#with these types of posts i have a 3 strike and your out rule and ill just fucking unfollow anyone that reblogs shit like that

[impostorsshow]

People need to stop reblogging things that look like this holy shit

I don't care what it says Jesus fucking Christ. This post doesn't have a point to it I just get irrationally angry whenever I see this shit because I get uncomfortable seeing this shit on posts. It's the exact same fucking reason people need to stop saying "I'm living in your walls" it's a really bad fucking trigger for people with certain disorders it's the laziest way to guilttrip and even if people aren't affected because of a disorder it can still make people uncomfortable as shit. I see so many posts I really fucking want to reblog and then I see shit like that and I just cannot fucking reblog it in good conscience or like it.

[cutiepieloves131]

Sidereal Vedic Beauty Indicators Pt.3

~{🪻}~Vishakha: I have no words to describe how divine and picturesque these folks appear that have this placement. Vishaka's beauty is the type that will have you looking for hours or even have you fully captivated and nobody can change my mind about their heavenly and enthralling beauty! They look like porcelain dolls with a delicate effect on them! Vishaka is the "Cherubic Beauty", so these people facial features includes emphasized and broad mid-face, cheekbones which grow outwardly to a strong extent, large, and very defined cheek apples which are slightly low-set, foreheads that are generally medium to tall in height, with a more narrow and short jawline, eyes are most typically small to medium in size, and sometimes generally widely-spaced, and their gaze/natural expression can appear distant, detached, or cold, their noses are plump (wide in the bridge and tip), a horizontally-elongated cupid's bow, and small (often generally spacey) teeth.

Vishakha Women {Left to Right}: Dove Cameron, Cindy Kimberly, Jessica Lowndes

~{🪻}~Swati: Oh. My. Gosh! Ugh, I am so in love with people that have this nakshatra in their charts! Swati individuals beauty is so dazzling and jaw-dropping! Not only that but their eyes are so mesmerizing to many and myself appearing hypnotic due to Rahu's influence. Swati men and women definitely have me in choke hold, you just can't help but to fall in love with their otherworldly visuals! Also I've noticed that they look photogenic and glowing in photos but mostly attention is drawn to the eyes. Swati is known to be the "Bug Pretty", so their features contains protruding eyes with prominent eyelids and medium to close spacing, thin to medium, with a more de-emphasized upper lip, cheek bones that' are on the small side, but high and gently defined, with medium sized cheek apples, contrasting typically shorter, square (to rectangular) face shape, and sometimes with a prominent and pointed chin.

Swati Women {Left to Right}: Glow Princess, Lisa, Eva Marcille

~{🪻}~Ashwini: My oh my!~ Y'all these natives are so fine!~ Ashwini's beauty tends to be youthful and appealing! You'll always see an Ashwini person that never looks their age, or might mistake them for being a kid, teen, or in their early 20's! It's really amazing how they maintain their beauty even at old age, to me Ashwini folks strike me as the one to have their visuals praised by many online and in real life, especially in the Kpop industry. Ashwini represents the "Raven Pretty", their looks consist of full and large cheeks, which are rounded and prominent in the buccal area, face shape tends to be round or gently squared, full and soft fleshy lips that's very succulent, nose is also soft and widened, upturned, and with quite broad nostril wings and rounded nostrils, eyes are typically small to medium in size, almond-shaped, medium to wide-set, and neutral to upturned but have also light vibrant undertones having minimal eyelid spacing, brows that are long, and straight to lightly arched, and shiny hair in dark and ashy tones.

Ashwini Women {Left to Right}: Meika Woollard, Challan Trishann, India Eisley

~{🪻}~Ardra: I had to add another Rahu nakshatra in this post! Ardra beauty is incredibly splendiferous and fetching to me! I'm not joking like Ardra had to be on the list because they can't go unnoticed including their electrifying eyes that's a little protruding and medium to close-set, just like other Rahu nakshatras their eyes are a prominent feature on their face that can't be ignored. Their beauty is one of a kind and rare almost alien-like or dreamy to a lot of people! They tend to outwardly appear celestial in pictures, try brighter, sparkly, and bling filters on your phone, I promise you the results will turn out beautiful! Last not least Ardra natives beauty that's "Diamond Pretty", are made up of a pointy & pinched lower face resulting in a inverted triangle face or ovalish because of the ruling symbol which is the "tear drop", stronger mid-face area, emphasized cheekbones, long medium to large size nose and low-set like the yoni animal (female dog), and lips that are thin to medium.

Ardra Women {Left to Right}: Ariana Grande, Yodit Yemane, Kaya Scodelario

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man Part 3

A/N: This fic is all vibes, no plot so it's hard to write lol. I have a few ideas now thanks to the wonderful @crocwork-clockodile and @hellfiredarling 💜

As usual, typos are fixed live and in post lol

Fic Summary: Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you’ll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie. 

Chapter Summary: You really should be trying to flirt, but somehow you and Eddie can only ever talk about Chris Morrison.

5k words

Part 1 Part 2

Steve did not show back up for at least a half hour after he ‘went to the bathroom’. Had you not been in your current situation, you would have made fun of him for being ‘backed up’ or something along those lines.

But in all honesty, you hardly even noticed that he was gone. When Eddie dropped the puck the world had faded into a whirlwind of clacking, yelling, and pitting children against each other. With the sudden death match, Dustin had won. You had taken Mike's place, giving him a condescending pat on the head. He hadn’t been pleased about the situation, but at least it kept him from saying whatever rule-grudge that he held against Eddie.

To your surprise, Eddie had stuck around to watch the match between you and Dustin. You tried not to be too nervous as the match went on, but your freshman friend was your saving grace even as he kicked your ass.

“Eddie’s been the leader of Hellfire for years now.” Dustin said, dropping the puck down and hitting it. “He’s always been the DM.”

“Except for Chris Morrison.” you said.

“Yeah except that guy.” Dustin nodded.

“He started the club, but I made it the merry band of bandits and misfits that it is today.” Eddie said, his hands resting against the side of the table, leaning forward. You’d only been chatting with him and Dustin for a few minutes, but you had quickly learned that Eddie was not the type to stay still for very long.

“You’re gonna get your finger smashed if you keep your hand there.” you said, glancing at how close his fingers were to the smooth surface of the rink. “You’re putting a lot of trust in geometry that this puck isn’t going to crush your hand. It’s already tried to kill me once.” You doubted that the heavy silver rings on his fingers would help at all.

Eddie looked down at his hands and pulled back, just in time for the puck to nearly hit where his fingers had been. “Shit, I didn’t even notice.”

“I notice everything.” You said, not noticing as Dustin smacked the puck at an angle that went directly into your goal. “I notice some things.”

Dustin laughed, and Eddie even grinned at the joke. With that point it was game set and match, or something like that.

“Alright, I’m going to go win some tickets now.” Dustin said, putting the clacker? Paddle? Not-Hockey Stick? Down. You still didn’t know what it was called, but luckily air hockey probably wouldn’t come up again later.

You expected Eddie to leave again, but instead he leaned back against the table, now free to let his fingers dangle without fear of being crushed.

“So you really were interested in Hellfire when you were still in school?” he asked, tilting his head over at you. That same distant and unreadable expression on his face. You really wished that you knew what he was thinking right now.

“Yeah, I saw you guys always having fun so I thought I wanted to try.” you said. “But, you know. Chris Morrison.”

“Forget about Chris Morrison.” Eddie turned towards you, standing upright and looking down at you. How did he feel so tall all of the sudden? How did he keep doing that? What magic switch was he able to turn on and off in his brain to make him go from ‘just a guy’ to ‘hey, I’m in charge here.’? “What made you have an interest in Dungeons and Dragons?”

“The dragons first, and then the dungeons.” It was the first thing that popped into your head, and you immediately realized it was maybe a little stupid and sarcastic. To be fair, you also were a little stupid and sarcastic, but with the way he was looking at you, Eddie wanted a real answer. The look on his face was actually a little funny, the way his whole face fell in annoyance.

Right, he didn’t know you. You didn’t know him. He was still trying to decide if you were some sort of friend or foe. You suspected that if Dustin hadn’t chatted with you so easily through your match with him Eddie wouldn’t have bothered talking to you more.

Maybe you should fire Steve and make Dustin your wing man instead.

He didn’t immediately leave though, which made you assume that you were being given a second chance to give him a real answer.

“Alright, I played a lot of make-believe as a kid.” you said. “Then as I got older, people stopped playing, but I wasn’t ready to be done. Then when I heard about this club where you could play make-believe again, I thought it would let me have that feeling again. I thought it’d be cool to, I don’t know, have people to play with again.”

It was a childish answer, but it was a real one. Everything in your life after middle school had been a steady monotonous stream of ‘work, home, work, school, home, school function, work, home’.

“Hellfire Club isn’t Make-Believe Club.” Eddie said, still staring you down. “Yeah, it’s a fantasy game but we take it seriously. It’s not all princesses and fairy tales.”

Actually, this guy might be getting on your nerves now.

“You’re taking my answer awful personally.” you said, straightening up under his gaze. You didn’t care how intimidating he was trying to be right now, he had pissed you off. “You asked why I wanted to play, I gave you my answer. You don’t have to like it, but there it is.”

He seemed taken aback by your bluntness. He blinked, his round eyes shifting to something else. “You’re right.” he said finally with a subtle laugh. “That was a dick thing to say. I really sounded like Chris Morrison for a second.”

“Yeah, you did.” you agreed. “You always this cynical about people?”

“Well, when you’re the town freak it comes with the title.” he shrugged.

“Does it come with a sash too? Or perhaps a crown?”

“No, unfortunately Hawkins High didn’t have that in the budget this year.”

“You should take that up with the student council.”

“Or City Hall.”

He was smiling at you now, and you hated how that smile was brighter than any of the flashing lights of the arcade. The longer you looked at him, the more attractive he got. God, you were going to kill Steve for delivering something you couldn’t have.

Eddie’s demeanor changed as you two bantered, no longer on edge now. Now that he seemed sure that you weren’t here to cause problems or were just looking to laugh at the freaks, his stance was much more relaxed. You looked him over again, taking advantage of his gaze drifting to where two other members were hunched over an arcade cabinet.

He had long wavy brown hair, and you tried to place how you could have missed that in school. Surely you would have remembered someone like him, right? It felt so much like you were missing something, but you couldn’t place where you knew him. It was going to drive you insane.

“So it looks like I’m done here.” You jumped as Steve appeared behind you. You looked over at him, your face reading with panic at the idea of him ditching out on you now. Yeah, things were going a lot better without him here, and he had not been very helpful-

Okay, maybe he didn’t need to be here to help with your attempt to flirt but you still weren’t exactly eager to be left alone.

Eddie looked between the two of you and you turned to Eddie. “I’ll be right back, I’m gonna see him off.” You said.

“Right, yeah.” Eddie nodded. He was on his guard again and you felt bad that Steve’s presence caused that.

Eddie and Steve looked at each other, a tension between the two of them. For five full seconds they just stared at each other with you in the middle, wondering what the actual fuck was going on.

That’s when Eddie threw up his hands over his hand in an imitation of horns and sputtered at Steve who was immediately taken aback. It was so out of left field, and you let out a laugh before covering your mouth and grabbing Steve and dragging him away towards the entrance.

“What was that about?” you asked as you two stepped outside. “And where the hell were you for the past half hour?”

“I was giving you space because you weren’t going to get anywhere with me around.” Steve said, looking back over his shoulder. Eddie had disappeared into the arcade with his club. “He really does live up to his nickname.”

“Nickname? You’re trying to set me up with a high schooler with a nickname?” You sighed.

“Yeah, and you were basically drooling over him the whole time you were talking so, you know, you’re welcome about that.” Steve said. “Everyone called him a freak in school so, Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson.”

“Yeah, he mentioned something about being the town freak.” you said. “Why’s he a freak exactly?”

Steve tilted his head, as if he couldn’t tell if you were joking or serious. “He runs a club called Hellfire, plays that weird game you and Dustin keep talking about, and just- look at him! With the long hair and the chains and metal patches.”

“According to you, I was looking at him.” you snorted. “So he plays games and dresses differently and has taste in music. Doesn’t make him a freak.”

“Right, I forgot you’re a total weirdo who’d be into that.”

“He was your idea!”

Steve couldn’t argue with that. All the things that he would have found off putting to him in high school now seemed to parallel and fit with someone who he now considered a close friend. He’d been wrong about a lot in the past year, maybe he’d been wrong about Eddie too.

“So are you gonna actually flirt with him when I leave or are you just gonna stand there and make small talk?” Steve asked, crossing his arms. “I introduced you two, at least tell me you’re going to put in the effort.”

You winced and glanced back to the arcade, you couldn’t see Eddie but you knew he was still in there.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Steve gawked at you. “This whole thing was your idea and you’re not even going to try?”

“Listen, Steve, I like him. I do. That’s the problem. You actually hit the nail on the head, and he is absolutely my type.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I’m not his type.” you admitted. “See, I know guys like Eddie. I’ve fallen for guys like Eddie. Funny thing about a lot of male weirdos, freaks, and outcasts, is that they still loooove themselves some popular girls. Girls like that love them because they’re trying to either fix them or piss off their parents. Freak guys don’t like weirdo girls.”

“You’re being the biggest dingus in the world and I think you’re full of shit.” Steve said bluntly. “Nice try, but you’re gonna go in there and flirt with him. Did he actually say that he was into that type?”

“Well, no but-”

“But nothing!” Steve sighed. “Listen, you’re cute, okay? I’ve seen what you look like when you’re not at work.” He gestured to your outfit. “If I took you to a party or a bar I’d be able to help you get at least six numbers by the end of the night.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “So why are you so bent out of shape about Eddie?”

“Because you’re picky, and you’re my friend.” It was a surprisingly nice sentiment. “I’m fine dating around while I figure out what I want, but you’re not the same. You need someone who is going to understand what you’re talking about, and he is the only person in Hawkins who would also bite a head off a bat.”

“You know, everyone wants to talk about how Ozzy bit the head off a bat but no one wants to talk about how that whole thing actually happened-” you started.

“Nope. Not me. Don’t tell me, tell him.” Steve cut you off. “I should be telling you that talking about biting animal heads is not the best way to flirt but he might be into it. Just promise me you’ll at least try okay?”

Steve gave you a pleading look, and you couldn’t say no. You didn’t have the heart to. He was right, you’d given up before you’d even tried. Steve went out of his way to hand pick a potential date for you, someone he never would have even bothered talking to before. You had to try.

You breathed in the cool night air deeply, holding it before exhaling slowly. “Alright, I’ll try.” you promised.

“I expect you to tell me everything tomorrow!” Steve said as he started walking towards the parking lot you found yourself following him, your body reacting to all the times you two had parked next to each other at work.

“Yeah, yeah, you get first dibs on any kiss and tell!” you shot back. “After the details you gave me from your dates, I promise I’ll be worse.”

Steve pulled you in and gave you a hug, and you squeezed him tightly in return. You never would have thought that Steve Harrington of all people would end up such a good friend, but you were glad he was there. You two said your goodbyes before he got into his car. You waited until he’d pulled safely out of the parking lot before turning back into the arcade.

Just go in there, crash the Hellfire Club meeting again, and shamelessly flirt with Eddie Munson. Three things, that’s all you needed to do.

You pushed the doors of the arcade open and walked back inside.

You wander around the arcade.

You’re alone.

Shit.

There was no sign of Eddie or any of the Hellfire Club. You were completely alone in the arcade now and there was a pang in your stomach. You had told Eddie you’d be right back, but he was gone. Maybe your comment about still wanting to play had totally fucked over your chance to talk to him more after all.

You made your way back outside, just in time to see a van peel out of the parking lot. Your eyes widened when you saw Dusting looking out the window with an apologetic look and mouthing what you assumed to be the word “Sorry”.

Eddie must have gathered up the club to go somewhere else. You wanted to be fine, you wanted to shrug it off as you had every other time you’d failed to impress a guy, but you felt disappointed. Really disappointed. Sure you’d only talked to the guy for a half hour, most of which was spent talking trash as you all played air hockey, but you’d had fun. More fun than you’d had in a while with a guy, Steve notwithstanding.

It felt like Chris Morrison all over again.

You sighed to yourself and made your way to the car. Of course the second you wanted to try you ended up alone again.

Well, that killed it for tonight. You pushed the rejection out of your mind and made your way back to your own car, thinking about how you were going to tell Steve that you’d blown your chance.

Eddie Munson didn’t know what to make of the fact that Steve Harrington of all people was at the arcade. Popular? Played sports? Someone like him didn’t hang around at the arcade, not under any normal circumstances. The only thing that made sense about him being there was that he was with a girl, one that didn’t match up with the normal type that someone like Steve should be dating.

He had planned on avoiding Steve, choosing to focus on his club rather than antagonize the former king of Hawkins high. Really, he did. But then that shrimp Henderson had made his way over to Steve and his date. The kid already talked about Steve too much as it was, always going on about how cool he was while also dodging questions about how the two had met and become friends. Eddie had long since given up on asking about it, not that he cared. Not that he was jealous that the kid he was growing to see like a little brother already had another older male friend in his life.

That wasn’t Eddie’s style.

But this was Hellfire Club, and Eddie wasn’t about to lose another member to the dark side. Dustin had been looking forward to this rare gathering of the club outside of school, more than usual actually. He’d been wearing that same shit eating grin he always did when he was about to pull some bullshit at the table. Now Eddie knew why.

This little shit was trying to introduce him to Steve. Dustin talked Steve up so much, and now he just happened to be here on a date the same time as Sidequest Day? That was too convenient. Eddie shouldn’t have been surprised that Dustin was trying to bridge his friends together, but he was.

So, when Eddie saw Dustin watching Steve and his date chatting and playing Q*bert, he could have ignored the bait. He should have ignored the bait. But then Chris Morrison’s name was mentioned, and curiosity got the best of him.

Plus how could he ever resist talking shit about Chris Morrison.

So he walked up to the group, fully prepared to make agonzing small talk with Steve for thirty seconds before dragging Henderson away to focus on the real reason he was there. It wasn’t often that everyone had the time or money to come to the arcade like this, and Eddie had been lucky enough to make a special sale that day to some senior from the art department. He didn’t often have spending money for something like the arcade. He’d prefer to go to the movies or get his supply from Rick or buy anything to maintain his guitars, or upkeep of his van. Arcade time with Hellfire was something that happened once a semester at best, with the promise of him giving out advantages during the campaign he was running.

“Henderson is right. Morrison was the biggest asshole that Hellfire has ever seen. Worst DM too.” Eddie said, glancing between Dustin with a warning glare and Steve with a weary look.

He didn’t expect you, the girl playing the cabinet, to be the one to speak up. You knew Chris? This night kept getting weirder. When Eddie turned to Steve, to ask about what he was doing at the arcade, just to appease Dustin, Steve directed his attention back to you.

That made more sense, Steve Harrington wouldn’t be at an arcade on a Saturday night unless there was a girl involved.

When you turned around to face him, he noticed the way your eyes looked him down and up quickly. That was something he was used to with most people in Hawkins. They’d size him up just so that they could try and tear down the freak. There was a look in your eyes that he couldn’t quite catch before it turned into one of... disappointment? Discomfort? Shit, it was all the same to him.

Dustin made quick introductions of everyone, and Eddie was surprised when you offered your hand so easily despite the look in your eyes. Well, at least you were polite. It hadn’t even been two minutes and Eddie was already itching to get back to spending time with his club rather than crashing whatever meeting Dustin had clearly planned here.

But he’d be polite, humor the kid for just a second. If Dustin wanted him to meet Steve, then Eddie would be the contrarian and make small talk with his date instead.

You two would have graduated the same year, had Eddie not been held back. Yeah, it was starting to come back to him. He remembered you.

And that was enough of socializing with the upper class for the night. Eddie started directing Dustin back to club activities before Steve spoke up again.

“So, my friend here actually had an interest in Hellfire Club back in the day.”

It could have been left at that, but Eddie was getting more and more irritated over this situation. He looked at you, who looked like a deer in the headlights. Of course, Dustin might have seen something in Steve but he was no different now than he was back then.

“Really?” Eddie said. “And what about our little club was so interesting to you?”

He shot a glare to Steve, but looked down at you with a frown. You’d always seemed nice at school, but he’d made that mistake before. Eddie always liked the groups that kept to themselves and didn’t whisper behind his back or cause trouble for his friends. It was a shame he had been wrong about you.

But when you answered awkwardly about asking Chris to join, there was something in the way you spoke that was genuine. Either you were a really good actress, or you were being serious about it. Eddie might have been the biggest cynic in Hawkins, but he always did have a weakness to cute girls.

The conversation fizzled out quickly, and as much as Eddie didn’t mind talking to you he still wasn’t interested in crashing your date or getting to know Steve at this time. Not when his club started going wild across the room as Lucas was scoring big at a game.

So he turned around and left the two of you alone, running off to see what the jackpot prize was that Lucas had claimed.

For about ten minutes everything went back to normal. He was in the middle of an intense racing game against Jeff, when suddenly he heard Dustin screaming for him, causing his car to spin out and lose spectacularly.

Tonight was not going well at all for Eddie Munson.

Pushing down his irritation, he could hear it in Henderson’s voice that he was about to start trouble again. Of course as he made his way over to the hockey table, there you and Steve were again. Great. Eddie was so excited to be the third wheel during his club’s meet up.

But then Steve disappeared to take a shit. Well, he didn’t say that exactly but it made Eddie feel better to think of Steve having a miserable time in the bathroom. Jealous? No. Not at all.

Maybe a little.

You didn’t seem to like that Steve had left you, and Eddie figured you were uncomfortable without your date around. Dustin only ever talked Steve up, but had never mentioned you to his knowledge.

When the puck went flying towards your face a moment later, Eddie’s eyes widened with shock as you caught it with a laugh. The way you spoke to Wheeler and Henderson was familiar, as if you’d met them before. How did they know you? You were cuter when you were laughing with his friends.

As Eddie watched the chaos of you bantering with his freshmen, his mind wandered to what you would have looked like in the darkness of the prop department wearing the Hellfire shirt. With how easily you got along with Henderson and Wheeler he was sure you would have fit in.

Damn Chris Morrison and damn Steve Harrington.

He snapped out of his thoughts when you spoke up, a glint in your eyes as you handed over the puck.

“What say you, Eddie of Hellfire?” The way you spoke to him, a hint of a laugh in your voice but not in the normal mocking way he’d hear from others at school, made him break out into an unabashed grin as he took the puck.

“Sudden death it is.”

Making small talk with you was easy, and it wasn’t long until Eddie had forgotten about Steve completely as Dustin decided to bridge the gap between the two of you. You were the assistant manager at Family Video, had helped Dustin and Mike with homework on occasion, and were a regular at the Rocky Horror Picture Show that played at the seedy theater on the outskirts of town.

Eddie was starting to like you more the more the three of you chatted. When the topic od D&D came back up, your answer had struck a chord with him.

“I wasn’t done playing.”

Those words would tumble around in the back of his mind for the rest of the evening. They had been honest, raw words. There was a weight to them that he’d carried himself for a long time. Growing up with Al Munson didn’t exactly give him the idyllic childhood that one would see in movies or tv. Play time wasn’t exactly a priority when you were just trying to fucking survive.

He’d challenged your answer, when he knew in his cynical heart that he was the same. Between Hellfire and his band, there wasn’t much else he had going for personal enjoyment. Of course there was time to hang out with his friends and the occasional odd night where he crashed at Rick’s place when his home with Wayne felt too small or cramped.

Eddie wanted to ask you what you’d play, if you ever did have a chance to join a campaign. He wondered if you enjoyed fantasy the same way he did, if you were a fighter, a spell caster, or a healer.

Then Steve showed back up.

Right, you were here with Steve on a date. A date that had way too much fiber and had probably exploded the toilet while he left you hanging for going on forty minutes now. And now Harrington decided that the date was over? Jesus, this guy didn’t know what he was missing out on. Eddie felt for you, he’d been on his share of bad dates in the past too, and bad nights that he wished were dates.

He shook the image of Paige out of his head.

You gave him a smile as you said goodbye. Well, you said you’d be back in a moment but Eddie knew that the night was over. You walked out of the Arcade with Steve, and that would be that.

Sidequest day was always short, with limited spending money between members and the machines eating quarters like candy. Soon his little sheepies were gathered around him again, talking about their winnings and who deserved to get some sort of perk for the game. It was almost unanimously decided that it would go to Lucas, after he’d nearly broken the basketball machine from how fast he had been throwing balls.

Eddie still had a bill burning a hole in his pocket, having spent more time talking to you than playing games. He had to get this weird night out of his mind, and turned towards the group, knowing that he was going to regret this.

“Whoever has any money left, pool it in I’ll take us to get pizza.” He said. This was followed by cheers and a scrambling of pulling out loose quarters, dimes, and even a five that Gareth forgot he had in his wallet. Eddie lead them all towards the parking lot, his eyes scanning the parking lot for you.

You and Steve were chatting by his car and laughing the same way that you had laughed with him before Steve pulled you into a tight hug. Maybe your date wasn’t a bust after all. Eddie didn’t know why he cared, this was only the third time you’d met. You didn’t know him.

Dustin nudged Eddie, that same smug grin on his face.

“Pretty fun night, huh, Eddie?” he said.

“Your plan didn’t work, shrimp.” Eddie said. “I know you were trying to set something up and I’m not interested.”

Dustin looked surprised, and looked like he was going to argue but a sharp glare from Eddie shut him up. Eddie never had an interest in meeting Steve, and it was clear Steve felt the same way, going so far as to ditch his date to hide in the bathroom the whole time. Eddie didn’t know what the kid saw in Harrington but Eddie was less than impressed.

“Geeze, sorry.” Dustin sighed. “I thought you two would get along.”

“You know, a little humility wouldn’t hurt you.” Eddie said before grabbing his shoulder. “Next time you decide I have to meet someone, don’t make it during Hellfire, mk?”

Dustin looked disappointed but nodded as everyone piled illegally in the back of Eddie’s van. As long as Eddie didn’t drive like a madman (a difficult feat) it would be safe enough. He’d put the seats down to haul equipment years ago, and never could get them to come back up. He could fix it if he wanted, but there was never a real reason to.

As everyone got settled, Dustin looked over at Mike with a shrug. The two of them had thought that things were going well between the two of you, but the look in Eddie’s eyes had said otherwise now.

“Maybe she just wasn’t his type?” Mike said, as the rest of the club chatted. “Eddie doesn’t really talk about those things anyway. Maybe he doesn’t even want a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t see the way they were talking. Even if he wasn’t into her like that, they were still getting along.” Dustin sighed and shifted to look out the window as Eddie started up the van. Everyone in the back held on for dear life as Eddie started out of the parking lot.

As they passed your car, Dustin caught your eye just as you stepped out looking dejected.

“Sorry” Dustin mouthed to you.

It had been a bust tonight, but something felt off. Why would Eddie have such a clearly good time talking to you, just to turn around and say he wasn’t interested?

Dustin made a mental note to drop into Family Video tomorrow to talk to you and Steve.

Part 4

Dividers by @strangergraphics

Tag list: @k8loo @terrormonster55 @sp1dyb0y1008 @crocwork-clockodile @ali-r3n @mxcheese @josephquinnschesthair @gagasbee @peaches-roses-sins @witchwolflea @vintagehellfire @royale1803 @cumslutforaemond @prestinalove @browneyedgirly93 @perpetualmess @thebook-hobbit @mistonk @cultish-corner @grishaversecaptivated

Comments and reblogs help me know that y'all read and enjoy it, which feeds my excitement to write!

[a-ikuoliver]

ENTERING the humid warmth of the bar, you nearly immediately regret coming out with your friends, their peer pressure and the promise of free drinks seemed like enough then, now, being squished in between everyone else wanting the promotion, you wondered if it really was worth it. done up to the nines, the doorman passed you one of the flyers; happy birthday to us! first drink on the house! glancing at the seemingly endless line, your eyes nearly roll out of your head, after all this you really were going to need a drink and a dance. despite the length of the line, it was moving quickly with half the patrons exchanging their flyers for their drinks instead of fiddling with wallets, purses and phones for money, you were getting closer and closer to the front and you were still undecided, about to just close your eyes and pick one at random, your interrupted by the bartender, their beauty so striking it made your heart jump to your throat, "what can i get you?"

happy 2 years on this blog!! a special thank you to @kingkatsuki and @strawbrrystarlight for helping me with this event! and a massive thank you to everyone who's made these years so enjoyable! here's to more with you all <3

rules [REQUESTS CLOSED]:

18+ only — minors and ageless blogs will be ignored (similarly, so will anonymous asks without a sign off for a blog i can confirm the age of)

must be following to play

send your drink of choice & one character to my ask box and i'll write a drabble of what follows the intro depending on what you've chosen! (please see my rules for characters i do/don't write for)

please block the tag "mercurys birthday bash" if you don't wish to see these posts <3

masterlist + archive of our own

finally, the menu!! *for margaritas & daiquiri’s pls feel free to add a flavour if you have a favourite! frozen mango margs have my heart

(click for better quality)

DISCLAIMER some of your drinks may not go according to plan!! this is a choose your own adventure-type event where the path you choose may lead you to a less than perfect outcome <3

© all works belong to @a-ikuoliver,@gwen0m, and dlirious on archive of our own, do not plagiarise, translate, repost or recommend my work on other platforms or translate my works, i do not give permission for my works to be bound and sold. 18+ minors and ageless blogs do not interact.

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Junior Year Ep 6

Post Shrimp Jump Conspiracy Board Special

Hey y’all! Welcome back to Seacaster Manor where the shrimp party is still raging and the Bad Kids are balancing being cooler than ever with some serious sleuthing. We get a lot of new information this episode so I wanted to try out a new format for this week. I often talk in a metaphorical way about putting items up on a Conspiracy Board but I want to actually try that now that we’re a little over a quarter of the way in and have multiple overarching things happening. This is going to be a lot less linear than usual but bear with me. Gotta shake things up a little so I don’t get burnt out! There’s still fourteen more episodes to go! 

The Rat Grinders

The Bad Kids’ de facto rival party got a lot of screen time in this episode, which makes sense: Adaine declared the party their nemeses over Goldenhoard or anyone else they’ve fought, which is saying a lot. Before this point, we knew the following facts about them:

1) They got their name because the only enemies they’re recorded as killing are low level ones (including rats) that they grind in the woods behind the school, showing a willingness to follow the letter but not spirit of the rules but also an impressive amount of dedication. 

2) Their leader seems to be rogue, Kipperlily Copperkettle who is type A as hell and has a LOT of free time to kill having found the rogue professor (or at least having the rogue professor find her). She’s running for class president on a platform based around “fairness” which is a theme that’s come up more than once this season. 

3) Also on the team are emo Bard Reuben (who seems to be related to the new Artificing teacher and who shares an agent with Fig) and nonplussed Barbarian Mary Ann (who is buffing herself magically somehow).

4) Kipperlily specifically asked about where Kristen was able to create a new god. Now how, where. An odd question. 

This episode, we learned a lot more, so let's throw them on the board and make some connections!

5) The Rat Grinders have a new cleric named Buddy Dawn (something Kristen’s brother mentioned two episodes ago). He’s from Highcourt and moved with his grandparents. He’s got super Mormon+Southern “Bless Your Heart” energy and Kristen doesn’t like how familiar it feels. His vibes are clocked as well meaning but kinda judgey. 

6) Buddy Dawn was *specifically requested* by the party. Of course, requesting a cleric isn’t weird–why wouldn’t you want one? And Helioism seems a pretty common religion in the region so odds are good that if you get a cleric is would be a Helioic one. But, paired with KP’s question about Kristen, it makes you wonder if the plan is to recruit a Kristen expy and try to get lightning to strike twice.  

7) At the beer pong table, we meet the RG’s archer who is an elf named Ivy Embra. She’s got some flirty, catty energy (which we see when she interacts with Fabian and Mazey respectively).

8) We also meet the party wizard, Oisin Hakinvar, who is a Conjuration specialist with a focus in summoning. He’s a blue dragonborn which means that he has a great great great (etc) blue dragon ancestor he can ping when he needs barrels of diamonds, no problem. He has so many in fact that when Adaine lies badly that she’s also swimming in diamonds, he kindly offers to let her borrow some of his “extras”. But she turns them down, calls him great, and then panics and runs away to commiserate with Fabian who is also panicking about a flirty moment with Ivy. Oisin, for his part, seems driven to distraction and can’t make a single other shot all night. Cute! But–

9) As much as I want to wholeheartedly love Oisin (and honestly do and will until I am given direct evidence to change my mind) I have to point out that KVX, known evil bank, did change its logo from red (Goldenhoard’s color) to blue (Oisin’s Ancestor’s color) and there is a shot in the trailer of the party fighting a blue dragon. Connected? Maybe.

10) From investigating some yearbooks, the party also learns that the Rat Grinders have existed since Freshman Year but, at the time, they were called the High Five Heroes. They all look a lot more smiley and a lot less intense–Rebuen’s not even emo. It was the lineup from above, minus Buddy and plus a frost Genasi cleric named Lucy Frostblade. They learn that she supposedly died in their Sophomore year but specifically during a period near the end of the year where grades are locked and it wouldn’t affect their party comp which is…convenient. 

11) Fig tries to investigate this by disguising herself as Lucy and seeing how Ivy and Oisin react. Only Ivy sees her but she doesn’t seem shocked at all to see her allegedly dead party member She just raises an eyebrow and ditches the game to talk to her. Fig bails (and rolls only a 12 to stealth away) so we don’t get any extra info but just the fact that Ivy reacted that way is pretty juicy info as is.  

12) The other Rat Grinders don’t seem to be at the party but the members are skeptical about that. On the other hand, when Ivy leaves, it’s because Oisin pulls her aside and says, “Kipperlilly’s calling”. So it’s possible there was a Team A and a Team B for whatever the Rat Grinders were doing that night?

13) And speaking of what they're doing, we do have a theory. When Fabian checks some damage in the basement where Max and some other kids were smoking "gorgenfern" he sees that something called a cloud rider engine was smashed up pretty bad and in a suspicious way–gorgenfern doesn’t make you rowdy. Fabian checks the security tapes he obviously has and sees that some ice mephits came in and riled people up to the point of crashing into the engine. Adaine conjured some earlier in the party and as far as her arcana check can tell, they’re here, but there’s suspicion that Oisin–a conjuration wizard–could have done it. It’s certainly within his skillset. A cloud rider engine allows a vehicle to fly on clouds and it’s not clear if it was simply smashed or if something was stolen from it. 

14) Max isn’t a Rat Grinder but he did ask them all if they wanted to smoke with him and Ivy offered Fabian snuff so Riz is suspicious that the RG’s are trying to get them kicked out of school for drug use now that they have a non-Aguefort principal who presumably cares about silly rules like that at the murder school. 

That’s basically what we know about the Rat Grinders! So, to sum it up, I’d say the conspiracy board bullet points are:

Supposedly dead cleric Lucy Frostblade: What actually happened to her and why isn’t Ivy surprised to see “her”?

New cleric Buddy Dawn: Why was he specifically requested? 

The High Five Heroes: What caused them to turn into the Rat Grinders? And, as they seem like they were more gung ho their first year, why did they never pivot to fighting things other than low level monsters?

Do they actually have beef with the Bad Kids specifically or are their vibes just terrible? Were they trying to sabotage them by offering drugs? Did they break the engine on purpose and, if so, why?

Oisin: Is he chill or is he working an angle? That question technically goes to Ivy as well but I’m almost certain she’s fully working an angle, lol. I’m getting straight up Aelwyn vibes from her.

Class President: What is KP’s angle re: running for class president? This seems like something she’d want to do either way with her personality but her policy of fairness dovetails too neatly with Grix’s appearance and Cassandra’s inability to say the phrase, “It’s not fair,” last episode.

How did KP find the rogue professor and is that relevant?

And finally, why did KP want to know about where Kristen created her Freshman year god? Well, that question may be partially answered in our next section. 

God Stuff

There is a lot going on this season with celestial shenanigans between Cassandra and Galicaea and even Yes! So let’s mark out what we know.

1) Cassandra was possessed by some kind of rage entity via crystal shards that were expelled from her body. Her status is kind of up in the air right now as the party was shunted away to safety by Connor Counterspell (RIP) and all Kristen has left of Cass are some glowing, purple shards. 

2) Earlier in the fight, while lucid, Cassandra said, “I thought you were dead” about some unseen entity. Later, Kristen heard from a creepy voice that said, “She is at my side once more”. It then threatened her and slid out the rotting corpse of Yes! as a sick joke. Likely that these are the same person or at least connected. 

3) Gorgug identified that the rage stars are similar to what’s going on with Ragh’s mom, Lydia so it was put on the docket to get in touch with her about that–especially because Kalina specifically told them to track down Ragh with her last lucid words. 

4) Tracker’s Galicaea rebrand is going really well. Her social media is really popping and the endless night probably didn’t hurt. 

5) Kristen on the other hand, hasn’t been doing so hot. Due to a bunch of negligence based in lack of time management and personal uncertainty, she hasn’t been evangelizing much which means only she and Craig stand between Cass and her permanent destruction. 

6) Kristen can’t contact Cass telepathically and says she can’t use her magic which is Not Great if you're as danger prone as the Bad Kids. 

Alright, that’s all the old business so let’s move to the new business. 

7) When Kristen talked to her parents, we learned that Helio doesn’t have a chosen one since she left but we learn that it’s more serious than that. Helio also can’t choose a new chosen one. He only gets one. With Kristen gone, the whole religion is without a chosen one.

8) At a certain point, Tracker finally gets a hold of Kristen and says some harsh but true things about Kristen but, more relevant to the conspiracy board, she talks about her girlfriend Nara and Adaine, as a fellow high elf, clocks her as coming from a family of moon goddess clerics in Falinel. That raises the question: is this run of the mill teenage rebellion a la the theme song, or is she some kind of plant? We’ll hopefully get some more info from Aelwyn since Adaine texted her about it.

9) The real juicy stuff happens when we talk to Ragh’s mom. The fiend in Lydia's gem is called Bakur. Her having him in there doesn't make her rage--she's raging to keep him trapped but that's it. Her personality is the same. 

10) Bakur was a pit fiend and the right hand guy of a dead god whose name we don't know (hmm, another dead and nameless god). Bakur can't even say the god's name. It's like, weird god rules and Lydia explains in a weird vague way: gods not being able to use loopholes and saying names being powerful and rules changing for non-mortals when gods die.

11) The one very concrete info we get is that a god can only come back in a place where they were born or created. The reason Bakur’s plan failed is that he tried to bring back the nameless god in the Red Waste and not where they were created. 

12) Rana (Lydia’s party cleric) is away and Cormyr (the party sorcerer) is dead but Lydia offers to put the party in touch with Rana and Cormyr’s family because they have more stuff related to this and they were the ones who knew more about this than her. 

Following? Good. So let’s distill this down to bullets again:

Holy Helio. The corn god doesn’t have a chosen one anymore because Kristen up and left. What does that mean in a concrete sense? What can a chosen one do that a normal cleric can’t? Is Helio gonna ask Kristen to do anything this season now that we know that this is a special position that only one person can fill? Is it until she dies (or at least dies for real)? Would a fanatical Helioic person try and kill Kristen to open up that slot?

KP specifically asking WHERE Cassandra was created seems clearly tied to the info Lydia gave about only being able to resurrect a god where it was created. But what does that mean exactly? Is she trying to resurrect the same god as Bakur? Did she just assume that wherever Kristen made her god is probably where most gods are made and, thus, her best bet? What’s her angle? Is this an evil plan for just a “this will get me a good grade” plan?

Where in the world is Cassandra right now? She is MIA right now which means Kristen’s powers are too. Though I wonder if she can draw on those shards to cast spells.

We obviously can’t be sure but it seems like the voice Kristen heard and the person that Cass thought was dead is likely that unnamed god. What’s his deal? I’m sure we’ll have more info for this bullet soon. 

Is Tracker’s new girlfriend Nara, much like Ecaf, a turncoat? 

With Helio, Cass, and Galicaea all being in the mix, is there any kind of family angle being played. It doesn’t come up a ton but they are very much related. 

MISC

This is a section for a few points that don’t yet fit under the main two headings of the season but still need to go up on the board. 

Why would Aguefort program a robot that acts like Grix? Is he supposed to be like or is he hacked? If he is hacked, who would be able to do that? The new artificing teacher? The old one?

We learn that Aguefort has made a lot of contradicting proclamations and all of them are canon, so you’re able to pick and choose what you want to cite (I feel like I’m in law school again). Lots of room for loopholes which could be useful later. 

Adaine, while very drunk, had an oracle vision of Kristen at a birthday party, giving a victory speech to a bunch of teens on election night as a crescent moon hangs in the sky. The Crescent moon potentially gives them a time frame if they look into it (and it specifically being mentioned makes me think of Galicaea even though not every moon thing has to be connected to her). And we know Gorgug’s birthday is near the Frosty Folk festival so maybe that’s why the hats.

Speaking of, we know there’s a connection between Riz’s mom defending someone for money crimes re: that Festival and Gorgug’s parents hosting it so that’s something to remember. 

This isn’t something for the pin board per se but this season introduces a stress token system for downtime! I’m sure I’ll talk about it more when we use it for the first time next ep but, for now, gotta say he’s really ramping up the pressure on our kids! And, to that point, let’s do a quick check in with everyone and see what they’re up against!

Character Board

Adaine

-Adaine is still facing major money troubles. After last episode, not only is her job terminated, but she actually owes 2.5 gold for her uniform. 

-It looks like she might be developing a bit of a crush on the cute dragonborn (yay) but he’s a Rat Grinder (nooooo). I will say though, cross party romance could be a lot of fun and also my favorite NPC in this show is Aelwyn whose top 2 traits are famously Criminal and Loves Adaine so I am honestly fine with this either way lol. 

-Speaking of Aelwyn, I’ll put the sister stuff together: When Adaine calls her to ask for dirt on Nara she says, “Working, will call in five.” And when Adaine questions the fact that it's 5am on a Saturday, Adaine just gets a winky face emoji back. Suspicious! 

Fabian

-Fabian has to juggle the new 150% course load (bard/fighter) as well as his new party house reputation.

-He has a lack of adult supervision which also means a lack of adult care and it seems to be affecting him more than he’s willing to let on. 

-But honestly his biggest obstacle is probably himself right now, lol. He made himself a new nemesis in Gertie Bladshield and I am not confident he can handle this honey trap mission with Ivy without the tables being turned on him. 

Riz

-Riz is also facing money troubles, but for him that’s kind of business as usual unfortunately.

-He has a TON of extracurriculars to keep track of but he so far seems to be handling it pretty well and is picking up some interesting allies (that double as votes for Kristen’s campaign–campaign manager is also an extracurricular he’s taken up): the aforementioned Gertie Bladeshield (Apiary Club), Sprak LeFevre (Aviation Club), and Molman Holden (Soil Club). Always good to have new allies and Aviation Club seems like it could be really useful later! I can see him making some luck checks to successfully say, “I know a guy” in a tight spot based on how many clubs he’s joined. 

-He also has the Reliable Talent ability now which means he’s incapable of rolling lower than a 21 on things he’s proficient in which includes Investigation. We’re about to be getting some INSANE lore dumps. 

Gorgug

-Gorgug has his insane 400% courseload happening and I didn’t notice this until it was pointed out to me but Zac actually leveled Gorgug DOWN in Barbarian to take an extra level of Artificer! That’s commitment. But I can’t imagine Porter, who already has a problem with him, is gonna like that. 

Fig

-Fig would hate it if I didn’t start this list by saying that she hella misses Ayda and that’s her biggest problem. 

-But she also has her album to worry about and we actually get the bombshell during a conversation with Mazey that she’s not even sure that she still wants to be a bard.

-On top of that, she’s taking Barb and Warlock classes along with the Bard classes she’s finally going to. 

-She has her gnarly Gilear curse happening that’s seemingly connected to whoever the boss who owns the pride armor is. 

-She has beef with Rebuen and is living her double life as Wanda Childa to try and learn whatever she can about him/the Rat Grinders. 

-Both she and Wanda are wanted by the Solace FBI.  

-On a positive note, she really endeared herself to Mazey by sweetly sticking up for her when Ivy was being catty. If Fig wasn’t so devoted to Ayda I could have read their interaction at the end of the ep as flirty. Regardless, nice moment and great ally. 

Kristen

-Welp, her god is, if not dead, MIA which is arguably the biggest deal of anything on any of these lists, especially since it’s tied to her magic AND her grade. 

-Next of course is the potato to her meat on her plate: her campaign. But that’s actually going really well, especially after this party. Her biggest issue is whether or not she can get Fetty Wap to homecoming and, lbr, in a pinch Fig can just disguise herself as him. When has that ever not worked?

-She also has this unnamed god (or whoever it is) taunting her and threatening her specifically which isn’t ideal. 

-But I honestly think she was more fucked up by the conversation which Tracker where her ex basically outlined everything she needs to get together in her life and then posted a pre-written pic with her new girlfriend. That’s gotta sting. 

And that’s it! I wanted to focus on the specific nuggets of info we got this episode and start to connect them with what we knew so far. Different format, I know, but I’m feeling experimental this season and I might switch it up a few more times as Junior Year goes on. I love covering Fantasy High but, like I said at the top, I have to keep it fresh so I don’t burn out. See you next time when Brennan makes the stress we’re all feeling an actual game mechanic! Fun!

[liesmyth]

Do you have any tips/resources on writing smut? I've never really written it, but I need to include a little in a fic I'm writing rn and yours is very good.

Anon! Thank you so much, this is Extremely flattering ❤️ Honestly, my #1 rule to Writing Smut is that actually anything can be hot if a scene is written to be arousing. It's all about the setup.

Some things that work for me:

EMOTIONS. ime, smut scenes should cause some level of emotional response in the reader. It can be the POV character experiencing strong feelings and that coming through in the narration; it can be a taboo or hard kink that’s enough to guarantee some kind of reaction; it can be an emotionally cathartic scene or character study through sex. It doesn’t have to be a lot! But there has to be Something that makes the reader invested, a takeaway that you couldn’t get from a purely objective description or looking at a picture.

FLOW. You’re either trying to make the reader horny and/or you’re trying to make them interested in what the characters are doing and feeling. Lean into that when crafting a scene! I find that varying the length of sentences in a paragraph helps (building up to a crescendo) and so does the deliberate use of terminology to set up a specific mood (more descriptive euphemisms vs. crude slang as the POV gets more overwhelmed, alternating lush prose and crass descriptors to create some contrast.)

CHARACTER-APPROPIATE VERBIAGE. This is a big one! There are NO forbidden smut words, actually. I have read super hot smut that hinged on the repeated use of some deeply unsexy terms. It’s ALL about the narrative voice. Try to construct a scene that’s immersive, with a narrative voice that suits the characters and the story, and the type of vocabulary that suits the POV and setting. Ime, anything and everything can be sexy if the mood is right. Yes, even the word “penis.” YES even funky euphemisms.

PURPOSE AND PACING. Why is the scene there? Try to strike a good balance between descriptions, feelings, and words. If the characters stop mid-sex to talk, it’d be harder to get back into a sexy mood (why I’ve been stuck on this one WIP for months. RIP) On the other hand, sometimes it’s fine to skip moments / descriptions, or even end the scene mid-sex.

(This is especially important in chaptered fics, in my experience. Sometimes there’s a long elaborate build-up to a get together and then all the emotions fizzle out during The Sex Chapter, or a plot-heavy story, and then the story slows down to fit in 3 orgasms per character. It’s fine, often better, to just stick to one orgasm, make it extra hot, and skim over the others)

WRITE DRUNK EDIT SOBER or any variant thereof. Write in comic sans and edit in times new roman. Write horny edits in public. It’s really easy to overthink smut and in my opinion, it Really helps to fully commit to a shitty first draft—no quibbling over word choices or positions; just don’t look at the screen and bang out 500 words. (Ah-ah, bang.) Write on your phone if you want! Put it away for a while then edit.

SMUT IS NOT SEX ED. Realism matters less than feelings do. I don't need to know every detail unless it's relevant to the development of the scene. Unless it’s something glaring like someone is suddenly naked or used soap as lube, no one is going to nitpick how realistic it is to hold X position for Y minutes or how many spankings a human being can endure. The scene works narratively >>> the scene can be recreated by random non-athletes having sex. It’s fic! If someone is taking it as a Guide To Sex that’s not on you.

Other resources: This is a good essay directly from 2005 era livejournal. Some posts about vocabulary: on kissing, smut thesaurus, more words! (use with caution, don't take anything as a hard rule etc.)

Also I just think I'm funny:

GOOD LUCK WRITING IT LMK HOW IT GOES

[merrock]

HAPPY OCTOBER !

It genuinely feels like I was just typing this post up for the first of September, how did we get here?! Happy October, folks! It's spooky month, and we have lots of fun stuff planned in Merrock. Hop under the cut to check out everything happening in and around town, some important reminders, a call to action, and kick off our October right! xx

ON THE CALENDAR !

October 4 -- home football game.

October 4-6 -- Golf Weekend -- more info here!

October 11 -- away football game.

October 12 -- farmer's day -- a day for us to celebrate and honor the farmers in Merrock that keep our community going.

October 12 -- bachelor & bachelorette parties -- two fun celebrations to have a good time with Cage and Cordelia as they prepare for their wedding.

October 18 -- home football game.

October 19 -- Cage & Cordelia's wedding -- more info here!

October 24 -- bingo night -- the monthly get together of bingo nerds at the fire hall to raise money.

October 25 -- home football game.

October 25 - November 3 -- Hallo-Week -- more info here!

October 26 -- pumpkin day -- big ole pumpkin sales down at Lavender Lane for your last minute needs.

IMPORTANT STUFF !

As usual, please take a few moments to read over our rules, make sure that you are up to date and familiar with everything. Because this is such a busy month, we will not be doing a new task for October... but I think we have plenty of characters that haven't yet had a chance to go back and tackle our very first task in the group: All About Autumn & Halloween! Give it a whirl! p.s. by an overwhelming amount of votes, we have Halloween-ish graphics for the month of October!

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT !

we'd love to see a little more priority being put into replying to open starters! especially if you are not currently writing with that character. check the page frequently!

communicate with one another: before dropping threads, swapping the formats of threads, assuming something is alright with something, starting new threads, just messaging someone to make sure they're a-okay with something is so important. both players can have needs/wants met this way!

we rely on each other for activity: someone could end up on activity check or with strikes because they're waiting on a reply from you. please keep this in mind and give all of your threads across all of your characters regular attention.

A WORD FROM THE MOD !

September was an incredibly busy and kind of rough month, and I know that both Lindsey and myself were exhausted by the end of it (as I'm sure a lot of you were, as well). And while October is gearing up to also be busy, we are both looking forward to getting everything back on track with the group. But that also requires a little help from you guys! I am more than aware that no matter how much time and work I put into the group as an admin, it is on all of us to make things work, and create the environment and the dash that we feel happiest with. So I'm rallying the troops to get back on their flow! Reply to open starters. Say nice things to each other in the OOC blog. Reach out to plot / write with people you haven't. Don't let replies sit for long periods of time. Participate in things, spread love around. Remember that you get out what you put in. Want to see Merrock stick around for a long, long time? Me too! Let's make that possible by putting the energy in. xx

HAVE A GREAT OCTOBER !

[pathfinderunlocked]

Cocaine-Fueled Creature - CR +3 Template and Drug

Cocaine's a hell of a drug.

Artwork is from Cocaine Owlbear, by Jacon Blackmon.

Check out the 4-page tabletop RPG, Cocaine Owlbear, also known as Fantasy Woodland Cocaine Heist. It's $3 at Drive-Thru RPG. Also watch the movie Cocaine Bear that the RPG is a spoof off of, and if you've never heard of him, check out Snowflame, a villain from a single issue of DC Comics published in 1988 that somehow still endures lasting fame today.

That's the inspirational material I was given for this template and drug, which is a commission. I included normal stats for cocaine, but the Cocaine-Fueled Creature template gains additional superpowers from cocaine beyond its effect on normal creatures. Admittedly, the additional superpowers are just cocaine but even more.

The rules for drugs in Pathfinder are kind of insane. If you take Opium every day for about a week (depending on Con score), you die, no save. Changing how drugs in general work is outside the scope of this blog post, but if you're making drugs a meaningful part of your game, you should probably add a Fort save against the initial stat damage for all drugs, and consider possibly making them count as poison. In any case, the template below can ignore the penalties of cocaine, and give its allies a chance to ignore them as well.

This is a template that could have just been a stat boost, but I tried to also make it interesting for players to play against. It grants a pretty large Con bonus, which has the same problem as the original barbarian class - when the drug wears off, the creature can fall unconscious or even die from injuries it sustained while under the effects of cocaine. In this case, however, that's entirely on purpose and by design.

The challenge rating of +3 for this template is compared to the base creature, not compared to the base creature on cocaine. Cocaine by itself is also a very solid buff for a purely martial creature, but it's risky - it more than cancels itself out if the user fails its will save and becomes shaken.

Cocaine - Drug

Price 100 gp; Weight —

DETAIL

Type ingested; Addiction major, Fortitude DC 24

EFFECT

30 minutes; +4 alchemical bonus to Str and Con, +2 alchemical bonus to Dex and Cha, creature must succeed on DC 16 Fort save or be shaken for duration

DAMAGE

1d3 Int and 1d3 Wis damage

Cocaine-Fueled Creature - Template

Cocaine-Fueled Creature is an inherited template that can be added to any creature.

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +3

Alignment: Any

Defensive Abilities: A cocaine-fueled creature gains immunity to poison (but not drugs), and a +4 bonus on saving throws against mental ability score damage, drain, and penalties.

Weaknesses: If a cocaine-fueled creature is subjected to an effect that neutralizes or suppresses poisons or drugs, the effects of any drugs on it are ended, and it becomes immune to cocaine for one round.

Speed: All of a cocaine-fueled creature's base speeds increase by 20 ft.

Special Attacks:

A cocaine-fueled creature gains the following special attacks.

Coke Frenzy (Ex) While a cocaine-fueled creature is under the effects of cocaine, as a free action on its turn, it can choose to take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage in order to perform combat maneuvers without provoking attacks of opportunity until the start of its next turn, and can perform one additional attack at its highest BAB -5 if it uses a full-attack action on that turn. If it does so, the cocaine-fueled creature ends the effects of cocaine on itself at the start of its next turn. Contact High (Ex) While a cocaine-fueled creature is under the effects of cocaine, creatures touched by its touch attack (including its imbue with addiction ability) or struck by its unarmed and natural weapon attacks, as well as any creature that strikes it with an unarmed or natural weapon attack, must succeed on a DC 24 Fortitude save or be affected as if by cocaine. The cocaine-fueled creature can choose to also cause an affected target to be confused for 1d4 rounds, focusing on transferring the drug's effects in a sudden mind-scrambling rush. Regardless, a creature already affected by cocaine suffers no further effects. This DC increases by 1 for every 5 hit dice the cocaine-fueled creature possesses. Flames of Snow (Ex) While a cocaine-fueled creature with at least 10 hit dice is under the effects of cocaine, as a standard action, it can surround itself with a blazing aura of swirling white-hot ecstasy for 1 minute. All creatures within 30 ft. other than the cocaine-fueled creature gain the effects of cocaine (for its full normal duration). The cocaine-fueled creature's allies are not shaken by the cocaine, and receive a DC 24 Fortitude save to negate the drug's ability damage. The cocaine-fueled creature's enemies are additionally confused for 1d4 rounds unless they succeed on a DC 24 Fortitude save. A creature already affected by cocaine suffers no further effects. Using this ability requires the cocaine-fueled creature to either have a dose of cocaine in hand and spend it on this ability, or immediately end the effects of cocaine on itself. Final Flame (Ex) When a cocaine-fueled creature falls unconscious or dies, it can choose to activate Flames of Snow without spending an action, ending the effects of cocaine on itself and doubling the radius to 60 ft. It cannot use a dose of cocaine it has in hand instead of ending the effects of cocaine on itself when it activates Flames of Snow in this way. Imbue with Addiction (Ex) As a standard action, while carrying a dose of cocaine, a cocaine-fueled creature can touch a creature and expend the dose of cocaine to cause the creature to instantly become addicted to cocaine. A saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 hit dice + Con bonus) negates the effect. If the target was ever addicted to any drug in the past, it takes a -4 penalty on the saving throw. Snort (Ex) A cocaine-fueled creature can draw a dose of cocaine from its bag and injest it as a single move action. When it does so, it can make a free intimidate check to demoralize all enemies in a 30 ft. radius.

Special Qualities:

A cocaine-fueled creature gains the following special qualities.

Drug-Fueled (Ex) While a cocaine-fueled creature is under the effects of cocaine, it gains an additional +6 bonus to Str and Con. The effects of a dose of cocaine last for 4+2d6 hours instead of 30 minutes for a cocaine-fueled creature. Drug Tolerance (Ex) A cocaine-fueled creature is immune to the ability damage and shaken condition of cocaine (but not the addiction). It gains a +8 bonus on saving throws against negative effects of drugs. When taking drugs other than cocaine, it receives a Fortitude save (at the drug's addiction DC) to resist any ability score damage caused by the drug, even if that damage would normally not grant a save, and its +8 bonus against the negative effects of drugs applies to this saving throw.

Ability Scores: Con +4, Cha +4

Skills: Acrobatics +4, Climb +8, Escape Artist +8, Perception +4

Feats: A cocaine-fueled creature gains the Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Mobility, Toughness, and Improved Unarmed Strike feats as bonus feats, even if it doesn't meet the prerequisites for them.

[kakiastro]

Fame in Astrology part 3

Topic: Modeling

Hey you all I’m back with another fame post from a series I’ve been working on!

Disclaimer: this is for entertainment purposes and please don’t copy my work

Last post was about singing and what to look for in a chart that can show you the ability or if you just wanted to do research on your favorite music artist.

Here is a link to that post:

This post is about what to look for in the birth chart for modeling. This is also a cool way to see in your own chart what kind of style would work for you.

I’m going to use Famous model Naomi Campbell for examples

Okay let’s begin

1. Since modeling is about appearance, the rising + chart ruler is the most important part.

Whatever sign your rising is in can show you what type of fashion line/aesthetic would look good on you!

Ex. Naomi is a Capricorn rising with her chart ruler(Saturn) in Taurus 5h conj Venus.

So this is great because her chart ruler is in a Venus sign and fame house! Capricorn rising meaning she has great bone structure, , she has the determination attitude and and her fashion will be timeless.

This is an older picture but can’t you see the Saturn influence lol

2. Just like I stated in my last point, Venus is what to look at next when we’re talking about fashion.

Venus rules over our aesthetic and fashion.

Ex. Naomi has Taurus Venus conj Saturn. Like I mentioned in my last point, there’s something pleasing but classy about her fashion choices. To look into further detail, her Venus is at 12°(Pisces) and Saturn is 14°(Taurus) so her outfits can be ethereal looking as well with Pisces influence.

Here’s one example.

3. Now we’re going to talk about Mercury and the 3h. Mercury rules over media and camera. This can show you what kind of background and lighting works best. Mercury also rules over magazines.

Ex. Naomi has Gemini Mercury conj Mars and Pisces 3h. She also has her North Node In the 3h as well. North node is our fate/destiny, what we need to learn in this lifetime. Dominating/strong posses works for her because she has the Mars influence

Check this photo out

4. Mc is the last main thing we’ll look at when it comes to modeling.

The Mc doesn’t just represents career, it represents your public image and what you’re known for!

A model public image is important to them.

Ex. Naomi has Libra Mc with Jupiter and Uranus here. Anytime Jupiter is in your 10h(Mc) or aspects it, expect recognition. Even if you’re not famous, this could mean a lot of people know you! With Uranus, it means she will always have unpredictable and crazy sudden changes in her career. Uranus also represents breaking traditional norms and she’s one of the first black models to have massive fame! She really broke the doors down for future black models.

Modeling Asteroids: asteroids are more prominent if it aspects your personal placements (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter)

1. Stellar (14016)- how you stand out; glamour

2. Aphrodite (1388)- the styles and colors that look best on you

3. Fay (4820)- ethereal beauty

4. Ptah (5011)- striking and powerful beauty

5. Bella (695)- means beautiful, natural beauty.

6. Celestia (1252)- divine, heavenly beauty

7. Aura (1488)- your overall vibe and energy

Hey! I hoped you enjoy this post! I haven’t completely made up my mind yet on if I should do Chef or Politician in fame. Let me know which one interest you or if you have another suggestion. Have a good day y’all!

[robininthelabyrinth]

prompt 1: I'd love to see a niecest fic (where it is truly mutually requited, no hypnosis mindbreaks required; I'm a terribly softhearted romantic & just want to see them happy~) that incorporates your characterizations of the saber spirits somehow? Like, Baxia and Aituan, idk, end up like... bonded somehow by their masters getting together and that... maybe helps balance the qi deviations or IDK I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY *cough* ok. yes. something. prompt 2: ohhhh I know. Jiang Cheng gets some sort of temporary story-convenient amnesia and assumes that (probably still a small child)!Jin Ling is his son, Jin Ling maybe... doesn't correct him for a bit? ("Wait whose kid is this. Did I give birth to a kid somehow. I mean I guess that might as well have happened, sure.") prompt 3: turns out Wen Qing was also being kept secretly alive but imprisoned by the Jin sect all this time, and Jin Ling discovers her in the aftermath of canon. Chengqing y/y? ANYWAY please feel free to select any of these that may strike your fancy, do not feel obligated to pick more than one or any of them, actually. (also I'd appreciate not having my name published as the prompter of any of these, if you don't mind. I don't think you do that, as a general rule, but just in case you might have.) P.S. I adore your work; every day that you post something is a day considerably brightened for me. and also the other days, because I do a lot of rereading. <3 <3 <3

prompt 1: I'd love to see a niecest fic (where it is truly mutually requited, no hypnosis mindbreaks required; I'm a terribly softhearted romantic & just want to see them happy~) that incorporates your characterizations of the saber spirits somehow? Like, Baxia and Aituan, idk, end up like… bonded somehow by their masters getting together and that… maybe helps balance the qi deviations or IDK I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY cough

ao3

So. We're doing something about this, right?

Baxia stirred. Slowly, like a great big old rumbling beast that was actually quite fast when it wanted to be, which knew that there was nothing in the world that could hurt it and anything foolish enough to do so was destined to a terrible fate of being played with and then demolished. Cruelly. Viciously.

Without remorse.

Yes, she said with admirable patience. We will do something about...'this'.

Oh good, Aituan said, amazed, surprised, and relieved that he'd survived this far into the conversation. Baxia was scary, all right? There were masterless sabers less scary than her. Daughter of the dragon, one of the best-forged blades in the sect, and she'd been used to her full potential, too - basically the opposite of Aituan in every way shape or form, really. It's just, you know, my human's been leaking again and I hate it when that happens.

Nie Huaisang might have some faults as a human, Aituan would allow (mostly because Nie Huaisang would similarly allow, and even seemed a bit proud of), but he was an excellent master. Sure, he might not cultivate Aituan all that much - it was kind of amazing Aituan had a personality at all rather than being a lifeless hunk of metal - but that was fine! Aituan, infected by his master’s shaping, didn't especially want to be constantly cultivating anyway. They didn't need that, the two of them. They were chill.

I thought he'd stopped leaking in the bed once he'd reached the appropriately age..?

Not that type of leaking! Leaking from the face, I mean. Salt water.

Ah, Baxia said. Yes, my human does that, too. Quite a bit. I'd assumed it was a regular part of their function.

Aituan thought about what he knew about the senior Nie brother, who was a highly emotional sort of person - inclined towards wet eyes for a myriad of reasons, such as joy, sadness, rage, a bit of passing beauty, and even something Nie Huaisang very fondly called 'allergies'. He could see how Baxia might have reached that conclusion.

Well, my human doesn't do it very much at all, he said. Not for real, anyway. Only when he's unhappy.

Baxia didn't say anything.

This will make him less unhappy, Aituan added, because he might be a mute piece of metal, but silence was a little intimidating when the silence was Baxia's. That shit had weight, and heft, and maybe stabbing power. He thinks revealing the extent of his desires will lead your master to reject him.

Absurd.

I know! Your master is doting and meticulous with his affections. He would never turn his back on a beloved one.

Nie Mingjue had the stubbornness of a saber in that way, and Aituan meant that as a wholehearted compliment. 

True, Baxia said, sounding satisfied - like any saber, she approved of people speaking highly about her master. Not to mention that the underlying 'issue' seems rather...pointless.

I know! Aituan exclaimed. I mean, I have no idea why humans are so hung up on all that grinding and grunting stuff -

I believe it's associated with human reproduction. Maybe.

Only when you have compatible male-female pairs, but you don't see humans stopping with that, do you? Aituan sighed. His master was something of an expert on this subject. Males, females, multiples, solo...you know, I think they do it for fun. 

Baxia rumbled thoughtfully. Like training?

...I think they think it’s more fun than training, Aituan said, and tried to ignore Baxia's silent skepticism. Most humans, anyway; not necessarily yours. Humans are weird, okay?

The silence turned agreeable. That was something no saber would disagree with.

Anyway, put that aside. Let’s just take it as given that humans like grinding themselves against each other instead of against a proper whetstone, and that my master happens to very much want to grind against yours in particular. And yet he's tormenting himself and making himself unhappy and refusing to do anything about it because - you won't believe this - because they were forged by the same maker.

That’s the reason? Surely you jest.

I'm not, Aituan insisted. I asked my human about it specifically. That's the reason.

Baxia was displeased. That's ridiculous, she said. That's it? That's the cause of all this fuss?

Aituan was just happy someone finally understood his perspective about this whole fiasco. Nie Huaisang had a penchant for the dramatic, but he seemed quite earnestly distressed by this little non-dilemma, even after Aituan had assured him - having checked with Baxia - that his brother adored him unreasonably and would do anything he wished. He hadn't exactly appreciated Aituan's disbelief when he'd explained the issue, either - in the end, he'd just said that it was probably something sabers couldn't quite grasp. 

I thought it was something serious, Baxia complained. The way my master has been carrying on, you'd think he was doing something evil in even wanting to do it. But there's no evil here! We would know!

Naturally. They were Nie sect sabers, forged and cultivated to fight evil from the very start; no one knew evil better than they. 

And it's not as if my master's predecessor was any better. Look at the unusual ingredients he chose to use in forging his sons! Each one stranger than the next!

This was true. Nie Huaisang had once grown a tail in his sleep - Aituan had suppressed it on his behalf, naturally, and he was fairly certain that his master still regarded the entire event as a bad dream brought on by snacking excessively on that imported cheese from the south, but it had definitely happened. 

The old Sect Leader Nie had a lot to answer for, really. 

It would seem to solve a lot of problems for them to pair off together, Aituan agreed. They're a known quantity for each other, and it keeps either of them from bothering anyone else with their nonsense. They’d be able to pick forging ingredients for the next generation on the basis of logic rather than emotion. And they both want it! There's literally no problem here!

None at all that I can see, Baxia proclaimedwith a very reassuring tone of finality. We will fix this.

Yes!

And we will fix your cultivation as well.

Ye- wait, what?

My master’s cultivation has begun to exceed my own, Baxia explained. Humans don't have a consolidation period - they just keep growing even after they reach a breakthrough point. If he continues to grow at the current rate, he will exceed my reach within ten years.

That…wasn't good. It was in fact very bad.

The Nie sect practiced a complementary cultivation style, human and saber cultivating side by side along the path of the Great Dao. If the two ever fell seriously out of sync, they would increasingly risk qi deviation. Such a tragic end had been the fate of the Nie sect seniors whose sabers now rested in the saber tombs, and would likely consume their own masters eventually, absent some plan...

...which it sounded like Baxia had.

You are a weak cultivator, she said. Your master is, too. If we redirect my master's cultivation for the purpose of strengthening you and your master instead of increasing his own strength, it would add at least two dozen years to the timeline - and that will be enough for me to finish consolidating my own power and reach my own breakthrough, letting me match him once more. My master and I will then be able to cultivate side by side through the next period. 

Huh. That meant work for him, which Aituan didn't especially want, but much less work than if he were doing all the cultivating himself. And it'd be good for his master, not needing to worry about losing his brother at a young age...

All right, he said. Say, how long is the next period? Until you run into another consolidation period and we need to start worrying again?

Baxia considered the question. Not terribly long, she said. Perhaps 200 years? Perhaps 250?

That seemed reasonable enough, right? How long did humans live, anyway? 

Well, whatever. It was more than ten - his master ought to be thanking him (and Baxia!) for putting in so much effort on his behalf. 

That's fine, Aituan said. All right, we're in agreement. So...now what? 

[hiccupbutpurple]

Wip Game

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP list, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it. And then tag as many people as you have WIPS!

Tagged by: @howtowhumpyourhiccup :D

I don’t think I can realistically do that many but @reallyprofoundkryptonite @worldwhightnight @sorushing @violet-moongem @amyrafierceblade if y’all haven’t already been tagged and feel like sharing! Of course anyone who see this and also wants to participate go ahead!

Imma put all the ones I’ve at least started writing for because we’d be here all day if it was also the ideas that just have a few dot points or things. Some have actual titles some are just random description type things lol. I put the general ship name or character in the title so I can easily find it but it makes it less vague ig but eh. (Also sorry this is kinda long so I’m putting in under the cut lol.)

- How Time Has Transformed You

- To Rediscover An Old Self

- Some Things Shouldn’t Be Admired

- Preparation – Vigcup

- Tired – Vigcup

- Hiccup and Gobber self-care reminders

- Searching – Hiccstrid/Heathstrid

- Knock - Hicclegs

- Improper use of Maces and Talons - Vigcup

- Swordsmanship – Dagvigcup

- Accidents - Hiccstrid

- One inspired by entertain – Vigcup

- Room Where It Happens – Hiccstrid runaway Hiccup Au 1

- Put on a show – Dagcup

- Lusty Confidence - Hicclegs

- So You Wanna Marry Hiccup – Dagcup

- Naga Viggo one – Vigcup

- Hypnosis – Vigcup

- Love it When You Hate Me – 3 Versions (Hicclout, Vigcup, Dagcup)

- Honesty – Hicclegs

- Hiccup comes out to Gobber

- God Au drabbles (Starts with when lighting strikes) - hijack

- Finding Wounds – Hiccstrid runaway Hiccup Au 2

- Survival confessions / Hiccup tells Viggo about savages ship – Vigcup

- Heather period blood insanity – vent fic + Heather

- Projects – Hiccstrid

- Jane Doe / Heather’s soliloquy

- Borrower Au

- Venomcup Au drabbles

- Humiliation – Vigcup + Heather

- Thrall - Hiccup

- Snotlout and Small Hiccup drabbles

- Finding Trinkets – Hiccup and Toothless

- Toothless and small Hiccup

- At a Spa - Vigcup

- Making Up For Lost Time – Stoick and Hiccup

- Viggo and Hiccup + Dagur on treaty signing day

- Rock me in - Hijack / Hicclegs

- Mala/Dagur/Hiccup

- Lovefool – Vigcup + concerned Stoick

- Hard Hitting – Hicclout

- Constantly on the Mind – Hiccup

- Half Runaway Au – Vigcup

- Viggo and Hiccup in bed talking

- Sex Puzzles – Vigcup

- Forever suffering for other people - Hiccup

- Spying – Vigcup + Riders

- Ghost hunt – Riders

- Hiccup see’s ghosts

- Ride - Hiccup/Jack/Astrid

- Obstacle Courses – Zephyr and Hiccup

- Who is the hottest – Drunk Hiccup stupidity

- Survivor – Vigcup og day one fic

- When the smoke clears – Dagcup

- ‘What if I have that berserker insanity inside me?’ ‘I want that Berserker insanity inside me.’ – Dagcup + Heathstrid

- Panic attacks – Heathcup

- Paints - Nuffink and Hiccup

- Burns – Hiccup

- Tango – Vigcup

- Saviour – Heathstrid

- Expendable – Riders

- Ships and Anchors – Valka and Hiccup

[rottenlaertes]

TC tag game

Tagged by @spudodell Thank you so much for tagging me!

Rules: Answer the questions and tag other TC fans!

1. "He would not fucking say that" only they did and it's canon. When/who?

"'Not so much bloody bitters this time, Boo.' Boo, thought Laurie."

This is so… out of character somehow, I was just as dumbfounded as Laurie was 😂 Considering their relationship (R & B’s) it feels extra cringe, too.

2. Did they kiss in the study? Yes/no + why you are 100% correct about this.

Oh hell yes, I never had doubts about it. Not least because Renault is the queen of ellipses. A lot of excellent analysis has been written by the fandom on this topic, so I’ll just repeat the main argument: The scene would have never had the kind of impact on Laurie if the kiss never happened. I wouldn’t agree there happened more than a kiss, though, I remember reading it somewhere.

3. Mandatory question about Ralph's alleged tattoos.

Hmm, as much as I like tattoos as art, Ralph just doesn't strike me as the type for it. I think, he cares too much about his neat appearances—spotless means spotless. I’m not sure if it was very common among officer ranks at that time, too.

4. 53 vs 59 edition: quote a line or paragraph that is better in the edition you like the least.

I can’t say that I dislike one or the other, but I tend to reread the 59 rather than the 53 edition, simple because that’s the one I read first. The 53 is more unpolished, but also more honest, I think. One of the passages I like:

“Don't insult my intelligence. […] After a moment he added, "What in hell is there to laugh at?"

"Please, Lanyon, I'm sorry, please."

"Used I to say that?"

"Of course you did. Benson used it as a gag in the House play and it brought down the roof.”

I think this is one of the very rare moments Ralph felt a little embarrassed and we were robbed of it!

5. Which TC character would feel right at home here on tumblr dot com?

Laurie, the nerd 😁 wouldn’t you agree? He’d be a fic writer, too. (Remember the passage about Baranova in the 53 edition? “While not committing himself to being actually in love, Laurie had a serial fantasy about her, thinly disguised as the plot of a novel he was some day going to write.”)

6. Tag yourself at Alec's birthday party.

As much as it pains me to admit: Laurie. I always feel out of place at parties.

7. Post a TC meme.

I can’t find a proper picture meme right now, but one of my fav posts about TC is this one https://www.tumblr.com/ralphlanyon/735073429427994624/the-charioteer-is-about-a-dog-person-learning-to 😂 thanks for this gem @ralphlanyon

8. Easy to talk about who deserved better. Who deserved worse?

I’d say Bunny, because he’s the only major character I can’t deal with. Oh, apart from maybe Hazell.

9. You can break the fourth wall (at any point in the novel) and say a single sentence to our protagonist, Laurie Odell. What do you say?

Laurie, darling, there is love and there is fiction, and it’s not the same.

10. What's a question you have about TC? One you haven't found an answer for yet.

What the hell happened to Ralph right after the sacking.

I didn’t spend much time here lately, so I missed who’s been tagged and who wasn’t yet, so I’m tagging everyone who didn’t participate yet 😁 please do, I’d love to read your answers and I need to finde those that I missed somehow 🥲

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

Hello, I'm quite a big fan of your blog and your sandman posts. I had a little question for you. According to the comics, more than half of Dream's relationships never work out because of communication on Dream's part, right. So well do you think it's because he does not realise that some things need to be said out loud like because of dream logic where things go straight from A to B, so it would make sense he follows the same logic? Sorry if I am not making much sense.

hello, and thank you!

well, for starters, i have a feeling you're here from the adhd post, but in case you're not or other people are reading this who haven't seen it, i talked about one aspect of this already

but do you have a specific source on the communication line? i am entirely willing to believe it, but i don't have a perfect memory of every single comic and i don't remember that in particular, so i'm curious if there's further analysis to this that i missed

that said, i can absolutely analyse just dream's communication problems in general, because there's a lot in there

1) pride/ego/defensiveness. as much as dream cares about everyone, he is an extremely prideful being, and therefore easy to offend. if something strikes a nerve, he's not really the type to talk it out, his reactions tend to be more... dramatic. our extremes are cases like nada, or calliope (who he essentially locked out of the dreaming for several millenia after she blamed him for what happened with orpheus), but like. we saw how the 1889 hob scene went down. and as much as he's quick to advise anyone else that revenge is a poison, he's a big fan of taking it himself (or on behalf of others, see: not letting the madoc thing go). dream, just in general, never lets shit go, he doesn't know how to. which is gonna be A Problem in a relationship if you have to avoid stepping on his ego for the sake of your own wellbeing

2) he knows everyone. like, i think a lot about the library of dreams. the show just describes it as every book ever written (including books yet unwritten), but it's more than that. nightmare country in particular goes into this, it's a repository of every story ever told in anyone's subconscious. so yes, those are the books and compositions and other artworks that were planned but never finished - but it's also that daydream you had in the car home, something you thought idly in the shower, the book you planned in your head before falling asleep that you never intended to turn into anything real. a couple people in the fandom have already used this as a fic concept of hob writing unsent letters to dream, which will end up in the library. and sure, dream isn't thinking of all of that all the time, that would drive you insane, it's why he has the library, to organise it. but he is the dreaming, the entire place is just an extension of his mind, if it's in the library it's in his head and accessible

and like, he may not mean anything by it, he may even attempt not to look at that stuff with a partner out of respect for them (i've seen a couple fics take that path), but so much of how humans communicate is based on the fact that we can't mind read, we choose the information we give to one another, and most of those subconscious stories are private. not to dream. as soon as you think it, it's in his head. and no matter how good his intentions, that's gonna fuck with the usual rules of communication

2.5) this does feed into what you were saying - when the rules are all fucked up and dream has access to so much information about any potential partner, it's probably easy to forget they can't do the same. and yeah, his thoughts do skip around a lot, he is a dream, he may not realise how many vital communication steps he's skipping over until it's pointed out to him

3) he overthinks everything. this may seem like it's contradicting the previous points, but no they just compound into a huge bad communication bubble

there's one i think it's a tom interview, i don't know if it was about ep 11, i just remember someone posting a quote from it on a gifset with calliope, where he talks about the purposeful way dream talks, there's no ums or similar, because he's the prince of stories, he has every word and phrase ever thought or spoken or written down in his head all of the time, there's no hesitation in his phrasing. i think the phrase used was "etched in stone". while dream may not always realise certain things need saying, when it comes to the things he does choose to say, he is extremely deliberate in his word choice. there's no mistakes, he means what he says (even if he may later regret saying it)

and i think that's another piece of this, because for most people conversation is just a game of improv they've gotten really good at, they may mangle words or say things they didn't mean. and if dream takes them at their word, then we're back to problem 1 of him taking things extremely personally and never being able to let it go

(and then there's all the other reasons his relationships rarely work out, like him being extremely committed to his work, he can't be what a lot of his partners might want him to be, because he considers himself dream of the endless first and foremost and a person second)

(and his relationships are kinda the biggest representation of that inner struggle, because like. he keeps dating people despite the fact that it never works out because he doesn't want to do this alone, to the point that his mother, who didn't even know their brother had left, called him out for it. but then at the same time he literally says to destiny that the word 'life' does not describe the existence of the endless, they exist to fulfil their purpose, not to want anything for themselves. which, is wrong, but it's an extremely strong belief of his)

(so it is just a constant snowball of trying but self sabotaging)

[verosvault]

🚨 Spoilers for Fantasy High Junior Year Episode 5 | My Live Reaction Commentary! 🚨

I saw @halevren do an AWESOME blog about their episode thoughts and I was also typing my live thoughts during the episode and decided to post mine as well! 😆😆🥲🥲👍👍

Legit help! It's 5am. I have work tomorrow and I can't freaking sleep cause I'm SO ADRENALINE- ANXIETY-THOUGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE! 😭✋

I love how funny episode 5 is starting off 😂😂

Brennan like..."no after bit???" 😂🤣💀

"Can she even run?" 😂😂

THESE CAPTIONS!!!

[KITSCHY MALL MUZAK]!! WHAT?! 😂😂

OMG! THE DOME IS SO PRETTY?!! 😱😱

I'm SO STUPID BECAUSE ONE OF MY EARLIER THEORIES ABOUT THIS MALL FROM THE FIRST TRAILER FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR WAS THAT IT WAS AN UNDERWATER MALL CAUSE EVERYTHING WAS SO BLUE!!! 😂😂🤣🤣💀💀 EITHER AN UNDERWATER MALL OR LIKE...AN ICY MALL! 🤣🤣💀💀

OMG!!! ALL THE PUNNY MALL NAMES!!!:

-"THACO BELL"!!!

-"OCHRE JELLIOUS"

-"BARDS & NOBLES TOMEVENDORS???"

-"ARMOUR ZOMBIE & LICH"!!! 😭😭😭

Those spiky red things SCARE ME SO BAD! 💀💀💀💀

IT'S SO GOOD THAT- CAUSE WHEN I FIRST SAW THE TRAILER FOR FHJY! AND IN LIKE EPISODE 2 WHEN CASSANDRA HAD SOMETHING SHARP AND RED IN HER BODY OR IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHEN SHE WAS TALKING TO KRISTEN! I WAS LIKE "OMG! THOSE RED SPIKY THINGS FROM THE TRAILER IN THE BATTLE!" AND I THOUGHT IT WAS A DUMB THEORY BUT I WAS FREAKING RIGHT! 😭✋

Bro! This battlefield is insane!!

Cassandra is so mad 🥲🥲🥲

FIG'S COUNTERSPELL! RIP!

OMG! 😂 A GLEAMING ASTRAL SURVEILLANCE EARPIECE! CRYING! 😂

BRENNAN! WHAT DO YOU MEAN A SIGNIFICANT D4 ROLL AND IT'S A 1 AND THAT'S GOOD?! BRENNAN EXPLAIN PLZ RN!!! 😭😭😭

CASSANDRA IS SCARING ME FRRRRR!!!! 😭😭😭😭

Hmmm I'm wondering if the goal here is to try to get that sharp red thing out of all these people it went into? Or if they just kill the person? Cause it's like..these are technically innocent people...right???

KINETIC JAUNT!

FABIAN'S AC GOES UP TO 25?! 😱😱😱

OH DANG! THAT 13 IN THE BOX OF DOOM FOR LOU TO NEVER HAVE TO ROLL FOR FABIAN TO JUMP ON FURNITURE EVER AGAIN WAS SO BRUTAL! 😭✋

OH NO!!! IT'S KALINA'S TURN!!!

RIZ'S MINI LOOKS SO FREAKING GOOD!!!

YOOO!!! NAT20 STEALTH FROM RIZ!!! 😱😱

I LOVE HOW THEY PLAYED RIZ'S THEME SONG OVER HIS TURN!! I LOVE RIZ'S THEME MUSIC SO BAD!!! 😭😭✋✋

I love how Riz is just flossing with also the look of the MOST CONCERN EVER ON HIS FACE 😂 But he's just dancing and pretending to be happy 😂🤣💀

Ally constantly emphasizing that they knew nothing about D&d when they made their character and that they're stuck with a character who has a -3 to Dex 😂🤣💀

I LOVE CONOR COUNTERSPELL! 😂👏

NOOO KRISTEN!! ;00

ALLY ROLLED A 0 INITIATIVE! CRYING! 😭✋

Poor Conor Counterspell! 😭✋

Wait! This is what Ragh's Mom absorbed?! 😱 Bro! Zac is SO FREAKING SMART!! 😱

Zac's always the player to figure stuff out yet he always plays like- the dumbest characters 😂😂💀💀

KRISTEN'S NAT20 TO PERSUADE CASSANDRA!!! OMG!!! 😱😱😱

Why is Brennan getting up?! 😭😭

YAY!!! CASSANDRA IS HEALED!!! YAY!!!

"We gotta honor NAT20s. It's the rule of the show." 😭

Dang! Steel wind strike does a lot of damage! ;0

".... SHRIMP????" 😂😂😂 EMILY IS LOSING IT!! 🤣🤣🤣

NOOOO!!! THE SHRIMP!! BRUH!!

OMG NO WAIT!!! CASSANDRA HAS A SHRIMP ALLERGY?!

WASN'T LITERALLY EVERYONE IN THE ADVENTURING PARTY EPISODE FOR EPISODE 4 LAUGHING ABOUT HOW A SHRIMP PARTY WOULD BE THE THING THAT WOULD KILL CASSANDRA?!!!!FORESHADOWING MUCH?!!!! 😭😭😭😭

NOOOO!!! CASSANDRA IS STUNNED AND ALLERGIC TO SHRIMP!!! 😭😭😭

NO CAUSE I KEEP REPLAYING THE SHRIMP SCENE CAUSE I'M SO UTTERLY CONFUSED AND WORRIED!!! 😭😭😭😭

Fig is wagging a finger at the fire elemental! LOL!! 😂💀

BRUHHH MURPH SAYING THAT THIS IS RELATED TO GILEAR!! BRUH!! WE'VE BEEN KNEW THAT SINCE EPISODE 1! 😭

LOL TO FIG SAYING SHE THINKS SHE NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL 😭😂

WAY TO GO CONOR!! 😂😂

FIG SEES A VISION OF WHAT?! HUH?!

"IT WAS NOT YOURS TO TAKE"??? HUH??! WHAT?!?!

ADAINE NAT20 ON ARCANA EXCITEMENT!!

OMG FIG'S VISION!!! 😱😱😱😱

NOOO!! CONOR!!! 😭

OMG!!! NO!!! KALINA!!! ;000

WHY DID SHE SAY RAGH'S NAME?!!!! ;0000

I'M SO SCARED!!! PLEASE TELL ME KALINA ISN'T EVIL AGAIN!!! FREAKING SOMEONE TELL ME PLEASEEEE I'M SOBBING!!!! 😭😭😭

OH NO! FABIAN WANTS TO STAB KALINA!!! 😭😭😭😭

Oh he missed even though she still casted shield which was weird

NO KALINA!!! GET AWAY FROM CASSANDRA PLEASE RIGHT NOOOWWW!!!! 😭😭😭😭

FREAKING WHYYYYY NOOOOOO

FREAKING WHY?!!!! WHATTTTT??!!!

I'M SO FREAKING STUNNED

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY!!! NO WAYYYYY!!!

KALINA'S EYES WENT RED!!! OMGGGGGGGGGG!!! CAUSE THE RED FREAKING STARS IS RAGGGEEEE!!!! RIGHT?!!!!!

OMG I'M GONNA DIE!!!!

KALINA WHYYYY!!! WHY WOULD YOU SLIT CASSANDRA'S THROAT?!!!!!

NOOOO I'M PISSSEDDDDD!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!

NO THIS IS PISSING ME OFF NOOOO!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭

KRISTEN'S GOD IS DEAD AGAIN!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

KRISTEN IS GONNA FAIL JUNIOR YEAR AND HAS TO GET HER BACK!!! NOOOO!!!

IT'S RIZ'S TURN!!! PLEASSEEEE!!!

CASSANDRA PLEASE!! I'M BEGGING YOU DON'T DIE PLEASSSZSZZZ!!! 😭😭😭

MURPH SAYING "I'M SO SCARED OF KALINA"!! BRO SAME!!! BRO SAMMEEEEE!!! BROOO SAMMEEEEE!!! 😭😭😭😭

BARDIC SHRIMPSPIRATION!!! 😭😭✋✋

OH NO!!! THAT ONE NAT1!!!

Gorgug still has Zelda's mixtape!!! 😭😭✋✋

Kristen hugs Cassandra! 😭🥺

Oof! Box of Doom! 🥲

Dang!!! Ally didn't succeed on ANY of those box of doom rolls! 😭 but I really liked the choices Kristen made and what she did! ;((( it was still really powerful and brave and strong....the choices Kristen made of what to do ;(((((

BRENNAN!!! WHY IS YOUR FACE LOOKING LIKE THAT!!!!

NO ADAINE FAILED!!! WHAT'S CIRCLE OF DEATH?!!!!

I'M SO FREAKING NERVOUS FOR REAL!!! 😭😭😭😭

OMG I'M SO SCARED

OMG YES!!! THANK GOODNESS FOR ADAINE BEATING THE DC ON THAT COUNTERSPELL!!! THINGS WERE ABOUT TO LOOK FREAKING GRIMMMM!!! 😭😭😭😭

I'M SO CONFUSED!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!

BLOCK LETTERS YES?!?!?!?!?! 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

I'M SO SCARED!!! WHO AND WHAT IS THAT VOICE REACHING OUT TO KRISTEN!!!

I'M SO SCARED!!!! 😭😭😭😭

I'M SO CONFUSED!!! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS HELP!!!

YESSSSS!!!!! A NAT20 FROM FIG FOR THE SHRIMP JUMP!!!!

I LOVE FIG!!! 😭😭😭 SHE'S SO AMAZING!!! 😭😭✋✋

BRENNAN IS WEARING "THE SHIRT" NEXT EPISODE! I'M CRYING!!!

I'M CRYING SO BAD!!!

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL!!! I'M SO FREAKING SCARED!!! 😭😭😭 WHY IS FANTASY HIGH SO SCARY?!?!?!? 😭😭😭😭

[simlicious]

Use of AI in my patterns

I've got a comment on my latest post that I want to address properly:

"Please dont use image generators. They use a lot of water and power and just. Its disrespectful to us artists who had our works scraped and thrown into the sludge maker."

Thank you @cats-n-witchcraft for voicing your concerns in a friendly and respectful way.

I've thought about this a lot and also had a long talk with a friend to dive into the topic a bit more and mull everything over. Since it is a long answer, it's under the cut! There is also a poll at the end of the text.

The use of AI-generated images is a very divisive topic with extreme opinions on both ends, some pleading against and some for the use of AI. I do not have an extreme opinion but I am somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Maybe it has to do something with my age or my personality type in that I always try to see things from different perspectives and like to find a middle ground in a lot of things. I understand both sides and think that both sides have some valid arguments pro and contra AI.

I definitely think AI use should be regulated and artist's work should be protected. But I also see merit in AI as a tool and in a way to enable creativity in people who aren't artists in the traditional sense with talent, years of practice, or formal training.

What I find horrible is people abusing AI to make fast money, image resource sites getting flooded with the stuff, people not disclosing the use of AI and just showing general scammy behavior. That's just not acceptable. I also think that AI companies have a huge responsibility to reinvest money in environmental projects to make up for the large use of resources. If this is not viable, then the whole business model should definitely be thought over.

Governments should step in and make clear rules regarding AI.

I will happily lend my signature to any ongoing petitions regarding this (feel free to link some in the comments if you have some).

I have always been a curious person and I like to try out new technologies. But I will now stop more often and think "do I need to use AI for this?" I might occasionally use it but I am by no means a power user. AI images are bad quality-wise and it takes work to make them usable or presentable and it does clash with my sense of perfectionism anyway. I only use two different AI image generators, the free Chatgpt with Dall-E 3 that comes integrated into Bing Copilot, and Photoshop's Firefly AI which Adobe claims was not trained on copyrighted materials (hopefully it's true). So far there are only a few occasions I've used them for. They include generating an avatar for a website, a few plumbob images, and a few bizarre Sims 4 caricatures because I was surprised that the AI knew the concept of Sims. I also thought that experiencing that and knowing how such images tend to look helps to spot them "in the wild" so you know what's AI and what isn't.

When I first tried AI, I was enticed by the novelty of making these unique images that I had not seen before anywhere else and was enveloped by the "wonder" of it (that has since worn off).

TBH it is super frustrating to have ideas but not to be able to execute them. I love making patterns for the Sims 3 but I really suck at making them from scratch, I tried a lot but I dislike the outcome of the majority of them and I do not seem to have the skills nor the patience to get to the level of surface pattern design skill required that would be acceptable quality for my perfectionistic brain. So figuring out this way of creating patterns without having to fear copyright strikes because I modified some assets (which is a really big thing in Germany where I live and people get made to pay a shitton of money for copyright infringement) was like a drug for my brain. It is hard to resist its satisfying pull.

I will try harder to find other ways that do not involve AI before considering AI as an option.

I'm sure lots of people try out something they are curious about and that is not really good for you, and we do not make good choices in our lives all the time. Maybe your personal questionable choice is in another department, but there are and will always be people who have different opinions and condemn our way of life in favor of another. I try to make choices that benefit the planet and environment and do not hurt people, but I am not 100% consistent, just like 99,9% of people on this planet, but I try and I care. Generally, I feel sad that we tend to accuse individuals of their behavior instead of accusing the big corporations and governments that are the real cause of the problems.

It can lower our self-esteem and make us feel inadequate because We can see so many areas in which we are not living up to someone else's standard. We have to choose our battles. Generally, I think we should not shame others for picking different battles or having different opinions. We never know the whole picture or reasons for other's opinions and behavior, especially of people we interact with online. We can engage in dialogue to foster understanding though and this is the way to go, and it is why I wrote this long wall of text. Thank you for reading my wall of text!

I want to close with a poll about what you think about the use of AI-generated images in my patterns.

Whenever I may use AI-generated assets/images in my patterns or other CCI will disclose this in the pattern download (if I know they are made by AI). In any case, I would only sporadically make use of AI!

[lolo-l0ved]

Credits - Edit Series || I’m happy to be tag in promos !

Hey Hey, call me Lou. This is a little corner of editblr that I have ! I hope you stay for a while. This blog main goal is to have a wide range of edits from every and any source, that’s not in the norm. I know it may seem differently with my blog theme, but I love Nene and nothing will change that. This blog invites: kin’s, comforts, f/o, systems & all to express their interests ! Everything under cut.

Strike out = Closed || Bold = Favourite

What I do - icons, reply icons, gif icons, tumblr & twitter layouts, wallpapers, stimboard, moodborads, aesthetic boards, Rentry graphics, userboxes, song aesthetic/mood boards, crossover boards.

What I Accept - I do anime, games, live action, manga, web comics/series, comics, cartoons & books. I have seen and consumed a tone of media

Short list of Fave Sources - TBHK, Osomatsu San, Mob Psycho 100, Undead Unluck, Dorohedoro, Scott Pilgrim medias (movie, tv show & comics), Telltale The Walking Dead S1/2/3, Sin City, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, Ajin Demi Human, Ducktales 2017, Bones, From, The Boys, Gen V, Alice In Borderland, Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Fight Club, Yellowjackets, Britcoms (The Inbetweeners & The IT Crowd), Wes Anderson Films, Back to the Future franchise, Dead Poets Society, Donnie Darko, Spider-Verse movies. Please Ask About Outside Sources, I Am More Than Happy To Do Them !

Black List - Proship content (adult x child, relative x relative etc), canon lesbian/gay characters shipped with the opposite gender (keep in mind this applies to characters that are CANON, not headcanon), Major Gorecore (some bloods/body horror is aloud but to much), Horrorcore (cute horror/halloween is fine!), Traumacore (do not tag my weirdcore post with this /srs), Yanderecore, disturbing aesthetic themes, Really soft aesthetics, Bright/completely white aesthetics. *Keep in mind this is what I won’t do but some sources may still contain some of this that I may do. Sources & Characters are not listed as they are far and view between, but just double check.

Rules & Other Info - Two request per ask, credit me by reblogs & in some type of written form, ask beforehand for outside sources. Any ask that made when my inbox is closed will be deleted straight away. I’m a student with a job, I will not always be active here. Please use manners, please and thank you are expected for editblr and should be used for all requests. If there is a certain Mogai or Pride flag you would like me to use, please send me a link to the correct one, I am not familiar with a lot and I do not wish to get it wrong on your request behave. I am critical of the sources I enjoy, and are mostly aware of the creators of some being not so great, but that does not take away for me personally my enjoyment of these sources. If you disagree, please just block me or not interact.

I tend to block quite freely, but if any: Proshippers & NSFW blogs are found following or interacting with my post it will be on sight. If you are making me uncomfortable I will block you as well. I am a minor and so I’ve taken major measures to ensure my own safety and other minors who interact with me as we..