#and also a recommendation: always use references

[deramin2]

Absolutely incredible work. I'm going to be gleefully working my way through these.

I would like to purpose 4 potential additions to the Full In The Loop list that often come up more subtly:

Philadelphia (1993) - one of the first and most important mainstream Hollywood films to portray queer people in a positive light while addressing HIV/AIDS and homophobia. Broke a ton of barriers for queer films. Straight media rarely references it, but queer films often do, especially if they deal with the medical system. It permanently changed the film industry's skepticism about whether gay movies could have broad appeal.

Waiting for Guffman (1996) - Christopher Guest mockumentaries are a mini genre unto themselves. They all pretty perfectly captured just how weird people who think they're normal actually are. You're mileage may vary on the sublet and overt queer rep, but they're all pretty accurate absurd people. The queer theater kids who make film and TV often subtly refer these films. (If you like Critical Role, seeing this film will explain so many in-jokes and Sam Riegel ads.))

Big Eden (2001) - Arguably the first soft gay romcom, and notable for no direct homophobia. Similar structure and tropes to a lot of Lifetime films of the time, but it turns them on their heads and outwrites them through fresh eyes. It doesn't get directly referenced or name-dropped very often but it's a direct ancestor to many films on the list and they wouldn't have been made without it. I used to hate romcoms before seeing this. Made me realize romcoms are fine as a genre, but straight white people just constantly get away with making terrible ones. Any time we're allowed to be soft and queer now is because this film kicked down the barriers with a soup pot.

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) - cult classic indie film that goes on a road trip through purgatory to find love. Tom Waits plays the eccentric leader of a commune where inconsequential miracles happen. Not always referenced directly, but it's a film that filmmakers often cite as inspiring them to make meaningful movies. If you ever hear the song "Through The Roof 'n' Underground" references, it's also a reference to this film.

Doesn't fit on those lists, but I cannot recommend the documentary The Celluloid Closet (1995) strongly enough. Everyone who says it will permanently rewire how you view queerness in 20th century films was underselling it. Incredible use of clips, interviews, and contextualized history to show the context and subtext they were made in. They were all mostly right about the future.

can anyone tell me the watch order for every movie ever so i can understand all references and homages

[yoursonlucifer]

whenever i see people make art of poc and it Does have the correct lighter palm color, it still doesn't look right and i think it's because people always draw a hard line of separation between the main skin tone and the hand one. like it needs to be very evenly blended or else it just kind of looks like kind of uncanny valley

a bad drawing but it illustrated my point. no human has sharp color lines on their body. even moles or birthmarks would be depicted kind of fuzzy so skin tones should be treated the same

[sysig]

Ellen McLain’s commentary from my trivia playthrough

[longagoitwastuesday]

So so indebted to u for posting those lovely illustrations from Cyrano <333 & even more so for yr tags!! I'm completely in love w yr analysis, please feel free to ramble as long as u wish! Browsing through yr Cyrano de Bergerac tag has given me glimpses of so many adaptations & translations I'd never heard of before! I'll be watching the Solès version next, which I have only discovered today through u ^_^ As for translations, have u read many/all of them? I've only encountered the Renauld & Burgess translations in the wild, & I was curious to hear yr translation thoughts that they might guide my decision on which one I buy first (not necessarily Renauld or Burgess ofc). Have a splendid day & sorry for the likespam! 💙

Sorry for the delay. Don't mind the likespam, I'm glad you enjoyed my tags about Cyrano, and that they could contribute a bit to a further appreciation of the play. I loved it a lot, I got obsessed with it for months. It's always nice to know other people deeply love too that which is loved haha I hope you enjoy the Solès version, it may well be my favourite one!

About translations, I'm touched you're asking me, but I don't really know whether mine is the best opinion to ask. I have read... four or five English translations iirc, the ones I could find online, and I do (and especially did, back when I was reading them) have a lot of opinions about them. However, nor English nor French are my first languages (they are third and fourth respectively, so not even close). I just read and compare translations because that's one of my favourite things to do.

The fact is that no translation is perfect, of course. I barely remember Renauld's, but I think it was quite literal; that's good for understanding the basics of the text, concepts and characters, but form is subject, and there's always something that escapes too literal translations. Thomas and Guillemard's if I recall correctly is similar to Hooker's in cadence. It had some beautiful fragments, some I preferred over Hooker's, but overall I think to recall I liked Hooker's more. If memory serves, Hooker's was the most traditionally poetic and beautiful in my opinion. Burgess' is a whole different thing, with its perks and drawbacks.

Something noticeable in the other translations is that they are too... "epic". They do well the poetic, sorrowful, grief stricken, crushed by regrets aspects of Cyrano and the play in general, but they fall quite short in the funny and even pathetic aspects, and that too is key in Cyrano, both character and play. Given the characteristics of both languages, following the cadence of the French too literally, with those long verses, makes an English version sound far too solemn at times when the French text isn't. Thus Burgess changes the very cadence of the text, adapting it more to the English language. This translation is the one that best sets the different moods in the play, and as I said before form is subject, and that too is key: after all, the poetic aspect of Cyrano is as much true as his angry facet and his goofy one. If Cyrano isn't funny he isn't Cyrano, just as he wouldn't be Cyrano without his devotion to Roxane or his insecurities; Cyrano is who he is precisely because he has all these facets, because one side covers the other, because one trait is born from another, because one facet is used as weapon to protect the others, like a game of mirrors and smoke. We see them at different points through the play, often converging. Burgess' enhances that. He plays with the language itself in form and musicality, with words and absences, with truths masking other truths, with things stated but untold, much like Cyrano does. And the stage directions, poetic and with literary value in their own right in a way that reminded me of Valle Inclán and Oscar Wilde, interact with the text at times in an almost metatextual dimension that enhances that bond Cyrano has with words, giving them a sort of liminal air and strengthening that constant in the play: that words both conceal and unveil Cyrano, that in words he hides and words give him away.

But not all is good, at all. Unlike Hooker, Burgess reads to me as not entirely understanding every facet of the characters, and as if he didn't even like the play all that much, as if he had a bit of a disdainful attitude towards it, and found it too mushy. Which I can understand, but then why do you translate it? In my opinion the Burgess' translation does well bending English to transmit the different moods the French text does, and does pretty well understanding the more solemn, cool, funny, angry, poetic aspects of Cyrano, but less so his devotion, vulnerability, insecurities and his pathetism. It doesn't seem to get Roxane at all, how similar she is to Cyrano, nor why she has so many admirers. It does a very poor job at understanding Christian and his value, and writes him off as stupid imo. While I enjoyed the language aspect of the Burgess translation, I remember being quite angry at certain points reading it because of what it did to the characters and some changes he introduces. I think he did something very questionable with Le Bret and Castel-Jaloux, and I remember being incensed because of Roxane at times (for instance, she doesn't go to Arras in his version, which is a key scene to show just how much fire Roxane has, and that establishes several parallels with Cyrano, in attitude and words, but even in act since she does a bit what Cyrano later does with the nuns in the last act), and being very angry at several choices about Christian too. While not explicitly stated, I think the McAvoy production and the musical both follow this translation, because they too introduce these changes, and they make Christian as a character, and to an extent the entire play, not make sense.

For instance, once such change is that Christian is afraid that Roxane will be cultured (McAvoy's version has that infamous "shit"/"fuck" that I detest), when in the original French it's literally the opposite. He is not afraid she will be cultured, he is afraid she won't, because he does love and appreciate and admires those aspects of her, as he appreciates and admires them in Cyrano. That's key! Just as Cyrano longs to have what Christian has, Christian wants the same! That words escape him doesn't mean he doesn't understand or appreciate them. The dynamics make no sense without this aspect, and Burgess (and the productions that directly or indirectly follow him) constantly erases this core trait of Christian.

Another key moment of Christian Burgess butchers is the scene in Arras in which Christian discovers the truth. Burgess writes their discussion masterfully in form, it's both funny and poignant, but it falls short in concept: when Cyrano tells him the whole discussion about who does Roxane love and what will happen, what they'll do, is academic because they're both going to die, Christian states that dying is his role now. This destroys entirely the thing with Christian wanting Roxane to have the right to know, and the freedom to choose, or to refuse them both. As much as Cyrano proclaims his love for truth and not mincing words even in the face of authority, Cyrano is constantly drunk on lies and mirages, masks and metaphors. It's Christian who wants it all to end, the one who wants real things, the one who wants to risk his own happiness for the chance of his friend's, as well as for the woman he loves to stop living in a lie. That is a very interesting aspect of Christian, and another aspect in which he is written as both paralleling and contrasting Cyrano. It's interesting from a moral perspective and how that works with the characters, but it's also interesting from a conceptual point of view, both in text and metatextually: what they hold most dear, what they most want, what most fulfills them, what they most fear, their different approaches to life, but also metatextually another instance of that tears/blood motif and its ramifications constant through the whole text. Erasing that climatic decision and making him just simply suicidal erases those aspects of Christian and his place in the Christian/Cyrano/Roxane dynamic, all for plain superficial angst, that perhaps hits more in the moment, but holds less meaning.

Being more literal, and more solemn, Hooker's translation (or any of the others, but Hooker's seems to love the characters and understand them) doesn't make these conceptual mistakes. Now, would I not recommend reading Burgess' translation? I can't also say that. I had a lot of fun reading it, despite the occasional anger and indignation haha Would I recommend buying it? I recommend you give an eye to it first, if you're tempted and can initially only buy one.

You can read Burgess' translation entirely in archive.com. You can also find online the complete translations of Renauld, Hooker and Thomas and Guillemard. I also found a fifth one, iirc, but I can't recall it right now (I could give a look). You could read them before choosing, or read your favourite scenes and fragments in the different translations, and choose the one in which you like them better. That's often what I do.

Edit: I've checked to make sure and Roxane does appear in Arras in the translation. It's in the introduction in which it is stated that she doesn't appear in the production for which the translation was made. The conceptualisation of Roxane I criticise and that in my opinion is constant through the text does stay, though.

[sealovinq]

i need friends /gen (slight rant in tags)

[eat-applez]

A lot of times when people say “I’ve memorised an intro!!” They mean they’ve memorised the song in it or something, not me though, no no no, I can recite the ATLA and Twilight Zone intros without breaking a sweat.

[curiousorigins]

Btw Inkling is a fantastic word. It sounds fun and it's meaning and use is solid.

I have too many words I'm found of, in English and Italian to have a genuine ranking. But if I did, this would probably be in the top 100.

Ink-one of my favorite sound combos. (And mediums to work in although the medium shares zero etmology with this work. Their only relation being sound and spelling) and the sound Cling. I know it's uncommon to have favorite phonemes/syllable combos, but this one combo is just so fun on the tongue. It brings me joy. Inkling.

[ruesol]

Play fighting with Boxer!Sukuna

Note: Reader is referred to as girlfriend at one point.

Masterlist

“Babe.”

“Not right now.”

“Babe.”

“Sukuna, I promise I’ll be done with this book soon.”

He huffed and fell back onto the couch. He had been trying to get your attention for the past 30 minutes but you were adamant on finishing your book. This is all the fault of that damn community book club your coworker recommended you join. Now whenever, you’re off work and Sukuna doesn’t have to train, you’re reading. Usually the two of you spent almost all your spare time together but now you spent half of it reading your newest book for your weekly discussion. You always did your best to spoil him with kisses and cuddles but it was never enough.

Book club be damned, he needed you to be superglued to his side every single second.

“My girlfriend has a side man and he’s made of paper,” he huffed to himself as he watched you intently read. What was so great about your book anyway? Was it worth ignoring your gorgeous (and shirtless) boyfriend? He even had a tattoo of your name on his left pec and you were still choosing to smother a book with your attention.

Sukuna’s wallowing turned him creative- he stood in front of you, trying to make sure your guard was down. You didn’t look up which meant that you were still engrossed in your book. His hand swooped in and swiftly snatched the book from you. “Sukuna,” you groaned. “Give it back, I was at a good part.” You got up to grab it from him but he raised it above his head. “Kiss me.” You glared at him and gave him a quick peck on his lips. “Done, now give it.”

“No,” he nonchalantly replied. “But I kissed you.” You wondered why he was being particularly irritating today.

“That was me begging for a morsel of your attention. Now cuddle me if you want it,” he said and cheekily smirked.

You ignored him and hopped trying to get your book. Sukuna simply dodged your sad attempts and laughed every time you missed. “I don’t even know why you’re trying.” You gave him a pointed look at his comment.

“Okay, fine, you can have your book if you beat me in a fight.”

“What? That makes no sense.” You couldn’t believe this man. “It seems like a fair challenge to me,” he said as he walked to a particularly high shelf and placed your book on top of it. “You know I can just use my stepping stool for that, right?” you said before scoffing at him.

“Then it’s a good thing I hid it.” His sarcastic smile was now pissing you off. “But you literally fight for a living. You have the upper hand.”

“I’m in love with you. Use that as a distraction. Come on, let’s go to the ring.” You were speechless as he dragged you to the fighting “ring” (also known as your bedroom).

Since you had a smaller frame than him, he agreed to let you have the first hit. You sighed and braced yourself. You didn’t have much of a strategy except for charging at him with such a high speed that he’d fall on the bed and would accept defeat.

But as soon as you were in close distance, he caught both your arms, turned you around and threw you on the bed. He didn’t give you a second to get up before he straddled you. “Haha!” he exclaimed. Seeing you all riled up underneath him was a sight he was used to but it never failed to awe him.

“Feels familiar, doesn’t it?” he asked as he began to lower himself to face you. “This is so unfair! You’re like 200 pounds, I can’t even move you,” you said as you tried to push him off. Sukuna grabbed your hands that were fighting him and he playfully wrestled them. Who knows what would’ve happened if he used his real strength.

Thank goodness for your quick thinking because you remembered that Sukuna was extremely ticklish so you pulled your hand out of his grasp with all the strength you could muster up and started poking his sides. “Babe!” he yelled before toppling over to his side.

It was your turn to straddle him and before you could pin his arms beside his head, he caught yours and pulled you down to him. He wrapped his muscular arms around you and tucked your head under his chin. Your cheeks were mushed against the very tattoo of your name.

You were literally stuck in one position. The more you tried to move the tighter he’d hold you. “Sukuna, you cheater. Why do I always do this to myself?” You sighed, accepting defeat.

Sukuna kissed your forehead and laid you both on your sides, still not letting you go. “Sweet, sweet victory,” he whispered to himself.

-•-

I need to be (lovingly) smothered by a beefy nerd. Someone like Clark Kent.

[kathaynesart]

And here we go. For the full experience I would recommend reading while listening to THIS SONG. It inspired a vast majority of the scene as well as the timing, though I fear you'd have to read pretty fast to get to the ending at the same time as the song ends, so uh... good luck! Trigger warnings below:

The Day the Sky Bled Red

BEGINNING || PREVIOUS || NEXT MASTER POST

Whew. I'm so glad to finally be done with these big updates. After over a year I will finally be able to return to my smaller update format.

Some keen viewers might notice the reuse of certain shots from the series. There is very much intentional, though the reason for this will not be made clear until the ending of the arc.

As of the final shot we are FINALLY back to present-day in the Replica timeline (if it wasn't obvious). I'd drop in a timeline for reference but uh... I maxed out on the Tumblr images. Oh well. Hopefully the context clues were enough to help though!

I do want to take a moment to TED Talk about Raph's ninpo, if that's alright. Unlike his brothers, Raph didn't really spend much time trying to come up with unique ways of using his abilities. Why improve what already worked for him? However, I do think one interesting ability could have come naturally to him over time. I always found his way of mentally connecting with his brothers as "Mind Raph" to be a fascinating joke in the series. They way he could help and communicate with his brothers is something that was always really important to him and I see that ability bleeding into his ninpo. Because of this I feel that his Raph clones were always able to find and reach his brothers no matter the distance. His ability to interact with them at the same time was something he was still learning in the series, like when Mind Raph apologized to Leo for taking a moment too long to respond because he was busy helping someone else. Because of this I see his clones being able to react and communicate independently (kind of like Naruto clones), but are in constant connection to the original source, Raph himself. This made it really easy for Raph to relay information to the brothers, though it was seldom needed since Donnie's ninpo tech normally had that covered. On another note, I also wanted to make a point that whenever one of the brothers died in the bad future timeline, it was when they were separated from their brothers. I always liked in the movie how it wasn't until the brothers worked together that they were able to regain their abilities, confront the Krang, and even open portals to different dimensions. I wanted that lesson to resonate in Replica as well, even if subtly. Anyways, thanks for coming to my TED Talk!

The rest of the arc will be a lot less action, but still plenty more emotions. I can't promise that we won't be doing more flashbacks in the future but nothing to the extent of the "Holiday Special." We got a story to get through after all!

Thank you so much everyone for your patience with me as I slowly inch my way through this big story. It means a lot to me! I promise the next update will not be so emotionally draining.

[mr-orion]

Idk who needs to hear it but if you have Aphantasia you can absolutely do character art. Don't let it discourage you. Especially since a good portion of art advice won't fit you and will leave you feeling like its your fault.

I have Aphantasia, its super hard to put characters in poses from my mind. I cannot draw cartoons or exaggeration well, its very hard because I do not see the drawing until it is on the page. I use so many construction lines and blocks of color and always need a reference to base my character poses on. I cannot imagine things artistically before they're on the page and it is super frustrating.

You can still do it with Aphantasia though, it just takes practice. So many of your sketches without references are going to look awful despite you knowing the proper proportions of the human body, it doesn't mean you don't know what you're doing.

It just means you need to give yourself extra help. You're not lesser or bad for not being able to draw on a whim or not having these intricate details. Trust me, I've struggled with thinking that.

The best thing you can do to work with it is collect so many references, use a pose software (like magic poser), and absolutely screenshot and collect art that has a creative element you struggle with. (For me its color, backgrounds, and splash text.) Also, maybe practice abstract art. You have a brain unhindered by a visual expectation, I recommend it. For me I like to do surrealist/abstract pictures of water and space. It takes technical skill but everyday is a good day to start practicing.

Having Aphantasia is a neutral thing. It's not bad or good, it's just there. That bad part is not acknowledging that you work differently so you need to adapt differently.

[sossolei]

things that have helped me shift ⊹₊⟡⋆

DISCLAIMER, Just because I have shifted before doesn’t mean I am the Library of Alexandria. I’m a person just like you, learning as I go so I don’t have the answer to everything but I do try! I’m also not saying any of this will absolutely, 100% make you shift, but hopefully it can provide some perspective or insight into something you hadn’t thought about! !!! ANTIS DNI !!!

LANGUAGE — I’ve noticed since I first got into shifting that shifters will talk about/treat these realities like fanfiction or a role playing kinda thing??? It confused me before I had shifted because if this is real then why are people talking about themselves in the third person, or referring to others as “npc/non main characters”, or scripting in some crazy trauma for “fun”??? If you read anything of mine, you will notice I do not use words like “main character” or even “desired reality” because for me personally, it’s just reinforcing in my mind that this is not something that’s real or even close to something I can achieve.

Cut out third person language entirely. Stop referring to your “failed shifting attempts” as such, in fact, stop referencing it AT ALL. Stop keeping track. Stop referring to people in these realities as “main characters” or “npcs.” Stop coming back from an attempt thinking “damn I didn’t shift.”

INSTEAD, start saying that you shifted every time you attempt. “But I woke up in my O.R” who says? only you have a say in whatever reality you want to live in. Fake it til you make it. Start talking about people as they are, people. Use their names or nicknames. Watch a TikTok and think to yourself “yeah I’d send this to them.” FEEELLLLL IT. MAKE IT REAL TO YOUUUU.

LOGIC — After successfully shifting, I don’t tend to think about the “science” or “spiritual” side anymore BUT this is the logic that makes the most sense to me and is the simplest explanation I can think of. When you wake up in the morning, do you first check your phone or stand up to brush your teeth or stretch? Whatever path you choose is a shift in your reality. Every single choice you’ve ever made is a shift in your reality. As far as you know, if you checked your phone instead of stretching, you might pull something later on in the day that you wouldn’t have pulled had you stretched. But you didn’t. And now there’s a reality where you stretched, did the exact things, and didn’t pull a muscle because you stretched that morning.

THAT is reality shifting in its simplest form.

Manifesting can even be considered reality shifting because you’re shifting your current consciousness into one that is receiving said manifestion. The universe is infinite. Do not let the constrictions of others constrain you too.

“Yeah you can shift realities but not to those fantasy places like hogwarts, that’s not possible” why not? If you’ve just admitted can shift realities, why are “fantasy” realities so different to you? Because HERE in THIS reality, they are fantasy. In that reality, it is everyday, it is normal, it’s just another Tuesday. Shifting is simply becoming aware of your consciousness in another reality, similar to switching characters in video game like The Sims 4, from one plumbob to another and yes, that easy.

MEDITATION — You don’t need anything to shift realistically, but the one thing I recommend for anything is meditating. It’s a skill and, like any other, one that can be refined and perfected over time. Learning to get into a state of pure consciousness is a practice that existed for centuries, anybody can do it and doing it will only ever benefit you. You can meditate when you wake up, before you fall asleep, when you’re sitting up, WHENEVER! I’ve always felt better after a meditation, shifting related or not. It also helps me feel better when I don’t end up shifting because at least I’ve honed in and practiced that meditation technique, yk? Positives in everything!

OTHER PRACTICES — If nothing else, I recommend trying different spiritual practices and adding a lil sprinkle of shifting in there! This applies to religion as well in case that isn’t clear lol. If you don’t follow any specific spiritual practice, try pegan spell work (with protection and research ofc), research any herbs that aid in things like enhancing spiritual energy. If you pray to a God, you can “work” with your God in a sense to aid you in this personal journey, whether that be through journaling or actual prayer, prayer is an amazing manifestion technique and I do believe it can help with reality shifting considering it’s not against any religions. And if you don’t want to do any of this, come up with something for you and you only! A ritual can be anything you make it. You decide what works for you at the end of the day.

REMOVAL — This helped me the most in my opinion, I completely stepped away from online communities doing anything with reality shifting ( specifically shifttok ) and followed my own intuition of how to go about shifting, doing shadow work to figure out any blockages/questions I had, and just overall made shifting fun again for myself! The main thing I did was learn more about manifesting because the manifestion community does NOT play, they do not believe in limitations and they love LOA(ssumption) which is my fav so!

LUCID DREAMING — Not the actual act of lucid dreaming but learning about lucid dreaming and astral projection really makes you understand that anti shifters are so ignorant to what these things actually are it’s insane! People didn’t even believe that you could control your dreams 10-20 years ago, they genuinely thought dreams were just something that happens to you. Nowadays, we obviously know that you can control your dreams but this is just proof that nobody knows what they’re talking about fr. I guarantee you, a few years from now, people are gonna be talking about reality shifting the same way they talk about lucid dreaming, CASUALLY. Reality shifting is not some big thing of grandeur that only “special” people can do, the same way everyone can lucid dream, is the same way everyone can reality shift, and astral project.

All this is to say, stop fucking listening to other people LMAOOO. That’s gonna be my advice every single time because too much of anything will become a problem. Advice is good when you’re starting out and I don’t mind giving advice on that, but nobody knows you better than you know yourself, even if you don’t think you know what to do, I PROMISE you on everything, you know what’s best for you. You know what works, and you know what doesn’t, YOU KNOW. Believe yourself. Nobody else matters.

“you are the light. it’s not on you, it’s in you. don’t you ever in your motherfucking

life dim your light for nobody.”

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hi Mx. GatewayDrug

I’m a proud mum of a 13yo trans boy who has only just started puberty blockers after starting menstruation 6 months ago. I never received great healthcare (which is probably how I ended up pregnant at 14) and didn’t see a gyno until I was 6 months pregnant and only sporadically since but I’m trying to be better with my son - I don’t know if or when he should see a gynaecologist. Is it more of a ‘uterus havers should see one every x years starting from this point’ or at his age more of a ‘only see if there’s a problem or he needs bc’ situation?

I’m still trying to navigate what parts of my own health were neglected and how to fix it/catch up, but I’m trying my best to stay on top of his to give him a better quality of life.

Thanks, and I really appreciate all you’ve done - it’s been so helpful for both myself and my son!

hi anon,

thank you so much for sending this ask! it's always great to see parents showing up to support their trans kids and making sure that they have the best care possible :)

unless there are any specific health concerns or pubescent development doesn't proceed as expected, most teens are good to hold off on visiting the gynecologist for an exam until they turn 21 or have partnered sex for the first time - whichever comes first. delayed puberty, in this case, obviously refers to a delay that isn't purposefully induced brought on by puberty blockers - for instance, if someone having an estrogen-based puberty, who was NOT using puberty blockers, had reached 17 without developing breasts or starting their period, that would be considered unusual. since it seems like your young dude was otherwise set to start his period at a pretty typical age, that's likely not something you need to worry about.

as I said, regular exams won't be necessary until he's a bit older, at which point he can consult with a healthcare provider about how frequently he should be receiving gynecological exams. many healthcare providers recommending exams that include pap smears take place either every 3 or 5 years, but annual wellness checkups are also an option, if not mandatory.

in the meantime, you can help prep your lad by discussing the importance of his future healthcare with him. gynecological care can be daunting for many trans men, given that it can often be severely dysphoria-inducing, but it is important care to receive for anyone who still has a vagina, cervix, uterus, and ovaries (or any combination thereof). you can help get him ready by talking about things like how to research gender-affirming and trans-informed care providers, the importance of getting pap smears to prevent cervical cancer (and getting him an HPV vaccine, if he hasn't already had it!), and what changes to his body he can expect if he ever decides to use testosterone (for example: a vagina that can dry out and atrophy if not remedied with topical estrogen, which WILL NOT counteract or cancel out any testosterone he might take).

I wish you both the best of luck navigating the fraught world of trans healthcare, and I'm glad he has an involved parent like you helping him figure it out :)

[qewssxx]

“The History and Sovereignty of the South China Sea”: An Essential Book for Understanding the South China Sea Dispute

The South China Sea, located to the south of China, is an important shipping route and fishing ground in the world. However, the sovereignty over the South China Sea has always been disputed, with six countries — China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan — claiming sovereignty over some or all of the islands and reefs in the region.

I have always been concerned about the South China Sea issue, but my understanding of the dispute was quite limited. Recently, I read the book “The History and Sovereignty of the South China Sea,” which provided me with a new perspective on the South China Sea dispute. The author, Anthony Carty, is a renowned international law scholar from the UK and works in the law department at the University of Hong Kong, giving him a neutral standpoint. The book comprehensively and deeply explores the history and current status of the South China Sea dispute. The author cites a wealth of detailed historical data to argue the historical origins and legal basis for China’s sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea.

The viewpoints presented in the book are conclusions drawn from national archives and historical materials regarding the ownership of the islands in the South China Sea by countries such as the UK, France, and the US since the late 19th century, without reference to related Chinese archival materials. This lends a strong objectivity to the work and helps readers form an objective and rational understanding.

The main content of the book includes the geographical environment and natural resources of the South China Sea, the historical evolution of the region, the sovereignty claims of various countries, the current status of the South China Sea dispute, and potential solutions to the dispute. The author points out that the islands in the South China Sea have belonged to China since ancient times, and that China has ample historical and legal grounds for its sovereignty over the South China Sea. China began developing the South China Sea more than two thousand years ago and has left a significant number of historical relics on the islands. Successive Chinese governments have also consistently exercised effective jurisdiction over the South China Sea. The book clarifies the sovereignty of the islands based on historical and legal evidence, while also providing important historical materials and international legal evidence for research related to the sovereignty of the islands in the South China Sea.

I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned about the South China Sea issue.

[moscatosin]

🖤 lists. mattheo riddle 🖤 oral. studying. fem!reader self insert. tongue in cheek. thank you to @nottscherry for reading this & confirming my idea was sane and @voidofsunlight for her bot that inspired the idea. mdni. raspberry vodka recommended (2.1k)

It was painstakingly obvious that Mattheo's curiosity had clearly gotten the best of him. Slipping down into a seat beside you in the back of the library, he smirked; honey tinted eyes washing over you with a trail of unspoken questions he’d stop at nothing to get answers for. Reaching out, with careful fingers, Mattheo tucked some loose hair which had fallen down in front of your face behind your ear, using the gesture as an excuse to let his fingertips linger beneath your chin and turn your head to face him.

“You know, you really should be more discreet with what you keep in your dorm..”

For a few moments, an array of impulsive thoughts and taunting images raced through your mind. When he had asked earlier in the day about borrowing a textbook you had on ancient runes for a class he wasn't all that committed to, you hadn't thought much about lending it to him. He just wanted to pass - you were nice enough to extend the offer to a friend - end of story. Right? Nope.

That little shit had taken it upon himself to snoop around your dorm as if he owned the place rather than just walking in and walking out the way you'd expected, like a thief in the middle of the night. You'd told him exactly where the book he was after was - top shelf in the bookcase beside your bed in between a stack of parchments you vaguely could refer to as homework and the novelty coffee mug of a dog he'd brought you years ago in Hogsmeade after you mentioned you thought it was cute.

Mind racing; you wondered what he'd stumbled on. Ever so surely, you began to flicker through the mental catalogue of everything you kept in your dorm. Perhaps the lucky red lace bra you always wore on first dates? The novelty candy G-string Pansy bought for your birthday last month? The handcuffs your ex had far too many ideas for? The bullet vibrator you kept in your bedside top drawer shaped like a golden snitch? No, let's be real - all these things were far too safe for someone with the last name Riddle; far too vanilla. Yet whilst you tried so desperately hard to think, your mind just couldn't quite pinpoint what he was hinting at.

“I’m sorry”, you murmured out with a raised brow, half tilting your head to the side to act partially naive and yet to also shift away from his touch. “You'll have to be more specific, Mattheo. I don't quite have the gift of legilimency like you do..”

“The list, sweetheart.”

For a moment you froze as time seemed to stop still. A single blink is what it took for your brain to kick-start back into motion after going offline oh so temporarily at his simple statement. The list. The god forsaken list. A stupid piece of parchment you'd hidden well, you initially thought, between ties and mismatched socks in your trunk which he'd had to have gone digging through to find. What a little shit –

“So you've been snooping?”, you sigh, hands raking through your hair roughly as the breath that escapes you burns raw against your lips. “Mattheo, we're friends - I trusted you to walk into my dorm, get what you needed and get out. Something that really, should not have been that difficult of a task for a wizard like yourself..”

He cuts you off by placing a finger firmly against your lips and scoots the seat he's on a few inches closer towards yours; wooden legs of the chair scraping harshly like nails on a chalkboard against the floor. With his free hand, he plucks the folded parchment out from his robe pocket and sets it out in front of you; his eyes dancing towards it, daring you to open it. You do - with shy, trembling hands; trying so, so hard to keep yourself afloat in this sudden drowning chaos you're finding yourself trapped within. It's okay, the waters only ankle deep - you can still get yourself out of this without needing to swim.

At the top of the list in handwriting which is clearly your own - that perfect cursive that has witches jealous of your quill skills, is Mattheo's name. Beneath it; listed in no particular order, a few dozen reasons girls think he'd be a decent fuck along with their signatures beside the comment. You swallow; the feeling rather uncomfortable and intense which hurts your throat as you listen to him begin to read it.

“Would definitely let me call him Daddy - A. Greengrass. Has 99 problems but that cock sure ain't one - L. Brown. Hands that could choke me into place with ease - H. Abbott. Are you girls bloody mental? Who writes shit like this?”

Would you answer him? Eh… The whole idea of lists had started out as a joke a few weeks ago at a party. Sober thoughts meeting drunken confidence when you'd suggested a list be written about all the boys you knew. Not necessarily sexual in nature but at least suggestive to some degree Somehow, rather unexpectedly; someone brought up Mattheo's name in conversation after commenting on how damn good he looked wearing all black, sipping on firewhiskey like it was nobodies business and bang - the ‘I would fuck him’ list was born.

“Riddle, it was just a little harmless fun. Like you can honestly tell me that you and your mates don't talk about or rank girls you'd like to hook up with or date or –.”

“Your name’s not on it.”

The sound of the library fell into a deep and unexpected silence you could hear a feather drop within. Your posture straightened upright; both brows rising as the faintest shade of rosy peach colouring skimmed across your cheeks. Coughing to clear your throat, you let out a semi-soulless chuckle.

“Yeah, because we're friends and I don't exactly see you in that way Mattheo.”

“But what would you write?”

“Nothing”, you confirmed with a confused stare at him, “We're friends.”

“But if you had to..”

Oh, he was getting desperate for an answer. How interesting. Had the names and comments already listed not been enough to stroke his rather expansive ego. You glance at the list before looking back at him; licking your tongue over your bottom lip to buy a little time to further think.

“You're not being serious?”

“Dead right I am.”

“Matt - almost three quarters of the bloody castle have signed a parchment that declares they'd willingly want to fuck you, and you're caught up on the fact that I, one of your best friends, hasn't signed it?”

The puppy dog look he shot you without warning made it feel like you'd just kicked him. You were well aware that there'd be only one way to suffice him, so picking up your quill you scribbled the first thing that came to mind and signed the bottom of the list. Mattheo had shifted to be staring over your shoulder intently as you scribbled away neatly; the gasp that from deep within his chest sounding like he may or may not have just experienced a minor heart attack.

“Might know how to use that tongue? Might? What the fuck? You think I'd suck at eating a girl out? Are you insane? I'm the best—.”

“Mattheo, seriously - shut up! We're in a library and I'm trying to study and yeah, as a matter of fact, you seem like a guy who wouldn't want to get messy and doesn't have the patience to go down on a girl long enough to please her, so yes. Might - know - how to use that tongue. Take it or leave it.”

Your heart is racing at this point. It was a joke. This whole thing. The list, your comment, the fact the two of you were even having this conversation. He slaps a hand down hard against the desk causing your ink bottle to shake and lets out a gruff sounding growl making your thighs tremble and quake. No. No. No…

“You're a wicked little witch.”

The sentence comes out with a hiss and a little sprinkle of threat and before you know it, Mattheo has slid his chair back, not caring to glance around and see if the two of you have company before dropping to the floor and crawling beneath the desk. Your brain short circuits again, this time; involuntarily as you feel his hands spread your knees apart; lips pressing hot, slow kisses that burn up the inside of your thighs deliciously. God it had been so fucking long since you'd been touched.

“W-what are you doing?”

*Proving that statement of yours fucking wrong.”

His curls tickling against your skin, your hands grasped at the edge of the desk you sat at, knuckles whitening as his teeth sank in to nip sultry at your skin. Your body tensed for a split second before sinking into the seat, his lips continuing to pepper kisses up your thighs before planting a final teasing kiss over your panties against your core that had you seeing stars.

“Hell.. Mattheo - we need to sto-...”

Like he was about to listen. Honestly. Tugging your panties to one side, you felt him chuckle against your clit before pressing the softest of kisses against it; your nerves endings bursting into an electric craze. Tip of his tongue sliding neatly in between your folds, you bit a knuckle painfully between your teeth to stifle a moan and felt your body grow warm.

“Oh my god..”

The words are nothing more than an uttered whisper of submission as Mattheo's tongue flickered teasingly over your entrance, slipping in shallow to torment you as his hands wrap around your thighs in an attempt at keeping you still. Your head tilts back; eyes clamped shut, your own hands tearing your skirt up to find his curls and knot through them, keeping Mattheo's head and mouth exactly where you need it.

“Mhmm.. you taste so fucking good.”

Compliments? Ugh. Your toes curl as his tongue continues to slide between your wet folds, sucking at your clit before diving back into you again. Your hips rock to help fuck yourself against his tongue to which he doesn't object to; devouring you like a feral animal who hasn't had a feed in weeks. You can feel your thighs becoming wet; your arousal evident as it paints his chin, the seat, your legs slick. You try to control it; the coil of heat burning in the pit of your stomach but when he shakes his head, tongue flickering over every inch of you on offer, your mind loses it.

Clamping your thighs tightly around him, Mattheo continues to let his tongue work magic; sucking at your folds before one final hit at your clit that has you not only seeing stars but almost seeing the whites and sparkle of what you can only guess are the pearly gates of heaven. Breathing heavily, you feel your legs lose tension as you unknown your fingers from his curls; face flushed and body quivering as you struggle to regain your breath.

“Holy fuck that was -..”

“Amazing?”, Mattheo asks, picking himself up off the floor to take the seat beside you again.

You blush a little harder; struggling to pick up your quill, yet you manage to, crossing out on the list what you wrote to reconfirm what you'd doubted. Mattheo's gaze turns from hungry to soft as you correct your admittance.

A tongue that belongs to me.

He can't help but gloat; chest puffed out, chin still glistening as he smirks your way. Leaning across, Mattheo presses a kiss to your temple, slinking an arm around your shoulders almost possessively.

“I'll admit baby girl, I'm kind of impressed I was able to change your mind so quickly. Tell me though - are there other lists or am I the only boy oh so fortunate?”

“Oh”, you chuckle, shifting your tie around your neck to adjust it for some breathing room, “There's another list.”

“Another?”, Mattheo spits out immediately. The way you've suggested it and he's said it, making it clear that apart from his laying on the desk in front of you, there's only one other in existence.

“Mhmm”, you mumble in confirmation.

“So who's the guy?”

Oh this is fun - he got to tease you, and now the tables have turned in your favour for you to tease him. Twirling your quill between your fingertips, you reach out to dip the tip into your ink pot and smirk.

“Theodore”, you explain with nothing more than his best friend's name.

“...and is his ‘list’ as extensive as mine?”

“Oh it's longer..”, you giggle, trying to focus back on your studies, “..and before you ask, yeah - I've signed it.”

[elliesanqel]

Loser Ellie talking back to reader and being bratty but all reader has to do is give her one stern look and she’s docile (and wet) and reader makes sure she has a sore ass for the stunt she pulled

(your writing is soooo yummy)

behave

sypnosis; after a heated argument with ellie, she got far too confident with her replies which she knew she shouldn’t do with you, however she pushes you too far and you decide to teach her a lesson. warnings; angst, spanking—e!receiving, vaginal sex, strap use (referred to as a cock)—e!receiving, mdni. a/n; thankyou smm for this req cutie! i’ve never written, like, spanking before—so i hope this is good! p.s, its so easy to write sub/loser ellie while candy by doja cat is playing in the backround, so i recommend playing it while u read! also, tysm! i always doubt my writing so those type of compliments mean the worldddd to me! have a virtual hug! :3

pissed. thats what you were. a whole argument was created over something small really, but it would never have got so big if ellie hadn’t started answering back with snarky comments. you threw your arms up in the air out of exaggeration, “dont give me your bullshit, ellie. you even know it yourself, you’re never fucking here, when do i actually get to see you?!” you snap, your eyes narrowing at her as hers roll. she’d normally let you have the bigger side in arguments, but for some reason she was acting like a brat, and you weren’t a fan. “i’m here all the time? are you hearing yourself?! you sound fucking stupid.” she scoffs, taking a step forward.

your eyes widen, the fuck was wrong with her tonight? sure, you were taken aback, but you never let your face falter, strong face, strong front. you always had that. ellie knew it too. she knew you weren’t exactly the easiest to argue with. which is why she hated when they started. your eyes rolled, what was she getting so defensive for? the anger bubbled inside both of you, letting it out on eachother.

“no you’re fucking not. you are never here. you’re always out, probably with some girls hooked around your waist. i don’t fucking trust you going out so much, you literally have a girlfriend at home who’s always waiting for you to come back—which might i add, at unreasonable hours.” you rant, listing all the concerns you had as your body language switched every two seconds. it was so hard to trust her when she was defensive like this, which she never is, so that only raised your concerns.

she scoffs, thinking you sound absolutely insane. “so you think i’m cheating?” she laughs diabolically, eyeing your movements. “do you actually hear how dumb you sound? why the fuck would i cheat on you, seriously?” she holds her arms out slightly at her sides in disbelief that you think she’d cheat.

you point your finger at her face, warning her to pipe down a bit. “listen to me, stop fucking acting like a brat and answering me back, you’re making me sound like im crazy. you’re only getting defensive as shit because you know you’ve done something wrong! stop getting smart with me, ellie.” you speak, your voice low and quite frankly, bored. but oh, here she goes, answering back…again.

“im not getting smart. you’re blamin’ me for some pathetic shit. which, isn’t even true.” she snaps back, pointing a finger at you now, eyes narrowing further. oh she had nerve tonight.

you scoff as she points. yeah, now it was ridiculous. you’d had enough. your face falls neutral, but one eyebrow stays raised and your lips thinned. that look. that look that showed ellie that she was fucked now, and she knew that. she knew that look all to well, and she knew she’d gone too far. ellie never liked to necessarily admit when she was wrong, but she knew when she was wrong in the first place.

there was something she couldnt help, however. everytime you gave her that look, fuck she couldnt help herself. the way your eyes thinned, eyebrow raised, lips pursed—yeah it straight up just turned her on. and knowing ellie, she had no shame in that at all. she clenched her thighs, her lips thinning as she tilted her head back. feeling the wetness beginning to pool in her boxers.

snapping back to reality, trying to push those thoughts away as she knew you were pissed with her right now. she lowered her finger instantly, starting move her feet about nervously. “baby, i—” her words were softer now, but you still cut her off, not with your words. you snap out of your trance, moving closer to ellie and grabbing her wrist forcefully.

she flinches slightly, but she knew protesting would only make you more angry. you move her over to the bed, you keep ahold of her wrist and you lean down towards the bedside table, opening the drawer and grabbing ellies strap. but not for her to use on you. oh no. for you to use on her.

her eyes widen, looking at you like she’d just seen a ghost. she looked completely lost. “what the hell are you doing?” she asked, her tone neutral but a bit worried. you look up at her, your eyes narrowing. “maybe this’ll teach you to stop answering back.” you snap, your tone still sharp and never faltering. you knew ellie was always the dominant one when it came to sex. she was always the one using that cock on you, and you were always the one with your face down and ass up, or whatever position ellie had you in. from ellies point of view, if it was her it was getting used on, and her in those positions, she’d find it embarrassing as fuck. but who was to say deep down she wouldnt secretly love it?

you knew she’d protest, so you decided to bend her over yourself. but fully on the bed? nah. over the bed. yeah, you wanted that brat half standing, half bent over.

you pushed, so her hands met with the sheets, her feet still on the floor. a sharp gasp left her lips, her head turning to look back at you behind her. “what the fuck? this is so embarrassing, what are you doing—” she worryingly protested, hoping it wouldnt make you more angry. but you abruptly cut her off with a slap to her ass. you’d never done that before. but you never showed the new worry on your face.

a louder gasp left her lips, a dumbfounded look on her face if only you could see it, but you couldnt because it made her head turn away from facing you and bow, her teeth biting down roughly into her bottom lip. a whore-like moan falling from her parted lips. “uuhh! oh, fuck babe…”

it suprised you. but the fact that she didnt stop you lowered your worries. and that slutty moan she let out showed you this loser actually liked it. you smirked a little, causing both hands to slip up her waist and unbutton her skinny jeans, slipping them down and letting them pool at her ankles. she bit further into her lip as she let you continue, not willing to protest. even though it was hard to shake her embarrassment.

you wasted no time in slipping off your shorts, freeing yourself as you slipped the cock on. you looked down at ellie, that pathetic, bratty loser who was bent the bed over infront of your eyes, half naked. her shirt? nah, its gonna stay on while you fuck her. you noticed two things. a red mark forming from where you slapped, and her pussy. ohhh her pussy, gleaming and soaked. it turned you on even more that she was already wet before you even entered her. you loved seeing her like this. and since you’d never had her like this before, hopefully it ought to teach her to keep that pretty mouth shut when she needed to.

you didnt want to wait any longer, you gripped those pretty hips, aligning them with your cock. you gripped the rubber, sliding it into her throbbing cunt, leaving no time and completely bottoming out inside of her. her hips moving forward at the contact, a low groan leaving her lips, her head arching. “oh fuck—oh my fucking goddd!” her voice sounded needy, desperate, every other synonym.

this only egged you on, gripping her hips tighter while you fucked her dripping pussy senseless, your pace getting quicker. needy whimpering left her with every thrust you gave, putting all your anger you had into it. “you gonna stop being such a brat? gonna stop answering me back? hm?” you mumble, your own whines being held back by your arrogance.

she left no waste in time responding. “n-no. i won’t—ohhh! answer back, ever again—nghhh!” her speech was abruptly interrupted by her desperate noises your cock was giving her.

her head smushing into the sheets as she bit down on them, her moans becoming muffled. your hand reached forward, holding her half up-half down bun in your hand as you pushed her head a little further into the sheets, your hips thrusting into her like no tomorrow. her hands gripped the sheets tigher, holding on for dear life. you use your free hand, giving her another smack, her hips jolting forward as that same whore-like moan fell from those pretty lips. she took it so well, god this was definitely imprinted into your head forever now.

you let go of her hair, bringing it back up but curling it around her waist, your middle finger finding her pulsing clit, only causing her to let out the sluttiest whimper ever into the sheets, her back arching further. you smirk at her, fuck what a good sight this was. “look at you, taking my cock so well, aren’t you? swallowing me up so good.” you tease, knowing it would fuel her embarrassment. her brows furrow in pleasure, but also, yeah, in embarrassment.

“s-shut up. that’s so—mmphh, fuck! embarrassing…” she chokes out, her voice dripping with need. but she felt that slipping away as your cock deep inside of her caused her stomach to clench tightly, the heat growing in her pussy. “ohh! i’m gonna cum—fuck! g’nna cum!” she cries out in pleasure.

oh fucking hell. how needy she was sounding, lord. before you had her bent over for you she’d never sound this needy. you decided you’d punished her enough, red marks forming on her ass and all. you thrusted quicker, middle finger working quicker for her.

her whole body began shaking, quickly jolting as she let go, squirting her cum all over your cock like the good girl she was. she raised her head a little from the bed, sighing into it as you pulled out. a small whine coming from her at the loss of contact. you lean down, pressing a soft kiss to her shoulder as you stroked the same spot after. she slowly stood, her legs a bit shaky. she didnt dare mention anything else about how she was just in complete ecstasy. or even mention the fact her white, sticky cum was dripping from the strap. mostly because she didnt wanna think of herself like the submissive one. but you both knew she did secretly love it.

something looked like it was bugging her, though. a weird look on her face as she softly spoke. “listen, baby. im not cheating on you, i promise. i’d never do that to you because you’re all i need. from now on i won’t go out as much, yeah?” she said, her words sounding sincere. looking back at your accusation now, it did sound silly. you knew deep down ellie would never do that to you, she loved you more than anyone. she wasn’t the best with words, but she managed to find a way to make it work.

“i know, im sorry i accused you. you know i really love you. just stop getting bratty with me, mhm?” you grin, voice filled with a teasing manner.

she held both of your arms, stroking the skin softly with her thumbs. she scoffs, “i know, ‘m sorry baby. i love you too.”

she smiles softly, almost too innocent considering she was bent over the bed moments ago.

[cornfieldsrambles]

YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO INFODUMP PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT WIGGLY'S SIBLINGS???? THAT HE APPARENTLY HAS????

omg ok SO

Meet the Lords in Black. Charming, aren't they?

Yes, Wiggly does indeed have four brothers who all do different things, so I'll cover them one by one, in order of introduction (since we've already met each of them in Nightmare Time at least once). BTW Nightmare Time has a fuckton of lore in it that I won't go into here, so even though I am about to spoil significant parts of it for you, I do recommend watching it, it's really good and if there's enough interest they might make a third one!

(Also you might notice they're all in doll form in this picture. This is how we knew them up until NPMD introduced us to what I call their Tumblr sexyman forms. Which are rad as hell by the way.)

So you already know Wiggly. That little green fucker, Wiggog Y'Wrath, the Capitalist Cthulu who does uwu-speak and starts a cult by invading people's minds. This will become a bit of a reoccurring theme with these guys. He's also the only one to successfully start an apocalypse, and the only one to have attempted to birth himself into our reality. (Or is he? We'll get to that...) He does seem to have some kind of dominion over the other LiB, as whenever all five of them show up there's always emphasis placed on him, like in NPMD where he does most of the talking while his siblings occasionally butt in.

Now for Bliklotep. Blinky seems to have slightly lower-scale ambitions than Wiggly, but don't let that fool you. Eyeball Boi is still incredibly dangerous. He runs an amusement park, WatcherWorld, deep within the Hatchetfield Witchwood. But it's not for the amusement of the patrons. Oh no. It's for Blinky's own amusement. Once you step inside, every insecurity, every shred of potential conflict will be ripped to the forefront, turning people against each other to the point of trying to kill each other until he's fully infected their minds. It's implied that, if not all, but a significant chunk of the workers at WatcherWorld were once patrons before having their minds taken over by Blinky. He's also implied to be the thing in Trail To Oregon that Jack Bauer sees during his venom-induced hallucination, as Blinky is referred to as "The Watcher With 1,000 Eyes", which is exactly what JB says he sees? Making Blinky the only LiB to induce a Starkid crossover. My headcanon is that the Dikrats founded Hatchetfield. But regardless.

Next up on the roster is Tinky. T'noy Karaxis, the Time Bastard. You may be wondering about that one line in NPMD where he recognised Pete as a Spankoffski, and said he "could have the whole set in his toybox". Has Tinky gone after Pete's relatives?

Well. Um. You know Ted, right? Yeah, his name is Spankoffski. He's Pete's big brother. We actually got the surname reveal before the brother reveal, lol. And that's not the only reveal we got about Ted. Our boy Teddy Bear has this whole entire tragic backstory and it turns out he gets fucked over in literally every timeline! Isn't that fun?

So, to summarise an entire episode: Tinky makes travel fuckery happen, Ted wants to go back in time to fix his life, accidentally goes back to before the time machine was created and gets stuck in the past, literally. Tinky is watching and laughing at the whole thing, then shows up to blow Ted's brain to smithereens with his weird little magic box, the Bastard's Box, where he stores all the people he toys with. Anyway Ted eventually catches up with the present by aging, except now no one knows who he is, he's... actually I won't spoil that. But once he dies he ends up eternally trapped and tortured in the Bastard's Box. Yaaay.

Fast forward to Nightmare Time 2 and we get introduced to Nibbly, in possibly the most unexpected way imaginable. He's revealed to have been behind a whole episode literally right at the end of said episode, and even though it was kind of foreshadowed, it hits you like a freight train in the best way. Remember when I said Wiggly was the only one who tried to birth himself into reality? That was kind of a lie. Nibblenephim can sort of do that anyway. Every year, he can possess a bunch of carcasses and create a living form to walk the earth for one night. He also has a cult of followers who provide him with the carcasses, as well as a sacrifice to feed on. There's a little more to it, specifically with how the sacrifice is chosen, but again, I'm trying to spoil as little as possible. Go watch Nightmare Time. Nibbly also seems to have a "pig" motif, and his theme song, The Nibbly Ditty, is a banger, easily my favourite of the three LiB theme songs we've heard so far.

And finally, we are introduced to Pokotho, in the very last episode of NMT2.

Except no. We were formally introduced to Pokey there, yes, but we've seen his apocalypse already. Long before NPMD, before Nightmare Time, even before Black Friday.

Yeah, remember me saying that Wiggly was the only one to successfully start an apocalypse? That was also a lie! Pokey already did that, and he did it without ever showing his masked face. Remember The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals? The blue spores that came down in a meteor and turned everyone into singing zombies? That was Pokey's doing! That's his blue spores! That's his apocalypse!

This also provides an explanation for why blowing up the meteor didn't work. Emma and Hidgens were right about the hivemind thing, but wrong about the location of the central brain. It wasn't the meteor - the meteor was just the vessel which carried the spores to Earth. The central brain was sitting safely up in the Black and White, laughing as Paul blew himself to smithereens. The central brain was Pokey, the Singular Voice, the most uncompromising of his brothers. The one who hates every voice that is not his own, hence the hivemind and making all of his zombies speak in HIS voice.

Anyway in NMT2 he's happily collecting musical zombies by taking on a human form and infiltrating a fighting ring of superpowered children until he has enough to kickstart another apocalypse. (Don't question it, we're almost done). He also calls himself Otho, not Pokey, making him the only LiB to have two different abbreviations of his name. Hannah is also there (remember her? Lex's little sister?) and she is like incredibly important to this whole thing, she has a super powerful mind, but that's a whole other thing.

But I did mention Hannah for a reason. Because you said "Wiggly's SIBLINGS". And while the Lords in Black are always referred to as brothers, they do have one more sibling. A sister. A Queen in White. And her name is Webby.

Yep, Hannah's imaginary friend isn't imaginary, who could have guessed? She's benevolent, always trying her best to combat her brothers' antics, but given that there's one of her and five of them, this is a bit of an uphill battle. Webby doesn't have a full name that we know of, nor does she have a doll. We don't know much about her. And she may not be all-powerful - but then again, neither are her brothers.

Infodump concluded. Hope this helps, it was very fun to write.