’d have those friends…I do have friends from college back home but as of now it’s only my professors.” She informed him, very casual with it but as she formulated the picture in his head it seemed to be a rather isolating experience.

“And what do you do for fun around here?” He asked her to see if it was as isolating as he realised.

“Trespass estates.” She joked with a small giggle, but in truth she did absolutely nothing for fun because there wasn’t anything.

“Greatest hobby ever” he joked back. But as she didn’t follow up with another activity he realised that if he pried about it he’d just force her to admit she led a boring and somewhat lonely life. He wasn’t judging her, she was fresh out of college and had to move a whole place and seemed to have no friends here. Well except for him if she’ll have him. “Are you struggling?”

“Of course not. I love my work, I can easily afford rent too it’s not a problem.” She replied honestly, if only financial was all of her struggles.

“Don’t you think you’d save more if you lived on campus?” He questioned unsure of her choice to stay in a boutique flat in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods.

“My father wouldn’t allow it. He’s a bit of a tone deaf classist that way.” She admitted, rather casually.

“Allow?” He repeated, surprised. He didn’t know her precise age but by her educational status and the looks of it someone in their early twenties didn’t need their father’s permission on how to live.

“It’s just a bit complicated, he wants all of his children to take the right step that is work in our family business, his company. I tried, it’s soul draining and very unlike me” she sighed “So I just extended education.”

“To get far from him?” He perceived, perhaps not the way she saw it.

“—To explore my options. I don’t want to disappoint him when I can avoid it.”

“And is this the way to be?” He asked, his tone guarded and expression curious.

“Perhaps.” She replied, but on the inside she was so hyper aware that anywhere farther from the family business as all the way to be. She didn’t want to distanced from her father nor her family, she may not be the golden child but she wanted him to be ever so proud of her even though she didn’t walk on the road he chose for her.

“Your spirit likes the fight doesn’t it?” It was more of an observation than a question.

“I don’t indulge in self awareness that well” She replied with a bemused shrug and he just let out a low laugh that. And that was her first friendship in Rutshire. To Rupert’s likeness the cafe was another one of basil’s side quests but he visited there less frequently given the bar was his primary. Regardless, Rupert got him too. The prime customer and his newest friend, studied there most of the time because she lived close by and Rupert felt drawn to her company.

She had no other and he found her growing to be his favourite one. He fancied the conversations with her so much, in her absence basil teased him about it. This one afternoon, Rupert visited as his usual time, or perhaps y/n’s usual time which he picked up on but she wasn’t there. “The coffee can’t be that good.” Basil said with a small scoff, as he found Rupert with a disappointed expression in the girl’s absence.

“I’m just trying to reduce the alcohol intake” Rupert said nonchalantly, well aware he didn’t the caffeine he’d been consuming just for the conversations with her.

“I wasn’t talking about the coffee” Basil added with a devious grin hinting at the double meaning joke he was referring for.

“Piss off” Rupert rolled his eyes at the man with a heavy sigh of irritation sitting down at the table, rolling up his sleeves and facepalming. “This is her usual time to come and study here” he mentioned.

“Which you don’t let her do.” Basil said, the entire time indulging the poor girl in conversations and spontaneous outing plans. “She’d have to be extraordinarily brilliant to keep up with her courseworks with all the detours you put her up to.”

“She is extraordinarily brilliant.” Rupert briefed him.

“I suppose you’d know.” Basil shrugged leaning against the table where he was sat, “Does she have a boyfriend?”

Seemingly offended at the mere thought of that Rupert’s expression disgusted, “Of course not!”

“Of course not?” Basil repeated surprised with his affirm expression. “So you are sleeping with her.”

“I’m not sleeping with her.” Rupert emphasised on the word ‘not’ and it was probably the tenth time that Bas had asked him that this moment.

“Of course not” Basil humoured him mimicking his tone when he said that.

“I’m not, it isn’t like that with her.” Rupert tried to explain that to his friend who found that to be such a foreign concept. It was a very strangely unknown and unspecific feeling for Rupert himself too.

“You don’t want to sleep with her?” Bas questioned not believing nor understanding the prospect “she’s rather pretty.” besides he’d sleep with anything.

“She isn’t just pretty Bas, she’s beautiful, a bit too much even on the inside.” He paused “She is precious.” Rupert spoke with such genuine passion that basil had to lay off of the joke he was brewing.

“And what of you?” Basil asked, it was something Rupert hadn’t even questioned himself for well not yet anyways.

“What of me?” He answered the question with a question feigning innocence. Before basil could further explain himself, even though well aware that Rupert understood him. The bells of the door jingled announcing upcoming presence in the nearly empty cafe causing the men to turn at the voice.

“Hello-Hello, Gentlemen!” Y/n exclaimed in the most enthusiastic Sunday morning tone possible but it was a cloudy afternoon on a Tuesday. To Rupert she always sounded like a Sunday morning with her little giggles and all the mannerisms but today she seemed way more lifted with spirits.

“Want to bet a tenner she ran into a coyote.” Basil said as she made her way to their table sitting across Rupert whilst basil was still leaning against the table.

“I bet you a twenty its a pine marten.” Rupert said, he picked up on everything from their conversation. This week she was in search of that specific animal from her list or so, he kept track somewhat subconsciously.

“It’s neither” She said with a smile still plastered on her face as she sat her bag down to the side placing her hands on the table. “I’ve got great news, well not great but perhaps good, great to me.” She went in an adjective discourse and shook her head coming back on track “My professor submitted my thesis to this government honorary publications department and I’m getting an in-kind research grant!”

“The government is giving you money?!” Basil matched her enthusiastic tone leaning forward on the table.

“No, no it’s an in kind grant…as in-they present me with an award but the big thing is that I get policy access, lab space, government authorised datasets…” she explained further with her eyes so lit up Rupert wanted to bottle this warmth of emotions he felt in just seeing her happy like this and drink it like water.

“You are getting an award?!” Rupert said with loud earnest passion for her excelling. “Y/n! That is marvellous news!”

“You fucking genius!” Basil added further, giving her a side hug and kissing the top of her head, giving her hair a ruffle as he walked across the cafe, “this calls for a celebration!”

“Thank you” She replied with a toothy smile. Feeling very heart warmed. Then Rupert took both her hands in his, he looked just as lit up as if it was his award.

“My darling, you absolute mastermind. Your mind is a wonder, y/n I am so so proud of you!” He said, he didn’t have to reaffirm or reassure more so because out of everyone she’d come across, Rupert had been so supportive, a subject and felt so unfamiliar yet he’d reassured and let her know it so constantly that she’d always have him to be cheering so hard for her. “You deserved this!”

“Rupert, that is so kind! Thank you, seriously” she replied with a glint in her eyes he could feel coloured by. Just about on time, basil blasted the confetti cracker he happened to have lying around. He turned the open sign to closed at the door of the cafe and returned to the table, slowly she let her hands out of Rupert’s.

“Didn’t have champagne in the cafe but this should do” Basil said as he presented their table with a small cake.

“You didn’t have to close the place” y/n said with a small giggle as she saw the cake, a sign in red jam crossing out the name ‘Einstein’ and Y/n in its place. Classic Bas.

“Oh please love, I deserve this celebration.” Bas said with a dramatic roll of his eyes, any reason to not work was reason enough.

“Right of course since he worked so hard.” Rupert joked clearly forgetting he owed the man in staying the cafe for him to keep it open just in case y/n might come in. They kept congratulating her over and over again as the trio dug into the cake.

“So when exactly is the award function?” Rupert asked, it was going to be event of the week for him more than it was for y/n.

“It’s on this Friday, I get one visitor pass and my father is flying out to attend it!” She said, ebullient. It did irk him somewhat because he’d wanted to see her receive the award but he knew how much her father’s approval meant to her so he was happy in her happiness regardless.

“That is great news, what did he say?” Rupert asked keeping his disappointment for not being able to see her at bay.

“His assistant put me through in the very second call so he must really be impressed, he asked me about the function and he sounded very positive of it.” She told them about the seemingly brief phone call.

“You have to talk to an assistant to get to your fath-“ basil was quickly interjected with a small shove on the leg from Rupert to take a turn in that observation. Rupert didn’t want it to rain her parade, “It’s so nice he’s coming all this way.”

“He’d probably stay a day or two after that you should meet him!” She added, it seemed as if she was somewhat more joyous with the fact that her father was pleased than the actual award to her name. It was a grey line.

“I would be delighted to.” Rupert said, he would be. At least for her sake despite having his internal doubts towards the man.

-

The award function was an extremely formal event, you could barely tell apart the professors from the bureaucrats. Rupert could tell the difference easily though, he simply knew the later group, almost all of them. But he wasn’t there for any of those people. Taking his seat at the round table, next to the faces he knew very well but he was way too focused on the happenings of the stage to indulge in small talk. And then there it was.

The lady of the evening. At least for him, her research dissertation was called out and he recognised it was her turn before they presented her name as well. White shirt with several pins of animal welfare and her educational institution. Simplicity and grace, ever so precious. As she received the medal and the award plate Rupert clapped perhaps the loudest, standing up even. The stage wasn’t so far but she didn’t spot him because her eyes were searching another direction and the procession was short lived before she could avert her gaze.

Finally after all the names were done, she was free from the stage back to the softly mingling crowd. “There she is!” The enthusiastic exclamation caught her attention from her lost trance.

Adhering the man in suit with flowers in his hand, surprised and radiated expression, “Rupert?!” She was baffled and so relieved she didn’t understand the later feeling. She rushed to him, their distance getting closer as he opened his arms for her.

“Congratulations, darling” he said bringing her into a tight embrace both of them so joyous, hers was rather infectious. He easily lifted her from the ground out of glee, kissing the side of her face. “You were wonderful out there!”

“When did you get here?” She asked once he put him down and she pulled away yet kept her arms entangled with him. Enough to just see his face, “also how?”

“I’m an MP you thought I wouldn’t be able to get into a government function?” He amused, surprised she did not see it coming, perhaps she wasn’t expecting him but her reaction seemed as if she would rather prefer him. “I got here an hour before yours was announced.”

“I am so glad you made it!” She told him, the effort was so heartwarming to her. He’d came to an event which wasn’t initially his, making more arrangements to even get in for her. She didn’t want to voice it because he’d always reply with such a strange concern as if being loved more than to be sustained wasn’t optional, she wasn’t used to this concern nor sentimental support.

Rupert could tell her kind, wide eyes in a sort of turmoil of something she couldn’t figure out by even herself but he didn’t pry on it, “where is your father?” He asked looking around shortly.

“Oh he…he isn’t here. He could not make it.” She said with a small shrug, that is how casual his absence was to him.

“—How come?”

“Probably his flight, I forgot to notify him about our time zones or so. If he were skipping he would’ve called prior” there was a small hope tugging at her heartstrings trying to believe this wasn’t like the other times. “He would be here anyways, would just be missing the event.”

“I suppose” he replied curtly, being presented with two choices of either being truthful with her of her father’s harsh and uncaring constitution or hold the hope she held out for the man with her. None of the two seemed befitting to him. As the event progressed she introduced him to some of her professors and people that she worked with, he did the same with the other officials that he knew of. She grew tired of the socialising and asked him if they could leave the event, she wasn’t as tired as she was growing disappointed of a man who wasn’t even in the room.

Even though Rupert and her came to the event from a different place and were going back in difference directions it was a given that they leave together. At least to him it was, she’d just informed him she felt like leaving and he stood up in an instant. He was dropping her back to her place because she didn’t driver herself to the function. The two were walking, to his car in the chilly night with his suit blazer draped over her shoulders, flowers and his hand in her hand, he carried her award with her bag for her and a light hearted conversation. Serenity which ran away once they came across a pay phone call booth. “Do you mind if I go make a call?” She asked him, he nodded but he was well aware who that call was intended for.

Rupert leant against the phone stand with the small door of it open, close to her as she pressed the numbers inserting coins. Anxiously awaiting the other line to answer she replied when a voice answered “Hello, this is me, y/n. Did dad leave yet?” She asked, he hated to see her in such distress and was afraid the conversation ought to make it worse. “What? What do you mean—the event, my award he was going to be here for…like he promised.” Rupert could only hear y/n’s side of the conversation but he could pan out the other side, which wasn’t even her father just some office assistant. “Just let me talk to him…please…two minutes perhaps?” It was difficult to watch, begging for the scraps of her father to an assistant. After a few moments the call ended and she couldn’t even stomach the courtesy of a goodbye.

As she walked out of the booth he searched for her to meet his eyes, narrate to him the happenings of the call. “His plans changed” she said but nothing further. He could tell she didn’t feel like talking so he stopped walking and also held her back from the track, pulled her into his arms. Resting his chin on top of her head as he held her, enlacing his arms around her tightly. He could definitely stay like this for rest of the night. Even life? A small voice suggested and he quickly dismissed it as he was pulled back to her, she didn’t feel relaxed in his arms even though she hugged him back and her face so steady, he felt his shirt getting sprinkled with dampness, as if in smallest portions.

“Y/n…” he trailed off pulling away to confirm if she was crying, “are you crying?” He asked as she lowered her face so he couldn’t see it but he leant in her direction to see. “Hey..hey, it’s alright” he pulled her back to him letting her weep onto his chest as he ran a hand through her hair.

“I don’t understand why I feel so bad” she said through her tears, holding onto him like she would fall apart even more if he let go. Perhaps she would.

“It is alright darling just let it out” Rupert said as he continued to sooth her in his arms, trying to provide a present, grounding support.

“He promised me…” she trailed off crying harder, all those events where her father should’ve been present but wasn’t came back to her. Fancy dress competitions at school where the chauffeur that dropped her off would have to attend the show out of pity for the child, birthdays where he would have to be bothered a multiple times to come attend cake-cutting, evidently sad over a test but he simply couldn’t be bothered to ask his daughter if she was alright. So much life spent in I-promise-you-I’ll-be-there. So much disappointment and you’d think one would learn. “I just feel stupid-I thought this time would be different.”

Rupert held her face in his hands “look at me” he said forcing her to meet his gaze. “You are not stupid for what you feel, you are not at fault for someone so detached and irresponsible towards their own child.” He spoke whilst wiping her tears, “he will forever be an incomplete, deficient man for the kind of father that he is. But you my love are beyond him and how he treats you, you’re brilliant and kind and funny and you have a heart big enough to hold a planet. You are going to go so far, your suffrage of his conditional love and inflicted anguish will heal for the better. I promise you that.”

This was a better hope than the one she was always latched onto, hoping that he would change, come around for once. But letting go and a promise for a softer tomorrow seemed so much more beautiful. “But I am so tired”

“You have been so gentle through so much…you must have been tired too. But persevering is constant and you, you always do. There is so much life within you, those around you are infected with it, I know I am.” He confessed, he hadn’t voiced it out especially not like this even to himself but she was more than a lively feeling, more than a chase or a rush for attraction. No. She was life.

Such admission made her heart flutter, she felt the drumming in her ears and it wasn’t the anxious kind. This felt like a sunrise after a good dream, but she had no words for it because her eyes spoke enough and so did his that wandered down to her lips and back to his. Reciprocating the course of gaze when he leant forward, face so close she didn’t move even by the slightest tired of awaiting him to inch to the closest extent she caught a soft grip of his shirt, lowering her gaze right when he crashed his lips onto hers. She kissed him back and it felt heavenly, as the kiss deepened he felt like he had reached there.

Smiles glued to their faces once they pulled away to catch a breath, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear he said “you are not the only one who’s won something tonight.”

“That means I’ve won twice” she said with a small giggle adding to his exaggeration that kissing her felt like a win.

“That isn’t the same.” Rupert corrected her, going in to kiss her again with a slower passion, taking his time letting the sweetness of it linger “for me this is centuries worth of wins.”

—

IVE SO MUCH MORE OF HIS STUFF COMING SOMEBODY SEDATE ME…next his enemies to lovers let me know if you want to be tagged

PLEASE comments are my fuel I am HUNGRY for validation please if you like this please please let me know

[rosieofcorona]

hm. might need to pause on the dragon age art for a while i fear

[forbidding-souda]

Mod Souda!~ I have never requested fic before, this is entirely new territory so please forgive me if I misstep. ^_^; Could I please request HC's regarding Korekiyo x autistic S/O? I tried finding similar in the master list, alas I could not which is completely on me if I wasn't thorough enough.

A little afterword of gratitude also for your masterful works on Korekiyo in particular, the way you HC him is beautiful. He is my ultimate comfort character and your content is poignant for me. I also wish you the absolute best on finals and in life in general! (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)♡ I hope you are faring well. Thank you for all that you do here

Shinguuji Korekiyo with Autistic S/O

I've had this blog since quarantine so I can't even remember if I've written anything like this so I'm happy to write one for you regardless or not if it's a repeat.

Hai guys I don't have my edited sprites anymore bc I deleted them awhile ago so here's normal souda. Also if this is ass then my bad

hashtag actually autistic btw for anyone reading, i think it's right to share that when I write these ofc

okay mod souda behavior here where I say random stuff before each story but I'm watching impractical jokers rn and I don't know how some people watch this because the secondhand embarrassment is insane I literaly have to look away PLZZZ. This took an hour to write because half way through I started watching impractical joker clips on youtube (while the show is playing on the tv)

-Mod Souda

♥ He isn't a stickler about your interests. A good thing about being with him is that he won't make fun of you for anything you enjoy, no matter if he enjoys it himself or not. He'll never ask you to turn a movie off or to stop talking about something. He knows more than anybody else how isolating it can feel when somebody refuses to try and tolerate other people's passions; he would never put you down.

♥ He's naturally off-putting. If you experience people considering you off-putting then don't feel alone because Shinguuji is considered off-putting as well. He brushes off the negative things people thinks when it comes to himself, but when it comes to you and the negativity you face, it's hard for him to conceal how irritated he gets.

♥ I know some people have hyperfixations of like medieval torture methods so imagine how much he'd love that.

♥ ^ You also have the chance to teach him about really niche things, that's pretty sweet.

♥ ^ But I imagine that with some topics, he's gonna try and teach you about your own hyperfixation and it's gonna get annoying.

♥ He loves ur reactions to things. He gets so gushy-gushy and poetic. He likes finding what words make you smile, which ones make you laugh and which ones make you want to roll your eyes.

You stared back at him for a few seconds. He held an intense, filling gaze. The two of you were sitting on a park bench, facing the trees and enjoying the sounds of the birds. In between the conversation, there were moments of silence. Usually, he'd break them with small, unrelated sentences, but he's been quiet. "Korekiyo," you said quietly, a bit worried to startle him. To you, he was either in deep thought or, more humorously, sleeping with his eyes open. It took you to say it louder before he turned away. "My apologies," he smiled with a tilt of his head. His hair cascaded down his shoulder. His eyes went to the green leaves dancing in the wind. "We sit here in such a beautiful place, so lively. Most people would give their life away to view a sight like this." With no response, you just stared at him more, already knowing what he was going to say. He looked at you. "I've been all around the world and so I do not wish to waste my time looking at something I've seen before. You, however, do not come close to any of the beauties our world gives to us." "You love me so much, don't you?" You gave him a smile while his yellow eyes developed a look of interest: "You say that but do not realize that jests can be true words, too."

♥ If you need your alone time, he isn't going to stop you because he likes his, too. He knows that obviously you can be infatuated with somebody while also finding comfort in solitude.

♥ ^ And with that, he also has his own boundaries when it comes to where he goes whenever he wants solitude. He likes reading his books and analyzing his artifacts, all of which takes place in his study.

♥ ^ Yeah and don't touch his stuff because he is very protective of his collections. Therefore, he'd also never mess with something you own.

♥ If you're the type of person to have stuffed animals, and especially make them talk, he isn't going to pick up on that very quickly as means of a thing people still do. He'll give a history lesson as to 'ah yes, i've learned about this form of imagination within cultures of story telling, oral adventures'.

♥ Most of the time, he'll put your comfort over his.

♥ He'll stay up with you whenever you have trouble sleeping and are fully awake at 2am, no matter the cost. He is going to make sure that you know he is always there for you. He always has things to do.

♥ If you need help falling asleep, he'll do things like sing to you and let you watch videos in bed, whatever will make you most comfortable.

♥ He got some crazy eye contact btw I just want to put that out there.

[cellsshapedlikestars]

Don’t worry about answering this is you don’t want to. I know you don’t like fandom wank. But, if you feel like it, do you think someone could make those endpoints work? Bran as king and Jon at the Wall even though there’s a big old hole in it and Dany deliberately burning King’s Landing before Jon or Arya kills her, is that an ending any writer, no matter their skill, could sell to the hardcore fans? I don’t think the fandom would accept it even if GRRM wrote it.

lololol I deleted my post already anon, so for those of you who didn't read it - I was once again whining about how d&d fucked up the last bunch of seasons and every character. it's not a new take, just something I was high thinking in the shower, so I deleted it bc it wasn't productive.

But I'll answer this, because I think it's interesting.

In short - no.

(Beneath the cut for a longer explanation and just a whole bunch of my ranty thoughts. pls remember I am no asoiaf scholar and I haven't studied every aspect of the books or read every meta. These are just my opinions.)

Longer - at this point, too much time has gone by, there is literally no way George can please... probably even half of his fanbase, no matter what he does. From what I can tell, the fandom too divided and there's so much hatred between stan groups (which I do find ridiculous, but it is what it is). People have cemented their own ending in their heads after decades of the fandom existing without an official ending, and I can see a lot of them not liking that they're wrong. Some people have spent 30 years with their theories, it's sunk cost fallacy. Case in point, the show ending being written off as fanfiction by a lot of fans.

which, tangent, I get. I GET why d stans don't believe the ending, because it was so poorly executed. I truly do understand their denial, because the show gaslit the audience for soooooo long that she was the girlboss hero and then seemed to do a 180 at the end. What was that post I just reblogged the other day? I don't hate villains, I hate when the narrative tries to convince you the bad person is actually good.

now, you asked if anyone could make those endpoints work, but I don't actually think most of them are the real endpoints? I think they were D&D giving up and not trying, or going for Shock Value™. But for fun, I'm gonna go by endpoints I think are most to least likely, and my thoughts on how they could happen and how D&D fucked them up.

Bran as king: Confirmed by grrm. How he'll make this work, I have no idea. I genuinely didn't see it coming tbh. I thought the "bittersweet" ending would be Jon being forced to take the crown in KL. like it's a good ending for everyone else, but for him it's misery. I'm sure grrm has his plans, and I'd be interested to see how he pulls it off. This end point does not disappoint me and I'm not mad at being wrong, but I can see a HUGE swath of people HATING it. specifically D stans.

D&D blew this hard. They cut Bran out of an entire season, making him seem to the audience like a lesser character and not important. They made him a robot. Why am I rooting for show!Bran? Also, I will never, ever get over that line - who has a better story than Bran the Broken? I don't know Tyrion, literally everyone else?? JON DIED AND CAME BACK TO LIFE. ahem.

(as far as I'm aware, Bran as king is the only ending grrm has confirmed?? correct me if I'm wrong.)

D as the big bad: I guess grrm hasn't officially confirmed this, but... he's sort of confirmed it, riiiiight? He compared dragons to nuclear weapons. The show has her as the villain (poorly executed or not). When I gave hotd a shot, literally the opening lines were about the Targs bringing themselves down immediately after name dropping her. Seems pretty solid to me. D&D just refused to commit to her villain arc because they didn't want to alienate their audience that they'd gaslit into thinking she was the hero, and they were seemingly obsessed with Shock Value™ twists.

Dany burning KL: I think the burning of KL is going to happen, and it seems like Dany is the only one to really do it? Unclear how it will happen, I'm sure people have theories. What the show didn't have was Aegon, so who knows how he'll factor in.

Arya sailing west: I think there's a lot of foreshadowing for it. It fits her nature. I think this is very likely to happen and I guess D&D handled it ok. They did ruin her character, though, by making her a literal mass murderer. But yayyyyyy feminism I guess.

Theon sacrificing himself for Bran: Theon's was the only arc I think the show did well. They ruined it at the end by having Theon literally throw himself onto the Night King's sword, which was so fucking stupid, but the arc itself is poignant and fits his character. While he can't ever redeem himself to Robb, he can redeem himself to Robb's siblings, and considering he once pretended to kill Bran, I think this is solid.

Cersei and Jaime dying together: this was my theory even before the show ending, and I think it fits their characters. They cannot live without each other, no matter if they hate each other. They're too deeply entwined in each other. Now, I personally wanted Cersei to be taken captive and put in the black cells to be publicly burned later, and then Jaime shows up and mercy kills her and then himself bc he can't live without her.

But I guess getting bonked on the head by some avoidable rocks is also a way to do it

Sansa as QitN: I'll be honest and say I hated this ending because she ended up alone. Sansa, who has wanted nothing more than family and safety since book 1, ends up completely alone. Even Brienne, her sworn shield, leaves her. but she's a queen, so yayyyy feminism I guess.

I can see her as queen, but I can also see her ending up as queen regent for Rickon, because I'm not totally convinced Rickon dies? like in the show he just randomly shows up and gets captured by Ramsay and it just feels like that isn't his arc in the books. Maybe I'm wrong. But I could see D&D having the endpoint of Sansa as regent, but they killed Rickon off already for Shock Value™, and so they went oops! and made her queen.

Now, there is a part of me that thinks she will not be queen or queen regent, because how does one break off and declare independence from their own brother? Feels like that would destabilize his rule and not give people much faith in him. It just seems really strange to me, but I guess it could happen, since Northern Independence is such a huge theme and it would be weird if it didn't happen?? Does Bran just let her secede? And it doesn't make Dorne or the Iron Islands try.... That's the part in the show that literally did not make sense to me. Sansa was like bye, I'm taking the north, and no one else spoke up about that.

I'd be totally fine with her as queen (if she has someone!!) but I can see a gooooood chunk of the fandom absolutely hating this. surprise.

Brienne as Kingsguard: while I like it for narrative purposes, because she deserves it, I just can't see her leaving Sansa, if she becomes as close to Sansa as she does on the show? If Sansa is queen, I could see her as Sansa's Queensguard. But what does she have in KL? The south didn't ever respect her, why would she want to go back. I think D&D put this in so they could have the ending shot of her writing in the book about Jaime for the shippers

Jon at the Wall: the only reason he went to the Wall in the show was because Grey Worm demanded it? And then left. So. You know, real enforceable. So stupid. Genuinely the worst writing of all the endings, I think, the logic made zero sense there. Now, that could be because they'd written themselves into a corner, but knew Jon ended up at the Wall, and had to force it?

But to me, it's like - what was the point of his resurrection, then? In the show, he doesn't even kill the Night King (we'll get to that). He kills D, sure, but... He's also the reason she succeeds in Westeros to begin with. So what, he gets resurrected, causes havoc, fixes the havoc he caused, and then is sent away to a Wall that serves no purpose anymore? WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE WALL SERVE. The Others are defeated, there's a big ol' hole in it, and they've allied with the Free Folk to an extent. How does the Watch continue on?

I guess he could self-banish. I know the show sort of makes the implication that he goes off with the Free Folk, but in the books, he doesn't really like FF culture? He's appalled by a lot of the violence in it. I can't see him wanting to live that way.

Brai.me: don't get me wrong, I like Brai.me. I think it's cute, in fanon. In canon, I think Brienne is too good for him. I don't see their relationship going romantic or sexual. I think Brienne is who Jaime desperately wants to be (but Cersei is who he keeps being pulled back to). Them having sex was 100% for the shippers

Jo/ner.ys: I'm putting all the punctuation in that. don't need them finding me somehow. Anyway. I don't think this happens, at least not as a true romance. They're on opposite continents and there's not a ton of time left, but more than that - and I know I've said this before - I can't see Jon "hates seeing people burned alive" Snow falling in love with D "loves to burn people alive" T. Could it be a political thing? Maybe, but I also could see her having an alliance with Aegon.

I think there's 2 possible reasons for this being in the show and presented as an actual romance. 1) it was supposed to be that pol!Jon theory, but they chickened out (same with jonsa & a love triangle, I think they chickened out bc of the incest. I think now with hotd being incest central and fans loving it, they wouldn't balk anymore). 2) just the spectacle of it? people have been theorizing this for years, why not give it to them? see above, brai.me

Tyrion as Hand: bleh. I know the fandom loves him and he was clearly D&D's fave, but grrm has said Tyrion is the most morally gray character, and I can't see him letting Tyrion get everything he's always wanted, you know? People think asoiaf is grimdark, but I can't imagine grrm punishing Jon with banishment while giving Tyrion a cushy position with lots of power.

I've read the theory that Tyrion ends up at the Wall, which I like thematically, but again, WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE WALL SERVE. Is it just a penal colony at that point?? someone smarter than me, tell me.

Grey Worm & Missandei condoning/encouraging D: hated it. Take the only characters of color to have speaking lines (i'm 99% sure) in the last season and turn them vengeful and murderous (especially grey worm). Throw their characters under the bus to absolve D of blame

Arya killing the Night King: no. he doesn't exist in the books, first, and even in the show it made zero narrative sense. It was just a Shock Value™ twist. You thought it was gonna be hero Jon, hmmmmmm? WRONG. I've said it on here before, but my hope is that it's Sam that brings down the Others in the book somehow.

.

Did I forget anything, anon? This probably veered wildly from the point of the ask, but oh well, it was fun. (I had a jonsa section in here at first, but then I remembered this is show canon ending stuff and that was not canon sorry fellow jonsas. I obvioulsy want it to be the ending bc the shipper brainrot is real, buuuuuut...)

[one-abuse-survivor]

tbc, i'm not trying to justify abuse. if this comes off like that, just delete this pls so i don't trigger other folks but. how can i justify judging my abuser by all their abusive actions towards me and others when i don't judge everyone else for the shitty things they've done all the time?

how is it okay for me to go "ok i don't want anything to do with you bc of xyz you've done over the years" when i wouldn't want ppl looking at me and constantly going "oh it's fucked up so many times over the years, what a loser" or some shit.

like. is that me holding them to a standard i shouldn't? its not like i bring up different shit they've done all the time, even if it bothers me, but i'd hate it if someone was constantly judging me for shit i've messed up on [though, tbc, i have not abused anyone] throughout my life. is it different bc i've apologized n changed wherever and whenever i could in situations that i fucked up and they haven't? or is that me making excuses for holding them to a higher standard i don't do to everyone else?

sorry if this doesn't make sense. im just feeling a bit conflicted rn. - mc

Hey there ❤️ I understand what you mean, don't worry.

I think there's a difference between judging someone and not wanting them in your life.

When you judge someone for the bad things they've done, that can serve a purpose. For example, it can help you understand where you draw the line on what things you think are okay to do. It can help you reflect on which things you would want someone to apologise for. But judging a person can also be unfair—like if, for example, you judge someone solely based off of something wrong they did many years ago, or like if you keep a list of how many times a person has made a mistake so you can hold it against them. That is, indeed, holding someone to an unfair standard by demanding moral perfection from them.

Deciding you don't want anything to do with another person serves a different purpose. Sometimes it's about maintaining a social image, or about clashing personalities. But, in the case of abuse, it's about keeping yourself safe from a person who has hurt you, or who you know could hurt you because they've already hurt someone else. It's about prioritising your safety and well-being by setting and enforcing boundaries.

You can do both things at once (judge someone for being an abuser, and cut someone out for being an abuser), but they're not the same thing. And I do think "I don't want people to judge me for my past mistakes" and "I don't want this abusive person in my life" can absolutely coexist.

Ultimately, you always have a right to decide who you do and don't want to have in your life, for any reason. Yes, there are people out there who only want to surround themselves with people who they deem have perfectly clean moral slates. Personally, I wouldn't give my time of day to those people. But there is plenty of middle ground between that, and giving an infinite amount of chances to an abuser on the off chance you might be unfair to them if you don't.

You don't have to justify wanting to cut someone out of your life. It's your right. They'll get other chances at relationships where they'll be able to prove they've changed, if they indeed have. You don't have to be the one to give them that chance. It's your right to prioritise your own boundaries, safety, and peace of mind.

I hope that helps. Sending a virtual hug ❤️

[xiapxls]

Hey so it's been a while again, and that's because I just don't know what to do with this blog anymore. It's been so long, and we've had so many game updates, and we've had some tumblr updates, too, it's been really hard to get back into things. The thought of just deleting everything and starting fresh also won't leave me alone, no matter how many times I decide I'm not going to do that, it just keeps coming back. I just feel like all my saves are a mess and this blog is a mess. I haven't updated this blog in ages, I don't like the way I've organized things, and there's some stuff in game I also wished I'd done differently.

But I do actually like my saves so I don't want to complete get rid of them. So when I say 'delete everything and start fresh' I actually mean I would like to reboot them. The 100 baby challenge especially, but also SuperValerie. Though I kinda dread the idea of starting that over bc I've already done so much and the thought of doing it all over again is kind of a lot, I still kinda want to do it.

I also feel kinda shitty thinking about doing this after I just did the bachelorette challenge and got some amazing sims from members of the community. I know community challenges like bcs end up getting canceled and going nowhere all the time here, but still. I feel bad about it. Now I also know the common advice is just don't worry about it, just do what you want, this is just a hobby after all, but the problem is I just don't know what it is I want. I keep going back and forth between continuing where I left off and starting over, but I genuinely don't know if starting over is what I really want or if I'm just obsessing over some minor things that don't matter and I should just keep going.

That said, if I do end up going down the reboot road, I probably wouldn't delete anything on this blog bc I personally don't like it when simblrs actually do that. What I would do is probably make a new blog and keep this one around as an archive.

So, yeah, that's where I'm at right now. I'll be back when I figure this shit out, though I have no idea when that'll be. I suppose at some point I might try starting a little SuperValerie reboot and seeing whether I like it or not. I'll let you know how it goes. Whatever happens I won't just disappear and delete everything without warning, that I can promise you.

TL;DR I'm considering rebooting my saves. I'll let you know what I've decided when I've decided.

[suzuberto]

I read a lot of the comments and I agree with a lot of users: please don't add algorithm feeds like other sites, the chronological feed is one of the different and strong points for the users that come here, and I personally think that the suggestions of blogs in ad-like spaces or even the trending option in tags are enough for user experience. Adding even the option of algorithm feed will most likely make new users (not used to how the site and config works to turn it off and coming from algorithm controlled sites so they're used to it and probably will not search the option) to just see the suggestions (that usually just put already popular posts in your face, making small ones less visible) and that may/will discourage small accounts that want to start again here as it happens in every other place

I heard that the new IG TW-like app doesn't divide content you follow from algorithm and it's making a lot of fresh users to drop it or wait for a more controlled environment (that says a lot) so it would be nice if you... just don't do it.

Personally droped my accs in FB and IG bc got tired of seeing just ads and suggestions, if I do log in I go directly to search something specific but I have thought a lot of times to just delete them and have very weak reasons not to do it. Also all social media working and looking the same is tiring, the customization of tumblr blogs is other of the strong points of here.

About the email or any other new and pushy notification type please DON'T, I'm one of those ppl that toggles off EVERY notification except chat and comments (and prefer most times to have it just toggled on when inside the site/app, not outside) dude, I even find it annoying to see so much unnecessary notification dots and numbers like new posts in feed, I don't need that notification and if I can toggle that off I haven't find it to when I'm writing this. The thing is, if someone doesn't want notifications DON'T send them notifications, it just adds reasons for people to go away

I forgot if I had more stuff I wanted to write about other points as these two hit hard dsdsf and I understand the worries as a platform of other of the points mentioned but don't know ways to make them work, also I know nsfw can't be bringed back as they use payment methods that ban that stuff (bc that was the reason to ban it years ago as I remember when I dropped here) but if they can somehow make it back for nsfw artists would be a great option as is difficult to find places that allow it anyways, the end. Hear your users(?

Tumblr’s Core Product Strategy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience. 

Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content. 

To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.

Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr has a “top of the funnel” issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog view—where there isn’t much of a reason to sign up. 

We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand “what is Tumblr.” which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.

Actions & Next Steps

Improving Tumblr’s search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to “get” Tumblr and entice them to sign up.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the user’s diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.

The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.

Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a person’s preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant. 

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content each time the app is opened.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are. 

Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds. 

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr’s charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.

Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.

Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs. 

Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread. 

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads. 

Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a user’s Following feed. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (“Following”), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.

Actions & Next Steps

Get creators’ new content in front of people who are interested in it. 

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.

Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.

Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.

Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a user’s shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events.  

Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy.  

Actions & Next Steps

Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.

Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary.  

Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages. 

Test what the right daily push notification limit is. 

Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.

Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.

The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.

Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.

Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users. 

Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.

Conclusion

Our mission has always been to empower the world’s creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

[soviet-siscon]

Looking at that ask I sent again I'm not sure if "how my romantic and sexual feelings developed through childhood" might've been a bit misleading, like if you thought I was talking more specifically about how the feeligs for my sister/cousins developed, when I actually did mean literally how I've experienced All Romance since I was a kid— that said if that's true then you can just delete this ask ig, I just worry bc it's easy for me to ramble a lot when I get going and it takes effort to be concise, so I'm always wary of tmi-ing people. Come to think of it that might be like. I might be slightly excessively nervous about that. Trauma response? Who knows.

I also like, before I saw the post that made me send that I had been thinking about writing an essay that I would never put anywhere all about my feelings and opinions about incest and the way it's treated in society and the experience of growing up the way I did, and so when I was typing that I kinda on autopilot started putting a bunch of that in there and then was like "wait, I don't really wanna put my personal as-of-yet unwritten essay anonymously in someone's inbox on tumblr.com, even if it's soviet-siscon." This is a second long paragraph that isn't just telling you what you wanted to hear (and what I would very much like to tell someone bc I can't talk about this shit hardly anywhere). I just woke up like a half an hour to an hour ago from not sleeping very well and I'm in a weird mood. By the time I finish this it will have been at least another half hour bc I will take excuses to talk extensively about my life and if you don't wanna see it you can delete it.

So like one of my earliest memories is telling a cousin my age that when I grew up I wanted to marry her. (It was at night, all our siblings were in the room and I asked them to cover their ears so I could tell her a secret. They did not do that and I decided I didn't care anyway.) I was young enough that no one really took it seriously, I can't imagine parents didn't know, but I don't remember them saying anything. I don't remember everything bc it was a very long time ago but I think I frequently made her feel uncomfortable when we played. During that same period of time, my family switched churches, and a girl there showed me around and introduced me to people and told me what a "crush" was, and I promptly got one of those on her and told her about it. This time I'd developed a sense I should keep it a secret, but she didn't. The one time I wasn't fast enough to shush her before she spilled it was the time my cousins were visiting my church and my cousin apparently, despite not reciprocating at all previously, started crying bc I'd told her she was the one I would marry when I grew up, and she ran off and I chased her for a bit trying to help before realizing it was no use and letting her be alone... In hindsight I imagine to adults it would've looked like very childish drama but also it was like. Really bad, and I think the same situation would be really bad for an adult too. I felt awful and deeply internalized for many years that when you like two girls at once, that's trouble.

This was unfortunate because the way my brain works I get very attached to people very quickly once I trust them, and the part of my brain that picks crushes simply has never cared even a little bit how many people it's already picked. It also has never cared even a little bit whether I am related to the person. So I spent a long time as a kid being in various states of denial over the crush-like(?) feelings I had for Every Girl. And I was homeschooled, (like, with a group that meant I took classes taught by parents out of young earth creationist textbooks and attended by other homeschooled kids once a week,) so while I wasn't completely socially isolated, (there were the once a week classes, church, smth best described here as a youth group, the library had a teen program once a week, etc.,) I spent a lot of time with family as a kid. So, Mom and my sister, cousins, (although mostly That cousin, after the Incident I told her to forget I had ever told her that thing about the marriage, which as a child seemed a perfectly reasonable solution and we never talked about it again,) aunts, my mom's cousin and her kids had some presence in my young life and I remember her commenting on how cuddly I was...

So like growing up there was never a time when I didn't feel embarrassment and shame in association with any acknowledgement that I even could experience romance, and that kinda fucked me up! I also remember hearing for the first time that some gay people aren't doing it on purpose to spite god and are actually accidentally gay, and started worrying about whether I was gay before consoling myself by concentrating on how much I really liked looking at boobs. I then got a crush on a guy and was in denial about it. I remember specifically thinking "The way I feel about this guy... Is really similar to how I feel about this girl I have a crush on... Do I actually not have a crush on her???"

To this day I feel like if almost anyone asks me directly if I have a crush on them, (assuming I wanted to be honest with them,) the answer is mostly gonna be me trying desperately to say "I dunno" in a way that won't make them assume the answer is "yes but I don't want to admit it". It's relatively simple to decide if I wanna have sex with someone, but a crush... I mean, really I'd have sex with a lot of people given the opportunity, I feel like if I say "yes I have a crush on you bc I am sexually attracted to you" that's not actually giving them much information. But also like if someone asked that and I just said no without mentioning I had beat my meat thinking about them that would feel dishonest I think. I mean that's what I'd probably do realistically but that's not the point.

This is where I sometimes get confused looking at your blog actually- you're ace, and I just can't even fathom what the feelings are you're describing if it's not fundamentally based on "like looking at this person, want to fuck"? Especially since you're posting specifically about fucking them? I don't think I'm aro at all, but I am very confused about what people are describing as "romance" and what feelings in me are supposed to correspond to saying I feel romance for someone. This is despite my whole life being unable to escape what's definitely romance at least sometimes, bc I've definitely gotten obsessed with some people. Maybe I think romance is a social construct and no one feels a discrete emotion corresponding one to one with that particular form of attachment. Idk.

It's kinda calmed down over the years, fortunately. I don't feel this way about most men (I might actually not be attracted to men anymore? Maybe??? Lots of trans women come out as bi or gay first and then realize they're girls and that they aren't attracted to men anymore, right? I think? Except that my youngest brother is really hot???) and I also hardly ever these days seem to get it for people of previous generations. (Partly bc it's more difficult for me to want to fuck someone who I'm becoming more and more aware has Done Some Shit to me and people I care about — family abolition today!) My feelings about my sister have been persistent though. I haven't really seen the side of the family that That cousin was on in years, but the other side... Has some attractive people... One of whom is actually, I have determined, the Most Likely Incest Candidate, on account of how they're the one person in my family who has both left the church (with prejudice) and who isn't Very Monogamously Engaged (with apparently little interest in sex to boot). They are dating someone though and I don't know how open they are (at least a little? To some people?) and I'm sure as hell not betting on them being ok with incest. Most likely candidate doesn't mean I'll do anything it just means my eyes are open ig. Just in case. (It won't happen). Also when I saw my mom's cousin's family again for the first time in many years for like one day my reaction was "oh no, they're all really hot." And my younger brother who isn't the youngest is someone I think about feminizing. He'd make a pretty girl I think...

Writing time an hour and 45 minutes as of now. (15 additional minutes making largely useless edits.) I'm trying not to apologize for writing so much self indulgent rambling about my feelings and past by reminding myself that you did literally ask for this and if you don't like receiving it you can delete it. I hope you have a good day

Thank you so much for sending this! don't feel bad about it, it was really fascinating to read. it must have taken a lot of introspection to get to this point and that's really cool of you! I actually really relate to a lot of what you're saying, especially about shame and embarrassment and crushes and stuff. being ace for me is really interesting because a lot of my incestuous attraction takes the form of like...a desperate craving for validation and acknowledgement and closeness with them. like i'd probably have sex if i was asked but for the most part it's way more a desperate "please don't leave me" plea i guess. my personal feelings are this massive horrible swamp that's like impossible to navigate so it's probably more confusing for me than it is for you tbh. again i really appreciate this! i'm glad you get to share your feelings about stuff and it's really interesting for me to hear peoples lives and opinions on things. I'm sorry you went through so much of what you did. i'm giving u a hug and also wishing you the best in however your life turns out. I'll keep reblogs on this 'cus it seems really personal and i get annoyed when people treat people pouring their heart out as something hot to reblog.

[angelkittycore]

me when i lie.

i dont even care that fucking much, forgot you had ever sent me a selfie, i do not "go nuclear" and your rsd is on you to control. we already had a discussion about that event where i did in fact apologize, multiple fucking times. also i softblocked you because you accused me of lying about being your friend and doing shit on purpose and i decided i didn't want to be in contact anymore.

if anything i'm more scared of YOU doing something weird with MY selfie bc you're an unreliable narrator and are emotionally unstable.

if i "drained" you so much then why didn't you cut me off beforehand.

you just wanted to use me as validation bait. whereas i wanted an actual friend.

n the only reason i approached you about the er*sermic stuff was because you were being extremely vitriloic towards the other character, the ship itself, and the fandom. and i was worried that it would ruin our friendship and blow up badly if you knew that outside of selfship that i liked the pairing. (which again, didn't know you added it to your dni bc i followed back when you selfshipped with the villain.) i trusted you to be mature and you weren't.

i wasn't even saying that i didn't support your se.lfship, bc i do, even if i think your understanding of your f.o is rife with mischaracterization. just trying to essentially say "hey i enjoy this pairing when i go out of my way to engage in fandom media related to the source, i hope that's okay."

you could've just been like "i'd prefer you don't talk to me about that" or "i think i want you to unfollow" instead of trying to go after me with shit that triggers ME. you didn't think about how your words could affect me, whereas i was very aware that there was a high chance of upsetting you, but i wanted to be open and honest because i value that in friendships. i do not play mindgames with people, and i do not like it when people try to play mindgames with me. if i am upfront about something its because its very serious and matters a lot, and i'd rather discuss it civilly than having it bottled up to the point of explosion. again, i thought you'd be mature enough to realize this.

i valued you as a friend despite our rough moment(s) and believed we could work through it come to a compromise. i was mistaken. i should not have trusted you with this blog, my selfie, or anything else.

as i said before in a now deleted post i do not think basing your attraction to your f/o on who many people follow you or validate you is healthy. it weirds me out, i do not want to be a part of that, and you are not much better than haven so i find it mildly ironic that you dislike them too.

please focus on your mental health instead of misunderstood happenings and statements about such which can be easily unproven if i so much as wanted to unblock you and peek at our dms.

[zombies-aliens]

Man. I'm down bad rn. I'm attached to a fucking girl bruh. It's so. Fucking. Dumb. I don't even wanna get into it. I'm so tired of worrying over nothing meanwhile she's probably not even worried an ounce about me. And why tf would she I'm literally ONE DUDE while she has an ABUNDANCE OF FRIENDS. I have close to zero she's got like the whole damn community at work in her corner who tf do I got again? If I leave nobody cares. Okay okay they'll pretend to miss me, then in a couple minutes I swear to God they'll be laughing it up with friends I promise you!! And boom just like that I'm forgotten and I'll eventually forget them too. Bc they got friends they got people to make them forget and feel better. Good for them unfortunately I don't have that luxury. I'm a lone wolf that feels like an outcast everytime I'm around people. Like look man I know it everyone knows it I ain't shit. It's the sad truth. How can I not see it. I'm a lame. It's the sad truth. Whatever. I'm attached to that person bc they are the only friend I talk to on a daily basis consistently. My dumbass went and got attached because there's literally no one else I do this with. There's nobody else who really made me think I'm actually friends with me back instead of it feeling like I'm their friends and I'm hoping to God they're still friends with me the next day. Oh but they check on me and ask if I'm okay bruh how dumb do you think I am you think I don't know words are just words? Words don't mean jack shit man. All I know is I'm attached, I care way more to an unhealthy extent apparently, and I don't know what else to do but to ghost once I move away to another state. They'll never find me again we'll never see each other and yeah I know it must come off as a shocker for them... maybe?... but as I said they'll be laughing it up with friends in a few minutes I'm not kidding too. They won't miss me that much if at fucking all they do. They'll probably all go drinking the same night and there you go. Fun times restablished. Matter fact fun times were never impacted by me anyway. So idk when I leave to another state and I'm about to leave the store I'm idk bc I know it's proper to put in a two weeks notice but fuck that store I'll tell them in a week they can kiss my ass they don't love me anyway. All I will say is thank you T for hiring me. But idc anymore. When I get the call that's it's time to go (sounds grim but it's a job position I'm in a queue for basically. Its already mine just a matter of time but hopefully it's very soon. Like even next week would be perfect. Just take me away from my attachment man) I'm probably delete her from my snap without notice. Maybe with notice. Still figuring it out. Might say "hey im so so sorry this was fun but its been bad for me.. I need to move on. Everythings okay. None of this is your fault. ooo 🫂

And I think I'll wait a month max before I do it. Bc say I get let go for whatever reason and I go back home where they're at. Now that would be painful for me. Awkward for everybody. But even still they wouldn't give a fuck. They probably think, "idiot"

I'm only doing this because I don't wanna be attached anymore. It's a one sided attachment and I'm tired of how I overthink and it's happening because of this attachment. So I have to break it off from me to fucking get a breath of fresh air.

[spoops-screams]

| Short MC

Character(s): Muriel, Lucio

TW: Self doubt (?)

Notes: Gender neutral MC || Short (like 4'11 or sm) mc bc it's really not that hard to be shorter than these two ;-; || I am going to kill someone if I'm stupid enough to delete my post again I swear- I spent only like 10 minutes on the other one but still, it was good 😭😭

Muriel

You think he was scared of accidentally hurting you before? Now he's down right terrified

There's an almost two foot difference between the two of you and it's so painfully obvious to him which he would find adorable if not for the fact that it was mortifying for someone like him who hated the very thought of hurting someone accidentally it without reason

He's aware of his own size and his own strength so he feels as though he might accidentally injure you without meaning to since he's both large and has more strength than he already looks to have which makes being around you down right terrifying to him

He doesn't want to exist too close to you because he feels as though any wrong move and he'll swat you like a fly so just about everyone can see how he's basically walking on eggshells and treats you like you're a fragile piece of glass

Once he realises that he won't accidentally squish you like a bug, he actually finds it really adorable

Absolutely had a heart attack whenever Inanna goes and smothers you but even he can't resist seeing you and the wolf cuddled up with each other what with you being practically hidden amongst the wolf's fur and size but he does make sure that they don't out too much pressure on you

He's just worried about you, please help him

Lucio

Oh you poor soul, he is not going to let you live it down

He absolutely will exaggerate the differences in your height to get in your nerves, that's guaranteed, as if you're both children, he actually finds the difference between your height and his hilarious

"You're practically only half my height."

Throw the whole man in the bin, he's so cocky about it

Initially he only sees it as another way to exert his status and power over you, practically towering over you with you not even being able to reach his shoulders which he no doubt uses to intimidate respect for him into you, magician or not, thanks to his ego and pride

He does come to very much like your height later along the line

With his height in comparison to yours, he finds it so easy to protect you and hide you, he actually starts finding it endearing

He's still absolutely insufferable though

Do expect him to use your head as an arm rest, that's just how this man is, but he's the only one that's allowed to bully you (affectionately) about your height

He will definitely join a Melchior and Mercedes in a cuddle pile if he ever manages to find you

In that moment, your height is the biggest disadvantage, the three of them are massive and you absolutely will not move, completely hidden from everyone

Tags: @rurifangirl bc I feel rly bad for deleting the other headcanon before you could even see it 😭😭 I WILL DO SOMETHING TO FIX THAT THOUGH!

If you want to be added or removed from any of my tag list, dm me, send me an ask off anon or comment under this or any post (please specify which tag lists you would like to be added to i.e Arcana, mlqc, specific characters etc...)

Do not repost, edit or claim. Only reblog 💕

[overflowing-with-words]

also! since I'm here, would you write a one-shot about Zane and memories? Maybe something like he's deleting old files he doesn't need and accidently deletes something important to him?

*dances in* WE HAVE IT, WE HAVE IT

and its mostly zane and jay bc that duo is iconic and we need more of them. ngl, more fluff than angst because I felt like doing fluffy stuffles today.

hope you guys like it, and send me more requests like I need things to write really whatever you can come up with please— set whenever you want, preferably after s11.

TW: (Slightest) Memory loss, anxiety, panic.

Zane clears a important memory from his database by accident, breaking down under the stress he's been pushing away, thinking he does not need to handle them as a nindroid. Jay is convinced otherwise.

• • •

If there is anything Zane prides himself on, it is his organization. Whether its fulfilling the unending need to do laundry for the team, or defusing a bomb, he is automatically known as the most responsible person in the team.

What else can he be, as a nindroid?

It is a early June morning when it happens, a peaceful day. Zane sat on his bed, clearing out the unneeded information kept in his data, as even a robot has a limit to storage space, like Cole said.

He smiles, mildly amused by the sounds of crumpled paper they make as he deletes them. Probably a update by Jay sometime, and in that moment of distraction, something seems to fall in his heart, and he gets the odd feeling off missing something. Shaking it off, he returned to work.

And there is another sound of crumpling paper.

• • •

After finishing the cleaning of his database, Zane looked around, blank eyes scanning his surrounding. Perhaps one of his brothers would be in need of assistance, he considered, standing up from his seat on his bed.

Walking along the hallways, a blur of blue and brunette ran into him, tackling him to the floor.

"AgH- Sorry, sorry-" Zane blinked in surprise, untangling himself from the surprise attacker. Smiling, he starts to greet the lighting ninja-

"Hello,-" The name does not automatically insert itself, his mind more empty that it has ever been. Already, his systems are racing to scan the foreign unnamed face, but his memory finally returns as he looks into the light blue eyes sparkling with excitement, reminding him of lighting crackling across the dark skies.

Jay. Jay. How could he forget his brother's name? Nindroids did not forget. They were not built to forget such important information-

"Zane? You okay?" A voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he realized with a start he was still sitting on the frigid ground, staring at the ground.

"I-I cannot." He stuttered a reply, not knowing what he was saying no to.

"You- what's wrong?" Jay asked, worry filling his voice.

"I forgot your name." Zane gasped out, and Jay's expression turned downcast for a moment, then even more anxious.

"Pfft, don't worry about it. Everyone forgets something once in a while." Jay reassured him, bending down to his level. He patted his shoulder, starting again. "Really, it's oka-"

"I don't." Zane was taken by surprise at how cold his own voice sounded to him, metallic tones grating on his ears. Jay winced slightly, and he could guess it did not sound very friendly. "I don't forget."

Jay shrugged, blue hoodie shifting slightly. "Everybody messes up once in a while, it's nothing-"

"I am a nindroid. I was not built to...fail."

The lighting ninja's expression turned sterner, and he plopped down cross legged on the floor properly. "You didn't fail at anything. And nindroids are still part of 'everybody', aren't they? Now tell me exactly how you forgot. Maybe it was a glitch from the last time I updated you."

"I-It was-" Zane paused for a moment, running through his memories. "I cannot remember how we met."

"Oh, that's easy. We were meeting after Sensei Wu introduced us to each other. You tried to shake hands with me, and I thought it was a fist bump, but, like, you went along with it anyways." Jay recaps, brow furrowing in concentration.

Zane notes this down like he always does, but this time there's no flash of recognition at the memory. His breath catches in his throat as a thought suddenly occurs. "I was cleaning out my database earlier, could that have- I wouldn't- Not- I would never clear something so important."

Words fell over each other in the hurry to get out, extremely unlike the normally put together Master Of Ice.

"I know, I know. It wasn't your mistake, stop blaming yourself." Jay reassures him, and hesitates.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, brother." Zane says, facade only holding for a few seconds before crashing down around him, expression shattering away. He hadn't known he could cry.

He did not know he could feel, like this.

Sobs wrack his body, and he suddenly wishes he wouldn't need to go through this. Like he has been hanging precariously over a ledge, needing only the slightest bit more pressure and he would drop into the dark crevice below.

And it's like a hundred tons of stress has collapsed into him from nowhere visible, weaving into his every thought, every part of him, and he doesn't know why he is breaking down like this.

"Breathe, Zane." He hears ,and looks up, tears blurring the vision of the lighting ninja looking at him, light sky shaded eyes filled with worry. His heart races at the thought of someone seeing this vulnerable, this fragmented version of himself. "I am sorry."

"No! Stop being sorry." Jay cuts in quickly, shuffling closer on his knees. "Don't apologise, it's fine, everyone has their bad days."

"I am a nindroid—"

"You're not just a nindroid, Zane, you're a person, a real one with feelings just as real as ours!" Jay exclaims, throwing his hands up in frustration. He nods slowly, not wanting to argue.

"It's okay to be stressed, it's okay to be worried, but it's not okay to push it all away. Which is obviously what you've been doing." He continues, indignation fueling him.

"But—"

"No buts!"

"Fine." Zane digests the information he's just received, still doubtful. He doesn't quite believe it, and he knows Jay can see that.

"You know what you should do?" Jay says, eyes lighting up with an idea. Zane waits in silence, knowing his answer isn't probably right. Which was to finish doing the laundry.

"Do something fun, something you like doing!" Jay says, smiling. "Reading, drawing, scrolling on tiktok—You know, whatever you want, let off some stress."

Zane raises his eyebrows in surprise, shrugging. "I do not know what to do today. Does laundry count—"

"Fine, do you know what we could do?" The lighting ninja intercepts, and Zane decides the answer would've probably been a solid 'no'.

"What?" He asks cautiously. Jay is infamously known for having pretty bad ideas, sometimes. Not that they'd ever say anything to him about it, though.

"Watch a movie!"

And that is how Zane finds himself caught into the ungiving hook that is the Marvel Universe franchise, something Jay has been begging for him to watch forever.

He should've seen it coming, really.

An hour later, they're almost done with the movie, and he has already figured out a list of the possible ways they can defeat the villain through Jay's rambled theories, but Cole plops in halfway from wherever he has been, flinging himself across a entire couch.

Zane figures another show can't hurt.

Then it's been two hours and forty six minutes, they're well into the third movie, and the whole team has made their way onto respective places in the living room, absorbed into the fantasy world of superpowers and magic portals.

Like they can't control literal whole elements for themselves.

Through a rather boring scene, Jay leans over to him, cocooned in blankets. "You know, I'll watch a movie with you whenever you want, Zane. Really, watching a movie is a great way to get rid of stress and stuff."

He smiles, promising to call the lighting ninja for these events more often. Even though he can think of a hundred other ways to spend his time more productively, something about the normalized feeling of just sitting and watching a movie, doing something normal and common, gives him a warm feeling that he cannot explain.

He looks at the clock absentmindedly, knowing he can pull up the time in his scanners in half a second, but wishing to do something normal for once. It reads 7:48, and they have completely missed dinner.

So Zane pauses the movie and announces the news of ordering in, which results in half an hour of everlasting debate over Chinese or Western, and Cole ends up calling seven different places to find something for all of them.

But settled in less than a hour later with a steaming bowl of noodles, Zane decides the movie marathon idea wasn't that bad at all.

Until he has to console a sobbing Green Ninja over a certain character death.

"H-he died! How does that make anything better?"

"The whole world would've died without him, though—" Jay pipes up, which leads to Lloyd crying even harder, and chorus of 'Shut up, Jay.' from the other ninja.

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

Hello! Your answer to that last request absolutely ruined me (in the best way possible)

If you'd like to leave it completely ambiguous that's fine, but I was wondering about an Impulse POV of what goes through his mind when he wakes up and sees Tango? Depending on whether the game ends immediately after that, whether him and Brody have to do something extra to end the game, or if you want to go full bad ending and have the game carry on in that broken state forever.... It could be very different each way, but I'd certainly love to read that aftermath if you would enjoy writing it (because obviously I'm not in enough pain already :D /s)

this is a sequel to this one :D very glad that two of my favourite requesters liked it enough to ask for a follow up!

I also love my Patented Vaunna Uncertain Endings (as Shade put it lol) bc it leads to at least one person yelling at me and at least one follow-up request demanding to know what happens (/pos ofc i love all you guys’ requests)

also yes i’m so sorry Raven i only just realised i wasnt following you asdfghjkl i thought i already was

…

Impulse opens his eyes. Letting out a groan, he sluggishly pushes himself into a sitting position. His head feels like it’s being clamped in a vice, but he has enough wits to register the scene in front of him.

Tango is lying in a pool of blood just a foot away from him, arm outstretched towards him as if trying to reach him.

He can’t stop staring at his best friend’s body. Tango is clearly dead, and Impulse remembers causing it. So why hasn’t the game ended? It should have ended when Brody killed Endless, but it didn’t. Now the only two people left on the ship are the two imposters. There’s literally nothing else that can be done to end the game, except…

Impulse glances down at Tango’s tablet, then at the upload panel. At this point, he’ll do anything to end this game, even if it means losing.

So he picks up Tango’s tablet, ignoring the almost painful tingle shooting through his hand. The game’s code is uncomfortable with him picking up a crewmate’s tablet. And even though he can’t see the screen, he knows what the last task is. So he hopes that the game will let him complete it. There shouldn’t be any protocols in place to stop this; after all, when would an imposter EVER want to do a crewmate’s task?

“What are you-?” comes Brody’s voice suddenly.

Impulse turns to find Brody freezing at the sight of Tango’s body.

“We’re the only two left,” Impulse confirms. “We gotta finish the last task, even if it means we lose. Otherwise we might be trapped here forever.”

Brody slowly nods. He and Impulse are in an odd state; the imposter bloodlust is slowly starting to wear off, leaving him with an uncomfortable mixture of satisfaction and horror at the sight of his old friend’s dead body.

“I think I might throw up,” he groans, turning away and doubling over, hands pressed to his stomach.

Impulse just keeps going with the task, his heart starting to beat faster. He hopes this will work. If it doesn’t…

...he can’t think about that.

As the upload finishes, he squeezes his eyes shut and holds his breath.

He feels something shift around him…

…and when he opens his eyes, he finds himself back in the lobby.

But only one other person is there with him.

Impulse and Brody slowly look around the room, registering their situation, before simultaneously meeting each other’s gaze.

“This is really bad,” says Brody after a moment, stating aloud what they’re both thinking.

Impulse nods, trying and failing to suppress the feeling of cold terror rapidly growing in his stomach. “Y-Yeah. Where are our friends and why aren’t they here?”

Recalling Etho teaching him how to access the code, Brody pulls up the admin screen. Impulse anxiously watches him tap away at it.

“Is it possible to go back to that exact game?” he asks hesitantly.

“I think so. Gimme a sec.”

After a tense few minutes, an open doorway appears in the side of the lobby. Through it, Impulse can see the Skeld cafeteria.

“I’ve altered your code slightly so you should be able to see and hear ghosts,” Brody says. “Go see if you can find out where our friends are. I’ll stay here and make sure you don’t get trapped there.”

Impulse takes a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Good luck, my friend.”

“I’m gonna need it.”

Impulse carefully steps through the door, half expecting it to vanish behind him. But to his relief, it doesn’t.

Where the heck is he supposed to start?

After a moment, Impulse goes into admin. But the admin table tells him nothing except his own location. Next, he rushes over to security. Again, however, the cameras yield nothing useful.

Time for Plan C.

“SKIIIIIIIIIZZ!” Impulse shrieks, running madly through the hallways. “TANGOOOO! ETHOOOOOOOOOO!”

For a worrying minute or so, there’s no replies at all.

Then…

“Impulse!”

He skids to a halt in the hallway between weapons and shields, his head automatically snapping round to face the direction he heard the voice yell his name from.

That’s when he sees two ghosts flying towards him from navigation. “Tango! Etho!”

“Impulse, you can see us?!” yelps Tango. “And hear us?!”

Impulse nods. “Yeah! Oh my gosh, a-are you two okay? I’m so sorry!”

“This isn’t your fault, Impulse,” Etho says firmly. “You were just playing the game. And don’t worry, I’ve managed to save everyone else.”

“What?” Impulse’s heart skips a beat. “How?”

“I was able to access their code and send them back to their respective servers. Skizzle, Joker, Astro, Mrs Tango, Endless, and Evil are all safe.”

“Oh, thank God,” breathes Impulse. “What about you two?”

“I couldn’t manage to access Hermitcraft’s code,” Etho responds. “So I couldn’t send us back there. I think it’s something to do with the firewalls X put up a few years ago.”

“Damnit. What’s going on, Etho? Why’re there so many glitches?”

“I don’t know. But if we get out of this alive, we should definitely give this game a break for a while until it’s fixed.”

“I’ll second that,” Tango mutters. “But wait, how did you get here?”

“Brody managed to open a door here from the lobby. Oh, wait! Maybe you can come through it with me!”

He takes the ghosts to the cafeteria, where the doorway to the lobby is still shimmering.

“Brody, I found Tango and Etho,” Impulse reports to his friend. “Everyone else is safe. Can they come through the doorway?”

Brody hesitates. “They should be able to. Come through first, quickly.”

Impulse goes through the door again and turns back to face his friends.

“Will it be safe for us to come through in ghost form?” Tango asks nervously.

“Ah…” Brody grimaces. “It should be fine.”

Tango is not encouraged by his friend’s tone. “Are you sure?”

“I’m not,” admits Brody. “The likelihood that the game will either glitch or not let you through and delete you forever is worryingly high, but… I think this is the only way. If we don’t give it a go, you’ll be stuck in this weird purgatory forever.”

Tango shoots a glance at Etho, who’s gazing at the doorway anxiously, and makes a quick decision. “I’ll try it first. Then you’ll know if it’s safe for Etho or not.”

“What?” Etho glances sharply at him. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. 100%. I’m terrified outta my mind right now, but there’s no way I’m watching you go through that thing and disappear forever. No way in hell.”

Not daring to meet Etho’s eyes, Tango turns to the doorway and takes a deep breath.

“Tango, wait.”

Tango pauses and turns back to his friend. “Yeah?”

After a moment, Etho grabs him in a hug. “If we never see each other again, I want you to know that I’ve cherished every second with you and I’m honoured to call you my friend.”

Tango blinks, a lump rising in his throat. “D-Don’t. You’re gonna make me cry.” But he hugs his friend back. “I love you, buddy.”

Finally, he releases Etho and turns to look at Impulse through the doorway. Their gazes meet and Tango sees his own fear reflected in Impulse’s eyes.

“See you on the other side,” he says, his voice cracking audibly. “One way or another.”

With that, he steps through the doorway.

[nat-20s]

isn’t the not donating if you have depression thing there for a reason? maybe it isn’t something you should do if you know you have depression even if you haven’t been officially diagnosed?

I debated how to answer this for awhile, whether to just delete this or reply with something sarcastic like the "don't worry I have a permit: I do what I want" image, but I'm going to take this in good faith as an actual, fully curious and open-minded question.

If you are asking why I, personally and specifically, feel ethically and morally okay about potentially becoming an egg donor even though I am someone who has struggled on and off with depression my answer is: for the same reason, while I'm not currently ready, I feel it would be morally and ethically fine to have and raise a child of my own. Which is to say: I don't think my genes are inherently "bad". My dad's side of the family has had ZERO deaths from cancer across the board, and my mom's direct family have all been pretty healthy. Every grandparent I've had has already made it to their 80s, and the two that have passed made it to 90. Also, all the donation places I've looked at don't actually say "no history of mental illness", but rather that I can't be on any psychoactive drugs and need to be psychologically healthy. "But aren't depression and psychological health fundamentally opposed?" Yes, but also no. The real answer is: sometimes! But for me personally, I'm in a pretty good and stable mental place, and I would consider myself overall more on the side of psychologically healthy. I would say that to me that requirement is more about the potential physical and mental demands that come with the fertility treatments that some immutable part of yourself, and I genuinely believe I can handle those, and that I'm not making a poor decision in trying for this.

If you're asking, in general, should people that have dealt with depression and/or other forms of mental illness be able to be egg donors, my answer is generally, yeah. I think it will be person to person and case by case and it's definitely something you should think on first, but yeah. And here's my number 1 reason why: Genetics are a fucking crapshoot. Genetics when it comes to mental illness are ESPECIALLY a fucking crapshoot. I’m gonna talk about specifically depression as an example for the rest of this, bc that’s what I know more about, but some of it can probably be applied to more widespread mental illness. While I think saying that you can’t be on psychoactive drugs during the donation is fair, as they can very much interact poorly with the birth control/fertility treatment/egg itself, I think “depression=no donation” isn’t because like. The physicality AND heritability is...complex and not very well understood. Certain traits tied to the endocrine system seem to be highly genetic and others seem to have almost no genetic link at all. Whether the depression itself is the result of a physical symptom or environmental or both is hard to parse out (hence why trying to figure out anti-depressants can be a rough and exhausting procedure. There is a somewhat increased risk of depression in a child if the parent also has depression but a: it’s not like. THAT increased B: the studies I could find on it were for children being raised by their genetic parents, and holy fucking shit does nurture have a HUGE impact of the development of depression, so again, I’m not sure how much of that is actually an inherent genetic risk. TLDR: the general risk of inheriting mental illness that the qualifications are trying to screen against are likely exaggerated and not all that helpful, and if you feel like you’re in a mentally well and stable place that means you can handle egg donation, I think that’s enough to qualify you as a mentally well and stable person for said egg donation.

[cat-boy-tits]

Hey bro, idk your politics (and I'm not asking don't worry! None of my business!) so maybe you already know this, in which case you can just ignore this ask.

But I thought you might wanna know that on that post about the FBI robbing a bank, the inital tweet is from a far-right comics artist. The main post 'explaining' how bad it is was also by a hard right blog. Elizabisme's sly aside at the end about 'everything else the fbi is investigating' is a reference to the FBI investigation of stolen classified documents recovered from Trump's place, which Elizab believes is a sham secret trial that the FBI (who she thinks are violent leftist antifa rioters) are faking to sabatoge the American right.

I did a little digging bc I didn't feel right saying anything without having any other info, and it looks like the raid on the safe deposit boxes did happen. The Beverly Hills company that was raided has since pled guilty to money laundering, but idk whats up with the boxes. Anyway, point is that the post itself is far-right propaganda.

I'm letting you know bc I would want to know, and I suspect based on what I know of you might want to too. I don't expect you to post this or reply. I'm not trying to get you to do anything, and I don't plan to follow up or anything. Zero pressure, 100% just for your information.

thank you anon friend!

i am not immune to propaganda.

i will try to find the post and delete it. hopefully everyone else who got it from me will see this ask.

thank you again.

come off anon in my dms, if you want. i really appreciate this.

[mrpenguinpants]

Oh lore?? I read your post on Dainsleif and BOY it gave me a lot to think about dsfjgkd

Along the same vein, what do you think of the relationship between the unknown god and Kaenri'ah? In Albedo's trailer they seemed to reference two new elements (time and being) and if perhaps the unknown god is the god of time, then does Khemia make use of "being" in its creation of life?

In Mihoyo's other game (honkai) they introduced a new "type" about halfway through the story which seems to me to be similar to the abyss in Genshin. The quanta type is independent of the three types that were present from the beginning of the game and it's tied to an abyss style region called the Sea of Quanta. Maybe I'm reading too much into it and they don't plan to imitate what they did in Honkai but?? Time and being as new "elements" introduced a few years into the game seems possible at least?? Maybe they're exclusive to delusions bc there's only the seven Archons at this time so no one can grant time/being visions lol

Djfkdj I hope this was at least slightly understandable I love looking into lore especially for things I write about!! I'll end this now before it gets too long lmao the new tumblr asks give me too much power XD

TUMBLR DELETED MY REPLY AHHHHH I HAD TO RE-WRITE EVERYTHING. THAT’S WHY I’M LATE TO THE PARTY. I’M SO SORRY CATTY 😭

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Major spoilers for Khaenri’ah and minor spoilers for the unknown god

:DD I’m glad you read my word vomit haha. I love talking about lore so much, ty for enabling me. 

What do you think of the relationship between the unknown god and Khaenri’ah?

The logical side of my brain thinks:

They either have nothing to do with each other and Mihoyo really likes using the same star for everything and Khaenri’ah just happens to live in the void or sky so the easiest way to distinguish citizens from there is the star (or it was just hot to put star pupils in and you know what, they were right). 

Or there’s some sort of connection between the Eclipse dynasty that ruined Khaenri’ah and the unknown god. Since genshin really likes to do that (see Zhongli and everyone calling him Morax before 1.1 dropped). 

Re-watching the prologue cutscene and “we will be reunited” (Gonna refer to this a WWBR) Aether drew the same two stars into the sand which makes me believe that either a. stars literally have nothing to do with anything and Teyvat only knows how to draw one star (which doesn’t hold up well considering Mona’s outfit and pin) or b. there’s some kind of connection there. The way Paimon phrases her question she says: 

“But when you wanted to leave and go onto the next world your path was blocked by an unknown god?”

It implies that Aether and Lumine have already travelled through Teyvat since we see two yellow stars travel over Liyue and Mondstadt. I know Aether was sent into some sort of deep sleep and only now awoke and met Paimon (since in the trailer we can see the lantern festival and the genshin upload was in march (chinese new year is in feb) but I’m not super sure on these details but I’m pretty sure it’s canon that this happened based on WWBR). 

Then when the unknown god appears and the same 3 red stars appear [tumblr throws a fit when I try and upload this]

She refers to us as Outlanders and calls herself 

“The sustainer of heavenly principles. The arrogation of mankind ends now.”

This could be a reference to “being” that was in the Albedo trailer while Dainsleif is “time” since time is "not something he lacks". If we’re going on the theory that Dainsleif is actually a god then maybe they are fighting? Or in some type of push and pull war. It would make sense since the Unknown God believes in heavenly principles (so the rules either set by Celestia or Gods themselves) and believes mankind is arrogant and wishes to either destroy it or remove it entirely. The complete opposite of Dainsleif who believes in mankind and hates anything relating to the Archons.

Or dainsleif has nothing to do with the unknown god and is just a final challenge to the player who will then face off against the Unknown God. 

In Albedo's trailer they seemed to reference two new elements (time and being) and if perhaps the unknown god is the god of time, then does Khemia make use of "being" in its creation of life?

In this theory, this would make the Unknown God the god of time, which is also equally as valid. Since she does talk about time and how the arrogation of mankind ends now. I think it’s right to assume that Khemia makes use of being in its creation of life since we see Albedo talk about chalk and turning things from “nothing” (it’s not really nothing, he’s still using something or the “being” in order to transform it) to something. 

If Dainsleif uses Khemia or even created it then taught it to the people of Khaenri’ah to help them survive in their archonless land, that could be a valid reason why he believes in the strength of mankind. Since the unknown god’s power seems to consume the person trapped within (as we see in the prologue). Plus in WWBR we see first hand how destructive that power is. This could also be the time where Dainsleif lost faith or hated the celestial beings. 

---

In WWBR, according to the wiki it states that our sibling was taken to another point in time, in an unknown location. But this event leads the sibling (Lumine) to become the leader of the Abyss Order. 

Lumine says: 

“But until the abyss has engulfed the thrones, my war with destiny will see no end.”

Lumine seems to know about the archons and the abyss mages follow her so it’s safe to assume that the “abyss” she refers to is either something entirely new or the red blocks we see here. It seems as if she’s trying to change destiny which could be why Dainsleif wants to save her. 

I will say right now, I really hope the theory that Paimon is secretly the unknown god doesn’t come true. I know it’s funny and I would enjoy seeing our emergency food pull a turned table on us but unless there are more instances where it’s hinted or it’s handled really well I would not like it. I just finished a manga and I felt like I was watching 20M plot twists happen in the span of 3 pages. I would totally be okay if the unknown god and paimon were somehow related (I can understand that) but I unless it’s handed really well or as the story progresses and we get more info on paimon. it would just be really out of left field. I haven’t seen any theories on this and I honestly try and stay away from lore posts until I’ve finished mine because I feel that might make my ideas biased.

The “everything must be connected into some kind of plotline or I will make it a plotline” brain thinks:

Now, this is just be spit balling and making up my own headcanons with no lore to go off on. This is pure indulgent stuff with no research to back it up besides very loose threads. 

I’d like to believe that since the Eclipse Dynasty was the last dynasty before Khaenri’ah fell. That might be what is being depicting above in WWBR. Perhaps khemia backfired or the unknown god turned against the people for their arrogance (I’m not sure if people know the myth but in short terms, a giant stole fire to help the people who were cold. He was punished for going against the gods and saving the people, this could be similar to Dainsleif). 

Perhaps Lumine and Aether had stopped this event from happening and as they were about to leave, the unknown god appears and separates them for their arrogant actions against the Gods and sends Lumine back to the past. Without her brother she ended up failing in saving Khaenri’ah. Or, the image we see is actually the future and she goes back in time to try and prevent that event from occurring, still trying to beat destiny but this time in the future. 

Or another idea, Lumine has only seen the evil that’s depicted and hasn’t personally met any of the archons. We actually got to meet Venti and Zhongli so we obviously want to protect them from Lumine’s point of view, that might not be the same so she aligns with the abyss order that tries to control Dvalin. So her goal is to somehow defeat the archons and that could be why the Cyro archon is trying to collect them all in her war of peace. 

Honkai and quanta

It’s kinda funny but there’s no reliable wiki source for this sea of quanta like there is for genshin, or at least I couldn’t find anything. I think they might nod at certain things between the two but I think it’s totally fine to believe they might do some sort of crossover and take some inspiration. We have Mona who was able to read the stars and Scaramouche who said the sky was a giant hoax so I think time and being becoming new elements is very possible. But I don’t really know a lot about Honkai so I can’t really say too much about it haha. 

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Yep no worries, it was fun talking about some more lore and if you have any more I’d love to hear them. Haha, honestly pop off I love getting long asks. As always, it’s nice seeing you again catty 💕💕