#Cue me being 20 and not knowing how the world works

[reonnex]

The infantilization of book!Wylan and show!Wylan really needs to be looked at.

This isnt a call out, or trying to hate on anyone, just an overall thing I've seen throughout being in this fandom

In the books while Wylan is a child he is also 16. People underestimate him into innocent and even younger. And while he is naive, this does not make him innocent. He has his own morals, own judgment that havent been ripped away from him yet. He is just trying to survive.

People use the "we could wake them up line" a lot snd I agree! But to also look at the full lines as well

Wylan gestured to the guards. "Is it safe to leave them, you know-"

"Alive? I'm not big on killing unconscious men."

"We could wake them up."

"Pretty ruthless, merchling. Have you ever killed anyone?"

"I'd never even seen a dead body before I came to the Barrel." Wylan admitted.

"It's not something to be embarrassed about," Jesper said, surprising himself a little. But he meant it. Wylan needed to learn to take care of himself, but it would be nice if he could do it without getting on friendly terms with death."Make sure the gags are tight."

This isnt him being ruthless. Its him being logical. He is taking what Jesper says to heart. Wake them instead of killing them unconscious. Which they do end up tying the soldiers to the pole and leaving. Him having morals shouldn't contribute to claims of him being innocent.

Wylan is worried about hurting people but will do so if nessecasry to save his friends. We can see this in the show and books. In the show he does not want to make bombs for Kaz, but does so in the end because he acknowledges he has to survive. He is worried about Alby, but goes along with the plan still.

All these are what makes Wylan, wylan. It is his fundamentals, his morals and idels. They are not however claims to see how sweet and innocent he is and how he was corrupted.

Ontop of this, while it is never y it is hevaily implied that Wylan is also autistic. (Also, correct me if im wrong please, but im pretty sure Jack did talk about this.) Autistic people get infantilizated already, and I've had my own fair share of this as well. ( I am autistic and have a learning disabilitiy, as well a speech impedament that I still struggle with.) I have to work harder to make sure people treat me as a twenty year old. Because that is my age, and there is a significant difference in attitude in how people treat me when they know im autistic, and when they don't.

And for Wylan, I feel like its the same issue. While it may not be intentional, ive been people coo over the fact Wylan has done simple tasks or teen experiences. Him having Jesper read to him, getting flustered when talking to him, Wylan not understanding social cues as well as others and taking things to face value.

You can be excited for him and think it's sweet, but to also acknowledge that there is a line between "Thats adorable" and "He's adorable." Wylan is someone who is neurodivergent. He was extrmetly sheltred as a child and was never given the proper tools to help his dyslexia, due to this he has struggles that shouldn't be overlooked or seen as "cute" when he experiences outcomes due to the situation he was in. Whenever he doesn't understand social cues, i.e., "Whos mark." People giggling and saying it's silly or cute when he doesn't understand the cues. That's infantilizating! You are viewing things he struggles with in the lens of watching a child understanding the world. Which Wylan isn't. He is a teenager, no matter the circumstances. His age should be understood.

This infantilization also effects wesper in how people view the two of them. Many people view black people as "older, the man in the relationship, rugged" while the white person is seen as the "women, younger, more innocent."

Infact, I think the show only worsned it for Wylan. As now there are faces to names.

Jack does have a youthful face, but still looks his age. I have a babyface and even now at 20 I look much older then I did at 16. The same goes for Jack. He cant control how he looks but because of his youthful features people only push for this racially hetaronormative mindset more between Wylan and Jesper (Even if its untitional).

Even Kit looks his age as well and has a baby face. He's 29 right now but was in his mid twenties during filming. Season 1 was filmed back in 2019 but due to covid post production got set back, and season 2 was filmed in the beginning of 2022. But why is it only Wylan who is infantilizated? Jesper struggles just as much with his ADHD and trauma as Wylan does.

Jack and Kit are only one year apart, the same in the books but still ive been Wylan be portrayed as the "poor innocent child who was abused." and Jesper as the "he needs to get over his addiction hes a grown man/ he's too mean to Wylan."

In society now so many black teens are seen as adults and treated as such, while white teens are seen as younger and not pushed so hard. The same can be seen for wesper.

Ive even seen people on Tiktok and other socials claim that Jesper was rude to Wylan and abusive. (WHERE???). Both Wylan and Jesper have said things that hurt the other, and they both apologized for it, and get grilled as well. In the show and books they learn and grow. The infantilization of Wylan doesnt hurt just him but plays into racial stereotypes and also microagressions. Why is it that when the white character is calling someone out its "deserved" but when the black character (who might I add had no idea) makes a side comment he is labled as cruel and abusive?

In so many shows and books the black character is usually portrayed as the joker character. Six Of Crows does this as well, which is something important to not ingore. Jesper is seen as the flirty joke character. However the only difference is soc also show more sides to his character by letting him be vulnerable. Letting Jesper show his struggles to the audience as well, how his neurodivergece effects him, letting him dress in skirts and bold colors that step away from the gender norm. So many times in media the black character is just there for shits and giggles, or is used as the villan/antagonist.

It believe its really important to understand this, and to acknowledge if your infantilizating him, or even using microagressions on Jesper unintentionally, then to learn to understand why and to grow from them.

[a-silent-observer]

Ohhhhhhh noooooooooooo when will it end for real

[diremoone]

quiet kisses | r. sukuna

prompt 2 — “I’ll kiss you anywhere but under the mistletoe.”

requested by @yuujispinkhair :: Heyyy babe, your Christmas prompt post is so cute 💗💗 If you feel inspired, can you please write a little something for Sukuna + prompt 2 or prompt 7 (whichever you prefer)? 💗💗

a/n: AHHHH thank you so much for sending this in Winter! 🤩 I can’t tell you how much I nearly exploded seeing your request in my inbox! I went with prompt 2 because that’s the one my brain started working for the fastest. I hope you like it and I did your request justice :3

w — alcohol mention, fluff, everyone is 20+ in this fic, modern AU, mentions of prompt 7 heehee, softie! sukuna, sukuna cooks at the end lmao but it’s not related to the chef! sukuna fic

[ Christmas Prompt List ]

[ Christmas Event Masterlist ]

Nobara putting on this Christmas party was anything but unexpected. She was a party girl at heart, but nothing like what you’d see at a frat house or a club. No, she was the party master (or so she likes to call herself). And you kinda had to agree. Her parties weren’t over the top, but they definitely were anything but boring.

This time was no different: catering, along pizza and wine delivery, along with some of the more higher-rated Christmas movies playing on the TV with English Christmas music playing on the background, just loud enough that it wasn’t obnoxious.

You knew your boyfriend had to agree, even if he hated attending social events and parties.

What an introvert, you muse to yourself. You wonder how many people realize that as much as Sukuna seems like it, he doesn’t actually like parties. Nor anyone but himself and you at said parties.

You and Sukuna are off to the side against the bar that separates the kitchen and living area, deep in your own little world of each other. You’re leaning on him, his big arm wrapped around your shoulders comfortably.

You nudge him. “This isn’t so bad. See!”

Sukuna scoffs. “That’s what you said when you forced me into that Santa costume last year.”

“But you had some fun, didn’t you?”

“In the suit? No. Terrorizing children in it? Absolutely.”

You slap his chest. He catches your hand and presses a kiss to the back of it. You grumble. “You idiot.”

“Your idiot,” he remarks with a grin.

Suddenly, like magic, the party suddenly gets loud. Jingle Bells comes on the playlist set up, and everyone has begun to sing as loud as they possibly can. Sukuna grumbles and plugs one ear with a finger, rolling his eyes. He keeps on ear open, and you know it’s just to listen to you as you attempt to sing your way through the giggles.

When the song ends, everyone cheers. Sukuna unplugs his one ear and sighs, taking another sip of the hot chocolate you’ve made for him. They all quiet down, giggling and giddy from the sudden excitement of the old but catchy tune.

But why is everyone now looking at his and your direction?

And then everyone starts chanting: “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

You and Sukuna look up at the same time, seeing a mistletoe being hung over your heads by a fishing rod, but none other than the Party Master herself. Nobara grins sadistically with an evil glint in her eye.

Sukuna cusses and downs the rest of his drink before saying, “I think that’s our cue to leave. Nice party, Kugisaki.”

You attempt to down the rest of yours before he grabs your hand with his bigger one and leads you out the front door, almost stumbling over your own two feet.

Behind you, everyone complains about Sukuna being a “party pooper” and leaving. Before you two leave, he turns back to them and gives them the finger.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t the only couple here. Maybe Geto and Gojo should finally shack up,” Sukuna says with an evil grin. The two men next to each other go redder than tomatoes in record time. Sukuna isn’t done though, looking at his little brother. “And maybe you and Fushiguro should finally get a room, too, baby brother.”

The chaos from your boyfriend’s words gives you the chance to leave without trouble, the two unspoken couples now being the main attention of Kugisaki’s evil fishing rod-mistletoe.

Maybe they’ll be together come New Years, you think happily.

Sukuna drives you both home. One hand on the wheel, the other intertwined sweetly with yours. But by the time you get home, you’re halfway asleep in the car, hot cocoa being the perpetrator of your tiredness. You attempt to blink and wake up, but Sukuna’s gruff, “Stay put.” halts you as he turns the car off, keeping his keys in one hand.

You have no idea what he’s doing until he opens your door and slides his arms under your back and legs. You squeal and giggle as he effortlessly picks you up from your seat.

“Goddamn, you got the giggles tonight,” he mutters.

Like he’s done it a thousand times (he’s at least done it a couple dozen), Sukuna unlocks the front door with you in his arms with pure ease. He carries you over the threshold like a husband would his bride and doesn’t set you down. He hoists you up, readjusting your position closer to his chest. And then you see the cunning look in his eyes.

“Sukuna, what are you— mmph!”

He dips his head and captures your lips with his. He’s warm, so warm and comforting. You feel so safe and loved in his hold and damn do you love him. Your arms naturally tighten their hold around his neck as you two kiss in your home.

When Sukuna pulls away, he chuckles. You’re slightly breathless from the sudden kiss, but grinning nonetheless.

“You couldn’t do that at the party?” you inquire curiously.

“I’ll kiss you anywhere but under the mistletoe,” he replies honestly. “Especially at a party in front of people. Not my thing to make such an intimate spectacle of ourselves.”

Your heart flutters and overflows with love at his desire to keep his affection solely for your eyes to see. Sukuna has never been one to kiss or do intimate things in public beyond hand holding or wrapping his arm around your shoulders. For him, he considers that to be sacred; any acts of love he prefers to be behind closed doors, kept between the two of you and not in front of people to be fawned over or talked about.

“You really are the sweetest man I’ve ever met,” you say. “I’m so lucky. I really got the best man ever, didn’t I? Thanks, Universe.”

Your boyfriend’s cheeks tint red. A rare sight.

“Fuck. No, I’m the lucky one.” Sukuna gives you a fat smooch on the lips, the adds, “But I don’t have the universe to thank. I got you all by myself.”

You toss your head back and laugh at his indirect proclamation of arrogance. Or maybe it was just unshakable confidence, who knows?

Sukuna sets you down on the couch and asks, “What do you want for dinner?”

You think for a moment before replying, “Didn’t you say wanted to make some penne vodka the other day? That sounds good.”

“Penne alla vodka,” he corrects you with a stern eye.

You toss your hands up in mock surrender. “Sorry.”

But as Sukuna gets to work on the dish, you can’t help but stare at him as he works. He could be a master chef like Gordon Ramsey, if not better. But you’re kinda glad he’s not, not if you get to see him in your kitchen every night.

Yeah, you’d trade any party and PDA for his quiet kisses and love at home any day.

taglist:

@vagabond-umlaut | @poe-daydreams | @heresan @thedovahqueen | @lotus-n-l0ve | @chiyoso | @miraclecherryblossomsblog | @unbreakableblueheaven | @marscatbutler | @vanillabloo | @wo-ming-bai | @visionsofmagic | @tohsri | @lilacliliess | @bub-ss | @missmuffinr

[accio-victuuri]

July CPNs round-up ❤️💛💚

• xz as backing vocals for the song everything is lovely

• clowning about screen protectors

• both of their names together on hs for being posted by xinhua news agency

• same city in Beijing on 7/6 - there was some talk that xz’s flight out has been changed to the 12th, probably to spend more time with wyb who will leave on the 10th. which didn’t happen cause wyb left 7/8 but still got to to spend that time together. some were clowning about how his airport shirt had a crease on it & how that made it seem like it was folded like how xz does it so ya know, is it a sign? lol.

• 7/10 XZS paris vlog clowning: posting so close to yibo’s appearances and similar shots // the two bros focused in the video, paris olympics and torchbearer route.

• 7/12 XZS vlog - possibly texting wyb and little prince figures + snowy mountain ; jacques tati films bgm used

• 7/14 xzs vlog clues! more symbolism and that goose laugh

• walking in the streets of paris

• similarity between tao and yibo showing off a photo of their significant other

• continuing on with the off white with “painting” shirts that xz wears, which is already strike 3 && kind of proves the sdc 3 clowning. he wore this during his off work hours. ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

it follows the pattern 👀👀👀

• 7/15 xzs vlog clowning continues - same place different time / confirmation of the bystander lyrics connection and E142 cue

• NOT TOTALLY CPN BUT ME BEING EMOTIONAL. LOL. SEEING YIBO do that torch really in that simple outfit everyone was wearing. mostly bare faced and all eyes on him. that moment — and then you see him wearing that bome necklace makes me go somft. 🥹🥹🥹🥹 he will go to so many places and experience a lot of things but he will always have a piece of xz with him.

some are getting excited about them with silver jewelry necklace but xz’s is boucheron which he is endorsing. as much as i love jewelry cpns, i always get picky when it’s something they endorse, unless there is an additional clue. but i understand why people got 👀 when they saw that silver chain with GG. unfortunately, this is not the necklace we think it is.

another one is this “couple” / same style jacket they both wore when they went abroad. RBS already explained this and i totally agree with their stand on it. i guess what makes this cpn-y to me is the “style” it, showing how their preferences overlap in clothing. and that’s why we think they have a “shared closet”.

<< previous post

• On 7/19, the booting ceremony of XZ’s new film DeXian JinZhi, the cast was revealed and we learned that Yin Zheng is there. Yin Zheng is WYB’s very close friend, so we will definitely keep an eye out on how he will interact with XZ 😂😂😂😂 and oh, Peng Yucheng is also there! who is Bobo’s friend and someone he fake kissed HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! so many common friends!

• some minor cpns from xzs 7/20 vlog + something i forgot to add, same acne studios plain shirt. HAHAHAHAHA! twinning! 👯‍♀️

• xz vlogs appear to be countdowns 🤔🤔🤔

• BJYX related hs on them speaking goose language! HAHAHAHAHA! we shall remain relevant forever!

• what a nice magazine! our boys! side by side! and it’s like a fanfic cover for pairing wei ruolai and chunsheng!

• them posting for public welfare and in support of the olympics for CCTV ( here and here ) also with mengniu’s short film. i love seeing them supporting the same thing and hopefully they get to collab someday for a common cause 🌎 if there is any type of project they can work together, this may be it, cause fans can’t even be outwardly toxic especially if it’s a government project.

• 7/26/2024 xzs vlog candies

• 7/28 coco crush posts clowning

• 7/29 throwback video uploaded by rufeng

• 7/30 XZS vlog clowning time: dancing like wang laoshi, possible mv for bystander and wonderful world lyrics.

plus some more ⬇️⬇️⬇️

ohhhhh. a snowy mountain or is it? i mean who wouldn’t be taken by that and especially someone like xz. love how he took pictures of it and drew it too. in the post by xzs it’s in the c-position, probably cause it’s drawn by xz but also it’s photo #5/18 WYB.

p3 is also our colors! green (ish), red and yellow!

SEE YOU ALL NEXT MONTH!!!!!

<<< previous post

[sixeyescurseuser]

Teachers Satosugu

Thinking about adults Satosugu who become Jujutsu Tech teachers together. They’re married too. In their late 20s, they’ve found sweet domestic bliss in the dangerous yet meaningful life they’ve created for themselves. 

Geto still makes sure to praise Gojo for all the work he does; often surprising Gojo with his favorite sweets or a trip down to the street vendors, saying: “Thank you for your hard work, Satoru” and “Come on, let’s eat something special, you deserve it.”

Gojo still goes on his one hour rants about topics that fascinate him, and Geto listens without complaining. Even if this is the third time digimon has been brought up this week. 

Geto stays at the school to teach for the majority of the time. He only takes missions if they are emergencies and avoids interacting with the higher ups. Thankfully, Gojo is more than willing to deal with that side of work. 

While Geto is involved in both physical training and classroom lessons, he’s more hands-on with the latter. Compared to the Kyoto students, let’s just say that the Tokyo students don’t put in a ton of effort when it comes to their academic scores. 

Geto is fated to be the hardworking but disappointed teacher. 

(Geto: “Nobara, Yuji, c’mon, I am begging you two to study more.)

The thing with Yuji is that he is smart in that he can memorize things and write well, but not being exposed to the sorcerer world from a young age has put him really behind. 

(Geto: “Hasn’t Satoru told you all about Sukuna’s origins and what not? Given you books from the library?”

Yuji: “Oh the library! I forgot that existed!”

Geto: …

Yuji: “Also no, Gojo-sensei didn’t tell me anything yet.”

Geto: 💀💀)

Additionally, Gojo isn’t the best when it comes to structured lessons in the classroom. He’d much rather skip over the boring stuff and show his students the real excitement out on the field.

This is where Tokyo students surpass Kyoto students in fighting abilities. Plus, getting lots of first-hand experience of what sorcerers actually deal with helps them quickly adapt to situations and strategize how to outwit their opponent. 

But book-smart-wise? Megumi carries. 

Once, Yaga gave the first years a firm reprimanding because of the missing past three mission reports. (Excluding Megumi.) Turns out, Gojo didn’t inform the first years about filling out mission reports at all. 

That night, Geto scolds the shit out of Gojo. 

Gojo: “Hey Suguru, isn't that your job? I just help them train their fighting skills, no?”

Geto pinches Gojo’s side - who lets out an undignified yelp - even though he knows Gojo is just joking. Besides, Gojo does try to teach the rules better after Geto’s scolding. Gojo just needs reminders, that’s all.

It doesn’t help that Gojo is literally a prodigy and always does things his own way. 

(Geto, shaking his head: “Lord knows these kids need all the help they can get with you as their teacher.”

Gojo: [jaw open, betrayed]

Cue Gojo decisively turning the other away in their bed. 

Geto: “Oh, did I upset the baby?”

Gojo: “Worse. You upset your husband.”

Geto guffaws.

“My husband can take it.” Geto moves so he’s spooning Gojo.  “Isn’t that right?”

Geto’s breath tickles Gojo’s ear, making Gojo shiver.

What were they talking about again?)

***

Gojo might be busy as hell but Geto will be there to protect their students from the higher ups. 

That mission where Yuji died for a short while after switching with Sukuna to face that special grade? It would never have gotten that bad. Geto would’ve been with his students and protected them.

Geto is anxious to the point where he designates certain curses for specific people, mostly to look after his students. This way, he can be there if his students are in serious danger, preventing more young sorcerers from dying due to the higher ups' negligence.

Of course, Geto’s rainbow dragon has always been assigned to Gojo. 

Gojo will often take Yuji on rides on the rainbow dragon, either for missions or just to be up in the air. When this happens, Geto’s orders for the rainbow dragon consist of: “Only listen to Satoru’s reasonable orders” and “Protect Yuji from Satoru’s recklessness.” 

On another note, Geto’s curses would have intercepted before Todo and Mai could beat the shit out of Nobara and Megumi. Geto himself would show up quickly after, furious when he sees the Kyoto students trying to take out his students. 

(Geto with his murderous glare: “As far as I know, the competition hasn’t started yet. No one should be picking fights with each other, hmm?”

Mai and Todo, quietly: “Of course, Geto-san. We’ll be taking our leave.”

Geto stays standing in front of Nobara and Megumi until the Kyoto students leave.)

Even as teachers, Geto and Gojo are incredibly competitive with Kyoto. Of course they’re going to talk shit during the goodwill exchange event. They’ll watch the broadcast of the competition and loudly cheer their students on. They’ll also whisper to each other in the most obnoxious way. 

Utahime is about to bust her blood vessels. She still throws her tea at Gojo when he makes a snarky comment that pisses her off; the tea bounces off of Gojo’s infinity and splashes all over Geto, who groans. 

Well, that shut the pair up for now. 

***

When Nobara spilled coffee on Gojo’s shirt, Geto had been the one to catch them first. 

(Shaking his head, Geto says: “You guys really did it this time…”

Nobara: “We could just replace it??”

Megumi: “It is 250,000 yen.”

Geto: “It's also Satoru’s favorite white shirt.” He pats Nobara’s shoulder comfortingly.

Yuji: “Geto-sensei, please help us!”

Geto: “And spend the precious money I earned with my own hard work? I don't know, Yuji-kun, I gain nothing from helping you.”

Nobara: “He’s your husband”

Geto: “And he’s your sensei.” He turns to Megumi. “Slash father”

Megumi: 😩😩

Moments later, Gojo enters the room: “Iijichi-kun said you guys have my newly laundered shirt-“

He sees Megumi with two breast bumps.

Gojo: ??

The others laugh as Nobara pulls out the stained shirt, causing Gojo to let out the most horrified, dramatic gasp. 

All the students find it hilarious, but Geto laughs the hardest. He's bent over, hands on his knees, straight up cackling. When Geto somewhat catches his breath, one look at Gojo’s stricken face sends him into another fit of laughter. 

(They are so married.)

Geto walks over and slings himself over Gojo. 

Geto: “It’s okay, Satoru, you can just get another one.”

Gojo: “That was my favorite one, you know this, Suguru~~”

Geto: “Satoru...you’re rich-“

Gojo: “My clothes are important, they aren’t so easily replaceable. Imagine if I had tried to replace you-“

Geto: “Did you just compare me to your inanimate white shirt?”

Geto begins to pull back, but Gojo immediately latches on to him.

Gojo: “Noooo, I didn’t mean it. I love you~~”

They proceed to act out a mini-drama, which ends in Geto leaving with faux-disappointment and Gojo chasing after him.

Consequently, Gojo forgets about his stained-beyond-repair 250,000 yen shirt.

***

When formation B occurs in response to Megumi being “hit on,” Geto watches from afar, disappointment deep in his veins. 

We’re too old for this, he thinks when Gojo reveals Megumi has to master twinkle twinkle little star. 

Having had enough, Geto steps in and tugs Gojo away. 

“Baby, come here, you forgot to take your pills this morning,” Geto says. Gojo gasps in offense. 

“SUGURU, SHUT UP! I'M NOT MENTALLY ILL!“ Gojo cries, but now there’s no way he doesn't look crazy.

Geto has his arms wrapped around Gojo’s waist while Gojo flails to escape. 

“Satoru, stay STILL- NO you are not going back!”

They end up making a bigger scene. Megumi wants to d-word. 

(“With this treasure i summon-“)

Gojo doesn’t care who hears or sees, and is now screeching for Geto to let him go. Left with no other choice, Geto bites Gojo’s shoulder. He also tries to shove his fist in Gojo’s mouth - anything to shut him up.

Geto is going all out like they’re teenagers again. 

(Nobara at Geto: “YEAH GET HIS ASS!”)

Geto eventually becomes aware of the small crowd that has gathered and rethinks his actions. He ends up dragging Gojo by his collar. 

“Ok, we’re leaving,” Geto calls to their students, leaving no room for argument. Megumi immediately follows, dragging Yuji and Nobara in tow.

***

w/ @no-one-says-hi

[deangirlsstuff67]

Birthday Boy

Jensen Ackles x reader

Warnings: Drinking, P in V, Unprotected sex, Fingering, Oral (m and f receiving), Squirting, Dirty talk

Summary: Jensen has given up on finding his happily ever after. Now that he's 45 he just doesn't see the point anymore. Jared, Misha, and the SPN cast take him out on the town to celebrate and lift his spirits. That's when he looks eyes with a beautiful woman. After one too many whiskeys they go back to his place, where he learns age is only a number.

Authors note: I love Jensen and his family. I mean them no disrespect. This is set in set in a world where Jensen is single. This is a work of fiction for nothing more than entertainment.

Masterlist | Patreon

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We walk into a bar that Jared and I found when we first came to Vancover for season one. The small, dingy, dive bar is a hidden gem that we have visited many times. Whether it was marriage, divorce, birthdays, or deaths, these four walls hold many memories for the supernatural cast and crew.

The group of us find a couple empty tables and take a seat. A lovely blonde waitress makes her way over for our drink order. Tonight we are celebrating my 45th birthday.

Getting older isnt as bad as your younger self believes. It's like a prize for surviving all the bullshit of your 20s. You no longer care what people think of you. You can go to bed early if you want without being judged. And you make the transition from hot and sexy, to handsome and distinguished.

I can't complain.

The blonde makes her way back with a tray of our drinks. Tonight we have Jared, Misha, Rob, Rich, Kim, Brianna, Mark, and Ruth with us.

She hands me my whiskey double. A sexy, flirty smile lights up her face for the brief moment we lock eyes so I can thank you. I smile politely back at the young lady. Seriously, I could be her dad.

--‐-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three whiskey doubles in, laughs and smiles floating around our table, I got to say this has turned out to be a good night. Jared leans over and speaks directly in my ear so I can hear over the music coming from the speakers, "dont look now but you got a y/h/c who cant keep her eyes away from you."

Great, cue eye roll. Women have been nothing but problematic for me. They either want fame, money, connections, or someone I know. I've given up in that department.

Way too old for that shit.

"It's not going to kill you to have a look man." Jared sighs dramatically at me.

"You never know, it might." But it's too late my interest is peaked. I'm a sucker for a y/h/c. I slowly scan the bar until I lock eyes with the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

Well shit.

She's younger than me, though I don't know by how much. Casually dressed in blue jeans that hug her curves perfect and a over sized ACDC t-shirt tucked into all the right places. She simple smiles and raises her glass of amber liquor in a silent toast.

I can feel the corners of my lips curve as I toast her back. Then as quickly as the moment settled between us, it was gone and she took her friends arm as they walked out the front doors.

Dammit.

"Man I'm sorry," Misha looks over at me, "she looked interested."

Rich comes to sit on our side of the table, "ĥows the birthday boy doing?"

"Thought he was ging to get lucky tonight, but she left." Jared whisper yells. I can't stop the eye roll, the more he drinks the more of a man child he becomes.

This bit of information intrigues Rich, "you meanthe pretty y/h/c that’s walked back in?" He says with a sly smirk resting on his face.

We all watch as she glides up to the bar to speak with the young man playing bartender tonight. I can't tear my eyes away from her or how her hips sway with every step. She's a work of art. Curves in all the right places, looks like she eats more than salad. I swear she's every man's wet dream come true.

She turns and smirks as she makes her way over to our table with a tray of shot glasses, a knowing look sparkling in her y/e/c eyes. I feel my cheeks heat with embarrassment knowing she caught us all gawking at her.

Placing the tray down in front of the four of us, she picks up a shot and tips hers ead back to drain her glass. I watch as she swallows the liquid, swallowing down the dirty thoughts it promotes in my whiskey soaked brain.

"Happy Birthday Beautiful, now drink." She passes over a shot, which I take without hesitation. I drain the glass, the burn of vodka ever present in my throat, before finding my voice.

"How do you..."

She answer before I can finish my thought, "I'm a fan. Don’t worry it's not in a creepy stalker kind of way. I just couldnt pass up the opportunityto buy my favorite actor a shot on his birthday." She shrugs before taking another shot. There's something sexy about a woman who can hold her liquor.

"I'm y/n by the way." She turns to leave, before she can take a step I get out of my seat and wrap her in a hug, pulling her close to my chest.

Beautiful y/e/c irises stare into mine as she searches for the reason behind the embrace. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear I softly smile down at her, "I want you to stay."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Shit, I dropped the keys." Y/N is wrapped around my body, pressed against the door to my apartment. Trying to unlock a door while having a beautiful woman kissing down my neck is more than distracting.

After some struggle we fall into my apartment. Guiding her backwards towards my room, hitting walls along the way. We haven't stopped kissing since getting into the cab at the bar.

She's addictive. Her taste. Her smell. I need this woman.

Breaking apart she sauntered to my bed, stripping her clothes along the way. My cock is throbbing in the jeans I'm wearing, begging for me to release it.

She crawls onto my bed positioning herself in a kneeling position. Legs spread wide showing just how dripping wet she is for me. Slowly I remove my clothing, watching as she plays with herself waiting for me. My cock drips with pre cum in anticipation. Knowing just how hot and bothered I made her with limited touching gets me high.

Walking towards the bed, y/n meets me at the edge. I stare down at her as she lowers herself before locking a strip from the base of my cock to the tip. Groaning I throw my head back at the sensation.

After a few minutes of kitten licks, y/n takes me in her mouth the first go. Straight to the base and swallowing around me. My hips jerk, hands rake through her long hair as I hold on. She's blowing my freaking mind, "Darling, I'm not going to last." She swirls her tongue around the head of my shaft, it almost does me in.

"Sweetheart... y/n... you have to stop... please"

She comes off my cock with a loud 'pop', smiling up at me while wiping her mouth.

Fuck that's hot.

Pushing her in the chest I force her to lay on the bed, "my turn," kissing my way down her soft curves to her sweet spot, wet and waiting for me.

Inhaling her sweet scent, making my head spin, "you smell delicious baby girl." Then I dive in like man starved.

Alternating between broad strokes and sucking her clit. I smile I to her center as I watch the bliss out look on her face as she shakes and squirms beneath me. Whatever I was feeling about getting older has been drowned out by her moans and whimpers as I bring to the edge before backing off, over and over again.

Rising above her tasting her on my lips, I learn down taking her mouth with mine, sharing her sweetness. My fingers trail down her body before pludging into her hot, wet center. My pace is fast as I curl my fingers, finding her g spot.

Her body jerks forward as she let's out a beautifully loud moan before I feel her soaking my hand, wrist, and thighs, "fuck darling, did you just squirt?"

Pink colors her cheeks while she looks away from me. "Hey, dont be embarassed. That's the sexiest thing I've ever experienced. " I kiss her deeply as I feed my shaft into her quivering walls. What an amazing feeling that is.

Looking down I watch her body struggle to take my girth as I bottom out inside her. Staying still to allow her to adjust before I slowly withdraw to my tip and slowly sink back into her warmth. My room is filled with nothing but moans from her, groans from me, and the wet squelched noise as our bodies become one.

Our rhythm is steady as we use our bodies to bring the other pleasure with each thrust. One, two, three more thrusts and y/n is pushing me out of her before she soaks my thigh and cock in her essence again. It's what tips me over the age as I shove myself back in making her gasp before emptying myself into my own personal heaven.

Sweat covered, limbs shaking, breathe labored, I collapse beside her after pulling out. Wrapping my arms around her I bring her into my chest as we come down from our highs together.

"That was amazing darling."

"Mhm... it was" her sleepy voice whispers into my body.

I hold her as she drifts to sleep in my arms. Happiness washes over me. I don't know her but something about this woman has intertwined deep in my soul. I look down at her kissing her forehead, "I hope this becomes more... "

I close my eyes as sleep takes me.

[babypenguinz]

observations from someone who went from invisibly to visibly disabled

around a year ago, i noticed i was having a lot of trouble standing in lines and walking for extended periods, i needed to sit down frequently and was experiencing lightheadedness, chest pain, and just generally feeling like shit after the lightest cardio. i suffer from a variety of diagnosed chronic health issues, as well as symptoms still under investigation, but i was nervous that if i started using a mobility aid, people would be more judgmental towards me while i was out and about in public, especially as someone in my early 20's. instead, my experience has been the opposite.

before i started using a cane, people would see me struggling in public, red-faced and exhausted, and look at me like i was nuisance or had done something wrong. cars would honk at me for not crossing the road fast enough, i'd regularly have to jump back from the road after a driver ignored me trying to cross. since i started using a mobility aid, this has turned to doors being held open for me, drivers signalling that i can cross when they have a green light, and being asked if need help by strangers.

while using a mobility aid has helped my stamina and made it easier to get about physically, the social impact has been far more noticeable to me. without a mobility aid, there was a lot of room for strangers to make their own assumptions about me. i could have been drunk, or high, or in withdrawal, things for which it's socially acceptable to judge someone negatively. with a mobility aid, it becomes clear why i'm struggling.

there's a conversation to be had about the perceived helplessness of being visibly disabled, sometimes people can be intrusive or overbearing, but at the same time it comes with an assumption of innocence and virtue that, while potentially patronising, makes it easier to navigate the world without being judged as anti-social.

for anyone who's been struggling with declining physical ability and considering using a mobility aid, i'd highly recommend taking the leap. not only because you deserve the freedom of being able to participate in society, but because people are far more accommodating of your struggles when there's a visual cue that alters how they perceive you. you can always stop using it if you find it doesn't work for you, but you don't know how beneficial it could be until you've tried it for yourself.

[needle-noggins]

Since you are oc pilled.. what can you tell us about Fanny? I'd love to hear all about them!

OH FANNY MY BELOVED FANNY?

So. Frances Paine (Fanny Paine. pain in my fuckin' ass) is my beloved Trigun OC for a ttrpg I'm in. You have have seen me tag things as #gunsmoked; that's the game. Fanny is a thomas rancher by trade. She grew up in Hopeland. Her best friend, a girl from the orphanage named Nova, went away when they were 12. Nova got shipped off to the Eye of Michael and sent Fanny letters about how bad it was until the letters just... stopped. Fast forward 20 years. Fanny left Hopeland, starting ranching Thomases in a little town called Gunpoint. Killed her husband (backstory) when she found out he was trafficking kids for the Eye of Michael. I wrote a little thing for it.

Within the span of game.... well, Fanny has done some truly buckwild shit. First thing she did in the game was punch the mayor's boytoy so bad that the local gang burned her house down. She helped rescue another character's brother (it's amnesiac Millions fucking Knives) and in the process killed the mayor. Who ended up also being the gang leader. It was Brilliant Dynamites Neon.

Fanny in that moment became the town mayor and the leader of the Bad Lads gang. Like, okay!!?!? OKAY! After grappling with the extremely sudden new responsibility, she discovered that the neighboring town was a front for the EOM. She and her best friend, another sad cowboy named Charlie, went to fuck up the EOM base and quickly discovered they were outgunned and outmanned. It did not go well. Also, Fanny ran into her childhood friend Nova in there. Nova didn't recognize her. Come to find out Nova didn't remember her. At all. Cue Fanny panic. Fanny gets another character, a plant scientist named Aggie, to give Nova the old childhood letters. Aggie, love her dearly, decided to do this in the most unhinged way and just scatter letters around Nova's office for her to get jump-scared by emotions while doing her job. This also did not go well. I mean, it worked, but... Nova went apeshit. Murder mode angry.

Some fuckshit happens, the Eye takes over Gunpoint. Fanny and Charlie shenanigans continue (RIP Knife's beautiful tank), and they try to take back the town but Fanny gets a little too obsessed with making Nova remember her and she's on a suicide mission about it, actually. Because Nova is freaking out that she can't remember this person and is trying to kill Fanny. Fanny almost gets shot with a punisher laser just as Charlie shoots Nova, saving her life but putting Nova in grave danger. We discover Nova is part cyborg, now in a robo-coma, and it takes about a week in-game to find the parts to fix her. Fanny spends this entire time just losing her goddamn mind about it. She may be a little bit gay for Nova. Maybe. Perhaps. But absolutely obsessive.

Nova gets fixed and comes to, bounces, Fanny has a mental crisis about it but realizes she can't fix her childhood friend. Still wants to kiss her, though. But the party has got bigger plans, like saving the world, first. And she still has responsibilities to be, ya know, the town mayor and Bad Lads leader.

Fanny is an absolute idiot, chaotic as hell, with the second-highest known body count in the party (Tesla did July; hard to top that. Knife is a new man so his past crimes don't count. Wolfwood has not told us shit about himself). She wears some Orville Peck-esque Neon Cowboy shit. Her thomas is named Cash, after Johnny Cash. Her gun was her momma's and it's an ornate little thing. She thinks half of being a cowboy is about the drip (she's right). She's a coward, she can't hurt people she cares about - even when they're threatening to kill her. She means well, she's actually not half-bad at being a leader because she's compassionate, but she's impulsive and has no self-confidence. She cannot catch a fucking break. She's hopelessly in love with her childhood best friend, she blames herself for everything that happened to Nova, she thinks she failed her by not following her to the Eye at the age of 12. She's a small town girl who is finally realizing that the world is so much bigger than her small town drama, and other people have some much bigger problems. She's can be condescending and controlling, but she's also nurturing and wants to help. She's insulting and doesn't know how to comfort others, but she's loyal to the death. She just wants to save everyone. She cannot take her own damn advice. She is extremely accidentally Vash-coded. When I play her she and her goofy-ass southern accent just take over and I don't know half the shit I say. I adore her and the absolute disaster she is. She compels me SO much.

[crazylittlejester]

THEYRE (the chain) ALL AUTISTIC ESPECIALLY THE ERAS WAR TRIO!! IN THIS TEDTALK I WILL-

mask was, ironically, very low masking

warriors was (and still kinda is) VERY high masking

(Tune is somewhere in the middle + ADHD)

mask really struggled at first on the battlefield because of his extreme lack of social skills (dude was raised in the woods with a bunch of other autistic fairy kids), lack of danger awareness, and poor understanding of war/battlefield (he’s used to 1-1 boss fights not war), and the fact that as a kid, he was already much much higher support needs, not even mentioning how traumatized he must’ve been.

warriors was drowning in stress, a literally TEENAGER (I hc him being 16-20 during the war) severely masking and like, PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO STOP. Among all the other non-neurodivergent stressors (cia, A WAR, parenting two kids in battle, food issues)

warriors helped mask learn tips for surviving the neurotypical world** (TM) and made sure he was 100% accommodated, since warriors knew he, himself would never have that.

Mask subtly (and probably accidentally) pushed warriors to mask less, creating a safe space where the three bros could all be them selves. He’d throw the biggoron sword if someone so much as looked NEAR where warriors was when he was stimming, ready to fight the h8ters if necessary.

later on, the trio (and now 6 more!) rejoin, and time is pleasantly surprised to see that warriors has kept some of the mentality. Granted, he’s not made any progress since then, but he’s not gotten worse, so that’s something.

Warriors is also quietly content that time has retained the social skills he taught him, in fact, he’s picked up even more! Though he finds it hard to find time at all scary, intimidating, or powerful, because warriors knows EXACTLY what is going through time’s head when he makes that face, I mean, he taught his brother himself!

warriors now has to face the living proof that he’s not weird or broken, lest he tell that to his eight brothers who are nowhere near as masking as he is, culture shock!

**DISCLAIMER!!

I know that the idea of “normalizing” autistic kids via teaching them neurotypical behaviors is a very complex and nuanced conversation to be had, and I’m not trying to parade around supporting ABA. (not to make this about me or anything,) but this pov/head cannon/prompt (?) is inspired from the perspective of me and my lower masking/much higher support needs sibling (both are autistic) :)

Your favorite,

-MANDARIN WARRIORS

I love you for this oh my god

To me, one of the things Mask struggles with the most besides social cues is controlling his facial expressions when especially when talking to others, which is why the other Links just automatically assumed he was the stoic silent type, because they saw this serious looking older guy who rarely smiles and were like “oh he means business-” but really he just has very flat expressions. Similarly I think he’s very dry when he speaks, it was worse when he was younger, and he’d gotten better at making himself sound more excited/happy, but occasionally the others (not including Wars) think he’s being sarcastic when he isn’t. And this is part of why they can never tell if he’s joking about having fought the moon.

With how chaotic his childhood was (and also because of the autism), to me he’s someone who really needs stability and predictably, which is why ranch work is sooo good for him. Like yeah unexpected things happen, but he can also sit there and take care of the animals and know he will be taking care of the animals the next day (also I think braiding Epona’s mane would be both comforting for him AND the horse)

Warriors is someone I can see stressing out so much about how people view him and he’s so scared of being anything less than perfect that he ends up getting trapped masking and everything just builds up until he explodes. He certainly was not coping well during the war, with everything that was going on, but I totally agree that Mask helped him mask less. Those two absolutely helped each other, both intentionally and completely by accident. By the time he’s in his mid/late twenties, he’s gotten a lot better about not letting everything build up, and also at unmasking every once in a while when he feels safe. (you’re so right, time/mask would fight ANY haters on wars’s behalf)

Everything you said was so perfect and I love it!! I’ve written one fic centering around these two being autistic (although I didn’t explicitly state that because I don’t know if they’d have like, the medical diagnosis for that in hyrule), and i really need to write more. I myself am autistic and good autism rep is really important to me because I never saw it as a kid

You’re literally my favorite at this point, mandarin wars anon, I hope you’re having a good day 🫶

[embarrassinglastwords]

i write fanfic every now and then but it’s always 1 ch and in universe BUT i was watching tv and this couple made me think…

WEDDING/PARTY PLANNER ATSUSHI AND PIANIST AKUTAGAWA

like i don’t have anything fully formed to write so i’m gonna ramble here-

akutagawa’s vampire-y look while he sits and plays elegant music that’s hauntingly beautiful. playing cause it’s his passion and becoming popular in the wedding world as well just some formal parties.

one wedding he gets hired for he’s setting up to play for the reception cause the couple had a specific song they wanted for the isle walk and notices a man with white hair, bangs that rival his own, standing to the side checking around the room with a clip board in hand. he’s dressed in a nice suit with fingerless gloves on and a normal tie compared to the room of bow ties. he doesn’t look like someone who’d give orders or be bossy like a wedding planner would have to be but to be fair most people are taken aback when he says he plays piano.

he finds this man so attractive and keeps glancing over at him which is just great because at some point they make eye contact and the white haired man begins to walk over to him. they talk about akutagawa’s cue to start playing, how long he should play, what specifically he’s gonna play etc etc. akutagawa was wrong he’s definitely in charge. he likes that but he pushes that thought down

during the wedding atsushi finds himself enthralled by the pianist. he looks so majestic and so perfect. like he was made to play piano. he thinks about how the man in an older styled suit at such a nice piano looks plucked right out of an old painting. he thinks to himself the man must be good with his hands but let’s not dwell on that rn he is at work

eventually there’s a moment for a break due to this being the time of night for loud music and dancing. they accidentally bump into each other and begin talking. they find out a good deal about each other in this time. akutagawa has a sister who’s also into music but she’s a guitarist for her band, atsushi has a little sister that he takes care of, they’re both young in their mid 20s but worked their ways up in their fields. both make a decent amount doing what they do.

they exchange numbers at the end of the night. i’m imaging like the couple has left, atsushi is making sure caterers are paid and rented items are set to go back where they’re from etc. akutagawa is collecting his sheet music and is just really taking his time with it because he has nothing but paper to take home but he needs an excuse to talk to the cute wedding planner again.

yadda yadda they keep recommending each other to people. everytime atsushi gets hired he immediately goes “i know a great pianist if you’re interested!” they work a few more weddings/gatherings together and get closer.

of course i’d want them to eventually work the same formal gathering so they could see each other dressed nicely and that’s the night where the first kiss. they go home to their friends (haven’t decided who yet) and they’re literally that “let’s fucking goooo / okay so you just kissed…” meme

WOW THIS IS SO MUCH LONGER THAN I INTENDED😭 i will probably never write this cause as stated before i only ever write like short one chapter things so enjoy this

[delurkr]

The Canadian Clarke AU - The Draft Lottery and the Move to Canada

This post concerns events that took place in 1970, 1971, and early 1972. Skip the first heading if you don't want an explanation of the relevant real-world info:

Background:

The Vietnam War had technically been going on for most of Dennis's life and it escalated in the 1960s, as did many Americans' resistance to the draft. From 1969 through 1972 the U.S. was drafting young men into the military through a lottery system. The function of the lottery was to assign a random number, ranging from 1 to 365 (or 366), to every day of the year, namely to every possible birthday. Each year, the numbers were drawn in an event publicized through every media outlet. The assigned numbers determined the order of who would be drafted in the following year: the first number called was 1, and the numbers increased until the cutoff the next year (December 31 unless otherwise extended), and then the next lottery would be drawn if needed.

To be clear, if you were a young man in the correct age bracket targeted by a given year's lottery, the random number assigned to your birthday told you how likely you were to be drafted the next year. The draft calls started with 1 and worked their way up throughout the year. The first Vietnam-era lottery, held in 1969, called men during 1970, and at the end of 1970 the highest number called turned out to be 195. That number sort of set the standard for individuals concerned about being drafted in future lotteries, although the numbers in following years never reached that high again.

So that was me trying to explain the relevant parts as clearly as I could, but here is the U.S. government webpage on the topic, with charts of the numbers assigned to every birthday in each year's lottery: Vietnam Lotteries | Selective Service System : Selective Service System (sss.gov)

The effect on Dennis:

Dennis was born on April 29, 1951. The draft lottery held on July 1, 1970, targeted men born in 1951. The number randomly assigned to his birthday was 111 out of 365. In 1971, number 111 was drafted, the highest number called being 125.

My best guess is that Dennis would have received a notice of induction into the military towards the end of 1971. Obviously there's no reason to assume he is a military member in canon, but at the same time there's no other canon-supported reason to believe that he would have grounds to be excused from the draft in real life, so that's why this AU exists.

Story:

In 1970, the Clarkes of course know that there is a chance that 19-year-old Dennis could be drafted next year. On the first day of July, the family watches and listens to the lottery broadcast as the numbers are called. Dennis is assigned number 111. It is not high enough to keep them from worrying. It's only halfway through 1970, and the previous lottery is still underway; no one yet knows how high "high enough" is, but the numbers climb as the year goes on, and when the previous lottery expires after reaching 195, they can reasonably fear that Dennis's number will be snatched up before the end of the year 1971.

Cue the Clarkes spending a year and a half in anxiety that Dennis will be forced into the military at age 20. He will perhaps be sent to the war in Vietnam and potentially never make it back home, like thousands of soldiers already - perhaps even a few they used to know. They stew over it, but for the sake of Megan in particular they rarely speak of it out in the open. The issue is merely added to the pile of mounting pressure created from the failing factory and, once October comes, Megan's increasingly disturbed behavior and whatever else.

(Note that these details are still open to adjustment, I'm always learning new info.) Early in 1971, Dennis has a pre-induction physical examination, which basically works as a head start to establish that he's eligible to be drafted when/if his number comes up. Bad news for him: he passes, and the military officially classifies him as 1-A, fit for military service if he gets called.

Then there's a point soon after when Anne puts together a letter to the draft board inquiring about the possibility of him getting conscientious objector status, but James makes sure it is never sent. It's not a completely unreasonable fear that the letter would only bring attention to Dennis and potentially get him a draft order sooner or even prevent him from getting completely overlooked if there was any tiny chance of that happening.

In November, Dennis receives an order of induction in the mail. He is given a certain date on which he is required to report and be sworn into the military and then be shipped off to basic training immediately, a date that's probably only a month or less away. It seems Dennis doesn't have a choice, except - there is always a choice, if the nation's many thousands of war resistors, including the ones fleeing to countries out of reach of the U.S. government, have proven anything.

James knows what he wants. It's no secret that he has always hated this war and its politics; he has two young sons, his sons, and they aren't going off to die in Nixon's war on his watch (no he doesn't care that President Nixon didn't start the conflict). In line with his usual m.o. of outwardly ignoring problems and hoping they go away, James insists that they ignore the draft notice, end of story. Maybe the draft board won't follow up on it. If they do, well, he'll take care of it then.

For Anne, it's more complicated. If your country calls, it's a duty to answer, and on a practical level Dennis does not have any other legal options. Of course she doesn't want to see him in a war, and if they had acted earlier he might have had a chance to join the reserves or something, but it's too late for that now, so why prolong the inevitable? The best thing now is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best like everyone did in the wars of her generation and every generation before.

Dennis himself is mostly unsure about what he should do; all over the country there's all sorts of clashing opinions to reckon with and the war is still very confusing, even though lately he couldn't help but tune in to more of the discussions, knowing that it was likely only a matter of time before it all affected him. But one sure thing is that the negative publicity and extensive media coverage of this war leaves no room for heroic fantasies, and it would be nice to not end up numbered in one of the daily casualty reports on the nightly news. So if dad says he doesn't have to go, then... he doesn't want to go. And then, too soon for any of them, the date passes when he was supposed to report, and he didn't go.

So on January 16, 1972, the family is in limbo. They don't know what's going to happen next, and they can't really ask around to find out. Dennis is breaking the law, and if the wrong person finds out he's knowingly ignoring an induction order, they might inform the authorities and who knows what would happen then. The one thing they all know is that Dennis's days with the family are numbered - realistically, it's only a matter of time before the draft board doubles down on the matter. The only options the Clarkes see are for Dennis to join the military, or pack his bags and sneak out of the country.

At the start of February, they are driven to action. It's a Wednesday when Dennis gets a second notice from the draft board with a new induction date; it serves as another chance in case he missed the first order, but it's also a warning if he's been intentionally defying it.

So the Clarkes don't push their luck any further. Dennis has already made his decision to leave the country if it came to that. There's a quick few days of hurried packing and realizing they are thoroughly under-researched and unprepared for what his move to Canada may entail, but that Sunday Dennis's luggage and most of the Clarkes are piled into the family station wagon on the multi-hour trip to Montreal, Quebec. (Only Tanya opted out of the trip, and Dennis will spend the next few years being bitter about that.)

The tension in that car gets stronger and stronger as they approach the border. They've heard tell of so many other draft dodgers escaping to Canada, but were those Americans privy to some insight the Clarkes don't have? They don't know if they will be refused entry if they pick the wrong point of crossing, and they can't even be sure there isn't a chance that Dennis could be arrested on the spot if they give the wrong answers to the wrong questions.

But the crossing is unexpectedly smooth after all. They're visitors, they tell the border official, and they make a quick and quiet entry into Canada.

There isn't much for the Clarkes to do when they reach Montreal. It's a big city, and somewhere there's folks who help people like Dennis, but James and Anne hardly know more than Dennis himself does. "Find the Americans" is the best advice they can give. They have to leave in a few hours; tomorrow is a workday. They find a cheap room for Dennis to stay in and give him some cash, and they promise to help him with the immigration process when the time comes. They can mail him whatever papers he needs. They can mail him any of his possessions if he left something important back home. They can mail letters, and he can write back.

"Call us in the morning," they tell him, and several hours later the Clarkes are down one member on the return trip to Little Hope, while Dennis is left by himself in a hotel room in Montreal with some very dim-looking prospects and no idea what to do next.

--

Aaaand that's the start of the AU. Congratulate yourself if you read this far, and here's the timeline for good measure 🙂

[wuxiaphoenix]

A Few Grumps with LitRPGs

You know, one story I’d love to read would be a previously-isekai’d main character getting back to modern Earth, possibly with friends... just in time for a System Apocalypse. Cue, “Aw heck. Now what?”

Seriously, what would happen? Would the abilities they earned get shoehorned into whatever in the System sort-of fit them? Would they even get classed as human, or as NPCs? There are all kinds of potential complications for someone who’d gained special abilities and training in a more natural paradigm now forced into a game-style universe.

If the story went the way I’d like, the main character would find a way to break the System, and artificial classifications of powers and skills would go up in smoke. Because this is the key thing that gets me about System Apocalypse settings, more than gruesome means of surviving or power plays or whatever other craziness the revised world inflicts on people. Human beings are not game icons.

There’s no such thing as a level 10 plumber, a level 15 programmer, or a level 20 neurosurgeon. These are people. Individuals with varying amounts of skill and knowledge in different areas. One neurosurgeon may be excellent working on adults, but not children; another may specialize in younger patients. The amazing jazz player may be a stockbroker by day. The expert welder may go home and tie breathtakingly realistic flies for fishing. People are unique.

And the first thing Systems stories do is reduce human beings to stat menus.

I don’t like it.

Here I must admit I’ve never been much of a gamer. I’ve played RPGs, because that was the form of social interaction in various situations I was in. And I’ve always loved gamebooks, with their descriptions of characters and kingdoms, monsters and powers. I love the bits you can put into a story.

Treating a character as just a bunch of stat blocks and equipped items? Leaves me cold.

Storywise, reader-wise, I’m not sure it’s all that healthy. We use stories as examples of how to live. Or sometimes as horrible examples of, “See that? That’s stupid, or evil, or both. Don’t do that.”

A steady diet of stories where the most important thing about a person is the artificial boxes they’re put in... we have enough problems with that in real life. The human brain is used to making snap judgments of “my tribe” or “not my tribe”. Hardwiring that means living in a civilized society takes constant work and self-control, so we’re not all bashing each other over the head with clubs when that jerk took the last donut-!

We do not need to give that hardwiring any help.

As a light entertainment? Well, horror stories and first-person shooter games are things, too. But I don’t think I could write a LitRPG. It seems too crushing to characters’ humanity.

Thoughts?

[wanderlust-----witch]

3, 7, 12 and 20! polytheist asks >:D

Oh you want me to THINK? You want me to use my BRAIN??? You are EVIL Cheshi lol

3: Is your practice more ritualistic or casual? What does it look like?

Oh my practice is extremely casual. I always hated the strict religious upbringing I had. "You do it this way, or else!". Nah fam, that's not cool. Everyone is gonna have their own way to worship, have faith, and perform religion (Yes I believe religion is a performance, but that's for another time lol). Anyways, I don't generally do much in the way of ritual because that's so much fucking work. I prefer just kinda chilling with Nyx on the full moon and calling it a night lol.

7: What does your ideal altar look like?

Chaotic, unhinged, and personal. I don't need it to be set up perfectly or invoke certain vibes, unless trash fire goblin is a vibe lmao. I really just put whatever on my altar I think fits. Right now, unfortunately, my altar isn't exactly what I want, because I don't really have space and the last time I set up an altar, Goose knocked it over. She was a brand new baby then, but even so I'd rather play it safe. I have this great cabinet at my parents house I plan on repainting and using when we have a house of our own. Its a really great size, glass doors so I can see what's inside, and bonus: cat's won't break any glass bottles on my altar lol. Rn I just have this very cue little moon shelf about 3 inches wide on a windowsill.

12: How important is mythology in your practice? How much credit do you give it?

I mean, mythology is the sourcework of all of my beliefs. I wouldn't have found Nyx, Hekate, Athena, and Artemis without Greek mythology, Bast without Egyptian mythology, or Loki without Norse mythology. Do their stories have any bearing on my beliefs? Not really. Them being the deities of their respective realms is all I really need. I know Nyx as the night, Hekate as magic, Athena as wisdom and intelligence, Artemis as the protectress, Bast as the keeper of cats, and Loki as chaos. How I interact with them is more based on my needs, versus what they have "done" in the myths that survived. Myths aren't any bit literal, just like any other religious text. We as humans are always interpreting things based on our own preconceived notions, our own beliefs, and that's not always what the original source intended. In fact, I'd argue that any human interpretation of the divine is automatically wrong. No single human belief can 100% be accurate. We will all have our own ideas of how things work. I, as a singular person, should not put any undue influence on myths that I personally think are worth "more" just because they are considered to be valid religious texts (cough cough Christians and the Bible cough cough). Myths are stories. They're fun, its fun to imagine our deities in various human scenarios. But the Divine are much more complex than their myths. I give the myths the same level of credibility I would any other that indirectly influenced my way of viewing the world. I wouldn't be who I am without the sum of the things I've read and learned over the years.

20: List a few of the deities you worship and associate each with a quote you think represents them best!

Oh lordy, you're killin me with this one Chesh lol.

Nyx: "I see the moon and the moon sees me/Nyx bless the moon and Nyx bless me" (see what I did there lmao?)

Bast: Specifically the same noise my cat makes when shes singing in the mirror. That it that's the quote lol.

Athena: All that bullshit about "tomato is a fruit but you don't put it in a fruit salad" lol. Also "Ho don't do it... oh my god" for whenever I do something (even mildly) foolish lol

Loki: OKAY SO little bit of backstory here: when I was just getting into my paganism, I was in a really shitty spot in life, physically, mentally, you name it. I came up with this phrase to help get me through it, and I generally proclaimed that anything wrong in my life was because of Loki (AS A JOKE, THEY LOVED IT). The quote was: May the deity who looks upon me in disdain look upon you with favor. It got me through shit, still does, and I still love Loki, even if they aren't my main deity anymore.

CHESHI YOU ROCK

[fruit-of-infidelity]

My OCs from different fandoms and their races!

Tagged by: @kindan-no-kanojo ! Tagging: @poohwhin , @sumire-bride , @arleccine !

This was super fun! I didn't include the founders that i have been working on (i mean, forgot about.. bc ive been busy but ahem i WILL finish them, promise), but this made me think about the babies I abandoned along the way (i only love my one son Ryuuto and what of it, huh?) but maybe i could pick up the stories of these old OC's somewhere down the line when i inevitably dive back into these fandoms through cosplay lol. I have plenty of old OCs, for the record, these are simply the ones that I could remember/fit in nicely/liked best to include. TW for old, blurry, cringe art.

#1 Diabolik Lovers - Sakamaki Ryuuto

Race: Vampire Age: 18 (Physically)

I mean, you already know about him if you're reading this lol. My favourite, and I have no shame in saying that. He is the OC of mine that will always, ALWAYS get the spotlight, and get put onto a pedestal, because he is my SON, my LIGHT, my MASTERPIECE. I wuv him so much, I miss him, and cannot wait to return to posting regularly here (which I hope to do as of now-nextweek-ish?)!

#2 Diabolik Lovers - Dietrich

Race: Familiar/Unknown(?) Age: Mid-20's

Dietrich's character was scrapped early on into Ryuuto's development. He was initially going to be a personal servant/familiar and close friend of Ryuuto's, actually! I wasn't sure how I wanted their relationship to develop and, in the end, i felt that Ryuuto was best suited to be more of the loner type anyhow. So, as much as I adored how his character design turned out, I ended up scrapping him :(

#3 Black Butler - Alexander Eden

Race: Demon Age: 20 (Psychically) Height: 185cm (6'1") Occupation: Head Butler of the Peirce Estate | Demon | Contract Holder

Throwback to my delusional blonde men era, lmao. Alexander is (was?) an idea I created for a black butler storyline of my own alongside another self-insert-turned-oc. I still have the original unfinished story up on my Quotev, actually, which describes him as having "many different sections of his personality, each triggered through separate methods or people". Yes, I am quoting myself appropriately. I take social studies at university, deal with it. He's a blend of Sebastian, Claude, and Reiji, being "distant from other demons and disdainful in general ... [holding] onto the idea that perfection is the only thing valuable in this world and it can only be achieved through a pure soul of one completely aware of corruption yet not tainted by its temptations". I actually kind of miss him :')

#4 Free! - Niikura Seiji

Race: Human Age: 17 Height: 177cm (5'10") Weight: 65kg (143lbs)

Just directly quoting from the character profile I set up for him, Seiji is "the freestyle and backstroke swimmer and the vice-captain of the Kobeyashi Academy's swim team and a 3rd year high school student ... He was previously attending Iwatobi High School. He is part of the swimming club which includes: Tokaji Kuse, Yukari Niikura and Katsuyuki Tsukino", which are other OC's for his story. Cue the violins because his whole backstory is basically: "Originally, he was extremely passionate about the the swim team at Iwatobi, however, he was never accepted into it. Seiji stopped swimming after he was suspended from junior high school after attempting to psychically attack Rin who insulted his speed in the water. It wasn’t until his best friend Tokaji forced him back into swimming that he found his spark again". I began his story, but never published it! I might get around to doing that, because I really liked what I wrote for him back in 2018.

#5 Noragami - Shoji

Race: God Age: ??? Height: ???

Unfortunately, I didn't write a character profile for Shoji when I was interested in his story so I cannot remember it for the most part, and I only wrote two unpublished chapters which I archived. However, in the little synopsis, the storyline was that, as the reader, you "had known Shoji - the God of afterlife and exorcisms - for a while now and, oddly enough, a phantom encounter one afternoon after-school had brought you and your best-friend Hiyori closer after finding out she also knew a God. Soon you begun to realise if Shoji and Yato being past enemies wasn't bad enough to start another fight, the fact that both of them were falling rapidly for you definitely was". A typical, cringey (read: hot) love-triangle from an old fandom I was am into. Shoji, like Yato, was a God as was basically the polar opposite of his outgoing, happy-go-lucky nature for the most-part. It was just a sort of ying-yang situation, for the reader, I think. I had to use a picrew to reimagine him because I used a faceclaim but couldn’t find the original character T-T

#6 Yandere Simulator - Yuuto Shinohara

Race: Human Age: 17 Personality Type: Kuudere-Yandere

You're typical yandere!boy story, lol. I really did like making only male OCs, huh. Yuuto "is a 17 year old in second-year high school student at Akademi High. His classroom is 3-2, the same classroom as Taro Yamada. He has a strange obsession with Ayano Aishi and maintains a lovestruck persona towards her, as she does with Taro. He is in the Student Council Club as it offers him large benefits around the school". He was actually inspired here and there by some of the DiaBoys in his actions/manner of speech/etc. with the (again) unpublished chapters I produced for him. As is typical of many OCs, he had a tragic backstory too; Yuuto "had a hard time as a child, unwilling but not incapable of caring for others. Reasons for this stem from many different areas of his life, including the fact his parents died when he was young which left him with his older sister, Chiyu - the normal parent-child relationship unable to be created. Chiyu, although being a loving older sister, often leaves her younger brother alone while she visits different cities around Japan in pursuit of her career as a Tour Guide. This means Yuuto is often left alone for a number of months at a time. Yuuto, prior to transferring to Akademi High School in second year, was often bullied at school for being too quiet and isolating himself". Kind of want to explore him some more, too :'( Curse this tag game, making me want to hug my old OCs.

[eversplode]

hello rain world tumblr. in my rain world fic, Taking the High Road, i accidentally created a conlang for scavengers. whoopsie.

that is not what im here to discuss, however. see, as a story about a slugcat and a scavenger traveling together, it was inevitable that the slugcat would start trying to learn 'scavengese.'

so i decided "scavs are basically humans so they can make all the sounds humans can, but scugs are like. cats. so they probably cant make all the sounds. how do i do that."

after about 20 seconds of consideration, i decided to try pronouncing my scavengese words without using my tongue, and just writing the sound that i made. it was quick, it was easy, and hey, it definitely wouldn't come up much (lie).

an innocent comment on my fic asking "hey how do you decide what scugs can and cant say" has sent my into a shower thought-fueled speculative biology session to retroactively justify my decisions. so, i'm gonna put that here, because someone will probably find it as interesting as me. anyway.

(tl;dr, click here for some speculative biology on how slugcat language works)

so, let us start with the basis for scug language, which is two facts: one, scugs are, at their core, moist cats which have evolved to the point of developing culture and language, and two, they go "wawawa." why do they go wawawa? because the entire community agreed on it and also I Said So. so how do we build a language around this?

so as we all know, cat language isn't language as we understand it. cats don't use words, they use stuff like purring and hissing and non-verbal cues. so, if cats suddenly constructed their own society like it was a Thing To Do, their language would probably involve those same things. so basically, natural slugcat language involves mostly non-verbal cues and sounds that humans cant make.

so now we come to the second part: why does rivulet go "wawawa" when they "talk" with moon?

well, my theory is that scugs have very immobile tongues and no teeth. bear with me here.

slugs, yknow, the base of slugcats other than cats, dont have tongues. they have a thing called a radula, which as far as i can tell, is basically a tonguelike thing covered in very small teeth. now, correct me if im wrong, but you probably wouldnt want a spiky meat sack flailing around your mouth, like we do with tongues.

also, look at scugs diet. theyre herbivores and insectivores, most of them being unable to eat meat (i imagine centipede flesh is quite soft once you get past the exoskeleton). the only scugs that can eat meat are hunter, artificer, gourmand, and spearmaster. three of these are genetically modified, hunter being specifically created to be a powerful warrior, spearmaster being... spearmaster, and artificer being the only scug with claws and also being able to Spontaneously Explode For Mobility.

gourmand is a special case, being yknow, a gourmand. they can eat meat from lizards and such, however it gives only half the pips of other meat eaters. this says to me that their system isnt built to handle meat, and they can only eat specific parts of these creatures. this is probably true of all slugcats, its just that gourmand has experience is what parts can and cant be eaten, them being the gourmand.

anyway my point here is, slugcats cant eat hard foods. think about what they eat. blue fruit is a bug chrysalis and therefore full of goo, bubble fruit seem to be made of some kind of gel, popcorn is popcorn, slime mold is slime, ect. ect. in the case of gooieducks, scugs have to rip off the hard casing in order to eat them. scugs are made to eat soft foods and liquids. so, they probably dont have teeth. or, if they do, they are affixed to their tongue, and previously discussed.

so why am i discussing scug diets in this post about scug language? well you see, dear reader, if scugs dont have lips, how do they hold their food in their mouth? their lips. and what is the main part of your mouth you use to go "wawawa?" thats right, your lips. scug lips are probably the most easy to use mouthpart they have

so, imagine youre ruffles. moon has been talking to you in her weird ancients language to you, which seems to consist entirely of mouth sounds (no throat sounds or non-verbal cues at all! how strange!) you love moon very much and want to make her happy, so you try to mimick her language. you arent used to using your mouth to speak very much, so what do you do? you just start making a sound and flapping your lips. and what sound does that make?

"wawawa."

and THAT, dear friends, is why scugs go wawawa.

[sparrow-orion-writes]

if you still do the pride month themed oc asks:

3. How did your OC discover themself? Did something cause them to question, or they always know?

6. How does your OC feel about labels? Theirs, or in general?

7. Is there something thaz could question their identity? What?

for any oc of your choice hehe

I love talking about my characters, and I love talking about pride, so! endless questions always acceptable. I'm going with Ari because I love him and also because I'm writing book 2 a lot atm.

Ari is biromantic and asexual, possibly demisexual, or an asexual who likes to give but not receive. He is also transgender.

How did your OC discover themself? Did something cause them to question, or they always know?

Ari has never felt a particular affinity in either direction, for a large part of his life it was just something he didn't think about. He was very much focused on every other element of his life. When he did have feelings for someone, he honestly didn't even process them as romantic feelings at first because the sexual attraction wasn't there. It never would be there for him, either. It wouldn't be until his mid-20s that he would really clue himself in that he actively doesn't desire sex.

During the books, though, he does discover elements of sex that he enjoys. He is very forthcoming about the fact he doesn't like being touched - even non sexually, he finds it overstimulating, he doesn't like the feeling of holding someone's hand or being hugged without time to prepare, and absolutely loathes crowds.

But, there are some things on the more giving side that he enjoys, even accidentally turning Edward on because he was practically using him as a human stim toy...we've all been there.

As for being trans, it was always there at the back of his mind, but he had a dream where he was a man and it haunted him so long that he hallucinated the voice of the goddess coming down to tell him to get the hell out of his little cult town and be free. And so he left, at 16.

How does your OC feel about labels? Theirs, or in general?

Indifferent. Ari isn't very social and doesn't tend to make new friends or meet very many new people - and his sexuality is very much private to him and his partner.

In the world in general, the labels still exist but very few people use them outside of situations it would be needed. It's fairly common and normal for there to be an even spread between straight, gay, bi, etc.

Having said that, Ari doesn't really have the language to explain his sexuality in that sense. A lot of that old world knowledge didn't make it through to the present. The same happens with April, who is aromantic, and January, who is aroace. They both generally self-describe because this is important to them and they're both open to discussing it.

Ari isn't, though, Ari doesn't want words to his experiences and is a very private person. He finds it really difficult to talk about his life, and the person he is.

So whilst April describes himself as "loveless," or "less inclined to marry," and January explains he is "uninterested in the workings of the body as much as the raw material of the mind," (hello can someone spit that sheer poetry at me? Thanks), a lot of the context for Ari's sexuality comes from his avoidance of speaking about it. Or, like, other people's input.

In a conversation between Ari and Eli, he explains that he dislikes the company of most people, which makes it difficult to marry. When the topic of sex is even fleetingly mentioned, he completely throws the conversation away, showing that he really is quite uncomfortable talking about it.

In another conversation, Eli mentions that Ari doesn't pick up on social cues very easily, which makes him more anxious than he lets on, explaining why Ari hyper-emphasises his learned behaviours. Neptune then points out that she knows because she tried to hit on him for two years straight and he wouldn't have noticed if she'd spray painted it on his house.

But when it comes down to it, Edward asks Ari if he'd ever date a man and Ari - bless his soul - basically goes "I don't particularly think gender is a factor in how much I don't want that."

As for being trans, both Ari and Edward being trans is revealed in relative closeness to each other, and neither of them use the term "transgender."

Edward describes himself very typically as "being born one way, and wanting to look another," explaining that he's on testosterone. Edward uses solely he/him pronouns but he is happy with some of his more feminine characteristics.

Ari, here, describes himself as "born a man, in every way except body." in an earlier version, he explains that he could see his mind as being female and his body being male, and some parts of him reflect each - which would probably put him closer to being nonbinary but, hey, we'll see how that turns out together.

Is there something that could make them question their identity?

Short answer: Edward, and new information.

Long answer: Over the course of the story, Ari engages in a sort of shaky trial-and-error with his own boundaries. Largely because he receives new information about himself that he hadn't quite processed before. And that's that he actually does not dislike Edward's company, but, even worse, actually feels like he can learn from Edward.

From there Edward gently coaxes him through the stages of un-repressing his emotions, and that reveals more new information, and so on.