#formatting for ease of reading hopefully

[dapg-otmebytheballs]

noticing traits in somebody else that you also see in yourself and discussing those similarities as they relate to gender non-conformity or neurodivergence isn't something to be demonized.

there's been a few instances in my personal life that i've speculated about a friend potentially being in the closet because i saw myself in them! their behaviors reminded me of my own behaviors that cishet people probably wouldn't take note of, but i saw them because i saw me.

i don't think speculation and discussion are wrong in his situation. i didn't confront/harass my friends about my thoughts in the same way that the people on here who i've seen talking about dnp gender or neurodivergence wouldn't confront/harass them about it. (i also didn't discuss my speculations about my friends with anyone, but there's a difference to me between talking about a friend with other people who know them and having a conversation about a public figure.)

discussion about aspects of ourselves that we see in dnp isn't dangerous. no one is out here making accusations or demands; it's speculation in the most neutral sense ("to review something idly or casually and often inconclusively," webster's dictionary). people aren't speaking in serious definitives or being invasive in any of the discussion that i've seen. in actuality, the only negative thing i've seen surrounding the discussion is people being belittled or shamed for the grand crime of...recognizing similarities between their own experiences and what we've seen from someone else? i'm not sure when we all agreed that the only acceptable action is to assume someone is the 'normal' option unless they've stated otherwise.

i think you're right to prompt people to look inward about what exactly it is that might be making them uncomfortable about these conversations.

sending you love <3

100% what you said and actually, thank you for bringing up the difference in how we engage with public figures (who understand that their lives are being speculated about by a much larger number of people than your average Joe) vs how we engage with our peers (whose lives are intertwined with our own hence making any discussion or gossip about them immediately spread within our insular groups/communities and often being seen as having more truth than celebrity gossip bc it's a more grounded relationship with people we see regularly, rather than a parasocial one)

It's interesting, when I was studying Philosophy at college we had an entire section in a lesson just talking about the ethics of "Gossip" (esp wrt celebrity culture) and how it's inevitable and even human nature to speculate about and be interested in each other and with public figures it involves a lot more people so how do you navigate the ethics of that? And back then I thought "this is surely common sensical, surely we don't need to dedicate lesson time to discussing the ethics of talking about public figures vs random people in our lives" but I suppose this is exactly why people have needed to properly discuss and discourse these topics from an objective lens of what is ethical, because you need strong basic principles and understanding of ethics to build upon particular situations. And this is maybe what is lacking from a lot of discourse:

we are expecting our personal feelings and discomfort to do the work that academic inquiries (ie, rational systematic breakdown of any situation, not even in a classroom just in your mind) are supposed to do.

You won't reach the answer to "is this okay to do?" by thinking in terms of "how does it feel? Does it feel right or does it feel wrong?" because genuinely you gotta put in the work to ask "what is leading to this situation, whom if anyone does it harm, what steps do people already take to mitigate this, how can we create an environment that causes the least possible harm to all parties included, what does this particular thing mean for us socially and politically?"

It's okay if people don't have the time to engage in these introspections but the trouble is too many people thinking they should preach their opinions on these ethical matters without actually doing any ethical reasoning on their parts instead of moralistic ones.

Thanks for the love, anon! ❤️ This was a good one to receive and discuss

[dawnbreakersgaze]

Her Sunrise 🌄 Her Dawnbreaker

Ever since the very first time I read Still in Dark, the detail of Zayne being covered in scars from fighting wanderers/abominations has sat so heavy on my heart. Because you know that poor man hasn't been getting any professional medical help. Much like Xavier, he's just riding those injuries out, only unlike Xav, he's not blessed with a body that heals itself with relative ease.

This particular 'moment' is from a fic I'm still formatting in my head, that will hopefully see the light of day soon. His expression is a reflection of your own when you realize just how much he's been through. Our poor little meow meow 😩

My desire to bring this man into my arms and shield him from everything overwhelms me sometimes, and today I sat consumed with the desire to do just that, so instead of doing all my other obligations I did... this. Lol.

[softxsuki]

Hiii, i just joined the club and everything here is amazing!!! I absolutely love how you write and i wanted to make a request if it's ok, it's half urgent half not...let me explain: these last days have been very stressful for me and i have been trying to find a comfort mha fanfic for a simular situation as mine, i feel like a i need attention but now just soft one like a worried kind one and not from a partner but from more like a fatherlike figure i need to feel secure and cared for to relax before i breakdown :")...idk if you take requests with characters other than bakugou etc but i really wanted to request this fan fic:

Reader is part of class 1A and she's been having trouble at home and training hard plus insomnia, in other words she's not feeling too great but she always takes part i class, trains and never skips anything. Mr Aizawa has noticed that the last few days reader seemed out of it so he decides to have a talk with her after class but reader in that specific day has been feeling much worse than the other past days of exhaustion and while Mr Aizawa is expressing his concerns and trying to get her to talk to him she has a stress induced seizure and then passes out from then all carrying reader for urgent check up and the comfort. :))

I would be so happy if you took this request...thank you so much for all your hard work!!

Aizawa Comforts Reader Who Has A Stress-Induced Seizure

| Pairing: Aizawa x Fem!Reader (PLATONIC) | Genre: Comfort | Post-Type: Headcanons | Word Count: 650 |

Warnings: Mentions of seizures, stress, insomnia, alluding to at-home troubles

Note: Hey, welcome to my blog it's great to have you! I don't write for Aizawa anymore because I'm just really bad at writing for him as you'll see NBFHKEAFJ. But I wanted to make this for you since it's a topic I haven't been asked for yet, but moving forward for anyone reading this, I do not write for Aizawa so please don't send any requests for him :3. I have a full list of characters that I do write for on my navigation page if anyone wants to check that out. But hopefully this does it's job for you! All my urgent requests are written in headcanon format so I hope that's okay! I hope the stresses in your life ease up so you can get the rest you need ! <3

You could feel your head pounding as Aizawa asked you to stay for a few moments after class, a worried expression on his usual stoic face

It had been a tough week for you, with your usual troubles at home and the countless nights you’ve had without sleep

Yet instead of taking a break, you pushed yourself even harder, training every day and never missing a class

It got to the point where Aizawa could see how out of it you were, hence why he pulled you aside

You could hardly focus on the words he was saying, but by the look on his face it seemed like it was serious

Tingles shot up your body as the pounding in your head grew more severe, and before you knew it, your body was convulsing

Alarmed, Aizawa supports your head, waiting for your violent shakes to cease from the little knowledge he held about seizures fill his mind, but once you go still, you're passed out from your lack of sleep and fatigue that had filled your body these past few days

He lifts you up and brings you to Recovery Girl who watches over you until you finally wake up later in the day when classes are over

Upon opening your eyes, you see Aizawa asleep in a seat beside the bed in the room

“Aizawa Sensei,” you say softly, making the older man jolt at the sudden noise, his eyes immediately on you as he sits up

“How are you feeling?” He asks with a sigh, rubbing his tired eyes

It was the most rest you’d gotten the whole week so of course you felt a lot better, but you could see the slight furrow in Aizawa’s brows as you speak, letting him in on your rough week and how you’ve been feeling in general

“L/N…you’re a great student and I know you want to give it your best, I see the effort you’re putting in, but you can’t do it at the expense of your health. Take the next few days off recuperating at the dorms. I’ll have Uraraka or Yaoyorozu bring you any work you miss. Don’t bring yourself to your breaking point like this again”

He’s stern, and stoic as usual, but you can hear the tinge of concern in his tone, you’re his student so of course he’d be worried about you just suddenly collapsing and having a seizure like that

You were ready to protest–how could you go a full week without training? You’d fall behind your classes. Seeing your inner turmoil, Aizawa speaks again

“You’re free to train after class hours for no longer than an hour each day, I’ll have one of your classmates observe you…Just know your teachers are here for a reason, even if you feel like you can’t come to me, every teachers here at UA has an obligation to be there for their students, so reach out if you need it. I’ll be stopping by the dorms to check in on everyone more frequently from not on, so please rest”

You nod your head in agreement, with Aizawa’s support perhaps you could work your way through your troubles and stresses moving forward in a better way

You were a future hero, if you couldn’t properly take care of yourself, how could you save anyone else?

With a small smile, Aizawa pats your head, standing up from his seat as he nudges his head towards the door

“Then let’s get you back to the dorms, Recovery Girl said you were set to head back once you woke up”

And with that, Aizawa leads you back to the dorms where everyone is informed of your situation (briefly) to make sure you actually do rest instead of overworking yourself again for the next few days and even moving forward in general

Not only do you have your teachers support, but even the support of your classmates

Posted: 4/15/2024

[georgiedoodles]

📚Broppy CollegeAU | "Campus Days"

Part 3: Safety First

CW/TW: This touches on the topic of violence against others. This does not include or directly affect the main characters. Thank you.

Author's note: I'm so sorry if the formatting got weird, I copied and pasted from Word and it got a little funky. Please forgive me. ಥ_ಥ

...

*ping!*

“Popville Crime Alert,

Report of Battery Case in Lot A

Earlier today, Popville Police and Campus Safety received a report from a female student that a male troll approached her while she was in Parking Lot A and threatened her with an unknown sharp object. She kicked him and fled. The incident occurred at about 8 AM on Tuesday, September 3rd, 202X. It was reported to the college a few hours later at about 11 AM. The Popville Police Department is investigating the incident.

Suspect Description

The suspect is described as a male troll, purple skin, teal ombre hair, standing at 5’7 feet tall, wearing a black hoodie and yellow yoga pants. This suspect description appears to be different from other recent cases.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.”

Branch was walking from Parking Lot A when he read the crime alert email. He froze, frantically looking around his environment, looking for something, for someone specific. ‘This happened today?? In this exact parking lot??’ Quickly, he made haste and arrived at his class 20 minutes early, dropping off all his belongings at his station, only bringing his phone and mace.

 He ran down the hallway, stopping at the edge of the quad. To his left is parking lot A, normally where all the students park to attend their art classes. To his right past the library, is parking lot B, where most STEM students park for their classes. The question is, where do Poppy and her sister normally park? Branch had no choice but to wait, and like a hawk, was scouting around for a familiar figure. From a distance, he can see a distinct pink troll, making her way from parking lot A. Without another thought, Branch’s feet were moving on their own, quickly closing the distance between them.

 On the opposite side, Poppy is simply enjoying some bouncy tunes in her earbuds, she sees a troll sprinting at full speed towards her. ‘That guy kinda looks like Branch.’ She thought to herself.

…

Wait why is Branch running?

                Branch’s sprint slows as he gets closer to Poppy, his feet stomping on the ground before he comes to a complete halt in front of her. Slightly out of breath, he holds Poppy by the shoulders, checking frantically around her and them to see if there were any suspicious trolls nearby.

                “G’morning Branch!” Poppy said with a confused but happy expression, she follows Branch’s eyes, slowly taking off her earbuds. “Is something the matter?” A worried expression creeps in as she sees the panic looks in her friend’s eyes.

                Branch, temporarily feeling relieved, looks back at the troll in front of him. He realizes that he’s still death gripping her shoulders and quickly removes them, wiping his hands on the sides of his pants, blushing.

                “Oh, sorry, I just got worried about… your safety since there was an email sent from the college.” He looks around to avoid having direct eye contact with Poppy, clearing his throat to seem normal. “I wanted to walk you from your ride but then I realized I don’t know where you and your sister park.” Branch shrugs and looks into Poppy’s eyes; she’s smiling and has a look of awe.

                “Oh Branch, that’s so sweet of you!” She gently caresses Branch’s shoulders, slowly sliding her way down his arms and into his hands, holding them gently. Her eyes followed her hand movement before she looked back up at him. “It’s very thoughtful of you, although, I haven’t checked my email yet. Regardless I’m pretty grateful that you want to keep me safe.” She gives his hands a gentle squeeze, emphasizing her words to hopefully ease his worries.

                Branch, flustered and blushing harder than before, feels a tingle travel up his spine, giving him goosebumps from the gesture. He isn’t too fond of physical contact, but in this case, he seems to be okay with it. They both stared at each other before the silence got too tense for Poppy.

Branch realizes that the clock tower was ringing faintly in the distance, signaling the start of the next period. class was about to start in 5 minutes, “Oh shoot, we have to head to the lecture before they start without us!” Without thinking, he holds onto Poppy’s hand while he walks with her back to class, keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity.

Poppy realizes that they were heading to class, but that wasn’t what she had her attention. Instead, she was staring at her hand. The hand Branch was holding.

Branch was holding her hand.

He’s holding her hand.

Why was she getting this warm fuzzy feeling? Was she getting sick? She checked her temperature on her forehead with her free hand. Before she knew it, they were both at the door of their classroom, that’s when she felt the warmth of his hand fall from hers. The warm fuzzy feeling she felt had also faded away. She looked at the emptiness of her right hand, then to his left hand, her gaze traveling up to meet his eyes but only seeing the back of his head. Unknowingly, Branch was mentally kicking himself for holding her hand the whole way back.

Looking at Poppy from the side, he rubs his arm awkwardly “We’re here, and if you’d like I- “He hesitates, trying to find a way to ask her without seeming like a creep. He clears his throat, blinks, then quickly shakes his head, “I uh, never mind, I’m just glad you got to class safe and sound.” He rubs his arm and moves forward, holding the door open for Poppy to walk through first.

                With a gush of refreshing air conditioning reminding her to focus, she smiles at Branch, “Thank you.” Her hand gently patted his shoulder, slowly sliding off, it’s as if her hand wanted to linger. Branch noticed this gesture, trying to figure out her intentions. He then waited until she was inside first before he closed the door behind them, following her to their shared art station.

                Throughout class, Poppy’s mind traces back to the feeling she had earlier. When Branch held her hand, she felt warm and fuzzy. The moment he let go, that feeling had faded away. What was this sense of desire that she felt? She was facing her pallet, tracing her hand where Branch’s fingers touched, then she glanced up to her neighbor. She watched Branch, without his cardigan and in his work apron, filling up a part of the canvas with a solid color. She couldn’t help but notice how well built his arms were, and his hands-

                ‘SPRINKLES, POPPY GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! He’s your friend for crying out loud!!’ Poppy’s breath hitched as she snapped herself back to reality, only to realize that he was facing her, mixing another color of paint on his pallet. He had sensed that she was staring at him for a while and decided to make eye contact with her, surprising her.

                “Is there something on my face…? Did I get paint on my face again?” Branch began wiping his cheek with a damp towelette, cleaning any potential stray paint blobs.

                Poppy giggles. “No there’s nothing on your face, you’re fine.” Completely forgetting about her feelings before, she turns to face her canvas and continues to work until class ends.

                The professor makes a comment about the email the college had released, despite a string of incidents happening to the girls targeted on campus, security will only escort students for the night classes. “If any of you need an escort or feel unsafe to walk to the car by yourself, we can walk to the parking lot together as a group, we’re safer in numbers.” With that, all the students turned to each other to create groups. Poppy had read the email during their break, a cold shiver traveled down her spine, keeping her on edge. She felt even more grateful for Branch and his protective nature that she witnessed this morning. Now that she thinks about it, what will she do when she goes to the library and waits for her sister to finish her last class? Would she need to find someone to walk with her...? She turns to her neighbor, thinking of a plan she can create to not be alone throughout the day.

              �� Before Poppy could let out a word, Branch spoke up, “Poppy. If you’d like, would it be okay if I walked you to the library?” He was nervous asking; he was hoping that he wasn’t crossing a boundary or coming off as weird. With a quick breath, he continued, “Then, when your sister gets out of class I could walk the both of you to your car.” He was packing his paints neatly in a red tin box, organizing them by color order. He had a worried look on his face. “When does your sister get out of class?” He faced her, waiting for a response.

                Poppy was relieved, she felt much more at ease knowing Branch with be there. She smiled and began, “My sister gets out at 3:30, I usually meet her at her class since it’s on the way to the parking lot.” A sense of unease creeps up on her person, she hugs herself to soothe her mind. “Funny enough I was going to ask if you could walk me to the library, it’s scary knowing these incidents are happening to the girls when they’re alone.” Her eyebrows furrowed at the idea.

                Branch felt better knowing she was on the same page as him, he hesitated, then reached out to grab her hands. He wanted to make her feel safer just as she did for him in the morning, “I get out of class at 3:15, I can find you at the library and walk you to meet your sister. Then I can walk with the both of you back to your car, I’ll make sure you both get home safe.” With a gentle squeeze of her hand, they gave each other a reassuring smile. Once he lets go of her hand, they make their way out of the classroom and towards the library.

During the walk, there was a comfortable silence, they were listening to the birds chirping in the trees and admiring the sunrays peeking through the abundance of leaves hanging above them.

Branch drops off Poppy at the library, they wave a quick ‘see you soon’ and make their way to their destinations. Once Branch’s class ended, he made his way to Poppy, bringing her a water bottle that his professor was passing out. When the double doors opened, a brisk breeze greeted him, he loves that feeling whenever it happens. He makes his way through a crowd of new students, all of them studying or completing their homework for the day. It didn’t take long to find a pink-on-pink figure, sitting at a merged cubical, slumped over and asleep. Branch shook his head, he sort of expected this from her. Slowly, he sat on the opposite side of her cubicle, trying to figure out how to wake her up without scaring her.

He watched her shoulders, rising and falling in a smooth, slow, rhythmic motion. She clearly was attempting to do some work, but there was a splotch of drool on the page she left off on. He stifled his laugh, trying to stay quiet. Branch slowly slid from his seat and knelt next to Poppy, gently calling out her name.

                “Poppy” … No response.

                “Poppy” he said slightly louder. She grumbled something in her sleep, “Coconuts have water in them” she said with an amazed tone. This made Branch snort in response, “What is she dreaming about?” he grinned at the sight of her.

Again, Branch moved in closer and quietly spoke, “Poppy, you need to wake up, we need to get you to your sister.” This finally got Poppy to slowly open her eyes, lazily blinking, unknowingly staring at Branch. By the third blink, she realized that Branch was here, slowly sitting up “Is it 3:15 already?” she started stretching the sleep out of her body.

Branch reached from his bag and pulled out the cold-water bottle; he opened the cap and broke its seal. Then, he carefully held the water bottle in front of Poppy, waiting for her to take a sip. “Here, drink some, it’ll help hydrate you after all that drooling.” A faint sense of smugness was in his smile.

Poppy gladly grabbed the water, accidentally grazing Branch’s finger with her own, sending a wave of electricity through his hands. “Ohhhh, thank you so much, I feel so thirsty right now. That nap did a number on me.” She drank from the bottle and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Then Poppy collected her iPad, notebook, and bag from her cubicle. Branch stood and moved to the side, patiently waiting for her to lead the way outside.

The walk to her sister’s class was slightly nerve wrecking for the pair. Poppy was sticking close to Branch’s right side, clutching her bag strap with both hands, and taking quick, swift steps. Branch on the other hand was scanning their environment, looking for anyone getting too close for comfort or identifying the troll described in the email. During their journey, a male troll was riding on their electric scooter. He flew past Poppy from behind, this took her by surprise, and she yelped, grabbing a hold of Branch’s right arm. Poppy held on tight and never let go during the rest of their walk, leaving Branch distracted and blushing at the physical contact.

Soon, they made their way to the class Poppy needed to be waiting at, they had 5 minutes to burn before her sister was dismissed, so they opted to wait by the rails. The classroom was located at a 4-story brick building, they were on the 3rd floor, facing inside where the quad is. Despite the attacks, there were students bustling about around the quad, it provided peace of mind to know many were still out and about, this meant more eyes for any future events. Poppy hadn’t realized that she was still holding onto Branch’s arm, she felt a sense of security knowing he was there. Branch was still very much aware of her death grip on his arm, but he let it slide since Poppy seemed relaxed.

 The couple, leaning against the rail, were enjoying the moment. The fresh breeze, the smell of the flowers nearby and the sound of large, lush trees swaying made the moment feel peaceful.

They were in their own little world. Together.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a heavy metal door opening, and many trolls were funneling out of the classroom. Poppy let go of Branch’s arm and ran into her sister’s arms, embracing for almost a minute. They both let go to look into each other’s eyes, “Viva! Did you read the email the school sent out??” They held hands with worried looks in their eyes, “Poppy, I read it after I walked into class! If I had known about it sooner, then I would’ve walked you to class before I went to mine.” Viva had a guilty expression, she felt like she was too careless about her own sister’s safety, she squeezed their hands tighter, scared at the thought of someone hurting her baby sister. “I’m so sorry, you had to walk by yourself- “

Poppy quickly cut off her sister, “Don’t worry. Branch found me while I was walking to class and escorted me to our lecture!” She waved her hand in front of her, brushing away any negative feelings that Viva felt, giving her a reassuring smile. After a few moments, Viva looked behind Poppy to see Branch, he was standing awkwardly and waiting for them to finish their conversation, he felt it was rude to interrupt their moment.

 “Ohhhh, then who’s this?” Viva gestured to the bluish male troll. Poppy gasped excitedly, turning, and standing in between the two. She faced to her friend, “Okay so, Branch, this is my sister Viva!” She extended her arms towards her sister, Viva waved enthusiastically. “Viva, this is Branch, he’s my friend and classmate in my art class that I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays!” Poppy smiled widely, her teeth poking out as she waited for them to interact.

Viva gave her sister a smirk, she has many questions to ask when they’re back in the car. Turning to Branch, she quickly gave him a hug and started, “OMGEE, it’s so nice to finally meet you! Poppy has been talking a lot about you.” She blocks her mouth from Poppy’s field of view as she teased him. This comment made him blush and throw a quick glance at Poppy, ‘What does she mean by that??’, only to get a shrug for an answer.

Branch clears his throat and meekly says, “Well hi, it’s nice to meet you too.” He scoots away from Viva ever so slightly, giving himself some breathing room. “I offered Poppy to walk the both of you back to your car so that the two of you felt more at ease, traveling in numbers is safer than walking alone. Especially since the last one happened in a parking lot I use.” He gives a small smile, hoping that her sister didn’t find her weird.

Without hesitation, Viva gasps “OH! That sounds awesome, and you’re right, it’s safer to walk in larger groups. Safety first!” She gives a thumbs up and smiles brightly at Branch and Poppy,

“Alrighty, let’s go!” Poppy announces, taking the lead and guiding the group to the car. Branch and Viva walked side by side behind Poppy, listening to her begin to sing.

“Following the leader, the leader, the leader~” Marching to each beat, swaying her arms to the rhythm. “We’re following the leader, wherever she may go~” Branch and Viva tuned her out as she kept singing the same chorus repeatedly, playfully rolling their eyes at each other at her goofy antics.

Soon enough, they make it to their car. It’s a pale-yellow Volkswagen beetle, decorated on the inside were sunflowers and poppies made of paper, clearly symbolizing the sisters. Viva thanks Branch as she sits in the driver’s seat, starting the car. Poppy turns to Branch and pulls him into a tight hug, gently whispering “Thank you for helping us and keeping us company, I would’ve been terrified if I was alone.” A gloomy tone took over her cheery spirit, as if she had something else on her mind. She parted from the hug and gave him a warm smile, “I’ll see you again on Thursday.” She let her hands slowly slide off his shoulders, got into the passenger seat, and left the parking lot.

Previous Part | Next Part

[slaymaxuwu]

i wanna try listening to the Magnus Archives cuz it sounds cool but I've never listened to a podcast before and I'm scared :/

omg ur gonna be so okay, if you wanna ease into podcasts, I'd suggest welcome to nightvale first if you're not a big fan of horror or podcasts bc wtnv is formatted like a radio show, but if you're a fan of horror of any level, magnus is a really good place to start, and ep 1 isn't too too scary. If you have any triggers I would read the content warnings that are available under the episode (this is for Spotify, I'm not sure how other apps/websites show these)

I usually listen to tma while doing stuff like chores, exercise or art, stuff where I dont have to think too much about what I'm doing. The fandom is very wide, so you'll find where you fit in if you choose to listen.

Hopefully you enjoy if you do listen 💖💖

[oletus-manors-log]

could I also ask for some general relationship/romance hcs with michiko & norton?

-📀 anon

OBSERVER'S NOTE :

“ Ooh, Michiko and Norton, hm? I see... I can do these two, no worries. They have been on my list, anyway. Hopefully this is up to your expectations, 📀 anon. I tried my best with these two. ♪

Oh, and I'm trying a new format. Hopefully this is more easier to read. The last thing I need is for this to look.. Clunky. ”

General Romance HCs for: Michiko & Norton Campbell

Romance? What romance? Norton had expected the concept to not be possible with him.

Because of his past, he actually thought that life would be cruel to him. He's lost his companions in the accident... Others thought of him as a scumbag... Why would you think that he would be blessed with romance of all things?

The biggest thing that had changed his perception was definitely when he came to the manor. Enduring night terrors wasn't the greatest, and because of the life-threatening and altering events he endured, he's built up walls to protect himself.

He actually had nightmares of it- the gnawing fear feeding into the trauma he endured, the many times he had pushed others away, even using them in the past as stepping stones...

Norton truly thought that he was the scum of the Earth. A dead man. He does not deserve something so... So foolish and sweet as love.

... And yet, when he does fall in love?

He falls hard.

Don't get me wrong: a man of his caliber and experience is not an easy one to romance. He's a stubborn soul till the end, and can even be spiteful, too. But during his time in the mines and even with others in the manor, he's learned a few things on romance.

He likes to take the matter slow. He rushed into a few things himself in the past, and it has cost him. Because of that, he learned to take his time and ease himself into the relationship.

He, like Grace, likes collecting things. However, he would only collect authentic and real gems and minerals, often showing it to his lover when he deemed them to be trustworthy.

Norton is a bit of a flirt, but not overly or over the top. He likes to take it on a subtle turn, making sure that only he gets to see his beloved flustered or act embarrassed.

Contrary to popular belief, he's actually touch-starved! The Prospector likes to hold his lover close and show his affection that way, often opting to kiss parts of their skin and even trace words on the palms of their hands. However, if his lover expressed that they want to hold him and do the same, he might act a little... Adverse.

Be gentle with the man, please. Even if he pulls away, he will secretly thank his lover if they insist and help him stomp out the uncertainty cropping up on his mind. Even when in a relationship, he has moments of self-doubt and self-destructive behaviors, so it would do some good if his lover is able to get him out of it.

He would sometimes toss a magnet to them if he sees them in a match, mostly to get them away from the hunter, or (if its a friendly match), just to hug them. What? Can't he do that?

Hehe, how cruel... Of course he would do that.

In special days and anniversaries, he'd even have some dates planned. Getting stuck in the manor doesn't yield much date plans and locations, but with his lover and in love, the Prospector will do anything to make it special.

God knows this man is protective, and to a bigger fault than people may think. If there is someone that would put his lover in harm's way or even something in the match going awry, he'd be there to shield them.

He may dislike getting hurt after, but seeing his lover safe, it felt like getting new scars is worth the effort.

A man with a streak of misfortune as Norton is, there's a lot of mystery behind the once greedy survivor. Although now that he's a lot more... Lax, he's able to show his love to his beloved if they stuck by his side for so long.

Despite seeing the prettiest of jewels and minerals, to him, his lover is the prettiest and rarest of them all.

“ ... Sometimes, I wonder what makes you attracted to me. We're both opposites, but I guess that's what makes the saying, ‘Opposites Attract’ true, hm? ”

Oh dear... Michiko is probably not the best with romance. Or, at least, rekindling it.

Let's just say the Geisha has had her experience with love. She had fallen in love with Miles, after all, and after all that she endured, she has yet to return to it when she was still in grief.

Much like Norton, be patient with the lady. After her first time, she's a lot more wary and wouldn't want to hurt someone's feelings for her withdrawal nature.

She is a little avoidant of romance in this aspect at first, thinking that she herself did not deserve any sort of affection from others. Combine that with the prejudice in the past...

It is understandable on why she's too cautious of people, and especially to those who like her, yes?

Although she may be reluctant to start again in the aspect of romance and courting, she has her own ways to show she likes someone once she has fallen for the person in question.

It is a bit of a slow burn before she gets to really liking the person, considering the underlying trauma and fear she has in showing her vulnerability. She's still trying to recover through it, but sometimes, she would contemplate on what makes someone so... Special.

Although, when she fully falls for the person, that is where the actual healing path starts and her desire to love again.

She used to do performances due to her job as a Geisha, so she would often show said performances to her lover if they wish to see it.

A woman that respects tradition despite the prejudice she endures from Westerners, she would teach her beloved how some of them operate, just so they would know how things work and especially when a special occasion comes.

Michiko is a woman that values quality like most, but she does have a bit of a habit in tending to her beloved's needs like a quiet wife should. She would do it without even thinking much of it, giggling when she see the embarrassed look in her beloved's face.

What? It's cute, come on— admit it. It isn't every day you really get to see her smile now, is it?

She often likes to be the one to put on makeup for her and her lover, depending if they really want to dress up with her. She would also be the one to manage their outfits, sometimes having others help in tailoring specific costumes and keeping it hush-hush.

In matches, Michiko would often travel with her beloved around the map whilst speaking to them. She wouldn't mind having to listen to some stories with them, or even speak about her own tales. If they're lucky, she'd even put on a little show for them and the other survivors!

The butterfly she summons out of resentment seem to flock over to her lover, akin to a moth drawing itself close to a flame. It is interesting when this happens, because Michiko would swear that they like her lover more than herself.

It did came with a downside, in that sense that she would find herself dashing over to her beloved in her Prajna form when she wasn't feeling up to being nice.

Not that she minds, really— have you seen her grab emote? Yes. She'll do that to her lover if that was the case.

Speaking of her Prajna form, she would actually use that form around her lover rarely. Though, when they desire it, she will turn into that form and let them do what they wish.

She is a lot more unhinged when she's in that form, but miraculously, the lady would act like a domesticated beast and wouldn't even think of acting on her urges when she was not in her beauty form.

She does express her shame switching into it sometimes as she doesn't like to scare her beloved. The Prajna form is only reserved to matches and if there's people she really, really dislikes. Almost heavily so.

However, if her lover expressed that matter with an affirmative or a comforting statement, she will ease herself in showing that form more often.

Geisha is one of the few hunters that have experienced love, and although it left her with a bad experience, she is doing well and is healing through the love shared with her partner.

All it takes is patience and honesty— after all, she has endured so much in her time.

All she truly desires is for life to be kind to her, and to give her another shot of romance.

“ My beloved, it's a pleasure to see you again. I have something I wish to show you— a performance for you, as today is a special day. Would you like to see it? I'm sure you'll love it. ”

© ᴏʟᴇᴛᴜs-ᴍᴀɴᴏʀs-ʟᴏɢ | 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹 ✧ ʀᴇᴘᴏsᴛs ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ, ʙᴜᴛ ʀᴇ��ʟᴏɢs ᴀʀᴇ | ᴀʀᴛ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢs ᴛᴏ ʀɪɢʜᴛғᴜʟ ᴏᴡɴᴇʀs

[volfoss]

long post sort of to explain the poll but. when i hit bj should i:

ok so. i want to get a kinda gauge on this due to how DRASTICALLY different all these orders are. heres an explanation for like... the horrors i think.

tldr: chrono is going to be very true to release order but probably not super helpful to eng only readers, kodansha keeps the formatting that ive been having, vertical is going to be easiest for eng only readers as its THE way to access the series. for more in depth thoughts i tossed that shit under the cut bc its long lol

chronological order is pretty self explanatory but it is DRASTICALLY different than any other BJ release. if i did it in chrono order, it is pretty much the only universal order, as its a VERY concrete release order compared to how releases kind of jumble it around.

for comparison heres the first 10 chapters chronologically (from my big scary spreadsheet) and how it corresponds to each release:

hopefully you can see that its a MESS with this. explaining the other two orders and why i am contemplating doing them that way.

Kodansha- so the big big big chronology that im following here is the Kodansha releases of 400 volumes of Tezuka's most noteable work. There are 22 volumes of Black Jack in the Kodansha release and they are from MT-151-> MT-168 (for the original run) and MT-366->369 (for the volumes released after the original run was concluded). The obvious issue of going for chronological order is it does NOT directly correspond with the EN/Vertical order OR the Kodansha order. If i did the Kodansha order, it would be easier to format like my other posts on this have been (ie: Princess Knight (1963-1964) being from MT-004->MT-006 in the order). But it would be a very big pain for everyone reading as I don't think anyone else WOULD be doing the order mentioned in the Kodansha volumes.

Vertical- ease of access definitely wins out here, as I'd be going by the 17 volumes here and it would be VERY easy to follow along if you also wanted to read Black Jack. it is also heavily out of order (as you can see by the snippet of the spreadsheet I included), but as the chronological volumes are only VERY recently being released in Japanese, it would be the most accessible to everyone else.

the other big difference would be in length/amt of posts. If i went by the chronological order, it would be about 11 or 22 (as there are 242 chapters per post, so I'd be dividing them up so its not just... reviews for EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER in one post. no one wants that. The Kodansha volumes have about 10 chapters on average per post BUT are missing some of the sealed/semi-sealed/otherwise just missing chapters so I would have to make prob 23? posts going over it if i divided it this way. The vertical release has about 12~ chapters per volume and also does not include the sealed chapters (which I've found some translated and some untranslated scans online and for completions sake, do want to include them in any review) so it would be probably 18 posts, with the sealed (and thus not included, as the Vertical release includes some of the semi-sealed chapters) posts making up the final post here.

[8thplacewolfos]

content status update!

Content warning: discussions of menstruation.

TLDR: New CG Wesker works incoming, Eddie Gluskin headcanons in development, and there will be a second post shortly after this one featuring a full list of characters I'll write for, and guidelines for making requests!

All right, now that I've actually started working on some things, I wanna put out a status update! As of 09/12/23, I'm working on:

Caregiver Wesker Content:

Due to some personal circumstances, I'm writing some ...shark week/crimson tide/what-have-you CG Wesker headcanons. They're going to be gender neutral so everyone can relate, as usual. I know it's not the most usual thing to write about (especially in age-re), but I think it could be helpful to regressors who experience this whole thing. This is a super niche self-indulgent one but hopefully it can help some others as well!

Additional non-specific headcanons, of course, because they're just so nice and simple for me to put out!

Perhaps an actual full-length work? And by that I just mean something that's formatted like a story. It might not be a super long work, but it'll be something. I'm also debating whether or not it will be a reader-insert or an OC insert. That's super up in the air right now, because I have had a dire need to write Wesker/OC age-re content, but I don't want to alienate people. I might just do both, who knows. Ahem, this is what polls are for, Dongo.

Caregiver Eddie Gluskin Content:

Well, I've opened a document for Eddie Gluskin content, so I guess that makes it official. Just to ease into things, he's just gonna get a simple batch of general headcanons. I am soooo unbelievably excited to start working on CG content for him... he is SUCH a huge comfort for me (and many others I'm sure!).

That's all I've got for this one. Shortly following this, there will be a full character list, and some request-making guidelines!

Thank you so very much for reading!

[janedoewrites]

Did you self-publish? If yes, what was it like? Any advise for writers looking to publish?

I did self-publish, yes.

How I Did It

It was easier than I thought it'd be, at least, the way I approached it. Caveat that I went through KDP (i.e. Amazon) for a number of reasons that basically came down to a) ease of publishing b) availability of hard copies c) the shipping of hard copies on a global scale (not all countries are available but it's a decent amount) d) it's a place people often go to for books period e) the cost of publishing (the way it works is that print is done "on-demand" it's slower but I don't have to pay out of pocket for X print copies that I then have to sell to make the money back). f) fairly good royalties g) the general terms and conditions and 'ownership' of my material.

There are downsides in that it's through Amazon, whom nobody likes, and that there's return shenanigans in that if I get money from a purchase and if someone chooses to then return the book then that money gets taken away from me personally. (This has gotten better, recently, with ebook purchases as now if a reader reads past a certain percentage they're considered as having 'bought' it where before a lot of people treated it like a library and didn't realize it was the author they were fucking over and not Amazon who makes sure they're not the ones taking the cut).

And look, to those who want to give me flack, we live in a society and people buy books on Amazon. Them's the breaks.

There are other ways to self-publish and platforms you can pay to be a part of where they'll work to not only get you listed on Amazon but bookstores such as Barnes and Noble but it's a little more complicated/does cost some amount to do.

What Was it Like

It's a fairly simple process through KDP at least. What you do is set up an account with tax information/agree to terms of service/so on and so forth. You can then manage your books through a profile and the manuscripts you can write in pre-provided document templates that have the print structure for whatever size book you want to write (e.g. 6"x9").

When you're finished and have your page count in the formatted text, you go and see what size covers are required for hard copies (if you're interested) and can either use stock images to generate covers or else cover images that you own (e.g. you do it yourself or commission it as a book cover by an artist). For e-books they give specifications on the quality your cover should be for the best resolution/results.

You then submit your manuscript/cover art for copyright review, get an ISBN (KDP provides this for free for hard copies if you use them), and decide on digital rights management, promotion options, and pricing structure (where you're told up front the cost of printing/the amount you get after KDP's cut of the royalties).

It sits in reviews for up to 72 hours and provided all goes well you're then live, you get an author page and links to your works, and you can distribute how you want/tell the world to buy your book.

In other words, it was stupid easy.

Should You Self-Publish

There are pros and cons to self-publishing vs. publishing in general.

One great pro is nobody tells you what to do and so long as you follow terms of service (which hopefully you do as it's things like: don't write about the glorification of violence, glorification of sexual violence, so on and so forth) you can publish what you like without having to necessarily be 'marketable'.

Remember that published books are intended to sell and they generally either target extremely niche markets in a very deep way or else try to cast a very wide net with a book everyone can enjoy. One thing you'll see a lot of if you go the publishing route is "I as an agent enjoy unique stories. Now, tell me at least five books that are exactly like yours that were published in the last five years." There are exceptions, but it's generally not a field that likes risk or shaking the boat. They want to be able to sell books.

Another great pro is you're depending only on yourself. You can publish the book as soon as you're finished editing without having to convince someone else it's great stuff.

And of course, there's the pro that you don't have to get an agent or publisher to say yes. The way it typically works is if you want the big or prestigious publishers, you have to have an agent and that agent usually has to have some in roads with that publisher. Which means you have to submit a few pages of a manuscript/a summary and other things to them and hope they get back to you on that. This can be very time consuming (as they generally allow a window of 4-6 weeks) and annoying.

The cons is that you have to market yourself and you don't have the leg up that publishing would otherwise get you (where you are associated with whatever books they already have published just by being published by them, they may or may not run marketing campaigns and advertising for your material, and they can get your books distributed on a much wider scale). What this means is that if you don't have a large-ish platform already and care about sales/intend to make a living on this then you're going to have a very rough time getting a foot up.

The other part of this is that obviously you don't get a forward/amount of money before any books are sold as you otherwise might with a publishing agency. You only get the royalties you earn through sales.

Any Advice?

The self-publishing bit is easy enough that the hardest part is the writing and the editing. Obviously, I haven't gotten far in at this point, and I'm also not all that concerned about sales (I have no intentions of quitting my day job and becoming an auteur any time soon) so I'm perhaps not the person to ask at this point in time.

If you go Amazon worth thinking about is if you want to go the Kindle Unlimited route or not. I haven't as of yet, because I'm not feeling the burn for promotion.

What it is for those not familiar is that Amazon will market your book much more internally (e.g. that stuff that pops up on your kindle when you turn it on), run sales and promotions on it, but your ebook version can be read for free/lent to others for free with you getting a small amount of money depending how far readers make it into the book. The idea being that as you reach a much larger audience, you get more money than you otherwise would have. It's a good way to market if you have no platform/following already and a good way to proliferate the book but you lose out on people actually buying it.

[yurisorcerer]

For the second time this week, I tried to turn my notes on an anime episode into an actual article for my site but couldn't get it to cohere well enough. So you guys get it instead, hopefully you enjoy it regardless.

Usually when I talk about the inherent pacing differences between an anime and a manga, it's to complain, but this episode is a pretty astounding example of an anime production intentionally exploiting those differences to make certain emotional beats hit harder.

To recap; in a manga, you are able to read at your own pace. Some people breeze through manga, some people go out of their way to savor every page, but because you're restricted to your visual senses and their interpretation of ink-on-paper, there's a lot of imaginative work going on on your end. Anime, just by its nature, inherently eases that burden a little bit. You've got an aural component to soak in (not present in a manga), and the visuals move with motion and color, something also absent in the still page. This is the entire artistic reason that anime adaptations of manga exist at all. Done well, they can selectively enhance certain emotional currents of the work. If done very well, they can do so without displacing the original work itself. That's what the Dungeon Meshi anime accomplishes here. Anything else aside, that's pretty impressive.

Seeing Marcille and Laios assemble the grim puzzle of Falin's blood-soaked and half-digested skeleton is one thing on the printed page. Those pages are very effective in their original format, but the scene is transformed here, because we really have no choice but to stew in it. The medium forces us to slow down and really focus on what they're doing; clicking bones together piece by piece, soaking their hands in dragonblood and gore. In Marcille's case, her actual spellcasting is brought into a deep crimson technicolor. The anime's presentation really makes it hit home; she is bleeding onto the ground, chanting ancient, forbidden magic in a desperate bid to bring Falin back from the grave. Laios' emotional state shouldn't be undersold either, as fascinated as he is by the actual act of assembling the skeletons, the moment Falin finally does return to life, she and her older brother share a genuinely very sweet embrace, even as Falin herself is still quite confused as to what's going on.

About that; in the area of scenes altered by the simple fact of being in an anime, we have to talk about the bath scene. In the manga, the bath scene is full of a fair amount of ambiguity, something I'm far from the first person to take note of. The anime, of course, can't replicate that precisely, so it has to pick and choose what emotional undertones to access and which to discard. All told, I'd say the scene is adapted pretty fantastically; it's tender, full of soft colors, and it preserves the push-and-pull dynamic of Marcille and Falin's conversation pretty well. About all that can't be said is that it's a straight improvement, which, really, when you're working with source material as good as Dungeon Meshi, is not a bad thing. I think the bath scene in particular is a good locus for what works about this episode; managing such a delicate scene so well is unimaginably tough, but the team working on the series pulled it off admirably. (As a Lesbian Side Note; both Marcille and Falin look amazing here, as you'd probably expect.) There are a few notable differences; things that seem obvious but pop out if you know what you're looking for. I'm mostly thinking how Marcille's facial expressions are a lot more obviously-flustered here as opposed to the somewhat more ambiguous ones in the manga. But again, an anime has to pick what emotional currents it's going to emphasize.

There are other points to hit on; the obligate dragon-cooking scene is as great as you'd expect, and there are some great character moments between Falin and the rest of the cast. Obviously, with her brother (where he does a very Elder Brother thing by mussing her hair), but also Marcille and even Senshi. (The only one who doesn't really get in on the action is unfortunately Chilchuck.)

[epikulupu]

!! accessibility announcement

recently went through all of my coining posts (i have 1600+ on all my coining blogs) and realised how inaccessible a lot of them are. so i'm starting a project to change this. it will take a long time and lots of spoons, but i will do my best to get it done.

with this change, i will:

reformat all coining posts into a simpler, easier to read format, with as little symbols as possible, to be accessible to screenreaders.

also because of this , my post & tag format will be standardized. i've changed format a few times and this will make everything the same.

add ids to every coining post.

also ideally would add image ids to all other images on my blog (such as in asks and reblogs) but i have much more of those than i do coining posts, so i'm going to focus on coining posts first.

make non-eyestrain versions of all of my eyestrain flags, and put them as the main image on the post.

original versions will still be available under the cut, along with an id and an appropriate warning.

create a large collection of flag templates, all with id templates for ease of use.

i'm planning to put all of them on a blog or other site with an intuitive

& more ! unsure what exactly but i'm sure this isn't everything i could do to make my blog more accessible but it is a start & hopefully this will encourage other coiners to do the same.

[nokingsonlyfooles]

Read Tin Soldier! Part 4! (Pick Your Platform!)

At the first opportunity, she could not go in and see to Mordecai. There were more coming and she needed things for the people she already had. Ann was in the basement, Barnaby was charting things and gluing them to the kitchen wall with soft-stick charms, and the General was (hopefully very deeply) asleep.

There were no locks in the place, fortunately, and no doorknobs beneath which to brace a chair. The General’s room was therefore accessible at all hours, whether she wanted that or not. Now, she was perfectly capable of repelling any unwelcome visitors, but only when she was awake.

Unfortunately, her military experience and training had rendered her level of consciousness more of an act of will than a physical condition. If she sensed something was worth her attention — possibly with some kind of metaphysical alarm system, Hyacinth wasn’t sure — she could attain full focus and understanding in an instant. She had probably already been up, detected yet another riot, and gone back to sleep.

Hyacinth crawled in, using only the slit of light from the cracked door for navigation. There were two chairs in here, and a desk and a bookshelf. One double bed rested on wobbly legs and one single on the floor. She gave the double a wide berth and approached the single on hands and knees.

“Maggie.”

“Huh?”

“Shh!” She clapped a hand over the child’s mouth.“Don’t wake your mother. Come out with me.”

They both crawled.

Hyacinth eased the door shut again with a tender, terrified touch. For a moment, they waited for sounds from within. When avian death did not overtake them, they stood and walked a short distance to the stairs. Maggie was in her nightdress, a white cotton thing. The tarp on the roof let in the night air and she was already shivering. Fortunately, her day clothes were in the hall wardrobe, not in the room.

“What happened to your hand, Miss Hyacinth?” the girl said.

“It’s for Mordecai,” said Hyacinth, showing the palm. “Maggie, I have to have metal. Will you take Ann’s shopping basket and go out looking for me? Some of them are bringing it, but it’s not enough.”

She pointed over the railing, into the atrium, where a small crowd was gathering. Some of them were waiting for their friends or family in the kitchen. Some of them were waiting with friends and family to get into the kitchen.

“Should I steal things?” Maggie asked her.

Hyacinth was already nodding. “Yes. Steel is excellent.” She stopped and turned abruptly. “Wait. No. What did you say? You steal things?”

Technically, going through other people’s trash was stealing things, but so many people did it that it hardly counted. Maggie must mean actual stealing. Like houses and pockets.

“Yeah.” She rubbed her eye with a hand, a nine-year-old girl with braids and a white nightie.

And a mother who could take your eyes out before you could blink.

“Do you know how?” said Hyacinth.

“Soup taught me a little.”

“Soup did?” Hyacinth thought any child that consistently hungry could not be an accomplished thief. “I don’t know, Maggie. Can you show me?” She took off her goggles, “Can you steal these?”

“No, because you know I’m gonna.”

“Fair,” said Hyacinth. “Okay, get dressed first. Then come downstairs and we’ll try it there.”

Read more...?

Tin Soldier is a web serial about steampunk wizards in substandard housing. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's sad, and sometimes it's terrifying. We begin with Part 1 of the first four instalments, the Pilot, which introduces Hyacinth's house and everyone in it. It's pretty sad and scary, to start, but it gets better.

If you read at Tapas, you'll get instalments in order, as I illustrate them, with slightly dodgy formatting. If you read at Soldier On, you can binge all the text right now - but I understand that can be intimidating for some. Pick either platform, but please pick one! I'm trying to build a community for my very few, very loyal, readers!

[aemondsquill]

Hey gang! Just a quick little "get to know the author" type post here. The last time I wrote any sort of fanfic was 10 years ago and after watching House of the Dragon I wanted to get back into it! I've been on Tumblr for a super long time, but I still consider myself a dinosaur when it comes to formatting and whatnot so I just ask for a little patience! I won't tag this post as aemond x reader because I dont want to clog up the tag with a miscellaneous post. As of right now I won't be accepting requests just because I have a few fic ideas I want to write out and I want to ease into writing again. I'm going to release a few little blurbs over the next couple weeks just to practice my writing and hopefully get some good feedback from y'all:)

I look forward to interacting with the community more! As of right now I will only be writing for Aemond Targaryen, Tom Bennett, and Osferth (maybe), but that's subject to change because my hyperfixations are all over the place.

I'm really excited to share my stories and I can't wait for you guys to read them!

[marcuspierce]

okay, so while i was working on the formatting of my really really long answer, i tried to save it as a draft but the ask just... disappeared??? it's not in my inbox, not in drafts, not even in my queue! it's just gone???? so i am very sorry for not answering your ask directly, anon, but i did take a screenshot before that for ease of referencing + saved my answer in a word document so at least i can still answer your question, even if it's in a roundabout way!

here's the answer, exactly as i had intended to answer it before tumblr decided to be a bitch:

oh this is such a lovely question so thank you, thank you, thank you for asking!!! i just love anything that involves intimancy/vulnerability and commitment when it comes to these two and this combines those concepts so well!

before i put a read more (both for length and to hide some bitterness that slipped through), i will give a tl;dr and say that i have thought about it and my answer is yes! they would/could definitely end up considering having children, and they would/could even have some!

this is actually a concept i have previously explored some years ago in two fics and a post about adorable onesies, and, more recently, in two parts of my series of social media edits! at first i only wrote them with one child, but in my posts from this year they have two!

read more time now!

now, before i begin actually talking about the specific matter at hand i just wanna say... when you say that you wish rory's inclusion had been better executed do you mean that there should've been (more of) a built up around lucifer, who, even as far as season 4, said that he detests children and wants nothing to do with them, actually being downright enthusiastic about being a father? or at least that there would be some sort of a more specific exploration wrt his feelings about random children vs a child he has contact with (such as trixie or charlie, who are clearly dearly liked by lucifer) and how that would relate to a child of his own and how his life circumstances (being in hell - perhaps/hopefully there aren't many children down there => discomfort due to lack of contact, but as he lives longer on earth that diminishes, OR just in general his insane self-esteem issues/self-hatred that are deeply tied to his time in hell and the things he had to do there, which would push him away from fatherhood simply out of kindness towards his imaginary future child - or his own childhood - it is so so clear that at least on a subconscious level he is aware of cycles of abuse, due to his deep hurt and displeasure when he heard from adult!rory that he sucked as a dad, plus he sees a great deal of himself in his father, which would just contribute to his self-hatred and would result in a refusal of fatherhood in order to not "inevitably" repeat the abuse he endured at the hands of his father... or, if actually faced with the done deal, it would result in... well, whatever breakdown amenadiel had about charlie, but probably more extreme)? or perhaps it is about him being forced to be an absent father and therefore not break the cycle of harming your child that his own father started and that lucifer was shown to desperately want to break? or just a combination of all of these things?

ok, phewwwwww, i am done with the rant, but thank you for giving me the opportunity to rant about one of the two only negative hills about this show that i am willing to die on! cause well, i actually stopped watching the show some good seasons back because i realized that the writers and i had completely different ideas about how to approach things. and while most things i can just chalk up to that, well, everything i heard about rory and lucifer has left such a horrible taste in my mouth and nothing has been able to make me less pissed off about it!

on this note, my knowledge about seasons 4-6 is pretty spotty and therefore i generally only make use of concepts/plot ideas in my analysis wrt long term piercifer. so yknow, some characters, mainly marcus' parents, are most likely nothing like their canon counterparts!

ok, so now to get to the actual topic at hand, i think that the subject would definitely come up and it would be a huge issue, i think even on par with them needing to figure out how they work together and how to make their relationship fulfilling for both of them. which makes perfect sense, because this is a life altering decision, that affects both the individuals, but also the couple, AND, most importantly, the child. and the child truly is a faultless party in this whole thing, but also the party that would be hurt the most. it is not an easy situation and it requires a lot out of them. so both of them acknowledging and treating it like a big deal already is a step in the right direction.

for lucifer, i already outlined some ideas in the rant above:

firstly we have him just not being used to interact with children so he associates that uncomfortable feeling of inadequacy with a displeasure for children (tbh i feel like he is not used to interact with people, in general, outside of very specific contexts but that's a bit less related to my point) so point against fatherhood no1!

but, this is the easiest to solve, as it just takes time. after all, the more you do something, the better at it you become! but, because it is something that changes slowly over the course of years, that means that lucifer would be quite oblivious to it. everyone around him would notice, it would be hard not to. he stops being bothered by children just... existing where he also happens to exist. he starts getting along quite well with trixie and even starts asking her parents about her and buying her presents for her bday. when it comes to charlie, lucifer's thrilled to find out that he's going to be an uncle and he's quite emotional when amenadiel offers him to hold charlie, and he obliges very happily and afterwards he talks marcus' ear off about the moment. he is also very happy when it becomes clear that charlie likes him.

and everyone notices these things, except for lucifer. so when asked he still insists that he hates children and that he just cannot stand the little "parasites", but after a while people stop taking him seriously when he says things like that.

but not hating kids does not a father make, and lucifer's other hangups are far more complicated and deep-rooted, namely his own chilhood and the resulting trauma/issues. but for these things it is mostly a matter of realizing that you need help and then asking for it, which lucifer is trying to do. and i definitely think that finding the kind of therapy that is most useful to him would help him tremendously and that + a support system (which he has in his friends and marcus) would help him get to a point where most of the day to day stuff becomes manageable and then he can focus on more deep-rooted things, things that he may not even realize are influenced by his trauma or that he doesn't think affect him, such as how his trauma influences his views on certain issues and one of those issues would definitely be parenthood. and the conclusion would be that his self-hatred, both from him having to go against his morals and do horrible things to survive in hell, but also from seeing himself in his own (shitty) father and therefore expecting to turn out the same, has absolutely influenced how he feels about the topic.

for marcus, on the other hand, i feel like there would be a journey. like, i always saw his parents being young and inexperienced at just... life, in general, when they have him and they don't really have who to go to for help (well... i suppose grovelling for g*d's forgiveness - just so they could ask the guy some questions - was an option, but not doing that was the better option ny far), so they don't really know what raising a child means and because of that they end up being quite neglectful. as such, marcus had to learn how to fend for himself and attempt to fulfill on his own as many of his needs as possible really fast, especially once there was someone smaller and needier than him around, so he became very capable, responsible organized, as Knowledgeable as one could be in that situation, but also both cautious and quite curious and willing to try stuff out at the same time, and also someone who could fake maturity really well and who was really good at taking care of others, which extended into being good at reading and interacting with people. all of these things come from him, at least subconsciously, realizing that, despite being a toddler who's faking it, he's the one person in that house who has any idea what they're doing and that that position is one that desperately needs to be filled.

all of this results in him emotionally distancing himself from others and retreating into himself, starting to built the wall/armour that he would later on use as a jaded, heartbroken adult. and a consequence of that retreating into himself and of prioritising this role he has bestowed upon himself is that he doesn't really explore who he is and what he likes and wants until adulthood. as such, parenthood is, at first, something that he does to be fulfill a role that was assigned by society and by fulfilling that role he blends in with everyone else and the ways he is not like everyone else stay a secret, but also it's about doing something familiar, something that he knows how to do. but he likes. loves it, in fact. he adores that child, and is, therefore, a complete wreck when that child dies after having a life, growing and changing and getting older while he just stays frozen in time, looking the exact same way as he did when said child was born decades earlier.

but, the first tragedy would come before that, when he would realise that everyone around him is visibly growing older while he stays suspiciously young, and people will notice soon and no one can notice. and as he packs up he is forced to endure abandoning the child he loves so so much and miss out on the little time (by his standards) that he had left with them. and he couldn't even tell them. doing so would defeat the purpose of leaving.

still, he tried again and again and again, just like he had with friends, lovers and just about any connection one could make. and no matter how much he tried, it always ended the same way, until he decided to stop trying and he allowed his armour of apathy and his wall of isolation to fully encircle him and solidify cause then he wouldn't get hurt. we know how well that worked out and what it did to him... until he met lucifer, that is!

finally someone he can be fully honest with, someone who can see him exactly as he is and oh, he won't leave him either!

so really his issue, as with all things relationships and connection, is mortality, as it is a luxury he doesn't have, but one that any children he has will have. so it ended up being something that he considered to be off the table for him, and he didn't think to revisit those wounds and that issue in therapy even after lucifer came into his life and nestled himself a place in it because, well, for decades on end lucifer's stance on it was clear. and marcus was fine with it as that wasn't a wound he was keen on reopening and picking at.

but then those decades passed and lucifer reached a point where he had worked out through enough of his issues that parenthood did feel on the table for him. and trying to bring it up did not go very well, at first, because they just weren't quite in the same place... yet! but that alright, cause they had all the time in the world, and when they did end up in the same place all was well and all was easy cause they were, in fact, on the same page.

with one small potential caveat: marcus was all for it, he had loved being a father and he had always wished he could do it right, but he couldn't bear that pain, the pain of watching his child grow old and die while he stayed the same, ever again, nor could he bear the thought of lucifer ever feeling that pain either. that could be an issue... or not. i don't see how any child that is not completely human wouldn't be immortal lmao

and if that really is the narrative the show decided to go with well... loser behaviour! boo tomato tomato! good thing i don't care and, even if i did, there sure are ways around it!

but yeah, the child being related to lucifer and therefore immortal is exactly lucifer's argument and that realisation sways marcus pretty quick!

and i think in a scenario like this, where they both give themselves and the other the time to heal and to figure out how they work as a couple before bringing another family member into the mix, they would be wonderful parents! sweet, caring, attentive, affectionate, intentional, just all the good things. and it would be easy... because they have learned what not to do (well, that's not a guarantee, but all of that work towards healing sure brings it close to a guarantee).

i think that's it! going further than that would be off topic... and just excessive given the insane walls of text i already wrote lmao

so, again, thank you so much for the question and i hope this was a satisfying... and coherent answer!

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Top 10 Altcoins

Top 10 Altcoins

By different calculations, there can be around 10,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation in 2024. Only a few of them will turn out to be successful in the long run. We wrote this article to help you understand which assets are worth your attention, from an investor’s position. Hopefully, our list will enable you to diversify your portfolio and make a handsome profit.

Criteria That We Relied on to Pick the Top 10 Altcoins in 2024

When comparing assets, we focused on their following parameters:

Concept. Before investing in a coin, read its whitepaper. The altcoin should have a clear competitive edge – something that differentiates it from its competitors and attracts users.

Economic indicators. Market capitalization is the key one – the higher it is, the less likely the altcoin will disappear from the market soon.

Ease of purchase. The more exchanges list the asset and the larger its trading volume, the less effort you’ll need to put into buying and selling it.

Adoption. The larger the user base of an asset, the better. In addition to holding the coin, people should actively trade it.

Team. Ideally, an asset should have a team of committed professionals with previous experience in the industry. 

Evolution. It’s essential that the collective behind the altcoin regularly improves and upgrades it to retain relevance and cope with challenges.

All the altcoins that we recommend have scored high on all the above-listed criteria.

Ethereum ETH

While Bitcoin was originally conceived as a means of payment, ETH brings much more to the table. It provides developers with a technological environment for building decentralized applications dApps. Plus, organizations and individuals can launch smart contracts on the basis of the Ethereum network to achieve their goals – such as selling properties or transferring intellectual rights to a new holder. 

This platform ensures that dApps and smart contracts will be functioning without a hitch. No third party will be able to interfere with them, use them for nefarious purposes or control them. The system is genuinely decentralized and absolutely anyone can benefit from it. The legislation of most states imposes multiple restrictions and limitations on citizens. Millions of people can’t get a loan or open an account in a conventional bank. Meanwhile, they can leverage the power of the Ethereum ecosystem right from their smartphones.

The ETH coin is used for crediting rewards to validators who ensure the network’s functioning. Besides, this asset is popular among traders and has a high speculative value.

Tether USDT

It’s a household brand in the niche of stablecoins. As its name suggests, its price is pegged to that of USD. In simple words, one USDT always costs one American dollar. Tiny fluctuations take place sometimes – but they have nothing in common with the dramatic changes in price that BTC undergoes systematically. To make it possible, the team behind the asset stores the required amount of USD. To be precise, it’s not 100% USD but a mix of different assets that together create a diversified portfolio, backing up the stablecoin’s value. Tether enables fast and smooth transactions that involve the American dollar and any cryptocurrency. People get a chance to conveniently use a strong fiat currency in the digital format.

USD Coin USDC

Just like the previous asset, this one is a stablecoin, pegged to USD. However, there are few meaningful differences between them. USDC has a much lower market cap. It’s regulated by the U.S. authorities – while Tether isn’t subject to regulations by any entity from the real world. The USDC reserves are stored exclusively in American dollars and several reputable financial institutions take care of them. Unlike Tether, USDC regularly accepts audits by Deloitte and makes their results publicly available – which makes it more transparent.

Ripple XRP

This one has been around for over a decade and is the oldest digital currency on our overview. It relies on a custom consensus protocol. The ledger servers accept and send transactions. They compare data transfers and decide whether the ledger should accept them or not. The server forwards the data transfer candidates to validators who record the ledger version if there is nothing wrong with the transfer.

Both this asset and some of its executives used to face legal issues – but now, they seem to have overcome them almost entirely. The transaction fees of XRP are low and it facilitates exchanges of different currency types. It’s promoted as a faster, more transparent and more affordable alternative to SWIFT – the system that conventional banking institutions employ to send funds among themselves. 

Binance Coin BNB

The native token of the well-known Binance crypto exchange serves two purposes. First, people can trade it. Second, if they hold it, they can enjoy various perks at Binance – the most significant of which seems to be reduced trading fees. It was launched on the ETH basis – and now, shares the blockchain with its parent trading platform. The team behind it came up with a smart deflationary mechanism. Excessive coins get burnt, which prevents the BNB price from plummeting.

Cardano ADA

The team behind this project consists of cryptography experts, mathematicians and engineers with a strong academic background. Instead of craving immediate profit, these professionals concentrate their efforts on research. They experiment intensively, ask their peers to review the results of their work and have published over 120 profile papers. On the one hand, such an approach slows down the development of Cardano. Unlike some of its competitors, it doesn’t release fundamental upgrades at a machine-gun speed. On the other hand, the emphasis on research confirms that Cardano is here to stay and is perfect for long-term investment. 

Its team has spilled the beans on their future plans. These include delivering solutions for legal contract tracing, voter fraud and chain interoperability as well as an ecosystem of DeFi products. 

Solana SOL

This project was launched as an advanced alternative to Ethereum. It helps blockchain technology make one step further by making it less energy intensive, better protected and easily scalable. Solana enables developers to build dApps and smart contracts. Compared to Ethereum, it accelerates data transfers and charges lower fees for them. Its team came up with the innovative proof of history concept. From the technological point of view, it’s a very promising project. 

Polygon MATIC

Just like Solana, Polygon was invented to address the challenges that are typical of Ethereum – such as slow transactions and prohibitive fees. Eventually, it evolved into a multi-chain system whose components can “collaborate” thanks to Ethereum’s virtual machine. The system comprises three layers that are in charge of, respectively, producing blocks, validating them and storing the data. Polygon allows developers to build dApps, smart contracts and other solutions.

Dogecoin DOGE

When this meme coin went live, hardly any industry expert would predict its success in the long term. It was conceived to mock cryptocurrencies. Against all odds, DOGE gained huge adoption and a decent price. It’s used for tipping content creators, buying goods, trading and investing. The power of this coin lies in its user base. Most likely, it will remain popular for as long as people find it funny and convenient.

Many other altcoins were launched following the DOGE model. The majority of them failed. Shiba Inu SHIB is one of the few lucky exceptions that can be worth your attention.

Tron TRX

This blockchain was built on the basis of Ethereum but evolved to become an independent one. It enables developers to build dApps and grants the creators of digital content maximum ownership rights thanks to tokenization and dApps. This project acquired BitTorrent, a well-known program for sharing files, and integrated it into its system. Tron boasts a strong development community and supports smart contracts. Its network is easily scalable and the data transfers in it are affordable. The TRX token serves two purposes: creation and validation of blocks within the network as well as trading and investing.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, the information from this article came in handy for you! Of course, our list of top 10 altcoins is far from being exhaustive. There are other worthy assets on the market – such as for instance, Litecoin LTC or Polkadot DOT.