#I will go back and alt text this when i can figure out how to describe these

[smallestapplin]

What transformer character of choice when seeing a giant prediction looking milf bot and be smitten? Cuz Giant buff women

Ya know what? Hell yeah, I can appreciate a milf.

Warnings : mild horny but nothing explicit but still 18+ only please!

-

-

Smokescreen has to hold a servo up when they first encounter you, leaving Arcee and Bee confused until he spoke, “Mark me down as scared and horny.”

He did get smacked for it, and then got smacked around by you when they approached or got to close to what you considered your den. You weren’t very friendly at first, until Optimus had to be called in and actually speak with you to let you know he and his team mean no harm. At least that’s what Smokescreen thinks what happened, he heard none of it and was busy staring at you in your robot form.

Despite the stern glare on your face plate, he was very much into this.

Of course once you considered the autobots your own, you were around more often and more or less had Smokescreen hanging off of you, your care for the team was beyond sweet for a giant predacon that towered over everyone. How you shift into your alt mode and curl around the couch to watch the tv with him and Bee.

If they can’t find Smokescreen he’s with you trying to figure out how preadcons court cause he needs you to be his yesterday, he is the text book definition of down bad.

-

Ratchet, two milfs they might kiss! At first like always he’s annoyed by you, how curious you seem to be over his tools and such, but surprisingly you two make a good team. Anytime someone is hurt you scruff them and bring them to him. He scolds and you stand behind him with a stern and disappointed expression, making whoever got hurt feel guilty for rushing in to a mission.

Your strength and power alone gets him smitten though he tries to deny it. You are very protective over the autobots and have shown time and time again how you are willing to risk your life for them, even if that means it’s your turn to earn ratchet’s scolding.

He’s not free though, he tries so hard to act like he hates and loathes when you pick him up and take him to his habsuite, just to curl around him in your alt mode and keep him pinned, he can’t work if his giant predacon spouse is laying across him. Stupidly finds your strength and height over him attractive, more so when you purr lowly and lean over him, trying to show him affection.

Ratchet gets too flustered for this.

-

Predaking, a list like this wouldn’t be complete without the King himself, and oh is he smitten. You, who are so strong and fiercely protective over your den in which he found you in, you, who actually stood a chance against him, growling deeply as you told him to back off.

It’s not surprising he returns to your cave and dropping mass amounts of energon at the entrance, your stern glance only makes his spark sing and oh by the stars how his tail wags when you accept his offering. Predaking like his big strong conjunx, you are so tender with the life living around your home, and so aggressive in battle! He adores he doesn’t have to hold back with you, know you can take whatever he can give you.

The only one who can command him easily with just an upset sound.

-

(Bonus round!)

Bumblebee took one look at your thighs, took one look at your size, and took one look at you and decided he already knew how he wanted to offline, if it is not by your thighs alone then he is a coward and weak. He truly is a little Bee buzzing around a great big dog.

Anytime you show up or the team finds you he’s sliding across the ground to close the distance, arms around your pedes and helm buried into your lower stomach. He’s very easy to pick up, but you honestly don’t need to with how he climbs you and sits on your shoulder with ease, always beeping happily.

He’s already told Arcee he is not going to survive your spike but he will try his damnest like a true warrior.

She’s already prepared to tell Optimus and Ratchet Bee went out the only way he truly wanted to, and that’s by a thick bot snapping his neck cables.

[raining-anonymously]

sure is convenient for the deetzes that code 699 - trespassing souls in the afterlife is on the same exact page as code 804 - soul suckers. who organized this book? also, the next page canonizes the grim reaper. okay.

i know this text is completely unreadable but i have painstakingly figured out what it says. my eyes hurt. check the alt text.

i’ve also got another screencap of the sandworm page but that’s over here.

implications under the cut:

contrary to several complains i’ve seen, astrid absolutely had time to find the relevant information in the book. it was never a mystery as to when she had time to read it; we SEE her reading the pages she references.

the reason the contract stopped working was not because it was made on illegal terms, but rather because a specific consequence for what betelgeuse did is voiding all marriages, apparently including engagements. *looks at delores* …this is probably good news for him in the long run.

betelgeuse is quite likely facing consequences for bringing lydia to the netherworld. this potentially includes community service clerical work. he’s gonna hate that.

the afterlife apparently functions on a system where each soul has a set amount of years before they’re allowed to take the train out of there, and more years can be added as punishment. we know thanks to delia and charles that this isn’t true for every ghost, and we know thanks to the maitlands that there’s a loophole (possibly completing unfinished business) that gets you out faster. i think it’s very likely that dying by suicide extends your sentence.

ghosts are usually allowed to haunt their prior residences.

delores can cross between worlds whenever she wants. this fills the “plot hole” of how she got to the church despite not having an official reason like wolf & co, a contract like betelgeuse, or a free ride like delia.

assuming her powers don’t diminish when she reforms, she could totally go to the living world to get revenge on lydia and astrid…

delores got stronger with every soul she consumed.

sandworms are soul suckers’ weakness? girl sandworms are EVERY ghost’s weakness.

soul suckers like causing havoc. this is probably why delores and betelgeuse got along so “well.”

delores. girl. you were not wronged. you murdered him so he murdered you back. you are not a righteous avenger here, i’m afraid.

adam was not joking about this book being poorly constructed. (kudos to the production team for keeping that detail!)

THE GRIM REAPER STROLLS AROUND THE NETHERWORLD AND OCCASIONALLY CUTS GHOSTS IN HALF.

[lavendermatchastrife]

Spend It On Me

summary: pretty girl with a broken heart? nothin’ a sexy sugar daddy (who also happens to be your neighbor) can’t fix!

warnings: suggestive but nothing explicit, mdni 18+, chubby reader, unspecified poc reader, alt/goth reader, sugar daddy!gojo x sugar baby!reader, reader is the bratty tsundere type, gojo is the sappy (lowkey) yandere type, dw they match each others freak, obsession, money talks, exuberant spending, eat the rich

a/n: this is a drabble for a full fic that I’m working on!! It should be out by the end of the week, but until then enjoy, and tell me what u think! Also the full fic is still kinda in development, but mostly mapped out, so if yall have any suggestions or ideas I am all ears!!! <3🤭

Sugar daddy!Gojo can’t help himself he just loves drowning you in the finest silks and covering your exposed skin in diamonds and pearls! No amount of jewels, clothes, shoes, were enough; he just had to get you everything.

You’re his gorgeous sugar baby you deserve only the best of course. He doesn’t mind your attitude, doesn’t mind that you verbally don’t reciprocate his feelings. Sometimes you even take hours to respond to his texts. You’re just so pretty, so intelligent, so well spoken, who is he to demand anything from you? To him you’re way out of his league, he should thank you for just breathing the same air as him.

Besides, sugar daddy!Gojo can tell you’re just lying to him. You’ve been hurt before, it’s only natural that you aren’t so trusting this time around. It isn’t his fault that previous partners left scars on your heart, but he made it his personal mission to make up for their wrongdoings.

He had plenty of money to go around, lots of time to spare, his wallet was more than fat enough to sate your cravings. Whether it was for the finest dining or the fanciest shoes, he’d get you both if you’d give him that sweet bashful smile.

He knew all of your attitude and distrust was a front, you were playing hard to get so obviously. You weren’t as materialistic as you tried to appear to be, you just figured the only thing a man was good for was his money, and he had to agree with you. He willingly let you take advantage of all he was worth, because you truly did deserve it. He saw how hard you’d been working. (You came home from countless shifts at the crack of dawn, he’d wake up to your keys jingling outside of your door. The apartment walls were thin.) He also saw how shitty your exes were. He’d been a victim to staying up late, listening to you loudly fighting with them over a girl you’d seen them with or a bill they’d run up on your card.

So, when you were finally single, he took advantage of it right away. He gave you his black card. Sent you hundreds upon thousands of dollars through your digital wallet. Took you on the nicest dates to the best restaurants around. Anything to chip away at the bitterness you still held on the back of your tongue.

Your company was all he needed, he didn’t even want to ask you for anything in return. However, if a handsome man threw so much money at you that you could quit your job; then you figured you could throw him a bone or two.

And by a bone, it meant you were laid out in his backseat when you both had one too many drinks. Sometimes, you’d find yourself in his bed ruining his perfectly white expensive sheets with your dark makeup. Half the time though, he didn’t receive any physical pleasure (if you told him you’d never want to have sex with him again, he was certain he could live without it), his own ecstasy came from burying his face between your perfect thighs. If he got a demure picture in a set he bought you, or a breathy phone call at three in the morning, it was just a plus.

Maybe after a few months of being sweet, of calling you the corniest pet names, of being so gentle; it’d soften your heart and you’d utter a sweet little, “Hey baby what do you think of this dress?” He’d buy it for you in every color. “Can I stay the night tonight, it’s so late already?” Of course you could, you’d be wrapped in his arms the rest of the evening, buried in his plush blankets until morning. (You didn’t dwell on the fact that you lived right next door, and could just easily walk home.) “Satoru, I made this for you, but if you don’t like it I can just toss it.” Whether it was a piece of art you spent way too much time on, cookies you nearly burnt, or dinner you ‘made too much of’; he’d accept it with the biggest smile. Twirl you around in his arms and shower you in kisses like he’d won the lottery.

What good was all of his money for if it wasn’t being spent on the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. You were really just…so warm and caring under all of that ice that’d frozen your heart over. If spending his fortune on you, just to get you to like him even the littlest bit, trust him just a tad more, open up to him even the slightest; it’d all be worth it.

•

a/n: based on one of my fave summer walker songs atm!! she is my problematic fave I fear 🚬🫩🍷

[incorrectfatui]

ok only one person asked for this, but I'm really bored, so: memes about our government collapsing, here you go. feel free to ignore it otherwise, next post will be about more harbingers xD

But politics talk beyond this point- dw, I get it if you dont wanna see that

Context will be below the pictures- please keep in mind that german humor is...well, german. Also, I can't figure out how to post multiple pictures at once, so uh...this is gonna be a long one. ALSO look at the ALT text I tried my best to translate & give more context

So of course, everyone immediately started memeing about Lindner. Why? Because most of the country fucking hates the guy. I don't think I specified enough how awful he is. The current government is incredibly inneficient, and he's a major reason why. He's an ultra-capitalist, in love with a free market economy, frequently has temper tantrums in parliament, and is INCREDIBLY anti social. He wants higher pension ages, less subsidies for unemployed people, the works. What people are also making fun off is Scholz, our chancellor, who was practically nonexistent for the last 3 years, only to deliver a VICIOUS speech about how awful Lindner is. So yeah! Government collapse is fun if you have the right memes. Hope at least some of those were funny to you guys as well

thaaats most of the ones I could fit. Which brings me to: the context. oh my god where do i begin.

Okay, so, the german parliament is made out of multiple parties, right? When we have elections, the chancellor is from the party with the most votes, but they don't rule alone, because they need a majority (<50%), and we have so many parties that they don't get there. So, they have to form coalitions with the other parties. When they do that, the leaders of the other parties get to be in high positions as well. Every party that isn't in the coalition is the opposition.

More often than not, we have what is called a Grand Coalition- the two biggest parties, CDU and SPD. However, in our last elections (which was also the first time in 16 years that our chancellor changed), this did not happen. We instead got the so called traffic light coalition, made up of the SPD (winner, got the Chancellor), FDP (our other main protagonist in this story) and the Greens.

So, they've ruled for about 3 years now, and it's been an utter shitshow- because of multiple factors, of course, but one of the major ones was the FDP. See, the Greens and the SPD are (or, well, were, but thats for another story) more left leaning, ESPECIALLY on stuff like climate change, while the FDP are mostly focused on the economy. So, there's been lots of conflicts, and all the parties in the coalition, but especially the FDP, have lost immense support. The FDP to a point where they might not get ANY seats in parliament for the next election.

Now, some of our current biggest issues are inflation, climate change, and the war in Ukraine. I'm simplifying this to hell and back, but essentially, we have a so called debt-brake in our constitution, which means that the country cannot go over a certain amount of money. Sounds good, right? Well, not entirely. Right now, we are trying to go over this limit. See, the debt-brake has an intentional loophole, which says that in emergencies, you CAN go over it, like natural catastrophes (e.g. COVID).

Germany, right now, wants to fund our infrastrcuture, our military, Ukraine, and social subsidies. For this purpose, the SPD and Greens agreed to go over the limit. Except they can't, without the approval of their coalition partner, the FDP, and their finance minister, Lindner, who RUNS the FDP. They've been fighting about this for A WHILE, and yesterday, Scholz (the chancellor), gave Lindner an ultimatum: allow them to go over the limit, or get fired. Lindner asked for snap-elections instead, did not accept the proposal (which was already heavily in his favour) and got fired.

Which wouldn't be a problem is he was any common minister- but he's a coalition partner, so the coalition broke apart- and without the FDP, the SPD and the Greens alone do not hold a majority in parliament.

What this boils down to, is that we will likely have a minority-government (who will have BIG difficulties passing any laws) until January, and at the start of January, the Chancellor will call for a vote of confidence (yes, like in star wars), which he will lose. Meaning: Snap Elections in March (at the latest), less time for the parties to prepare their candidates, and MASSIVE profts for the right wing parties, which are currently leading in the polls.

[itsnotmourn]

breakfast date with a side of death glare

art trade with @eatyourmaker !! except i went overboard and made my part into a comic HEHE

fanfic below because i’m not sure how to alt text this without going overboard :’3

———————— A TREAT YOU DESERVE

“How about you tell me what you want for breakfast? My treat.”

Evermore places his hand on Rick’s back as he lets the tired man think.

It’s a cold winter morning. Although the sky is a nice blue, clear and clean, it is awfully windy, and even when the air is still, the cold bites when it can.

The mayor of this small simple town finds himself at the iron gates of a large, ivory-coloured house. In front of its grand exterior is a carefully tended garden of colours. Tall trees almost caress the walls but not quite; they barely reach the upper level windows.

Of course, it’s nothing that impressive compared to his one-of-kind home but… Evermore could consider it competition.

That’s a thought for another day.

“Hmm…” Rick stands still in thought. “Maybe… Well, pancakes are a nice idea,” he begins.

As the tired man tries to figure out his options, Evermore suddenly couldn’t help but feel something at the back of his head. Like a burning feeling. A very gradual one but it’s there.

Rick continues to muse, inattentive. “Or eggs. Like eggs on toast? But I can make that at home though.”

Internally, Evermore excuses himself and tunes out Rick for the moment, trying to find that burning feeling. It annoys him.

As he glances behind himself, he peers over the iron gate’s finials and above the young trees, beyond the finely trimmed garden, Evermore finally spots his problem.

At the house itself, facing the open streets, there is an open window with a woman there, holding a steaming cup.

It is a woman he knows very well; a relative of his partner, Rick. Carmen, one of the few people that could rival the greatest man himself, stands by the window with one of the most seething scowls she could ever give. A familiar look but seething nonetheless.

Evermore’s face scrunches slightly. Ough, he groans in his mind.

He knows too well what words that glare of her’s tell and Carmen doesn’t even need to say anything. It is one of those ‘do something wrong or you will get it’ looks. In this case, Evermore thinks it’s probably something like ‘treat him right or you die.’

“I don’t know,” Rick concludes. “I can have anything. I’m not picky.”

But Evermore knew that. That was in his plan from the start.

“I hear you,” the mayor finally answers to Rick. “I’ll get you all that you ask for.”

Rick blinks. “No, just one thing is fine.”

“Nonsense!” Evermore pats Rick’s shoulder assuringly. “It’s my treat and a treat you deserve.”

[webshooterrr9]

My Hero

Delinquent!Miguel x fem!reader

CW: brief mention of sexual harassment, but don't worry Mig saves her, light smut but nothing too explicit, mainly just these two arguing with each other, mostly just tension

Word Count: 1.4k words

Lmk if y'all want a part 2 🤭

art credits in alt text!!

“Can you just fuck off?”

“What’s the matter, baby?” the guy said. This creep would not leave you alone. You’re just heading back to your apartment, and all of a sudden this creep decides it’s a good idea to follow you home. You should’ve never decided to take a walk. “You don’t want me? I thought we had a good thing going, shawty.”

“I told you to leave me alone. I’m not interested.” you were getting fed up now. Why can’t he just take the hint? You scoffed and tried walking away, but the creep grabbed your arm.

“Hey!” he said, turning you to face him. “Don’t be a bitch, I’m just trying to be nice.”

“What the hell is going on here?”

You and the creep turned to see a tall, dark-haired punk approach you two. He was wearing a black band tee with tattoos all up and down his muscular arms.

As the man approached you, the creep let go of your arm. “H-hey man, this isn’t any of your business.”

The tall stranger crossed his arms, towering over you two. “Actually, it is my business - seeing as you’re standing right in front of my building.”

You knew this guy, your friend pointed him out as someone in the neighborhood to avoid back when you first moved in. Miguel O’hara, a known delinquent on this secluded side of town. This must’ve been the apartment building he lived in.

“I’m gonna have to ask you to step away from this lady, or we’re gonna have problems, cabrón.” Miguel said, sizing up the much smaller man before him.

“Oh yeah? What kind of problems, tough guy?” the creep replied with confidence much bigger than him - an idiot move. Miguel grabbed the man by his shirt, pulling him close to his face.

“Get outta here, chico. I won’t ask again.” he snarled, getting all up in the guy’s face. The look in Miguel’s eyes was that of a lion, chasing a hyena away from its prey that it found first.

The creep, despite being so cocky earlier, seemed to have lost all his confidence. He pushed Miguel’s arms away and Miguel dropped him. He knew that the delinquent wasn’t messing around.

Miguel scowled. The guy who was harassing you ran away. You were in awe, you thought Miguel was a bad guy, so why did he just protect you?

He turned around to face you, his large frame intimidating. "You alright?"

You froze in silence, not sure what to say to him. He scoffed. "Giving me the silent treatment, huh? Some way to treat your savior, muñeca." Miguel crossed his arms.

"Sorry," you say, regaining your focus. "You, uh, you're Miguel, right?"

You had never been in this situation before. Never needed saving, especially not by someone with as bad a reputation as him. You weren’t quite sure if you should thank him, or if he'd even want that.

“Yeah, that’s me.” you would've thought that someone who just saved you would look a little happier to see you, but he just glared at you like you were a nuisance. Maybe you woke him up from a nap.

“You know, I don’t just do that for anyone.” he commented.

"I figured," you were just standing there awkwardly, not sure how to reply to his sharp tone. You couldn't tell if he was fishing for a “thank you” or not.

"So then why did you, uh, scare him away? You could've just left me to handle it." you couldn't hide your curiosity as to why Miguel protected you from that guy. You had never even met him before, but you knew he wasn't nice to most people… so why you?

"Just protecting a pretty girl, what's so surprising?" Miguel had a smirk on his face. He was definitely fishing for a compliment. He looked you up and down with a hint of flirtatiousness.

You noticed his not-so-subtle stare, and shifted to a more defensive stance. “Well, you don't seem the type to do such a thing. Your reputation doesn't exactly give the 'gentleman' vibe."

"Besides, this isn't the 1950's anymore, I'm not a damsel in distress." you add, gaining more snark as the conversation goes on.

"Oh, so you're assuming that I'm incapable of being nice, preciosa?" Miguel was getting just a little bit annoyed. Usually, most people were too intimidated by him to talk back, so he was taken aback that you weren't. "I don't care what my reputation is, I'm being nice to you because I feel like it." He stepped closer to you, sizing you up with his eyes once more.

"I didn't say you were incapable... it's just unexpected, that's all." The closer he got to you, the more you realized just how much he towered over you. You weren’t even short for a girl, but he was huge.

You lowered your defensiveness, trying not to pick a fight that you knew you couldn't win. "... thank you for that, I guess. It was kind."

"I didn't need it, though."

He rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky you’re hot.” a smirk crossed his face. “But that doesn’t mean this ‘nice guy’ act is gonna happen more than once.”

"It won't have to; I'm not gonna get into a situation like that again, so I doubt I'll need your heroics."

This time, it was your turn to cross your arms. "Besides, you haven't exactly been pleasant company. I don't need more than one interaction with you."

The look in his eyes told you that he took that as a challenge, that he wasn't about to back down. But he also didn't seem the type to overstep his boundaries. He was confident, not creepy.

"Oh, I'm not pleasant to be around? I'm not pleasant to look at either, right?" Miguel chuckled to himself.

"That's too bad- I could've saved you from the next creep that comes around, princesa." He liked messing with you, and seeing your feisty attitude come out. He was definitely trying to get you riled up.

"I didn't say you weren't pleasant to look at." you reply, standing a bit taller than before. He raised an eyebrow, flattered by the indirect compliment.

"I'm just saying that I wouldn't meet you again, if given the choice. Other than saving my ass back there, you've been pretty rude."

"Rude? Me? Never." Miguel feigned shock. "I wonder what's got you being so feisty today, mami.”

"You know nothing about me, this is normal." you say, picking up some confidence. "You're not getting any special treatment."

“Hmm… maybe I want some special treatment.” he leans in a bit closer to you, dropping his voice to a lower tone. You could see the devious spark in his eyes, something playful and challenging. He was testing you, to see how far you’d let him go before brushing him off. And you almost wanted to. But God, the way he looked at you made your stomach flutter in a way it hadn’t in a long time, not since your last ex. And even then, your last boyfriend wasn’t as wild as Miguel seemed to be.

“Some special treatment, huh?” you reply, matching his energy and leaning up towards him. Your faces were only inches away now. “And what exactly were you thinking?”

A large grin spreads across his face. “Why don’t you come inside, mami? I’ll show you.”

---

“Fuck… Miguel..!”

The sounds of his headboard banging against the wall was sure to disturb the neighbors, but he clearly didn’t give a shit.

“It’s… ‘s too much!” you were panting, arms held tight above your head with one of his large hands, while the other toyed with your clit. His legs separated yours, allowing him to pound into you at a punishing pace.

“Shh, bonita… I’m almost there… jus’ a little more, muñeca, un poquito más…”

You already came once, and you could feel your second orgasm approaching with every roll of his hips. He was desperately chasing his release, sweat causing his gorgeous hair to stick to his forehead.

You'd swear you were seeing stars. “M-Mig…” even with a condom, you could feel how hot and thick his cock was, practically begging to spill into your warmth.

Your back arched as your second peak came crashing over you, and the contractions from your cunt was enough to send him over the edge. As your legs shook, your head fell back - Miguel caught it before it hit against the headboard.

“Don’t worry, hermosa. I’ve got you.”

<3

[lukedanger]

During my second playthrough of WotR, I found something that adds a particularly fascinating bit of context to a romance with Arueshalae and how that looks to anyone outside of your inner circle. One that I think further explains both Hulrun's reaction to it and why Galfrey considers Arueshalae a strike against the KC at the end of Act III.

What I found was the in-game book "Unsung Feats behind the Crusades", which can be found in the Ivory Labyrinth. The text is shown below in a screenshot and transcribed into the alt-text if the image is not loading.*

For further context, the Third Mendevian Crusade is the one that Hulrun spearheaded and is widely considered to be a complete failure because it devolved into witch hunts and infighting. While Hulrun is not explicitly mentioned here, this is entirely in line with his behavior. Furthermore, the brave maiden reads remarkably like the Knight-Commander (particularly an Angel or Azata path one): an inspiring leader from seemingly nowhere who likely would have been a major figure in if not the leader of the nascent Third Crusade... tempted into folly and sin, much like a Demon or Lich path commander that doesn't go Legend or Gold Dragon.

Heck, this sounds eerily familiar to what happens in the cRPG version of Staunton Vhane, especially him turning to the demons and Minagho only to be felled when you take Drezen back from the demons. And now you are Knight-Commander, de facto Warden of Drezen, and have the Sword of Valor which has transformed in your hands... then you accept Arueshalae into your personal lance or even start romancing her?

How do you imagine that must look to those outside of your inner circle, particularly those who have lived through the above two incidents? Hulrun may well have lit the aforementioned brave maiden's pyre, and Galfrey would have been left to sort out the fallout of that incident on top of Staunton Vhane's entire saga.

Unlike us, they have not travelled with and gotten to know Arueshale or witnessed how she resonated with the Song of Elysium or been saved by Desna's aegis. They have been busy governing Kenabres and Mendev as a whole, and only hear about this through rumors or a game of telephone.

All things considered, both of them are remarkably calm about it when they come to Drezen and see that the rumors about a succubus were accurate.

*For the sake of due diligence, we should also assess the source, particularly as this is the only time the incident is mentioned to the best of my knowledge. The in-game book is explicitly a pep piece written for Baphomet's neophytes to read and be inspired by, so it is most certainly embellished. However, while details may have been exaggerated or embellished other known quantities such as Hulrun's witch hunts and the Third Crusade being infamous for infighting like this leads me to conclude that the basic facts are most likely true. Especially as lying to neophytes at this stage is a good way to set yourself up for feelings of betrayal later.

[tragicvampireromanceisland]

some snippets from the current joyness fic i've been hammering away at 🤭!! i'm expecting the entire thing to clock in between 16 to 18k words so i am sharing just a few bits on account of I Am Impatient. chose ones that are probably the easiest to read out of context lol. alt text under the cut 👍🏾

Snippet 1:

"Well, I just...I was thinking...Joy, do we even deserve to go to Dream Productions?"

Joy's smile shrinks a bit at that. Oh. She didn't like Dream Productions? Well—given how many night shifts they'd shared together (Yep! Anxiety had said. According to the numbers, Sadness only ever shares Dream Duty with you. Uhh...what did you need this for again, Joy?), she figured Sadness would be just as excited...well, maybe everyone else complaining just got to her or something, that's fine, Joy could fix that—

"—Aw, Sadness, look—I promise the vibe's gonna change as soon as we get there! Sure, everyone's been a little crabby, but the car's just a little crammed and the road's just a liiittle bumpy from all the new puberty construction projects—they just need that to wear off a bit! Pluuus, the song's already been helping a lot—here, do you wanna sing along? Eighty-three mem—"

"—No, Joy, like...do we deserve it?"­­

And when Joy frowns at her, confused, she places her hand on top of the one Joy's been restlessly drumming against the seat this whole ride, and goes

"Us?"

Now it's Joy's turn for her face to heat up, apparently. "Wha—" she chokes on that, then shakes her head. "Uh." She looks down at their hands. "Haah?"

Wait—did Sadness actually find out why Joy chose Dream Productions? Well, other than the whole spiel of Yeah, sorry, guys, I did call Imagination Land, and yeah, turns out they're just not letting any visitors in right now—which, aghhh, dagnabit, you know? I'm just as heartbroken as you are that we can't see— eugh—Mount Crushmore, but make do with what you can, right?

"Oh! Uh—welll," she tries again, hoping to play it smooth, "why wouldn't...weeee?" she stretches the word out and winks.

"Um." Sadness just stares blankly back at her. "Well, 'cause we made such a mess last time..."

Snippet 2:

"Whaaat? It's not like I need some big plan! It's—come on, it's Sadness! I spend a lot of time with her already! And besides, it's not like I haven't been patient so far! Like—I know she likes me! She just gets real shy about it! And, well—heheheh, iiiit's kinda cute, you know—? But—" she shakes her head, cheeks growing hot as Disgust raises an eyebrow at that. —Anyways, she just...needs the right moment to be comfortable with it! You know?"

When Disgust frowns this time as she considers that, it looks a bit less judgy than usual. Well—sure, it's still kind of judgy—come on, it's Disgust—but she looks more confused than anything.

"Uhhh, what, so you're telling me that you're—" she points at Joy for emphasis, "—being patient?"And then her face twists into a smirk again."Joy, it’s been months since you told me something was up. I've never seen you be this patient about anything in your life."

"Wha—not true!" Joy shoots back, even though she knows Disgust is just riling her up on purpose at this point. As much as Joy loved teasing her (come on, easy target. All Joy had to do was mention broccoli or boogers and s­he'd all but completely lose it), she was always the one emotion who'd actually, on rare occasions, tease Joy back. And she always managed to say just the right things to get under Joy's skin when she did. Which—well, she guesses it's sweet or something, that they're good enough friends for Disgust to do that, but excuse her if it's a bit hard to get fond over that while her good friend is busy snickering at her.

"Ugh. Whatever," she grumbles. And that only seems to fuel Disgust's satisfaction further, so Joy shakes her head and goes back to smiling. "Okay, fine, yeah! Maybe I'm being a little bit more patient than usual. But that's 'cause Sadness...needs that, you know? And besides, all that dancing around each other's gonna end tonight! Wiiith all of this!" Joy spreads her arms out. "A little change of setting, something special! And, well, considering we're probably the only two out of any of us who actually like Dream Duty, I obviously chose the right place—"

"—So you did lie to us about Imagination Land."

"Uh—" Joy stops short, then chuckles nervously. "Welllll, I know how much you love keeping secrets, so maybeee if you just kept that fun little one between you and me—"

Snippet 3:

Joy reaches back to yank Sadness right up to the front of the door with her. She manages to peer in and catch a glimpse of the rest of her friends watching one of the sets get dressed—but then she gets the door slammed shut on her. She groans.

"Okay, but—there's no way that we're banned! Everyone else got in just fine!"

"Well, frankly, I don't know who thought it was okay for them to get a tour, either. Serves me right for letting the new hires work the call desks. You emotions just think you're all that, huh?" Joy blinks, bewildered, as the Mind Worker jabs a finger at her chest and narrows her eyes. "That orange one's already on thin ice. The sheer level of entitlement to give me her stupid notebook about how she thinks I should run my studio—and now she's trying to spread those pages around to everyone else in there like it's some manifesto—"

"—Ahhh, yeah—Anxiety's...Anxiety's like that," Joy mutters, "buuuut just let us in, and we'll fix that right up!"

Joy winks at Sadness and splits into a grin as the Mind Worker smiles back at the both of them—and then it falters halfway through as she hears the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Ohh, sure, right away! Since you two are so great at fixing things, huh? Yep, okay—lemme just pop right over to Administration and toss out your charges for trespassing, disorderly conduct, breaking and entering, destruction of studio property, deliberate dream interference, unlawful release of Subconscious wildlife, and reckless endangerment by clown!" She gulps in a breath of air after running through all of those at once and then scowls. "That last one's new, you know—we had to come up with an entirely new charge just because you two decided to screw up in a way no one's ever screwed up before!"

Joy winces as she feels Sadness shuffle to hide behind her and whimper. She's not taking too kindly to being yelled at. Joy grimaces.

"Umm, so what you're basically saying iiiis, we're special?"

"Out."

Snippet 4:

The world doesn't quite fade away this time; Joy's still painfully aware of the unintelligible chatter flooding through the halls, the bitter smell of coffee wafting past as drink trays get rushed back and forth. The way the crate is leaned up against the wall, the dream posters look like they're looming right over them when Joy looks up, gigantic and skewed. And when she feels Sadness rest her hand lightly on her arm, Joy feels both giddy and a little smug. Of course this was working! All Sadness needed was a little push—Disgust should've never doubted her. So Joy smiles to herself—then smiles down at Sadness, leans in, and—

"Oh, Joy, this is so sad..."

Joy reels back as Sadness pats her on the arm. "Uh. What?"

"Well, all the dreams are changing..." She sighs and looks back at the wall. The red light from the COMING SOON sign flashing right above the newer posters seems to find its way down to them, somehow. Joy watches as it glints against Sadness' glasses. "And they've torn down your favorite one already..."

Joy slumps a little at that and sighs. Leave it to Sadness to find a problem that wasn't even hers to get miserable over. She rolls her eyes as she nudges Sadness on the shoulder.

"Alright, maybe it's a bit of a bummer, but so what? Pfff, it's not like you liked Fairy Dream Adventure that much," she says with a snort. "You don't have to cry about it."

Sadness rubs at her eyes, the beginnings of her tears falling down her cheeks. "But...but you did...and you cared about it, so...so, if you care about it, then I care about it, and if it makes you sad, it makes me sad..."

"O—Oh," Joy says softly, heat flooding her face. She actually has to look away for a minute at that, stare down at her feet dangling over the crate's edge. Leave it to Sadness to just say the sweetest thing in the world to her like it's nothing.

[mydetheturk]

ive been trying to come up with a way to talk about my take on The Argument, but honesty i can't get past these pages where Wolfwood shoots Rai-Dei. there are four panels on this two page spread, and no words, but god there's so much said in it. i keep flipping back and forth between it and the next page like "holy shit wolfwood. holy shit wolfwood." like. like we know. we've known since volume two of trigun that wolfwood was one of the GHG. we've known! this is knowledge that we have had for multiple volumes.

i literally cannot get over the expression on wolfwood's face in the pages leading up to their fight (and this expression lingers through their fight, mind you)

like

hellO????

like!!! this is the start of their argument!!! wolfwood cannot let vash die. and if he has to kill to do it he's going to kill to do it. vash is supposed to suffer. he cannot suffer if he's dead.

and this is the lead up to their argument. they have such philosophical differences about life, Vash believing every life is precious and that everyone can change, where Wolfwood's convinced that people won't. he thinks Vash is foolish - is naive for not taking the GHG seriously. Wolfwood wants - Wolfwood needs - to know Vash is taking this seriously, is prepared to kill if Vash wants to keep everyone else alive.

Wolfwood needs to know Vash is prepared for the shit Wolfwood knows - or suspects, if he doesn't know off hand - Legato is going to send.

hence this panel.

(yes i did just straight up copy the alt text from the post i made about being unable to cope with this panel. it ruins me.)

And then Vash reads him for fucking filth.

Vash's heart is breaking for Wolfwood, who cannot see a way out of the grave he's dug. Vash doesn't want to kill but he's broken for the way Wolfwood cannot see any other way to survive.

Like. the whole of page 106 hurts, but the way the Overhaul translated these panels is. Oof.

(the Dark Horse translation differs. Vash's speech reads: You... told me back then... that my face looked better with a real smile. If you could see yourself through my eyes now... You'd see a man forcing himself to play the Devil while his own heart cries out.

It's a little more poetic, but both of the statements cut Wolfwood to the core.)

They're talking past one another! they care so much about one another but their love languages differ so hard. (and i don't even mean this in a shipping way tho you could take it that way)

Augh. They're idiots. We'll see later that Wolfwood knows what Vash is, because of his experiences with Knives. (Wolfwood was there when Knives got reborn, after all) and he's seen Vash fight. He just. Doesn't know if Vash can kill one to save the many. (The start of their first fight in Stampede, their first true fight, is because Wolfwood shoots Rollo/Monev the Gale. Vash asks why. Wolfwood says its out of mercy.)

Anyway, there's some other really good meta about this fight (@needle-noggins has a nice breakdown of it) and if/when I find the posts I'll drop links in the comments/reblog with them.

I'll also upload what i could figure out of the transcript when I read through their argument in order to figure out how i was even going to talk about it to google docs and drop the link to that in the comments as well.

If you're still here, idk, Vash read Wolfwood for filth in front of God and everybody, which in this case was an empty town, Rai-Dei's corpse, and Zazie, who's been watching them for who knows how long at this point.

[istherewifiinhell]

okay. heres what were all here for. tell me why the fuck im supposed to suck the dick of these uk comics

[ID: A man holding up an aged looking paper, with a medieval style drawing of a giant metal fire breathing man. He leans forward serious asking his son "... Did it look like this?" END]

marveltf story line, MAN OF IRON, 9-12 in the UK, or.... 33-34 in the us. alright lol do whatever i guess. first published in 1985

new vibe same procedure: Script: Steve Parkouse art: John Ridgeway (9-10) Mike Collins (11-12) Colours: Joise Fermin (9-10) Gina Hart (11-12) Nel Yomtov (US)* Letters: Richard Starkings Editor: Sheila Cranna and these caps are from the UK classics idw book so: Original Series Edits by Shelia Cranna and Ian Rimmer, editorial notes and assistance by James Roberts, Collection Edits by Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon, Collection Design by Shawn Lee (<- hey i know his work from turtles!)

*so the uk comics were part in colour and part B&W, to save costs... including the american reissues? printing costs i guess. but when reprinted in collected books, they would get the full colour treatment. whats not clear to me is WHO did those colours, its not listed anywhere i can find. ill simply have to assume its the same artists... and hope im not discrediting anyone....

AND ALSO the last page in this reprint apparently uses the US comic page, and i have a cap of that last page, so. Yomtov's in here too..... tf franchise the way u treat ur sacred texts breaks my turtles fan heart.

and lastly! the keen eyed may notice, we are back to toy accurate art, the character model designs haven't and wont make their way over until much later, I'm told.

well with all that perfectly convoluted business out of the way, lets explore what tfs is like across the pond.

[ID: The same man, Roy, driving as he thinks to himself "What kind of bozo would want to bomb the castle? The Saxon Liberation Front? The mind boggles…" END]

[spluttering laugh] so the humours a little different!

[ID: The boy, Sammy, climbing a tree, hand outstretched reaching for the arrow he lost. Standing, with his in the canopy is Jazz. Sammy yells in fear. END]

OKAY. so the vibes are little different

[ID: Caption Box: And the apparition was fearful, being a Man of Iron of great height and girth, seeming unheedful of quarrel, spear or sword…" The robot from the illustration, clearly transformer, but blockier, more retro scifi, standing in the middle of a medieval battle, men with chain-mail and swords looking at him with trepidation. Caption Box: The Man of Iron forded the stream at Eldric's Cross, making great strides for the abbey… and some brave souls followed, though none dared come too close…" Two of the fighters shown following him, a body shot with an arrow lays at the other side of the river. END]

damn okay. so the vibes are ALOT DIFFERENT

(no 10) sammy dreams

[ID: Sammy stands on a house rooftop, in his PJ's, looking down at the cobble street, where a seeker in alt mode rests. END]

[ID: Dark and moody art, a barely seen figure towers in the shadows over the residential houses. From a higher angle, its shown to be Mirage, he stands taking up the entire street, backlit and casting shadows. END]

WHAT THE FUCK. that is terrifying

(something about beautiful black inked art + toy model makes them so CREATURE)

[ID: Roy speaks to a man in army uniform. Roy: How large? Soldier: Well… ahh…at a rough estimate? About the size of an ocean-going liner. Roy: Whaat? Roy with a hand to his head in dismay: Well, for god's sake what is it? Solider: We don't know. I've called in extra men and we're going to excavate… END]

somethings! buried under the castle... gee well one wonders what it might be

[ID: Close on Jazz's alt mode dashboard, its filled with lights and screen of alien language. Hes saying: But I'm not a stranger, Sammy. Deep down, you know… don't you? You've been wanting an adventure all your life… Besides. I have something to tell you. Sammy looking doubtful. Jazz continues: Something really important. Sammy has a hand on Jazz's open door: Why not just sit for a while in the front seat? Just pretend you're driving… END]

JAZZ THATS KIDNAPPING BUD....

really get a kick outta this note in the printed version

[ID: REMEMBER: NEVER ACCEPT LIFTS FROM STRANGERS! TO BE CONTINUED! END]

(no 11)

[ID: Jazz speaks to Sammy on the road, a blue and white F1 car pulling up. "My name is unpronounceable in your language… so just call me Jazz! And that's Mirage right behind us!" Jazz takes a exit to a low road, a black camper truck driving alongside. "This is where we rendezvous with Trailbreaker. All set Sammy?" All three driving along, Sammy responds "Sure thing Jazz!" END]

[guitar riff] THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN. im so glad all my good friends are here.

[ID: An fiery explosion engulfing Trailbreaker with a "Whaamf!". Wheels coming off, glass shattering, the truck top blowing to bits. Trailbreaker veering off road, a trail of fire and parts behind him calls out "Jazz! I'm hit... I'm hit BAD! END]

TRAILBREAKER NOOOO. who could have seen this coming...

[ID: Jazz narrowing swerving a missile. Exploding behind him, and speedlines trail him, and a wreath in flame around him. The colours are almost delicate, and a reflective glow in his paint. END]

wha. this just looks so cool.... what the hell....

[ID: Bluesteak, smiling speaking to comms "Autobot Bluestreak to patrol leader +++ Just brushed something off your tail, Jazz+++ try to be more careful in future, hmmm? Bluestreak out+" END]

being a cunt in the work slack. king

[ID: Jazz in profile, lit under the starry night sky, soft line-less colours defining the planes of his head in blue greys, and pitch black. To Sammy he says "Not really. It's a shuttlecraft… now stand back…" To comms "Autobot Jazz To Autobot leader+++ Approaching shuttle with Surveillance Subject+++ Request permission to board+++" END]

Wuh. Huh. Jazz u look so fucking cool right now?? And handsome.....

okay whats going on back at the castle (no 12)

[ID: The army soldier half sitting on a desk, holding a phone to his ear, the rotary cradle held resting on his leg. He's saying "IT's not just a question of scale, sir. We simply cannot identify it. END]

whys he kinda... apparently this style of uniform is called temperate barrack dress?? that answers none of my questions im just kinda... whyd u draw him like that tho...

[ID: A seeker, drawn in blues, walking between the ruins of the castle. Off panel someone says "It just seemed to appear from nowhere!" END]

bigfooting it up... AT A CASTLE. oh lads. im done for [blah blah he telePORTS and thats skywarps power but hes blue so WHO is it. dont worry abt it man. dont matter. they apparently change in the various times its been coloured, which is objectively funny imho. keep em guessing]

[ID: Moody and still illustrations of a robot identical to the Man of Iron in stasis, plugged into a bed of sorts. The ship around him is dark but for strips of coloured computer like lights in the walls and floor. Caption boxes narrate: Deep beneath the Autobots feet, in a sealed chamber, a special Autobot lay waiting… He was navigator, warrior and guardian of Autobot destiny… In his long, slow, machine world, a million years were as fleeting seconds. Human history had passed over him. Small inter panels. Mid on the Guardian: Locked in his dormant brain was the location of the planet Cybertron. He waited only to be re-activated, re-integrated with his mission… Restored to life. Close on the Guardian: His attendant was no more, the link between them severed. Laying in profile, just barely defined in the pitch black: Alone in the darkness he patiently beamed his signal. The same pattern of impulses… Waiting. END]

What the actual fuck (its even more somberly dramatic than just that)

[ID: Sammy, from a distance, staring at the castle. Caption Box: Autumn came, leaves fell. Sammy was a year older and a year wiser. He never saw Jazz again… Sammy asleep in bed, moonlight pouring through his paneled window. "But on clear, sharp nights, when stars glittered like needles and the night winds rattled his window… Then he slept a fitful, fearful sleep…" Sammy sleeping, with his dreams projected above him. "And the Man of Iron walked once more through his dreams." The End]

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

um well. okay! thats. fucking crazy. and this is the only tf comic this dude ever did. okay... can u tell he was from the dr who comics...... it ALSO means this doesnt actually speak at all for what the rest of tfuk will be like. which is damn funny. LIKE WOW! THAT WAS CRAZY. anyways.

[steadfastpetrel]

Worth Existing (or, Frank Webster Gives Keegan An Existential Crisis)

been busy this semester, but have a reflection comic I got away with making for an information history class! it's rambling, but i had some fun digesting my thoughts.

image descriptions from alt: The title page contains the title “Worth Existing, or: Frank Webster gives Keegan an existential crisis.” In front of a mirror, Keegan stands with their back facing the viewer as a reflection of them as a librarian looks back worriedly.

Page 1 features a sequential cartoonish sequence of Keegan’s head rolling and landing on his shoulders. He says: “Finding out how we’ve come to view our information society has been a ride. My pea brain can only fit so much, ideas only roll vaguely when I try to talk about what I’ve learned, but I’m at least seeing things from new eyes. More specifically…”

Dialogue continues on Page 2, 3 panels sequentially zoom in on a horrified Keegan. She says, “I’m seeing how much Frank Webster hates libraries.” The quote from the book she’s reading is as follows: “Moreover, library staff have benefited disproportionately from the establishment of these services, being provided with secure and pleasant (if not lavishly remunerated) employment. Why, one might ask, does the public purse need to support the likes of Agatha Christie and Jeremy Clarkson when their books are readily available for cheap purchase and their literary merit, still more their intellectual and uplifting qualities, are at best of minor significance. Such observations raise questions regarding the efficacy with which public libraries actually operate. It follows that a driving force behind their establishment and continued state support, the appeal to mitigate the inequalities of capitalism in the informational domain, seems to have been less than fully effective.” End quote.

Page 3 has Keegan looking with hands clasped, paused. They then look at the camera, asking “Did the dude just insult Agatha Christie?” The bottom has them lying on their bed, looking up at the ceiling in thought, saying “There’s something that just bugged me ever since I read that chapter. I never really understood the theory we talked about in class, it’s a skill I’m working on, but the weird beef he has with libraries at least gave me a vibe on ‘Hayekian Neoliberalism.’ And also how weird it is that capitalism got so far into deciding what’s worth existing. If the thing I wanna do with my life is worth existing.”

On Page 4, Keegan walks with his crutches as the dialogue continues. “I could go on for hours about all that sucks with Webster’s opinions! Of course I want the staff to ‘disproportionately’ benefit from their work. Unlike books, people have to eat! What’s ironic about Webster’s whole spiel about the efficacy of libraries is that he provides several examples of figures from his area heavily aided by libraries. Panels feature novelist John Banville, author Jeannette Winterson, and sociologist Richard Hoggart. Keegan continues and says, “And yet he goes on to be like…”

Page 5, a sock puppet speaks angrily: “People are getting free books and are hurting the poor bookseller! Libraries are stupid because it doesn’t miraculously fix the inequalities of capitalism!” To the side, the text says “Artist’s exaggeration. Don’t take this seriously.” Bottom panel contains Keegan pointing with her thumb at Frank Webster’s Wikipedia page. She says, “I wouldn’t be so hung up if this was some random guy, but considering this guy is so largely quoted and touted in my field of information sciences? Ouch obviously doesn’t cut how much all that stung.”

Page 6 contains an Asian man with a bun protesting banned books. The next panel contains a white woman with a turtleneck reading in a library as a winter storm brews outside. Keegan off-screen says, “While Webster calls libraries ‘censors of society,’ librarians are fighting vehemently against book bannings! And the way he says that public libraries are ‘captured by the better-off section of society?’ Like what, you’re going to ignore how libraries act as comfortable spaces for folks without housing during harsher months?”

On Page 7 a gavel bangs on a panel. “As if that’s not enough, publishers are suing libraries for distributing e-books, calling them ‘direct economic competitors’ when, if anything, they often support these publishers and their authors by buying multiple copies, hosting events and collaborating with local businesses.” As an example, the comic features a scene of a Black woman in a cardigan talking to a white cashier with a shaved head. She says to them, “I just read this at my library earlier and just needed to get my own copy! Can’t believe it took me this long to discover this author!” A panel below, a pair of hands scoops sand and watches it flow from their fingers. Keegan says, “I don’t know. Even in good company, it sometimes feels like the future is slipping through my fingers.”

Page 8 is a pillar of falling sand. Embedded in it is an Apple pencil, a floating feather, and a book. Keegan narrates, “As an artist and a writer, it’s wondering if I’ll be prioritized over a generative AI that doesn’t have to eat or sleep. As a birder, it’s wondering if the backyard visitors I always see at my feeder will end up as myths and taxidermied specimens. As a librarian, it’s wondering if the institutions I often called home will be felled by the swift axe that the invisible hand holds. It’s a weird feeling of perpetual free fall for a drop that is light years away.”

Page 9, Keegan is holding a book to the sky as they read it. They narrate “Learning is a language I’ve always used to make sense of the thoughts I’ve had swirling in my brain. Finding out ‘information capitalism’ was a thing was like learning about the leash that has pulled at my throat since I entered the schooling system. I am learning because I am not a person, but a tool to be put to a trade. The world around me whispers in my ear…”

“Feel wonder if you must, but don’t linger long enough to turn in something too late.” On page 10, Keegan lies on a grassy field looking up with the book on his chest. He narrates, “I can’t deny that’s a message hard to unhear. As of now, I don’t think I remember much before 2022 other than the grades I got.”

On page 11, a hand wipes a bathroom wall with a sponge. The bottom of the page is filled with floating bubbles. Keegan narrates, “This sounds silly, but I was in tears when I heard about the concept of degrowth this past week. It could’ve been the clorox I was using to clean my bathroom, but the toil of my body and mind must’ve come to some crashing conclusion when I listened past what we were assigned.” The quote goes, They’re essentially making the argument that if we stay on this growth path, the only end to that is, you know, our own extinction. They are not just saying it’s not possible. They’re also saying it’s not desirable. It’s the kind of life that you and I ultimately do not want. We don’t want to drown in just stuff. We want to have a life. We want to have time for each other. We want to have time for creative thinking and art and love and kindness.” The quote ends. It comes from Vox’s Blame Capitalism: Degrowing Pains and is spoken by Dirk Phillipsen.

On page 12, Keegan sits in the bathtub with a few tears. Narration goes, “It was just nice that someone smarter than me in this topic wants the same things I do. Time to live and space to breathe. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s one of those moments that culminate to tears when you’re having a rough week. This time, it was the reminder that this doesn’t have to be all there is to it. That there were people echoing my heartfelt belief that the system that tears down those I love doesn’t have to stay.

Page 13. A frog and toad book. “One-sided beef with Frank Webster aside, this unit has bolstered my love for librarianship. As hastily made and rambling this comic went, I realize I feel this strongly because I love this field so much. Against all odds, even as the internet grew to commodify knowledge, libraries adapted to the best of their abilities for their patrons. Why should some British dude make me wonder if libraries will continue to exist? As depressing as learning about capitalism gets, it’s helpful to understand the hand that takes from you. To understand why and how I’ve always been hurt by the systems that be and make sure I can lighten the blow for those who come after. I’ve learned there’s a lot that can come out of being so sad and scared about the future. Sometimes drawing it out (even if you turn in a late assignment) reminds you that there’s still so much ahead. That, and the fact I should probably read Frog and Toad sometime. So, uh, I’m gonna do that now. Bye!"

The references page lists several sources: Frank Webster’s “Theories of the Information Society.” An article by Brewster Kahle called, “The US library system, once the best in the world, faces death by a thousand cuts.” An article by Rachel Kramer Bussel called, “How Libraries Help Authors Boost Book Sales.” And a podcast episode from Vox’s Today Explained hosted by Noel King, titled “Blame Capitalism: Degrowing Pains.” end descriptions.

[cookieeks-art]

I don't really go here (don't have a computer or console to play the game on), but I got curious about this man after seeing him on my dash, and now I can't stop thinking about him. So here's some art I've made of him in-between scrambling to find gameplay videos featuring him and reading everything I can find about him online. (Feat what I imagine my builder would look like if I had the game. Her name is Frida and she's so far only wearing the basic clothes, bcs I'm not sure if I can properly figure out how she would dress unless I played the game. Also, I projected a little of my own trepidations with marriage on her, mostly because I imagine that even with Pen not wanting to be married it might hurt his ego a little for someone to be so happy that marriage with him isn’t on the table.) The text in the first panel in the comic is taken directly from the wiki, (apparently it’s his response when accepting a romantic confession?), but I apologise if he’s ooc in the rest of the comic, I'm still getting a feel for him.

(ID in alt and under cut!)

[ID:

A digital drawing of Pen from My time at Sandrock. It’s shows him shoulder up, from a profile view, a serious expression of his face. He’d shaded in a warm orange with light blue highlights. The background is a greyish green. In the lower right corner is a doodle of a person with long hair, grasping the air infront of them with a comically feral expression and text reading “I’m so normal about him” ending with a smiley face above her head. In the corner is aslo a signature reading “Cookieek”.

The second image is a digitally coloured sketch of Pen from My time at Sandrock. He’s vivible from the hips and up, and from a 3/4 perspective, standing against a gradient background, and smiling at something off screen. He has one hand on his hip and his cape is flowing beside him. He’s cast in warm orange light, with blue shadows. In the bottom of the picture is a signature reading “Cookieek”.

A comic in greyscale, featuring Pen and my builder Frida, a skinny woman with a round face, a scar on the left side of her chin, and light hair pulled up into a messy high ponytail. She’s dressed in the default builder outfit.

The first panel shows Pen looking down at Frida, smiling smugly with his hand under his chin, two stars around his head, and saying: “Very well! I promise you I will not only be the Protector of Sandrock, but the protector of you. Though you must know, I am in strong opposition to this strange concept called "marriage."”. Frida is looking up at him, her back to the viewer.

The second panel shows Frida beaming up at Pen who’s now the one with his back towards the viewer, she’s giving him a thumbs up, while exclaiming: “Then we are on the same page!” with a smiley face at the end. Beside her head is a small “yay!” written above another smiley, but with an open mouth smile. Pen appears to almost freeze up.

The third panel shows Frida walking away from pen with a pep in her step, a big happy smile on her face alongside a blush. “Terrified of marriage” is written above her head, with an arrow pointing to her. Pen is still standing in the same pose as before, but with a baffled expression on his face, and question marks around his head.

The fourth panel focuses in on Pens face, as he lowers his hand, appearing now to be both confused and slightly miffed, question marks still around his head.

The final panel shows Pen striking another confident pose, looking to the side with his fingers grazing his forehead, sparkles around his head. He smiles, and says “Ha! Poor Skinny! So upset, but trying to have good humor about it! I can see through it easily! But good play, good play.” He’s sweating slightly.

In the right lower corner is a signature reading “Cookieek”.

End of ID]

[shuuenka]

Of first meetings - Fei Bai Bing

ALT text under cut

She put down her cup and looked up at him. Aside from occassional nibble at pastry brought by a waiter she didn’t touch any of the food in front of her. 

‘’Color me curious, how did you find out I switched with my sister?”

‘’You accepted Princess Consort's invitation for the small banquet, while still acting as Fei Bai Ping,” Wu Chun Tian replied, and started his dinner. 

He noted her raised brow. 

He figured he should be as much truthful as he can - if he wants young miss Fei to come over to 9th Prince side. It’s tricky - Fei family is allied to 4th Prince by marriage granted by the Emperor. Fei Xin is by all accounts loyal to Lian Bai Wei. However after his little trip to temple in the mountains, he is quite sure that first and second miss’ of the household do not feel the same way. 

‘’Our Princess Consort enjoys a wide array of pastries,’’ he continued. ‘’Recently she’s been enjoying sweets brought by merchants to our Minli harbour from far off lands and wanted to share them once we’re in the capital.’’

Young woman at the other side of the table frowned, understanding visible in her eyes.

‘’And from what I know you sister does not eat pastries due to wasting-thirst disease, no?” he quipped.

‘’Being friends with my cousin comes in handy,’’ she said. 

‘’Can’t deny. Don't blame me - it's Fei Jing Rui who has loose mouth.”

‘’And then you visited my sister in the mountains and heard the rest of the story.”

“Out of curiosity, yes.”

She took another sip of her tea and gave a small sigh. 

Golden ornaments in her hair jingling as cocked her head, ’’So, what is that you want?”

‘’Xiao Lou Tai - or rather, the information that Xiao Lou Tai can provide me.”

Her lips curled into a smile, first one this spring afternoon. She hummed and refilled her tea and then added a drop of honey into the cup. 

Everything she does, he notes, is unhurried and graceful. As if she had all the time in the world. Makes sense for someone who schemed from the inside of 4th Prince mansion for a year.

‘’Does the 9th Prince not have his informants? If so, then he’s further from the race to the throne than I thought.”

‘’He has his informants, but not a whole network,’’ he admitted. ‘’What I want is much more than a group of runners and your Xiao Lou Tai has it.’’

He leaned on the table.

‘’You have a bloody feud with the 4th Prince. You have Xiao Lou Tai, but you don’t have means to bring him down, young miss Fei.’’

The clutter of the restaurant noise from below the balcony and some people passing by the room was the only indication that time has not slowed down or stopped.

‘’Three conditions,’’ Fei Bai Bing finally spoke. ‘’One - the information that you will be requesting will still cost you. Two - I do not want anyone else knowing about this deal. I do not plan to be anything but a young miss of the Fei family that just came back from the mountain temple.”

He nods. ‘’Reasonable enough. Third?”

‘’I want you to establish, by whatever means, a tea house in Minli.’’

He blinked.

‘’Does Xiao Lou Tai want to expand north?”

''Mine does.’’

He didn’t have to think twice about her conditions. He smiled back at the young woman sitting across from him, ‘’deal.’’

Her lips stretched in a sweet smile and she raised her cup of honey tea, as in toast.

‘’Very well. I don’t have bitter wine, so I’ll raise this cup of sweet tea to toast you. I fall down to hell, you will go down with me.”

‘’Miss, what kind of toast is this?”

He huffed out a laugh, but raised his own cup. That's fun.

Good, he thought.

Lian Bai Wei had his web of influence stretching across the whole capital and even further. He even reached for Xiao Lao Tai with this marriage.

Always a few steps ahead of him and his prince.

‘’Color me curious,’’ he said. There was one thing he didn't figure out in all ofthis mess. ‘’You made 4th Prince eat quite a loss when minister Li stepped down, thus breaking their unspoken alliance. How?”

‘’Oh, this is something for me to know,’’ she said standing up. And then with half of her face obscured by an embroidered fan, she turned to look at him and continued,’’ and if you’re as smart as people claim you are and curious - for you to find out.”

[typicalopposite]

oh and another make me write that's not firstprince i guess cuz i can and that's how i roll lolz

🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹

I swear Melz the FirstPrince sentences are coming!! 🫶🫶 but for this one… FIFTEEN sentences for Alt First Meet fic! 👀🫶

Buck stares down at his phone, nerves rolling, and writhing, and overlapping each other to the point he feels like he might hit the right vibration and phase right through his seat. The room is dark, and his phone's brightness is— of course— all the way up, so he has to be stealth with this wild idea he’s constructed.  He slides a hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone, going off muscle memory to unlock the screen and open messenger. He tilts it just enough to be sure the correct message is open (wouldn’t want to send it to the wrong person, not that it would really matter… but still), types out the words he has been dying to say all night, hits send, and waits.  The figure next to him shifts when his phone goes off, having apparently forgotten to silence it before the date. “Shit,” he hisses, pulling it out to quickly fix the error; he sees the text, and laughs. “Seriously?” Buck shrugs, doing his best to look seductive through the darkness, wishing the big screen in the front of the room would switch to a brighter scene to help him out. “And what exactly would that entail?” “Well for starters…” Buck grins, leaning in for a kiss that is quickly welcomed and reciprocated. He slides his tongue over his dates lips, and chuckles when he’s allowed access to dive in further. However, making out— hot as this particular session may be getting— is not what Buck had in mind. He breaks away, sliding out of his seat onto the floor, moving so he’s positioned in between his dates legs. He surges back up into the kiss as makes quick with his hands on the other man’s belt, button and zipper. “Up,” he instructs and smiles against parted lips as his date quickly obeys. 

I didn’t even count them it just landed right on 15 😜😜😜

[agent-toast]

@irregularityregularity, my friend, you have made a terrible mistake.

alt text: ok so theres this guy who is you and ur a secret agent and you have a handler in your earpiece who guides you and you solve puzzles in vr like an escape room and there are danger things like bombs and trapped shelves that will kill you if you activate them and you die but you can respawn and there is a big danger weapon in space called the death engine pointing at earth which is going to kill all the agents of ur agency which is bad and the person behind it is commander solaris and you defeat her and stop the death engine from engineing and in the process you accidentally fake ur death and then it turns out the person behind solaris is the head of the bad company thing called dr zor (ur agency company is called the enhanced operatives division/EOD btw) so then in the second game you find out that this annoying howlian actor called john juniper who calls himself the greatest actor ever, is actually working for zoraxis and your handler is like 'but but i liked that guy' so anyway zoraxis thinks you're dead right so john juniper thinks you're some other agent, he tries to kill you to stop you from finding out his top secret evil plan but you survive (well i assume you survive) and he realises 'oh shit this is the agent who supposedly died on the death engine' and he calls you agent phoenix because you 'came back from the dead' so he even more tries to kill you but eventually you find out that john juniper, along with an inventor of traps and stuff called the fabricator, is impersonating heads of state with a 'mimic mask' that lets you look and sound like the person you want to impersonate. they use the mask to steal the nuclear launch codes that all the heads of state have, so that they can launch some nukes and make the whole world know that zoraxis is in control of everyone now. they also kidnapped the real heads of state and, john impersonated the heads and made statements saying that they were friendly to zoraxis and wanted to work with them. (before, the real heads did not like zoraxis.) you manage to take the suitcase that holds the nuclear launch codes but john juniper sleeping gases you and takes it back, and kidnaps you and impersonates your handler :D you manage to escape, and because you put a tracking device on the suitcase, you find out where john juniper is conducting the final part of the plan, zOraXiS dEfEnsE (name of level i think). john is pretending to hold a peace summit with all the heads of state to show that zoraxis is in league with the heads, but in actuality he's being a drama queen and wants to show the whole world (its being broadcast) the moment he launches the nukes and takes over the world. you ride an elevator with nice music to the 'peace summit' and almost get killed by gunshots (this is part of the plot), the elevator stops working, then you use external power from some danger blades from zoraxis that were going to slice the ropes of your elevator to make it start again. you reach john juniper who's standing on a very thin platform in the middle of a hole (im assuming that's the place where the nukes are but idk). john juniper's like ahah you can't stop me but you turn on a lever that splits the platform in two, causing john to almost fall into the hole, but he just barely hangs on. dr zor's voice appears! and they say 'ahahah mr juniper u were never running the show' and electrocute him using the mimic mask that he's wearing. he falls off the platform and probably dies? idk? then dr zor launches the countdown for the nukes and you have five minutes to figure out how to stop the nukes using the modified briefcase. it kinda looks like a bunch of random puzzles. you solve it, but when you press the stop button, there's low power, so it doesn't work. so you use the external power you got from the elevator and plug it into the suitcase, ignoring what your handler says about the elevator being about to fall without power. you press the button woo and fall to your death.

maybe.

the third game is even harder to sum up than the first and second so i'll shorten it

dr prism is agency inventor and missing

she actually works for zoraxis because the agency rejected her idea to use robots as agents instead of humans

oh yeah i forgot you have telekinesis and she's the one who made ur telekinetic implant, using an ore called kinesium.

she made the robots using the kinesium and other stuff and now they're gonna kill you because prism wants to show the agency that robot agents are better than human agents and she knows you're very skilled, so killing the great agent phoenix will show the agency that the robot agents are better.

long story short you chase prism, die a lot, the robots get knocked out by zor and die, prism is angry at zor because zor used her, you guys find out zor wants to mine a million kinesium because heated and blown up kinesium messes with the telekinetic implants in agents' heads. if there's a loooot of kinesium, that means the agents will all die, and the radius of the explosion will be big enough to kill all the agents. you and prism go and stop zor in a volcano where all the kinesium is stored. you use your telekinesis to contain the blast, which really messes hard with your head and you black out. your handler and prism get worried about you and while you're out, prism carries you to a nearby beach then leaves because she says she can't face the agency rn. your handler reveals his distrust of chickens. one robot agent is actually alive and he's a good robot. the end. my god that was long

[chermibear]

Before this incident, I didn't know much about HIV/AIDS. But I did some research in preparation for this story update. I hope I handled the topic well enough 🥹

This has been something different, and I learned a lot along the way. Please let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback on how I could've handled the topic better.

𖹭 Thank you for reading! 𖹭

I'll check in with them again to see how they fare, and give an update

---

alt text:

TV: In today’s news, the price of land in Nordhaven runs the risk of rising beyond citizens... TV: Brindleton Bay properties are expected to go up in the next quarter and here is what Mr Bear, a resident has to say on the matter... TV: Next up we will be talking about the current health crisis in Strangerville. Authorities have issued warnings of severe danger and wishes for... Citra: *deep breath* Citra *to herself*: I can do this. I can do this. Citra clenches her fist to ready herself behind Caden. Citra: Cade... I'm back. Caden: Oh, I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in. How did it go? Citra: ...I have it too. Has HIV This Sim has HIV. They must take medication for it not to harm their immune system any further. So long as they take their medication, Sims who have HIV will keep their viral levels low and drastically reduce the possibility of transmitting the disease to WooHoo partners. Antiretroviral therapy may have some side effects, especially early on. Caden: Okay. Alright. Citra: They gave me the meds. Said it's manageable. That it's not what it used to be. Caden: Yeah. Same. I've been reading up on it. We're going to be okay. Citra: You don't have to do that. Caden: Do what? Citra: The whole "it's fine, we're fine" thing. I didn't handle it well when you told me. You don't have to pretend I did. Hard to Accept... (From Love Interest's Announcement) A love interest of Citra's just told her that they have a permanent WTD... That's big news, and perhaps too big news for Citra to handle. It's just scary... She's not sure she will ever know how to be fully comfortable about it... Granted, she doesn't know much about all that. Caden: You were in shock. I get it. (pause) I didn't tell you expecting anything. I just... didn't want to go through it alone. And I didn't want you to either. Citra: I thought maybe you'd blame me. Caden: I don't care where it came from. I care about what we do now. Citra: *voice breaking* I didn't mean to—I didn’t even know, Cade. I swear I didn’t know. Caden: I know. I believe you. Citra: I don't know how to do this. Caden: Me neither. But we're not broken. We're still us. Citra: I wanna have kids someday. You know? *laughs* I don’t even know why I’m saying that right now. Just— it just hit me. Like... is that still allowed? Caden: Yeah. It is. We’ll figure it out, babe. Together.