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

[randimason]

On the odd chance @fuckyeahgoodomens hasn’t been to Rory Kurtz’s website, they posted their key art for Good Omen’s Season Two.

Interesting choices of images to highlight. All gorgeous.

[lovable-liar]

UNPAID INTERN SCHLATT ASK

Schlatt watching y/n with the kids and just loving how they interact with them. Like Y/n hitting Schlatt over the head for teaching them about Andrew Cuomo and the kids laughing...

...I have baby fever.

...as do I, and it's his fault.

I also went very off task with this, I'm sowwy 🥺

When you got a message from Ludwig asking if you would like to be a contestant on a new game show of his, you were honestly very excited!

You were a huge streamer on the platform, but it wasn't often that you were called upon to compete in real life games!

You were a fan favorite on Name Your Price, for your style and your ability in the game, so after Ludwig pitched Unpaid Intern to you...

You were hooked.

And you were reeled in even further once you found out who you would be competing against!

Daniel Thrasher, a man of many talents and one you found yourself quote tweeting about a lot on your alt to "thank" him for his "service" in "aiding" you to "learn piano"

Lily Pichu, a lovely little lady that (when you ever encountered her) had only ever been the kindest thing to you

Kyedae, a friend of yours that you frequently streamed with and raided!

And jschlatt, infamous, Jonathan Schlatt.

A personal friend of yours!

You and Schlatt first met during the days of the Lunch Club, dark days, sure, but Ted, Charlie, himself, and yourself pulled each other up by the boot straps and created salvation!

Chuckle Sandwich was is that salvation.

And through salvation, you two had formed a strong bond. You created inside jokes for your communities, inside jokes between you and your co-hosts, and inside jokes that only the two of you would ever come to understand.

But, to say you were just friends is an understatement.

To be honest, neither of you really knew what you were.

But you both liked that!

Sure, it became a pain when trying to figure out if you could go out on a date with someone, but it was also nice because technically nothing was happening, you didn't have to hide anything from viewers.

But, Schlatt was always one of the first people you turned to if ever something happened, which, something had happened! You were competing against each other soon! You had to text him-

jslut: yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

toots💙: wat

jslut: ur on upi?

toots💙: upi?

jslut: unpaid intern

jslut: luds thing?

toots💙: ah yes upi

jslut: r u?

toots💙: yes...? 👀

jslut: kk

toots💙: ur so dry over text wtf?!!?!

jslut: i love you too, sugar tits 💙

When-

jslut: how long r u gonna be in texas for?

toots💙: couple days prob

toots💙: im trying to find ppl to film/do stuff with bc i dont wanna fly over just to do one thing and then just fly back

toots💙: productive, you get me?

jslut: film with me

jslut: ill find something for us to do

toots💙: alr but ive got a lot of bitches on my roster so be grateful im spending my time on you, slut

jslut: shut the fuck up, you're the slut here

toots💙: that's blatantly (racist/homophobic/sexist/etc.)

jslut: bye

toots💙: bye bye bbg, daddy can't wait to see you again <3

WHEN YOU GOT TO TEXAS (swear to god if you interrupt me again-)

You texted Schlatt a picture of you in the airport, stood in front of a promotional poster that had the american flag on it, saluting.

You shoved your phone back into your pocket in search of some good fucking food, but you couldn't quite focus on reading the menu while your ass cheek vibrated with fifteen (you counted each vibration) messages.

jslut: first of all, ur supposed to put ur hand on your heart, not fucking salute

jslut: second of all, what airport r u at?

jslut: i'll come get u

jslut: don't order an uber, they're shitty

jslut: i'll be ur uber

jslut: ill bring u a red fucking carpet

jslut: toots

jslut: toots

jslut: babycakes

jslut: did u order an uber?

jslut: did u get kidnapped? wtf

jslut: answer me toots

jslut: send me ur location

jslut: as soon as i see u im downloading a fucking tracker onto ur phone

toots💙: can you stop vibrating my ass for two seconds? im getting food

jslut: vibrating ur ass?

jslut: i wish

toots💙: food acquired, im at dfw

jslut: kk omw

toots💙: where should i meet u?

toots💙: r u kidding me?

toots💙: fuck u

You hunkered down in the food court to wait of the arrival of your beloved uber driver while you ate and played on your phone

You were expecting him to text you back any minute now since he never left his messages unanswered for too long (that's not entirely true, he never leaves *your* messages unanswered, ever, but he'd never tell you that, ever.)

But as 1:00pm became 1:26pm, you began to feel a little anxious

How long have you been sat here for?

Does that man want to sit here?

Should you move?

Are people staring?

Okay- just, stay seated, he'll be here soon.

Where are your headphones?

Where are your bags?!

Oh- okay, it's right there... where you left it.

And your headphones are around your neck.

Do you have your wallet?

Yeah, it's in one of your bags.

WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOUR BAGS-

"Heeey, toots! 'S good to see you again." A deep, familiar voice calls out, he has your bags too!

"I got you a baggy of fruit from seven eleven!"

"Aww, you shouldn't have!" He twirls his hair around his finger.

"Gotta feed my baby girl right."

"Alright, you're done." Schlatt announces, before bending down to grab a handful of the meat just above your knees before throwing you over his shoulder and tucking your bags under his other arm.

"Jonathan! You put me down right now!"

"No."

"People are staring!" You whisper shout.

"You called me 'baby girl' 'n the first five finger-fuckin' seconds of our first face to face conversation in three months instead of kissin' me, 'm not puttin' you down."

The walk back to his car consisted of kicking your legs, lots of people staring, a surprising amount of awing, Schlatt having to readjust your clothes every two to three seconds just so you'd keep a semblance of your dignity, and a security guard even opened the door for him!

I mean- this man could have legitimately been kidnapping you, and nobody even *attempted* to help you!

But, then again, you weren't really putting up *much* of a fight.

Once you reached his car, he opened the trunk and shoved your bags in before sauntering round to the passenger's side.

After he so chivalrously opened the door for you, he plopped you down into the seat from your perch on his shoulder, making sure to hold your head so you wouldn't bang it before he placed one hand on the dash and the other on the head rest.

He leaned you back slowly, playfully, before finally accepting his kiss from you.

It was nice.

It re-awoke the butterflies in your tummy that seemingly crisped up and died whenever he wasn't around.

After the extraordinarily drawn out kiss, you embarked on the scenic drive to Schlatt's house, where you found yourself having the first 'argument' with him in the months you hadn't seen each other.

"Where're you stayin'?"

"I booked a hotel-"

"Bull-fucking-shit I'm lettin' you stay at a fuckin' hotel, hotels are good for nothin'. You sleep in my room."

"But I paid money for that hotel room?"

"Ok? I'll pay you back."

"What?"

"Anythin' in these bags ya don't want me findin'?

"Wha-"

"I'm unpackin' for you, sweetheart."

"No, wha-"

"Ya jet lagged, go sit on the couch, watch somethin', I don' care."

Schlatt then proceeded to haul your bags upstairs and into his room, where, promptly, he shouted for you.

"Toots, I thought you said there was nuthin' in here! I've seen one of these before! 'S a.. fuckin' 'rose' vibe, or some shit?!"

"Don't touch that!"

"Whaaat?! Like I haven't seen your toys before! Like I haven't *been* your toy before."

"Schlatt!"

He also found your outfit for Ludwig's video.

"Heeey! This is cute! Gonna look like a little 50s detective more than an intern, but shit, are you gonna look adorable. 'S this your perfume? Shit, that smells good..."

He absolutely douses his own clothes in it

ONTO THE MAIN EVENT! (If anyone's still reading, anyway.)

You and Schlatt arrived together at 9:44 (which ended up giving you 2 points, whereas it landed Schlatt with 1)

After being presented with your first task, keeping a trio of toddlers entertained for fifteen minutes straight, you went straight into action.

You managed to find play dough, bubble wrap, a box of legos, some cardboard boxes, and some coloring materials!

You were the first of the bunch to entertain the kids.

"Helloooo everybody! Who do we have here?"

"Elijah!" "Rooney!" "Caleb!"

"Hey guys! I'm Y/N. Can you spell that? Let's see your handwriting, huh? On the board, can you guys write your names and then my name?"

Overall, you have an absolute blast with these guys.

First, they wanted to pop as many bubbles on the bubble wrap as they could while your phone counted down a ten second timer.

You laid out a sheet of the wrap before you all stood on your own section of it and danced, bounced, and rolled on it until the alarm sounded.

Then, the kids wanted to decorate their own boxes as cars that you pushed them around in!

A chorus of giggles and squeals could be heard emanating from the conference room from all the way across the building, even your own chuckles!

After that, Rooney, Elijah and you sculpted with the play dough while Caleb built with the lego.

Rooney made a dinosaur and Elijah made a lion, but you all gave extra props to Caleb who built all of you!

You were a little disappointed when the fifteen minutes were up, you gave each kid a high five and a ruffle of their hair before you stepped out of the conference room and closed the door (but the interaction truly ended after you pulled a face at them through the window.)

(That face definitely ended up as Schlatt's home screen.)

Next up, you were burdened with having to ensure that your backward speech is coherent and understandable!

Your key phrase was "Can I hold it while you pee?"

Surprisingly, VERY HARD!!!

You managed to get 'hold it' and 'pee'

But the rest of it?

Nada.

"Do people actually wanna hold guys'... you know... when they- pee..?" Daniel asked.

"Well- surprisingly, yes!" Ludwig, oh so helpfully, replied.

You immediately turned to Schlatt

"No, you cannot hold my dick while I piss."

Everyone erupted into laughter.

At this point, you were tied with Daniel in first!

For the map task, you were paired with Schlatt.

You two made a fucking powerhouse of a duo.

With his drawing skills and your knowledge that there was a map on the wall right to the left of you? You were UNSTOPPABLE.

And, with the last and final task, you immediately had to opt out.

The simultaneous, wet chewing sounds of EVERYONE in the room?

FUCK NO

You were not gonna be in that room for another *second*

But you didn't have to be!

You had already surpassed everyone else with flying colors.

Lud even gave you extra points for opting out because he needs a 'well-behaved employee who won't blow bubbles and stick gum to the underside of the desks.'

Schlatt did offer you some of his gum though, and when you stuck your hand out for, i don't know, a pristine, unchewed piece still wrapped in it's packaging, you got the complete opposite!

Just a glob of fluorescent pink, wet and chewed gum in the pit of your hand.

But, that's also how you found yourself here, in Schlatt's car after a long day, waiting in a drive thru.

"Today was great! You were real great with those kids, toots."

"Yeah?"

"Hell yeah!"

"I kept the lego figure Caleb made of me."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..."

"I wanna fuck a kid into you."

"Schlatt!"

[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

[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.

[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.

[soopersara]

[ID in alt text]

I decided to play around with some vector drawing software yesterday, sat down with the intention of just figuring out poses for something I wanted to eventually work on, and came back to reality three hours later with this thing finished! Gotta say, I'm pretty pleased with how it looks for three hours' worth of work.

(And I may have sort of, kind of, definitely put this together because I finished my I&S Book 1 podfic this week, and I've got like... 20-ish old podfics from before the time when I owned an actual microphone that I want to remake, and if I'm going to remake a bunch of podfics, I might as well have some accompanying art to go with them so that I can make video podfics and put them on youtube. I may have a problem called, "I'm incapable of not making extra work for myself".)

Transparent version below the cut because why not?

[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.

[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]

[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.

[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

[harmlessplant]

hii sorry for bothering, but how did you rip the parts for allan? me being the fool i am tried to wing it and downloaded jpexs and messed around and found myself wholly lost... i think your stuff is super cool and you inspire me a lot !! so i just wanted to reach out and see if you were okay w/ sharing the process? thank you

i have no idea what the most elegant way to do it is, but this is what i was able to figure out on my own:

first you need a swf of the game you want to rip the sprites from.

then you'll need a swf decompiler, i also used jpexs so that's what i'll be using in this example too

first, load the swf file into jpexs

you'll see a bunch of folders. This one, labeled "sprites" is where we'll be ripping from. But if you open the folder, you'll probably notice there's a lot of sprites to sort through. We specifically only want Allan, so we need to find his sprites specifically.

go to the "tools" tab up at the top, then hit the binoculars icon that says "text search". From there, we're gonna type in "allan" then press okay. It may take a few minutes to search through the entire file, just wait for it to finish.

After that, a new small window will pop up with all the search results. We're gonna click on one beginning with "customer_Allan" (it doesn't matter which one) then click on the "go to" button at the bottom.

it's going to take you to another part of the project file, you'll notice in the red box here all of Allan's various parts are listed. Right now we have his body selected, so the text on the right is showing us the data related to that part. If we look at the data, there will be a bit of yellow text near the top that begins with "symbol" and ends with a number. That number is what we're looking for. In this case, it's 592.

If we scroll back up in our project, back to the sprites, and we locate sprite 592 and select it, we can find Allan's body. It'll likely be flashing through the different alt styles when you click on it, that's normal. Once exported, you'll have each of those alt style bodies. In order to export it, we just have to click on the "Export selection" button here.

from here you can choose the file type you'd like, and what size it'll export at. I was exporting mine at 2000% but that's likely overkill for your needs. I wouldn't recommend exporting them at anything less than 500% though, as otherwise they will come out rather small.

And that's really it. Just repeat the process for each of Allan's pieces and then reconstruct him in the program of your choice.

There are some issues with the rips, you might notice in between the solid blocks of color on the sprites are transparent gaps. You can either fill those in yourself, or export them at a very large scale and size them down. Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to export them without the gaps yet

[up-in-flames-writing]

This is an old Twitter thread I'm posting here as an archive, when I eventually get banned on there for not tolerating transphobic abuse against me.

Still pretty relevant tho, even tho it was written almost a year & a half ago.

I'm sorry, I don't know how to do alt text, so here is the image ID under the cut:

[Image ID: A Twitter thread made by user Booker-Garet Feniks @abookandabun. The thread reads:

So, lately, I've been seeing some Takes™ on transition on here, & as a transman who looks like a baby butch lesbian, I have some Thoughts™, so here's a thread

First thing's first: I am short. I am skinny (read: underweight), & curvy. I have a more or less conventional hourglass figure. I also have a soft face, big lips & big eyes with long lashes. I keep my nails long & my hair long & when I cut them, they grow back fast

By all means, if I were a woman, I would be, if not conventionally attractive, at least conventionally feminine, with my small waist, wide hips, my long legs, & even my tiny tits. Despite this, I dress masculine. I hold myself like a man, I deepen my voice

My voice is naturally a bit deep, but not deep enough for there to be any ambiguity about what's in my pants. I still speak in a fake, deep voice, & when I introduce myself, I do it with a grin & tell everyone very openly 'my name is Booker-Garet'

Despite this, I do not pass. I am constantly Miss'ed & Ma'am'ed when I'm out & about. People who know me need to be told that I'm a man & go by he/him pronouns. Imagine that, imagine calling a teenage boy with an unambiguous male name 'she'. Imagine how I feel

How I feel when none of my efforts matter. How, when I'm at my most masculine while pre-op & pre-T, people see meas nothing more than a girl. It's distressing. I know what they're thinking, that I'm a tomboy or a lesbian. If they recognise that I'm trans, they don't show it

And, I feel like it's easy to get mad at GNC women. It's easy to get mad at the tomboys & the butches & the studs. 'They think I'm you' you might think. 'You're too visible & I'm not, & they think I'm you.'

I find it easy to blame a lot of ciswomen for this. The ones who tell me I should've just stayed a lesbian (which I never was), that I should've just been a tomboy (which I was), that I'm a traitor to womanhood (so be it). It is easy to get mad at them

It's hard being a trans guy, when the only pieces of masculinity coming from a female person people are aware of are the ones who are women, who stay women & who love being women. I didn't love being a woman. I love women, I love my cis & trans sisters

But I can't help feeling bitter when they perform masculinity & no one denies their womanhood, no one on the right side of history. But I can be my most manly self & even my allies feel that I'd just be better off as a lesbian, as a masculine woman.

As if masculinity is alright, is safe, as long as you're a woman who performs it, but the moment you're a man performing masculinity, you're not worth the time, the effort, the brain power.

Almost as I'd it's easier for people to accept me as a masculine woman, with my deep voice & my masculine name, than admit to the fact that I am a man

It's hard to admit that you don't pass. It's hard to admit that I'm not a 'real man', whatever that means. It's not, however, hard to admit that I don't have privilege. It's not hard to admit that I face misogyny.

It's not hard to admit that if you're AFAB & masc presenting, nothing short of a Thor voice & a Gandalf beard, & body hair like a gorilla will make people see you as anything but a woman. Because if I don't say this, who else will? I can't let people live a lie

I can't let people keep on believing that 'transmascs have it easier', that it's easier for us to pass. I can't let people keep believing that we 'run away from womanhood to have male privilege'. Where's my male privilege, Joanne? Did it get lost in the Owl Mail?

People will keep on believing that we have it easier, that we don't face discrimination, that we don't get misgendered & assaulted & killed. They will keep believing that, & they will keep ignoring us & our oppression, unless someone finally says 'Enough!' & tells their story

& I'm a good story teller, so I'm telling you. I don't pass, I wish I did, but I don't. Many of my brothers do not pass. Stop ignoring us just because you think we have it 'easier'. We don't, & your inaction is allowing us to get killed. Do better

End image ID]

[multiplicity-positivity]

I only have 2 headmates and idk how to get along with them :(

For context they're both OCS (one old, I made her in 3rd grade and one is new- made very recently) and they unfortunately know that. The issue is that all of my ocs have bad things happen often and I imagine they hate me for that

They also hate each other's guts for other reasons but it just sucks not having any peace

Hmm… we know it can be really really hard to get along with other headmates sometimes! And your headmates being OCs probably really complicates the situation, huh?

We have a little note that we keep with us when we’re feeling overwhelmed and stuck in memory time:

(ID in alt text!)

This really helps us when we’re starting to feel guilty for not handling our childhood trauma better, or feeling like we’re never going to be good enough because of what happened to us, or trying to bear the weight of our history on our shoulders all the time! Our therapist told us the mantra and we wrote it down to keep handy :3

This helps us deal with painful childhood memories… But! we really feel like this sort of message may help people with exotrauma or painful exomemories too! >w<

As writers and creators, it’s okay to put your characters in difficult or traumatizing situations!! It comes with the territory of being an artist!! And you shouldn’t have to put a stop to that or feel guilty about it just because your OCs developed into headmates!!

But for your headmates…. It makes sense that this stuff will bother them! It makes sense that they might have to process exotrauma because of some decisions made by their creator (you!). It’s possible to allow them space, to support them on this process, and to recognize that you may have made choices regarding their histories… but that doesn’t make you at fault even one bit!!

Exotrauma can be really tricky and also icky to navigate! We have alters with exotrauma in our system and it’s been a wild ride helping them process it while other members process real-life trauma! But being willing to help and listen, not judging your headmates for feeling certain ways about their circumstances, and understanding where their apprehension comes from could all really help you be there for them when they need it!!! Does that make sense to you? Idk if I’m using “apprehension” right lol but I mean like their wariness or cautiousness or unwillingness to put the past behind them and get to know you!

Speaking of getting to know you… maybe y’all should try conducting interviews to get to know each other!!

I made this headmate interview form a while back! it’s a fun, laidback way for headmates and alters to start learning about each other as they are now, not as they once were!!

Could y’all perhaps spend some time conducting lighthearted, low-stakes interviews to figure out what each other likes and what they are like? And once you have a good idea, you can start going out of your way to do nice things for each other!!!

If we’ve learned anything in therapy, it’s that kindness, apologies, forgiveness, and compassion can be amazing tools for coming together as a team!! Our frequent fronter group is able to work together the way we do because of this!! Like this time last year, I never would’ve dreamed I’d ever cofront with Kandi to work together on art or posts and stuff… but here we are!! And it’s all thanks to learning more about each other and daring to show each other compassion even when we didn’t want to!! :333

So in the end, we don’t know for sure what will help y’all reach a mutual understanding and stop hating each other…. But we can give you advice for what’s helped us in the past! We still have alters who hate each other (ahhhhh) but at least we’re making progress!!! And that’s what counts!! We Can Move Forward!! And we believe y’all can too!! >w<

💚 Ralsei and 🦇 Alucard (or Kandi - bats got two names and likes them used interchangeably!)