#I think answers from the discord are allowed to be shared?

[darkxwolf17]

Chat.... There's no fucking way.... Guys... I need a minute. Guys. I'm normal I'm.so normal

[devosin]

" be my burden " , gender neutral reader

a/n: for the girlies who hate being a burden & hate being attached to people or for those who get up mid-breakdown because it's embarrassing.

Malleus's arms wrap around you, gently pulling you into his lap, he felt warm, soothing almost, and the overwhelming scent of pinecone and sandalwood took over your senses, almost numbing your nerves. "I'm fine", you mutter under your breath, "I should go", and despite saying so, you find your body leaning into his touch, as if it was home.

Because he was home, in this unfamiliar place you did find a home . . in Malleus, and that was something so overwhelmingly pleasant, that it made you feel almost uncomfortable . . because it just didn't feel right, the fact that someone could make you feel so loved, that suddenly nothing is too hard to bear anymore.

"You're not", he responds after awhile, a hand reaching up, to ruffle your hair, everything about him felt so gently . . something was bound to go wrong somewhere down the lines, and you don't think you could bear that, when the time comes . .

"I will be fine, I'm just overwhelmed?", you take a deep breath, and close your eyes shut, hoping to melt into his comforting touch, "It's stupid anyways . . I'm overreacting." you mumble out softly.

". . .", he pauses, he could go on and on about how being fine, and maybe getting fine, are two vastly different things, but that's something he could touch on another time, "your feelings are anything but stupid", he answers gently, shifting your weight so his forehead could touch yours, and your forced to make eye-contact.

" . . So please don't try and hide them from me.", he asks so softly, his words coated in honey, and you'd allow yourself to drown in it, if you weren't so reluctant to the idea of, "I don't want to be a burden."

The words came out before you bite your tongue and hold them back, as per usual, ". . I don't want to burden you . . especially." you whisper, and suddenly everything felt a bit lighter, it was as if you had admitted to a crime that you had carried on your back for years on end, and then it came crashing down, as the familiar feeling of dread boiled in your stomach.

"Then be my burden", he responded back with a smile, a stupid smile as if his words could erase all the troubles that plagued you. "I want to share those burdens, I want to help you . ."

"But what if . . you stop wanting those things?", you ask cautiously, "You can't waste your life on what if's my love, I need you to trust me." he responded back, "Trust that I would never stop wanting to help you and share the burden of the thoughts that hold you back.", he answered so certainly, that it felt difficult to disagree.

"I love you . . that's something no amount of what if's could take away. I could die tomorrow, but I'd die in peace knowing I loved you and was loved in return.", he gently placed a soft kiss to you lips, a peck that left your cheeks tingling, "Now . . will you tell me what's wrong?"

Ko-fi / discord server / (all open) commissions

@ devosin , do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work/theme without prior permission and or confirmation.

[maryland-no-rabies]

Tumblr (for newbies):

Reblogging ≠ reposting. You aren't stealing content by reblogging it, it's basically a 'group share' button. It also helps give artists/posts attention and you can reblog to interact with people. Reblog things you like.

Reblog bait. You can reblog it, but if a mutual hates reblog bait, you may tag it with 'reblog bait'. Or, find a tag with your mutual to put on posts they don't like, and block the tag under the 'content you see' tab in settings.

If someone reblogs your post, and you like their reblog, you just liked your own post.

(Sideblog section)

See my name? This is a gimmick. If a Tumblr says 'officially-(company/country/state)' then it's probably a gimmick! Check their content first because there are a few actual brand blogs, like Grammarly!

You can only make 250 posts (per email) on an account per day. This is called 'post limit' or 'PL'. I am currently on account 2, because I post too much. You may or may not hit post limit in your lifetime.

You can create as many sideblogs as you want, but you cannot like, follow, or send asks as a sideblog, and if you do so, it'll show up as from your main.

(Gimmicks)

Nobody can see your main from your sideblog, so you can have as many followers on your gimmick and none of them on your main

You will see gimmicks. A lot. It's fun.

You can interact with a gimmick as a non-gimmick

As a tumblr user, you have anon powers. You can turn any/most gimmicks into a pretty princess by typing something like '*turns you into a pretty princess*' into their ask box.

Nobody will be mad at you for making a gimmick. At all. There are like, 4 Jesus gimmicks. And it's great.

(General)

Tag a mutuals post with '10k to me', 'future 10k', '10k', or 'this will have 10k' for some fun chaos :3

Submit posts to PM Seymour's discord for MORE fun chaos

(General controls and understanding of Tumblr)

If you are in a youtube video online, you have broken containment

If you are getting a bunch of notifications from a post, you can hold down a notification from it or click the three dots on the post and click 'mute' to stop getting notifications (other than mentions)

You can also filter your notifications by clicking on the top left of your notifications tab and tapping 'custom'

The 'for you' tab of Tumblr is what the algorithm thinks you'll like based on your interests and stuff

The 'following' tab is blogs and tags you follow

On Tumblr, you can add not only extra notes in the tags but also regular tags. Spaces are allowed

If you get an ask from a Palestinian blogger, check yourself (you may find places where it's vetted/verified in their reblogs. You can also tell by them having no photos/story at all [no name, no information, just a donate link], and scams commonly use photos from Google images. Be suspicious if there's anything other than GoFundMe or something similar. PayPal is banned there.) or send a screenshot to me/somebody who offered to help. Then, you can answer the ask so people who can donate can see it, or donate yourself. DO. NOT. PRESSURE. YOURSELF.

Tumblr has a unique punctuation, in a way. which you will figure out on your own. An example is. periods to show a slight. pause

It reminds me of poetry

You can post whatever you want and you will find your people

Block people who make you uncomfortable and report bots for spam.

Welcome to Tumblr

Do what you want forever

[14dayswithyou]

The 14DWY brainrot is real... >_< were ypu planning on sharing koi ren's design here too or is it discord only for now? remember to drink lots n lots of water today 🐸☔️

i don't rmbr if i included this but can you share any koi crumbs too?

✦゜ANSWERED: aaaaa I'm 14 years late to this ask (/silly), but thank you for reminding me!! I'll add the new Mer Ren design to da queue >:3

I'll also put the Koi Ren (I'm rocking with this new name!!) crumbs under the cut!!

"Stop rocking the boat, Ren." Without sparing a glance in his direction, you continue to stare out into the vast, open lake. "You'll scare away all the fish."

Had you turned around, you would've seen the faux-deadpan look on his face as Ren takes in the irony of your words. As if to prove a point, he gently swishes his tail in the water, which causes small ripples to form and (eventually) disturb your bobber. "I don't think the boat is the problem here."

"Okay, how about this... One more fish, then we can go back." You finally look back at your scaley companion — who was still leaning against the edge of your tin boat with a lazy smile — and give him a resolute nod. "Promise."

"Sure," Ren casually reaches into the boat to pick and pluck at some of your live bait. "But you said that about the last three fish."

"This will be the last one. I swear."

"You... swear?" You try to ignore the way Ren swallows up one of your minnows as if you weren't using them for bait as he continues to speak, "Like... curse words? Humans sure are weird creatures."

As if realising his comment, Ren's ocean-blue eyes widen slightly and shift towards your form. "N-Not... Not you, though."

With a laugh, you playfully try to nudge him off of the boat. All it does is cause it to tip slightly, but Ren steadies it when you show signs of losing balance.

"Alright. One more fish, then?"

You nod and cast your attention back to your rod once more. You don't even notice the silence — nor Ren slipping away — until you suddenly feel a tug on your line and call out to your companion in excitement. "That was quick!"

Quickly reeling it in, you wonder what kind of fish you'd just caught — it's definitely stronger than you anticipated, given how the rod drastically bends and snaps at every movement from the fish. And just as you see the shadow from the murky depths get closer, the ripples get bigger and cause a stir underneath your tin boat. Standing up now, you try with all your might to reel it on board...

...Only for a mess of black hair to emerge from below and peer up at you with a smug look.

"Ren!"

"Looks like you got a big one."

"C'moooon." You practically whine, though you allow Ren to haul himself into your tiny boat and rest his head in your lap. You can still feel his body shake from underneath your touch, no doubt still laughing at his poor attempt at a joke. "This doesn't count."

A beat passes before your fishy companion responds. "...Hm? Fine then."

Another moment of silence follows before he slithers back into the water without another word. Half of you worries that you might've said something to offend him (there was still the tiniest hint of a language barrier between you two). Still, it ultimately leads to nothing as Ren soon emerges once more — only this time, he's hauling the biggest largemouth bass you'd ever seen into your boat.

"This good enough?" He looks at you with wide, blue eyes. "If not, I can probably find a sturgeon and—"

"It's bigger than my boat!"

"Is this what your kind calls... exaggeration? Because your boat is big enough even for me to—"

"—Arghh! It's getting water everywhere! Put it back!"

It was almost comical how Ren tossed the fish over his shoulder and back into the water without breaking eye contact with you.

Another wave of silence hits, yet neither of you seems to move or break the awkward staring contest you'd somehow started. It's then when you notice Ren's grin get bigger — most likely at your resignation and embarrassment — which causes you to fall back into your seat in defeat.

"Fine. Enough fishing for today. Let's head back." Busying yourself with the bucket of fish and tacklebox in front of you, you secure your gear and pack everything away. But it seems Ren had other plans, seeing as he took it upon himself to climb back into your boat and rest his arms on your legs. No longer able to move as freely, you have no choice but to indulge in his carefree whims.

"But you caught me. Aren't you going to bring me home too?"

"As much as I want to," Truly, you do. You've always wanted to show Ren the world outside of Lake Bluemoss. "There's no way I'm carrying you all the way down the mountain."

"You never know until you cry."

"Try." You correct him. "Until you try."

"Your kind sure are funny." Ren nuzzles himself closer. "Perhaps another time, then... Stay here tonight."

Your body pricks up at his words, and you spare a glance at the abandoned boathouse near the dock. Despite its rough and rugged exterior, you and Ren actually made it quite comfy. It had some of your old blankets and sheets thrown over one of the boats to make it comfortable to lounge in — alongside a giant empty tank that you and Ren filled with water for him to sit in as well. Despite the lack of human traction, the place still felt homey and well-loved.

"...I guess I could."

"Then what are we waiting shore?"

You had to roll your eyes at his attempt at a pun.

[crowbraincoin]

Where to make friends as an adult.

Recently I saw a devastating citation stating that most adults find it hard to make new friends as it feels like there is a lack of community and resources to do so. It takes nearly 50 hours of time together to move from mere acquaintance to casual friend. For more advanced levels of friendship, it can take more than 200 hours before you can consider someone “close”. (source)

So, though I'm not an expert by any means, I thought I'd offer some examples, ideas, and tips on finding and making friends as an adult! Check below the break :>

Ideas on where to find friends:

🆓 Local free (or cheap) events. I went to a presentation that included a free beer in the ticket cost and I had a blast! Most cities have an events calendar you can look at. Soon I'm attending a free event for the transgender community honoring those that came before us. 📖 Library programs. Most libraries that I've seen don't even require a library card, just your email or phone number to sign up for a program! Be it a presentation, class, or event, the library is the place to be!

❕Events of interest. I think about what I'm interested in and what I would like to connect with people about, and I search around to see what I can find. I use sites like Eventbrite to help me search.

💻 Online Communities. For those who can't make it out very often, consider joining online communities by searching for fandoms or topics of interest and see if there is a discord server, bluesky feed, tumblr community, or other communities on socials!

How to make friends:

Consistency. Once you find a place you enjoy going to, an organization you whose events your enjoy attending, or a series of events that takes place KEEP GOING!! Consistency is key, you have to keep interacting with folks to become friends with them.

Transparency. Just be yourself, but that doesn't mean you should be trauma dumping! Sharing personal detail allows us to feel closer to people, but make sure you're not sharing too much information! That can always come later when you're closer friends.

Confidence. You have to believe that you're someone that people want to be friends with. Don't believe it? Well ask your current friends why they are friends with you! You'll not only get a confidence boost, but also hopefully share a touching moment with your existing friends.

Follow up. If you want to be friends with someone you've met, you have to build up the nerve to further connect with them. This means sharing phone numbers or socials.

Start talking. The best way to do this is by asking questions or by giving a non-threatening compliment. Try not to make it all about you, though it is easiest to talk about the one thing we know best (ourselves) it typically won't help you make new friends! Show that you're interested in them, their thoughts and feelings on the topic of the event or a neutral topic such as musicians or food.

Questions. Ask open ended and non-invasive questions and follow through. Examples below!

Invite them out. Once you've established an acquaintance, invite them to hang out! BUT if you're the one inviting them out then you need to make sure you have some plan in mind. This could be going to a trivia night, a local event, or going to a new place together.

Further questions or topics of discussion:

I'm new to this [place or reocurring event] how long have you been coming here? Do you like it so far?

If you could be a crab or a lobster, which would you be and why? (make sure you have an answer ready!)

How long have you known about [place or event theme]? What got you interested in [place or event theme]?

(If at an event with drinks or food) I'm having trouble deciding what to choose, what should I try?

What superpower would you want and why?

What do you do for work? Do you like it? (follow by asking non-invasive questions about their job. This is easier when you have no clue what the job position actually is, lol).

Hey, I really like your style! Where did you get your outfit?/Who or what are your fashion influences?

What questions or topics of discussion do you typically go for when meeting new people?

[lemonlover1110]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

Satoru Gojo

[Chapter 10] Late Nights

← Previous Chapter - Story Masterlist - Next Chapter →

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x f!Reader

Discord +18 - Twitter - Ko-Fi

Satoru’s behavioral change is something that you never really expected. It seems that he’s warming up once again, even though you’re not giving him the attention he desires. He wants you to be the sweet and loving woman that you were when you were in a relationship, but you aren’t that woman. But it’s fine with him, he’s still warming up and treating you like an actual human being.

The bar is low, but you don’t really expect much from spoiled little Satoru. 

For some reason, you’re not liking this change though. You prefer him as the cold and mean boss that would snap and berate you due to a minor mistake. Maybe it’s because he’s molding and reminding you of the man that you used to love and you don’t want to see traces of the past relationship. Ren is the only reminder you need, and the best reminder because he reminds you how Satoru left you without an explanation.

You hate how he suddenly drops the mean act and is sweet; professional but still sweet. He tries to make an effort by asking how you’re doing, asking you to take breaks during work hours so you don’t tire yourself out so quickly (knowing that sometimes you have to run some errands for his mom), and whenever he orders food he asks if you want anything. You wonder what his mom said to him especially when you remember how he broke down and hugged you out of nowhere. She definitely said something to him.

“Have you started sending out the invitations?” Satoru asks, and you hum in response. Even though he knows you’re busy, sometimes you can’t get out of the task of working late nights. There’s so much to do in one day sometimes, and it’s especially busy with an upcoming charity event. It’s an event that his father would host each year but it consequently stopped when his mother got a hold of the company. Since Satoru is officially the president of the company, he’s honoring his father by bringing back the event– Additionally, it brings great publicity to the company, but that’s just an added bonus.

“Around one hundred people have said yes, a handful declined, and we still have a lot of people that haven’t opened it or are just thinking about it.” You inform him. 

“Have the Zenins said anything? Any of them?” He’s curious to know their response, and you try to recall. You remember the Zenin name coming up a lot while growing up, you never really got to understand the relationship between that family and the Gojos. They’re in constant competition yet they still invite each other to big events.

“Yeah… They declined.” You answer when you remember. He feels relieved to know that. They’re the last group of people he wants to see… A bunch of complicated snobby pieces of shit. He quite literally doesn’t understand why his father insisted on inviting them to every major event. He remembers Naoya, mainly because they went to school together, and that boy was unbearable. Satoru was lucky that he was a year younger. “I remember one of the Zenins–”

You can’t quite remember his name, and you try to remember the name. It’s on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t quite get it. Until Satoru speaks up, “Naoya.”

“Yeah! He asked me out when I was like sixteen. Really awkward… He told me that I’d never amount to nothing and it’d be weird to see him and show him that he was right.” You share, and Satoru finds himself surprised at the information that you share. How has he never heard of that? 

“Good thing that you rejected him. Suguru and I would’ve never allowed that relationship to happen anyway.” He responds, and you raise your brows. It’s weird why he’s bringing it up, but you’re more curious as to why Suguru of all people wouldn’t allow that to happen. You understand why Satoru would’ve been upset– But not Suguru. You chew on the inside of your cheek anxiously, wondering if you should ask the question that comes up in your mind.  In the end you ask,

“Why wouldn't Suguru have allowed that relationship to happen?” And Satoru isn’t sure how to respond. He isn’t sure whether to dismiss the question and get back to work, or to answer honestly. Satoru’s eyes shift back to his computer before he says anything.

“He used to have a crush on you back then.” He clears his throat, grabbing his water and taking a sip of it. You find yourself a bit taken back, a stupid smirk on your lips and it pisses him off. You shift in your seat, adjusting yourself so your back is straight.

“Suguru had a crush on me?” You sound so fucking proud of it, and it takes everything in Satoru to remain his composure. You repeat the question, sounding even more proud than the last time. 

“Yeah, he did.” Satoru says through gritted teeth. You’re way too ecstatic to even care about how he talks. His hands form into fists and he tries to hide them from you. “Why does it matter anyway? We ended up dating.”

“I’m just wondering… We all wonder how life would’ve turned out differently if we had made different decisions.” You answer, and he scoffs. When his hands are visible again, your eyes fall on your wedding band. “It doesn’t matter anyway, we’re here to work.”

“You’re right.” He nods his head in response. He focuses on what you have to do before you go back home. He’s sure you’re in a rush to go back home to your stupid cat.

“Plus, you’re married to someone else. It doesn’t matter if I had chosen to date him.” 

He bites down on his lip. He guesses you’re right. He’s not allowed to get upset. After all, he did leave you without an explanation. Maybe he should’ve let Suguru get with you. 

“Mommy!” Ren yells, the biggest smile on his face when he sees you. You always welcome him with open arms, picking him up from the floor and filling his little face with kisses. Even though you’re exhausted by the time you get home, you always manage to find energy to spend some quality time with him.

As you pay attention to him, brushing his hair out of his face with your fingers, the nanny collects her stuff and says her goodbyes before leaving. It’s your daily routine. While you greet him, she leaves without missing a beat. “Are you hungry, Ren?”

“No.” He answers, and while he says that, your stomach growls. Satoru offered to buy food but you rejected the offer since you wanted to leave as soon as you could. Ren, being the honest little boy that he is, points it out, “Sounds like you’re hungry, mommy.”

“I am. I’m gonna order something.” You say, definitely too tired to cook something up. You smile at him, tilting your head to the side, “Do you have any ideas?”

“Pizza.” He doesn’t waste a second, and you chuckle. You figured. You kiss the top of his head and you put him down on the floor before reaching into your purse to grab your phone. You find a couple of messages on your phone from different people. Mrs. Gojo telling you that you need to talk, a similar message from Shoko, and then Suguru checking up on you.

First thing’s first, you order your food delivery before you send a message to Suguru. You then call Mrs. Gojo, and within the first ring, she picks up the phone. She doesn’t bother greeting you before saying, “What’s up with Satoru?”

“I have no idea. I’m his secretary, not his babysitter nor his mother.” You respond, too tired to care about the way you speak to her. “You should know.”

“I swear to God, if you said anything to him–” She stops mid sentence and takes a deep breath. “Do you have an idea of what’s going on?”

“I have no idea. What did Satoru do?” You ask her. You hear her sigh.

“I’ll talk to him. I’ll call you if I need anything.” She says before hanging up the phone. You turn your full attention to Ren, deciding that anything else can wait until he’s asleep. You walk over to him and crouch down to his level.

“You wanna watch a movie, Ren?” You ask him and he nods in response. He follows you as you walk over to the couch to look for the remote control.

“Can we eat ice cream, mommy?” He looks at you with puppy eyes, and it’s hard for you to say no.

“After dinner, Ren.” You tell him, taking a seat on the couch. He takes a seat next to you, laying his head on your lap.

You will always hold some sort of resentment towards Satoru, but you will always be thankful for the little boy that rests his head on your lap. Ren is your whole world.

When Ren is sound asleep, you find yourself on the couch, finger hovering over Suguru’s contact. And just as you’re about to call him, someone calls you first. The man that you were just thinking of. You don’t waste a second picking up the phone and putting it to your ear.

“Hey, Suguru.” There’s a dumb smile on your face. It becomes bigger when he says your name. You don’t waste any time considering your eyes are shutting on their own. You’ve texted the entire night, talking about trivial things. You just have to come out and say it, “Satoru told me that you liked me back in the day.”

“Is that so?” Suguru responds, and you hum. You bite down on your lip, waiting for him to say something else. Any other time you would be embarrassed to just say that, but your brain is barely functioning, and your confidence is extremely high. “What do you think?”

“That if you had said something before Satoru then…” You swallow thickly. Would you have chosen Suguru over Satoru? After realizing just how immature Satoru is, right now you say you would’ve chosen Suguru. Back then though… It doesn’t matter now anyway. “Maybe Ren would’ve been your kid.”

“Is that so?” You hear how he’s holding back on laughing. Finally you hear a chuckle. “Is that your way of shooting your shot?”

“Maybe…” You respond, and you’re lucky you’re half asleep when you’re saying all of this. The silence would be your biggest embarrassment at any other moment. You smile as you hear,

“Do you wanna go on a date?”

[mimimui]

bllk boys as your not-so bf

includes: isagi, bachira, chigiri, nagi, reo, rin

tags: use of profanity, use of 'babe', one-sided(?), angst if you squint hard enough, discord in nagi's

a/n: inspired by my not-so bf (we don't talk anymore) :b srsly idk if that guy actually liked me or not but anyway .. enjoy !

even if he's at soccer training, he answers all your texts right away. you've seen him reply, or rather, not reply, to his other friends whenever he was with you. it feels as if isagi gives you special treatment, but in reality, you barely talk in real life. he pays you no mind when you pass by him, as if you were strangers. sure, he can act like that all he wants, but he can't forget all the late night talks you had.

you've shared secrets, fears, ambitions, and questions with each other. you've exchanged greetings, selfies, and "i love you"s, yet he's able to act as if you're nothing more to him. you look at him and there's a familiar pang in your heart, one you've experienced many times before.

how much longer is he going to hide his true feelings for you? does he have feelings at all?

the morning of the sleepover your friend hosted, you and bachira lie down comfortably on the bed, clicking through your friends' instagram stories. you're on his chest and his head is on your shoulder, him being the one clicking through while you hold your phone. he occassionally makes comments about them, saying things like "that was funny" or "ooh that one's pretty, introduce me sometime?"

you frown at his comment, but he doesn't see it. you two are always so close, holding hands and whatnot. you're always mistaken as a couple, but bachira denies it quicker than you do, which is a sign you should probably take. when you all go home, your friend sends you a picture they took of you and bachira on the bed and teases you.

your heart wrenches as you tell them "we're just friends."

you share a lot of your things with chigiri, and he does the same. you always find him asking to borrow your hairbrush, if he can take a bite of your food, use your phone, and more than you can remember. can you recall when you let him use your shirt after training? yeah, that was the only thing of yours he never gave back. why would he even keep that shirt?

on his way home, his teammates asked him if the shirt belonged to his significant other. he pauses for a moment, but then ultimately denies even having one. you get a bit irritated at times, and he has to snap you out of your thoughts at the cafe you two frequent. here you are, once again sharing a drink with one straw. yes, one.

from all the indirect kisses you've shared, you should actually just kiss at this point.

you and nagi play video games together everyday. you're always seen duoing together, so a lot of people mistake you two for a couple. after soccer training, nagi's quick to turn on his computer and ask you to play games with him. fps, rpg, horror... you've played so many games together you've lost count.

in vc, he hears you groan and he stifles a laugh. you complain the player that killed you is cheating as you click through the players to spectate nagi. when you're about to mention the flank, he says something that makes your heart pound. maybe you're imagining it, or maybe it's because of a shitty headset, but did he just call you 'babe'?

you shake your head, brushing it off. you probably just heard wrong.

reo connected his online payment to your food apps, so you don't have to pay for your orders. you refused at first, but as your face recognition detects his face, your phone was now his domain. he tells you to order food whenever you want, and not to tell him when you do, he doesn't mind.

but as you see him carrying an extra lunchbox with food he made himself, you wonder who he's going to give it to. you're not bothered, of course, it was just a cooked lunch. made by reo. personally. you mentally slap yourself for thinking about it so much. are you even allowed to be jealous of the lunchbox's recipient? you're just reo's friend, and you already have access to his online wallet, so what's the problem?

yeah... what's the problem?

he's annoyingly good at minesweeper. rin effortlessly completed the board, while you're still stuck deciding between the bottom or top tile. he acts nonchalant about his umpteenth win that day, but you know he wants to brag about it to you so bad.

you sigh in defeat, asking him for another rematch, which he gladly agrees to. and, just like all other times, he completes his board first. this time, instead of laughing at you for being slow, he takes your device and completes the board for you. he complains you take too long, and that he gets impatient when his love isn't done with the game.

wait. his what?

thanks for reading (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

[thorough-witness-enjoyer]

In the face of recent news about our beloved Destiny, I think it’s more important than ever for us as a community to come together and support each other in numerous ways.

It’s been a very hard week for all of us, especially those who lost their jobs and outlet for their passion in mass lay offs. Losing a position that allowed you to craft magnificent stories alongside some of the most ambitious people in the gaming industry, especially in worrying economic circumstances, must be excruciating to deal with and I wish the best for all those laid off from Bungie.

For us fans, it hurts more than anything to see the game you care so much for get put in headlines for how little that care is shared amongst the people responsible for making decisions on it. I’ve been into Destiny since it first dropped, making it the love of my life for nearly two-thirds of my whole existence , and to hear about how it’s just another product to be sold when it’s everything and more to me is just despairing. I wanted to become a writer and concept artist to create a game for others that made them feel as cared for as I did when I played Destiny and now I’m sitting here seeing all the people who helped foster that feeling be treated as another expenditure.

It’s awful, a lot of us are feeling really uninspired and betrayed at the moment, not sure we even want to see what will happen to this masterpiece of a game in the hands of the current executives. We are also dearly missing the developers, artists, writers, and more who made Destiny more than a fps looter shooter.

But it is times like these where we are torn and confused that we must uplift one another and not let the bitter taste of Bungie’s actions make us speak with hostility. This is not about decisions on whether to support Bungie or the actual game, but about refocusing on what truly makes Destiny enjoyable to so many.

Its world is immersive with care put into every story and that clearly shows in just how eager fans are to create masterpieces for it. It was never playing the game or the notoriety that kept me coming back for more, but the joy of creation I could share with others.

It stings to see a disinterest in nursing the potential of the Destiny universe from the executives with motivations other than monetary gain, but when the executives won’t care, we can. There are still employees at Bungie who adore their work and we can continue to support them by speaking up against horrible industry practices and show that we won’t abandon their efforts to make Destiny what it is.

Make ocs, write fanfictions, follow the former employees wherever they go, draw til your heart is overflowing, join Discords, roleplay, share headcanons, create aus with friends, do whatever keeps Destiny alive and flourishing for you!

Destiny will never die to me, even when it’s long forgotten and the servers shut down, because Destiny made me who I am and I intend to repay that gift an infinite amount of times over. The characters and universe will be alive and well to me until I die, regardless of the fate of the game and Bungie.

So go out and prove that Destiny’s themes of the power of community and hope are more than just morals behind a screen, that they are life changing messages that we will carry on despite hopeless news!!

Reblog charming artists, message people about ships you enjoy, leave questions and tags that contribute to conservations, write essays about what Destiny means to you!!

My messages and inbox for questions are always open if anyone would like to talk (I’m trying to get better at answering them, even if they are months late)! You are all welcome here and I want to start reblogging and liking more freely even if those things scare me sometimes!

We can decide our fates and we can decide the fate of Destiny’s presence in our lives as well! We can choose to care when others won’t and refuse to make our enjoyment debatable!! In troubling times, we should be able to reach out into the dark and find hands to hold onto tight!!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

This is a fandom related thing. I will say that right off the bat, but I needed a few extra opinions on this since it feels like I am alone on this.

AITA for killing off my OC in a group rp?

For some context, I (using the name Snow for myself) joined a group rp with some other people where we would come up with a plot together. Everyone would be using original characters (OCs) It was agreed that the things that happened would be voted on, but people were not allowed to control what other people did with their OCs. It is the whole "my oc, my rules" thing. For those who don't get it, it basically means that since the oc is yours, only you get to decide what happens to them.

To the story. I had plans I wanted to do with my OC. I wrote her to be someone who was secretly working for the villains and was only tricking the others into thinking she was their friend. The only other people who were aware of this were the moderators, and they had approved of it.

What was the problem then you may be wondering? Well the problem was that another member, I'll just call them Star, had said that they had gotten an emotional attachment to my OC. Which I personally found weird, so I typically tried not to be stuck alone with them.

When it came to reveal the plot twist with my oc, Star had a freak out upon finding out. They started crying and complaining that it wasn't right to do that and they could not picture "their" emotional support character doing that. The other members decided to comfort Star. They always sided with Star and acted like they were oh so special. The others were saying that this was all just a joke and that it wasn't actually going to happen. "It is just a joke right, Snow?" they had said.

And I replied with. "No. It's not a joke. My oc has been working with the villains the whole time."

Star's response was to have a meltdown over it, saying that I was out to hurt them and ruin their day. So I ended up getting a message from the moderators asking me to change my OC's backstory as to not upset Star further. They ended up telling Star that it would be changed to just having my OC be mind controlled the whole time.

This was not something I agreed with, but I pretended to play along begrudgingly. I hated that the group decided to treat my OC like she belonged to Star. But I played along and came up with my own idea. There was a plot point that came up in the rp that would have someone die off, so I took it as my opportunity to kill off my own OC. If I wasn't allowed to do what I had planned for her initially, then she wasn't going to stick around anymore.

After I killed her off, Star logged off and vanished for an entire 3 days. All the other members constantly messaged them to try and get a response from her, but they did not answer until they returned. When they logged on, they said that they had to a panic attack over what had happened and felt hurt that I would do that.

I just responded with "my oc, my rules. I quit this group." Then I quickly went through and deleted every little bit of information I had shared about my OC with that group before leaving their discord. After, I got a lot of messages from all the members, about sending the information so that Star could continue playing with my OC since she was their comfort character and it wasn't fair I was doing this to them especially after their panic attack. I said no and blocked everyone who had asked me that.

Sure I feel bad that they had a panic attack, but I felt betrayed that everyone else was willing to bend the rules for them and allow them to control my OC. Even if I no longer use said OC, I still wouldn't let them have her. This is still my property and I stand by the "my oc, my rules" thing.

So AITA for killing off my OC?

What are these acronyms?

[elusivewildflower]

Pretty in Pink | Colt Seavers x AFAB! x Reader

Pairing: Colt Seavers x AFAB! Reader

Summary: Your gift to Colt on Valentine's Day is wearing a lingerie set with pretty pink bows on it.

Word Count: 1.4k

Warning(s): oral (female receiving)

A/N: This was created all thanks to the Goose Groupies discord's writers' club where we were given Valentine's Day themed prompts! I received "Their gift is you wrapped in a bow," and thought I'd write a little something for Colt! I hope you all enjoy it, even if I am posting a few hours late 😳 No beta reader and I haven't written in months, so hopefully no big fuck ups! Cute valentine's day divider by @strangergraphics!

MINORS DNI

You watched yourself in the mirror as you tightened the pretty pink bow that covered your chest. You had bought this lingerie set specifically for Valentine's Day and have been excitedly waiting all day to be able to surprise Colt with it. You wore a pair of matching panties, but the bows on them were fake. Taking one last glance at yourself, you walk back to the bed the two of you share in your hotel room and get into position. 

Colt had to be up incredibly early for a 5 AM call time, but he still wished you a Happy Valentine's Day with a languid kiss before he left. The upside of being a writer meant that you could work anywhere, which allowed you to follow him to movie sets around the world, but the downside was that you had been alone and horny since he left. He never failed to work you up with his touch. When you finally got the text from Colt thirty minutes ago that he was on his way home, you quickly sprung into action. By now, he should be walking in any minute. 

As if on cue, the sound of a keycard being swiped startled you from your thoughts and the door swung open seconds later. Your heart began to beat rapidly in your chest as you heard him kick his boots off before wandering further into the room. "Honey, I'm," he called as he rounded the corner, cutting himself off the second his eyes landed upon you. "Oh, wow." He finished before letting out a low whistle. The sight of you had made him speechless, a rare occasion for Colt.

You couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. As he was distracted, you took the time to indulge yourself in him. His dirty blonde hair was a bit damp, indicating that he had showered right before heading home from his trailer. Well, you supposed you didn't need just his wet hair to tell you that, as instead of smelling like sweat and being covered in dirt, fake blood, and God knows what else, you could smell his cologne from where you laid. In his hands were a bouquet of roses and a box of your favorite chocolates. Even if he had to work at the ass crack of dawn, Colt would never forget to buy you flowers and a sweet treat for Valentine's Day. 

"Are those for me?" You questioned, already knowing the answer, but effectively snapping him back to reality. 

Colt nearly tripped over his own feet as he moved to close the distance between you. "Of course they are. Happy Valentine's Day, sweetheart." 

You accepted his gifts with a wide grin on your face, taking a moment to deeply inhale the scent of fresh roses before you tossed the items to the side of the bed. There was something more important that you wanted right now. As if reading your mind, Colt's hands found their way to your sides, caressing your skin and leaving goosebumps in their wake. "God, you are so fucking gorgeous." He praised in a low voice before capturing your lips in a steamy kiss. "What did I do to deserve you?" He murmured softly as he pulled away, burying his nose into the crook of your neck and planting kisses there. 

"I can think of a few things." You responded teasingly, a smirk pulling at your lips. 

A huff of hot air tickled your skin as he laughed against you, sending a chill down your spine. "Oh, yeah? Care to name them?" He asked curiously as he maneuvered both of you back onto the bed until he was hovering over you, caging you in on the bed with his body. 

You hummed softly. "If I tell you, you have to do each and every one of them." 

"Sounds like a good time to me." He responded against your skin, continuing his assault on your neck. By now, his soft pecks had turned into open-mouthed kisses, suckling and biting in all of the right spots. You could feel your arousal growing.

A chuckle escaped from you, soon followed by a moan as one of his hands came to palm your left breast. The satin fabric you wore barely covered you and his thumb quickly found your nipple, rubbing it in circles. Your brain short-circuited at the addition for a moment, completely forgetting that you were supposed to be giving a list of things he's done to deserve you. That is, until he gave your nipple a somewhat harsh pinch and cleared his throat to gain your attention again. "Well?" 

The twinge of pain had you crying out in response, but he quickly soothed it away by continuing his earlier movements and it blended into pleasure. "Oh, right." You began, searching your brain for what you had planned to say just moments ago. "Uh, that thing I like that you do with your tongue." 

Colt hummed softly in return. "That thing, huh?" He questioned as he promptly began pressing his open-mouthed kisses down your chest. Your eyes fluttered shut to enjoy the feeling of his lips pressed against your skin as he lifted the bow tied around your chest, pulling each nipple into his mouth before continuing his journey down your body. He didn't stop until he reached right above your panties. "So, you really like that thing I do with my tongue, or just sorta like it?" He asked teasingly, his breath cascading over your lower stomach. 

You couldn't help the small smile that spread across your face at his teasing. You loved how playful he could be while working you up, and sometimes even pushing you right over the edge. "Mmm, I really like it." 

Satisfied with your answer, Colt moved lower, only to finally realize that you were wearing crotchless panties. "Fuck." He whined under his breath, unable to restrain himself from sliding his hands under your ass and using his thumbs to part you open for him. The action caused you to gasp and sent a jolt of pleasure coursing through you. A moment later and his tongue is lapping at your folds, groaning at the taste of you. 

The moment he touches you, a moan is falling from your lips. He circles your clit slowly, drawing more moans from you before sliding his tongue down to your entrance and plunging inside. "God, yes." You cry out, your hands threading through his still damp hair to ground yourself. This was exactly what you had wanted.

As he thrusts his tongue in and out of you, his nose brushes perfectly against your clit. You can't even help the fact that within moments you start grinding against his face, and from the sound of it, Colt certainly doesn't seem to mind. He loved to get off to your pleasure and the muffled groans he let out while buried between your thighs proved it. It didn't take long before you felt your orgasm building within you. Colt alternated between circling your clit, sucking on it gently, and fucking you with his tongue. His big, calloused, hands kept you spread apart from him as you arched into his touch, trying to feel him even deeper inside of you. It was a wonder if he could breathe, but you knew the stuntman was plenty skilled at holding his breath. 

Colt felt your orgasm approaching and knew exactly what to do to send you over the edge. Two of his fingers slid inside of you with no resistance as his tongue began to focus on swirling around your clit. He hooked his middle and ring finger just the right way, pressing up into that spongy tissue that every man prior to Colt struggled to find. Within seconds you reached your peak, your climax washing over you in waves as he continued his ministrations, prolonging your orgasm for as long as possible. Your walls clenched around his fingers a few more times before he finally pulled himself free. 

As you came down from your high, you reopened your eyes just in time to watch him suck his fingers clean. Fighting to regain your breath, you focused on the lower half of his face that was covered in your arousal and a smug smirk. "So, what else have I done to deserve you?"  He asked with a brow raised, his pupils blown so wide you could hardly see any of the blue that you dearly loved.

A breathless giggle escaped from you. "I don't know, it's a pretty long list..." You trailed off, teasingly. 

Colt's smirk widens into a grin as he moves up to capture your lips in a passionate kiss. "I can go all night, baby." 

And without a doubt, you know that he will. 

[vladdyissues]

Lately Ive seen some awful things about antis and haters making threats and getting artists banned from Tumblr and X. Im new to the Phandom and love pompep but Im scared i'll be targeted if I write and share pompep fics. How do you manage sharing your work so bravely?

Firstly, welcome to the Phandom—and especially Pompous Pep! I have a simple protocol for enjoying a drama-free Tumblr experience:

Preventative Action

1. Find your community. Follow other Pompep fans and supporters and reblog their things. Don't be afraid to leave nice tags; we love and welcome interactions :) You can also join the Pompep Discord server if you enjoy chatting (DM me for details).

2. Turn off anon asks. This will solve 99% of all potential problems, and you can turn it back on whenever you want. Antis are cowards who prefer to hide behind the mask of anonymity. They seldom have the courage to say something with their whole username.

3. Block the obvious haters. This is a big fandom, and at some point you're likely to come across people openly hating on pompep, either on their bio, pinned posts, or comments. Block them. For an added layer of protection, add their username to your Filtering Options.

4. Tag your work appropriately. When posting, make sure your work is tagged correctly (the #pompous pep tag is especially important) so people who like pompep can find it and those who want to avoid it can block the tag. Use Content Labels when applicable.

5. Try to avoid using the platonic tag (#badger cereal) and the romantic tag (#pompous pep) at the same time. Some fans are really touchy about this. I'm not, and I think there are legitimate cases where use of both is applicable, but if you want to minimize friction, just stick with one tag or the other.

If you're not sure which tag to use, ask yourself what your intentions are with your art or fic. Is the goal a romantic relationship? If so, use the pompep tag. If it's truly ambiguous and could be seen either way, use the platonic tag first. You can always add another tag like "okay to tag as pompep", just to let people know they can interpret it however they please.

Responsive Action

If the above guidelines aren't 100% effective, here's what you do:

1. Don't feed the trolls. If you receive any negative asks in your inbox, it's important to NOT engage with them. Delete them, ignore them, don't let them get to you. Antis thrive on attention, so let them starve. Eventually they'll move on when they realize they're not going to get a rise out of you.

The same goes for any negative comment left on your work. Just delete it, block the person who left it, and pretend it never happened.

These asks and comments may come in the form of questions. Example: "How can you ship Danny with Vlad? That's [insert gross accusation here]" Resist the urge to answer these questions. They are not made in good faith. This person just wants to start an argument.

2. Report any harassment. If by some chance you receive a seriously hateful ask, like threats of violence or abuse, take a screenshot for proof/safekeeping, then report the message and the user if they're not anonymous. If the ask is anonymous, use the meatball menu (•••) at the top right to report the message and block the anon.

Final Words

It takes time to develop a thick skin and Don't Give A Fuck attitude, but it can be done. You are a phan. You have every right to be here and enjoy this fandom in peace, just like everyone else. Anyone who believes in harassing others over silly things like which cartoon characters should be allowed to kiss clearly has nothing better to do with their life. The sooner you shut them out, the happier you'll be.

Regarding media: Artists attract a lot more negative attention than writers for reasons I won't get into right now, but if you're mainly a writer, you will enjoy a much quieter fandom experience. Wherever you post your stories—I recommend AO3; DM me if you need an invite—follow the same advice there as I've given here: make sure your work is tagged correctly; support your fellow Pompep fans by reading and commenting on their works, building that community; moderate comments if you're concerned about negativity; block and mute users if they give you any trouble, and you'll enjoy a much more positive fandom experience.

There is strength in community. When you start making new fandom friends, you'll feel a lot less lonely, and that will give you the confidence you need to really have a good time here.

Wishing you the best, anon!

[librarycards]

Do you have any tips on falling back in love with writing? I've been struggling for a while now both with becoming disillusioned with the whole indie/litmag scene (got a poem published once, not sure if its ever going to happen again/if I'll ever start submitting again) and feeling like everything I write is "cringe" or not "real" writing despite the fact that in years previous I wrote poetry joyfully and almost constantly.

i think the #1 key to falling and staying in love with writing is to wholly detach the practice from publishing and submitting - these are two different animals requiring two affective registers and skillsets!

part of this is sitting with yourself and asking why you're writing, and who for -- if you find yourself constantly internally critiquing and thinking "no editor will ever want this," it may be time to put that project down and start something you don't want to submit, something personal and cringe but important to you. one method i have for starting these types of projects is reading or rereading an interesting text and just riffing on it, copying/paraphrasing lines if you have to, writing as "stealing" as eileen myles would put it. again, it can be dumb and bad and unpublishable, but it allows you to be creative with a sense of freedom and abandon. it's for you.

something else you may want to consider is finding a writing group open to reading your stuff, regardless of whether you ever submit it anywhere. i have some friends who post writing on their IG, and some discord servers where people share their work. it's normal to want validation for something you put your heart into, but there are so many ways to get care-full eyes on your work without ever touching submittable. after all, wanting care/support and wanting publication/critique are not always the same thing.

lastly, i want to emphasize that ime, it's only possible to grow (and grow toward publication/material skill when you spend time reading and writing for you. not submitting, not constantly throwing your work at every relevant call you see, just putting your proverbial nose to the grindstone and working, trying new things, seeing what sticks. checking out free writing workshops can help with this - sundress academy of the arts has some i like (and as both an attendee and an instructor for them, i 100% trust their commitment to writers of all kinds). there are also lots of workshop syllabi out there with prompts to choose from and make your own.

i guess the tl;dr of this answer is, maybe it's time to stop submitting and start practicing. when someone's training for the olympics, not every practice is going to be every event, balls to the wall. most of the time, they're doing drills, looking silly, complaining with teammates, and trying again. it can be boring, but it also reminds you why you're training at all - because ultimately, it feels good, and the inconvenience becomes worthwhile when you realize how much you've grown.

[thelastspeecher]

McGucket (Alien) Abduction

Look this was bound to happen at some point. I was gonna have to have a version of my alien abduction AUs but a McGucket or two was the one to get abducted. So. Here it is. We've been talking about it a lot on the Discord, and the muse has been hitting me with the ole frying pan of inspiration a fair amount, so I have a LOT that I can post. Eventually. First, an intro to the AU. Enjoy.

(Also, I'd normally put this at the end, but wanna show it off, so here's some art @elishevart made of the alien Stan and Ford!)

———————————————————————————————————–

              Shermie grumbled to himself at the insistent, loud knocking.  When he finally reached the front door and opened it, he found himself face-to-face with the last person he expected.

              “Stan?” he said, astounded.

              “Uh, yeah,” said his missing younger brother.

              “What- you- no one’s heard from you in years!” Shermie stammered.  Stan’s ears drooped slightly.

              “It’s a long story,” he mumbled.  Shermie looked past Stan at the two figures standing awkwardly behind him.  His jaw dropped.

              “I’m assuming that long story will explain the two humans you brought with you?” he said.  Stan looked over his shoulder at the humans.

              “Yeah.”

              “Where did you find them?  A poaching ship?” Shermie joked.  Stan’s ears drooped further.  “You-”  Shermie kneaded his forehead.  “What were you doing on a poaching ship?”

              “The same thing they were doing there.”

              “You were poached?” Shermie whispered.  Stan’s ears fell the rest of the way.  “Stan-”

              “Look, can we come inside?” Stan interrupted.  “These two don’t have the right shoes for the glass sand.”

              “You didn’t get them boots yet?” Shermie asked.

              “The store that sells them upped their security,” Stan said under his breath.  Shermie shook his head.  He turned his attention to the humans.

              “Please, come in,” he said as warmly as possible.  Stan stood to the side, allowing the humans to enter the house.  The female human, short and golden-haired, merely smiled shyly at Shermie as she entered, but the male spoke for the two of them.

              “Thank you fer helpin’ us,” he said, the translator he was wearing giving his voice a strange drawl. His eyes were weary behind his reading glasses, his sand-colored hair deflated and dirty. “We’ve been through the wringer.”

              “It’s no problem,” Shermie said firmly. “No poachers can get anywhere near this planet. You’ll be safe here.” The human’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Your names?”

“The guy is Fiddleford, the gal is Banjolina,” Stan provided. At her name, the female human, who had been closely inspecting a wall hanging, turned.

              “Uh, Banjolina’s my full first name, but I prefer to go by Angie,” she said softly. Her voice had a similar twang to Fiddleford’s. Shermie looked back and forth between the two humans, picking up on shared features. Namely, on the same long, thin nose.

              “They’re brother and sister,” Stan said, answering the question Shermie was about to ask.

              “Got it.” Shermie smiled at the siblings. “Sit down. I’ll get you a drink while Stan explains everything to me.”

              “My sister has been havin’ some issues with food and drink,” Fiddleford said. Angie crossed her arms and looked away, her cheeks turning red. “She had somethin’ what made her feel woozy on the way here. Water would probably be best fer her.”

              “Understood. And you?”

              “Honestly, some alcohol would be nice,” Fiddleford said wistfully. Shermie chuckled.

              “I think I have something that should hit the spot. Stan?”

              Stan followed Shermie into the kitchen while the humans sat on a seat in the living room. The female seemed agitated, initiating a fierce but hushed conversation with her brother. Shermie grabbed two cups from a cabinet and turned to face Stan.

              “All right. Talk,” he said firmly. Stan sighed. His tail swished, an idle movement he’d tended towards even as a kit.

              “I went off to explore the galaxy after Pops essentially kicked me out,” he said. “Got by fine, mostly. But a month ago I got picked up by a poacher.”

              “Were you hiding your species?” Shermie asked pointedly. Stan glared at him. “If you posed as something else-”

              “Those two aren’t our species, but they got picked up,” Stan argued, gesturing towards the humans. Shermie sighed. It was pointless to try to get Stan to understand reducing risk.

              “Fine. Continue.”

              “Anyways. A couple days, maybe a week after I got nabbed, these two were taken from Earth. I already had my escape plan ready, and since they were the only others that got poached, I brought them with me. I figured we could come here, where there aren’t any poachers, and wait for the heat to die down a bit. Once the poacher gives up on looking for them, I’ll take them back to Earth.”

              “I see.” Shermie looked at the humans again. Their voices were getting louder, their gestures more animated. “The three of you can stay, of course. But you have to help out.” Stan grunted. “There are three kits here that constantly get underfoot, and a fourth is on the way.” Stan’s ears pricked up.

              “You and Amelia are having a fourth?” he asked.

              “We’ll have as many as we can.”

              “Yeah...” Stan sighed. “I’ve gotta find myself a mate soon if I want my own kits.” Shermie laughed. He flicked Stan’s ear.

              “You’re young, you have plenty of time! Now, let’s get these humans their drinks and help them settle in before the kits wake up from their nap.”

-----

              Shermie watched the humans out of the corner of his eye.  When they all sat down to have dinner, Angie had immediately looked disgusted at what was on her plate, though she tried to hide it.  Thankfully, she ate most of the food fine.  It was just the main protein that she was now pushing around with an upset expression.

              “Don’t be so picky in front of our hosts,” Fiddleford whispered to his sister.  “Eat it.  You need the nutrients.”  Angie glared at him.

              “Who was it what was sayin’ earlier how I’ve been havin’ reactions to every other thing I eat?” she snapped.  Fiddleford rubbed his forehead wearily.  “It don’t feel safe.”

              “It is,” Amelia, Shermie’s mate, put in.  She was cutting up the food of their second kit.  “I made sure to find things that humans could eat without any problems.”

              “See?” Fiddleford said pointedly.  “All those times ya had a reaction, well, it was prob’ly ‘cause the food weren’t safe fer us.”

              “You were fine when you ate it,” Angie retorted.  Fiddleford sighed.  Shermie smiled at him.

              “Let me guess.  You’re the older one?” he asked.  Fiddleford nodded.  “Being a good older brother gets difficult once your younger siblings reach adulthood.”  Shermie nodded at Stan, who had finished dinner early and was now playing in the nearby living room with the oldest kit.  “That one never listens to me.”

              “It’s ‘cause listening to you never does anything for me,” Stan shouted.  Shermie rolled his eyes.  The kit pounced on him.  Stan collapsed to the floor in a faux defeat.  The kit looked over at those still at the dinner table.

              “Can I play with the humans?” he squeaked eagerly.  The humans hesitated.  The kits had swarmed them the second they met, fascinated by a species rarely seen in this corner of the galaxy.  Arguably, they had been allowed to get a little too rough with their guests, as evidenced by the bandages now on Fiddleford and Angie.

              Angie looked down at her mostly full plate, then back at Stan and the kit.  After a moment, she sighed and stood up.

              “Anything to get out of finishin’ this,” she muttered.  She went into the living room, making the kit squeal with delight.  The other two kits made as though they were about to join their brother, but Shermie and Amelia quickly held them in their chairs.

              “I’m sorry fer her behavior,” Fiddleford said softly to Shermie and Amelia.  “Normally, she’s a much more gracious guest.”

              “The two of you have been through a lot,” Amelia said gently.  “Your planet hasn’t even had contact with anyone outside your solar system, has it?”  Fiddleford shook his head.

              “Not that I know of.  We didn’t know aliens were real until we got scooped up by that poacher.”

              “I was going to ask you about that,” Shermie said.  “What exactly happened?”

              “Angie and I were takin’ an evenin’ walk ‘round our family’s farm with m’ pal, Ford.  We were hopin’ to spot a meteor shower what was s’pposed to happen that night,” Fiddleford said.  He pulled Angie’s plate over and began to cut up what was left on it.  “Out of nowhere, there’s this bright light.  Ford jumped out of the way ‘fore it could hit him, but Angie and I, well, we got it head-on.  Then I blinked and we were in a spaceship.”  Fiddleford put a piece of the protein in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.  “We spent a few days there, terrified, until Stan found us while he was escapin’.”

              “I’m assuming he had a translator,” Amelia said.  Fiddleford shook his head.

              “No.  We had no idea what he was sayin’ and he had no idea what we were sayin’.  But I’ve always considered m’self a good judge of character.  And I reckon the principle of stayin’ put when yer lost don’t count when you’ve been kidnapped.  So’s I grabbed Angie’s hand, told her we were goin’ to see if this furry feller could help us out, and we left.  Once we were on Stan’s ship, he dug out an old translator so’s we could talk.”  Fiddleford chuckled softly.  “Made him sound like a robot.”

              “Oh, yes, those older versions are still used in some places,” Amelia said.  “But I’m glad that he eventually got some newer ones for the two of you.”

              “Did he tell you his plan?” Shermie asked.

              “That we would stay here until the poacher stops lookin’ fer us?  Yes.”  Fiddleford’s brow creased in worry.  “Do ya think it’s a bad one?”

              “No, I think it’s good.  But I might wind up reaching out to some people, see if we can get you a more formal, protected escort back to Earth.  Poached persons have the right to return to their home planets with protection.”

              “Really?” Fiddleford said, seeming interested.  Shermie and Amelia nodded.  “Well, any help we can get in goin’ home safe, we’ll take it.  We just finished the spring semester, but we’d both like to be back ‘fore the fall one gets started.  We’re in college and-”

              “Ouch!” Angie yelped.  Shermie, Amelia, and Fiddleford looked over.  Angie quickly clamped her hand over the fresh bite mark on her forearm, which was already bleeding.

              “You humans have soft skin,” Stan remarked.  Angie scowled at him.

              “Stop antagonizing her and get the first aid kit,” Shermie called.  Stan groaned but got up.  Shermie looked back at Fiddleford.  “I’m starting to think that helping with the kits might not be a good idea for the two of you.”  Fiddleford smiled sheepishly.

              “I reckon yer right ‘bout that.  We’ll just have to pay our way doin’ somethin’ else.”

[zeondraws]

I poked a few questions at Secret Mode on their discord server and got an answer back today. Right after I came home and I can't stress how happy I got reading it.

I'll try to show my the questions and the answers together, so that people on tumblr have enough context what I asked about. Figured you guys might enjoy.

"Does Muir play the Bagpipe?" - Personally (others might disagree), I could definitely see Muir play the bagpipe (especially if he can annoy Innes with it!) but what would most likely happen is that he would bring something small that is allowed in his baggage like an harmonica.

"Something I noticed is that McLeary's name seems to be an innuendo to MacReady from The Thing, which made me wonder: Were names chosen at random or did they serve a specific purpose? Another person I know noticed Muir means "sea" while Innes means "island"." - I think the short answer is yes names have meaning and none of them were picked at random! But our philosophy is to let people draw their own conclusion as we don't want to make things "official" by giving our reasons! (we love to read/see people create their own theories so feel free to share them!)

"One small thing me and other people wondered, ingame we found a schedule for the shifts. A bunch of the crewmates seem to be listed on it, like "Derek M."? and "Joey I." Where we wondered if those were the first names of Muir and Innes?" - To my knowledge Muir and Innes have always existed in the game and can be found listed on that schedule I think although it might be hidden. Derek and Joey might be in the background without lines. - Innes' first name is Terry and Muir's name is Ewan.

"Another mini question I had was, is it possible to know who lived in the room 121? I could never find any indications thus far." - 121 was meant to be Innes and Muir's room...Innes is the one who likes reading. Seeing how much fans love them I wish we'd set dressed it more with clues about them.

"And my last goofy question is, when Muir basically yeets Innes across the deck, he is still animated when he lands inbetween the containers (I'm using a mod to look around the level a bit more). Did that have a specific reason? Did Muir just threw him across the deck or did he want to carry him?" - For Innes being animated for a bit longer, the simple answer is that our lead animator always plan to show a tiny bit more than what is shown because you never know if an angle might change...

With this I am finally able to somewhat complete my picture of the crewmate rooms. Thank you so much! I am learning so much about this game and how the developers approach the lore. I've never really been in such a community before so this is all very new for me. But a very positive experience (Since I feel extremely awkward asking questions, where I never know if I sound pushy/annoying, so I am often extremely nervous).

But this also means I have another detail to add for my video- Ooohhhh!

[papaya-inspiration]

Foreach 2024 Reader Survey Results

So, my buddy @lumsel makes a lil webcomic called Foreach. I help 'em out with it sometimes. The comic's website doesn't have a comment section, so I thought it'd be fun to do a little year-end survey to see who was reading and what they think!

We had an incredible response, with 279 respondents to the survey--more than are in the Foreach discord server! So let's get into it.

Character Popularity Poll

Alright, let's start with the thing I know y'all are most excited about. As the comic creators, we love all our characters equally... but clearly you guys don't!

☀️ SUNNY SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! ☀️

Y'all REALLY like Sunny, eh? Don't worry, us too. In fact, 80.3% of you listed her in your top 3 favorite characters. Hell yeah.

The next top four characters are the four game protagonists, with Jiro ranking top, then Nix, Cliff and Coral. A lot of readers also mentioned Jiro as particularly relatable/lovable in the write in box at the end of the form. (Don't worry, I won't tell him y'all like him this much. Though with this many Love Warriors, Proteus won't stand a chance invading the island.) I was a bit surprised to see Jasper/Coral ranked as the lowest of the four protagonists! Given that the comic initially presents her as the "anchor" character and a jumping off point for the story as a whole--but that also means she's among the least unusual of the four protagonists, and thus stands out less? It's a hypothesis.

After that, we have Polyta (which makes a lot of sense, she's had some of the most page time of the side characters), then Mercy and Doctor Kree'zik. I wonder if some of this is recency bias, partiularly in Kree'zik's case, seeing as we haven't gotten much past xer character introduction yet. I'll be curious to see how these numbers shift if we run this again next year!

We also got some minor character write ins! Several people said they enjoyed various Aveans, with two votes specifically for the Avean Captains and someone else voting for the avean grunt from page 106 who says "Thanks a bundle!" And I agree: they're pretty adorable. Another person listed "the author" as their favorite character which... you know what, it is a fairly meta comic, so I'll allow it. (Even though, hilariously, Lum is the only member of the creative team to have not had a character cameo in the comic yet.)

Also shout out to the person who wrote in that they almost listed the character cameos for Peri and Kiki (the rat and the rabbit from pgs 24-25) as their favorites. I see you and appreciate you <3

Game Popularity Poll

Not a ton to say about this. People seem to like cozy-ish indie games and furry aesthetics. Makes sense to me.

Comic Info

How are people finding Foreach?

As always, word of mouth is CRUCIAL for indie webcomics getting off the ground. You guys sharing and linking it to friends and communities is really the engine behind getting eyes onto our art--so thank you!

We got another big boost from joining the @spiderforestcomics webcomic collective. So far, it's been a great experience and we've been loving the community over there. So if you're in the market for more comics, definitely go check out some of theirs!

I should note that there is definitely some overlap between these categories. We let people mark multiple answers, so many people marked "Word of Mouth (online)" in addition to other categories like Tumblr and other discord servers. In that broader category, there where several places that people specifically noted finding the comic including:

Our reader Digamma has been tirelessly reposting the comic to the Something Awful forums, and it looks like quite a few people have been keeping up from there! Thanks, Digamma, you're a certified super-spreader!

Dan of @thewebcomicsreview has linked to Foreach several times!

People also mentioned finding it through various discord communities, including the Star Impact server, a server for puzzle games, Foxglove Comics, and others

Rilly had a cameo in @erinptah's webcomic, Leif and Thorne!

Several people discovered it directly through the Neocities discover page!

Cohost, Cloudhiker, and a fairly lukewarm substack review... which nonetheless garnered us a few readers. I'll take it!

Currently, Foreach doesn't pay for traditional banner ads of any kind. So everytime you tell a friend about the comic or share a link to it, you're helping us out a ton! Thank you!

How are people keeping up with comic updates?

Not too much to say on this. Lots of manual checkers, and it looks like we're getting good mileage out of that RSS feed. Excellent!

Readership Info

Discord Membership

We had more survey responses than people currently in the Foreach discord. But even more excitingly, only about one third of survey respondents are also in the discord. Which is exciting, because it means there's more of a readership out there checking the comic updates than we knew previously!

Additionally, I'm personally excited by this result because hearing from those quieter members of our reader base is precisely why I wanted to put out this survey. We have a lovely, active community in the discord, but as a side effect that means we're hearing a lot of opinions from just one, disproportionately vocal part of our reader base. My hope with this survey was that we'd get a chance to hear some voices that we don't usually get to interact with... So for all you silent majority readers out there: Hello! Thanks so much for chiming in!

Patreon Membership

Most of our readers don't back the patreon. Which is to be expected! We actually got a few new patrons signing up after the survey was posted, which is absolutely lovely of y'all. (Hi new patrons! 👋)

If you're wondering what the Patreon money gets used for, it's a mixture of funding extras the comic and supporting Lum's future creative endeavors. This year, we used a big chunk of the funding to commission the Love Bomb portraits for the new Cast Page, which were done by the talented Beajrb (go check out their work!) In the future, some of it may be used for commission work related to the comic, and also for the long term goal for Lum to take some time off their day job to draw comics/make games/etc.

We also asked what else people might like to see us do with the patreon. Right now, we post author commentary on pages with about a 2-chapter lag time, and people seem pretty happy with that over all. There were a few requests for bonus character art, pin ups, or character-asks, and we'll keep that in mind going forward. Since all of us are working full time, there's only limited time we have for making additional content, but who knows what the future holds!

Reader Geography

So where in the world are our readers? Well, I I thought it'd be fun to make this cute little map:

...which turned out to be a huge pain in the ass and a little misleading with the color ranges. So here it is another way:

Our reader base is very American-heavy. Honestly a little moreso than I was expecting? Maybe it's the magnetic charisma of Cliff Mason that keeps drawing them in?

But is it a good comic?

According to our readers, it's a 5.35/5 star comic. Make of that what you will :3

Final Thoughts

At the end of the form, we had an open response box for anything else y'all might want to say to us. And let me just say: y'all blew us away. Thank you so much.

So many of the comments were incredibly kind. People told us about characters they connected to, about how excited they were for to see what happens next. Some of them were sweet, some were horny, some of you compared Foreach to some of OUR favorite webcomics, (which was absolutely unreal to read!) Some of you guys wrote whole freakin' essays! I can't recap everything, but please know that we read every single one of them.

Thank you again for joining us on this journey. Here's to a great 2025--and another year of Freachin' it together!

[thaenad]

do u have any advice for building feedist community? esp a queer/trans one. i’ve been lurking for ages but i think it’d b really fulfilling to actually do something about it

I can share how I did it! before starting anything, I named the group (abundance), created a poster with a cute logo on it, and marketed it as a LGBTQ2IA+ and fat liberationist group. I mostly took to feabie, I posted the flyer, put it in my bio description, and then using the location search, I began following people in my area. feabie actually allows you to search by gender and sexual orientation, so I did seek out some queer people in the beginning. I regularly posted messages to the timeline advertising my group with a link to a screening application - a google form with screening questions asking potential members what they want to get out of the group, what would make them feel safest to take part in it, as well as some questions regarding privilege, fat liberation, and consent. this is just a precaution to make sure everyone joining has a mutual understanding of how to participate in a group setting with safety and respect, and consideration for our most vulnerable community members (bc goodness knows there are some creeps on feabie). once folks pass the screening, I email them with a link to our discord server in an initial welcome message describing my intentions for the group and why finding community and spreading fat liberation is so important to our lives. the discord server is where we all communicate and plan events. the first event I planned was a potluck in the park, which took place last may. I highly recommend starting events in the summer where folks can hang out in a safe public space for free. as the group was expanding, I did a lotta reblogging on tumblr, including sharing it to my @fatliberation blog which has way more traction. I also created a group on the queer app lex which brought in a few members as well! HOWEVER. I do live in chicago, where there is a high concentration of feedists. if you aren't near a big city this might be more difficult, but I would encourage starting an online group if that's the case! also, it may surprise you just how many feedists live in your area. I thought that I would be lucky if I got close to 15 people to sign up, but as of today, there have been 58. not only from chicago, but all over the midwest. out of those 58 applications, 45 joined the discord. out of those 45, only 20ish people are active, and out of those 20ish people, usually less than ten people show up to events. but that smaller core group has become an amazing group of close friends. It will take time. so many months of preparation and networking. I think it took close to 7-8 months to get enough interest for that first meeting in may, and since then it has taken almost another year to get into a groove and get to know each other. but after that initial potluck, the ball kept rolling so easily. feedist community is life-changing magic. I had a dream that someday I could have that, so I took a lot of risks to make it happen - all while alone, lost, anxious, unsure if any of it would come together or if I was going about things the right way, just flat-out raw dogging it and carving a path. and it was the best risk I've ever taken. I feel overwhelmingly supported by my peers. I sincerely wish you the best and hope with all my might that you find your community. let me know if I can answer any questions you have along the way.