#probably going to be the last drawing in a while unless i get hit with inspiration and have time to kill

[momentomori24]

Forgot to post this. I haven't drawn anything based on Nankidai's little school au sketches in literal years so this was a very self-indulgent piece. I had a lot of fun making this ^-^

[hollowed-theory-hall]

I don't remember if Harry is a Morning person or not, I feel like he is pretty grumpy

Well, I ended up writing about Harry's sleep habits in general since it was interesting to me, so you're getting a little more than you bargained for here.

Harry is often mentioned waking up early. He is probably used to it from the Dursleys and whenever he's excited or anxious even more so:

Harry woke at five o’clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn’t want to walk into the station in his wizard’s robes — he’d change on the train. 

(PS, Ch6)

Harry woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. He was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Wood would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of facing a team mounted on the fastest racing brooms gold could buy. 

(CoS, Ch10)

Harry woke early next morning, wrapped in a sleeping bag on the drawing room floor. A chink of sky was visible between the heavy curtains: It was the cool, clear blue of watered ink, somewhere between night and dawn, and everything was quiet except for Ron and Hermione’s slow, deep breathing. Harry glanced over at the dark shapes they made on the floor beside him.

(DH, Ch10)

When he's nervous or anxious he also struggles to fall asleep to begin with, and doesn't sleep a lot at all:

Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn’t sleep. He tried to empty his mind — he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours — but the expression on Snape’s face when Harry had seen his leg wasn’t easy to forget.

(PS, Ch11)

A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they’d ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. How could they ever make up for this? Harry didn’t sleep all night.

(PS, Ch15)

“Harry, you — you look terrible.” Harry hadn’t gotten to sleep until daybreak. 

(PoA, Ch11)

He thought of the letter he had written to Sirius before leaving Privet Drive. Would Sirius have gotten it yet? When would he reply? Harry lay looking up at the canvas, but no flying fantasies came to him now to ease him to sleep, and it was a long time after Charlie’s snores filled the tent that Harry finally dozed off.

(GoF, Ch9)

Feeling disappointed, Harry threw the book back into his trunk, turned off the lamp, and rolled over, thinking of werewolves and Snape, Stan Shunpike and the Half-Blood Prince, and finally falling into an uneasy sleep full of creeping shadows and the cries of bitten children. ...

(HBP, Ch16)

Harry did not sleep well that night. He lay awake for what felt like hours, wondering how Malfoy was using the Room of Requirement and what he, Harry, would see when he went in there the following day

(HBP, Ch21)

And he seems to get up and get ready immediately when he gets up, he doesn't dwindle in bed and struggles to wake up:

Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would at least meet Ron and Hermione tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up, dressed, went for a last look at the Firebolt, and was just wondering where he’d have lunch, when someone yelled his name and he turned.

(PoA, Ch4)

Even when he is startled awake by something happening:

Harry woke as suddenly as though he’d been hit in the face. Disoriented in the total darkness, he fumbled with his hangings — he could hear movements around him, and Seamus Finnigan’s voice from the other side of the room: “What’s going on?”

(PoA, Ch13)

Early next morning, Harry woke with a plan fully formed in his mind, as though his sleeping brain had been working on it all night. He got up, dressed in the pale dawn light, left the dormitory without waking Ron, and went back down to the deserted common room.

(GoF, Ch15)

And he doesn't really sleep in late (unless he didn't sleep at all the night before, which happens a few times). At least not that I could find. The only time he seems to be sleepy and wants to stay in bed lazily I could find is when he is given a dreamless sleep potion:

Harry took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. He felt himself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around him became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at him in a friendly way through the screen around his bed; his body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather matress. Before he could finish the potion, before he could say another word, his exhaustion had carried him off to sleep. Harry woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that he didn’t open his eyes, wanting to drop off again. The room was still dimly lit; he was sure it was still nighttime and had a feeling that he couldn’t have been asleep very long.

(GoF, Ch36)

It also seems that once he's awake (even if very early) Harry struggles falling back asleep:

Harry fumbled for his alarm clock and looked at it. It was half past four. Cursing Peeves, he rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, but it was very difficult, now that he was awake, to ignore the sounds of the thunder rumbling overhead, the pounding of the wind against the castle walls, and the distant creaking of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. In a few hours he would be out on the Quidditch field, battling through that gale. Finally, he gave up any thought of more sleep, got up, dressed, picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand, and walked quietly out of the dormitory.

(PoA, Ch9)

And all of this makes sense. Trauma and PTSD can affect sleep very negatively. Since OotP, Harry has many uneasy, nightmare-filled nights:

Harry had a troubled night’s sleep. 

(OotP, Ch10)

In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake. 

(OotP, Ch1)

After two nights of little sleep, Harry’s senses seemed more alert than usual.

(DH, Ch19)

Actually, the nightmares and restless nights are there prior to OotP too, this kid is so traumatized:

Harry wished he could forget what he’d seen in the mirror as easily, but he couldn’t. He started having nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackled with laughter.

(PS, Ch13)

As I mentioned, Harry doesn't sleep well when he's anxious, stressed, or excited, and for this kid, it's basically always. So, I think Harry tends to wake up on the earlier side of things and is capable of functioning decently (if angrier) on little to no sleep.

Since I was looking for info on Harry's sleep, apparently, depending on the position he falls asleep in, he snores, loudly:

Harry Potter was snoring loudly. He had been sitting in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face pressed against the cold windowpane, his glasses askew and his mouth wide open.

(HBP, Ch3)

(As a general note, Ron and Neville snore too)

[the-wanderer]

Netflix has seriously harmed it's reputation with how often it is now cancelling shows. What used to be seen as the go-to service for saving cancelled shows, has now become the very thing it swore to destroy {Hello There Obi-Wan Kenobi reference). Netflix likes to repeat it's standard line that they have never cancelled a successful show, but they conveniently never tell us how they measure success, because this doesn't ring true with their shows like Lockwood & Co and Shadow & Bone, that got to both Number 1 and Number 2 respectively in Netflix's own published streaming charts, and that still wasn't enough to save those shows from cancellation. Also Netflix clearly has favourites in terms of marketing, for example I enjoyed the show Everything Now, but you've probably never heard of it, and I searched Facebook - Netflix did one post about it when they dropped the trailer 3 weeks before it's worldwide release, and that was it; but other shows like Bridgerton, you can't fail to know it's there because they post daily about it on their socials for weeks up to and including release and for weeks after too. You even have actors in a new show saying they have to search their show to find it so they can watch and it's not even advertised on Netflix's own home screen, let alone anywhere else, so no wonder these shows get cancelled as they are never given a fair shot to succeed.

It seems unless you go viral or break Netflix's own streaming records, like Stranger Things or Wednesday, then even getting the number one or number two spot is not good enough to save a program from cancellation. Netflix needs to remember that not all releases are an overwhelming overnight success - even some of the best and most popular shows took a while to find their audience, like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The West Wing, The Sopranos, but then when they did find their audience they became what everyone was talking about, and people who had never seen the show, still knew about them from it's impact on the cultural audience. Somebody else said, and I truly believe it, that if Netflix had made Breaking Bad today, they would have cancelled it after two seasons, and then think what great storytelling we would have missed out on, all because the show wasn't a record hit in it's opening week.

And now Netflix finds itself in a self-fullfilling loop where they have now trained their audience to not try new shows and get attached as they'll likely be cancelled. Think about it, how many new shows can you think of on Netflix that got renewed last year. It only seems to be people will tune in for shows like Bridgerton, Emily in Paris, Outer Banks, as they have had time to grow with the characters, so now Netflix has got themselves in to a model where customers don't try a new show, like KAOS or Everything Now, and they'll wait and see if it's renewed, and when after only a month since it's release, it does indeed get cancelled, the consumer hasn't wasted time getting invested in a show & characters that get cut short, especially nowadays when there is so much to watch across traditional TV and now streaming services too, that just because the audience doesn't come running to watch as soon as it drops, doesn't mean it's not there or interested.

2025 see's the return of some of Netflix's biggest shows like Squid Game, Wednesday and Stranger Things, but 2 out of those 3 also end this year too and then what shows will be left that are associated with the Netflix brand - they had Stranger Things, House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black when Netflix first got going, it'll be hard to say by the end of this year what big shows Netflix will have left to draw customers in

Unless Netflix, and the wider industry, change their perception to not only see massive, viral numbers as success and that shows with strong-moderate success are allowed to grow and widen their audience, then there will eventually reach a tipping point where they will cancel one show too many that either customers leave their service, or creatives will decide that Netflix isn't a good partner to work with where you put years of work in writing, filming, producing, editing a project just for it to be cancelled a month after it's release, so if you have a story that needs more than one film or a one and done series to tell it in, then Netflix probably isn't your best bet any longer.

[bendersmind]

Sister Imperator #3

Not to be daunted by the lack of physical copies (apparently this isn't just a me issue either) I've decided to do this review based on the digital release.

So, despite a slight delay I have been able to read Sister #3. I must revise some of my thoughts once again since our story is still unfolding but one of the big takeaways is, I am starting to suspect that Sister isn’t telling us everything. One of the biggest things I’ve been noticing over and over again is the distinct lack of Satan in pretty much every part of the story. There are also some very notable things in 3 that make it seem like she is obscuring some details. And for good reason, she’s telling her story to a reporter after all. 

Here is another GIF for those of you that won’t be reading past the cut because spoilers galore:

So here are a few bullet points of what we’ve learned this issue:

Black haired guy is for suresies Nihil.

Marika is Marika Psaltarian.

Sister’s mother was raised in foster care by a religious family.

The comic takes place after the birth of the twins.

The twins were left with Marika BUT at some point Perpetua was lost.

Nihil was always a douche.

Oh, and another thing that hit me while I was sitting here and typing this shit out: Primo might have been the brother that was referenced in #1 so there are at least some cousins of our twins out there; where the fuck are they? Unless my “Primo is Secundo and Terzo’s dad” theory is correct, which means Terzo and Secundo are those cousins.

Okay, so a big part of this whole shebangabang is that I’m starting to suspect Sister is leaving a whole hell of a lot of shit out. The whole reason I put forth the “fake out Nihil” proposal last time I did one of these was because of the distinct lack of Ghost Clergy shit flying around. If we go by Nihil’s “nine millennia” declaration then the Circus HAD to be the Clergy. Even further, the Clergy predates Christianity. Which, oddly, doesn't conflict with Primo’s interview since he says the current game played by the Clergy was put forth by their opposition at Council of Nicea which means whatever is going on behind this whole shit is really less about Catholicism against its opposite and more about Oppressors against the Oppressed. It just so happened the current form of the Clergy was determined when Nicea happened and Catholicism became the oppressor. Which would actually line up in a really poetic and kinda artsy way that I dig.

Strangely enough a thing I picked up on was Sister telling Nihil to stay out of the way so she didn’t poke him in the eye. Based on the “Dance Macabre” video that is precisely how he ended up with the fucked eyeball; that being said, as of post comic blood orgy Nihil’s eye is still plain ass blue. He doesn’t end up with a fucked eyeball until he gets all dolled up as Papa and that’s probably supposed to be part of the getup. I think that is supposed to indicate to us that she’s shuffling events and obscuring facts. 

I’m also going to go out on a limb here and say that her giving birth in an apartment to twins on her own is a flat out fiction. I get how women did that without doctors for a long ass time, but usually you’d have a midwife at least. The only explanation I have for that is that she is using it as a fun little reason as to why the twins don’t have birth certificates. Which makes sense if you know you’re going to be birthing the antichrist(s).

Somehow she is able to take two babies with no papers out of the country and into Eastern Europe after her neighbor gets tired of hearing the babies cry. Again, there is some weird shit going on here and some pretty big details missing. Even in the early 70’s people were fucking nuts about documents. This isn’t the early 1800’s where you could just roll up to a country and say ”Sup? I live here now”.

I think the most interesting, and maybe telling, thing about the way the narrative is structured is that she draws attention away from Nihil having any idea about the murders. Imperator, based on what we see in the comic, is a fucking murder machine. And don’t get me wrong, that shit is common in comics and makes sense if you’re dealing with sleaze bags (side note: the last guy she beats the snot out of before giving birth in the comic looks like Sleazy P. Martini from GWAR and while his look is somewhat generic “70’s sleaze bag” it made me laugh) but I figure the murder spree would be difficult to hide from your partner and his whole band. I think she’s covering for the sacrifices of the Clergy in the US at the time. If she didn’t she’d blow the whole Ghost project to shit.

So where are we? Still fucking nowhere honestly. There is still a lot missing. Honestly it feels like we’re leading up to the setup for additional comics and holy smokes that’s exciting. Who about? Good question. I personally hope it’s the twins getting their own short runs. Maybe the “circus”.

Some predictions that will inevitably be wrong later:

Snake lady steals Perpetua; that’s why the twins got separated.

Snake lady get ganked and Perpetua ends up in foster care with a religious psycho so that’s how we get super weird creature Perpetua.

Sister is in prison at the end of this story.

Nihil finds out about his potential children from whatever article the reporter writes.

Reporter is Dusty Comstock (LOL . . . maybe?).

Unrelated but also related; if Imperator was pregnant at the show in October the twins would have been born in June or July. June happens to be a month-long break in the tour schedule so they won’t be playing any live shows at that point. How much you wanna bet we get a “Copia’s Big Birthday Bash” around or on the day Imperator #4 comes out(June 11th)?

[yanverse]

I’m curious how the yans would react to their darling suggesting being free use? Some of them would never act right EVER again; but I also think some would start out too nervous to make a move, but once they do it a few times, they become something of a menace.

prrrrr.......free use, you say? i have.......ideas >:) (lmk if u want more! <3)

Elias, Kaito, Lilith, Isabelle, Adrian, Nina

(cws: free use kink, domination, degradation, dressing up, fingering, overstimulation, messy sex)

Elias obviously needs to keep you around while he's working, and it just so happens that he's also in need of a good secretary for his practice. Win-win! He can have the best of both worlds: keep you close enough that he can see you whenever he wants, and you've got something to busy yourself with when he gives you paperwork--but aside from filing a few things you basically just get to mess around on the computer while he's in session. And unless you're into it, you won't be hearing any questionable noises and thumping through the wall--he's had to rebrand and lost some repeat customers, but he's a taken man now, so no more shenanigans.

Of course, that means you've got a much hornier, much needier cowboy on your hands than you're used to. He doesn't need to jerk off between clients or on his break anymore if the mood hits him midday--that's what he's got you for now, right? He can just waltz out of his office, tap you on the shoulder, and drop to his knees right there. Worried you'll get caught, that someone might walk in early or a solicitor will drop by? Then you just need to stay nice and quiet while he's under your desk. He might just end up leaving indents in the floor from the spurs on his boots, cause it's so easy and you're so accessible and you don't even have to stop working! In fact, if he's in the mood to tease, he might dangle the threat of stopping over your head if you don't keep working while he goes down on you.

But knowing him, there'll be an equal chance of him rushing over, locking the door to the office, and just throwing you over the desk like he can't wait a second longer to have you. There's a reason he's got so much time in between his clients, and it's because there's no better time to mess up his cute little secretary, and make sure you have to sit with his cum leaking down your legs the rest of the day.

Kaito has half a mind to just sit you on his lap all day. He doesn't have to go out for work, he barely leaves the house as is, and you're around each other most of the time anyways. Why not? He could game or tweak his latest sketches with you settled and comfy on his lap, his cock twitching softly inside you with those pretty mewls of yours perking him up. That, to him, is heaven.

If that's not the case, though, then sparing a hand to entertain you is just as good. Especially if you're in an argument, or if he's mad at you, or if he's just annoyed but not in the mood to talk about it. He doesn't even have to be paying attention, but more than likely you'll be begging for him to give you some.

With the spare seat next to him and his eyes glued to his computer screen, he only needs one hand to fiddle with his tablet pen as he shades his latest drawing. And all the while he has his fingers buried between your legs, his reactions minimal as you soak his chair with sweat and grab at his sleeve in desperation. You keep cumming all over yourself, you're a mess, and he's already gonna have to clean you up after so at least don't distract him. Each orgasm aches more than the last with overstimulation melting your brain into your skull, but you won't even stop him. You probably could, but why would you? He said it himself: he's gonna clean you up when he's done, you just have to wait until he finishes up. But knowing Kaito, odds are he's gonna make you much, much messier before he actually gets to that part.

Lilith loves providing for you. She loves to make you happy, to come home with money and food and love, and to shower you with everything she has without you having to lift a finger. You love her, you've done enough.

But when the opportunity to bus tables at her restaurant comes around, it's a hard deal to ignore. Extra income, extra time together, and extra chances for you to socialize and put in some hard work? If you're all over it then she can't exactly say no. A good girlfriend wouldn't say no to such a simple request. It may have her biting her nails at first, but seeing you succeed fills her with a feeling of pride that gives her an extra spring in her step on those extra-hard days.

But she's lucky that the diner has so few willing waitresses and such a small staff to begin with, because you two can get so close to getting caught with your pants down. She'd never consider getting off at work before this, but with you so present and available all the time...shooting her those lusty looks across the dining room, bending over just a little too far while you're cleaning tables, brushing by her just a little too close while she's taking an order...if she didn't pull you into the bathroom and push you up against the stall, she might just go crazy. Whether it's your hand up her skirt or hers down yours, it really doesn't matter--if you're going to let her touch you whenever she wants, then she has to take advantage of it. Nearly every break soon turns into a chance to get away, her lunch swapped out for a glorious ten minutes with your legs spread, body bent forward, and her tongue making short work of that promise you made that you'd stay quiet.

Isabelle isn't offered the suggestion of free use. You are free use. You're her toy, you're meant to be used, and you're smart enough to know that she doesn't take such a stance lightly. She's not fucking around with any of that touchy-feely, "casual dominance" crap. You'll know she's dominating you because she won't let you forget your place--look away for a moment, let your guard down, and you'll be pounced on before you can make sense of it. Even if she's just finished making you cum for every year you've been alive, she could very well come back into the room after a minute and decide she's not quite done yet. Bathing, showering, eating, sleeping, it's all the same. So long as you're still breathing, there's an incredibly high chance that you won't go very long without her weight pinning you down or your legs pulled apart for her to have a taste. But at least you're still alive, which is more than can be said for Isabelle's other playthings and romantic interests.

You would think that someone as poised, confident, and professional as Dr. Moorwell wouldn't be nearly as intrigued by the concept. Adrian is a romantic, after all--a chivalrous one at that--so you would struggle to imagine him as being so crass and self-indulgent with his lover.

Alas, he is. In fact, he's like a beast while in pursuit of it. Adrian loves to catch you while you're unawares; reading, reaching up for something on a high shelf, organizing his library, taking a sip of your drink, crawling under the sofa to retrieve whatever you dropped, the view makes him shudder and his belt comes off like the buckle is melting. There's always a touch first, a light tap or a brush down your sides to reassure you that it's him, but it's just a formality. The quick smack of his palm hitting your backside is the real test, because so long as your cute little squeal is followed up by a whine or a moan, he knows there's no risk. He can squeeze you, pull you apart, violate those precious, sacred spots so deep they've never seen the light, and it'll satisfy you to the point of making you gush all over him like he's turned the dial of a sprinkler.

At this point he might as well give you the title of housemaid. Your presence in his home reassures such tidy, homely feelings even amidst the stacked clutter and the piles of unread books. Besides, he'd have an excuse to put you in one of those silly, frilly costumes with the headbands and the wrist cuffs, and you could call him--w-well, it doesn't matter what you call him, so long as you prance around as happy and sweet as usual, and look at him with all that love in your eyes even once he's reduced you to tears and trembling legs.

Nina would be the last person to ever accept such a sinister request. Touch you? Unprompted? Without gloves, or a thorough hand washing, or..? You seriously think she would ever do such a thing on a whim?

That terrible attitude only lasts a few minutes, however, because her complaints are only a farce for how her mind has started working in overdrive. Because you like her enough to ask her for something so lewd. Because you think she's pretty. Because you look at her and think hot, wet thoughts despite her difficult attitude and her insistence on keeping everything clean. You desire her, and that's a feeling that's only come by on very, very rare occasions.

Hence why your request is fulfilled so quickly--like, less than twenty minutes quickly. Less than the time it would take for her to shower and scrub and go through her step-by-step routine in order to touch you, because the waiting is too agonizing and she just has to feel you. To feel your love and your beating heart in your chest, your pulse pounding all the way up your fingertips as you spread her open on your stupid, dirty, filthy hands. The only reason she'll allow it is just because it's you, but don't you dare get a big head! This is just more convenient for her. She'll just take a shower afterwards. But...well, you're coming with her. It'll surely be easier to clean up if you're already in there, so if you think your bathing time from then on is going to go uninterrupted, you'll be very sorely mistaken.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

clear-headed anon I don't want to post your entire message for perhaps obvious and less-obvious reasons, but I did want to respond to some of your message:

it does baffle me how taylor can describe in multiple songs how absolutely miserable, exhausted, depleted she felt emotionally and mentally before even getting involved with mh and think this was a woman who had all her wits about her and was making clear-headed decisions at that point in time. add to that the pressures of the public, the invasiveness of the media and the ruthlessness of the music industry itself, all while hitting a new stratospheric peak in her career, she was battling a million demons and just trying to survive.

I'm not trying to make judgments on other people's interpretations at this point, and the anon conversation from last week reminded me that everyone brings their own experiences (joyful and painful) to the table, and that I, nor anyone, should paint everyone with the same brush. People have the right to feel the way they feel, which is why my stance at this point is, "I'm not going to convince you, and you're not going to convince me, so we'll have to agree to disagree and move on from the topic." Words are also easily misconstrued and misinterpreted online, especially via anon asks, and that experience also reminded me that for the most part, we are all just people behind keyboards. And unless it's someone who's very obviously out to harass or live in delusion (as some blogs experience in greater volume), most of the time, we're just all here trying to get our thoughts out. I am trying my best to lead with kindness and not pile on people.

So all that being said:

There is such a deep undercurrent of pain and sadness from folklore on in Taylor's music (at the very least, and you could argue rep or Lover in some cases I'm sure too) that was palpable at the time and now in hindsight, knowing what we know and after having digested TTPD for a year, make it clear how much she was struggling individually and within her relationship, and how those things fed off each other. She was already clearly in a deep state of unwellness (for lack of better term) before ever reconnecting with Matty, and that's why I said in the earlier ask that I am inclined to believe her latching onto him was an unfortunate confluence of opportunity and other things. There's no way to know this, and I don't want to write fanfic about real-life people, but just based on my own experiences and observations of my own circle, I would hazard a guess that she would have projected the things she did onto Matty on anyone who had shown her kindness and interest at that point in her life. The difference IMO (again, from her own writing, and from my experience with friends who have gone through eerily similar situations), is that he also knew it, and the vulnerable state she was in was the draw to him.

I'm not going to detail what that vulnerable state was, because again, you can listen to the music and read between the lines of Midnights and TTPD (and arguably everything she put out between 2020 and 2024) to understand what that was, but it was heavy and painful and life-changing.

And as I've said repeatedly, it's not to remove Taylor's agency from anything. She made the choices she made, she has owned the choices she's made, and she has implored people-- fans, the media, probably even her own social circles at various points-- to let her own those choices, no matter how destructive. But as I have also repeatedly said, nothing exists in a vacuum. You cannot separate the external factors (e.g. the way her partner was treating her, the actions he was or was not taking, the treatment by the Other Man, the media, etc.) from the internal factors (her mental health, her trauma, her grief, her desires, her ambition, etc.).

So IMO, yes you can say, "I disagree with her choices" (e.g. of who to sleep with or whatever), but a) that's not your call to make at all on her life and b) the choices she made were coloured by the information she had at the time. And at the time, I'd hazard to guess she didn't really have the language or understanding of what was happening to her (e.g. emotionally/psychologically), nor did she have the full picture of what was being done to her by the person she was latching onto (e.g. that his intentions were not honourable, and that his motivations were not in line with her best interests in the end). So like, yes, individually these choices feel questionable to bystanders on the outside, but within the situation, it was a million different pieces shattering.

And again: I cannot stress enough how important the experience of grief is to understand TTPD (and frankly, Midnights, but that's another topic). And I'm not saying that to dismiss others' experiences of grief, and that they make other choices in their own grief and trauma. But my point is: everyone experiences it differently, and frankly, everyone's brains try to protect themselves in different ways. And when you have a bunch of different factors coalescing at once, it's not a surprise that someone in Taylor's situation with her set of factors may react differently to the way you or I might.

Taylor is so lucky that a) her inner circle is so, so strong and looks out for her best interests and was there to support her when she needed it and b) that she was presumably able to get help (in whatever form that took) after the crash and has seemingly come out the other side not only OK, but thriving and with a better understanding of herself and what happened, and has managed to find herself in a much healthier place than she was before any of this started.

she was so incredibly brave for getting this all off her chest the way she did. to the people who don’t see that narrative now, i hope they see it someday.

I'm inclined to agree. As far as any of us knew, it was a short-lived messy rebound and she could have let that narrative live for the rest of her days. Instead she put it all out there and IMO has opened conversations about not only what happens in these traumatic experiences, but also broader conversations about womanhood, gender roles, misogyny, mental health, etc. I don't know if she's being told about these things, but if so, I hope she's proud of that because they're so important and it's so gratifying to see a woman put it all out there. Taylor's life is highly abnormal and the specific situations she faces are unique, but the emotional experiences are so painfully normal and common that I think it's beautiful how people have found themselves in her music and specifically in TTPD.

[nilolol30]

Hide and seek

"C'mon it will be fun!" Macaque continued to ask the same thing over and over today refusing to accept the rejection.

"No way it would be too unfair" you turn back to face the sink finishing up washing the dishes "okay how about I wear those noise cancelling headphones? They work decently well muffles most noise" with a sigh you put the hand towel down.

"Why do you even want to play hide and seek? Are you that bored? And where are we even going to play it it's not like people casually play hide and seek in the city people would probably think you're a murderer or something" you can't help but laugh to yourself at the last part.

"Uh yeah I'm bored plus it's fun and you have been too busy doing boring stuff and we can play it at the forest near Wukong's temple it's not like the guys always there unless it's training Mk" Macaque shrugs leaning his arm on your shoulder.

"Okay fine" you sighed and smiled a little at Macaque "Ha knew you couldn't say no to me!" Suddenly he grabs your arm and pulls you into his shadow portal without warning.

Suddenly you can feel the ground on your shoes and you can see again it was beginning to get dark the sunset made most of the forest trees a warm orange then Macaque gave you a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Okay since I'm like the best I'm going to give you a bigger headstart about.... fifteen minutes and you just gotta hide for one hour easy" Macaque chuckled seeing you roll your eyes and prepared to put the headphones on.

"But quick tip!" He paused for dramatic effect "I am still faster" you stared at him for a bit "that's not a tip-" Macaque puts the headphones on.

"Count down starts now" without wasting time you booked it into the forest he was right it didn't matter if you ran and hid as far away Macaque could get to the other side of the damn island in seconds so best bet is to hide close by he wouldn't suspect that maybe.

Soon you find a pretty decently tall tree not too big but good enough and you climbed it to the top leaves hiding you from above it was good all you had to do was just put some of your weight on a branch but for extra measure you clinged into the trunk.

After a bit you can hear the faint voice of Macaque calling out "Here I come!" It didn't mean he knew you were close by but it still freaked you out.

It was mostly quiet and dark now you think you hit the twenty minute mark but you couldn't tell you left your phone at home but suddenly footsteps below you caught your attention.

Looking down you see Macaque walking past he was checking a few bushes and behind trees and then continued to walk away it took everything not to move an inch in case even a small leaf made a sound.

It was two minutes after you spotted Macaque when suddenly the tree was shaking and you lost your grip falling down with a small scream but you landed into a firm set of arms.

"Found you~" Macaque smirks drawing out his last word while effortlessly cradling you.

"Give me credit I was hidden for around twenty to thirty minutes best" Macaque chuckled pulling you closer to his chest "Actually I knew where you were at seventeen minutes" Macaque began laughing as he saw your face turned into disbelief to disappointed.

"Are you kidding me!" You playfully punched his shoulder he fell deeper into his laughing fit putting you back down and wipes away a fake tear.

"Sorry but I was being nice-"

"More like being a cocky bastard!"

"...I also purposely went the opposite direction-"

"YOU MOTHERFU-"

[assassyart]

What are your favorite outfits for Ratchet from the games?

Good question!

As far as the armors go, I usually never actually use them in the majority of the games I play (unless they're forced onto me, like Deadlocked's or 2016's). But I do have my favorites.

Holoflux

Shocking probably no one, Holoflux is the best. People often say it's their favorite, and that's for good reason— it looks incredibly good on Ratchet. I definitely don't enjoy drawing this armor that much, but I still will do it from time to time because I like it that much, and Ratchet gets pretty privilege.

It's also cool that this armor matches Azimuth pretty well, and I like that it has the "powered down" version in cutscenes. It makes the finale hit that much harder. This is the only armor where I know it's my favorite. The others are in no particular order.

Quest

Quest for Booty's armor was always rather charming to me, but it got even better once I recognized it had the Apogee insignia on the belt. I am a Talwyn and Ratchet stan at heart, so this pulled this armor above some others just because of that detail. But putting that aside, it also really fits the game it's in and makes Ratchet look like an explorer. He matches Talwyn quite nicely, too, which fits since she's his companion in this game.

Rebel

Oh my god this armor stole my HEART for so long. I am begging Insomniac to give us more casual fits in the next entry because this armor spoiled me so much. I love the graffiti Clank on the left hand, I love the little jacket, I love how the full gear doesn't cover his face... it's just adorable. Such a good fit that suits Ratchet so much and it's definitely my favorite new armor in Rift Apart.

Infernox

As far as armors that cover Ratchet's face go, Infernox was always one of my favorites as a kid. Something about its color palette and overall "flame" vibe just screamed early-Ratchet to me. I really like this one, and I definitely prefer it over the more popular Carbonox armor. Then again, I'm also a sucker for Up Your Arsenal. :P

2002

Not an armor but an absolute classic look. Of all the ones here, it's my favorite to draw since it lets me draw more of Ratchet's fur. It broke my heart to know that IG really wanted to put it in to Rift Apart, but was unable to find a way. I hope they try to do it for the next game, but I'll understand even if they can't. It's just one of the best looks for Ratchet. So iconic.

Marauder

Listen. This armor is really cool looking, and I like it, and I especially like that Deadlocked lets me take off the helmet too... but boy, this bitch is painful to draw. Simplifying it almost feels heinous to do, since it's just so cool looking but GAH!!!! If you ever wonder why I never update the Deadlocked Together AU, it's because of this!!! This painful armor!!!!!!

That aside, this armor fits the tone of the game so well. It's edgy, it's brooding, it's dark. I love it. The only thing I don't like is the fact they hide his tail :(

Tuxedo

Despite always playing Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal exclusively without armor when I play, you would never be able to tell because I love wearing the tuxedo Ratchet skins. Somethin about formal Ratchet makes me have heart eyes. Very kissable.

Robot Pirate

While I obviously prefer rebel, this was one of the only other armors in Rift Apart that I found myself using for Ratchet. The scarf really looks good on him, and I'm very fond of the chest plate. If it weren't for Quest armor's inclusion, I would always wear this armor when going to Ardolis.

Comics

Last but not least (because tumblr says I should stop adding images)... the comic outfits. Once again, the casual Ratchet outfits are always going to score higher for me. I loveeeee seeing my boy look more casual. And while the left image looks a lot like his normal outfit, I prefer it more for keeping it loose. That, and something about that blue chest piece never sat right with me. In a perfect world, I think it would have stayed green to keep his earthy tones in tact even after Tools of Destruction.

And the overalls are just. Mwah. Chef's kiss. What a dork. He's so cute. I love him.

Thanks for the ask!

[lake-cosay]

so bc i like hurt/comfort and im a medical nerd i wanted to yell about how jesse got Very Hurt in that scene right before he and lake get off the train. obviously to an extent they're just using cartoon logic but i at the same time, jesse is clearly supposed to be hurt, the messy hair and the scratches are visual shorthand for it. not to mention how he doesn't get up right away and even when he does he's clearly rattled

to be clear i'm not a medical professional just a nerd, feel free to correct me

^ here it's possible since the flecs are pretty damn strong that him aggresively grabbing jesse like that could result in some significant bruising. hypothetically sieve could have probably broken all his arm bones but i don't think that would've happened unless he was purposefully doing it. it's like handling a small animal; just because you have enough strength to break a bone, doesn't mean it's going to happen, even on accident.

^ given that the throw had enough force to crack the screen, jesse almost definitely had some cracked ribs, likely lower ribs. and while i've never had one myself rib injuries hurt like a motherfucker. but since he was able to get back up and move, it's very unlikely his ribs punctured anything which is good bc if they had he'd prob die without an ambulance. also, depending on what part of his face hit first, he could have a broken nose. or, say his chin hit first, that could probably cause lasting jaw pain (basically a shock injury) and/or he could have bit his tongue or lip hard enough to draw blood.

ALSO also, if the top of his head hit the screen that's probably already a mild concussion, not to mention:

^ definitely a concussion. him hitting his back first definitely is better for his head, but still a concussion. however, the fact that he doesn't appear to have lost consciousness and was able to rather quickly stand are definitely good signs. not sure if him taking a minute or so to speak is normal for a concussion, or if that was more just him emotionally being in shock vs literal brain damage.

after a little research, it seems he had a mild TBI, since he didn't lose consciousness. mild TBIs heal fully within 3-6 months, but since he feel from so high and probably hit his head twice i could see it being a moderate TBI, which. unfortunately has a worse prognosis. my diagnosis is mild-moderate TBI, about 6 months to heal, but even after that still struggles with more mild symptoms sometimes (headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue).

NOW. his poor back. the good thing about spine is they move, and i have to say personally i've fallen off a horse and onto my back in much the same pose and i was just sore for a day or two, but tbf that was like a 5 foot fall, this is. more than that.

the good news is, if he was gonna be paralyzed from that (which could've happened if his spinal cord got fucked it), it would've happened. since he's clearly able to move, his back should be fine. it is possible he could've broken a vertebrae, but again, the back is flexible.

"but if he was so hurt why was he still able to get up and run!" adrenaline. that shit does wild things to your body. the whole point of your body releasing adrenaline is to help you get out of situations like this, to keep going long enough to get to safety. it also blocks pain signals. meaning until it wears off, jesse might not feel anything.

he and lake were in a survival situation. it was absolutely life or death for both of them.

to sum up, he definitely has a concussion (mild-moderate), cracked ribs (i doubt they're fully broken bc i think you need more force for them to break all the way through), and plenty of bruises.

it's possible he broke his nose, split open his lip or tongue, or got a shock injury to his jaw.

i think his biggest problem is his ribs. cracked ribs make breathing hurt, weather it's deep or shallow. my heacanon is that a few minutes after he and lake get off the train, he sits down and lake realizes "oh yeah he got kinda fucked up" and he just looks. like he Hurts and lake's like "are you. okay?" and jesse's like "breathing hurts" and then it's a whirlwind of jesse reuniting with his parents, trying to explain everything while In Pain, introducing lake, his parents realizing he doesn't look so good and eventually deciding we should probably take him to the hospital, meanwhile lake is terrified bc suddenly they're in the back of the car with jesse's parents who they just met holding jesse's hand as they drive him to the hospital and everything's so real now, they're going out in public already, it hasn't even been an hour since they got off the train, but jesse is hurt, and they're not leaving him.

i also think that well. jesse has lake to help him. so even if his injuries had long-term/permanent effects, lake's there, and the two of them are going to have a lot of time to adjust once things settle down.

if i had the patience i'd write a fic about that, and jesse and lake have to navigate everything right after the train while jesse's in the hospital. tbf, i think he'd be discharged after like 1 night but still need help: be on pain meds, not be able to do much physically bc his body needs lots of rest, being confused and naueseous from the concussion. etc. if anyone does want to write that, lmk

and as i said at the beginning, feel free to correct me on anything. my only relevant personal experience is falling off a horse and (separate incident) falling and all my 190lbs of body landing on the side of my foot that broke.

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

okay so i am a little idea box of trash just a warning-

buttt can you do a little thing where shadow milk cookie fights his corruption in a random fight or something and i imagine it would be painful and there would be like really obvious things that point to it like his power or size changing or glitching as well as him doubling over in pain or something. ^^ just a random idea i had while drawing you dont have to do it but i would appreciate it if you did!

Oooo! That's a great idea!

Requested Prompts #4 - 💔

TW - Emetophobia/vomit.

(hopefully this works.)

Shadow Milk Cookie grunted, hitting his head against the floor. There was that annoying little voice in his ears again, and this time it seemed to have a lot more bite than it did bark. " I'm not going to let you keep doing this!" The voice yelled, so little goody-two shoes wanted to fight now, huh? Couldn't he have done this at literally any other time? " Oh? You think that you can stop me?" He cackled to himself. " And what makes now different than any other time we've fought? Nothing, that's what. So why don't you just shut up and play your part?" He hissed out. The sudden pain he felt quickly told him that the last shred of his former self would not be doing as he was told. He falls to his knees, oh by the witches does his body suddenly hurt. He wheezes, since when was little goody-two shoes so strong? All of his power had been corrupted, right? Unless... He swore he'd felt an odd presence within his mind, could it be that the new holder of his soul jam had- No, it wouldn't be possible, right? " You little brat-" He spat, clutching his head as he doubled over with only a single arm to stop him from completely falling onto the ground while the other clutched his head. He could feel how his other self was struggling to escape the shadows and get back in control, and he certainly did not like it one bit. The others didn't have to deal with the struggle of containing their former selves, so why the hell did he have to? Was he just... weaker than them?- no, he refuses to believe that. He lets out a grunt of pain, already feeling his body fluctuate between various different sizes. He feels like he's going to throw up, in fact he probably will if this keeps up. He collapses onto his hands and knees as he gags on whatever's building in his throat. And then, once returned to his regular, gigantic size, he throws up. The black, shadowy mass filled with blue eyes leaves his body in clumps. It's not all of his corruption, no, it's not even a decent chunk. But what actually disturbed him was what else was inside that mess of darkness. There was a cookie, or rather, there was a physical form of his former self. Slowly, it stirred awake. It's eyes adjusting to the sunlight in the first time in ages. Shadow Milk Cookie growled with anger, causing the small fraction of himself to shriek. " You...!"

....

Or, Hero Shadow Milk finally gets out! Beast Shadow Milk isn't too pleased however...

[completeoveranalysis]

[10]

More of what I was saying just before - the peak contrast of Kyle’s actual dying blood falling through the air, while Evil Wolverine smiles confidently in his very best All According to Keikaku face.

The cleanliness of him, completely untouched by the absolutely devastating battle we’ve just survived, entirely unaffected by the blood of his closest ally literally right in front of his face. 

And the look of it all! This is like the big expensive fancy portrait to hang in the drawing room of a noble estate. It’s gorgeous in a way that Evil Wolverine does not deserve but the Clamp of it all is fantastic.

Like I’m sorry Evil Wolverine, you weren’t even close to winning the villain poll the other week, but at least you get maximum CLAMP art attention! 

I mean we know better than to actually listen to what Evil Wolverine says, ever, but kind of hilarious that Kyle dies in front of him and all Evil Wolverine can do is say, “Well, he wasn’t even good at that then, was he?”

Ignoring the fact that if the job is “body double” he quite literally performed that task perfectly. He DID take the hit intended to kill Evil Wolverine. No-one saw through the illusion. Not Lava Lamp, not Kurogane, not Fai. It genuinely worked. 

Kyle did exactly what he wanted and Evil Wolverine is out here saying no he didn’t.  

The sheer desperation of this man to always be right, to always be in control, when he can’t be, leading him to lie when things actually DO go exactly to plan. 

Unless he was expecting Kyle Rondary alone to hold off the Tsubasa Family?

I suppose if he was counting on Syaoran by himself being enough to take them all out - which, FAIR, he absolutely did. But EVEN THEN he made Kyle sit in the disguise chair, looking like him, to clean up anyone left over? JUST IN CASE it didn’t work? Which is a lot left to KYLE RONDART of all people. 

In which case Evil Wolverine is admitting that ONCE AGAIN his plans suck and fail and he can never get them to go right. 

And all over again it’s because people love each other that his plans die and he never accounts for that. 

And all he can do is blame Kyle Rondart instead, who was just supposed to sit there and not know what was coming for him.

Which... again, he did.

BUT WHY AM I DEFENDING KYLE RONDART OF ALL PEOPLE, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER NICK

Meanwhile Lava Lamp sees Evil Wolverine sitting there calmly with Sakura’s empty body and just begins to LOSE IT. 

And honestly I probably would too if I wasn't so unreasonably THRILLED about the sudden Kyle Murder we were treated with

The triple use of Evil Wolverine's name? The SCREAMING as the background turns to static behind him?

UNDERSTANDABLE!

This would probably be devastating, to think it was finally over, just for a moment, only to find out that it was just a trick. To have Syaoran sacrifice his life to attack Evil Wolverine only to find out that he’s completely untouched. To see him still holding Sakura’s body like it's just another useful item to him, and wasting Kyle’s life almost needlessly and then insult him as he dies. 

It would be, as they say, not a very good day. 

And I’m absolutely FASCINATED by that last angle, with Kyle’s body in the foreground and Lava Lamp screaming behind it. As if even KYLE’S death is a wrong that Evil Wolverine has committed. As if even THAT has added to Lava Lamp’s distress in the moment, on top of the LIFETIMES of crimes he has committed against literally everyone in the universe. 

Justice for Kyle?

Emotional Justice for Kyle Rondart in MY Tsubasa Reservoir?

It’s MORE LIKELY THAN I THINK

[autumnstar06]

So im gonna try to explain whats going on in my head purely so people in my blog know what i mean by i might be a system (in reality i dont think i am but i do have other people in my head and i have since i was a kid)

My name is Felix, i am i guess the host, im primary the one in control of the body and i was the original ig

i was defiantly dissociated up until grade 6 when quarantine hit

the headspace is called 'the server' as well as our group (-Cass and Uruki ill get to them in a sec)

the headspace is the place where the main character of the series i started when i was 8 yrs old, lives

and everyone in the server looks like the first/main character from my series they voice act (dont ask ;-;/lh)

I also look like mine but i can bounce from looking like Nathalie to looking like my sona Rex, whom i can draw

Nathalie is just easier to animate (in my head) because of how many years shes been what i look like in my mind (if you wanna know shes a brown dog with brown eyes (no markings))

The best way i can describe us is like a group of people (who are now friends) in a discord server, everyones on the vc together unless you choose to leave, so yes they do sleep and leave

Taro and Amythest know how to be there while sleeping, i dont know how but theyre always there unless they leave for something

in total theres me, Cass, Uruki and 19 others

Cassadrina and Uruki are different to the server as in, 1, they do not have bodies, and 2, they can take over me

this is my body, by technicality, Cass and Uruki don't have bodies, when they take over (switching) theyre taking over my body, usually theres communication when someones going to take over unless im being an asshole and probably not taking care of myself

Uruki is like the little of the system? hes a dog, Cass is a cat, neither of them voice act for my series and neither of them look like one of my characters

and also, the server are not my characters, i do i think maladaptive daydream, but i know the difference, and i didn't make the server intentionally like i do with my characters

from grade 1 to grade 6, more people got put into the server, we didn't choose to be paired up with each other and only a couple of us knew another who also joined

Cass is like the protecter, she helped me alot when i was going through things and shes always looking out for me (not to say everyone else doesn't)

And also random thing I'm not sure if others have this but Cass hates food, it's like werid, she can sometimes deal with water but she doesn't eat or drink, I do that, her and Uruki don't have to it's not necessary, but Uruki still eats cause he likes food

Amythest was the last one to join just before i ressociated

In reality i don't know when i first met Cass and Uruki, but Star, John and Pat were the first people from the server

With the ages most everyones an adult, Tree and Luna moon crystal are the oldest besing like 50 or near there im too lazy to check rn and Jessica and Jake being 2 years older than me? i cant math rn but they just turned 18 (im 16 btw)

the main thing im confused about is, they have bodies? or atleast it feels like it, they cannot take over me because they don't have to and can't, why? because they have bodies and lives, which is why theyre not all there 24/7 like Cass and Uruki are, everyone lives in austrlia according to what they tell me, aside from amythest who is british

my main problem with my thing is i dont function like how i see most systems function, and also from what i remember i dont think the trauma i got was bad enough to become a system

and also the server are not me split, they carry no personality traits nor memories other than what they know, Cass and Uruki are more split me, Cass being much older, responsible and quiet (like a cat -sleeping) and Uruki being much younger, thinking less, not having any social anxiety and being much more carefree

It might have been affected by my autism and therianthropy which I won't rly go into

I'm not going to explain the more inner workings cause um, there is more, but yeah this is basically the gist

if you have any questions feel free to ask

please tell me if you know wth is going on with me btw too ;-;

[reconstructwriter]

I can't pull it up because AO3 is down, but

⭐ Tell me more about what drew you to write about Jaster Mereel!

@beskad Ohhhh! Yes let me ramble about my blorbo'lor XD

Enemies to Lovers and Foe-Yay are some of my favorite tropes but when I came to Star Wars I hit a stumbling block. Sith/Jedi pairings usually felt too spicy for me…unless I’m specifically in the mood for a toxic garbage pairing. Clone/Jedi pairings got me rabid into Star Wars and from there Mandalorian/Jedi pairings were a natural progression. Jaster kept popping up and the more I learned about him and got used to him in fanfic, the more I loved him and the more fitting he seemed paired with a Jedi. He strikes me as nerdy enough to research Jedi, noble enough to pair with a Jedi ye big moral conflict arising but just ruthless enough to be the enemy in ‘enemies to lovers’ or the foe in Foe-Yay. Given Jaster taught Jango he's also probably competent enough to at least take a Jedi bounty on his own. Whether or not he’d be successful without said Jedi’s cooperation? Well, maybe.

Anyway I've read enough fanfic about him (even if I still haven’t read his comics!) that he’s become one of my precious blorbos, but in almost all Jaster/Jedi fic, he’s the dominate partner. Mandalorians in general are. Which I like just fine but sometimes I see a trope repeated enough I get the itch to flip it around. Jaster, as my all-around go-to for Jedi pairings seemed a natural PoV for the Hearthfire series. Which started as a bunch of bullet points of scene summaries – all from Jaster’s PoV.

And wow was his point of view so much fun! I think Sifo-Dyas’ shenanigans showed best through his eyes. I enjoyed fleshing out his thoughts with little tid-bits (and drawing from Maori culture doing so) and adding in hints about my Mandalorian headcanons while doing so. I’ve already got several WIPs in files I’ve poked at every so often so hopefully this won’t be the last I’ll share of him 😊

[quantum-mechan1c]

Worm OCs Introduction and Masterpost

so because I have worms in my brain (ha) i keep coming up with new powersets and associated characters, mostly based off of myself and / or people in my life. Thus this is the Wormsona collection. New characters will be added as they spawn from my brain & i find time to do their writeups. If you know me in real life have fun trying to guess who's who lmao

Also some of these are collaborations with @rhinestonebabe, which will be noted whenever they're used. probably not a big deal but worth mentioning.

If you want to post or draw these guys go nuts, just tag and credit me and / or @rhinestonebabe. (not that i think this is likely but it'd be cool if it did happen)

All power ratings are speculative and fairly baseless. if any wormheads out there wanna argue about what the ratings should be, go nuts.

Playboy

Description

she / her, mid 20's. Brunette with short hair. Technically a trans woman, though mostly only her teammates ( on some protectorate team, probably. maybe vegas?) know that. Due to prolonged exposure to Apex's field, the ordinarily temporary transformation stuck, and her body is now permanently female. This is also where the ears and tail that most people assume are part of her costume come from, as well as her somewhat cartoonish proportions. Her costume is literally just the Playboy bunny girl outfit. If she works out of Vegas, this might literally be a sponsorship deal.

Powers

Mover 5 / Thinker 4. Enhanced strength and durability in her arms and legs grants rabbit-like bursts of speed and general mobility. Could jump onto the roof of a typical suburban home from a standstill and keep pace with a slow-ish car, maybe 30-35 mph. Superhuman for sure, but sustained speed isn't really her thing. In quick bursts from point to point, she can move faster than the eye can track.

The thinker rating comes from her danger sense. Her shard constantly monitors incoming attacks, and hijacks her nervous system to force her to move out of the way. The shard is precognitive by up to 3 seconds, but tends not to move her out of the way until the last possible moment

Unfortunately for her, the shard is very jumpy (pun intended), and tends to interpret a lot of banal physical contact as an attack, including but not limited to high-fives, penetrative sex, and hugs. She has been known to (unintentionally) escape emotionally charged conversations by jumping straight vertically indoors and getting stuck in the ceiling. Physically incapable of meeting Oblivion's eyes. These reflexes can be suppressed through great effort, albeit inconsistently.

Her danger sense is why she can get away with the bunny suit -- she doesn't need armor when it's almost impossible to land a hit on her in a straight fight, unless the opponent has webs or an aoe or something else that can counter super high mobility and auto-dodge. This makes her extremely annoying to fight, which she takes great pleasure in.

Typically she plays a recon role, and tries not to get in too many one on one fights, since if she does get hit in her core shes basically just a girl in a Halloween costume. When she does fight, it tends to be hit-and-run while a teammate provides cover. Her drop-kicks can deliver an incredible amount of energy, since her legs and feet are damn near invulnerable, but it's hard for her to keep up a sustained assault.

[thesharkspajamas]

James and Angus play cricket - NO SPOILERS

@im-kikimon

Harriet: James' pallas cat daemon. Assume only James can hear her unless is specified as 'aloud'

Context: James and Lydia are staying with the Bells post season one (dw no spoilers here for the show or the books). James has discovered a love for baking with Helen and a talent for pipe icing. He and Lydia have agreed to help her ice 100ish cupcakes for a commission to the bakery. - I have actually posted a similar scene before if you want to read it, but it DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS for season 1.

This is also part of a larger chapter of a growing fic (~20k words) so some parts have been omitted/added to make it make sense, sorry if the flow is a bit off.

Anita is an OC, she's Helen's sister and is a foster parent. Helen rang her to get some advice about James and Lydia staying with them.

Some cricket terminology:

Whites: cricket is traditionally played in white trousers and t-shirt. This kit is often referred to as ‘cricket whites’ or just ‘whites’

Lad: young man - British slang

Guards: here it’s cricket terminology for where a batsman stands in relation to his stumps.

Stumps: the three sticks behind the batsman in cricket

Bails: little pieces of wood that sit on top of the stumps. If these are knocked off in the right circumstances then the batter is out. They indicate that the stumps have been hit.

James was up early on Sunday morning - hardly surprising as he’d been asleep by eight-thirty last night. He left a note on the chopping board and went for a run with Harriet trotting along beside him. 

His thoughts turned to everything he had to sort out, his obligations to the Beaufort name, supporting Lydia...

“But you’ve got cricket with Angus today. We haven’t played since summer,” Harriet interjected, “and we’ve got to ice the cupcakes for the party.”

Good old Harriet for not letting James get too deep in his own head. He was looking forward to both of those things, “Bet you’re looking forward to the cricket, might be some cricket balls.” He teased Harriet.

She stuck her tongue out at him. Harriet had scratched and gnawed four cricket balls beyond repair while James had been focussing on his bowling once, and since then all unattended cricket balls had had to stay in a zipped bag. She didn’t regret it: not her fault they were leather, and stitched, and ball shaped - like yarn, but better.

They passed a florist’s brimming with colourful blooms and James stopped to take it all in. This was (of course) research for his cupcake designs, not because he liked the look and smell of pretty flowers. 

A young woman came out to meet him, “Morning!” she greeted him cheerily.

“Morning,” James greeted politely, “what are these ones called?” He gently turned a large cluster of blue flowers towards her.

“Those are hydrangeas,” she smiled, “You shopping for anyone?”

“I’m decorating some cakes this afternoon and need some inspiration.” But, now he thought about it, some flowers might be nice for Helen and Ruby as a thanks for last night, and a live model was always better for drawing with - icing was probably the same. “Actually, could I make a bouquet?”

“Yeah, if you want to pick some out, bring them in and I’ll wrap them and arrange them for you. Take your time. I’m still setting up.”

Thank goodness for Apple Pay. James returned from his run with a gorgeous pink, white, blue and purple bunch of flowers. And a red rose for Ruby, just because.

He’d been out longer than he’d realised. He saw Helen clearing some space in a cupboard - “good morning, süßer, nice run?”, she smiled at him.

“Great. Thanks for your help last night.”

“Of course, süßer." held up the list of his and Lydia's favourite childhood foods they'd made last night, some of the baked goods had green stars next to them, “I was going to go food shopping this afternoon. I noticed I used to make quite a few of these at the bakery before we slimmed down. I’m happy to buy you some supermarket stuff, but I still have the original recipes if you’d like to try some at-home baking?”

James felt his eyes widen. “You made the brookies? And the apricot-honey things?” He couldn’t believe it, after his mum had stopped bringing them home from her commute, he’d never been able to find those again, and the Beaufort cooks had never got it just right. 

“I’d love that.” He said sincerely. Speaking of at-home baking…

He pulled the bouquet out from behind his back, “I passed the florist. The brief was pink, blue, white, and purple flowers, right?” he suddenly felt embarrassed; he’d never given a woman flowers before, even if she was Ruby’s mum.

“Oh they’re perfect! That’s very thoughtful of you.” Helen exclaimed and sniffed them. She didn’t mention the rose. “I think you and Angus are leaving for cricket at half-nine, but you’ll be back by one so we can do them after lunch?”

James nodded, “Would it be okay if we listened to some of the prescribed podcasts while we ice? Just as background..” he trailed off. ‘Idiot’, he thought, ‘this was supposed to be fun and here you are wanting to listen to-’

“-That’s a good idea.” Helen cut off his thoughts, “I hope you don’t mind but I called Anita again while you were out. I just wanted some more on how I could help with the preparation and school and stuff like that. She said that creative stuff like this is perfect for prep, listening without distraction might be pretty depressing.” Anita had also recommended positive enforcement of good behaviour, so she continued, “Well done for asking. I know it’s hard to ask for what you need.”

James felt his cheeks heat, “I’ll go and shower”, and beat a hasty retreat. He still had the rose for Ruby. He should be able to catch her before she left for her shift.

Percy and the Range Rover arrived right on time. Percy handed James his Maxton Hall cricket whites, “Good morning, sir. Your cricket bag is in the boot.”

“Thanks Percy,” James ran back inside to change while Percy loaded Angus and the chair into the car. James had just jumped in the shower when Harriet reminded him that he didn’t have any other sports wear besides his (now-stinky and sweaty) running kit. A quick call to Percy had remedied that.

James got into the car.

“I saw Ruby looking very happy this morning, that got anything to do with you?” Angus smirked as he handed James a tupperware of sandwiches. Neither he nor Helen had seen James eat that morning so Helen made something just in case…

“Oh thank you”, James took the food. He hadn’t realised how hungry he was. “I popped by the florist this morning on a run. They had some roses, and, well, turns out Ruby likes roses.” He shrugged, he’d picked it up on a whim, really. No real thought behind it.

He looked out the window and ate the sandwiches, trying to avoid more questioning. ‘It wasn’t that big of a deal’, he thought. ‘It’s just a flower.’

“It’s cute though,” Harriet teased him aloud from her seat. She loved Range Rover heated seats - they were so much better than the Merc’s.

“You’re such a girl.” James teased her back. It was an inside joke between them.

He missed Percy and Angus stifling their laughter in the front seats.

…

A few Adidas-track-suited local boys decided that James was an easy target in his pristine Maxton Hall whites and expensive kit, “Hey posh boy! Wrong club innit?”, “The fuck you doin’ere?” Their jibes echoed around the sports hall.

“He’s with me, lads.” Angus interjected firmly. “He plays the same cricket we do. Josh, Wills, pad up. We’re working on guards today.”

Jams was impressed by how quickly they fell in line under Angus, and the session continued calmly with only the occasional jibe. He’d rarely experienced this sort of bullying - what with his expensive private school education and closely engineered circle of friends - but  he ignored it easily thanks to his father’s training in Beaufort Nonchalance.

Cricket was one of the very few things he and Mortimer had bonded over. Mortimer had had some nets permanently constructed at the mansion so they could practise year round: the result was that James was seriously good at cricket.

When it was time to go into the nets, James warmed himself up slowly; starting with some basic and slow ones, then gradually getting faster, spinning more. He was fast outstripping Josh and Wills as batsmen, watching them get frustrated as they missed and had to right the stumps every time (they’d given up on bails). 

James let rip: alternating fast bowling with different spins, watching as their frustration boiled over.

Angus called it after Josh swore and flinched away from a particularly fast one, “Alright,” He flashed a torch he kept in his pocket until he had everyone’s attention. “Let’s switch batters. James and Callum, pad up!” He made a batting motion with his hands. 

James and a ginger lad jogged over to the kit pile where Harriet was lounging about with the other daemons. It took James a moment to recognise her in the form of an Italian Greyhound. He narrowed his eyes at her and she privately replied, “If I’m fetching cricket balls, I’m doing it comfortably.”

James shrugged, ‘good paparazzi cover’ he guessed, and turned to the ginger boy.

Angus saw them shake hands. Callum was seventeen, basically deaf, and didn’t have many close friends at the club on account of going to a special school. He also knew that Callum liked spending time with people without necessarily talking to them - on account of the extra effort it took to make out conversation with hearing aids - perfect for James.

He overheard Josh and William muttering as they left the nets, “crazy fucker”, “what the fuck is a player like that doin ‘ere?” Angus let them go, he figured they’d learned their lesson.

To absolutely no-one's surprise, James’ batting was also excellent. One of the boys’ dads who stuck around to help sidled up to Angus, “With a player like that, we might just win the league. Where'd you find him?”

Angus didn’t take his eyes off the nets, “He’s one of Ruby’s schoolmates, he’s staying with us for a while.”

“Maxton Hall,” the father read the crest of James’ bag, “that the posh one up the road?”

Angus saw the ‘how do you afford that?’ question coming and shut it down quickly. “Yeah, Ruby’s on scholarship. I dunno if we’ll be able to keep him, but the other lads are copying him, so however long we do get him, we’ll see some permanent improvement.”

It was true: Josh and Will aside, the other boys had watched James’ bowls intently, and they’d all been chatting with him in the queue. It seemed that James fitted into this little club quite nicely.  

[phoenixyfriend]

would you ever write a dystopian au?? like zombies, technodystopia, etc (for the purposes of this question assume the gffa is not already basically a dystopia)

Let’s play Writer’s Would You Ever

Oh, this is a fun one. Let's see...

There was a trend, maybe a decade ago? I remember it being big right after Avengers 2012 hit, and it lasted a few years, so probably a decade. There was a trend for zombie and similar dystopia AUs for a lot of fandoms. There are two that stand out in my memory for Marvel in particular (one is young, deaf Clint in a no-powers au, Survival Value, and the other is a zombie-adjacent AU where the Chitauri won and Earth is a hellscape, Underground), and a few more across other fandoms, so I do remember really enjoying the style... however.

As you pointed out, the GFFA is kind of already a dystopia. And I feel like dystopian AUs are most useful in terms of putting characters in a setting where not only do they not have any real resources, but they can't realistically acquire any meaningful stash, as such, or a setting that's overbearingly authoritarian, which, again, a cyberdystopia is just... canon? Even zombies are canon, if in a much more limited manner, but at this point I think zombies as a trope are pretty played out unless you add an extra twist (like P&P&Z), and I can't think of anything off the top of my head that I could write that would actually be, like, more interesting than canon settings.

Mostly, I don't think the normal settings, the zombies and the technodystopia etc, would bring anything new to the table that wasn't already present in canon to one degree or another. I'd spend a lot of time going "why am I doing this instead of canon, again?"

There are AUs with an element of dystopia that I could do (easily with a steampunk setting, play into the imperialism and a dash of medical malpractice, that sort of thing), buuuuut I don't think that really counts since the dystopia isn't necessarily the main draw.

I think if I ever did do a dystopia fic, it would probably be an Earth-set post-nuclear wasteland. I haven't personally played any of the fallout games, but I've watched The Final Pam and those hours-long hbomberguy reviews (I really liked the New Vegas one), so I think I get the gist, and that would I think be the best setting to work with. A more limited set of tech than canon, a tighter world with less maneuverability, and a fun set of aesthetics and general vibes with some Old West But Make It CyberSteamPunk draped across it.

So yeah, unlikely to write one for Star Wars, but if I do, it'll probably be a mountain states post-nuclear war Wild West type of thing.

I'd get to play with small scale economics (not really a draw in zombie AUs) while deviating from the canon technodystopia stuff.