#G-science capabilities

[mannequinreligi0n]

NSFW ALPHABET: VERGIL

not me coming back to post anything but the third chapter of my priest vergil fic …. anyways, have this in the meantime while i wrestle with writer’s block.

i’d love to do this for dante and possibly whomever else, if there’s any want for it - my inbox is open!

obv nsfw warning for below, tried to keep it gender neutral as well - enjoy!

xoxo, obscura

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

The eternal gentleman, Vergil is doting and attentive - making sure you’re satisfied, cleaned, and content after intimacy. He’ll always clean you before himself, offering water, back rubs, and maybe even a nice bath to get you feeling right again. If it’s in bed, cuddles are mandatory - Vergil sees sex as a bonding activity, and holding you in his arms or lying on your chest is necessary to connect with one another.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Vergil has spent years training to get the perfect physique for fighting. He takes great pride in how he looks, and is not shy about it - but a favorite thing about him? I don’t think Vergil has given it much thought.

It’s a different story with his partner. I will gladly die on the hill that Vergil is an ass man. Vergil loves to grab it, smack it, bite it - just overall handsy. Speaking of, he’s got a thing for hands. He will worship his partner’s hands, seeing them as divine devices capable of such grace and care.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Despite Vergil’s disdain for firearms, this man’s a shooter. He’s unfortunately hit an eye or two during oral with some straggling ropes, and he always feels bad but can’t help it.

He has a preference for coming inside (he will demand it most times, unless you’re adamant for something else). Though, he does appreciate the occasional facial. Something about marking his territory…

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Something tells me that Vergil picks up photography as a hobby when he returns back from hell. It’s harmless, mostly, but it’s strayed into the bedroom and he’s assembling his own photo diary of your sexual rendezvouses. On each page is detailed entries of what happened, what he found interesting, what made you tick, all alongside a photo of you folded like a pretzel or sitting pretty in a new set he bought you. ‘It’s for science’, he’ll say when you find it hidden under some other books on his desk.

I also think Vergil genuinely would love exploring being a sub to some extent. The man’s whole life has been a quest for power and control. But if he found someone he trusted enough, I think he would be willing to relinquish that control for a little bit and be at the whims of someone else. Call him a good boy? Tell him how good he’s making you feel? He’s melting like soft-serve in summer.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Vergil has experience, but it’s limited. The man is not a dog like others are quick to assume due to Nero’s conception, but he did experiment a little in his 20s.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Lotus, standing dragon, and ol’ reliable: missionary

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Vergil is a perfectionist at heart and sex isn’t an exception. It’s very few and between that you’ll have him acting silly during such an intimate act. I think the only time he’d truly be more loose and laughing is if he was inebriated in some way.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Well groomed, may let it grow in if he’s been with someone for a long time due to comfortability. I don’t think he cares how his partner grooms themselves, as long as they are cleanly - to each their own.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Sex is about devotion to Vergil. He takes it seriously and ensures his partner feels absolutely valued and worshiped. If time permits, Vergil is taking the time to set the scene. You’ll come home to freshly washed bedsheets, lit candles, and dinner already made and prepared for serving. It’s all-encompassing for him, more about the bond between you two than the result.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

I feel like he edges when he’s frustrated. Just to punish himself for whatever it is that is bothering him. However, I don’t think he masturbates often, as he finds it a waste of energy.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Bdsm is a given, duh. A rope junkie - loves to tie you down in impossible positions, or to be tied up himself, forcing himself to put his trust in you. Body worship, breeding, temperature play, pet play. Handcuffs, gags, cameras, leashes. The voices are also telling me he’s into blood play……much to think about. But ONLY on him - he’s not too keen on actually hurting you outside of hickeys and bruises.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

The bedroom, absolutely. Again, sex is not trivial to him. If not in bed, definitely in the bath. However, even the devil in him gets the best of his control sometimes and he’ll squeeze a quickie in the back of the car or the bathroom of a bar.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Seeing you do mundane tasks drives Vergil up the wall. He’ll stand there and watch you bend over the washing machine, doing paperwork, fixing your hair, and it’ll be more of a turn on than any lewd act. Something about seeing you so blissfully unaware of your natural state is too much for him. Bonus points if you’re doing housework and disheveled - clothes a mess, sweat on your brow. He’s practically foaming at the mouth.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Carelessness in any regard is a huge no for him, whether it’s out of ignorance or stubbornness. He’s a proud man and doesn’t tolerate blatant disrespect.

I mentioned it briefly above, but hurting you seriously is off the table. Safety is the utmost priority when it comes to you for him - he will not jeopardize that in any way.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

MUUUUUUNCH. He is a munch, I swear it. It’s mostly out of greed, if we’re being honest. He loves to watch you squirm, see how many times he can make you come alone from his mouth before he dares to fuck you. Loves face-sitting, he sees it as a challenge. Will also view oral as a form of body worship - he will take his damn time.

Vergil will never admit it, but he also loves to be on the receiving end. Loves to see you on your knees, taking him to the hilt and feeling you gulp around him. Careful, though! He’s a head-pusher.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Varies on the mood. If it’s more of a loving, sensual session, he will drag it out for as long as he feels necessary unless you tap out or flip him over out of impatience. Rougher, heated goes are another story. His movements will be unforgiving and staccato, ramming into your slick with purpose and ferocity.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Mentioned above. It’s only really if he physically can’t get you home quick enough. Or if you have an argument. He loves a good post-fight fuck.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Vergil is always looking for ways to push his own boundaries. He’s spent years honing his strengths and learning his every weakness - of course he’s gonna want to put them to the test. Whether that’s trying something new or getting a more risqué.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Demon genes go crazy. I think he could easily go back to back a few rounds before calling it quits. Any less would more so be for the wellbeing of his partner. I think Vergil purposely tries to last as long as physically possible to push himself, but sometimes he gets a little too lost in how soft your skin feels or how tightly your squeezing around him to hold back any longer.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Vergil wouldn’t be too knowledgeable about toys, but if he had a partner that was, he would be open to exploration. (Honey, go get the strap)

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

HE IS A BRATTTT (365 party girl)! Whether it’s orgasm denial or straight up refusal to even touch you, he’s playing the long game.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Grunts and growls, for sureeeee. It’s more animalistic than anything. Not a talker, really, as he gets near silent when he’s in the zone, but he’ll make sure to pepper in some praise or instruction here and there so you stay present.

When Vergil is on the receiving end/subbing, it’s a different story. WHINY. So, so whiny and blubbers out nonsense. Whimpers and moans so unlike the stoic warrior, you have to do a double-take to even be sure the sounds are coming from him.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Oral fixation.

Also secretly a big fan of pet names: darling, sweet, love, little one/bird, sweetheart.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Vergil is a big man. 6’5, to be exact. Add devil genes in the mix and the man’s packin’. I don’t think it’s anything ridiculous, but I’m betting on a good 8 when hard. Uncut with a slight left curve. Definitely nothing to be shy about.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Vergil spent years in solitude - I think he can handle a lot of pining. He’s patient and panther-esque, ever waiting for the right time to strike. That being said, if you and him were long-term, I think he’d make it a point to have sex integrated into your regular routine, to keep your relationship and minds secure. Health is wealth, after all.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

He has a hard time sleeping in general, but it’s a little easier when you’re tucked in his side, bare and satisfied. He’d probably lie awake for a while, even after you dozed off, just to hold you close and remind himself you’re really there and he’s safe from harm.

[polygonpiscine]

🐢📖 Raph sat cross-legged on the couch, a worn and dog-eared issue of “Jupiter Jim” in his hands. Leo and Donnie entered the room, their usual banter already in full swing.

Raph looked up from the comic, catching the tail end of Leo and Donnie’s debate. He grinned, always entertained by his brothers’ banter. “Ah, the age-old argument: science versus fiction. “Can’t we just enjoy the story for what it is?”

Leo shot a teasing grin at Donnie. “Exactly! Raph gets it. Besides, Jupiter Jim is a classic. You can’t beat the nostalgia.”

Donnie shook his head, unconvinced. “Nostalgia doesn’t make up for scientific inaccuracies, there are way more scientifically accurate space adventures out there grounded in reality, Jupiter Jim is overrated.”

Leo jumped to the comic’s defense. “Whoa, hold up! Jupiter Jim is totally old-school, the OG of space heroes. He’s, like, a classic legend. And his laser blaster? Way cooler than any gadget you’ve whipped up, Donnie.”

“please. Jupiter Jim's laser blasters happen to have a fancy design, that's all. They're not any better than my meticulously crafted gadgets because, let's face it, they wouldn't work!"

Leo grinned mischievously. “And yours aren’t any better, Donnie. They malfunction every time we’re in a tight spot.”

Donnie huffed. “Hey, those were isolated incidents! And I fixed them, didn’t I?”

Raph chimed in with a laugh. “lighten up! It’s just a comic. No need to overanalyze it.”

Donnie huffed, crossing his arms. “Fine, fine. But don’t come crying to me when you need a gadget to save your shell.”

Mikey popped his head in, curious. “What’s all the fuss about? Are we reading comics now?”

Raph gestured to the comic in his hands. “Yep, we’re diving into the wild adventures of Jupiter Jim. You in?”

Mikey's eyes lit up with excitement as he bounded over to the couch. "Absolutely! Nothing beats a good old-fashioned space adventure."

Without hesitation, Mikey plopped himself down right in Raph's lap, earning a grunt of surprise from his brother.

Raph chuckled, giving Mikey a playful shove. "Hey, watch it, Mikey! You're gonna crease the pages."

Mikey laughed, unbothered by Raph’s protest. “Relax, big bro! I’ll be gentle.”

Raph mock-glared at him before wrapping an arm around Mikey’s shoulder, pulling him closer. “Alright, but if Jupiter Jim gets crumpled, you’re buying me a new copy.”

“Always” Mikey beamed

"Alright, you knuckleheads. Chapter one: 'The Galactic Crusade,'" Raph announced in his rough voice, setting the scene. As he delved into the thrilling tale of Jupiter Jim's quest to save the galaxy, his brothers were captivated.

Leo's eyes sparkled with excitement as he imagined himself as the heroic Jupiter Jim, leading his team to victory. Donnie nodded along, though he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at some of the scientific inaccuracies woven into the story.

"Impressive storytelling," Donnie mused, "but I think Jupiter Jim’s laser blaster would need a lot more power to take down a black hole."

His comment hung in the air, earning him a glare from Leo. "Donnie, can't you just enjoy the story for once without dissecting every detail?"

Donnie shrugged, unfazed by Leo's glare. "Hey, I'm just saying. A black hole is no joke. It’s scientifically impossible for a laser blaster to close a black hole. The amount of energy required would be astronomical, far beyond the capabilities of any handheld weapon, no matter how 'fancy' its design."

Leo sighed, shaking his head. "Sometimes, Donnie, you just gotta let your imagination take over. It’s not always about the science."

As the story ended, Raph chuckled, closing the comic with a satisfied smile. “Taking it one chapter at a time, guys. But I’m glad you’re all enjoying it.”

Leo grinned at his brothers. "Thanks for indulging me, guys. 'Jupiter Jim' may not be scientifically accurate, but it's always an adventure."

Donnie smirked. "Ah, so you admit it's not accurate."

Leo winked. "Well, Donnie, I guess sometimes we just have to let our imaginations defy gravity, right?"

[cockainalips]

“Where’s your God now?” - Luigi Mangione x reader smut based on this post ↓

creds to @cranberrydietcoke and @ninemillimeterangel

summary: you are spending your night studying at Luigi's place, but a conversation about you being a christian changes the route of your night

warnings: oral sex (fem), dirty talk, blasphemy ig, unprotected sex, creampie

English is not my first language!

Spending the night studying at Lu's apartment made you a little nervous, not because of the finals, but because of him. You were going there to study and do it alone with a guy felt so, so wrong. As a christian, it was crazy to think you were about to do something like that.

You rang the doorbell and waited for him. He opened the door and smiled at you. You two went to his bedroom and sat on the floor to start studying. Your heart raced when he closed the door.

He opened the biology book, and you two started doing some flashcards, asking questions to each other and discussing how the human body works.

“You know what? Our bodies are amazing. It’s hard to believe that the nature is capable to create something like this”

— That’s why i believe in God - you said.

He looked at you, like you were saying the craziest thing ever.

“How can you prove that? Have you ever seen Him?”

— No, but I can feel Him, that’s all that matters.

“Just because we have perfect bodies with perfect systems, it doesn’t mean there’s a divine creator behind everything, you know?”

“I feel Him, I can talk to Him, you don’t understand”

“The science is the truth, I truly don’t understand how can you believe in something that’s not proven when you have real facts in front of you”

His face was getting closer to yours at every single word, the wetness of his breath was driving you crazy.

“Why are you freaking out? Just because i wanna follow the God's plan?”

“What the fuck are you talkin' about? This is the real life, and you're wasting it, you could be having the best experiences, but you rather be caged to this belief”

You lay on his bed, sighing in depths of confusion, desire and disappointment.

“you’re so pretty,” luigi whispers. it would be a waste, really, if you didn’t get all that you deserve.

he’s ecstatic at the sight of your body sprawled across his bed, he sinks down beside you and pulls your body closer to his.

“you've no idea how often i loose my mind thinking about this, about how stupid you are for depriving yourself so much”

As more he talks, he gets rougher, his feelings seems ten times more intense, his hands hold you tighter. He unzips your white dress and starts kissing your neck aggressively, leaving hickeys everywhere.

“I wanna give you real experiences, you want this, don't you?"

leaving you completely naked, he notices the wet mess that was happening all over your legs.

“you want me that fuckin’ bad?”

feeling the wetness pooling between your legs, he presses his nose against your clit, you cry out gripping his shoulders tightly.

"oh fuck, luigi," you gasp, your nails scratching his back. He smiles at you with his head between your legs shaking uncontrollably.

“So, where is your God now? I can’t see Him, I can’t feel Him…”

“oh my…” you were loosing your senses, his hands sliding up your thighs,

“look at you, you don’t even know who are you praying to”

"i want you, luigi," you cry, "i want you so bad."

“i know, my love, i know,” he says, kissing the running tears down your cheeks. Whimpering underneath him, he fucks into you like he’s craving to see you crumble.

“you’re so good, so perfect and wet, I just can’t help myself.”

He throws you on the bed, and enters you hungrily. You wrap your legs around his waist, pulling him closer.

“Look at me. I want you to look at me in the eyes, my love. You look so fuckin’ gorgeous with your legs spread.“

With each thrust, he drove deeper, filling you completely, you cry out as he hit that sweet spot inside you, he bites your neck while you’re crying against his chest.

“You’re so perfect, everything about you, I can’t get enough of this perfect pussy.”

“I want you. I want your cum inside me.”

his cock wildly moving inside your wet pussy, his dark eyes looking at your body with nothing but love, his hands tightly brushing against your waist.

"god, i'm gonna cum,"

You can't hold yourself any longer. you cum hard, your body shakes with pleasure, he spills himself inside you, filling you with his sweet cum.

He smiles at you, giving him the perfect view to watch your face as you fall apart over and over on his cock.

[dustyrkives]

Inheritance? Taken Care Of

PAIRING: Ada Wong x fem reader

WARNINGS: RE4r Ada, post-Spain, parentified daughter r, researcher r, morally gray r, mommy issues, psychological drama, oldest daughter core r and because this piece speaks to me since I'm the eldest daughter of the Asian household–this is self-indulgent oops, emotional neglect, workaholic, unhealthy coping, power play, unethical sciences oops, soft dom Ada, emotional manipulation, possessive Ada, unprotected sex, soft to rough sex, raw sex, biting, marking, marathon sex, multiple orgasms, overstimulation and that's about it, I think.

SYNOPSIS: Your mother shaped you into the perfect scientist–brilliant, disciplined, and drowning in her legacy. Even in death, her voice haunts you. Then came Ada Wong. A deal. A distraction. A mistake. Now, she watches you unravel, unwilling to let you go. After all, everything must be taken care of.

MEN, MINORS DNI

"Everything must be taken care of, before you have any respite."

Heavy are the words of your mother–a renowned biomedical scientist in her time before she met her unfortunate end in Raccoon City.

Your mother took you to work with her at a young age, showing you the ins and outs of the lab, her research, her progress, and her data the moment you were finally capable of comprehension. She made you take STEM as a pre-med course, specifically biochemical engineering. With her name known across the world, you were given a full ride to a scholarship at the most prestigious universities in the city.

It didn't take long for your peers and mentors to realize you have the same talent and intelligence as your mother.

It felt empowering, of course.

You were saving lives, just like your mother, and the talent too!

Indeed, saving lives at the expense of ruining your own.

What a passionate way to die.

The world suddenly fell on your shoulders when the news of your mother not making it during the infamous Raccoon City incident made it to you–just days after you finished your internship with one of her trusted colleagues as your mentor–and her attorney informed you that she had left all of her assets in your care.

That includes her unfinished research manuscript, her lab notes, medical journals, and unorganized data.

Oh, what do you do?

Your knees wobbled as you set foot into her office, where most of her things were moved with the help of the family attorney and her trusted friends. Your thoughts raced, causing your forehead to heat up as you force yourself to go through her things just to know where to start–how to start.

Your mother was overly critical of you–she had a reputation to keep. Low grades and a bad track record were a sign of failure in her eyes, and in return, she'd lecture and vent to you about her frustrations in the lab.

Oh, you're having a difficult time at a single subject? What more if you're finally in my shoes, hm?

Tired? Ridiculous! Everything must be accounted for–must be taken care of, even if it meant dragging your body to work.

Even if it meant dragging your body to work.

Her reminders loom over you like a suffocating ghost. Before you can even grieve her passing–you threw yourself to work, just like your mother did; refining vaccines, studying new virus samples (those that your hired men can acquire), and testing for results.

But instead of the empowerment that surged in you before–it feels empty. The achievement that you longed for felt nothing like a chore–and your mother's praises are faint–mixing with the practiced awe of your investors and fellow scientists.

Most of your work proved effective against the virus—so much so that it became highly sought after by the government and private companies alike.

And a few questionable individuals too.

That includes a mercenary who disguised herself as one of the interns in your lab. You caught her scanning a copy of your research for the cure and possible enhancement of the G-virus.

You put her in for questioning–and instead of throwing her to the authorities, you made a transactional relationship with her; you'd pay her to take samples of the virus from her different missions and make a cure, in return, she'd get double the money from different employers.

At first, it was simple. Cold. Uncomplicated.

Ada delivered the virus samples, you worked on the cure, and both of you pretended it was just another business arrangement.

It worked—until it didn’t.

Somewhere along the line, the conversations became longer. The silences became heavier. She started sticking around after a job was done, lingering in the dim glow of your lab, watching you work like she had something else to say but never did.

You ignored it.

She never pried, never asked why you threw yourself into your work the way you did. But the way she watched you—like she saw straight through the walls you built—was unsettling.

You should have known better.

Because when the time came—when she had to choose between you and the people who paid her—she chose you.

That was the first time you realized that, despite everything, you weren’t the only one losing themselves in this arrangement.

And that changed everything.

A small smile graces your lips as a message from Ada glares from your screen.

I'm on my way back with the Amber.

Excellent.

"I'm sure Wesker was less than pleased when you change coarse with the Amber." You mused, days after Ada came back with the said item. The older girl's lips morph to a faint smile as she stands next to you, her arms crossed against her firm chest.

"Wesker has a lot of resources," She turns her head in your direction and tilts her head to the side, "I'm sure he can get new samples elsewhere."

You hum as you examine the stone, "Exquisite," You tear your eyes from the Amber and look at Ada. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, doll." The short-haired woman smirks, "I'll leave you to your work–I know you hate being delayed."

"You know me too well," Your tone cool as Ada leaves the room. On cue, your lips flatten into a line as the mirth swims away from your eyes, becoming dull–empty.

Wonderful. Another chore.

In you're need to start planning your next steps, you fail to notice Ada–who is standing at the entrance of your study–eyes carefully studying your change of expression before walking down the halls of the facility.

Without wasting time–you and your team of proficient biomedical scientist began brainstorming the stone–conducting tests among tests and recording your findings without fail–the Amber held so much potential: a superior form of the Plaga. It didn't take a while for it to become the center of your focus, eating and sleeping became an option–you have so much to work with.

Ada has been observing you, the way your food comes back untouched, your sleep patterns–heck, she even woke up with you not beside her.

And if Ada didn't know any better–have you gotten thinner?

Her brows pinch together–and just as it quickly came, it disappeared.

You tell your team to rest–but you can't apply the same to yourself.

Everything must be taken care of, before you have any respite.

With heavy eyes and a blank face, you type away new data recorded from today's findings. Your wrist feels numb, and your body weighed like lead as your eyes shift from one screen to the next.

Then a familiar, feminine, velvety voice fills your cold, sterile lab.

"It's 4:37 AM,"

Automatically, your brows arch and you swivel your chair to the owner of the voice. There stood Ada, wearing a white-button up shirt and beige tapered trousers.

"And?" You mused.

"You're supposed to be sleeping next to me."

Your eyes scan her outfit, "What an odd set of pajamas." You comment with a small smile. A hum reverberates form Ada's chest, her eyes smoothly move to your desk.

"And I see that you didn't touch your food. Again." Her eyes narrow as she takes slow, measured steps towards you. Pink blossoms in your cheeks–nothing extravagant—just a simple meal. You don’t need to ask who left it.

"You're making a habit of watching me, Ada." You mutter, looking away from the older woman. She smirks, using one hand to grasp your chin, coaxing you to look at her.

"Hard not to when you're wasting away."

"I have work..." You trailed off as her expression sharpens–stern.

"And you'll be no use to anyone if you collapse." She lets go of your jaw and takes the fork, stabbing the meat with it before handing it to you. "Eat, doll."

You blink at her, "But–"

She raises a brow.

The air between you hums with tension, silent yet deafening. Ada doesn't waver, her hand steady as she holds out the fork. You recognize the challenge in her gaze—one she doesn’t need to voice. You could ignore her. Dismiss her with a sharp remark and go back to your research. That’s what you would have done before.

But the weight of her stare is different this time.

Reluctantly, you take the fork from her fingers, avoiding her gaze as you take one bite. Then another. The taste is nothing special, but the way Ada leans against the desk, arms crossed, watching you with quiet satisfaction–it was almost irritating.

"Happy?"

The former smirks, but there's a mellow gleam in her eyes. "Ecstatic."

She doesn’t push you to eat more. Doesn’t hover or pry. Just lets you go at your own pace before pushing off the desk.

"Sleep after you're done eating."

A scoff leaves your lips. "I have work to do."

Ada tilts her head, studying you with something unreadable. "Right. Of course you do."

She turns, walking toward the exit—but pauses at the doorway. Over her shoulder, she adds, "Don’t make me force you."

And then she’s gone.

Days pass. Weeks.

Ada watches. She doesn’t hover, doesn’t nag—but she sees everything.

The untouched meals. The way your hands shake slightly when you reach for a pen. The increasing number of empty coffee cups cluttering your desk. The dark circles under your eyes, like shadows carved into your skin.

You're burning out, and you don’t even notice.

Ada does.

She notices when your fingers tremble as you type. When you blink a second too long, as if fighting the urge to collapse on the spot. She notices when you stand too fast, your vision tilting, and you grip the edge of the desk just to steady yourself.

And then, one night, it happens.

You don’t remember falling—only the sharp sensation of your knees hitting the floor, the rush of dizziness swallowing you whole. A sound escapes your lips, something between a gasp and a curse, but before your body can fully crumple—

Ada is there.

Lithe arms catch you before you hit the cold tile. A firm grip steadies you and through the haze clouding your vision, you hear her voice, lower than usual.

"That's enough."

Your head is spinning. You don’t fight when Ada pulls you up, guiding you towards the couch in the corner of your study. You’re not sure when she sat down, only that you’re suddenly leaning against her, the warmth of her presence pressing into your side.

You hate how comforting it feels.

"You’re overworking yourself," Ada states, voice unreadable.

You huff, though it lacks bite. "That’s nothing new."

Ada is silent for a moment, then:

"This isn’t just about the research, is it?"

Your breath catches.

She’s too close. Not physically—though, yes, she is—but she’s too close to seeing through you. Through the carefully constructed walls, through the weight of your mother’s expectations still coiled around your throat like a noose.

Ada exhales, her voice softer than before. "You can’t outrun her."

Your fingers clench into the fabric of your sleeves. You don't answer.

Ada doesn't push.

She simply sits there, allowing the silence to settle—offering her presence without demand. Without pressure.

Ada doesn't move for a while. Neither do you.

The silence isn’t uncomfortable, but it’s heavy. You can feel her presence—steady, unmoving—like a quiet force refusing to let you spiral any further.

You close your eyes for just a second. Just a second.

And then—

You wake up.

The dim glow of your study lamps is gone, replaced by the soft flicker of the emergency lights. The air is still. Quiet. The weight against your back is warm, solid—Ada.

You realize with slow clarity that you’ve fallen asleep against her.

Your mind is sluggish, torn between the rare, unfamiliar comfort of rest and the immediate need to get back to work. You shift slightly, only for Ada’s arm—wrapped loosely around your waist—to tighten.

"Don’t even think about it."

Her voice is smooth, carrying no room for argument. You tilt your head just enough to catch a glimpse of her—eyes closed, looking impossibly at ease, as if she had all the time in the world.

"How long was I out?" you murmur.

Ada hums, opening one eye. "Longer than you usually allow yourself. Not long enough."

A flicker of annoyance sparks in your chest. "I don’t have time for—"

Ada clicks her tongue, and suddenly, she’s shifting—her arm unwinding from you as she gracefully rises to her feet. The warmth you didn’t realize you were clinging to vanishes.

Fine. If she’s going to leave, that’s—

Your thoughts halt when Ada leans down, placing her hands on the couch—caging you in.

"You’re coming with me," she says, voice smooth as silk but carrying an edge that dares you to refuse.

Your brows furrow. "Excuse me?"

Ada tilts her head, smirking slightly. "You heard me."

She grabs your wrist—not tightly, but firmly—and pulls you up before you can protest. Your legs, still weak from exhaustion, stumble slightly, and Ada steadies you without effort.

"Ada—"

"You need air," she interrupts, her tone final. "A break. And before you start whining about time, I already handled the lab reports for the night. Your little research team will survive without you for a few hours."

You blink. "You—what?"

Ada smirks, guiding you toward the door. "I have my ways."

You stare at her, skepticism laced with something else—something almost like reluctant gratitude.

Ada catches it. Of course she does.

She simply tilts her head toward the exit. "Let’s go, doll."

For once, you don’t fight her.

The low hum of the car engine is the only sound between you. The city lights flicker past, painting streaks of gold and red across the tinted windows.

Ada drives without hurry, one hand on the wheel, the other resting lazily against the gear shift. She hasn’t said much since she pulled you out of the lab, but she doesn’t need to.

You exhale, leaning against the cool glass. "Where are we going?"

Ada glances at you from the corner of her eye, smirking. "Somewhere you can’t escape from."

Your lips twitch. "That so?"

"Mm." She shifts gears smoothly. "You need rest. I’m making sure you get it."

You huff, but there’s no real bite behind it. Maybe a part of you is too tired to fight.

Or maybe a part of you wants to be taken care of for once.

The night air is cool against your skin, but the warmth pressed against your back is unmistakable. Ada.

You don’t remember how she convinced you to stop working for the night, or how you ended up lying in bed with her, tangled in soft sheets. All you know is that her arms are around you, one resting against your stomach, the other tucked under the pillow you share.

Her breath fans against your neck—slow, steady. Unlike you, she seems completely at ease.

You shift slightly, and Ada’s hold tightens just enough to keep you from slipping away.

"You’re still tense," she murmurs, voice low, husky from the quiet.

You scoff. "Habit."

"Bad one," Ada counters, her lips barely brushing your shoulder. "I can think of better ways to relieve stress."

Her fingers trail down your arm, featherlight, before slipping beneath the hem of your shirt. Your breath catches as her fingertips graze your skin, drawing slow, deliberate patterns along your waist.

"Ada—"

"Hm?" Her tone is innocent, but the way her nails drag lightly against your skin is anything but.

You turn your head slightly, just enough to catch the mischievous glint in her eyes.

"You planned this," you accuse.

Ada smirks. "Would you have stopped me if I did?"

You hate how easily she gets under your skin—how the warmth of her touch makes your body betray you.

The way her lips graze the curve of your jaw—soft, teasing—before she bites down just enough to make you shiver.

You don’t answer.

You don’t need to.

Because when Ada shifts, rolling you onto your back, and pins you beneath her with that knowing smirk—you’re already hers for the night.

Your breath hitches as Ada's hips press flush against you, clothes strewn across the floor . Her fingers dance along your torso, grazing your ribs, the. lower; teasing.

"You're so tense," She murmurs, her lips brushing against the shell of your ear. "Let me fix that."

She shifts, her grip firm as she tilts your hips just enough for her to roll against you, slow, deliberate. Heat coils low in your stomach, and you barely suppress a gasp as her cock rubs snuggly against your walls. Your lover chuckles, voice rich in amusement. "See? You don't have to do anything, doll. Just let me do the work."

Your body betrays you, instinctively meeting her hips, craving more.

"That's my girl," She whispers, her voice dark, dripping with satisfaction. Her hands tightens on your hips, and you fele her smirk against your skin.

"Let's see just how much you can take."

She guides your hips, both of you gasping as her pace is agonizingly slow. The tension pulls taut. Deliberate, controlled, taking her time as she fucks you, her movements slow and deep.

Each movement makes pleasure coil tighter and tighter in your core, and Ada knows it. She watches you unravel beneath her, eyes locked on your every reaction. "You love this, don't you?" She taunts, rolling her hips just right, pulling a broken moan from your lips. "Being under me like this, being taken."

Your body trembles, eyes rolling back as your hands grip at her back, nails scratching along her skin as the pleasure builds to unbearable levels.

"Baby–please," You whimper, desperate, your body arching into hers.

The older girl chuckles, her hands sliding up your thighs, gripping your waist as she picks up the pace, thrusting into you with more force, driving deeper. The cacophony of your moans and her groans mixes with the creaks and whines of the bed.

"Say it," She demands, lips brushing against your ear. "Tell me you're mine."

"Yours," You gasp, barely able to breathe. "I'm yours, Ada."

She groans, her rhythm turning rougher, faster, chasing her own release as she takes you apart, the veins on the ridges of her cock rubbing deliciously against your walls while the tip kisses your cervix, eliciting a yelp from you. Pleasure crashes over you, your entire body tensing, and Ada drives into you, pushing you past your limit–until you're crying out her name, clinging to her as waves of euphoria pulse through you.

Ada follows soon after, burying herself deep, her own release hitting as she moans against your throat, her fingers digging into your hips, holding you still as ropes of cum floods your walls, some even oozing out of your folds and down to the sheets. She watches the way you tremble, her smirk returns as she leans down, pressing a lingering kiss against your lips.

"Good girl,"

And just like that, you knew–she isn't done with you yet.

Your body trembles, broken moans and whimpers leave your lips, legs weak and spread open, slick with heat and sweat. She's still inside you, half-hard, twitching against your walls. Your cry out, nails dragging down her back, feeling the way she stretches you all over again, this time with less restraint.

"That's it," She moans lowly, thrusting her hips until there's nowhere left to go. "Take all of me, pretty girl. Just like before."

The ecstasy is almost too much–your pussy still sensitive from the first round but Ada doesn't slow down.

Plap, plap, plap, plap!

The bed creaks, the sound of skin against skin filling the room, and all you can do is cling to her, let her take everything she wants from you. "Mine," She breathes into your ear, her voice dripping with possession.

Your moans swallowed by her kisses as she pounds into you, pushing you higher and higher towards your breaking point. "You'll take everything I give you." Ada growls, gripping your hips, holding you still as she pistons her hips even deeper.

Then, you feel it–the heat, the pressure, the way she stiffens inside you.

Your lover groans, burying herself to the hilt, filling you with viscous ropes of semen, her balls tighten as it slaps against your ass. She stays like that, breathing heavily, enjoying the way your body shudders beneath her, taking everything she has to give.

"Y-you didn't even pull out." You blink at her, dazed, breath ragged.

A cold smile graces Ada's lips. Unapologetic.

"Of course not," She murmurs, dragging her fingers down your stomach, pressing lightly over your womb. "Why would I? You look good like this." She leans down, nipping at your bottom lip, her hands still possessively tracing your lips, before she moves her hips again, rubbing against your puffy folds.

"A-Ada–wait, I-I can't–" You gasp, trying to pry her hips away, but her hands grip your thighs, keeping them spread.

"Oh, baby–I'm not yet down with you."

Her hips press forward, the tip kissing the spongey spot of your walls, making you see stars–your back arches.

"You can take more," She murmurs, kissing down your neck, her hands roaming around your body possessively. "You will take more."

Before you can protest, her knees plant firmly against the sheets as she plows into you, deeper, harder.

Stretching, filling.

Broken moans leave from your lips as your back arches–another choked cry escaping your lips. She's bigger, harder this time–more desperate, more demanding as the headboard keeps slamming against the wall.

"You feel that?" Ada groans, jutting her hips, stealing another moan from you.

"Still so tight–still squeezing me like you don't want to leave."

You whimper, your body is too sensitive, too overwhelmed–Ada doesn't stop. She sets a relentless pace, her thrust deep, hard and void of mercy.

"Look at you, so fucked-out already. But you'll take everything I give you, won't you?" She breathes, watching your eyes lose and your lips open.

So helpless.

"You're mine, inside and out."

Your moans turn into whimpers, gasps, pleas—but it only fuels her more. Ada is insatiable, unrelenting, making you take her over and over again, until you’re nothing but a shaking, overstimulated mess beneath her.

She guides your legs around her hips, pulling out.

A whine leaves your lips before it morphs into a filthy moan with another sharp thrust into your cunt, another nasty squelch echoing into the air–sex and perfume wafts in the room. She slumps against you, pressing her soft chest against your sensitive ones, moving her lips purposefully to the crown of your ear and tugging a bit of your skin in between her teeth.

Your body was hot against hers. Your walls throb deliciously throb around her. Ada's eyes flutter close before she sinks her teeth into your skin.

"A-Ada–fuck!" You sob as she angles precisely into you.

"Nghh–I know, doll." Ada throws her head back, relishing the obscene sound of flesh against flesh.

Plap, plap, plap!

Oh, it's a sound you and Ada never get tired of.

You've already lost your mind beneath her–fucking you to a state of overstimulation, being bred full of her semen.

"You look so beautiful," Ada huffs as she jogs her hips, her pace is shallow to the point that she isn't pulling out anymore.

She grabs the headboard, fucking you into the sheets. The older woman grits her teeth, your mixed fluids being fucked out of your beaten walls, making a mess beneath your legs. Her balls slap against the curve of your ass, heavy with potent seed.

"Mghmm, cumming." Your lover whines, "Cum on my cock, doll–nghh, I want to feel you."

Your eyes roll back again as a strong gush of fluid exits your pussy, coating Ada's cock and her balls. Ada groans, nuzzling her cock into you as she fucks you into overstimulation before she finally stills her hips, shooting ribbons of her seed in you, painting your walls warm and white.

Your mixed essence oozes out, your mind filled with cotton and your body is heavy while Ada looks energized, watching your blissed out state.

"Once I know you're pregnant–I'm putting you on maternity leave." She murmurs.

A promise.

A threat.

And for once, you didn't fight against it.

[rachell-redacted]

Aurora's face design and possible hairstyles. Also includes possible eye colors in her default and active states. To learn more about that, welcome under the cut for the promised lore dump.

Alyx gets into Aperture Science by G-Man's will, and all she can remember clearly is Borealis. She gets to search for it, while some mysterious woman talks to her from observation rooms. She calls herself Aurora and claims that Alyx has better things to do then search for a ship. Too bad, mystery lady, Alyx wants her memories back and Borealis seems important. Also Aurora turns out to be an artificial intelligence piloting a mannequin, so no reason to trust it, right? Especially because she is a ship AI. Is she the Borealis itself?! It seems so for the longest time, until Alyx fins out there were two ships.

Aperture purchased the Northern Star and the Northern Sea in 1970s and tinkered with them ever since. One was named Borealis, the other one — Australis (two polar auroras). As every other big Aperture projects ever the ships eventually got their AIs/personality constructs, one male and one female, because Portal thematic duality and stuff.

Borealis was rushed and disappeared inside a space-time anomaly created by its portal engine. Australis was never finished and was left to decay after GLaDOS killed everyone.

Aurora is Australis (hence her eye glow when she is interfacing with her portal engine resembling southern lights). She pleads with Alyx not to follow her brother's path. Borealis became something different in the anomaly, something even she can barley recognize and for sure can't reason with.

So Alyx has a choice to make: does she trust Aurora? Which Alyx is she, HLA one or EP2 one? Good questions that go beyond this dump. Oh, and Borealis? Yeah, he is G-Man.

Aurora is similar to G-Man but much less powerful (because the incident never made her this ultimate space-time bending entity). So she is capable of blocking him on short distances in Aperture, navigating existing timelines and limited space-time manipulation, but not much more. She also wants to have crew again, because she is lonely. Very chatty, very kind, not very good with being assertive and clear about her words. Constantly assumes Alyx already knows stuff, so is confusing.

[hauntingkiki]

could you do young, student! allmight x student! reader?

they both go to UA and they’re in the same class, and they’re sitting besides next to each other and they become friends.

then a few months later or so, they start crushing on each other(without knowing it), and the reader gets injured during a practice match and he gets worried and confesses to her, thinking she was badly injured, but she ends up being okay and recovering.

ooo!! this is a really good concept!:3

Home Room Buddies

Student! All Might/Toshi x Student! Reader

My Hero Academia

2nd POV

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

your hands gently shook slightly as you held your schedule, your eyes darting around the white sheet of paper, the words “UA HIGH” was at the top in bold, ‘heroic’ font.

swallowing thickly, you looked at your first class, which was in class 1A. you knew it was one of the best classes in the school, so you had to take this seriously otherwise your shot at being a hero was going to be ruined.

you came to a halt, your eyes glued to the floor before slowly looking up through your lashes, the red font of ‘1A’ immediately caught your attention, making the butterflies in your stomach even worse.

you shook your head with a faint groan; you were being ridiculous. once you were inside you were going to calm down and you were going to be just fine. gently slapping your cheeks with both hands, you sucked in a breath and made your way into the classroom.

the cold air of the classroom immediately hit you once you took a step inside, soothing your redden cheeks. blinking a few times as you adjusted your tote bag, you glanced around the room, getting familiar with the layout before noticing the name plates that were scattered along the desktops. you shuffled your way towards your desk, not picking up your feet as you walked towards the desk that was near the back of the classroom. you slowly stopped hearing the ringing that was in your ears, the sounds of students voices soon filled the void of the buzzing noise.

you slipped your bag off your shoulder, placing it by your desk before taking a seat, adjusting your skirt a few times so it wasn’t bothering you as you sat. your fingers fiddled with the helm of your muted green skirt that fell a little above your knees, faded black ink stained the skin around your knees from doodles you did a few days prior.

kids started to pour into the classroom, filling up the desks before the bell rang, which seemed to be a minute after all the desks were filled with students. the teacher soon came into the classroom, a stack of papers were in her hands before dropping them off on her podium. she did a quick introduction, her eyes glued on the sheets as she grabbed a good, small stack of the papers. as she spoke, she walked around the room, dropping the packets on every desk. she explained that this assignment was to further her knowledge on what all of her students were capable of, outside of your quirks.

once the paper slipped in front of you, you gulped at the equations that filled the page. you opened the packet with both hands, skimming through it to get your bearings. first page, front and back, was math, the erector pages were english, one page of history and science. not too bad, but you didn’t really want to do this; especially on the first day, that is!

with a huff through your nose, you twilled your pencil in between your fingers, skimming over the problems, you started off with the more easier questions, waiting to do the harder questions later when you had some form of help.

you perked up when you felt a finger tap on the back of your shoulder. turing your head to glance at the culprit, you noticed a teen boy with bright blond hair. he had two, think strands in the front that were longer than the rest that fell in front of his face, the back of his hair was messy, looking unkept, but it suited him well. he also had bright blue eyes, a few scars that were on his hands and face as well, you were guessing from his quirk.

his face was a soft pink, , scratching at his cheek as he pointed at the problem that was left blank, faint marks of led were barely noticeable. “do you think you can help me with this problem?” he asked, watching as your eyes skimmed over the text that was shown in front of you. when he made eye contact with you, he gulped and glanced off to the side, continuing on with his reason. “i noticed that you had that whole section complete, so i wanted to ask you if you could help me.”

you smiled softly, nodding as you passed him your paper, letting him take it from your hands before fully turning in your seat, your torso pressed against the back of your chair as your arms rested on his desk. you snapped your fingers slightly, your eyes widening slightly. “oh, and when you’re done, could you help me with a problem? i’ve been stuck for a good while now.” you gulped embarrassingly, a faint chuckle escaped your lips.

he glanced up from the paper, blinking at you for a moment before nodding with a toothy grin on his face. “yeah, of course!” he beamed, turning back to the papers, pressing his lips together as he continued writing.

you noticed two metal wires that wrapped around his teeth. ‘retainers..must’ve had braces a while ago’ you thought to yourself, watching as he finished up the problem, passing your paper back to you. you flipped through the papers, humming once you found the problem. “this is the one, by the way.” you pointed it out to him, lowering the packet so he was able to see.

he hummed softly, flipping to the same page before smiling, turning the paper so you were able to see it.

you grinned, quickly writing down the answer that he had on his page.

silence fell over the two of you as you continued writing before the blond cleared his throat, holding out his right hand. “i-i’m toshinori. toshinori yagi.” he smiled, tilting his head to the left.

you blinked a few times before smiling, taking his hand into yours. “i’m y/n. y/n l/n.” you beamed, the two of you awkwardly staring at one another, the grip on each others hands was tight and firm, as if you two have known each other for years.

toshi quickly pulled his hand away after a moment of holding yours, blushing slightly when he realized that his palms were getting sweaty for a million different reasons. he watched you continue to write down the answer before handing the packet back to him. “say…” he started, swallowing when you perked up at his voice. he scratched his cheek with his index finger, glancing off the the side as he spoke in a somewhat shy voice. “would you like to be friends…? that way we’re not completely alone in the school.”

your eyes widen slightly at his proposal, your cheeks flushed pink as you nodded with a warm grin. “yeah, i’d like that!” you chuckled softly, spinning the pencil in between your fingers.

toshinori nodded as he grinned back, his face equally pink as yours, if not more. “great…great!” he beamed, swallowing when his voice got a little too loud, putting people attention onto the two of you. the two of you chuckled nervously, toshinori holding back a laugh as you shushed him playfully, holding a finger over your lips.

at this moment, you both knew that you two would be fine together.

•••

months have passed since the first day of school, both toshi and you closer than ever. toshinori trusted you with everything he was, and the same with you. he trusted you to the point where he told you about his quirk, the truth about his quirk, which was a doozy in itself.

~~

you swallowed, your hands gently pressed against his knee as your brows furrowed in worry, trying to make eye contact with the blond but he kept moving his head away from yours. “toshi….talk to me…” you whispered, gently squeezing his knees.

he swallowed thickly, his hands clammy from the nerves. he took a shaky breath in, closing his eyes as he took a few more deep breaths. “it’s not that hard to explain…” he muttered under his breath, trying to figure out the best way to explain it.

you shook your head softly, humming softly. “just…say whatever’s in your mind…we’ll piece everything together, okay?” you reassured, getting worried for the boy and how stressed out he was getting.

he nodded faintly, sitting up straight, keeping his gaze away from you. “i…okay….” he swallowed, taking a moment before speaking again. “i….i was born quirkless…my power was given to me by the number one hero; nana shimura…”

your eyes widen, your jaw dropping harshly that you though it snapped off of your head. “…what…?” you muttered out, any other words you tried saying ended up being gibberish.

toshinori nodded softly, sighing as his body continued to shake. “yeah…she’s teaching me everything i know…she’s my master…” he meekly confessed, rubbing his hands along his thighs to get rid of the sweat.

you nodded softly, staring at him for a moment before engulfing him into a hug. your grip was tight and reassuring, your chin resting on his shoulder.

he flinched in shock, not expecting you to hug him, especially since he was lying to you for months. he slowly wrapped his arms around you, his face burrowing into the crook of your neck, tears swelling in his eyes as he squeezed you, not wanting to let go of you. “thank you…” he muttered against your skin shakily, choking on a sob.

you shook your head softly, a faint smile on your lips. “don’t mention it…thank you for telling me, toshi…”

~~

a hand snapped in front of your face, startling out of your daydream. “jeez, h/n! thought we lost you for a moment!” toshi snapped slightly, relived that you snapped out of it. “come on, it’s just the two of us against class b!”

you let out a scream, dodging an attack by a few inches, your eyes wide as you scrambled to your feet, taking a few steps back. “JEEZ!” you cried, running off and following toshi. “what’s the plan now, all might?!”

toshi was quite, trying to think of a plan. he didn’t really have one at the moment; everything happened so fast that it was hard to keep up with everything that was going on. he came to halt, turning around on his heel to tell you the random plan that popped into his mind. he opened his mouth, stumbling over his words when he realized that you were gone. he mentally cursed to himself when the announcement was heard throughout out the training ground, the voice of class 1b beaming as she beamed about her classes win for the round.

you let out a groan, pushing yourself out of the grasp of a class 1b student, shuttering faintly as you walked away from him. you brushed your hair out of your face, glancing around for toshi before letting out a yelp, stumping back as you were immediately tackled into a hug. your eyes went vast, blinking a few times before gasping when you realized who it was. “toshi! w-what are you doing?!”

he pulled away slightly, his hands on your waist as his gaze lingered over your body, checking for any wounds or injuries. “what happened?! y-you just vanished!” he sighed, his hands going up to your shoulders, shaking you gently.

you hummed softly, fiddling with your hero costume. “it was a sneak attack…they knew they only had a few more seconds until the match was over so they went all out, the three of them catching me and taking me to their ‘jail’…” you muttered embarrassingly, glancing off to the side before making eye contact with the blond. “i’m sorry…i didn’t mean to scare you or make you worried or anything…”

toshi sighed softly in relief, glad that you weren’t badly injured, just a few scratches and scrapes. “of course i worried!…i deeply care about you, y/n…” he confessed, his cheeks a faint pink hue.

you immediately noticed, quirking a brow as you dragged him away from the other students. “toshi…are you okay…? you’re red in the face…” you muttered, stopping once you two were a good distance from everyone else.

he groaned, running both hands down his face, his heart pounding in his chest as he realized what kind of situation he got himself into. “look…y/n, i…” he swallowed, staying silent for a moment as he silently argued with himself, not sure if this is the best course of action. but despite everything in him telling him not to, he swallowed again. “i….i um…really, really like you, y/n.” he muttered out, his body shaking faintly from the confession.

your eyes widen, cheeks flushed to a deep red at his words. you weren’t expecting that to be the thing that he said to you. “o-oh wow…toshi…” you gasped out, swallowing thinking as you licked you lips, struggling to find the right words for this situation.

the two of you fell silent, toshinori anxiously waiting for your answer, his body shaking faintly from anticipation.

you let out a few strangled sounds, trying to find your voice but struggling the first few times. she swallowed, taking a deep breath before nervously looking him in the eyes. “i…i like you too, toshinori…”

his breath got caught in his throat from your words, his face a bright red as he swallowed thickly. “you…you do…?” he mumbled after a moment of silence between the two of you. he released a breath he was holding when he saw your faint nod, your eyes breaking contact and glancing over to the side. slowly, he brought you into a hug, his arms tight around your body as if he was scared you’d slip away. “you don’t know how happy i am to hear that…”

you froze for a few moment before slowly wrapping your arms around him, smiling faintly at his words, also releasing a breath you were holding.

he pulled back after a moment, his arms still wrapped around your frame as he shyly looked you in the eyes. “does….does tonight at seven work?” he quirked a brow, smiling weakly down at you. “maybe we could catch a movie or something fun…”

your eyes softened as you nodded, a faint hum following after as you placed your hands on his shoulders when he pulled away. “yeah…that works for me.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

OMG IM SO SO SO SORRY I HAVENT POSTED IM SO LONGGG!!😖😖😖 i’ve been really unmotivated lately but hopefully i’ll start writing again😢

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

🌐The Long and Complicated History of the Time Lords: Part III – The Rise of the Time Lords

When last we met, Gallifrey had ascended from red-grassed obscurity to interstellar power, thanks to the Pythian Order and a lot of prophecy. But as Gallifrey reached the precipice of total dominion, it was about to face its greatest upheaval yet.

Disclaimer: Information on the creation of existence and a whole society is obviously mixed. GIL has waded through many contradictions to provide you with the most cohesive, structured, and key details of how it all came about, but there is room for interpretation.

⚰️ The Kotturuh Arrive

Somewhere around the time young Rassil Onasti Prydonius (soon to be "Rassilon") was studying temporal manifolds and learning the correct ratio of owl imagery to god-complex, the Kotturuh arrived.

The self-appointed Bringers of Death, the Kotturuh, had been bouncing around the Universe for some time, declaring that every other species in the cosmos was not, in fact, entitled to immortality. They finally reached Gallifrey and imposed finite lifespans on its people. [1]

Gallifrey was horrified. Physicians, like Androken, described mountains of corpses. The Age of the Pythias entered a period of paranoia, rebellion, and deep theological discomfort.

🏟️ The Death Zone & Gallifreyan Slave Games

Seeking a way to manage internal unrest (and perhaps keep the population distracted from the rising death toll), the 430th Pythia commissioned architect Rassilon to construct the Death Zone—a gladiatorial pit where prisoners of war, slaves, and various alien species were forced to fight to the death.

The Games of Death were considered sacred, and Gallifreyans watched the carnage on public access channels. Autons, Mandrels, and Drashigs made regular appearances. White sand was imported to show the blood better. It was all very tasteful.

🔬 The Time Program Begins

Somewhere between the death pits and state-sponsored prophecy, Gallifrey realised it could do better than watching. It could time travel. The 508th Pythia, in one of her more progressive moments, authorised the Time Program—a state-funded effort to explore the theoretical possibilities of time travel.

A student named Peylix submitted a temporal theory based on Genefrenian models and received the lowest academic mark in Gallifreyan history: Omega. He kept the name. Alongside Rassilon and probably the Other, Omega developed the first space-time craft capable of entering the Vortex. It worked. The first Time Scaphe[2] launched.

🧬 The Timeless Child

Meanwhile, deep in another subplot, explorer Tecteun returned to Gallifrey after aeons with a child she found near a wormhole monument. The child had impossible DNA and could regenerate indefinitely. Tecteun was intrigued, and also deeply unethical.

She studied the child extensively—painfully, repeatedly—extracting genetic material and triggering forced regenerations. Eventually, this child would become known as the Timeless Child. Theories about their origin include:

Conceptual entity

A Great Old One

An Elemental

Vampire godchild

Misunderstood CAT

or possibly all of the above. Or something else.

🩸 The Vampires Are (Accidentally) Unleashed

In one of Gallifrey's less successful experiments, Rassilon attempted to harness a stellar singularity for use as a power source. Instead, he punched a hole in the Vortex and accidentally invited in the Yssgaroth— eldritch creatures from a darker universe, including the Great Vampires.[3]

These monstrosities weren't just huge; they were metaphysically infectious, contaminating biodata and history itself.

Rassilon whistled innocently and said, 'Oh gosh, who did that? That's terrible!'

This would come back to haunt Gallifrey.

🔥 The Intuitive Revolution

As Gallifrey's science advanced, its stability crumbled. Its interstellar colonies began demanding independence, civil unrest grew, and food shortages worsened with the onset of an ice age.

A new political movement, the Neo-Technologists, gained popularity. Led by Rassilon and backed by the Other and Academia cadets, they rejected the Pythian regime's mysticism and demanded rational reform. Tensions mounted, and Gallifrey reached a breaking point.

On Intuitive Revolution Night, the Neo-Technologists stormed the Temple of the Pythia, beating drums as the Council Police opened fire on the protestors. The Capitol's west district burned, shocking Omega, who was appalled at the violence.

The last Pythia, unable to see the future and cornered by reformers, hurled herself into the Crevasse of Memories That Will Be. Before doing so, she laid a curse[4]:

'Let the world hear my curse. I am Gallifrey, sky and rock, flame and flood, womb and bone. When I am no more, the world shall be barren and empty of new life. It will live a slow ageless death and come to nothing in its own dust. I have spoken these words. Let them be fulfilled.'

🧬 The Curse

The Pythia's final curse did more than end prophecy—it ended reproduction. Womb-born Gallifreyans vanished. Rassilon's daughter was stillborn. Shobogans hurled their stillborn children into the Crevasse of Memories That Will Be.

A solution desperately needed to be found.

🔱 Rassilon Crowned

The Council awarded Rassilon not one but three crowns, officially ending the theocracy and beginning the Time of Legend. The Court of Principals quietly became the Court of Rassilon, and society restructured into the Six Chapterhouses (each headed by one of the mythic Founders).

Rassilon now ruled a barren Gallifrey.

Assembled from ROOG and TARDIS Wiki

Tomorrow: Part IV - The Birth of the Time Lords

Footnotes:

[1] The Kotturuh: Imposed a lifespan of roughly 300 years.

[2] The Time Scaphe: A six-crew capsule powered by psychic energy, was Gallifrey's first manned time vessel—predating TARDISes but laying the groundwork for their design.

[3] The Great Vampires: They infected time itself, spreading a metaphysical plague known as the V-Factor. It's like the X Factor but with less singing and more blood sucking.

[4] The Pythia's Curse: Gallifreyans would become functionally sterile, their children loomed rather than born, but more on that in part IV.

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features: ⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[bucketofindigo]

i treat my art like a science. in my studies, i find that there are several different types of puppets with an even broader range of functionality. for example, marionettes are often functionally defined by their size, as the bigger they are the more complex in design and structure they often become. then there are hand puppets, basic functioning characters fitted completely around one part of or the entire hand.

however the widest variety of puppet functionality, and the ones we'll be focusing on in this post, can definitely be found in muppets types. these can refer to any character designed to be portrayed in broadcasted media with two or more hands.

the anatomy of a muppet can generally go as follows (note: these terms have not been officially approved by any known research institution):

[A] skull: the mouth operator (i.e. the hand)

[B] mouthplate: the anchor between the head and skull

[C] head: the means of communication, holds the mouthplate and hides the skull

[D] arms: the main appendages of gestured expression

[E] body: the basic casing in which the bones hide

[F] handole: the entry point the puppeteer goes¹

[G] bones: the body of the host pupeteer (i.e. the arms)

generally, muppets are categorized in their functionality based on their body types and their arm types.

for body, you have characters that are meant to go over the arm and express mostly via the skull. these characters, often referred to as hand muppets, are the most prevalent and they tend to vary in size, with smaller characters tending to be more expressive in their mouths than their larger counterparts. such larger characters rely on the use of anatomical features such as feather hair to generate the appearance of movement. the mouthplate also can vary in anatomical material for the sake of movement; though typically factory-grade vinyl or plastic make up this mouthplate, but plenty of instances have also used cardboard, craft foam, and even gasket rubber (i.e. Kermit the Frog). hooks tend to grow from these mouthplates in order for pupppeteers to slip the skull fingers into, although some reportedly don't have these hooks for various reasons. without a proper means for anchoring, many puppeteers report these characters have more awkward and stiff mouth movements.

then, there are costume muppets, which are characters so large that they need their puppeteer to be within them in order to function. to do this effectively, the handole is widened for more bone capacity and then it's covered by the head of the puppet. these characters often have highly advanced mechanisms within in order to operate the mouth and other external functions such as the eyelids. in recent times, since some production companies have started implementing costume muppet functionality into their characters, mascots have also stared to receive the classification as costume muppets, despite the debate this has sparked among scientists.

while costume muppets generally take on one of their puppeteer's arms (or in modern instances such as Junior Gorg, both arms) to serve as their own, this part of the anatomy does give another layer to hand muppets specifically. in regards to arms, they can be streamlined into two groups: wirehands and livehands.

wirehands are the most common types you see in the hand muppet category, as they're the easiest type to latch onto puppeteers; they have free-floating arms that are more often than not attached to and operated by rods. it can be noted thar due to their design, the most impressive thing a wirehand can do is clap their hands. one such character includes ███, who reportedly learned how to clap and beat his chest to the tune of "We Will Rock You".

demonstration of this technique will soon be found on our Patreon page.

on the other hand (Hey now, was that a pun?), livehands are somewhat less commonplace, purely due to the fact they are functional marvels; they have complex digits capable of making gestures and holding objects such as tools and instruments. these characters will often have personality-based interests that demonstrate their arms, such as the Swedish Chef or Dr. Teeth. this even extends to characters like Ernie to an extext, as his interest in his rubber duck play partner allows him to use his arms to squeak said duck. as a side note, if you want to know what a play partner is, i have mentioned them in another post, which you can read about here. now in order for livehands to use their more complex arms, they often need one or more puppeteers to operate both. however, in the case of only one puppeteer being present, many have adapted to making one of their arms functionally wirehanded so it can be pinned to their body or left to float freely.

this need for the puppeteer's hands to serve as their own has coincidentally led to people mistakenly believing that all livehands have five fingers, myself included. in actuality, plenty if not most livehands fuse the third and fourth digit in order to make their hands four-fingered instead of five. for this reason, they effectively blend in with other rodhands with the exception of having often noticeably larger hands.

some theorists claim that they do this because not only are these character types an uncommon encounter and therby could be overall offputting to a rodhand, but rodhands may also become more avoidant if they perceive the hands of a livehand to be skulls, and "five fingers in puppet culture is indicative of a skull"². while this theory doesn't have any verbal confirmation from prominent members of said culture, some will point to the Muppet Show's isolation of the Swedish Chef and to an extent Dr. Teeth as proof, and it is worth noting that plenty of other livehands like Fozzie don't seem to usually have the same type of isolation occur to them; in fact a lot of them are often selectively paired off with a rodhand that counters their personality in order to have dynamicism in play along.

----

¹in media portrayals, the handole is often mistaken to be a rectal area, with even some assuming there to be a Gräfenberg spot. if their play partner suggests it, some puppets will joke about their handole serving as such. however this has proven to be merely a lie in play along, as puppets have no need to digest nutrition. neither do they have any appendage outside of what serves their portrayal, meaning they don't typically have any point that would functionally serve as a Gräfenberg spot. i say 'typically', but there are plenty of instances that have developed the capacity for those particular sensations in accordance with their portrayal. in fact, this curiously enough includes the original Muppets, as their initial portrayal was more adult-oriented and therefore included more risque content.

²quoted by Dr. Hank Roz of the MUPPETS RESEARCH FOUNDATION (MRF)

[goofyjelly]

IM SORRY IF THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN TALKED ABOUT BUT IM SO NORMAL!!

Season 2 Episode 1 (timestamp 5:46)

Yes I transcribed the ENTIRE THING (Im putting it under the cut because i don't want to accidentally give anyone spoilers, i hope saying the word Newspaper isn't any sort of spoilers since thats already really vague).

Early Tuesday evening, around [?:??]PM police were called to the Baird Creek Townhouses to the [?????????] of [REDACTED]… returned home after work at approximately 5:35 PM. He noticed that the apartment didn’t seem disheveled, but the sink in the kitchen was running hot water. [REDACTED]… was suspicious that a break-in may have occurred. “I went to check my valuables immediately. Upon examining my attic I noticed that my grandfather’s ...[COVERED by Mark’s thumb]… wasn’t in the box. Upon [COVERED]… I began to scour [REDACTED]… thief also managed to [REDACTED]… tapes he recorded [REDACTED]

During the police investigation of the apartment, detectives noticed that this break in matches the profile of the Baird Creek Bandit. The Baird Creek Bandit has been breaking and entering during work hours [REDACTED]… fifth burglary this [COVERED]… Bandit is meticulous [COVERED]… leave nothing [COVERED]… hair, or [CUT OFF]

KIER, PE— Less than a week has passed since four Lumon workers brought the notion of Severance reform to the world’s attention, and already the world has come out to say “Thank you.”

A celebration was held Saturday [REDACTED]… Mark S, Helly R, Irving B, and Dylan G, the [four(?)] famous “Innies” [REDACTED]. All four [CUT OFF BY PAGE FOLD].

All four gave speeches, praising the “courageous” acts of their Innies and thanking Lumon for its accommodations. [REDACTED].

[COVERED]… Mr Milchick [CUT OFF BY PAGE FOLD].

...course, the Board was eager to listen. Other entertainers to perform were [REDACTED]. A benediction was delivered by Dr. Ricken Hale, author of such hits as "The You You Are" and "These Values Nine: How I Let Kier In." 

In the wake of last week's revelation, Lumon has begun implementing global reforms to ensure the happiness and safety of their Innies. [REDACTED] ...top of the line recreational facilities, sexual liberation, improved snacks, and the possibility for field [CUT OFF BY PAGE FOLD]

[REDACTED] a scientific miracle made at Lumon Industries. [REDACTED] his research to changing the way we recycle plastic waste. [REDACTED] repurpose plastic, and in a divine moment last week, science found a way to fix our plastic pileup. [REDACTED].

If this legislation were [COVERED]… Lumon’s plastic [COVERED] sector would be left d[COVERED] [REDACTED] heard the solution Lumon [COVERED] [REDACTED] [COVERED]… new technology elevates [COVERED]… gone are the days of turning [a] plastic bottle into another plastic bottle, [REDACTED] we now have the capability to change the composition of the plastic molecules.

[REDACTED]. During this process, the polyethylene (C2H4), more commonly known as plastic, [REDACTED]. This ‘freezer’ cools the plastic to [?? maybe it says -35 ????] Celsius, at this temperature [REDACTED]. Unlike a combustion reaction this innovation safely separates the elements without releasing any hazardous gases [REDACTED].

Lumon plans to use the [CUT OFF BY PAGE FOLD]

END OF NEWSPAPER

[dracunettes]

Primos — LGBTQ+ Headcanons

I've wanted to make a post like this for a while, but just now got around to making a little edit after I watched the latest episode yesterday. Here are my HCs for each of the primos' genders/sexualities!

Tater — I kind of went back and forth on this one for a while, but I definitely think she's bi! I really like GwenTater as enemies to lovers, but I also could see her having a crush on Aaron G. from the series bible, assuming he still exists in the universe of the show.

Nellie — I didn't get into this headcanon until I watched a video on it, but Nellie is nonbinary and transmasculine (he/they)! I'm afraid he was born to be an annoying little brother 😭 I do think he'd still use/keep the name Nellie though, it just fits them!

Cousin Bud — I feel like I'm the only person who's on board with the HC, but he just gives me such strong trans vibes. I don't know why, but he just does! I also feel like he's someone who is capable of being in a relationship with almost anybody, and would probably describe himself as pan. (Gordita wants to give him top surgery as a science experiment and he strongly refuses out of fear that he'll die in the process even though he appreciates her being supportive)

Big Nacho — He's probably the straightest of all the primos to me (but not in like, a bad way lmao), but I also think he's a big ally to all of the others! (One time, the Skid called Cousin Bud, Tabi and Nellie slurs so Big Nacho punched him into Fresadena)

Lita — Bisexual -- it's literally canon! This might be me projecting, but I also think she has a preference for dating non-men/women.

Tere — Bisexual as well. I could definitely see her being the most boy crazy out of all her sisters! My headcanon is that she has a crush on a boy that plays basketball at her and Tabi's middle school. Plus, she's a Cristina Vee character — almost every character of hers I'm familiar with (and I've watched so many animes she's in + every episode of Miraculous Ladybug several times) has major bi vibes lmao.

Tabi — Trans lesbian. I started to headcanon her as trans after finding out that her voice actress, Nomi Ruiz is a trans woman, and I feel like it would make for a really good backstory for her and Tere's relationship with each other. My headcanon is that Tabi's known ever since they were super young/before Toñita was even born; since her and Tere are only a year apart in age (according to the pitch bible; in my HC they're 16 months apart specifically), they would fit into the same clothes, and one day, she tried on some of Tere's clothes because she thought they were really pretty, and loved the way they made her feel. Tere found out after a little while, and Tabi told her that she felt more like a girl, and even though they were super young and didn't really know what it all meant, Tere always supported her! Ever since then, they started wearing matching clothes and their parents encouraged it (even though they didn't know Tabi was trans yet). Then, when they found out they were getting another sister, they finally told their parents and thus, the T-Sisters were born! My HC is that she has a huge crush on her classmate and friend at school who's on the girls' soccer team, and is also Carmela's younger sister — that's how the T-Sisters knew her before Big Nacho did!

Toñita — This one is kinda subject to change, but I feel like she's an ally. She doesn't really have a crush on anybody (considering she lives in an overwhelmingly female family/house boys her age prob disgust her lmao), but is super supportive of her older sisters and all her primos!

Scooter — Bisexual. Because he's so shy, he didn't really want to ask questions or let anybody know, but seeing Lita be open about her sexuality really helped him come to terms with it, and helped them bond with each other a little more.

Lotlot — I feel like she isn't straight, but wouldn't really use any label/sexuality to describe herself. She's just Lotlot!

Gordita — Normally, I don't always headcanon every nerdy/smart character as aro-ace, but in Gordita's case, I think it actually fits her.

Nachito — Gay, and has a crush on a boy he plays sports/goes to school with. Only his older brother knows for now, but he's super supportive of him, and all the others would be when they find out as well!

ChaCha — Ally. She doesn't entirely understand what it means (she's 4 and a wild child), but that doesn't stop her from being supportive!

Lucita — Also an ally. Her brother and sister have been a good way for her to learn about people's differences, and I feel like she ends up being really close with Alex after they start dating Lita!

If you read this far, thanks! I love this show and these characters sooo much :)

[homestuckreplay]

[EOA2] Years In The Future, But Not Many: Adolescence and Time in Act 2 of Homestuck

‘Stories of cultural evolution and of individual adolescent development prioritize the ending; they are primarily narratives of fulfillment.’ – Nancy Lesko (2001)

Act 2 of Homestuck takes place in a single afternoon, and also spans the whole history of life on earth, from before the Pacific Ocean formed to a post-apocalyptic wasteland. As time flashes and contorts and makes a maze of sequential storytelling, our main characters remain frozen at thirteen years old, locked in time at the end of the world. The modern teenager is culturally constructed as a person who is always waiting and preparing, running to keep up with milestones and punished for stepping outside a correct order. Teenagers’ only, and very difficult, job is to adequately prepare for adulthood – an adulthood that is always years in the future, but not many.

This essay looks at adolescence as it is theorized in society and in young adult literature, with a focus on its temporal dimension. It then applies these theories to Act 2 of Homestuck, asking to what extent Homestuck recreates, explores or subverts dominant ideas of adolescence with its characterizations and nonlinear storytelling. It’s about 8,000 words; to skip the theoretical background and just read the Homestuck analysis, Ctrl+F for ‘Paragraphs in the future…’ and read from that section onwards.

This essay is also hosted on ao3 and has a bibliography.

Background: Normal Teenagers, Normal Development

‘A child’s social, and ontological purpose is therefore, it would seem, not to stay a child… any signs of entrenchment or backtracking, like play for example, may be interpreted as indicators of a failure to ‘develop’’ – Chris Jenks (2009)

All current adults have experienced childhood and adolescence – it is ‘the only truly common experience of being human’ (Jenks). Adolescence was not theorized in academia until the late 1800s, but had a social meaning much earlier; in 1818, Isaac Taylor published Advice to the Teens, Or, Practical Help Towards the Formation of One’s Own Character at the tender age of fifty-nine. G Stanley Hall, the first scholar of adolescence, was also fifty-nine in 1904 when he characterized the teenage experience as ‘storm and stress’, a time of turbulence, mood and behavioral changes, and conflict with authority.

In this early era of research, children and adolescents were studied in terms of their deviations from the ‘normal adult’, who was explicitly characterized as a middle-class white man. Young people were seen as speedrunning all stages of human evolution before reaching this ‘enlightened’ state at the onset of adulthood; the entirety of history recreated in each individual life. Those seen as ‘further down’ the evolutionary ladder – people of color and the working class in addition to adolescents – were viewed as biologically determined, controlled by their hormones and ‘underdeveloped’ brains, making it the job of those more ‘advanced’ to restrict their behavior. In this way, minors became a marginalized group, and adolescence became a training ground. By positioning teenagers as not yet capable of rational thinking and decision making, it was easy to justify controlling them until they were ‘ready’ to be full members of society.

Modern social scientists generally believe that our idea of ‘the adolescent’ was constructed in the early 20th century, in response to specific social conditions – but many people, including parents, teachers, journalists and young adult fiction authors, retain ideas about the ‘inherent nature’ of teenagers. Science surrounding the ‘teenage brain’ is picked up by popular media and adopted as proof of a biological basis of behavior, and two studies found that preservice teachers saw their future teenage students as ‘incomplete people’. Teenagers have long been described as overly emotional, as unstable due to raging hormones, as disrespectful and rebellious towards authority, delinquents and criminals, lacking individuality, lazy and disengaged, loud and disruptive, politically inactive, hedonistic, immature, as wasting their youth and health, and as not to be taken seriously. In the 21st century, the discourse shifts slightly: teenagers are just as much of a problem, but now they are entitled, inattentive, lacking in intelligence, work ethic and critical thinking skills, reliant on technology, spending too much time indoors, self- and celebrity-obsessed, irresponsible with money, overly sensitive and nihilistic towards the future. When these beliefs are dispersed throughout society and reiterated from all angles, it is no surprise that young people internalize them, and fulfill the prophecy they are told is unavoidable.

Politically, the ‘correct’ development of young people is crucial. The youth are the future adults, and as future adults, it is crucial that they advance society in the ‘right’ direction, and continue along the same path as the current adults. Hand in hand with the idea of teenagers’ inherent nature is the idea that their future trajectory can be changed through the right guidance and the right policy. Placed in a political spotlight, young people are always the ones to be concerned about, never able to formally raise their own concerns. Teenagers are denied the right to vote in countries they will likely be citizens of for their whole lives, and if they attempt to enter political arenas, are widely disparaged with their ideas seen as unrealistic and overly radical. They should instead be waiting their turn, with the expectation that their views will become more moderate by the time they are ‘mature’ enough to guide society.

In her re-theorization of adolescence Act Your Age! A Cultural Construction of Adolescence, Nancy Lesko points out that adolescence is defined through chronological age, and therefore through time. Pointing to theories of the clock as the technology that best defines the modern age, she discusses how youth are kept to a schedule of universalized milestones. One example is age graded schools, where all students are expected to turn thirteen during the seventh grade, and to all achieve the same defined educational standard at this age. Activities such as learning to drive and entering paid work are legally prohibited until a certain age, but people are expected to do these shortly after reaching these milestones, or they will be seen as falling behind. Physical markers of puberty are expected in narrow age ranges, and teenagers are medically pathologized if their bodies mature too fast or too slow. Social development, such as the expectation that adolescents will have their first kisses and first romantic relationships in their early teens, also qualify as milestones. Placed in narrowly age-grouped environments, young people will continually compare themselves to their peers, and those who reach milestones on time are socially rewarded by each other as well as by adults.

These milestones are not end points in themselves, but simply necessary steps along a path of becoming, always focused on the adult a teenager will be. Adults are positioned as superior in society, and to develop as a child is to become more adultlike. When a young person is given increased freedom and responsibility, it is bestowed by adults with the expectation that they will make the decisions of the adult – a teenager told they no longer have a curfew is probably still expected to come home at an adult-defined ‘reasonable time’, otherwise, the curfew will likely be reinstated.

The significance of adolescent decisions and experiences are often minimized. A first heartbreak, a failure to qualify for a sports team, or a decision between two potential friend groups or two academic tracks has a major impact on a teenager’s day to day life, but adults are typically dismissive, framing the issues from their perspective – when the teen is older, they will surely realize the insignificance of this training-ground decision to the arena of real life. Future reflections are privileged over in the moment feelings.

Time, more broadly, has been theorized by philosophers in many different ways, and studies have shown that humans intuitively understand time as both linear (happening one moment after another, continuous and unstoppable) and spatial (held in memory, with moments from the past able to be recaptured and moments from the future rehearsed). Western society heavily privileges the linear view, where time is measurable, unidirectional, and correlated with progress. Once a milestone has been reached, regression is unacceptable. A teenager putting away their Lego sets to get a part time job would be criticized for quitting that job and returning to their toys, and a high school that sees a year-on-year decline in standardized test results is seen as ‘failing’, regardless of other metrics (such as students’ mental health). Individuals and societies must continue to grow and advance with time; a logic which guides our current economic system as well as previous colonial projects. The fear of a society in decline is arguably the primary driving force behind the general obsession with youth, and with the ways the current adolescent generation is inferior to the previous.

This runs contrary to real experiences of time, which involve expansion, compression, twists, circles, loss, gain, running out and having too much. Time passes faster for a fifty year old compared to a fifteen year old. It passes faster when spending time with friends than when waiting for a bus in the rain, faster when anxiously preparing for a final exam than when waiting for results with fingers crossed. Adolescence, in its entirety, passes faster for a teenager raised in poverty who helps provide income and childcare at the age of fourteen than for an upper middle class teenager given a sizable income until they leave college at twenty-two. The past is returned to, over and over again, by adults who relive their high school yearbooks, watch television shows set in high schools, and reconceptualize their own adolescence by watching their children. My personal experience of time changed radically when I took on a seven year project, and started planning for a long term future as well as a short. Time is important not only in how it is spent, but in how it is captured, preserved, and shared.

Technological developments have further changed the experience of time for people of all ages. Writing in 2008, Judy Wajcman discusses the common belief that the pace of life is speeding up, as studies have found that across the second half of the twentieth century, people subjectively experienced feeling more rushed with decreased time for leisure. Some possible explanations discussed are how mobile communication has led to people organizing their lives around blocks of time instead of physical locations, as more activities are available ‘on the go’. There are greater expectations for people to do multiple tasks simultaneously, and mobile devices allow for people to plan and coordinate their time, and therefore optimize it for maximum productivity. Communication and the search for information happen at beyond-human speeds, and time that would historically have been ‘waiting time’ becomes obsolete.

For teenagers especially, social media has changed the experience of time, with young people feeling increased pressure to post frequently, respond to messages in the moment, and record their lives. One teenager explained social media as ‘kind of like documenting your life – you can look back in ten years time, you'll have all these pictures and comments’ while another, discussing taking photographs at Madame Tussauds, suggested that ‘the images became significant after the visit when they could be used to “tell stories” to others, providing digital prompts and enabling conversation about culture’ (Manchester & Pett, 2015). As affordable cultural spaces for teenagers decline, with fewer discos, malls and parks as well as a cultural shift away from parents allowing their children to roam outside, teenagers’ use of time also changes, and young people – especially the working class – report finding themselves with nothing to do.

In contrast, some middle-class young people have the opposite problem, their lives a far cry from the ‘leisure class’ of their peers fifty years before. Some schools begin careers education in middle school, and high achieving youth with college prospects are encouraged to fill their time with extracurriculars, volunteer work and academic preparation, held up against their peers who are using their time more effectively now, and are sure to see better futures because of it. In this way, some teenagers find themselves quite literally waiting for the time to pass and the next stage of life to arrive, while others find themselves working against the clock, trying to complete all preparatory work in time for their entry into adulthood. Despite attempts at standardization, real experiences of both adolescence and time are highly variable, responsive to individual differences, social positions, and new technologies.

Background: Narratives About Youth

‘Behind every disempowered teen narrator is an empowered adult author conveying ideology about the superiority of adult norms.’ – Petrone et al. (2015)

As teenagers became a distinct marketing group, new culture industries grew up around them. The first teen movies, focused on delinquent teenage boys committing crimes due to lack of adequate parenting, were released in the 1950s. In his book The Road to Romance and Ruin: Teen Films and Youth Culture, Jon Lewis argues that via these movies, adults projected their own discontent with modern society onto the teenage characters they created. He views all narrative as ideological, as even the most rebellious and anti-establishment teen movies end up reinforcing adult authority, with characters coming to regret their deviance and ‘reform’ themselves, or being punished for their actions.

Young adult literature was slower to develop, but grew in popularity throughout the 1970s and 80s. So named because it focuses on similar themes to adult books but intended for a younger audience, young adult books can work in any genre, but focus on teenage protagonists and coming of age narratives. Whether real or fantastical, these protagonists navigate the rules and power structures of the world around them, go through some type of trial and eventually learn a lesson crucial to adulthood. It has been argued that the classical narrative is inherently adolescent, as stories by their nature deal with development and change; postmodern fiction does not always follow these rules but it is true for many works for all age groups.

Jon Lewis also discusses the ‘notion of cause and effect’ as it applies to teenagers being ‘at once a mass movement and a mass market’. Many people have argued that the ‘teenager’ was partly created by marketing industries, who, noticing young people’s increased free time and money in the 1950s, created products to fill that niche. Other scholars assert the agency of young people in creating their own subcultures, saying that teen culture arises spontaneously, with adolescents just as likely to adopt a symbol not specifically marketed to them – such as the safety pin’s role in punk culture – as to be swayed by intentional marketing.

In media, the product being sold is an identity to embody. The protagonist of a teen movie can be both relatable and aspirational – they reflect both who the viewer is, and who they want to be. A teenage protagonist is described as ‘relatable’ and ‘authentic’ if they appear to reflect experiences of actual teenagers, who are conceptualized here as a monolith. Petrone et al. point out that such an analysis would seem ridiculous if a character were described as an ‘authentic adult’. They advocate for a more nuanced discussion of ideas surrounding adolescence in fiction – a Youth Lens, which questions how literature represents adolescence, what assumptions the story makes about youth and how that frames plots and characterizations, and to what extent the text reinforces or subverts the dominant understandings. They believe this could pave the way for more varied representations of teenagers, which could positively impact young readers, as ‘writers who foreground examples of youth who do not follow conventional expectations of adolescence can shift how youth might be understood’.

Young adult literature is typically written by adult authors, capturing a reflection of teen culture instead of the reality. It is also regulated by adults – editors and publishers who decide whether a book can be marketed for young adults, and librarians and bookstore owners who decide whether to categorize it as such. Mature themes – including mental health, death, drug abuse, sex, and structural issues such as racism – do feature in young adult fiction, but there are no formal guidelines, and any book seen as ‘going too far’ is liable to be kept away from teenagers.

Writing about young adult fantastical fiction, Alison Waller shows how fantasy narratives reinforce adult norms just as much as realistic fiction; the expectations of growth on a young witch, werewolf or ‘chosen one’ are not radically different from those on real life teenagers. A common theme in dystopian and high fantasy fiction sees a teenage protagonist framed as the only hope for the future, a person prophesized to both change and save their world. Although this narrative may seem progressive as it allows for radical change, in reality these characters are generally guided by wiser adult characters who influence their decisions, and the story is not so different from the real life expectation that the next generation will save us from the problems caused by the previous.

In time travel narratives specifically, a protagonist may go back in time to a situation where they have improved agency and a subjectively better life, but by the end of the story, will voluntarily decide that returning to the present is the right thing to do. A temporary move backwards gives this character the tools they need to succeed at the next stage of life, and overall, their chronological and developmental trajectory is not disrupted. Where a secondary character chooses the past over the future, the narrative tends to treat them with anxiety, positioning them as cautionary tales or as mistakes in need of fixing.

Novels, movies and video games are typically released as completed works – the creators know how the story ends before the work is released. This may not apply to books in a series, and also does not apply to many television shows, comic books, or audio dramas. In a format such as the sitcom, the growing up narrative is complicated – a teenage character may learn a lesson about sensitivity to others’ emotions in one episode, and return to their previous self-centered ways in the next, thereby allowing ‘adolescent’ to be a primary descriptor of the character, not a state to be grown out of. Creators who are teenagers themselves, such as published British author Rachael Wing and many online writers producing fanfiction and original fiction about characters their age, also present a new paradigm. Although they may be influenced by the judgments of adults, they are still writing based on their present experiences instead of memories and observations.

The internet expands possibilities for both narratives and creators. A work posted serially online has the chance to respond in real time to a young audience, and there are far fewer restrictions on what can be posted on the internet, meaning that stories can be made accessible to young adults even if a major publisher or a parent would disapprove. As the internet itself is an ‘adolescent’ rather than a ‘mature’ medium, exploring the possibilities of the medium itself could go hand in hand with disrupting a typical coming of age narrative.

Paragraphs in the future…

‘Try not to be so linear, dear.’ (p.421)

Homestuck is written by Andrew Hussie, a former teenager who turned 30 while writing Act 2 in 2009. Its principal characters are teenagers and like most stories, it is written from memories of being a teenager and observations of what teenagers are like today. Its first act is entirely linear, but Act 2 begins to explore time, continuity, and cause and effect. Readers can no longer assume that a page takes place after its preceding page, and the main characters – John, Rose, Dave and the Wayward Vagabond – all exist at different points along the timeline.

I believe that Act 2 represents time as it is actually experienced by teenagers, where growth and personal development are not always linear and not always in sync with that of others. John, Rose and Dave are all growing up in the 2000s USA, and are all subject to roughly the same cultural expectations as described in the earlier sections, just as the overall work is written in that context. Looking at each character in turn, I will discuss to what extent they conform to dominant conceptions of ‘the teenager’ and how they experience time within the narrative, with a view to asking whether Homestuck could offer a new understanding of adolescence.

John Egbert

‘And even meanerwhile, in the present. Sort of. Once again, the slippery antagonist eludes you.’ (p.385)

As the principal character and the first introduced, John’s time is arbitrarily defined as ‘the present’ – pages 334 and 385 both say as such. However, at the end of act 1, John is transported to a ‘realm untouched by the flow of time’ (p.421) and while time continues to pass for him, it’s not necessarily in step with Earth time, indicated by the ??:?? timestamps on his Pesterlogs. As such, John’s ‘normal’ development has been stalled on the day he becomes a teenager, and he’s locked off from the future of his society.

For John, time and space are linked. Although he has been removed from time and therefore from normal expectations, he’s still stuck in his house, the one piece of his culture that he brought with him. The picture John’s dad pinned to the fridge and the green slime pogo ride John continues to define himself by in this act both keep him tied to his childhood. While he’s here, John can’t escape a multitude of authority figures. His dad has been kidnapped, but still leaves notes around the house congratulating John on his maturity – ‘You are strong enough to lift the safe. You are now a man… I know you will take this responsibility seriously’ (p.546).

With Dad gone, Nannasprite steps in, having not seen John since he was very young. She restores John’s bedroom door to its hinges and restores the family order in the house, giving advice, controlling what John knows, and baking unprecedented amounts of cookies. Nannasprite calls John a ‘good boy’ (p.428), and the Wayward Vagabond’s first command to John is ‘BOY.’ (p.252), a word with assumptions about both John’s gender and current stage of life. Rose and WV also have guardianlike roles over John, able to control how he spends his time.

John is younger than Rose and Dave by a few months, but retains far more childlike qualities. His priorities lean towards play and silliness, as shown when he captchalogues shaving cream in case he suddenly needs to make a Santa beard (p.488) or makes a tent out of cruxite dowels (p.615), and he isn’t in any hurry to reach the signifiers of adulthood, such as shaving (p.544) or taking personal responsibility (p.643). The trait John most shares with the stereotypical teenager is poor emotional regulation – both his excitement and his frustration are obvious on his face and regularly interfere with his behavior (for example, p.429, p.637).

He passes the time instead of using the time, and is easily swayed by his peers. He has a drive for autonomy and self preservation, and will attempt to stand up for himself, but usually ends up deferring to the authority of his friends or guardians. He’s not very self-motivated except when it comes to putting bunnies back in boxes, and he enjoys consuming media, not all of which is age-appropriate – three of the movies on his wall are R-rated, including Con Air. He also plays popular video games and buys media merchandise such as T-shirts and posters, so falls into a mainstream youth marketing demographic.

As a prophesized savior positioned to undertake a hero’s journey, John is a classic young adult protagonist. He demonstrates the idea that the youth are our only hope, though they still require guidance from previous generations and are defined by their opposition to adulthood (seen through Nannasprite’s presence). However, despite Skaia influencing Earth since before life itself existed (p.757), it wasn’t until its power was harnessed into a video game that it began to threaten the world – youth’s popular culture is the thing that sends us all into decline, even if that culture was created and marketed by adults.

The earth already being ‘done for’ (p.427) allows for a subversion of the typical progress narrative. Page 757 indicates that Sburb may be influenced by ancient technology from outside of Earth, The end goal is not known, making John’s narrative defined by the journey and not by the ending, highlighting adolescence as a meaningful experience in and of itself, not only because of where it leads. And Sburb is already poking fun at John’s culture – the echeladder (p.405) parodies the milestone progression of youth, filled with meaningless and generic titles placed in an arbitrary order.

John’s destiny to ascend through the Seven Gates to Skaia, fighting with the light kingdom and attempting to overcome the dark forces’ destined win, could be read as an ascension from childhood to adulthood. John would be moving away from the sinful childlike state where young people are ruled by their base instincts of hunger, sleep, hormones and emotions, towards a rational and enlightened adulthood. But an inversion of this metaphor would work, too. John could move away from his culture’s ideal adult that he’s been told he’ll become – a person who is cynical, conformist, an obedient worker, driven by money and personal success – back towards the childlike state, retaining the open-mindedness, sense of whimsy and possibility, and creativity of childhood. Earth is done for, and so there’s no reason John should still be tied to the linear march of the culture he came from. He is perfectly positioned to imagine a new paradigm of adolescence, if he can break away from the ties – his house and his guardians – that try to tie him down to the ‘old ways’.

Rose Lalonde

‘To hear his mammoth belly gurgle is to know the Epoch of Joy has come to an abrupt end.’ (p.302)

In the narrative, Rose’s time is defined as the near future. Although her story directly overlaps with John’s, putting them at the same point in time, Rose is three timezones ahead and refers to other timezones as ‘younger’ (p.174). It’s night time for her, which visually distinguishes her panels and gives her story a more adult atmosphere. She is future oriented and proactive, planning for the next thing, and typically portrayed as one step ahead of John.

Rose has experienced the passage of time quickly, and has not had the luxury of lingering in childhood as John has. With a mother who is inattentive towards raising her and communicates through daily arguments (p.389) and ‘notes’ on the fridge (p.366), Rose likely had to develop independence and adult traits at a young age. She would be considered ‘precocious’, a word typically carrying a negative or judgmental tone describing a young person whose achievements or inclinations are happening ‘too soon’. In the narrative, Rose is continually running out of time, watching the battery on her laptop slowly drain and the forest fire surrounding her house creep closer. This anxiety of something yet to come positions Rose as a teenager who is awaiting the future and making use of every possible moment to prepare for it.

Educationally, she has a larger vocabulary than the average person her age, and likely a higher reading level. Practically, she understands construction and generator safety, has a good grasp of modern technology such as computers as well as classic skills such as knitting, and the hand eye coordination to do these things well. She demonstrates abstract and critical thinking, and attempts – with varying levels of success – to understand the consequences of her actions. She shows an understanding of a world greater than herself when she wishes Jaspers had been allowed to decompose (p.414) and avoids allocating her grimoire to her strife specibus (p.297). Despite being raised by a rich mother, she enjoys a challenge and is willing to work hard, rejecting childlike wish-fulfillment fantasies such as princesses and wizards.

Rose is a teenager who attempts to fill her time with activities she sees as productive and as bettering her as a person. She has internalized adult values and would prefer to get there too soon than be left behind, and she works hard to define herself through timeless, sophisticated hobbies such as literature, knitting and the violin, generally resisting mass culture that would be typically marketed to teens; unlike John she disrupts the idea of the teenager as mindless consumer or as defined by her peers’ interests. She tries to avoid juvenile behavior and scorns it in others (p.249) and is very attuned to cultural expectations, feeling a nebulous pair of eyes upon her judging the appropriateness of her actions, which affects her decisions (p.370), almost as if she is trying to skip the complicated, messy parts of being a modern teenager and move directly from childhood into rational adulthood.

It’s rare for Rose to regress into childlike behavior, such as the ‘W’ mustache (p.370) and the Youth Roll (p.379), and she usually ends up regretting or correcting the behavior afterwards (p.398, p.380). Her disdain for her mother suggests that she is self-correcting and trying to parent herself in response to these ‘slips’. Notably on page 440, Rose works on her GameFAQs, which are intended as an informative guide to future players. Accidentally slipping into a frustrated and self-berating personal anecdote, she strikes out the passage and again criticizes her own regression, which is immediately followed by a narrative shift into Rose’s actual past.

Rose struggles with patience, and with waiting for other people to catch up to her. She understands the seriousness of her situation; for her adolescence is a time of survival, her decisions now liable to affect her entire future. Act 2’s title, ‘Raise of the Conductor’s Baton’, appears in the text in relation to Rose - ‘Somewhere a zealous god threads these strings between the clouds and the earth, preparing for a symphony it fears impossible to play. And so it threads on, and on, delaying the raise of the conductor's baton’ (p.307). This certainly links to Rose’s experience of time, her living in expectant mode for a terrifying, looming future.

Primarily Rose strives for the ‘positive’ markers of adulthood, such as responsibility and educational attainment, but she also tries to be casual regarding sex, such as claiming to enjoy Dave’s bro’s websites (p.419). The only markers of adulthood she openly rejects are alcohol and domestic chores, both of which the text associates with Rose’s mother, who Rose views as a cautionary tale and the ‘wrong’ kind of adult. Through Rose’s relationship with her mother, there is space to question the idea put forward by other media that teenagers become dangers to society through poor parental oversight; Rose is certainly a rebellious and anti-authority teen, but her ‘rebellion’ consists of asserting her own capability and responsibility, such as turning down alcohol in favor of water (p.388).

Rose sees herself as the more responsible of the two of them, but it remains uncertain whether the narrative will legitimize this. By being positioned in a guardianlike role over John she disrupts the typical adult-youth dynamic, and is given a chance to prove her chesslike skills of thinking several steps ahead while staying responsive to new information, evidenced by her GameFAQ updates. However, in the final page of the act, Rose’s ability to manage her own life reaches its limits, and it is her mother who saves her by opening a secret passage, having apparently planned for this all along. Here Rose’s independence is taken from her and she is once again the teenager who needs a firm guiding hand, despite apparently working much harder than her mother. This reinforces a typical authority structure and is dismissive of Rose’s legitimate problems with her mother, as despite her flaws she is still a necessary figure in Rose’s life.

In future acts, Rose’s character arc could go multiple ways, particularly once she enters the Medium and is presumably separated from her mother. The story could legitimize her drive to grow up at a young age and allow her to take on a leadership role that she does seem well positioned for, given her ability to keep a clear head and solve problems in real time. In this narrative, Rose would not be punished or put back in her ‘rightful place’ for speeding through time, instead, her early development would allow her to be valuable to the group, and to challenge herself in ways a thirteen-year-old would not have access to in the real world. Alternatively, Rose could have an arc that allows her to go ‘back in time’ and reclaim her more youthful traits, taking on some of John’s silliness, handing over responsibility or making bad and uninformed decisions when in a new context, for example when she becomes a client player. This could also be subversive if returning from a more adultlike to a more childlike state is portrayed as a valid and meaningful journey in its own right, instead of as someone who grew up too fast returning to their ‘correct’ place in time.

Dave Strider

‘You just don’t have time for this bullshit. You’ll catch up later.’ (p.332)

Dave’s narrative time is defined as the past. His story begins on page 308, at the same moment where John’s story began on page 1. John and Rose are several hours ahead of him by now, and Dave’s storyline is constantly racing to catch up. Like any teen looking around and watching their peers maturing physically and socially while they fail to keep up, Dave is always missing information and excluded from his friends’ activities. The narrator makes sly references to Dave being in the past and unaware of what’s to come (p.314) like a nagging thought in the back of his head, and in every page, he has the relic of a five-year-old movie stamped on his face.

In reality, Dave is not failing to meet developmental milestones – quite the opposite. In a world where the athletic achievement of young men is prized and adults are expected to be in control of their own bodies, Dave is physically fit with quick reflexes, able to fight, jump, dodge and perform an ‘acrobatic fucking pirouette’ (p.579, p.665), even without regular access to food. The original, early 20th century Boy Scouts prepared boys for military service primarily through obedience, a sense of duty, and personal responsibility towards physical development; Dave’s brother with his strict sword-training and Saw trap regime is instilling similar values.

Dave does participate in mainstream culture, evidenced by his regular reading of GameBro and his desire to be ‘cool’ and to like the same things as his brother – but he’s not only a consumer of culture, he’s also a producer. He writes a blog, ostensibly on a regular schedule, and produces a webcomic, combining creative and analytical pursuits. He regularly refers to himself as ‘busy’ (p.309, etc) and says he ‘doesn’t have time’ for things (p.310, 332), has ‘a lot on [his] plate’ (p.333), and that it’s ‘hard to get any work done’ (p.381). Dave sees his internet projects as work, as commitments he needs to make time for, and he’s not afraid to push back against the player’s commands if he thinks they wouldn’t be a good use of his time.

He has the Complete Bullshit desktop application and keeps up with his brother’s projects, and likely other internet culture too, to stay on the cutting edge of irony that he prides himself on. It seems like Dave’s time is largely full and he struggles to fit everything in. He is very aware of the constantly changing, modern society that he lives in and wants to stay on the pulse of these changes. Less than six months after Obama’s election, a black president is no longer noteworthy to Dave (p.287), and he creates remixes with electronic samplers instead of playing classical instruments like his friends. He’s always online and always keeping in real time contact with his friends; he ‘pesters [Rose] like clockwork’ (p.415). Trying to keep the beat of an ever-shifting internet meme culture to stay cool and avoid being outdated at all costs is exhausting, and it’s no wonder Dave sometimes struggles to keep up.

Living in the city, a place where the pace of life is quickest, in a time of rapid technological and cultural change already creates a ‘racing against the clock’ mindset, and Dave’s relationship with his brother compounds this. By modeling himself on Jigsaw, a villain who created complex, physically violent traps with strict time limits, he forces Dave to be constantly on guard, constantly expecting the next danger, yet often a moment too late for it, behaving like an intense ‘no pain, no gain’ style sports coach. On the surface, Dave’s sunglasses, frown and monosyllables look like a rebellious teen movie protagonist, but beneath that, Dave best corresponds to a real life high achieving teenager who is put under pressure to achieve even more by the adults around them.

Dave’s story so far has focused on the ‘campaign of one-upmanship’ between himself and his brother as he fights for his brother’s Sburb game discs – his brother is an obstacle to both his plot development and his emotional development (for example, admitting that he’s uncomfortable with his brother’s hobbies). This is likely setting up a ‘loss of innocence’ story, where Dave has to come to terms with harsh realities of the adult world by recognizing that an authority figure is imperfect. This is a fairly typical growing up narrative that does not disrupt conventional ideas of linear growth, as the adult world is widely seen as darker, more serious, and something young people need to be protected from.

However, I think Dave’s status as a subcultural producer places him outside a typical youth/adult binary. Dave is not overall presented as adultlike, as he follows trends and is fully subservient to the adult in his life, and his hobbies – Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff, sweet bro’s hella blog, and remixing music – don’t place him on a typical path to adulthood. By establishing that Dave sees these as responsibilities, and as things he creates for a real audience of at minimum four people and potentially many more, Dave’s teenage experiences and creations are given importance without needing to be legitimated by adults (such as the narrator or his brother).

Dave’s self-motivation when it comes to his creative pursuits also disrupts ideas of teenagers as lazy or needing to be shaped by outside forces; he’s capable of sticking to a self-imposed schedule. However, his creative drive is part of a real-time responsiveness to internet culture – if he is taken to the Medium, outside the normal progression of time, would he be able to maintain this? An arc that focuses on Dave as a creator instead of Dave as a soldier could do more to complicate a typical youth narrative.

Wayward Vagabond

‘The APPEARIFIER cannot appearify something if it will create a TIME PARADOX’. (p.752)

The Wayward Vagabond is not a human adolescent, and does not come from the same culture as John, Rose and Dave – they discover the concepts of ‘cutlery’ and ‘politeness’ in Act 2, so are a long way from internalizing age-based ideals. As such, although WV exists in the future – their story taking place 413 years after the human characters’ – they are not more advanced, or more adult, than the others.

Alone in a wasteland and free from social influences, WV does not regulate their eating, is described as physically weak, expresses black and white opinions on governance, and loses track of time playing pretend games. At the same time, they show a good understanding of art, chess strategy and precise movements and distances. They pick up social and technological skills quickly and are very attuned to positions in space (p.743), but far less attuned to positions in time (p.755). Many of their actions are similarly nonsensical to John’s, and these moments of whimsy frame WV as childlike.

However, WV has a privileged position in time. Not only are they in the future, but they have the technology to experiment with temporal mechanics. Through a set of screens they are able to look back at and directly influence events from the past; they have authority over at least one young person, and can appearify objects from other points in time.

Being an adult and a child at the same time feels like a time paradox to us, just as appearifying a rotten pumpkin they ate earlier is a time paradox to WV. Having authority over a young person who, if he continued to grow in linear time, would be long dead by the time WV enters the bunker is also a paradox of normal development. By mixing childlike and adultlike traits, WV draws attention to the way roles in society are socially mediated and may not exist outside of their cultural moment. By living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where advanced technology is lost to the ravages of nature, WV represents a type of person who could live in the future if the world does not follow a path of strict linear progress, but simply of change.

The appearifier and command station in WV’s bunker fundamentally change the function of time in the narrative. Although WV’s mastery of time is limited by the need to avoid paradoxes, if characters take actions to influence or improve the past, they disrupt the norm of future orientation and give equal importance to the past. Indeed, the pages titled ‘Years in the future…’ are not presented as the desirable end goal of the narrative, nor are they a terrible fate to be avoided. They are interesting asides to the story, but they are asides, with the bulk of them taking place in pages hosted outside of the main story. The story structure lets the past and present be centered in themselves, not just through their leading to the future.

The Narrator

‘Maybe you could go bug someone somewhere else for a while? Or at the very least, somewhen else.’ (p.440)

The position of any given Homestuck page within the timeline is uncertain until established by the narrator, who regularly exercises their power to shift back and forth, and to conceal these movements until the player has made a fool of themself. In this way, the narrator is positioned as an adult with perfect knowledge of the timeline, viewing adolescence in its totality. They have transcended the limitations of adolescence and have moved onto a real and meaningful time of life, and will occasionally reference their superior knowledge of future events with winks to the audience while keeping characters out of the loop – ‘you can’t imagine how a video game could save someone’s life’ (p.314) or ‘only… babies who poop in their diapers believe in [monsters]’ (p.387).

However, moments of the narrator criticizing or speaking condescendingly to the teenage characters is surprisingly rare. It happens occasionally, like with ‘This is COMPLETE BULLSHIT.’ (p.458) or ‘The circle of stupidity is complete’ (p.490) but the vast majority of narrative criticism is directed towards the Wayward Vagabond, the only character the narrator regularly speaks directly to. The narrator calls WV stupid on multiple occasions (for example, p.437, p.746), and tells them to defer to Rose’s decision making (p.277), but the majority of narrative text criticizing the kids’ behavior is actually just reporting their own thoughts, either towards themselves – ‘It seems the woman has you at a clear disadvantage’ (p.373) – or towards each other, such as ‘What the hell is that nincompoop doing?’ (p.508). When a command would lead to a bad decision, it’s generally the character who refutes it, not the narrator (p.489). In this way, although the narrator does have superior knowledge, they give center stage to adolescent perspectives.

Implicitly, the narrator controls the flow of time in the story – deciding who to switch to and in what moment of their story, allowing characters to speak or moving focus away from them – and the narrator is willing to indulge the characters in their non-plot critical diversions, rarely hurrying them along when they take extended time to read books or rearrange their sylladex, but allowing the minutiae of their experiences to matter. The narrator lists characters’ interests without judgment – adult characters are interested in clowns, wizards, puppets and sugary foods, while adolescent characters are interested in computer programming, knitting and specimen preservation, with no clear line on ‘acceptable’ interests for a given age group.

Zooming out a layer, Act 2 posits the idea of John, Rose and Dave’s stories available for viewing through a screen, four hundred and thirteen years in the future. As well as reflecting the existence of the webcomic itself, this contrasts the idea of adolescence as a transient state. The 13-year-old versions of these characters are frozen in time on the Wayward Vagabond’s screen. Born in the mid-1990s, these characters are among the first to grow up with social media, and with an internet moving away from anonymity. Their lives being recorded on the command terminal, in Rose’s GameFAQ screenshots (p.510) and in Bro’s Jigsaw puppet (p.570) are not a million miles from the teenagers documenting each other’s lives on Facebook in 2009 – and at the time of Act 2’s writing, it’s not yet certain what the real world impacts of this will be on current young people’s experiences of time.

Conclusion

‘Temporal movement into the future is understood as linear, uni-directional, and able to be separated from the present and the past… a conception of growth and change as recursive, as occurring over and over again as we move into new situations, would reorient us.’ - Nancy Lesko (2001)

Written in 2009, Homestuck carries the baggage of over a hundred years of public discourse around the teenager. Adulthood is seen as the most important stage of life, with teenagers as flawed, incomplete versions who need to be corrected before reaching the end goal of conventional adult society through conforming to a series of linear milestones. The expected development of real teenagers is reflected in the stories told about them, which focus on characters ‘coming of age’ and successfully internalizing adult norms.

By introducing nonlinear storytelling in Act 2, Homestuck represents time as teenagers actually experience it, which gives the comic a chance to explore and question dominant ideas of adolescence and adolescent time. John and Rose have relationships with guardian figures, including the narrator, that reinforce adult superiority, and all three kids have communication breakdowns between themselves and their guardians – but the skills and interests of teenagers are also given importance, and adults are not exempt from narrative criticism. The narrator is happy to indulge the teenagers just as often as to correct them.

The end of Act 2 positions Sburb as an organic entity of sorts, not necessarily created by adults in universe. Sburb encourages linear gameplay with progression up the Echeladder and through the Seven Gates, but the Medium’s position outside of time, and the fact that restoring the Earth is not the game’s goal, allow for narratives of change that are not necessarily narratives of progress, as the characters’ future in rational adult society no longer exists. The comic’s focus on creativity – both the potential of Skaia and with Dave’s role as an artist – means the story could focus on the importance of not losing childlike traits along the path to adulthood.

The narrative structure allows teenage characters to be nonlinear, to move between past and future moments, to experience sudden growth and moments of regression, to overtake their friends and then fall behind. The real-time nature of Homestuck’s creation allows readers to linger in the characters’ day to day moments and to experience their present alongside them, instead of tightly focusing on their plot development, and the reader submitted commands central to Act 2 mean that real life teenagers likely contributed to their own story. Homestuck is still early on in its story, but has already laid the groundwork for a novel conceptualization of time, and therefore an understanding of adolescence as more than just its ending.

[blueiscoool]

Meteorite Iron Discovered in 3,000-year-Old Bronze Age Gold Hoard

New research reveals that two Bronze Age artifacts from the Treasure of Villena contain iron from a meteor that hit a million years ago.

In the ’60s, researchers discovered a trove of Bronze Age treasure in Villena, Spain. While most of the stunning bottles, bowls and bracelets are made of gold and silver, new research has revealed that some of them were forged from another material: iron from a meteor that struck Earth a million years ago.

According to a recent study published in the journal Trabajos de Prehistoria, researchers conducted tests on two of the artifacts—a bracelet and a hollow decorative sphere—made between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E.

The trove’s materials have long mystified researchers. After finding it on the Iberian Peninsula in 1963, archaeologist José María Soler García noted the presence of a “dark leaden metal” among the gold, per El País’ Vicente G. Olaya. The metal was “shiny in some areas, and covered with a ferrous-looking oxide that is mostly cracked.”

To determine the iron’s origins, researchers used mass spectrometry, a technique that measures a molecule’s mass-to-charge ratio. As Live Science’s Jennifer Nalewicki reports, this analysis revealed that the iron’s nickel composition resembles that of meteoritic iron. These items are the first artifacts made of meteoritic iron ever found in the Iberian Peninsula.

“Iron was as valuable as gold or silver, and in this case [it was] used for ornaments or decorative purposes,” study co-author Ignacio Montero Ruiz, a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute of History, tells Smithsonian magazine.

The presence of such an “unusual raw material” suggests it was made by highly skilled metalworkers capable of “[developing] new technologies,” adds Montero Ruiz.

But iron is also quite different from more common materials such as copper, gold or silver. As Montero Ruiz says to Live Science, “People who started to work with meteoritic iron and later with terrestrial iron must [have had to] innovate.”

The study’s other co-authors are Salvador Rovira-Llorens of the National Archaeological Museum and Martina Renzi of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority. The trove is held by Villena’s Archaeological Museum, which says on its website that the 66 items are considered the “most important prehistoric treasure in Europe.” Still, the artifacts’ origins remain a mystery.

Montero Ruiz tells Smithsonian magazine that objects made from meteoritic iron are rare, and most known examples from this period are connected to eastern Mediterranean cultures. The treasure’s creators “probably had access to a fallen meteorite in the area that allowed them to discover the properties of this material and how to shape it,” he says.

Last year, research revealed that an arrowhead found in Switzerland was made from meteoritic iron. That artifact, however, dates to between 900 and 800 B.C.E.

Researchers also don’t know who owned the Villena treasure, though they think it would have belonged to a community rather than a single individual.

“These two pieces of iron had enormous value. For this reason, they were considered worthy of becoming part of this spectacular ensemble,” says Montero Ruiz, per El País. “Who manufactured them and where this material was obtained are still questions that remain to be answered.”

By Sonja Anderson.

[vish-the-wanderer]

CoTE opening quotes

a list of the opening quotes in classroom of the elite:

What is evil?- Whatever springs from weakness. -F W Nietzsche, The Antichrist It takes great talent and skill to conceal one's talent and skill. -La Rochefoucauld, Reflections or Sentences and Moral Maxims Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with one another. -Adam Smith, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations We should not be upset that others hide the truth from us, when we hide it so often from ourselves. -La Rochefoucauld, Reflections or Sentences and Moral Maxims Hell is other people. -Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit There are two kinds of lies; one concerns an accomplished fact, the other concerns a future duty. -Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile or on Education Nothing is as dangerous as an ignorant friend; a wise enemy is to be preferred. -Jean de La Fontaine, Fables Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. -Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Inferno Man is condemned to be free. -Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism and Humanism Every man has in himself the most dangerous traitor of all. -Kierkegaard, Works of Love What people commonly call fate is their own stupidity. -Schopenhauer, Philosophical Writings Genius lives only one story above madness. -Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena Remember to keep a clear head in difficult times. -Horace, Odes (Carmina) There are two main human sins from which all the others derive: impatience and indolence. -Franz Kafka, The Zurau Aphorisms The greatest souls are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues. -Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method The material has to be created. -Florence Nightingale, subsidiary notes (female nursing into military hospitals in peace and war) Every failure is a step to success. -William Whewell, Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy in England Adversity is the first path to truth. -G G Byron Don Juan To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions;  both dispense with the necessity of reflection. -H Poincare, Science and Hypothesis The wound is at her heart. -Vergil, Aeneid If you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake. -Anonymous, Analects People, often deceived by an illusive good, desire their own ruin. -Niccolo Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy A man who cannot command himself will always be a slave. -J W V Goethe, Zahme Xenien Force without wisdom falls of its own weight. -Horace, Odes (Carmina) The worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself. -F W Nietzsche, Thus spoke Zarathustra

lmk if you'd like explanations as to how these epigraphs relate to the story

[zzthekaiju]

Best of the Reptiles in Media - 01 - Godzilla (Monsterverse)

I figure that while I'm using this blog, I might as well post my ramblings on a subject dear to my heart: That being the representation of reptiles as characters in media. And not just villainous or vile ones like we're so used to. I'm talking about ones that inspire me. The ones that are legitimately compelling to me. And these posts are an excuse to espouse why.

Plus, it's just fun. You can thank the likes of @tyrantisterror and @bogleech for inspiring me to do these.

So who better to start with than with the lizard who's been an inspiration to me for almost my entire life. That being the one known as Gojira. AKA...Godzilla.

This is the one character in these posts who probably needs no introduction. Ever since his debut in 1954, the walking embodiment of the horrors of nuclear war, among other things, has been nothing less than an icon. This is the beast people think about when they hear "giant monster" or "kaiju". This is truly the King of the Monsters.

My introduction to Godzilla was a children's book called "Godzilla on Monster Island". It was a fun read full of neat monsters living together and teaming up to stop an evil plan. And it left me wanting more. I wanted more stories of these fantastic yet friendly beasts being friends and living together while having fun adventures. Little me was a bit disappointed to find that Godzilla spent more time fighting his fellow kaiju and trashing cities instead.

The truth, as I would find out, was that Godzilla is never just one thing. He is a fun defender of the Earth. He's the terrifying consequences of our tampering with both nature and science. And in recent memory, he's been a lot of other things. But most of the time, he's either hero or mankind's hubris on two legs. To me, he was a giant dinosaur that could fire thermonuclear breath, and that was all that mattered. It was after hearing about the historical significance of him that my respect doubled.

Back then, I would tell you that my favorite Godzilla from a design standpoint was the 2002 version. Personality wise, almost every Showa appearance post-1964.

But in 2014, everything changed. In came a Goji that seemed to have everything I could ask for. So, we're going to look at the one that resonates with me the most. The Monsterverse version.

That right there is perhaps one of the most awe-inspiring entrances I've ever seen in a cinema.

Before the release of Godzilla (2014), the franchise had entered something of a slump period. The last film was all the way back in 2004, and sadly, the kaiju genre was still something of a niche thing growing up. Here in America, you either liked superheroes or real-life celebrities as a kid. If you liked monsters, let alone giant monsters, you were one of the weird kids. That, or one of the kids who never lost their passion for dinosaurs. But those were rare.

Then Gareth Edwards unleashed this film, and while one could argue that Pacific Rim (2013) got the ball rolling, THIS ultimately resurrected the entire franchise of the Big G, and got him a degree of general respect from most film-goers (so long as you ignore the irritating internet drama regarding screen-time back then).

But let's get to the meat of this post. Why is this Godzilla so much better to me than the rest? A few things, really.

First off, there's Godzilla's role in the Monsterverse's narrative. For the most part, he is a guardian of the natural order, a means of bringing balance to imbalance. He is a metaphor for how nature is capable of righting itself, and how we either have to deal with it, or live with the consequences. In practice, Godzilla ends up going up against almost every monster, most of which are only a threat because we awakened them/created them. Yet despite this, he doesn't go out of his way to destroy us. He's not mindlessly destructive or particularly vengeful either. He knows we're a part of the world too. We just tend to grate a bit more on his nerves because of how much we screw up. If there's one thing this series isn't afraid to show, it's that...well, "the arrogance of man is thinking nature is within our control, and not the other way around."

Design-wise, this is one of the best Godzilla's around. He's bulky, has a killer stare, and there's something oddly endearing about how...well, meaty he is. He's like if my aforementioned previous favorite design, the 2002 one, put on both a lot of muscle and weight. It also ties into his fighting style, said to have been inspired particularly by bears. Even the sounds associated with him are amazing. From that hype-inducing charge of his thermonuclear breath to what might be the best rendition of the classic roar.

Then there is the body language. This Godzilla's usual gait is slow, almost plodding at times. He shows clear signs of exhaustion in some scenes. What he goes through is hard, and his job is even harder, but he still does it. It really helps sell his personality most of the time.

Part of why I like the Monsterverse so much is that, for the most part, the kaiju are treated as characters in their own right (that's not to say they weren't in previous iterations, far from it, but it's a bit more pronounced here than most of the post-Showa stuff). Sure, some films in this verse are better about it than others (more on that later...), but I like how you can glean what Godzilla is thinking of just by looking at his eyes. Of particular note is how they widen in "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" when Ghidorah gains the upper hand during the final battle, his absolute sneer of anger in the first movie when the male MUTO approaches him, or...this.

This scene. This one right here encapsulates so much of what I love about this iteration. Where Godzilla, dazed and thoroughly battered by both the fight with the MUTOS and having a building fall right on him, locks eyes with a tiny little soldier. You see a sense of tiredness, of pain, of acknowledgement, and maybe even a little wonder. This is not just some mindless beast fighting for its turf. It's a thinking being. And he's hurt. The most powerful creature on the planet isn't invincible, neither on the outside and definitely not on the inside.

And you know what? I've been there. There are times where I feel like I'm carrying the weight of the world, that there are things too heavy to bear, and its suffocating. Godzilla constantly shows throughout the Monsterverse that his job as a living balancing act is wearing on him. He gets put through so. Much. Crap. From getting buildings dropped on him to being personally dropped from a distance above the clouds to watching his symbiotic partner/mate die, it's almost unfair how we're expected to not really sympathize with him as much as...I'll get to that later.

But he never gives up. Despite all the pain and fatigue, he gets back up, and he fights. And he fights. And he continues until the deed is done. Someone has to rise to the occasion, and it might as well be him. If not him, then who?

That is the biggest reason I resonate with this Godzilla. His awe-inspiring design is one thing, but he gave me the strength to persevere. I don't give up, because he never did. Never before had the Big G been such a hero to me. Such that in 2014 I found myself silently sobbing to myself when it seemed like he was dead near the end even though that was clearly not the case. It's hardly a surprise that I based my personal Godzilla AU on him, albeit with the more sympathetic traits dialed up. Stuff like this made G14 and KOTM some of my favorite kaiju flicks...

...which made it more than a little disappointing when Wingard took the helm and basically said "screw that, this is about the monke now!" Yeah, GvK is the weakest entry in the series for me for a reason. Godzilla's more redeeming qualities are buried under a narrative that clearly is not interested in giving him the time of day or even the benefit of a doubt. Both it and it's successor, GxK, are Kong movies through and through, and that means poor Big G is put out of focus.

I cannot tell you how much I HATE this idea that the only way a monster can be relatable is if it either looks almost just like us or is really cute. Yes, I understand the universal appeal, but they had such a good thing going for Godzilla! And they throw almost all of it away just so that they can make Kong look better by comparison.

Credit where it's due, these issues are slightly improved in GxK. It's not only firmly established that Godzilla is an overall benefit to the world for keeping the other Titans in check, but we get some interesting bits with him like how he instantly responds and prepares to answer the call of the Iwi and help them. It shows that despite his tenuous relationship with humans, there are ones he clearly gives a lot of thought to. And there's also how he makes the Roman Coliseum his own personal bed. Not only is it kind of hilariously adorable, but if you remember how in KOTM he had his own man-made temple, you get the impression that he has a bit of homesickness. That's the kind of thing I like to see! More of that and less "he's only ever angry and he only ever fights, character is for primates only".

Also, while the Evolved design has nice details, I WANT THAT GUT BACK! it just looks weird otherwise with that disproportionately skinny waist.

But thankfully, our prayers might be answered:

With GxK's roaring success (ha!), it's more than likely that the next Monsterverse entry will finally give Godzilla an overdue character arc that doesn't begin and end with "destroy everyone and act big and scary and nothing else". Just please make sure that he doesn't have to die to get that. There are plenty of ways you can make us invest in the guy's story without having to kill him. I WANT to see more of that emotional vulnerability teased across the movies. I want to see him come to terms with how he's been going about his job. And more importantly...I want to see a more explicit Mothzilla scene. A nuzzle and everything. But that's just me.

Whatever the quality of his current status, nothing is taking away how much I love this version of Godzilla. He's taken me out of some very dark places, and for that, I say long live the king.

Also, he brought Mothzilla into the public sphere and every Mothzilla pic made since is the cutest thing ever, so I just love him even more.

[max1461]

@triviallytrue asked "what's Chomsky's deal?"

Put briefly, the initial thing that made Chomsky famous is that he argued, and managed to convince everyone, that B. F. Skinner was wrong about language acquisition. B. F. Skinner believed that kids acquired language because when they made grammatically well-formed sentences they got positive feedback and when they made grammatically ill-formed sentences they got negative feedback, and by operant conditioning they learned how to speak. Chomsky was basically like "wait. That's not fucking true", and he was right, it isn't. His argument is usually called the Poverty of Stimulus argument, which has been used to justify many dubious conclusions since then, but which basically says that kids are not getting nearly enough actual input of the appropriate types for them to learn language this way.

Chomsky was also interested in modeling the computational properties of language, and that's where the Chomsky hierarchy comes from. The idea is to find a formalism (for syntax, for phonology, whatever) capable of generating all and only those sentences in fact found in natural language. So this formalism would have various parameters that you could set to specify the syntax of an individual language, and then it would have an input lexicon (the vocabulary of that language), and then it would spit out exactly the set of grammatically valid sentences in that language. This approach is generally called (lowercase-g) generative linguistics. It has been a very productive good idea which runs into certain empirical hurdles that Chomsky was not prepared to solve.

Chomsky is interested in this generative approach not because he really wants to model natural language as an observed phenomenon, but because he believes, more or less, that when an appropriate formalism is found it will be reflective of the innate cognitive processes which give rise to natural language in the first place. These processes are generally called Universal Grammar or UG, or sometimes "the language organ". Chomsky's beliefs here are technically more nuanced than this but not in a useful way. His claim about this is basically a deepity, which he and his acolytes try to pass off as actual science with a bunch of philosophical mumbo-jumbo. Every Chomsky paper starts with like fifteen pages on the history of science and Newton and Kepler and blah blah before he makes his various unfalsifiable claims.

The overall upshot, in my view, is that Chomsky had a lot of really important ideas about human language that he simply was ultimately not prepared to follow up on. His work, especially his early work, has reshaped the entire field of linguistics and lead to a series of extremely productive research programs. On the other hand you should not take most of what he's said in the last 40 years too seriously.

[fuckyeahpedropascal]

Hi, I hope you're doing well! Just wondering if you're able to do a post/poll/comparison/analysis - let's call it a scientific study - of Pedro's broad shoulder in proportion to his tiny waist? (and maybe also his cute, um, bottom?)

As always, thank you so much for all you do for the Pedro fandom! 💖

This ask is literally 8 months old, I’m so sorry sweet anon 😭 I kept putting it off because I felt like I couldn’t do your ask justice. I still think I can do a much better job than this, but since it’s Boxing Day, I thought I’d leave this naked man under all of your trees.

Please forgive the half-assed analysis because my mind doesn’t work in the face of such broadness 🫠 And of course, we can only use half-naked pics because we need clear references for science.

Let's talk overall broadness first. This man majorly beefed up in between Nikita (2013) and the first season of Narcos (2015). I was going to use 3:5 cropping for both gifs, but I literally couldn't fit all of Javier in that frame. That's how bloody broad this man had gotten.

Can we admire the corded muscles running down Javier's side for a second? Look at the lines. Look at them. He is significantly thicker and more sculpted compared to Liam, he definitely put his hours in the gym in those couple of years.

Skipping forward to the next time we see this man half-naked on screen in TUWOMT in 2022, he has clearly gotten even broader horizontally and also filled out in thickness. The shoulders are bigger, and look at those tiddies pecs practically leaping off the screen, and that soft belly. They knew what they were doing not giving us a full frontal shot of Javi G - he's a danger to ovaries everywhere.

Now let's move on to shoulder-to-waist ratio. Compared to Liam, Javier has a more pronounced dip in the waist thanks to the broader shoulders and the tiny little waist that stayed tiny. If you draw lines connecting shoulders to waist, Liam is more boxy and Javier is more of a trapezium.

While we don't see Javi G stand up fully, that shoulder-to-waist ratio is clearly still there, even if he is broader on both ends overall. That slutty nip in the waist is still very much present.

Ok that's all the analysis my turkey-fogged brain is capable of right now. This is such a broad topic (tehehe), consider this a prelude of sorts. I'm sure I'll be doing more of a deep dive one day, because we haven't even gotten to that little tush yet.

• Masterlist •

Related posts:

Shoulders/arms/waist ratio

Pedro boys in bed

Pedro boys disrobed