#any emoticon really.

[beardedhandstoadshark]

You guys remember when you could just do the whole "Title minus Hero of part = nickname" thing to differentiate all the Links in the regular Zelda fandom without lu stans instantly thinking this is about them somehow (despite the comic itself never even using those nicknames) and going absolutely haywire? Those were the good times lmao

(Seriously though it's been a thing since the 2000's in the general fandom and is still common everywhere else that isn't tumblr/ao3, where it's only stopped because of all the harassment. Jojo from LinkedUniverse didn't invent the concept of crossovers. No, not even Link's Meets. Like. Cmon)

[iwakuraz]

only some are brave enough to UwU and OwO in 2024

[unproduciblesmackdown]

i cherish the first half of book fotr so it's kind of a gandalf the slay that i Can use it to frame My Situation. that it's like "okay so you gotta get out of here" and then "okay but putting it off for Months" b/c of natural procrastination, reluctance due to the peril, trying for emotional fortification via things enjoyed but it's also like double edged sword appreciation making it hard to think of leaving it. and the "haven't really done this kind of thing so i hope i'm up to it." and the "these things i tend to could be done by people i don't respect well enough for maintenance but not as i would." and the "that's a lot of walking i guess. and peril" and the "watch out for being fatally struck by metal along the roads" and the "watch out for the mortal threat of beings who might fucking Get you and lock you away" but also the "on the other hand you might run into kindred spirits, understanders, and helpers. you had probably Better" and then maybe you can reach bree & be like alright. playing it by ear

[stereo-slime4]

List of really fun neopronouns I found! Click for better quality

your fave pronouns can be your own i just need people to know theyre not just voting for their own pronouns. sorry for not including all of them (this is bait to pick the other option)

[tbaluver]

Hey (●’◡’●)ﾉ I really love your works and want to request a short/long story about lads guys reaction when they found out mc/reader has a high s*x drive and she's embarrassed about it ✧(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

It's okay if u don't want to ʚ♡⃛ɞ(ू•ᴗ•���❁)

I'll understand

P. S: I love youuuu ❤❤❤

If You Had A High Libido- The Love And DeepSpace Men

parings in order: Xavier x Reader, Zayne x Reader, Rafayel x Reader, Sylus x Reader genre: MDNI, 18+, suggestive content, oral reader receiving, head canons/ reactions + small smut scenarios a/n: hihi anonnie! i'm so happy to hear you love my works and i hope this was okay lmk ! if not this doesn't exist okay ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ ) sorry it's taking me a while to write and post stuff i'm currently studying and it's taking up most of my time (っ- ‸ - ς) anyways i hope you enjoy reading ! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ p.s i love you too cutie ! your emoticons are soso cute i love them !! (づ๑•ᴗ•๑)づ♡ any likes and reblogs are always appreciated! enjoy!

⋆｡‧˚ʚ♡ɞ˚‧｡⋆

Xavier:

poor baby was so confused on why you wanted to go for so many rounds. he thought he wasn't doing enough for you until he asked and that's when you embarrassingly told him about your high libido

"But....do you feel good?" He asked, tilting his head curiously.

"So good, that I can't get enough of you" You whisper, leaning in to press your forehead against his before pressing a heated kiss on his lips.

Xavier is always there to please you whenever you need or wanted him too. He can handle pretty much anything. If he was tired after many rounds, he'll lie down on his back and let you ride him til you meet your sweet release again. He'll give you plenty of options. You can ride his face, his thigh, whatever you want until you were satisfied.

When he says he'll be there for you, he means it. When you were whimpering softly, desperately ignoring the heat growing down there as you try to go back to sleep. You didn't want to wake up your sleeping boyfriend but it seems he was already awake. You felt his arms snake around your waist as he pulls you closer to him.

"Would you like me to help you?" He knew you would be lying if you said no, even if he slides his hand in between your legs to find you practically soaking already. You bit your lip, feeling his hard erection against your ass.

Zayne:

He didn't understand why you were so embarrassed about telling him. He knows and can read you so well. You can't hide anything from this man. He noticed the way you bit your lip when he licked off the excess ice cream on his fingers or when your thighs clenched when you watched him get dressed.

He would reassure you that having a high libido is natural to have and there is no "normal" sex drive.

"I can assure there is nothing to be embarrassed about having a high libido." He says, his voice remaining monotone as he adjusts his glasses. "Just tell me how I can help you."

He would not be irritated or bothered at all if you needed him. Although if he was busy with work then he'll make a couple arrangements to make sure he finishes his reports while you get your fill. He'll keep you seated on his lap and let you ride off his thigh or he'll keep a toy or his finger or two in you as he continues to finish his patient report with his other free hands.

He'll know what you want whenever you press your ass against him whenever you both cook or whenever you sit on his lap.

He slips a finger under your panties, pulling them down with ease. His cock was hard and he could feel your cunt soaking quickly. He settles you on top of the counter, slowly pushing his length inside of you. His pace starts off slow as your body hums in response.

“That’s it...just like that's my good girl”

The pot that was already cooking was probably close to burning as you two were distracted meeting your sweet release.

Rafayel:

Oh, He loves it way more than he should and he uses this to his advantage to feed off his little praise kink. He just loves to hear his cutie need him so so bad. Hearing you beg and whine for him is like a siren's song to his ears, attracting him closer to you.

"What's wrong cutie?" He asks, tilting his head to the side as he tucks the stray hair behind your ear. You bury your head in his chest, too flustered to admit you wanted more, even after all the rounds you've done together.

"Want m-more" You murmur, your voice muffled against his chest. He chuckles softly, clearly amused, and continues to tease you while gently stroking your hair. "What's that? You need my dick again? Do you want me to fill you up princess?"

You respond by rolling your hips, grinding against him, hoping he would get the idea.

He'll fill you up everyday or whenever you need him too. He loves watching you beg and drip a mix of yours and his juices down your thighs every time as if you were in heat.

"Want me that much? Gonna fill you up so much." Feeling his cum ooze down your legs, his dick going impossibly deeper inside of you. Snapping his hips as whines escape your lips.

Sylus:

“Satisfied baby?”

Your core ached for more and you silently debated on telling him. You knew if you told him you were satisfied, your vibrator or your hands can’t even compare what he does to please you. You rubbed your thighs together, trying to ease the ache that was forming in between them, not realizing Sylus notices this.

He leaned down, tracing kisses down your jawline, to your neck to grab your attention again. “Use your words baby.” He whispers hotly, his warm breath fanning against your skin.

"M-more Sy.."

It does not take him that long to get used to your high libido. If anything he can match your energy or do more. He'll keep going even if his stamina runs out, if it ever runs out.

Sometimes he's uses this to tease you. While he's away for a couple days, he'll send you pictures of his body. His shirt slightly lifted up to give you a tease of his abs and his v-line peeking above his waistband.

If he was feeling mean, he'll send you a mirror pic of his chiseled abdominal, and his carved v-line leading down to the girthiest dick you're familiar with or he'll send you a video of him stroking his dick to get you riled up. "Need my pretty girl to wrap her lips around it"

You're like a drug to him and he's addicted to you. He wants to spend as much time he has with you and he does not find you to be a bother if you were feeling needy when he was in his office.

He buries his head in your folds and you can feel his tongue in and out of you. You push your hips back to meet more of him as he reaches down with one hand to stroke himself. He groans into you, the vibrations bringing you closer to the edge. You reach down to play with your clit as he fucked you with his tongue.

He needed to be inside you as much as you want him to be.

[guster-animations]

The Japanese Version of Deltarune Chapters 3 & 4

last year i made a post covering aspects of deltarune chapter 2’s japanese localization that i hadn’t seen others talk about. people seemed to like it! and i liked making it as well, so now that chapters 3 and 4 are out, i’ve looked at the japanese text for them to see if i could find anything interesting.

and… yep i did.

since i’m one of the first english fans to look at the new japanese text in this manner, there’s a lot that i skimmed over or just straight up didn’t read, as a decent amount of dialogue is jumbled or shoved under “scr_text”. i mainly focused on the lore-important segments, since there aren’t as many character voices or jokes with interesting translations as there were in chapter 2… with two exceptions.

tenna

tenna is generally pretty well localized. i didn’t translate a lot of his dialogue, but 8-4 has done a pretty outstanding job of making tenna sound like a japanese TV host. for example, the narration to his intro video is translated from this:

It's now time for our feature presentation FEACHER Coming straight from your house Coming straight from YOUR house! He's the One He's GROOVY and NEVER glooby! You can't get this from an EGG! The sensation of your screen The show that makes you scream Say it with him, folks!

to this:

大変オマタセいたしました！ (Thank you for waiting so long!) はぢまるヨ！ (Lettuce begin!) アナタの　おうちから　お届け！ (Delivered from your house!) アナタの！　おうちから！　お届け！(Delivered! From! Your! House!) ピカ“１”の (The number “one”) シケシケしてない　トレンディマン！ (trendy man who never goes out of style!) タマゴには　マネできない！ (He could never be imitated by an egg!) アンビリーバボーな (With an unbelievable,) キセキの　サケビを！ (miraculous scream!) さあ～　みなさん　ごいっしょに！ (Now… everyone, all together!)

they didn’t need to intentionally misspell the line that replaced “FEACHER” but they did and i love that.

a lot of lines like these were translated to be more in the style of japanese television, and that’s awesome. i really admire the effort, and the shift is palpable even to me, who isn’t fluent in japanese at all.

jackenstein

others have already been curious about how “YOUR TAKING TOO LONG” and its variations are translated— in fact, this youtube video that i found beat me to the punch with covering it. (edit: this one provides a comparison between languages, which is very nice)

jack uses a mixture of hiragana and katakana (no kanji), refers to himself in the third person, misspells things (mostly using ワ for the particle “wa” instead of は), and occasionally uses emoticons. all of these give a strange but fairly childish impression.

and here’s how his iconic phrases were translated:

YOUR TAKING TOO LONG -> ナガイ　シすぎ (nagai shisugi / you’re taking too long)

YOUR TOO BRIGHT -> マブシイ　すぎ (mabushii sugi / you’re too bright)

YOUR LONG -> ナガ　イ (nagai / long)

YOUR TAKING TOO LONG IS TAKING TOO LONG -> ナガイ　シすぎ　ニ　ナガイ　シすぎ (nagai shisugi ni nagai shisugi / you’re taking too long with “you’re taking too long”)

YOUR TAKING TOO TOO -> カワイ　すぎ (kawai sugi / you’re too cute)

YOUR TOO TOO -> すきすき (sukisuki / you look cute, I like you)

raise up your bat

i looked at raise up your bat’s lyrics to see if there was any extra lore behind them. there wasn’t, but… ralsei’s replacement lyrics are pretty funny in this version. here are the full lyrics

鮮血 流れる 悪魔の心 (Senketsu nagareru akuma no kokoro / The devil’s heart flows with fresh blood) -> 先月 出会った あのコと今日も (Sengetsu deatta ano ko to kyou mo / Today, that kid I met last month) バットを振りかざせ (Batto o furikazase / Raise up your bat) -> チャットをするからね (chatto o suru kara ne / will have a chat with me) 希望は　ついえた (Kibou wa tsuieta / Hope has died out) -> 昨日は　ついつい (Kinou wa tsuitsui / Yesterday we ended up) 明日は見えない (ashita wa mienai / and tomorrow’s not in sight) -> 朝まで電話 (asa made denwa / talking on the phone until morning) バットを振りかざせ (Batto o furikazase / Raise up your bat) -> やっぱり楽しいね (Yappari tanoshii ne / It sure is fun) 夜をブチのめせ (Yoru o buchi-nomese / Do it all through the night) -> 今日もウキウキね (Kyou mo ukiuki ne / I’m excited today too) 闇の中へ こぎ出そう (Yami no naka e kogidasou / Let’s row into the darkness) 心の箱船で (Kokoro no hakobune de / With the ark of the heart) 闇の中でも　そばにいる (Yami no naka de mo soba ni iru / I’m by your side even in the dark) その心に導かれ (Sono kokoro ni michibikare / Guided by that heart) 鮮血 流れる 悪魔の心 ( Senketsu nagareru akuma no kokoro / The devil’s heart flows with fresh blood) -> 先月なかよくなった友だち (Sengetsu nakayoku natta tomodachi / The friends I made last month) バットを振りかざせ (Batto o furikazase / Raise up your bat) -> パットと　ブリトニー (Patto to Buritonī / Pat and Britney) 希望は　ついえた 明日は見えない (Kibou wa tsuieta ashita wa mienai / Hope has died out and tomorrow’s not in sight) -> 気取った　ポーズで ダンスがしたい (Kitotta pōzu de dansu ga shitai / They want to do a silly dance) バットを振りかざせ (Batto o furikazase / Raise up your bat) -> ハットをかぶってね (Hatto o kabutte ne / Put on a hat) 夜をブチのめせ (Yoru o buchi-nomese / Do it all through the night) -> スーツを着こなして (Sūtsu o kikonashite / Wear a suit fashionably)

who are pat and britney? are they the secret key to all the mysteries of the story? who knows!

UNUSED

i didn’t find many changes in the text of the chapter 3 and 4 “unused” text (otherwise known as “the voice in the code”), but i noticed that their dialogue sounds a little less feminine/childish compared to in chapter 1. maybe. it does seem like a lot of time has passed. idk

edit: actually, after looking back at all the unused text, it seems like they’ve been always more gender-neutral than i previously assumed.

prophecy

a few changes to the prophecy lines stood out to me.

THE THIRD HERO. A PRINCE, ALONE IN DEEPEST DARK. (eng) The third hero / A lonely prince living in the depths of darkness (jp)

reference to “depths”. nothing of note besides that

THE FLOWER MAN, TRAPPED IN ASYLUM. (eng) The flower man is captive in a facility (jp)

this is the word used to replace “asylum” here. take it as you will:

and the one i found by far the most interesting…

LOVE WILL FIND THE GIRL. (eng) The girl will learn the true meaning of love. (jp)

huh????? what the fuck does that mean??

also, the word for “love” used in japanese is 愛, which refers to any kind of love. so no double meaning here, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of an intended double meaning in english, as the japanese translation of undertale has often had to erase intended double meanings that were not translatable, like “determination”.

addendum: As you know,

i’m editing the post to add this in because i forgot that it’s important.

you know the carol line where she says YOU in bright red text and no one knows whether she’s talking to kris or the player? well, luckily, japanese usually omits the word “you” in place of a person’s actual name, so hopefully looking at the japanese version of the line should—

she just uses the word for “you”.

this just makes it more evident that it is meant to be unclear who she’s speaking to.

CONCLUSION

wow that’s it. that’s a lot less than i expected there to be, but again, the game is translated pretty faithfully and there aren’t as many jokes that had to be localized in these two chapters. if you notice anything or want me to translate specific text, don’t be afraid to ask! i’ll be happy to answer any questions and help people out.

[vigilantekisser]

dex vs. the emoji industrial complex

masterlist | ao3 mirror

summary: dex has zero social media literacy and doesn't know wtf you're talking about. (1.1k, gn reader, crack, fluff, office friendship, dirty joke, minions, dex tries to understand what memes are; honestly idk why this was so long i just want to have more of dex ig)

It’s just a stupid meme, so you don’t think much of it when you send it to Dex—a low quality, atrociously Photoshopped picture of a puppy with its brain getting poked with an injection, Ritalin pills and a 5G tower in the background: 

     theyre doing this to me at work tomorrow btw [Sent 9:06 AM]

Dex doesn’t reply, not even with his usual stilted “Thanks”.

You’re fine with that, totally; you already know Dex is, well, himself—man of few words and composure and too-sharp jawline… So. You assume he’s just ignoring you as usual, which makes you a little bit pleased knowing you’ve probably stupefied your poor coworker into bewilderment once again.

What you don’t know is that you’re exactly right. Twenty feet away, in a sterile cubicle surrounded by discarded tactical gear and stacks of paperwork, Dex is staring at his screen like it personally offended him.

Dex blinks once, finally, slow like a cat watching a ceiling fan.

“…The fuck.”

 The badly edited puppy has a syringe full of mercury pointed into its brain and someone’s holding an orange bottle of ADHD pills behind it. He rereads the sentence, just in case it holds a secret meaning. 

     theyre doing this to me at work tomorrow btw

He leans back in his chair like a man confronting the unknowable void.

“Is this funny?” he mutters. “Do I say something?”

He opens Google.

     “dog on ADHD medication??”

No luck. It sends him to some Instagram pages with dogs he doesn’t care about, and he closes the tab after seeing a bunch of drama on the PetMD forum. Symbolism perhaps? Puppy = you; mercury = brain damage; the cell tower = some kind of conspiracy… at work… the Bureau...? 

Oh fuck it. He gives up.

     Are you ok?      [Sent 10:40 AM]

Aha, so the man responds. You send back four emojis: 💻💀😭🙏

A few minutes later, your phone pings.

     I hope they don’t inject anything into your head.      [Sent 10:45 AM]

You snort, trying to stifle your snicker. You can hear this guy’s voice in your head. thank u king that’s so thoughtful, you send back.

By lunchtime Dex is three articles deep into “Millennial vs Gen Z Humor: A Brief History of Nihilistic Absurdism.” He doesn’t mean to care, really. You’ve probably forgotten about it entirely but he hasn’t. He’s finally gotten the point of the picture you sent, to his satisfaction, but why is the skull emoticon thing everywhere now? 

     skull emoji meaning      Result: “Used to express laughing so hard you’re dead.”

He shakes his head. That doesn’t make any fucking sense.

The next day, you wake up to multiple messages from Dex.

     Thank you for your dog Meme, it’s very funny.      Work is like that sometimes.      Haha      ☠️      [sent 5:10 AM]

You stare at the screen for a long time.

     ☠️

Actually, you think your hands are shaking now. You message back:

     wtf u know how to use emojis????????????

He replies immediately:

     Yes.      I think

Then:

     🔥

Why is there fire now. What does the fire mean. Is he okay. Your face’s gone hot and you screenshot it for maybe nothing in particular but, well, to look back at later on and laugh harder.

It’s Friday, which is a vacation enough in itself but unfortunately that still means you should be working and processing the latest field report Mockta dropped on your desk. But instead, you’re doing something far more dangerous. You’re messing with Dex again. You send him a photo of someone furiously petting a cat’s head.

     Me rubbing the workweek’s pussy so it finishes faster      [Sent 9:48 AM]

Dex is drinking his coffee—straight black, very sad—when he sees the notification. He reads your caption and almost spits into his sleeve.

What did you just send him.

He stares and reads it again.

“Me rubbing the workweek’s… Oh God…” He trails off, rubbing his brow in anguish. He lowers the phone slowly, looking around the bullpen, the hallway, the exit. Then he turns to his laptop and opens Google. God help him.

     pussy rubbing work week 

He hits Enter and immediately regrets it. A new tab opens. A very not-safe-for-work one accessed through the Bureau Wi-Fi. There’s moaning and a lot of exposed skin. One of the women is holding a calendar. He slams his laptop shut so hard the desk rattles, mind racing.

He didn’t read about this shit in any of the articles he read last Tuesday! Staring into the abyss of his screen, Dex messages back:

     ?

     omg dex it’s a joke      i hopeyou did NOT google that      are u okay

There’s a long pause, an eternity really. You sip your coffee, wipe at your eyes. Then, finally:

     Understood.      Thanks for the explanation     I did but i won’t Google anything ever again.      [Sent 10:21 AM]

The mental image of him in a mortified fugue state, recoiling from his screen, is almost too much—but you manage to swallow your laughter as Ray walks past your desk, shooting you a wary look.

The rest of the day is uneventful. You manage to make a small dent in the field reports. Dex doesn’t message you again and you assume you’ve broken him with the dirty joke, which—honestly—fair.

You don’t see him again until you're heading out, bag slung over your shoulder, keys jangling in your hand. You pass Dex’s desk, and he stands up so fast he almost collides with the corner of his desk. 

“Hey,” he says, voice weirdly formal. He wrings his hands. “Uh. Wait a second.”

You stop. “Yeah?”

He hesitates, squinting as he unlocks his phone, and silently holds it out to you. You blink down at the screen.

It’s a Minion. A fucking Minion. The image is so low-res you can count the pixels, jpeg artifacting all over. The Minion’s mid-stride, throwing up a peace sign. The text reads:

     BestfriEND      BoyfriEND      GirlfriEND      Food      Only Food has no END.

There’s a watermark in the corner that says something like “Susan's Recipe Shack,” straight from the Facebook feed of someone’s divorced aunt. It takes you a second to process what’s happening. And then you wheeze, laughing so violently your knees buckle a little. Two people from Cybercrimes glance up. You wave them away, tears in your eyes.

“Oh my God,” you gasp, clutching your chest. “Dex. Dex.”

He’s standing stiffly, eyes flicking nervously around the room, like he didn’t expect you to react. His phone wavers in his hand. “You don’t have to laugh that hard,” he mutters, starting to pull it back.

“No, no—don’t you dare delete that,” you grab his wrist, still breathless. “You made this? Where did you find it?”

He blinks. “Facebook.”

“Christ almighty, you’re going deeper.”

He swallows, ears red and flexing his hands. “You seem to like them.”

You giggle again and this time somebody mutters something about needing to go home. You don’t care. Dex is still standing there like he’s not sure if he should run away, but a smile’s starting to tug at his mouth too.

“Keep going,” you say, grinning so hard your cheeks hurt. “I want more tomorrow.”

“…Alright,” he nods. He’s serious but the blush’s absolutely radiating off his face. “I’ll look for more Minions.”

a/n: this is what i was talking about btw

[rawjutsu]

YOU'RE SO PRETTY :3 p1 of the ":3 with benefits" series

pairing: college aged loser yuuta x college aged lesser loser freader

summary: yuuta :3s his way into some pussy

cw: unprotected sex, objectification, mild degradation, dubious enthusiasm, hentai references, loss of virginity, the tags make it sound a lot worse than it rlly is

you’re one more “mommy pls sit on my face” away from setting your phone on fire.

every time you open hinge, it’s the same photo getting all the attention: the cosplay pic. it was meant to be pg-13, sure—but between the school uniform blazer fighting for its life and your very intentional push-up bra, you’re not exactly shocked by the thirst. just exhausted.

“let me see em 😍”

“damn ur tits could cure my depression fr”

“mommy?”

“pls ruin me 🧎🧎🧎”

you sigh, aggressively pressing the little “x” next to every like. the app is one second away from being deleted, until a single comment stops you:

“you’re so pretty :3”

…what the fuck?

you blink. then blink again. is this bait?

you click his profile, expecting the worst, and are met with a guy who looks like he just rolled out of bed after crying over a studio ghibli film. his hair’s messy in a kind of hot way, dark bangs falling over his eyes. his profile pic is just him awkwardly holding up a peace sign, next to a cropped-out friend with green hair. you clock the dark circles under his eyes immediately. he looks like he hasn't slept in 36 hours. he’s kind of cute.

prompt: "two truths and a lie?"

“i’ve been to africa. i have a cat back home named rika. i’ve never cried during an anime.”

you match and reply.

“thank you :)”

you shift in bed, suddenly very aware of how dry your texting game is. you’ve never dated, never been in a relationship. technically, you’ve never even had sex. unless fingering yourself to doujinshi counts. probably not.

still, you send:

“you’re pretty too :)”

instant reply.

“oh my gosh thank you :3”

“i would be so honored if i got to kiss you :3”

oh god.

somewhere, your best friend is cursing herself for not warning you about men who use emoticons like “:3”. because three days later, you’re in his twin xl dorm bed, and everything is spiraling.

...

yuuta's panting like he just ran a marathon, eyes wide and locked on your tits as he jackhammers into you like he’s trying to win a prize.

“fuck, your pussy’s so warm—so pretty—oh my god—feels so good—”

the bed is creaking. you’re folded like laundry. there’s an unopened cup ramen on his desk vibrating with each thrust. he’s got your legs hooked over his shoulders and your brain is doing olympic-level gymnastics trying to process how this soft-spoken guy who said “:3” just days ago is currently rearranging your guts like it’s his life's mission.

and yet—he looks so tired. his bangs are stuck to his forehead with sweat, and those dark circles? even darker now. like he hasn’t slept since you two matched. and despite looking like he could collapse at any moment, he's somehow still going. and talking.

“your tits are unreal i’m gonna die—fuck—can you feel how good this is for me?”

you groan. not from pleasure, but because your eye just caught the anime poster on the ceiling. a busty anime girl in a microscopic bikini is bending over, ass out, cheeks flushed, pussy print visible. you don’t know if you want to laugh or cry.

he moans. you flinch. he misreads the whole situation and starts palming your boobs like they’re stress balls, pinching a nipple with such confidence you wonder if he’s actually done this before or if he just watched a lot of hentai and decided that was enough.

your phone buzzes from his desk. it’s your best friend.

how’s your hinge date?

you close your eyes.

you really should’ve deleted that stupid app.

taglist: @isagistar sttaejoon-blog

a/n i absolutely did not write this from personal experience.

[zarla-s]

I'm not sure if you accept asks, but kinda wanted to share a fact that I found out recently.

With our modern technologies, it's no biggie to insert an image into text, and emoji is already a big part of the internet. However, back in 2000s, images often were too heavy for the technologies! And even if you manage to insert an image, with the text the whole thing might look just strange.

And here comes our hero — Wingdings(Not Gaster)! Created in 1990, Wingdings' main purpose never was to be a readable font, it was the early-internet easily accessible images. You need a thumbs up? Of course you can go ahead and bother yourself with inserting a heavy blurry image; orrr you can just change the font to Wingdings and get a high-resolution image with any size you want. (And that's also a reason why Tumblr reads some of the wingdings font as emojis :D)

Of course, now really a small amount of people uses Wingdings for it's original purpose, however it still remains in Windows OS by default (from 2014), and probably had a huge impact on the mainstream back in the day.

Oh yeah, it also leads us to another thing: since in Handplates Gaster was the one to create phone for Toriel and Asgore (as far as I remember??? damn my memory), I'm pretty sure he could use Wingdings as easy emojis for the early technologies :D

(Sorry for long post and poor grammar, got carried away for a bit XD)

Haven't done an ask cluster in ages, so let's get a few out of the way! Some Deltarune Chapter 3-4 spoilers ahead!

The main hurdle for images back in the 90s was the load-times - 28.8 modems were VERY slow, which is why a lot of old images tend to be on the smaller side. People used very tiny little things in their text back then, mostly game sprites or little pixel things like teacups, stars, hearts, little decorative things like that but all very small for loadtimes. Early precursors to the standard emoji! But yeah Wingdings was also meant to serve that purpose, haha. Even though embedding a font on a webpage was also tricky... so whenever people wanted to play tricks with Wingdings (look up the "NYC" thing) they'd usually tell each other to open up Wordpad and type it in there. Nothing back then was high resolution though lol, not with everyone using a CRT. |D But I'm just being pedantic, don't mind me.

I don't think Gaster would really like emojis or emoticons at all, it'd be kind of weird for him, haha. I can see Sans or Papyrus messing with them though, Sans just to tweak him. Alphys of course loves them.

Possibly? I don't have many thoughts about Friend right now cause I just don't think we have enough information. Pink/Yellow definitely keeps coming up, which is a motif I mostly associate with Spamton but could turn out to be indicative of a much broader thing. I still think Spamton was talking to the knight though. Love Spamton having cat connections lol. Part cat. Neko Spamton. Hang out with the cat Shadowguys.

I don't know if I like it exactly, there's a lot of stuff pointing to it but that doesn't nearly matter as much to me as where's Papyrus. Where is Papyrus. Sans is nothing to me without Papyrus. Where is he! Did he come with him if he hopped dimensions? They NEED to be together the skelebros MUST STAY TOGETHER. Papyrus doesn't even need to do anything, I just want to see him and maybe say hi. I just want to know he's okay. Where is he toby. I need to see him. plz.

I did do some Handplates/Deltarune type things a while ago! Just small things though.

deltarune... good

I HAD TO LOOK IT UP i wanted it to be Centiskorch but they're not in the right egg group lol

From what we saw of them in Chapter 4 it looks like the Addisons actually support each other rather happily and think of each other as friends (ha ha! i was right!!), but I do think Spamton felt really self-conscious about not being as successful as the others. He felt like he was the group's little faily mascot which really bothered him, and to be fair they did sometimes treat him like that (not maliciously or anything). I don't think he thought they'd leave him but he really wanted them to take him seriously and treat him like an equal. Maybe even impress them! He wanted to prove himself and fulfill his purpose which left him very vulnerable to the voice promising him the world in exchange for his proverbial soul.

I think that'd make it sting even worse that Spamton never thought the others would leave him, like never even expected it since he was in their AdBloc, so them ghosting him for his success instead of being happy for him would have been so confusing and so painful. He clearly still dwells on them a lot from how hard he projects onto Kris about them. They still think about him too. :< Really I wish they could all just get over themselves and talk to each other about what happened.

[emelinstriker]

May you share your TFP Decepticon headcanons 👁️👁️

If you want specifics, then their domestic lives? (Or what one can achieve akin to a domestic life in time of war 💀)

I did NOT expect to see any ask regarding TFP- Or at least till I switch fandoms again- So like I can't really think of many X Reader headcanons right now. So I just wrote down like 3 for each. I'm also not quite sure how to condense domestic points, cuz I suck at general fluff when my hyperfixation is elsewhere- So sorry if these don't feel like they're really in the domestic direction fhgnfhg

Only doing some Decepticons though-

☆ ~ Headcanons ~ ☆

☆ Megatron

He do be a busy mech, so he doesn't have too much time on his servos. Therefore he cherishes it whenever he gets to have private moments with just his human and no interruptions.

Likes to carry you around on his shoulder pad- It just generally makes it safer for you, in his opinion, and more comforting for him.

Any that would merely look at you weirdly would face the wrath of Lord Megatron. You can tell him not to punish the other Cybertronian though. He does listen... sometimes.

☆ Starscream

Mans refusing to show affection towards you around other Decepticons, especially Megatron. But he's just melting around you when in private.

He prefers recharging with you lying on him. It's oddly soothing having his human on his chassis.

Tends to look for you as comfort whenever he had a bad day with Megatron.

☆ Soundwave

Despite the amount of work he does and how busy he is, he doesn't really fail at also paying attention to you. He's truly a multi-tasker.

Would let Laserbeak play with you though if his extra appendages and music can't keep you busy.

Very loving towards his human. He may not talk, but he uses emoticons on his visor to display how much he loves you.

☆ Shockwave

Just don't play with whatever materials he needs to conduct his experiments and you're good to go. Play with his antennae and ear fins while on his shoulder pad instead.

He gets easily distracted by his human. He knows it's illogical with the major size difference, and how he should just be able to ignore you. But he can't help it nor explain this phenomenon.

He also also can't explain why he has this urge to gently pat you with a digit.

☆ Knockout

While he does buff himself on his own, or has Breakdown help him, he does enjoy it when you're buffing him instead as well. Especially when he's in his alt mode.

Speaking of which, expect drive-in theater dates. Just don't get his interior dirty with snack crumbs.

Worries a lot about your health. If you're sick, he'll keep you close to him to make sure you're actually alright. But no kisses from him till you're no longer coughing and sneezing. He just buffed himself and doesn't need your sickly fluids on his frame.

☆ Predaking

Tends to pick you up whenever he wants attention. You were talking to Steve? Nah, now you gotta give your giant mecha dragon pets and kisses.

He also enjoys carrying you around on his frame whenever he can. At least he won't have to look where he goes this way.

While he has to go on missions from time to time, it's not a common thing due to his value, so a lot of his time is spent protectively watching over his human.

[cheezitofthevalley]

Part 1

Hi! Sorry this took so long (new job). Let's get right to it.

Q: What are dividers?

A: Dividers are any graphic that is used to divide two things, usually bodies of text. They are useful for breaking up blog posts and signalling the end of a topic. You might not have noticed, but many websites feature dividers of some kind. Bloggers, however, tend to be a bit extra about their dividers. Here are some good examples:

Q: Ok, cool. It probably wasn't necessary for you to put that many examples, but it does make it clear that dividers can be pretty much anything. Still, I think there are more graphics that you've posted. What about those tiny thingys?

A: You mean favicons? Yeah, let's talk about those.

Favicons are tiny images that represent a website or company. Any easy example is probably right in front of you, if you're on a laptop. Look at the Tumblr tab you have open; do you see the little "t" icon? That's a favicon. Favicons were originally 16x16 pixels. They can be animated.

That being said, lots of people use the term to refer to any small pixel art. These can also be called pixels.

Q: Wait. Why call pixel art a pixel? Aren't pixels single points on a screen?

A: Well, yes. And favicons are supposed to have very specific dimensions and uses, but here we are. "Pixels" can sometimes refer to tiny pixel art, usually between 16x16 and 32x32 pixels (I know, confusing) large. These pixels are often animated. I use favicons and pixels to refer to the same thing.

Q: Ok, I think I get it. But what are pixels used for? Are they essentially icons, or trademarks, like favicons?

A: Sometimes, but usually not. They are often used like bullet points in website directories or lists. I've also seen them used as emoticons, buttons, and decorations. Some people like to simply collect them.

Here are some examples of pixels/favicons:

Q: oOoOO. I like those. Is there anything else people collect?

A: Yep! Pretty much all graphics are collectible. That being said, some lack any use except to be displayed. Fanlisting buttons, for example.

Q: What are fanlistings?

A: Fanlistings were a way for fans to connect online before social media really took off. They were basically online bulletins listing contact info of the fanbases members so that you could connect with like-minded people. They aren't much of a thing now, but they do exist. People who love Spacehey and Neocities are likely to use them. You can register for some and take a button to put on your blog to let others know you're part of that fandom. It also links to the fanlisting itself for others to join. Here are some fanlisting buttons (I haven't joined any):

They are usually 50x50, but don't have to be: they can even be other graphics, like 88x31 buttons! Some other common dimensions are 75x50, 100x35, and 100x50.

In part three, we'll finish up with a couple odd graphics, some interesting old websites, and useful posting tips.

[mammonscheeks]

om! older brothers reacting to mc playing mystic messenger

✎ includes: lucifer, mammon, leviathan

✎ warnings: none

"I've missed my bed..." you mumble, flopping onto your mattress in the HoL. You pull out your phone, opening your favorite otome game: Mystic Messenger.

You had endured a long day at RAD, full of making excuses for slipping out of your classes. You couldn't help it: to get a good ending in Mystic Messenger, you had to complete a certain percentage of the daily chatrooms. So, whenever you heard that familiar 'ping' notification, you would excuse yourself and stalk off to the nearest bathroom, closet, or any place where you could be alone.

With all of your classes and chores done, you could finally laze around in bed, playing at your own leisure without the threat of a professor or classmate looming over your shoulder. That was, until a knock rang at your door, prompting the entrance of a certain demon.

LUCIFER stood in the doorway cautiously, entering your room just as you clicked on a chat room with 707.

"MC, I'm here to get that classical vinyl I left here last night- oh... am I interrupting something?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the amount of text messages appearing on your phone screen.

"Oh, no! Come in," you wave the demon over. Despite Lucifer's otherwise sophisticated nature, he couldn't help but sneak a peek at your phone, which was conveniently held in his field of vision.... Only to see 707 taking up the whole chat room, spamming text messages and emoticons at lightning speed.

"MC, who is that? he texts like Mammon," Lucifer scoffed with disgust. "are you... dating someone?"

"It's a character in a game, Lucifer!" you smiled, staring at your phone screen. "don't worry about it."

"Oh." Lucifer stated curtly. his hand subconsciously slid over his chest, as he felt a surge of blood pumping through his veins.

A game? I feel relieved that another demon, angel, or even that human solomon hasn't beaten me to MC's affection... but still...!

You felt a soft hand on your cheek. Tearing your eyes away from the screen, you found your face inches away from Lucifer's blood-red eyes, which were staring deep into your soul.

"Remember, MC... You belong to me. No one else... Game or otherwise." His sweet voice dripped onto your tongue like honey.

MAMMON bounded into your room for no reason, as per usual. It had become customary at this point for him to come over, sit on your bed, and simply chill with you almost every day.

"MC, you've been on your phone all day, who are you talking to that's not me?" Mammon pouted, laying on the bed next to you, dramatically splaying his arms out for your attention.

"Mammon, don't be an attention whore," You joked. "There's no need to be jealous."

"Hey, don't go around calling me jealous! I don't get jealous!" Mammon protested.

He suddenly froze when he saw what looked like an incoming call on your phone screen... From somebody named 'Jumin Han.' You accepted the call before Mammon unexpectedly threw himself across your lap.

"WHO'S JUMIN HAN?" He yelled, basically tackling you.

"HeYY! Get off me!" You shoved the demon, but to no avail. After a short power struggle for your phone, he finally grabbed it and yelled into the receiver.

"WHO ARE YOU? STOP CALLING MY HUMAN!"

"I just closed a deal with an oil company in the middle east... the life of a future CEO is always busy," the game character, Jumin stated in his cold tone.

"Ugh, even his cold way of speaking reminds me of Lucifer!" Mammon groaned. "Wait... A future CEO? So... What I'm hearing is that he's rich?"

"Get off me, Mammon!" You groaned. "It's just a game!"

"Hey, Jumin Han! I don't care who you are, or how powerful your credit card is. MC is MY HUMAN, ya hear?!"

LEVIATHAN knocks on your door before entering, his Nintendo Switch console in hand.

"MC, don't tell me you forgot about our MarioKart tournament today! Levi sighed.

"Nope, I haven't-- I just have to finish this chat really quick," you said, waving Leviathan over to your bed.

The purple-haired boy blushed, but complied with your request. As he sat next to you, the bed dipped slightly from his weight, and you smiled at your phone screen, scooting close to Leviathan to fill in the awkward space and get more cozy. However, Levi's embarrassed attitude vanished entirely as he glanced at your phone.

"Ooh, is that Mystic Messenger? I love that game!" Leviathan gushed.

"You... You've played it?" You asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Of course! I've played every single route and unlocked most of the DLC!" He grinned proudly. "But, MC... Don't get too attached to that app, alright?"

You looked at Levi, whose face was red as he refused to make eye contact with you.

"Don't be jealous, Leviathan. You know that I love talking to you all day, every day."

"H-Hey, that's not what I meant! But you're right! I'll always be here for you, unlike them!"

The two of you spend the rest of the night talking about your experiences with the game, its backstory, and other fandoms that the both of you are in together.

[twistedpink]

omg I love your writing so much🫶🫶🫶 can I request a jealous! Ace please and thank you in advance🥰🫶🫶🫶

thanks for requesting!

Ace Trappola gets jealous for no reason all the time, and he’s such a jerk about it! What, you’re looking at that ignyhide guy? I heard you’re not his type.. c’mon don’t hit him, he’s just joking!!

Jealous!Ace that monopolizes you before every test (even if neither of you know the material) just so nobody else’ll tutor you

Jealous!Ace is always pulling stuff out your bag to see what’s up with it, and he actually gets strategic! “So why’re you so attached to the keychain? He gave it to you? Kay, no wonder it’s so ugly :)” it goes missing soon after, but Ace buys you a new one a right after you tell him. You think he took it? Psh, as if!

Jealous!Ace that never leaves you alone when you go out, especially not with any strangers. He also has a history of dragging you away from Cater whenever he brings up posting about you (Ace is a professional gatekeeper)

Jealous!Ace gets clingy really quickly into your relationship, but he’s always saying to “keep it casual”,, if you’re late to any classes (that he’s not skipping) it’s a 99% chance that he’s blowing up your phone with the worst emoticons he can find (he has a google doc with a bunch of obscure websites and apps for them)

Jealous!Ace that “keeps you wanting” by waiting a couple minutes to respond whenever you message him, even if his read receipts are on and you know he’s just been waiting since you texted him + he’s insufferable when you let slip you’re hanging out with anybody, badgering you to call right away “like any good boyfriend would!!”

Jealous!Ace won’t stop calling you the scummiest nicknames because he knows it wards other guys off (“babeeee just ditch him”), but he only does it over text/call. He’s wayyyy too prideful to call you anything creative unless he’s on a possessive streak

Jealous!Ace is always trying to impress you with showy magic tricks and luck based skills,, “look! I landed the bottle!” “How about you land a 90?” (He swears you’re not funny, but we know he’s lying)

Jealous!Ace is just the type to get a little insecure (not that he’ll admit it), but he’s easy to keep happy- all the guy wants is a compliment every so often, and the ramshackle prefect is happy to provide! <33

[2demondogs]

Some HC abt what kind of texters RDR2 characters (you choose who) would be?

Would they be dry, dynamic, overly sensitive about Grammer, no Grammer at all??? I know this is kinda of silly. I hope you don't mind, lol

Omg no this is fun love it. I have a modern AU (IDK if I'll ever write anything for it bc I tried and felt silly) so I already have some ideas cooked up.

I accidentally wrote too many and had to restrain myself because it's 1:30am and I need to sleep.

Charles has autocorrect on and will not elaborate on typos. He texts in a tone that sounds like he wants you dead. He won't open a single link, song, etc. he is sent unless it's from Arthur or John because he dgaf otherwise.

Hosea uses speech to text not because he's old but because he cannot be bothered. Refuses audio messages. He has do not disturb on 24/7 and the only person on the exceptions list is Arthur. He has Dutch's number blocked. He'll respond instantly if it looks like you sent him gossip.

Sean texts every thought he has to whoever is online at the moment, gets into phases where he sends a thousand audio messages. He answers in 4 seconds flat, day or night. Lowercase and usually brainrot infested.

Dutch uses no punctuation unless it's an exclamation mark, which indicates he's yelling at you. He sends people recipes and news articles with no context. Uses capitals one day, lowercase the next. Will text you questions like "How was your relationship with your father?" at ten in the morning. At least he actually wants to know, I guess?

John uses :3 and >:3 as his only emoticons and texts in lowercase. But like, in the way where you get the feeling that at any moment the next message might be your full address. Answers in minutes unless someone's seeking emotional support, which he will ignore until he feels bad enough to answer.

Sadie also texts in all lowercase with old-school emoticons like :-) and :P, in a way where you suspect the next message might be your social security number. One time it was, but she was deadass telling the truth about guessing it on the first try. Insane aura.

Arthur doesn't reply for so long you genuinely have to search the local obits for his name. He has everyone except the one person not annoying him that week muted (usually Hosea). He hates using his phone unless it's watching reels. He texts while he drives. He types with one pointer finger.

Javier types fast but sends an audio message if he's really angry or happy. He will text on one platform while spamming reels or whatever on another. Oh and then once that four hours of constant texting is over, he doesn't respond again for four business days. Sometimes he doesn't even answer calls. Like dude... where the fuck are you?

Micah only sends audio messages. Especially to Dutch, who loves it and only sends audio messages back. The only actual text messages he's sent are extremely pointed songs he tells people reminded him of them and then when you listen to it it's clearly not a compliment. Only texts via number because his texts got him banned off most social media.

[mihii-i]

IMAGINE HELPING MIZU BATHE

LIKE HEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHE

kissed by her impurity.

Pairings: mizu x fem!reader

CW: sfw, female reader, none really, honestly this is more of a massage bro, lazy writing cause no time and I didn’t feel like passionately writing today but still felt like writing, girls kissing [demon emoticon idfk], wuh luh wuh, short fic, lil attachment issues idk cause mizu deserves so much better, someone give my girl a better life, i love her sm, i wont stfu once season 2 comes, not proofread.

A/N: heyyy so I started this a while ago but I paused it for my other mizu fic so the quality dropped also I’m a bit busy today so this is VERY rushed no emotion or symbolism for this one sorry :( but ig it’s kinda more calming and steady than my usual fics so enjoy <3🕯️

“Mizu..hold still damn it..”

Mizu’s shoulders hunched at the sensation of your fingertips slithering down the ridges of her shoulders, the bottom half of her body fully submerged in the water. Ripples of the stream flowing from the cascading waterfall beside her emanated from her shoulders in small ring shapes as she leaned back against you, head tilting comfortably onto your clothed body.

Her own clothes were discarded atop a nearby rock as you could observe, her water patterned obi sprawled out atop her kimono in a messy fashion. Clearly enough, it was quite relaxing to Mizu to be out of her formerly masculine clothing for once, taking comfort in laying completely bare as her raw self in an eased fashion. Despite always being so tense, constantly rocking on edge detecting any trace of death lingering close, finding solace in her worries being drowned away as her mind went blank.

Nonetheless, your company was strangely welcome especially in these moments—shocking even you when she initially beckoned you to reside with her while she bathed, as you knew that she wasn’t the biggest fan of others’ company. Head tipping back, Mizu sighed out a content hum as your warm breath grazed over the shell of her ear from behind, palms flat against her shoulder blades.

Seeing her in such an unguarded state, hands clear of anything that could puncture your skin or knock the wind out of you..it brought a sort of soothing comfort to you, knowing that she trusted you enough to allow you to even go as far as touching her while she bathed. Considering her life where she remained alienated, treated as nothing but a outcasted stray with nobody but a blind swordmaker to take her in.

Mizu exhaled a heavy, contented sigh as she slumped back against you, the prolonged swish of the waterfall penetrating through the lake’s pre-existing waters continuing to echo in your ears as the only sound surrounding the bushy clearing. Your fingers threaded through her raven locks, massaging the water pooled between your palms into her scalp while she proceeded to sink deeper, allowing herself to be engulfed within.

Small flicks of droplets from the waterfall gently pattered against your cheek as you kept your hands firmly pressed against the bony surface of her back, each minuscule swish grazing your skin periodically while Mizu lay back with all her worries washed away. Clearing your throat, you shifted your gaze over to her slumped form, causing her eyes to shoot open and trace over to you behind her.

You couldn’t help it. Those eyes of hers alone fixated on you, no matter how stern her glare was, you couldn’t help but be rendered unable to suppress how your heartbeat quickened whenever she looked at you, knowing full well that her sights were fixated on you. No matter how many had ushered you away from her, claiming that her blood stemmed from a devil’s ravenous hunger to kill, you just felt strangely drawn to the woman like an unfathomable magnetic force.

It was like touching a burning fire while kissed by a biting cold. You’re told not to touch the fire for warmth, yet once you do, the pain only overtakes you if you don’t hover by the flames safely. Whenever you were with her, you were kissed by her impurity.

Mizu’s breath hitched with each movement of your fingertips working into her skin, rolling her shoulders back as you kneaded them between the bone with each movement. Your subtle pushes were enough to make her swallow back her tense front, letting out gentle exhales to signal her enjoyment of your hands massaging her. She deserved it honestly after the hell she had been through all her life, clearly requiring a moment to relax and let go of everything as she bathed.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mizu tilted her head back once more, finally speaking up. Her breath seemed to hitch in her words, a small shiver running along her lower lip from the freezing temperature of the waters.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

You shrug in response.

“You tell me.”

“I asked you a question to answer, not to respond with a quizzical statement back.”

“Get used to it, Mizu. You have someone that loves you now.”

She paused, torso slightly pivoting around to be able to turn her head toward you. An unfamiliar warmth seeped its way into her stomach, her soft blue gaze tracing up to meet your own eyes. For the first time, Mizu’s body seemed far less tense, muscles relaxing from not only the lake pooling around her, but also your words, swaying her like a gentle breeze.

You couldn’t even process what had occurred following the instant your hands found themselves tangled in her wet hair once more, head tilting as your lips parted to lock with hers. Time itself seemed to freeze up for the two of you as you leaned forward into the water, grasping tighter into her hair as your lips were practically glued to Mizu’s the sudden kiss throwing you off guard the second you pulled away, despite being the one that initiated it.

However, Mizu seemed completely unfazed, turning her back to you once more as she reclined back to lean against the rocky edge. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you returned to massage her joints, fingers curling at each spot in your overwhelmingly joyful mood now.

“Swear it then. Swear you won’t leave.”

“I swear, Mizu.”

A/N: I’m way too exhausted to add an authors note gn and merry Christmas / happy holidays-

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

WWTAD

Inspired by this comment from @threefandomsinatrenchcoat.

——

It began as someone’s idea of a joke.

Though Stephanie swore up and down her field of study was child development, the kitchen table in the Manor had resembled nothing more than the mutant spawn of a craft shop and a toy store disemboweled upon its worn wooden surface since she had gone back to school. Textbooks and scrawled class notes made stacked mountains amid felled forests of crayons and colored pencils and fields of pogs with emoticons stamped on their faces.

It wasn’t clear to anyone why, exactly, her classwork required so much glue. Or maybe it was less her classwork and more her credit-stacking additional work as her professor’s research assistant, another term for unpaid labor and all-around gopher. Like sewage flowing downhill, demands from on high cascaded down from the professor to the TA, the TA to Steph as RA, and from Steph to anyone who had the misfortune of of passing through the Manor when she was there, stressed and swearing furtively under her breath as she tried to glue popsicle sticks together instead of her fingertips. Secretly, a few of them wondered if her actual assignment was to study them as they drew pictures of houses, glued yarn hair on hand puppets, and cut and pasted faces to discs.

The task that day had been to paint tiny wooden peg dolls, round and edgeless like Fisher-Price Little People.

“Just make them look like people,” was all the instruction Steph had given, waving a paintbrush around vaguely, only to add, “Or I guess animals are fine, too, but like. They’ve got to be something identifiable, you know?”

“And these are for… kids?” Tim had asked, doubtful, as he lifted a tiny peg up to his face for inspection.

Steph had nodded without looking up from her own work. “Yeah, for like, play therapy. Pick the one that represents how you’re feeling and act out what’s on your mind, that type of thing. So they can’t all be exactly the same. Diversity, variety.” She had waved a little too hard and flung a light spatter of paint across the tabletop.

No one really minded helping, though they complained good-naturedly any time they were wrenched from their original plans by Steph’s tractor beam of stress. Bruce was so obnoxiously proud of her for continuing her education, but Steph was inconsistent and squirrelly about any kind of financial help, so she stacked an assortment of low-paying shift work atop schoolwork and RA work. If sitting for a half hour and hot-glueing sequins onto paper crowns made the semester a little easier for her, no one would begrudge her the time. It was nice, too, to spend time together, with Steph on field leave and Spoiler’s purple cape temporarily (they said the word with heavy quotations out of earshot—only Steph herself and maybe Bruce believed she would be back) hung up.

Also, there was something relaxing about crafting. There was no pressure to be artistically impressive, though there would always be a mildly competitive air to the communal creation, especially with Damian at the table. It was nice to focus on something other than casework or capework or the demands of adult life. They might not be able to rid Gotham of the ghost guns filtering into its streets or the poverty corroding its foundations, but by george, they could paint eyes on little chunks of wood.

No one could remember (or would confess to) who painted which peg doll afterward—not that it should have mattered, except maybe for Stephanie’s suspected growing case study of all of them, because the dolls were all supposed to be packed up and carted off to… wherever they were supposed to be used. Some professor’s office or a classroom or a therapist’s practice or something. Except one got left behind.

“Look at him, isn’t he precious?” Stephanie cooed a few days later, her voice reaching a pitch that made Titus sit up and tilt his head. She lifted from the ever-morphing chaos on the table a tiny peg doll with dot eyes, a crisp black bow tie, and a pleased u of a smile.

“Is that… Alfred?” Dick’s head had also tilted in an unconscious mimic of Titus as he squinted at the figure pinched between Stephanie’s fingertips.

Stephanie caught movement in the doorway and pivoted on heel with a cry of, “Tim, look!” only for her glittery-eyed glee to sour into a frown at Tim’s grimace. “Migraine?”

“Mm,” Tim replied noncommittally. He had smoothed out his expression and looked almost normal, except for a tightening around his eyes and mouth.

Stephanie’s glare narrowed further. She looked like Babs when she did that, which everyone else found both alarming and effective, so they never told her. “Did you take your meds?”

“Um,” Tim hedged.

“Tim!” Both Dick and Stephanie exclaimed in varying level of exasperation, but only Stephanie then marched forward, doll held in front of her like a cross before a vampire. “Look at him. You don’t want to disappoint him, do you?”

Tim’s eyes nearly crossed in an effort to focus on the tiny figure, then widened. “Uhh.”

“Take your meds,” Steph urged. “For Tiny Alfred.”

Tim took a step back, to escape or to obey, it wasn’t clear. Steph advanced, grabbed his hand, and shoved the little doll into his palm. “No, no, take him with you. He’ll know if you did or not.”

She waved her hand, not in a crossed benediction but in the vague shape of an A. “Go. For Tiny Alfred.”

Tim retreated fully, still clutching the tiny doll.

Dick raised an eyebrow. “Do you think that will work?”

Steph shrugged. “Can’t hurt.”

So began the benevolent dictatorship of Tiny Alfred. He began to appear in odd places, as if by magic—on a shelf, in a drawer, on a windowsill, in a cupboard. No one would own up to moving him, but he seemed to travel the Manor with ease. And then he appeared further afield. Dick found him perched on an unpeeled clementine on his dashboard. Damian found him nestled amid his colored pencils next to the project he had grown frustrated with and given up. Jason found him in his apartment, sitting comfortably atop his night class reading assignment. Cass found him on her bedside table, placed carefully next to the unused tube of medication lotion meant for her hands.

Alfred himself might have fallen under suspicion, but when Tiny Alfred finally made an appearance in his presence (Stephanie; unopened water bottle), he had seemed outwardly bemused but, underneath it all, a little miffed. Frustration that his mini homage worked more effectively than his own pointed glances seemed to disqualify him as a suspect. Bruce, of course, was next on the suspect list, though no one could prove it.

Whoever was deploying Tiny Alfred did so judiciously. He was mostly used as encouragement, perched on or in or near an item to be used, a small, beatific cheerleader in painted tails. He still also made neutral appearances like in his first days, hidden in unexpected places to elicit a startled smile from whoever found him. On rare occasions, he was a gentle warning, forcing the recipient to look into his unblinking ink eyes or—worst of all—physically lift him off the video game controller, the pack of cigarettes, the caffeine pills, the battered boxing gloves, in order to use them. Soon enough, even his presence wasn’t required. A murmured He wouldn’t like that or Not in front of Tiny Alf! was enough to influence behavior. Texts of “WWTAD” (What Would Tiny Alfred Do) became common. When objection was made to names in the field, Tiny Alfred appeared in the Cave, spotlit on the main work bench, an even tinier felt mask tied to his face, Tiny Agent A ready to see to his duty incognito.

It was only a matter of time before, like all heroes before him, Tiny Alfred’s stakes grew. Mundane foes gave way to sharp moments of crisis. Stress. Exhaustion. Injury. Defeat. Heartbreak. A nudge from Tiny Alfred was fine for eating well or taking meds, but when the teeth of obsession refused to release or despair beckoned, Tiny Alfred was a challenge and reminder and invitation to listen all in one, placed openly by whoever needed to next to whoever needed him.

WWTAD.

Tiny Alfred’s most daring battle yet came on a wet, dreary, and miserable November evening, as Bruce sat red-eyed and shivering in front of the Batcomputer. His cheeks were red with fever, his lips pale, his forehead clammy. His eyes weren’t focusing on the screen as he scrolled, instead glassy and drifting, but he refused to go upstairs. No passive-aggressive asides, no pointed looks, no huffs or grumbles or even outright comments seemed to penetrate.

At last, Damian, freshly washed from his post-patrol shower, cowlick askew, awkward in rapidly growing limbs despite his trained control, stomped forward and placed the tiny wooden doll next to his father’s hand.

“Go to bed,” he said, then turned and stomped back up the stairs to the Manor.

The others, still milling about the Cave with pretend tasks, froze.

Bruce pinched Tiny Alfred between his fingertips, the doll impossibly small in such large hands, and brought it up before watery eyes. He stared. He sniffed. Tiny Alfred waited.

Bruce placed the doll carefully down on the desk next to his keyboard, pushed himself to his feet, and mumbled a mucous-heavy, “Goodnight.”

From the desk, Tiny Alfred smiled his tiny smile, pleased.