#i checked and the poster definitely has a... questionable blog

[doomed-jester]

Hey, @staff what about my likes made you think I would want to see Holocaust denial on my dash?

[freyito]

ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘɪɴɢ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ɢᴀʀᴅᴇɴ

✭ pairing(s): gallagher x ftm reader

★ summary: Gallagher has been the only one in your life to make you feel like a man. Even if you can mold and shape yourself in the Dreamscape, make yourself look and feel as Cis as you want, and yet, nothing has been able to fill the hole you feel within your very existence... aside from Gallagher. And now you can't find him. You can't find Gallagher. You can't find him.

✧ a/n: HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!!! im gonna be writing a lot more x male readers and especially a lot more x ftm readers... i started this blog cause wherever i looked in whatever fandom i was in i never found many male readers... and especially barely any ftm ones... and it feels like i havent written any proper x m! reader fics in a while, soooo... we'll start here. i'll still write gn reader of course!!!! but i like lowkey haven't written much that matches my identity in a bit.

🗒 cw: ftm reader, 2.2 story spoilers, dysphoria like mad dysphoria, anxiety, depression, sensory overloard, grief (?), hurt/no comfort, proofread

✎ wc: 2.2k

The Dreamscape has been quiet lately. Even Golden Hour was quiet, silent, and whenever you looked to the sky, its brilliance had begun to dim. The Dreamflux Reef had always been quiet, too, and yet now, it was uncanny. Micah had been so aloof, answering your questions curtly, and Gallagher hadn’t even sent you a text. Every time you texted him, it never went through, as if he wasn’t in an area with service. Which was normally okay, you knew he had to be out on a job or something, but it had been a whole week and he hadn’t even come back to his bar. When you had asked anyone about Gallagher, they had given you this look like they didn’t know where your lost dog was… which isn’t exactly far from the truth, you suppose. But you could see some sort of guilt behind their eyes. And that made you uneasy.

Sure, he had gone weeks at a time without being with you, but he always sent texts, and most people knew where he was, especially the locals. His last text to you was an ‘I love you babyboy.’, which isn’t abnormal, he had a habit of texting you that specifically around five times a day. He had to drill it into your head. He always made sure you knew you were loved, especially by him. You were ‘something special’, as he said, ‘the best thing that ever happened to him’, ‘his pretty boy’, and the list goes on. But your phone remains eerily silent.

You can’t help but check it every other minute, wading through the crowds of Golden Hour, the last place you wanted to be right now. No one in Dreamflux Reef would give you a definitive answer, no one had seen him, or if they had, they gave you indecisive answers. He was out on a case, he was at the lounge, anything to get you off their backs. You had to admit, you were becoming increasingly nagging, annoying, even. But who wouldn’t? Your boyfriend had been gone a whole week with no trace of him, no communication, and you were starting to think the worst.

Golden Hour makes your head spin, looking under every literal rock you can find, getting any info you can from the most lucid strangers and even mumbling drunkards. You are desperate, any little bit of information you use. Even if they had just seen a man with brown hair or a man with hazel eyes. Of course, none lead you to Gallagher. And the Bloodhounds aren’t of any help either, they all stare at you with confused looks and some even tell you to stop playing around.

You’ve already given up, the hustle and bustle of Golden Hour making you feel even more hopeless, the feel of everyone's eyes on you, not fitting in, it all sinks in once more. You were better off putting up lost dog posters at that point. Was it possible for people to go missing in the dreamscape? You had no idea, but you were holding onto the hope that perhaps this was all some twisted nightmare that had crept into your head, but each step you took disproved that thought.

Perhaps reality will have answers, and while you feel so reluctant to wake up, to be seen once more. You had never met Gallagher out of the dreamscape, and only now did you realize what you could be getting yourself into. Perhaps he had just… left? After so many years? Surely not, right?

You return to reality, unsteady. Your body feels frail, even if you had been maintaining it properly. It feels odd to be back in reality, where suddenly how you look, how you talk, and your mannerisms all mattered. You had to act masculine, you had to shut up and walk tall, hyper aware of the eyes on you. Even if it only takes only a minute to get to the front desk, even if you know the guests will never recognize you in the dreamscape. You still can’t help but feel self-conscious, being able to hide behind the veil of the dreamscape for so long, now out in reality, feeling as if you were stripped bare for all to see. Which you weren’t, but perhaps your nerves were getting to you.

When you reach the front counter, your nerves don't abate. They only grow in size, the fear quickly creeping through your system. There was no guest named Gallagher, and you didn’t even know what room he had been staying in. They can’t tell you anything considering that you yourself aren’t the customer they are looking for. But the way they look at you just as the people in Golden Hour and Dreamflux Reef do tells you all.

Reluctantly, you make it back to your room. You don’t know if you want to go back to the Dreamscape, you’re already shook up as is. If something so dire could make you resurface from the vast, blissful ocean that was the Dreamscape, why would you go back? No sign of him for a week, reality or otherwise, and not a word from those closest to him. Do you really wish to go back? Where you know your current efforts have failed. Where that sinking feeling that you know he’s gone takes hold of you?

You stare at the dreampool for a second longer, trying your best to shove down your doubts and your fears, and sink back into the sweet allure of dreams, waking up once more in the Dreamflux Reef. You stay where you are for another minute, a place you’ve called home for several years, a place that would be filled with hearty laughter, maybe even the clinking of glasses, and smell like Gallagher’s mild cologne. That scent has dimmed recently, either because he hadn’t come home, or perhaps you were… used to it. His clothes were still strewn about on the bed, what he was going to wear the day after he had disappeared. You didn’t dare move them, not once, afraid of losing all the little things about him.

When you finally exit the house, the streets feel colder. It’s even quieter than before, and most residents look… somber. Perhaps they always looked that way, and you just didn’t know. You figure you’d try your luck with Micah again, either to get closure or just wallow with someone who was close to Gallagher, you are unsure.

You had done your best to ignore the… tower that seemed to breach out of nowhere in the Reef, despite how tall it had been and just how oddly enchanting it was. You, like many of the Penacony locals, didn’t enjoy change. To have something like that just simply grow out of the ground you knew when those Trailblazers came around was jarring. That had also been the day that Gallagher had stopped coming home, and the events that followed had made you so desperate to find him once more. This beautiful dream, torn asunder by some madman’s delusion of a grander, peaceful life. You never did like the family, you never liked Sunday.

On that note, Micah was nowhere to be seen, at least where you looked. Not all the way down in the alleys or by the train station, not in the dive bar playing pool, nowhere. You had no where but to ascend those damned stairs that faced towards a false moon. You didn’t want to, not at all. It wasn’t intimidating, but every time you lingered near it for too long, you felt uneasy. It had an air to it that spoke of danger, something that told you it ‘was not for you’. And here you were, stood in front of it and the three graves that paid homage to it.

The first step you take bathes you in a stillness unlike one you’ve ever felt. Tranquility follows as you continue to walk, the world is suddenly so quiet, the hustle and bustle of the Reef fades out, and you are left with blissful nothingness. The only sound that follows you is your steps. It isn’t so bad when you think about it, it’s comforting, in a way.

Micah is tending to the plants that surround a small little courtyard. He’s relaxed, untensed, and seems genuinely at peace. It’s been rare to see someone like that in recent days. When he hears you, he lifts his head and gives you a soft smile, one that reeks of pity, as if he knows what you are going to ask him.

“Micah–”

“I have no idea where Gallagher is,” Micah sighed, his smile faltering slightly. “Not a text, not a word.”

At this point, you knew people were lying to you. Micah’s reminder only makes you realize just how much people were. “I know that. Tell me what happened to him.”

Micah is taken aback by your blunt reaction, but easily gives in. The jig is up it seems, and he doesn’t fight back any longer. With a soft huff and slump of his shoulders, he sets aside his current task, turning his full attention towards you.

“Then we’re gonna have to sit down and talk. It’s a bit of a doozy.”

.  * 　　　 ✦     .     　⁺ 　 .

Your head spins with all the details. It’s all so confusing, Gallagher, being… fictional? The man you had fallen in love with was simply just a creation, not tangible, not real. What were you supposed to do with that information? All you had been doing for the past hour or so is staring at the wall. Your room is silent, as is all things now, dark and lonely. It’s suffocating. You feel empty, devoid of whatever was there, whatever had filled the hole in your heart, as cliche as it was.

A hollow home, a hollow heart, and not a soul to mend it. Those welcoming arms are no more, or perhaps, never were. And yet, his clothes still remain, his toothbrush and cologne and shampoo and everything else stay in the bathroom as if he were. If you spaced out long enough, you could still hear his hearty laughter, if you sink a little deeper into the pillows you can smell faint traces of his shampoo. Anything to hold onto what you love. Who you love.

You need to drown yourself in something before you lose your mind. You want to cry, and yet… you can’t. It is still all catching up to you. You wander around the house mindlessly, desperate for something to happen. Anything. But there is nothing. When you stop, there is null, a terrifying distance between you and the empty kitchen. You have to get out of here, you have to leave, this home is not yours anymore. It is simply a house.

Your feet bring you away from the Reef, finally, settling you in the Reverie. You follow a familiar path, one that you had walked on a particularly bad night, that had led you to the Dreamjolt Holstery. It was unwise of you to fall in love with the mixologist, but here you were, several years in, finding out he was quite literally made up.

Slowly, you take a seat at the bar, the lounge around you empty, dead. You have no idea where the bartender is, but you don’t care. This is the same seat you had taken that night. It was something you should’ve forgotten, really, such a minor detail that now felt all too big and meaningful to your heart. You can still remember what had torn you up, it was a particularly bad day, feeling too dysphoric, and no matter what you did, even in the Dreamscape, it had done nothing to affirm your identity more. So you sought out a drink, or a few, to wash down that bitter taste that plagued your taste buds all day. And there he was, a little disheveled as always, eyebags, gravelly voice, something about him just… washed over you as if he were a dream. Which, looking back, apparently he was. You remember fighting between two thoughts; wanting to be him, or wanting him. To be a man so… masculine, gruff, big and intimidating, something like that…

Your nostalgic daydream is broken by steps, and a figure above you. You look up, hoping that you’ll see the same scene once more, that Gallagher will shoot you a smile and a chuckle, ask you what’s got you down, but instead, it’s Siobhan. She looks down at you with a sympathetic smile, as if she knows exactly what you were thinking about. You can’t tell if you feel angry or sad, or neither. You simply push those feelings down.

“What can I get you tonight?” She asks, her voice even and calm as always.

You take a minute to think, unsure if you want something strong to keep you occupied or something that could serve as a tribute. Ultimately, you settle with…

“A glass of uh… The Big Sleep,” You can’t help but chuckle lightly at the name, even if the chuckle was devoid of joy. Siobhan doesn’t mention it, simply smiles and nods.

“... To the ghosts of the past?”

“Yeah… to the ghosts of the past.”

© freyito, 2024 | masterlist | queue | kofi | star header by roseschoices DO NOT REPOST AS YOUR OWN OR USE FOR AI/AI CHATBOTS.

[wondereads]

Review of The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton

Summary

Sybil and Esme are best friends, roommates, and maybe a little bit more. They are also poster thieves, though Esme only reluctantly plays lookout. One night, they are caught by Maeve, the owner of the Absinthe Underground, the premier nightclub in the 1920s-inspired city of Severon, and she offers them a deal; the funds to do anything they want with their lives in exchange for stealing the jewels of the Moonshadow Queen, Mab. And who could resist such an offer?

Plot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Unfortunately, the plot of this book, while it boasts an intriguing presence and beautiful setting, is very rushed and never really takes the time to build tension. Throughout the book, Sybil and Esme must steal three items to then help them steal Mab's jewels. There's a lot of potential for each of these heists to be a clever, hair-raising scenes, but each of them lasts maybe five pages each. While Sybil is portrayed as a daredevil poster thief, she definitely doesn't have the skill set for these high security heists, and Esme absolutely doesn't. They get through these situations far too easily, and it causes the tension to fall flat.

The worlds of Severon and Fae are very aesthetically pleasing, and there's nothing really major excluded in terms of worldbuilding. However, there are some questions I just generally wish were answered, like some things concerning Sybil's family and what the actual power of the jewels is; if there is anything.

Characters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The characters are definitely the saving grace of this story. Esme and Sybil have greatly distinctive personalities and pretty decent development. Esme in particular learns to stand up for herself, and their relationship, even just platonically, grows a lot. Despite the lack of plot tension, there is good romantic tension, and the romance is very cute. It was probably the most enjoyable part of the book for me.

There is also a good side romance and some good side characters, but I will say that there are some side characters that really aren't well developed. Their personalities are flat, and their motivations seem to be curated just for the main characters to have aid in their quest.

Writing Style 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I'd say the writing for this book is pretty average for a YA novel. The descriptions of Severon really hit that 1920s, art noveau aesthetic, and, like I mentioned, there are quite a few scenes with some good romantic tension. Unfortunately, there is a general issue with telling instead of showing, especially concerning the main characters' thought process. There are many times when the characters explicitly explain why they think something or their reasoning for doing something instead of trusting the reader to draw their own conclusions.

Also, as I discussed in the plot section, the pacing is way too fast in this book. I don't often say this about a book, but it needs an extra 100 pages or so. The story would benefit so much from being taken more slowly, getting more spread out, especially the individual heists.

Overall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed by this book. It has a great premise, the aesthetics really come through, and it's got a cute sapphic romance. The execution falls short with just the lack of space for the story. Things happen far too quickly when there are many scenes that really need space to breathe. It affects the tension and doesn't give much room for the side characters to show their personalities. The writing tends to tell instead of show, which may contribute to the rushed nature of this book. This book could have been quite good, but it ends up being somewhat mediocre.

The Author

Jamie Pacton: American, also wrote The Vermilion Emporium and The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

The Reviewer

Hi, I'm Rose, this is my blog, Wondereads, and I review, discuss, and recommend books! You can check out my pinned post for more info :)

[eviltothecore13]

Jill having pictures in her room doesnt mean shes bi. Learn about women instead of sexulizing them for your fantasies. Pervert

...OK, no, it doesn't *mean* she's bi, that's a headcanon. A headcanon shared by several bi women I'm friends with, but a headcanon.

My question for you is: why is headcanoning a woman as bi inherently some kind of perverted sexualisation? Would you say the same if I'd said I saw a woman as a lesbian (Alcina, for instance), or as straight (Excella Gionne, for instance)? Is it also perverted sexualisation to headcanon a man as bi (I headcanon MOST characters as bi by default because there's a fair amount of evidence that most people aren't 100% straight or 100% gay IRL, but the most obvious example in my fic and on this blog is that I ship Albert Wesker/William Birkin)?

I've seen Claire fans (many of whom are women) talk about certain scenes in the RE2 remake saying things like "she's totally checking Leon out in this scene". Have you sent them similar messages because they, too, are suggesting that something a female character does might be an indication that she's attracted to someone? Or do you only have a problem with someone suggesting a female character is attracted to women?

Talking about a character's orientation and who they might be attracted to is not uncommon here on Tumblr. I mean, we are pretty much all some kind of LGBTQA+ here and naturally tend to look for representation. As there isn't that much definitively canon rep in RE but most of the characters are fairly open to interpretation in that regard, headcanoning them tends to be pretty popular (I must say, you're the first person on here I've ever seen object to this headcanon) and isn't usually seen as all that sexual (I really don't have very strong sexual feelings about Jill? This isn't an insult to her, she's definitely objectively good-looking, and a great character who I like, but she's not the one I sexually fantasise about, that would be Wesker).

As for learning about women, well, I can't claim to know everything about the experience of being a woman, but I know enough women to know that many/most women--those who aren't ace--are attracted to people sometimes. "He's hot", "she's hot", "they're both hot", aren't uncommon phrases to hear. I know at least one woman who has posters of shirtless Wesker and various other characters up in her house. I don't think it would be realistic to pretend, in fic or otherwise, that women are delicate flowers who faint at the thought of sex, instead of human beings who usually experience sexual attraction just like other human beings.

[mdzsartreblogs]

hey! i'm so glad i found your blog, its like a blessing to me! not exaggerating! i wanted to ask, do you have all official art from mdzs in your collection in your blog? like from the donghua, novel, game, and novel and all? i'm looking to make my own private mdzs art collection, so a reply would help!

also what would you suggest as the best sources for collecting mdzs official art? any twitter acc or zerochan?

Hi! Thanks for getting in touch!

I don't have all the official art, because there's just so darn MUCH of it, and because it's actually much more complicated to curate than most other art.

See, I try not to post duplicates, and usually I can easily ensure that by just searching for the artist and checking what of theirs I've posted, and/or by looking at the notes and just seeing if mdzsartreblogs is already in the "reblogged with tags" part of the notes.

But official art mucks that system all up because multiple people post it! I might have reblogged that piece, but not from that OP, and not in that post version. So if something isn't brand new, I'll often toss it in my likes for a later date when I can check if I've reblogged a different version of it, but I've been so busy recently that said later date really hasn't been coming, oops.

I also haven't been super consistent about reblogging art that's only on merchandise - sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, without much rhyme or reason. *sweatdrop*

There's also the complication, from the curation point of view, of where to draw the line on what counts as "art." So like...the donghua is composed of cels of drawn art, so should I count every screen cap I see of it as "official art" and reblog it? Or what about the manhua, the entire manhua is "official art," so should I try to collect every single panel? I've decided to draw the line on "no" for treating donghua screen caps as art for this blog, and I don't (usually) count comic pages from the manhua (though I've definitely made exceptions) but I'll reblog more "arty" stuff, like promo posters for the donghua, or chapter lead-ins for the manhua (or the incredibly sexy stuff that the manhua artist has been posting on Twitter of late, coughcough). But you may choose to draw the line in a different place, so what I have may not include whole categories that you'd want to collect.

That said, I've reblogged approximately 500 posts with official art over the almost three years I've run this account (three years this September!). And I can probably help a little with your question!

Resources from Me:

#official art on mdzsartreblogs: https://mdzsartreblogs.tumblr.com/tagged/official%20art

My (six months out of date) organization spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nrSuFDL12MZ4O9_LFcbm7Tq47z_aiOl6I-xj8BNHs-c/edit?usp=sharing

This is the sheet I've used to organize these blogs and to keep the tags organized, though during 2023 I've had no time to maintain it. The reason I'm sharing it now is because the last sheet is a list of official artists (now a couple years out of date) with examples of their work and select links for finding them, so that might help.

Other Resources:

I don't really use twitter and have only vaguely heard of Zerochan, so I'm no help with those. Tumblr is my primary social media account, though I did recently make a Lofter account and I'm gonna try to find some official accounts there to follow directly. I can report back on that if people want, my Chinese isn't great tho so it's slow going and, as I've mentioned, I'm stupidly busy rn so it's hard to find the time.

For other Tumblr blogs that have a lot of official art, here's a few I know of that post it often:

@hanguangjunn - especially active recently, has done a lot of compilation posts that I don't always reblog because I often have some or all of the pieces as solo posts already

@t110n - posts a decent amount of MDZS, and posts official art for a huge range of danmei fandoms. One of my favorite blogs for that kind of thing; I super appreciate how much work they've put into sharing manhua art from a huge range of danmei fandoms.

@fluff-crt - also doesn't post everything, but is still active and has been active since before I joined the fandom; they also have posted some scanalations/translations and reposts with permission, though not as much recently.

@shandian-go - this is a Group Order account (the one I use personally, in fact, highly recommend) but from an art standpoint they're also a great resource for finding official merchandise art, as Mel always posts about the new merch with pictures and doesn't delete the posts advertising closed GOs.

@mdzs-equine-archive - posts official art that includes any equine (Apple, Lan Wangji's horse, etc.)

@minmoyu - in general, Minmoyu is one of the most incredible, helpful people I've found running a danmei account, and I've used resources they've written to help me buy print books, to find new danmei to read, and more. They also fairly regularly post official art, and have done so since the early days of danmei fandoms on Tumblr.

@p-h03n1-x - not active anymore, but used to post a lot of official art.

@zam81 - not super active, but basically all their posts are official art and/or photos for MXTX fandoms.

Those are the ones that spring to mind; if you scroll back through the tag on mdzsartreblogs and see who I've reblogged from, you'll spot some more; if you go back to waaaay in the beginning you'd probably be able to spot some folks who were more active once upon a time and are less around now (@aliceindanmeiland springs to mind, they haven't posted official MDZS art in a long time as far as I know, but were very active in the period when MDZS first hit Tumblr as a fandom, around the summer of 2018. Note that I personally joined the fandom in the fall of 2019.)

Hope this helps! Happy collection building!

-unforth

[cbedfordart]

Dropping by to infodump about your game! I discovered SWC through a favorite Let's Player, Minx from Krinx TV. She did a Twitch stream (can't locate the stream in question atm but can confirm it's still up in her broadcast archive) based around checking out indie game trailers for games set to debut in 2024 with Sorry, We're Closed being featured (both the reveal trailer and her Let's Play of the demo). I fell in love with the aestthetics, dessigns and humor present in what was showcased with Michelle's design and character being my favorite from what I've watched. I'm happy to report that Minx is fully on board with your project and wants to check out the full release of SWC when it arrives! It's quite rare for me to be this excited about a game pre-release especially something as recent yet your work has won me over. I'm so obsessed with Sorry, We're Closed that I created a TV Tripes page for it and also linked your blog there for posterity, primarily managed by yours' truly. See the page here:https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/SorryWereClosed

P.S. Want me to link you Minx's Twitch stream featuring SWC when I can get better access to her stream backlog? Mobile/tablet's not letting me scroll further down so I'll have to do that from my PC.

Oh gosh thanks so much!! We’ve just been out in the US showing the game at Day of the Devs so it’s great to end my trip with such a wonderful message!! I’m so glad you like the game so much (or what you can see of it) and can only hope you’ll enjoy the full release just as much!! It’s honestly so crazy seeing how much people are into it as it’s all based off of just something I personally wanted to make. Seeing people resonate with it has really added some pep in my step towards completing it!

I also got your link for the vid so thank you for that I’ll definitely give it a watch once we get home.

💖💖💖

[impalementation]

Hi, I discovered your blog last night and mainlined most of it in one sitting. Really inteesting material. Got me to log into Tunblr for the first time since I think 2015. I'll have more questions/comments when it's had more of a chance to settle.

Have you ever looked at the AtPO website/forum archives ?

There are some amazing discussions there! Including a Jungian who posted under the name manwitch with a fascinating series on season 1 called Buffy's Spiritual Journey. As far as anyone can tell this dude was the first to apply the Primeval logic of heart/mind/spirit/hands to the whole show.

There is also a rewatch thread unfolding slowly on Buffyforums.net that contains some gems, especially from the posters Local Max and Stateofsiege97.

It's always a special thrill to discover someone else who has thought as much about this show. Take care please and know that you have a new reader/viewer.

Thank you so much for the kind message! I did indeed browse through the AtPO website a while back, and found much of interest. But it's been years at this point. I clearly forgot the post you've mentioned, but I'll check it out! I've definitely enjoyed reading through some of the buffyforums rewatch threads as well--mainly season six, it being my personal hobby horse.

Take care yourself, and thanks again.

[apompkwrites]

Hi, I discovered your blog an hour ago and I fell in love with it. Your writing is amazing! I love the idea of 'Reader Impact', it's very original and it would be an amazing series. Also, I can't stop thinking about either Aether or Lumine playing Genshin Impact (yes, I'm a simp for the twins) and simping for the reader through all the playthrough.

reader impact || first meeting: traveler edition

series masterlist characters: aether, lumine genre: fluff summary: a game has been released entitled genshin impact, consisting of otherworldly abilities relying on the basic elements of nature. the game follows the story of an interdimensional traveling twin in search of their other half. along this journey, they meet different characters that live in this world. including you. notes: the twins are amazing and that’s that <3

aether's playthrough -

i like to think he's the softer one of the twins.

like, lumine is the one to beat someone up while aether wants to talk things out.

aether and lumine definitely stream together.

catch them playing little nightmares 2 together and lumine being the one to play most of the time.

fit checks at the beginning of the stream.

please he needs validation :((

anyway since genshin is primarily a single-player game, the twins can't really play together for the first part of the game.

they'd still play together, though!

they will start the game together and end the game together.

they're super excited to see that there are twins as the mc.

aether is not prepared for the start of the game.

please he jumps when he sees the main god appear.

now comes the fateful decision of which twin to choose.

aether picks you automatically because he just really likes you.

your scarf is so cute and your wings are so cute and--

he feels guilty when your twin is taken away :((

he really can't imagine the feeling where you lose your other half right in front of your very eyes.

"(twin/name)!"

he's rooting for you when you attack the god but he knows you won't beat her because there wouldn't be a game if you did.

"wait! don't go! give my (brother/sister) back! please!"

he will cry, don't test him.

he really likes your voice.

it's just really soothing for him to listen to.

when the game starts, he'll just jump around the beach for a few minutes.

"look! look at their scarf!"

he likes the physics of the clothes whenever your character moves.

he's just so giddy!!

lumine is teasing him but he doesn't care.

his chat really wants to know why he likes you so much.

and honestly? he just does.

you're cute and that's that.

he's sad he doesn't get to hear you talk that often though :((

he's like a little puppy please talk!

his chat doesn't like to see him sad so whenever they can, they tell him about the voicelines in your character profile.

honestly, they don't expect him to get that excited.

but he is and now he's obsessed.

he can and will make your voicelines a daily part of his life.

anyway, back to the actual storyline.

he gets scared by dvalin because he doesn't want you to get hurt.

"aren't they, like... professional adventurers?"

"yeah, but... i don't want them to get hurt."

LET HIM LOVE YOU

anytime there is a long silence during the stream, aether will cut in and just compliment you out of the blue.

like it's dead quiet except for the game.

you can hear aether's character (you) running through the grass.

"they're really cute."

aND HIS CHAT IS GOING WILD

anyway, he gets further into the game and him and lumine have top-tier characters.

even though he has a bunch of new four and five star characters...

hE JUST CAN'T LEAVE YOU BEHIND.

you will always be in his party, no questions asked.

and then he learns you can have different elements.

he doesn't care which one you have because you'll look cool with any one of them!

he soon gets used to your silence whenever something happens.

he appreciates the noises you make every so often when you're traveling because that's all he gets.

until the end of the liyue mission.

"name your price. you deserve that much."

"we still need to find our twin..."

you guys are in sync at this point istg--

"well... could you help me put up some missing person posters...?"

you've done it.

you've killed aether.

now his chat and lumine are laughing at him.

lumine's playthrough -

like i said before, lumine's the "tougher" of the twins.

it's not like she's a tomboy type, she just is more... confrontational.

she likes to stand up for herself.

we love a strong woman.

anyway, games.

she and aether tend to do more story-based games because they like the banter that comes with it.

her viewers are... different compared to her brothers, but she doesn't let that stop her!

the chat's exactly what you'd expect from a strong female streamer... unfortunately.

once again, lumine and aether stream the game together but with different playthroughs.

while aether chooses your sibling, lumine chooses you!

she really likes your outfit, ngl.

you. are. adorable. any other opinion is invalid to lumine.

"(twin/name)!"

YOUR SIBLING LOOKS SO SAD STOP--

and they're gone.

she's actually yelling at you to defeat the god, but obviously, it doesn't work.

"stop! give my (brother/sister) back!"

as much as she loves to tease her brother, she'd feel devastated if she were in your position.

if you have flowers just like lumine, she will purposely get matching ones and wear them for genshin streams.

WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE

anyway, she loves your fighting style.

if it's graceful and calculated, she loves watching your scarf flow behind you while you fight hilichurls.

if it's reckless and wild, she'd admire you for being so tough :0

lumine still teases aether for being so smitten over his twin, but she'd be just as guilty.

they'd rant on and on after ending the game about how cute and cool you are.

surprisingly, she'd be the one to point out the slight difference in the twins.

once lumine and aether can play together in the same world, she'd have them stand side by side and attack just to explain the differences.

like how your twin uses the opposite hand in every attack.

or how your elemental skills are animated differently along with different voicelines.

also, she'd argue with aether about which twin is better.

her side of the stream would definitely start with some of your voicelines.

she wouldn't go as far as to use your lines for alarms in her daily life but she'd definitely use them for her stream.

she loves gliding around teyvat with you.

"look at how cute they are when they're flying!!"

you are her main dps, no questions asked.

her sub dps wouldn't get as much attention,,,

and once you unlock the other elements, she is prepared.

any character she has that matches your element, you get their artifacts.

she will buff you no matter what element you use.

just like aether, she wished you would talk more but she wouldn't be devastated.

her chat would tell her not to worry because you'll talk soon.

she's kind of annoyed they told her but she can't help but feel really excited for that special moment.

"name your price. you deserve that much."

"well... could you help me put up some missing person posters?"

"please tell me someone's already clipped that."

even if she wants you to talk more, she can't help but feel like these scenes are special when they pop up. <3

[wip]

I think the new tipping system is really interesting and has a lot of potential, but a few questions:

Would it be possibly to turn off the tip option for certain posts? Or only turn it on for certain posts? (Say I posted just a rant about my day, I wouldn't want a tip button there. Or if I posted fanfic, same.) A tip activation button on the post form could be set up like how the current form has buttons that let you crosspost to twitter/facebook or turn those options off.

Reblogs don't show the tip button. which kinda makes sense (clarity, to make sure you realize you know who you're tipping) but also doesn't (reblogs are how posts become popular, and how would a non-follower know you're tippable?) Is that likely to change in the future?

The tipping FAQ currently says only US residents can enable tips. But Post+ has more countries available. I know nothing about the legalities or whatever, but again is that likely to change in the future, with more people able to be included?

Thanks!

Hello @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly!

We’re glad you are having fun playing around with tipping! You asked some questions. Below are your answers.

1. Turning the tip option off for certain posts

Right now, tipping is an on/off situation for your entire blog. However, yes, we are also working on making tipping available on a post-by-post basis, so this will be an option in the future.

2. Tip button on reblogs

Reblogs are a vital piece of the Tumblr experience, so tipping them would definitely be cool! Tipping is a way of supporting original content—be that art, shitpost, or dream analysis—at its source. That’s why we’re evaluating options to allow tipping on reblogs in a way that protects the rights of original posters.

3. Tipping non-US residents

Not yet. But, as with Post+, tipping will be available for non-US residents in the future!

If you haven’t checked out our Help Center article, be sure to head over there for more detailed information on how tipping works. We’ll be updating that article as we continue to iterate on tipping.

In the meantime, keep tossing those tips! —Bohdan (Tumblr Engineering)

[snelbz]

Life As We Know It {Chapter 9}

Summary: After the sudden deaths of Nesta’s sister and Cassian’s best friend, they gain guardianship of their nephew, Nyx.

Based on Life As We Know It (2010) and a prompt sent in by anonymous for our Nessian fanfic contest. This is a modern au.

Instead of doing a tag list for this story, we have decided to have a set posting schedule. Chapters will be posted weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. Chapters will be posted on both my and Shelby’s blogs! >> @snelbz​

Life As We Know It Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

A/N: SURPRISE. Enjoy this chapter a day early. I had my days wrong and legit thought it was Thursday, but since it was ready…. Y’all get to enjoy the spoils of my frazzled brain. 😘

Nesta waited with Nyx in the waiting room of the pediatric office.

His rash didn’t seem to be bothering him much, but she wanted to get ahead of it before it became a problem. He was absolutely enamored with the TV playing a bright children’s show in the corner, and Nesta couldn’t help but smile down at him as she checked her email.

The usual stuff greeted her, some open catering order invoices for the restaurant, a few wayward resumes from high school kids that had managed to get her personal email, and, of course, spam.

“Nyx?”

Nesta’s head shot up, and Nyx began looking around, wondering who had called his name. Nesta was instantly on her feet, pushing Nyx’s stroller toward the door that the nurse held open.

She smiled. “Hello, Nyx.”

Nyx babbled in greeting.

The nurse chuckled. “Such a cute little guy. You’re Nesta, I assume?”

“I am,” Nesta confirmed. “I’ve not been here before. It’s a nice office.”

The small talk went on. Nesta had never been a fan of small talk, of polite pleasantries.

It just made her feel awkward.

Nyx didn’t seem to mind. He just kept babbling and babbling and babbling, without a care in the world.

The nurse led them into a room and she checked Nyx’s height and weight before telling them that the doctor would be there shortly.

Nesta had picked Nyx up, looking around at all the educational posters on the walls, when a quick knock sounded on the door and a man cracked open the door.

Nesta blinked once as he stepped inside, not expecting the tall, muscled man that appeared in front of her.

“You must be Nesta,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m Dr. Kamaras.”

This man was Nyx’s pediatrician? She had known that Nyx’s doctor was male, Feyre had mentioned him in some stories a few times, but Nesta had always pictured an elderly man.

Not this sculpted, handsome man, who could easily graced the cover of one of the ridiculous smutty books she kept well hidden in her bedroom.

She shook his hand, finally remembering how to speak. “Yes, I am, it’s nice to meet you.”

Very nice to meet you, she added in her head.

His face sombered. “I was very sorry to hear about Rhys and Feyre. They were great people.”

And just like that, Nesta was back on earth, holding her sister’s son in her arms, standing where her sister should have been. She tried to keep her smiling from dimming, but she cleared her throat. “Thank you. It’s…been an adjustment.”

As if they both remembered why they were here, Dr. Karamas blinked and said, “Yes, Nyx, right. You told the nurse he has a rash of some sort?”

“It’s just a diaper rash but it seems to be getting infected,” Nesta explained. “I’ve tried a few different things but nothing seems to be working.”

“Ah,” he said, nodding. “Well, let’s take a look.”

Dr. Karamas took one glance and whistled. “Definitely infected. I’m going to give you a steroid cream. Put it on after every diaper change. It should clear up within the week.”

Nesta let loose a breath. “Oh, great, thank you.”

“Absolutely,” he smiled.

He had a nice smile.

He scribbled something down on his clipboard, signed it, and handed it to Nesta. “The number on the bottom is my office number. If you have any other concerns, no matter how small, give it a call.”

Nesta looked at Nyx’s prescription and the number that was beneath it, along with his name.

Balthazar Karamas.

“Thank you, Dr. Karamas,” Nesta said, and she meant it. She was still new at this, and every little medical thing concerned her.

If it wasn’t normal, she was freaking the fuck out.

“Bal, please,” he said, taking her hand again, shaking it. At the look on her face, he added, “I work with kids. They do better on a familiar name basis than with titles like doctor and mister.”

She nodded, smiling. “Bal, then.”

Nesta was getting Nyx resituated in his stroller in the waiting room, about to head back out into the bright sunlight, when she felt someone approach. She wasn’t expecting to find Balthazar standing a few feet away. She quickly checked the stroller, making sure she had her purse, the diaper bag, and, of course, Nyx himself. “Did I forget something?” She asked, finding everything exactly where it was supposed to be.

“No, no, it’s not that,” he said, pausing in front of her. “I just…can’t shake the feeling that I know you from somewhere.”

It was strange, since Nesta felt the same way.

“You’re not Illyrian,” he said, and it wasn’t a question, nor was it rude. Just an assumption. She only knew of a few other Illyrians in the area, and Balthazar definitely had the same coloring as Cassian and Az. And Rhys used to have. She, pale skinned and blue eyed, certainly did not.

“I’m not,” she said, at last.

Bal chuckled.

That smile, yet again, had her toes curling.

“Interesting,” he said, that smile remaining. “Well, maybe we can figure out just where we’ve run into each other before...over lunch this weekend?”

Nesta blinked. A date?

“Not a date,” he said, quickly, reading her mind. “I would never ask the aunt of my patient on a date. That would be incredibly unprofessional.” Nesta laughed. “Just…two acquaintances figuring out where they were previously acquainted.”

“Lunch sounds nice,” Nesta said, unable to shake her own smile. “Saturday, then?”

“Saturday,” Bal agreed.

They set up a time and place and then Nesta was out the door.

*

Cassian’s day had been as long as it was the day before. It seemed that the teenagers visiting Velaris had gotten the message from their friends that Cassian’s bar was checking every single ID of every single drink that was ordered. So instead of being slammed and busy and frustrated the whole day, he had been bored out of his mind.

He’d gone through his inventory sheets twice, ordering anything they might remotely run out of in the next few weeks.

It didn’t help that Kallias had the day off, covering the evening shift tonight, leaving him alone with his thoughts all day.

And those thoughts constantly reminded him that he’d been an absolute dick to Nesta the night before.

As he drove home, he contemplated the apology he needed to make.

Although Cassian believed his intentions were typically good, apologizing wasn’t one of his strengths. He ran through what he’d say a hundred times, had come up with an unbearable amount of ways in which he could apologize, but everything he thought of wasn’t good enough.

He knew Nesta well enough to know when she would laugh in his face.

He’d come up with about fifteen different scenarios of how this could go by the time he pulled into the driveway, parking next to her little car. He took a deep breath before unlocking the front door and letting himself in.

The house was quiet, neither Nesta or Nyx were anywhere to be found. It was barely six-thirty, but he knew Nesta was taking Nyx to the doctor earlier in the day, which may have tired him out so thoroughly that he was already down for the night. A peek into his cracked bedroom door confirmed it, his little hand curled next his face as he slept.

When he finally tracked down Nesta, on the back patio, her feet propped up in a lounge chair, he definitely hadn’t expected to find her with a bottle of wine. Or what was left of it, at least.

The mostly empty bottle of wine sat next to the baby monitor.

He cleared his throat, announcing his presence.

Nesta’s sigh was the only acknowledgement she showed.

“Everything alright?” He asked.

She shrugged and took a sip from her glass.

“Bad day?” He continued.

She shrugged again.

“Is this the silent treatment?” He asked.

“I assume you’d know,” she said.

Cassian began rubbing his temples. “Look, Nesta-.”

“I’m a little busy if you don’t mind,” she continued. “I prefer to relax alone.”

“This is my house, too,” he said, shutting the sliding door behind him as he made his way onto the patio. “What if I want to sit out here with you?”

“Then I’d suggest continuing the silence,” she said, not looking at him, her face tilting back up to the sky, where it had been when he’d come outside.

So he sat down on a nearby lounge chair, and didn’t say a word.

Or he tried, but he didn’t last five minutes. The words that had building inside him all day needed to come out. He’d rehearsed different things he wanted to say, with reasons for why he was such an asshole, and promises to try and be better from now on. But as he looked over at her, the starlight on her face, all he could get out was, “I’m sorry.”

For a moment, Nesta said nothing. “About?”

“The way I acted last night,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the lawn. “It was uncalled for, and I’m sorry.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, draining her glass.

Cassian’s eyes shot her direction. “I’m trying to apologize. You can at least accept my apology so we can move on.”

“Apologies mean nothing,” Nesta said, shrugging. “Words are meaningless.”

“Not mine,” Cassian argued. “I mean what I say.”

“Then you meant what you said last night?” Nesta pushed.

Cassian’s lips snapped shut and his jaw hardened. “No.”

“So, you’re a liar, then?” Nesta asked.

He groaned in frustration. “You’re infuriating.”

She didn’t deign to reply to that.

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I was an asshole last night. I was…embarrassed about how you found me the night before. I don’t… I don’t like to be seen like that.” He paused, but then he held a hand out in between them. “Not- not that that happens often. I mean, I don’t make a habit of having emotional breakdowns.”

She didn’t say anything. Just stared at him.

He cleared his throat again, remembering little things he had felt badly about through the day. “Nesta, I’m sorry I acted like an ass. I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate the dinner you made me. I was rude as hell and you did nothing to deserve it.”

After a second, she glanced away, out over the pool. He figured she wasn’t going to reply, and he stood, heading back for the back door.

He had slid the door open and was halfway inside when she said, “If you’re hungry, I made lasagna for dinner. It should still be warm on the stove.”

He turned back and found a hint of a smile on her face. “Thanks, Nes.”

*

A continuation of his apology, Cassian had told Nesta he'd be on baby duty for the rest of the night, waking Nyx up for his bottle, granting her leave to do whatever she wanted. She elected to finish off the bottle of wine, open another, and relax in the bathtub with a book.

The book of choice was definitely not appropriate to read in front of Nyx.

Or Cassian, for that matter.

She had appreciated his apology, even though a part of her still wanted to be pissed. There were very few things that agitated her more than male bravado, and Cassian was the spitting image of it. Embarrassed because he was emotional? Please. Get the fuck over it.

Then again, she could say that all day, but in honesty, if the positions were reversed, she would have reacted very, very similarly.

If not worse.

Nesta had always felt too much, far more than either of her sisters. It wasn’t like they were robots, of course. Elain had a bigger heart than anyone Nesta had ever known, and Feyre had been a light to be around.

But, Nesta…

She felt it all, and she felt it far too deeply. She had learned long ago to shut those emotions off, to let them go, to not let her emotions show. They could just be used as a weakness.

And she found life worked better that way.

There was a soft knock on the bathroom door.

Nesta sat up straight, even though the door was locked, in a sudden panic over the fact that she was nude and reading smut.

“Yeah?”

“Nyx is going to bed,” he said. “Just thought you’d want to say goodnight.”

“I- Ah- Just a minute,” she called, setting the book down and reaching down to grab for her towel. She was out and damn near opened the door in just her towel again, but remembered their agreed upon rules. She snatched her robe, wrapping it around herself, towel and all.

She opened the door, Cassian standing just by her bed, and Nyx had his head resting on his shoulder, rubbing his little eyes.

The image was so pure and innocent that Nesta couldn’t stop herself from taking a few steps towards them, reaching out to brush her fingers down Nyx’s soft cheek. “Sweet dreams, buddy,” she breathed, leaning up to press a kiss to his forehead.

She regretted it almost immediately, as bringing herself that close in Nyx also inadvertently brought her to Cassian. His heady, nutmeg-and-campfire scent enveloping her, reminding her of the morning she’d come downstairs and found him as naked as she was now. She stepped back quickly, clearing her throat. “And goodnight to you, Cassian,” she murmured. She pointed back behind her towards the bathtub, towards her book, and said, “I’m going to read a little longer and then go to bed myself.”

He nodded. “Alright, I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Nes.”

The nickname didn’t bother her as much as it previously had, she realized as he made his way back out of her room, shutting the door behind him.

She didn’t let herself think about that, did her best not to think about him, as she sunk back into the warm water.

*

Nyx had gone down easily for Cassian, for the first time ever, thanks to the frozen toy he’d gnawed on to relieve the pain of his incoming tooth. He’d decided he deserved a treat, too, after that, and had sat down to watch the hockey game, a beer in hand.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the front door.

Cassian paused, glancing down at his watch, seeing that it was pushing nine o’clock. He stood, after a second knock sounded, making his way to the door. He opened it to find a woman dressed in a suit on the other side. “Can I help you?”

“Mr. Nazari, I assume?” She asked, extending her hand.

He took it, on instinct, shaking it, but he blinked. He repeated, “Yeah… Can I help you?”

Her brows twitched together. “My name is Alis Birch. I’m with social services.”

Cassian continued to shake her hand, staring.

“The courts told you we’d be making random visits to check in on Nyx,” she continued.

Oh, fuck, Cassian thought. Oh, fucking hell.

They’d completely forgotten about those random visits, in the past few weeks they’d been doing this, distracted by getting used to not only being parents, but getting used to each other as well.

“I see,” Cassian said, nodding. “I… I’ll…be right back.”

“I’d like to come in-.”

Cassian shut the door, quickly set his beer on the table in the entryway, and hauled ass upstairs.

He threw open the door to Nesta’s bedroom, only to found it empty, so he continued on, throwing open the bathroom door.

Where Nesta was still in the tub, completely nude, a book in hand, one hand disappeared beneath the water. Her head was thrown back in utter ecstasy.

Until Cassian barged in, anyway.

“Shit!” he yelled, just as Nesta gasped and sent the water sloshing out of the tub, over the porcelain edges.

Cassian quickly shut the door behind him, closing them into the bathroom together, and put his face in his hands. “Sorry!”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yelled, and he could hear her pulling the plug.

“It’s important, I swear,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands.

“If the house isn’t on fire or Nyx isn’t dying, it’s not important,” she cried, ducking behind the walls of the tub.

“It’s pretty fucking important,” he said, turning to give her a semblance of privacy. He heard her stand up, water moving and quiet dripping, before her feet landed on the rug outside the tub. “The social worker is here.”

She froze and he dared a look back at her. Thankfully, she was wrapped in her towel again, one arm pushed through her robe. “The social worker is here? Now?” He nodded, and she looked at the nearly empty bottle of wine next to the glass on the small table by the tub. It was the second one she’d had that night. “But it’s late,” she protested.

“It’s a random, surprise visit,” he replied. “I left her outside, but-.”

“You didn’t let her in?” Nesta demanded, eyes widening. “Cauldron, Cass, that makes us look so guilty.”

He blinked. “Of what?”

“I don’t know,” she said, throwing her hands in the air. “But it doesn’t make us look good.”

“Well, I didn’t know what to do,” he sighed, exasperatedly. “I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to come up here and find you doing that.” He gestured to the tub.

Nesta’s cheeks heated. He figured his own were going to permanently be the shade of red they were now.

No, that was the last thing he ever expected to catch Nesta doing.

“Just… Go let her in and stall her while I get dressed,” she sighed, crossing her arms, waiting for him to leave.

Cassian hesitated, then nodded, and hurried back down the stairs. When he reopened the front door, Alis Birch stood there. Her expression was hard, intimidating.

Cassian could feel himself sweat.

He prayed that Nesta somehow sobered up and got the fuck downstairs, because there was no way in hell he could do this without her.

[dresshistorynerd]

So I saw this illustration recently floating around here and it’s so riddled with bullshit I decided to go through it with meticulous detail. Also it’s whole point is bullshit, but we’ll circle back to it. I have to note I’m not dress historian and don’t know all the nuances related to history of undergarments, and wouldn’t have even room for that in this post. And the illustration is completely devoid of them anyway.

So strap in and jump into the rabbit hole with me! Let’s start with the accuracy of the figures illustrating the undergarments. I don’t know why the 18th century stays (corsets come later) look like that? They are so wrong in so many ways. This is what 18th century stays looked like.

They did not flatten the bust at all. On the contrary, they pushed the bust up. It makes the stomach flat, but bust very much not. The boning was made from whale bone, reeds or slim wood bents most often, which are all very bendable and soft materials. Which means it was firm but not hard or restrictive. They mostly just smoothed the torso and supported bust. Also none of these illustrations have shift or chemise under their corset/stays, which was extremely important part of the undergarment (they protected the skin from corset/stays and it from oils of skin).

Now I’m questioning weather the makers of this info graph have seen Regency dresses. Firstly they claim that the ideal figure was “natural waist” when you can see that the waist can’t even be seen under the dress. There’s literally no waist. I would rather say the ideal figure was long tube body and boobs (emphasis on boobs). They also say the “corset” (still stays) stops bellow the bust line, but if you have seen a Regency dress, you know the bust is basically on the chin. (There were some stays that actually stopped under breasts, but the ones with cups where much more common as they were better at getting the fashionable silhouette.)

You don’t achieve this look without some heavy lifting done by the undergarments.

Here’s what they looked like. (Picture is from Abigail Polston’s blog.) They were basically push up bras. They didn’t have boning at all or sometimes a couple bones, but were usually made at least partly of stiffened fabrics. Between the breasts there’s a wooden slab that keeps the boobs separate and the stays from crinkling. They only smoothed out the rest of the torso and their only real purpose was support the bust and lift the hell out of it.

The next figure has so so many things wrong about it. In 1830s the stays were basically same as Regency stays. In 1840s the stays started to have a little more of the Victorian hourglass shape, but their construction was still similar. Though at the same time corsets started to live along side stays, till in the 1850s they took over the undergarment business. Here’s an example of 1890s corset.

Victorian corset is result of very complicated engineering. The shape is achieved with very ingenious patterning and strategically placed bones. Maximal shape with minimal boning. When you go back to look at the 18th century stays, which are covered in bones and then check out bow little there’s bones in the Victorian corset. The shape subtly changed thorough the rest of the century, but the basic construction and hourglass figure stayed the same.

Now the description says tight lacing became popular and it’s not entirely wrong. Tight lacing became a thing. In the previous centuries it wasn’t really even possible in same sense, because the materials used were too soft. Well some rich fashionable women still did it in 18th century (with regency stays it just wasn’t possible), but because of the materials, they couldn’t restrict bodily functions like breathing (looking at you PotC). Victorian corsets however usually had couple of iron bones, the rest being the soft whale bone, giving them more ability to shape the body. Tight lacing however was not common. Some rich, young and fashionable ladies would do that, but it was seen broadly negatively at the time. People talked about the health consequences and perhaps more than that, saw it as very vain. Tight lacing every day for a long time had negative health consequences, but vast majority of women didn’t do that and they were nothing nearly as dramatic ass people claim. Corset’s magic wasn’t it’s ability to reduce waist, but rather accentuate bust and hips. It was all about the illusion. Padding was added too on top of the corset. All women used corsets and it didn’t restrict them from doing all kinds of stuff, like working in a factory, or climbing a mountain.

I don’t really have anything to complain about the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. They have at least the right shapes and don’t have weird claims. Now, I’m not very knowledgeable in any decade after 1920s, but I know at least that bullet bra were already a thing in the 40s? You can see it in 40s dress silhouettes too.

After all this wildly inaccurate info, the whole point of the info graph is that lingerie is going backwards and apparently it’s a bad thing. It gives the impression that undergarments were bad in the ye olden times, then they got good and apparently they are bad again. I think the funniest part is when it says in the 80s bit that “lingerie no longer a way to control the body but to empower women”. Empower how? How were 80s bras more empowering that previous or following bras? Also it says that the ideal figure was “any”. Now, I’m not that familiar with 80s, but if you look at the fashion then, you definitely notice a common silhouette: broad shoulders and natural waist.

After that apparently shaping bras are used to make the bust look bigger, which is bad I guess. Worse than padding on shoulders for some reason?

It is not outright said that the undergarments of earlier periods were used to control women’s bodies, but it’s implied. That’s a really common misconception, but not really true. In the 17th century women didn’t wear stays, but the bodice was heavily structured and boned. When mantua (loose robe draped on body, think of robe á la francaise) entered the western fashion (around 1680s), women jumped on it. Stays became very quickly very popular, to give the fashionable silhouette even without the rigid bodice. Stays and mantua combo was more comfortable and more adjustable to changes in body so it took completely over the fashion during the 18th century. And when corsets became a thing in the Victorian era, most corset makers were women. Women invented a lot of the engineering that went into patterning corsets.

Corsets and stays were not some torture devices. They were flexible, constructed with the right measurements and their purpose wasn’t to reduce the measurements of the body, but rather create optical illusions and support the bust and the back. Many people who have used recreations of historical corsets say they are in many ways more comfortable than modern bras, which shift all the weight of the bust on shoulders. Corsets and stays distributed it on hips instead. Perhaps the biggest actual health concern with a regular use of corset especially (excluding tight lacing and stays didn’t to my knowledge have this problem at least to the same extend) is it supporting the back too much, making the wearer’s deep muscles wither. So in a way, they were too comfortable. Victorians were aware of that, and upper class women, who didn’t do manual labour, were encouraged to excercise to keep their torso in good shape.

Now at some point when making this post, I started to wonder who made this illustration and why. It does seem, if not well researched, at least professional. After googling the label in the bottom left corner, I found this.

The poster is saying it’s terrible when fashion tries to shape your body with clothing and it has the solution for you. Shape your body literally with the serum they are selling. They even say in the 2000s section that big bust is the desired shape, which now looks a lot like marketing. Though it doesn’t seem like they are selling it anymore. Their website is down and I couldn’t find any info on them. The whole product seems a little suspicious. It’s apparently a cream containing estrogen you put on your breasts and it should make your breast grow. Now I’m no expert, but that’s not how estrogen works. Any cream that claims it has some hormones that will change your body or skin? They don’t work. Don’t buy them.

I think this illustrates very well why I disagree so much with the idea that shaping your silhouette with clothing was so terrible and it’s good that we moved away from it. Fashion always has a silhouette, it’s part of the overall look. When the silhouette was still achieved with undergarments, your body shape and size didn’t matter. It wasn’t about the size, it was about proportion and you could create that with corsets/stays, padding and illusions. Nowadays you see sometimes thin celebrities praised for being fashionable when they wear boring clothes which show their stomach, and people have started to question if they actually have style or are they just thin. And often bigger people are ridiculed for wearing the exact same thing. Now it’s the body which is fashionable, not the clothing. And it leads to companies like these trying to push people to change their bodies.

Now, I don’t think any strict fashion or beauty standard is ever good, even if it could be achieved with clothing alone. But I think there’s something to be learned from past, to maybe not reserve fashion and style only for a specific type of body. I don’t think it’s ever helpful or healthy for a body type to be trendy. There’s always all types of bodies and they all deserve to enjoy style, if they wish.

TL;DR: Add tried to sell their boob cream by spewing inaccuracies about historical undergarments.

[kariachi]

Y’all, we’ve done it, 24 days and 45 posted parts after we began, we have a grand finale to what is now a named fucking Osmobeast AU fic. You can find it under “Something Just Like This” on my blog, so if you’re a latecomer or just think you may have missed a part or two, have a go! I thank my readers for enjoying this impromptu project that has owned me for a fucking month.

With that said, let’s see where we’re gonna be leaving these two off...

~~

Another summer, another, slightly better, apartment. Still cheap, because while Kevin was making a bit more Garfield was not, but it had a second window, an extra counter, and was clean. After the year before, that was about their standards. Not someplace they would want to spend their lives in, but for somewhere to spend a calm few months before graduate school kicked in it was perfectly sufficient.

“Think we could get away with painting the walls?”

“Yeah, but then we’d just have to paint them again before we left.” Draped on his back across Kevin’s stomach, Gar gazed around the room with a critical eye.

“…we need more posters or something.”

“Oh definitely.” Kevin’s eyes, on the other hand, were only on him. Had been on him for about ten minutes, ever since they’d finished decimating the pizza on the stove and collapsed back to digest. They’d both been doing that more often the past few months, just watching each other exist with soft, fond expressions. It resulted in a lot of teasing from friends and family, though they agreed the response was fueled by pure jealousy. If they wanted to hang around, hand in hand, with at least one of them actively appreciating things like the way the other’s hair fell in his face, well, they were perfectly allowed. Just because other people weren’t so lucky didn’t mean they had to be any less absolutely besotted.

In the here and now, Kevin chewed on his lip, giving Gar’s hand a squeeze.

“Get up a minute,” he asked with a smile that may have come off as nervous. Did come off as nervous. “Have something I wanted to show you.”

“Sure.” Gar gave him a curious look, but sat up nonetheless, flashing him a smile that didn’t seem to calm him. Still, he gave no signs of concern as he twisted around to face him, crossing his legs. “What is it?”

“A surprise.” Kevin kissed him, quick and sweet, and Gar laughed. “Close your eyes.”

“A surprise something,” he said, following the instructions without a second thought. “If it’s posters I’m signing you up for one of those psychic testing things.”

“It’s not posters,” Kevin laughed as he awkwardly climbed off the bed - was there any way to not awkwardly get off an air mattress? - and made his way the short distance to their bags. “I made you something before they kicked me out of the shop.” Like a switch had been flipped, Gar brightened.

“A homemade Kevin gift? Those are the best kind.”

“I’m glad to meet your standards-”

“Exceed my standards.”

“-at least as much as you ruin mine.” Pulling open one of his bags, Kevin began digging through it, taking a few minutes, and checking a few pockets, before pulling out a little bundle of plain cloth. He checked what was inside, smiled, and heaved a quiet “Okay” under his breath.

“So, do I get any hints? Is it smaller than a bread box?” Kevin snorted as he stood, turning to look at Gar as he sat there, eyes closed and grinning.

“You really wanna play twenty questions,” he asked, amusement clear in his voice.

“Sure,” Gar answered, “especially if it’ll help you relax. Come on, you know I’ll love it.” Going pink, lip still caught between his teeth, Kevin chuckled.

“Okay then.” He dropped onto the bed, wrapping a steadying hand around Gar’s arm when the force almost toppled him over. “It’s smaller than a bread box.”

“Is it something functional?”

“I’d say so-” Kevin kept the bundle close to his chest as he settled in, smile almost mirroring Gar’s. “-but other people wouldn’t.”

“So essentially ‘no comment’, okay. Is it something decorative?” As he asked, his hand crept out towards Kevin, who caught it in his own. He rubbed a calloused thumb across Gar’s knuckles.

“Yes, it is.”

“Is it… Would it be expensive, if you hadn’t made it?”

“If an expert had made it, it would be very expensive.” Tapping the fingers of his free hand on his knee, Gar considered the matter.

“I’m gonna say,” he said, “that you took that art class winter quarter to heart and made me another of those little sculptures.”

“He’s so close,” Kevin said with a laugh, “but so far!” He lifted Gar’s hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to his fingers before slipping the bundle inside and letting go. There was no sign he was any less nervous than he’d started out. “Take a look.”

Gar pulled the bundle close to his chest before he opened his eyes, immediately looking to Kevin. He frowned, seeing him still fidgety, and pulled him in for a soft, reassuring kiss. It was only with that done, and Kevin flashing him a smile and a ‘go on’ wave, that he turned his attention to the gift. He was careful, gentle, in unwrapping it, only his returning grin and the tapping of his foot to signal his excitement. A grin that started shrinking as he went, settling into something small and emotional by the time the handkerchief was fully unfurled.

“Do you like it?” Under any other circumstances the tone of Kevin’s voice, uncertain and tense, would’ve had Gar’s full attention. Instead, he was focused on carefully picking up the unveiled ring, twisting it about, reaching to hold it up to the sunlight streaming in the windows. It was a simple brass band, very clearly of amateur make, crowned with a green stone held firm with a starburst pattern of thin wire. Gar breathed in as if to speak, failed, and tried again.

“You made me a ring.” His tone was light, a mixture of surprise, disbelief, and adoration.

“Yeah.” If nothing else Kevin wasn’t chewing his lip anymore, though he had drawn blood. “Sold the practice pieces for cheap so I could afford the stone.” He frowned when Gar slipped it on and revealed it to be slightly loose on his finger, reaching for his hand. “I can fix that-” Only for Gar to snatch it away, clutching it against his chest.

"I will gain weight before I let you change a single thing," he said with all the stubborn conviction of a man staring down a tiger, then relaxed, leaning over to press a quick kiss to Kevin’s lips. “I love it.” With something between another sigh and a chuckle, he added. “Tell me why?” Kevin gave a nervous huff.

“You can’t guess?” Gar pulled back with a nervous smile of his own.

“I want to hear it.” His muscles were visibly tight, foot still tapping incessantly. Taking and releasing a deep breath, Kevin began to fiddle with Gar’s hair. It was a moment before he spoke, slowly, carefully, and not quite meeting his eyes.

“I was hoping, maybe, you’d agree to marry me.” The apartment was silent for a moment, broken in the end by Gar huffing out a deep breath. He all but fell into Kevin’s lap as he surged forward, clamping his arms around him like a vice and burying his face into his throat.

“I have spent four months,” he said with what was clearly trying to be aggravation but held too much joyous laughter to make it work, “trying to find the perfect ring for you. Something you’d like, that would look good on your hand and hung around your neck when you’re working on stuff. But no, you had to spend that time learning to make fucking jewelry.” Finally, Kevin’s nerves melted away and he raised his arms to hold Gar just as firmly, tilting his head enough to brush his cheek against his hair with a grin.

“You know that phrase, ‘I loved her to the point of creation’?” He laughed as Gar swatted him. “What can I say, you bring out the artist in me.”

“I bring out something in you.” Pulling back, Gar kissed him again, and again. Then once more for good measure. Neither drew attention to how wet the other’s eyes were. “Four months, wasted.”

“Consider them practice for the wedding bands.” He huffed halfheartedly.

“Oh, so you’re not going to make those too, Mr. Artist?” The valiant effort was worthless, however, with the way he melted when Kevin bent down to lean their foreheads together.

“I could,” he said softly, “but I’d really rather your next ring fit.”

“Properly sized jewelry is overrated,” Gar countered in a matching fond tone. “In fact, I hear in France the new big thing is stuff that’s just, wildly mis-sized.”

“Is it now,” Kevin laughed, and kissed him again. “Well, if the French say it’s fashionable.”

“They would know.” With another kiss, long and gentle, Gar pulled away and started awkwardly getting to his feet. Kevin steadied him as he did. “Come on, we’re going out.” Snorting, Kevin shook his head.

“Babe, we just ate,” he pointed out, but Gar shook his head.

“Don’t have to eat right now, but damnit I want to show you and this ring off-”

“Gar-”

“It’s perfect and no arguing.” He reached out to help Kevin to his feet with moderate success. “We are going to run around, do whatever, and while you’re driving I’m going to send pictures to everyone we know and make us dinner reservations.”

“Gar, we can’t afford dinner reservations, not at any place we can eat at least.” Snatching up his sneakers, Gar leaned against the wall as he pulled them on.

“I have this great thing, it’s called an emergency credit card.” Face twisting for a moment between bemusement and affection before settling back into its grin, Kevin shook his head.

“Baby,” he laughed, “this isn’t an emergency.” One shoe popping on, Gar dropped the other to reach out and grab Kevin’s hands, locking eyes with him.

“We’re getting married-” They both took a second at the words being said aloud, breath visibly stopping and flushes coming harder to their cheeks. “-a celebration dinner is necessary, that makes not having enough money an emergency.” With a breathy chuckle, Kevin squeezed his hands.

“If you say so.”

“I say so. Get your boots on.” Shaking his head, he slipped away to do so, kneeling to pull them on and lace them. “I’m thinking that place on Seventh, with the fancy sign.”

“You mean the one where every dish costs you an organ?” Kevin laughed. “Cut it back a bit, Romeo.”

“Not happening,” Gar declared, pointing emphatically as his second shoe slipped on. “We’re going there, you’re going to order whatever you want, as much as you want, and we’ll worry about the bill later.”

“Gar-”

“Hush.” He stepped over to kneel beside Kevin, resting their foreheads together. “I have to pay you back for the handmade ring somehow.”

“You’re never gonna let that go, are you,” he asked, shaking his head, and Gar’s grin somehow got even wider.

“Kevin Ethan Levin,” he said, “or whatever you want your name to be at the end of this, by the time I’m done? This is going to be the new standard for engagement rings.” Kevin snorted, expression soft.

“Only if I get to make ‘immediate dinner at the best place in town’ the only acceptable response.” Gar kissed him again. Seemed like they were having one of those days.

“Well then, future husband of mine-” Another second. “-I think we have a deal.”

[imo-chan-imagines]

『 Haikyuu!! Week 2020 | Day 3 』

· Sept. 27th → Irresistible Force ·

Characters: Karasuno team

Prompts: A. favourite team + B. crossover/AU

Tags/warnings: Haikyuu!! (anime), PG, fluff, crack, a teensy bit of angst (because who doesn't love a sad superhero backstory), headcanons, AU, superheroes, HaikyuuWeek2020

A/N: Again, I love all the teams and didn't want to pick, but life is cruel, so here I am. This is headcanons about my fav team (Karasuno) in an AU (superheroes). I was thinking of a Hero Association, kind of like in 'The Boys'? But less corrupt... Maybe more like in 'One Punch'? I think you get me.

All of my Haikyuu Week 2020 posts will be SFW, but I have NFSW content on my blog if that butters your biscuit. Feel free to check it out! Thanks for reading! Please enjoy ♡ Imo~

Karasuno / Superhero Association AU

×

☆ Sawamura Daichi ☆

Powers: nigh invulnerability, super strength, enhanced healing

If he's not the ordinary cop that somehow befriends the heroes I was tempted then he's definitely the leader of the superhero group

Kind of like Superman in the old-school Justice League, just not as OP lol

Looks damn good is spandex those thighs *sweats*

Cape!! so ✨majestic✨

Probably wears dark-ish, neutral colours with a dash of blue

A bit serious. Not the kind of hero to go around making quips all the time, but will make light of his own suffering like Captain America

Takes younger heroes under his wing like the true Dadchi he is

Strong moral compass. Unbreakable

Won't hesitate to lay down his life for others

Who am I kidding. He's basically Captain America with a cape

Poster-boy for the Hero Association

×

☆ Sugawara Koushi ☆

Powers: telekinesis

A soft, pearly aesthetic with his suit, hair and skin. Lots of white and silver

A favourite among the ladies he's just too pretty, damm it T T

Very plucky and adorable

People in the vicinity will literally faint when he goes all serious to concentrate and use his powers

Has a duo move with Daichi where he literally throws him like a missle YEET

Has the most followers on Twitter and TikTok and his fans can be pretty nuts

Has a perfume line named after him and models for the adverts

Will smile like an angel right before bringing a building down on top of you fuck, I find this one really funny

×

☆ Azumane Asahi ☆

Powers: regeneration, enhanced stength

Kind of like Wolverine or Deapool but, like, much, much softer on the inside uwu

Wears green and black

Messed up big time back in the day and dropped off the grid out of guilt some people died :(

Was convinced to come back when his old teammates finally found him again because they needed his help in a crisis

Literally shed tears of relief when heroes and citizens alike welcomed him back instead of hating him mah heart *sniffs*

Can withstand seemingly anything and fully heal within a matter of days

Doesn't know the full extent of his powers himself. How exactly do one test it? 🤔

Still has to psych himself up for a fight, though big softy, really

×

☆ Shimizu Kiyoko ☆

Powers: electrokinesis, flight

Powers like Storm from X-Men, and kicks ass like Wonder Woman

Refuses to wear a revealing suit, but looks bomb af anyway

Kiyoko = absolute queen

One of the most powerful heroes, but doesn't throw her weight around unless she's kicking bady-guy booty

Stella gynamast, and has mastered several martial arts

Can literally throw a guy three times her size, all without any strength powers Tanaka: 👁👄👁

Somehow has perfect hair all the time secret superpower??

Is active on the political stage as a human rights activist, headlining women's rights yes, yes yes

Will strike you with lightning for sexual harassment

Comes up with really good mission plans

Is a soothing balm for Tanaka when he loses it

Black and gold aesthetic✨

Asymmetrical cape! super fashionable

Poster-girl for the Hero Association

☆ Tanaka Ryuunosuke ☆

Powers: fire generation and manipulation

Tanaka brings the heat literally

A bit of a chaotic-good, but what's new there?

Can get out of control if he loses his focus, so his friends have to keep him grounded Kiyoko is a literal angel when that happens

Kiyoko: Sun's getting real low...

Bonus points if you get the reference

Is terrified of hurting innocents if he gets out of control

It rarely happens, but if he loses his self confidence, his powers don't seem to work

Shouts cringy lines at the villains before roasting their asses lmfao

Wears a black and orange flame-retardant suit, and actually looks pretty fine in it 😌👌

Literally head over heels for Kiyoko just imagine it. Biggest hype man

×

☆ Nishinoya Yuu ☆

Powers: animal metamorphosis, enhanced speed

Think Beast Boy from 'Teen Titans', but less green he's more likely to be yellow or orange, lmao

Handy in lots of different situations. Very versatile

Incredibly cheeky and joins in with Tanaka's cheesy jokes and one-liners

Absolute maniac, but the people love him, especially schoolkids lmao

Has his own energy drink flavour, and he's STOKED about it

Yellow and black suit, kind of like his hair

Has a surprisingly large following of fans

Laps up the attention, but it doesn't really go to his head

Quiet and serious when he's on a mission/fighting

☆ Hinata Shouyou ☆

Powers: self replication, super speed, levitation

His powers took a while to properly manifest, which left him feeling isolated as a teen

Was pretty lost until Ukai helped train him

Got into a fight with Kageyama in an alleyway when he first met him MET HIM IN THE STREET, LMAO

Argues with Kageyama a lot at headquarters, but they work together like a dream when taking down bad guys

Has a heart of literal gold precious baby

Is contantly amazed when he helps significantly

Was inspired to become a hero by his idol, the Little Giant and it's his dream to inspire someone else 😭😭

Uses his replication ability to confuse the bad guys ULTIMATE DECOY

Levitates around the room when he's excited like Aang from ATLA, hahaha

Wears an orange, white and yellow suit with little wings on his heels cuuuute

×

☆ Kageyama Tobio ☆

Powers: water/ice generation and manipulation, breathing underwater, superhuman reflexes

I was tempted to give him fire/ice powers like Todoroki, but I didn't want to detract from Tanaka

Has problems focusing his powers, and can be quite turbulent in the heat of battle

Finds it hard to work well with others initially, but really makes an effort

Has hurt people close to him by accident before and never wants to do it again it would tear him apart

Becomes a power duo with Hinata when Ukai helps train them, even though they don't seem to get on well at first

Broody boi on the surface, but a cinnamon roll deep down

Wears a dark blue and deep purple suit that has fins to assist in underwater escapades which are his forte

Freezes Hinata's feet to the floor when he pisses him off or anybody's feet, tbh

Can dodge almost anything because of his reflexes don't ever try to punch him. You'll look stupid

Is surprised by the number of people in his fan club especially the number of women asking to marry him??

×

☆ Tsukishima Kei ☆

Powers: telepathy, superhuman intellect, mind control on weak-willed individuals

Prefers to outwit his enemies rather than getting into a brawl

But his self-designed gadgets and tech help him out if he has to a bit like Tony Stark, wink wonk

Sometimes makes you question if he's really a hero or not Tsukki, please

Doesn't take orders well

Baits villains by insulting them and getting the better of them with his words it's hilarious

Comes up with good plans, but improvises well with whatever he's got

Probably wears suits over his spandex most of the time fancy shmancy

Is prepared to die to protect Yamaguchi waahhh

×

☆ Yamaguchi Tadashi ☆

Powers: invisibility, force fields, teleportation

Susan Storm with added teleportation, lol

Often finds it hard to value his powers because they're not as visually strong and impressive as other people's

Rather than squaring up to a battle, he often has to 'hide' from it by literally going invisible

But he gradually becomes aware of how vital his powers can be, and learns to control them and make them as advantageous as possible

Is a highly important and valued member of the team

Soft bean that gets nervous and throws up before a fight

But he's hella determined and won't back down

Honestly, just wants to protect Tsukki and make him proud PROTECT HIM

×

☆ Yachi Hitoka ☆

Powers: size manipulation

She can shrink and enlarge herself and objects she touches at will, including other people

Sometimes shrinks really small to avoid social situations she doesn't want to be in samez, honey

The clumsiest and least experienced on the team

But she tries her best, gradually getting to grips with her powers

Sometimes uses her powers by accident, like when she's nervous

Once touched a watermelon slice on the refreshment table and accidentally blew it up to the size of a car Hinata, Kageyama and Noya fully dug in with their faces 😭😭

Nearly passed out when Daichi, the literal god of the Hero Association, told her she had great potential

Don't worry, Yams teleported and caught her

☆ Ukai Keishin ☆

Powers: laser vision, metal mimicry

The has-been hero who lost his enthusiasm for hero-ing and retired some years ago

Was really cool back in his hayday. Big hot-shot with a fan club

Has been working as a convenience store attendant to pay the bills and is bored out of his mind but refuses to admit it

Was convinced to get back in the game when he found Hinata and Kageyama fighting, both struggling with their abilities. He broke up the fight and agreed to coach them

Doesn't do much of the flashy hero stuff anymore, but will occasionally get stuck in when he's needed must protecc his children

Is only, like, ten years older than the other heroes, but they treat him like some fossilised sensei out of Natuto, or some shit

Tbf, he has the back problems of one 😭😭

×

☆ Takeda Ittetsu ☆

Powers: power absorption

Transferred from being a hero to hero management after having having issues with the effects of his powers he has a conscience :(

He felt guilty and responsible for permanently taking the powers of others, even if they were criminals

It was like removing a piece of their souls it kind of broke him

These days, he makes sure nobody knows about his powers, so it can't be used against him

He helps in any other way possible

He would only use his powers again in dire circumstances he knows he'll eventually have to

Is generally chipper and good natured, though

If he was ever captured by a villain, they'd probably send him back because he talks too much omg, hahaha

Helps gather info for the team and direct them on missions and in fights

Gives bomb inspirational speeches ✊

© imo-chan-imagines 2020

[practicalmagicintuitions]

Okay, let’s say with the basics.

Everything is alleged until proven to be true. So take it with a grain of salt, make your own research etc.

To be honest I was kinda torn that should I post this or not but since I had a private conversation with someone a few months ago who said similar things and experiences and showed me screenshots I decided to share this.

I don’t really know what to say more, I just have my own sh*t experience with some posters on this forum (not everyone obviously) who decided they are the only ones in the universe who can read cards and trashing someone there is fun… So I won’t lie, I am biased because of this and I tend to believe this story. Especially that is an open forum so I guess you can go and check the conversations and make your own judgment about it.

But I heard that this forum maybe not the safest (allegedly). When you go to a place like Tumblr, you are kinda invited to join, we, tumblr blog owners are leaving our door open to you, we can ban anyone we want and we are the sole responsible person for the blogs content and tone. When you use a forum they should serve you. They should provide safety and equal treatment and not prefer some users just because they are old posters or whatever. And its moderators definitely should be 100% impartial. If I don’t want to share and ask I don’t have to, but when a moderator is ignoring users just to prefer an another user and because the question is uncomfortable for them, it some very shady thing to do. ( That was part of my previous private conversation I have a screenshot of, but I won’t share)

I got a second ask, specifically naming users who allegedly have/had way more freedom and rights on the forum that they should have. I don’t share this yet, I am just not comfortauble.

I share this because this is not the first time I am hearing shady things about this place and how they handling users.

So use every forum, social media platform on the internet carefully. Do not share personal information etc, because you can never know who has access to your datas.

[our-time-is-now]

June 13, 2019 (1): Maiden voyage

(previous play)

You can find more information about the authors, translators, content warning and additional information about the plays in the pinned post on our blog.

Saturday, 11:13 am:

David: *today they didn't have breakfast together and instead only ate in small groups because everyone had woken up at different times* *he, Matteo, Abdi, Alex and Mia were the last ones and therefore he, Matteo and Abdi are in charge of clearing the table and doing the dishes although Jonas and Carlos are rushing them as they want to try out the raft as soon as possible* *then he’s part of a discussion about how badly Carlos' foot is injured and if they can expect him to help carry the raft into the water or if they could also manage with only four people and that Carlos shouldn’t act like a baby – until Alex offers to help them with carrying it provided he can join them at the maiden voyage* *is glad that this is the end to the discussion and everyone retreats to their tents and rooms to put on their swimming trunks and swim binders* *now he and the guys are standing next to the raft in the woods and they get directions from Carlos: "Hey, someone has to go to the right side..." and eventually they manage to lift it up with a groan* *groans* Maybe it would have been smarter to build it next to the lake instead of in the middle of the woods... *hears Abdi: "In hindsight one always knows better, Brudi..." and Jonas: "Should we ever built another raft then we'll definitely be smarter... watch out Alex, there's a tree stump..."*

Matteo: *groans and moans all the while* *tells Carlos to shut up when he gives them even more smart tips* *have finally arrived at the water and they pot down the raft right before the lake* *is glad that Abdi doesn't hurt his foot as well and instead jumps back just in time* Okay... guys... you're aware of the fact that we're probably going to sink, right? *hears Jonas laugh: "Oh yes, I've always valued your optimism."* *grimaces* I'm just saying... we should be prepared...

David: *eyes the raft as well and slightly shakes his head at Matteo's words* It'll float! *sees Jonas beam at him: "That's what I wanted to hear!"* *grins and then remembers that he wanted to tell them about Lychen* Lychen, where I'm from, is known as raft-town – they know their stuff there... and when I was 11, I was there when they set a world record for the most people on a raft... *hears Carlos laugh: "Seriously?!” and Abdi ask: "How many people did it hold?”* *nods at Carlos and tells Abdi* I think 442... *sees how everyone is looking at him in surprise and hears Carlos again: "You're kidding us! There's no raft that carries more than 400 people!"* *laughs quietly and nods* There is – it just has to be big enough... you have to google it later... you can even find photos! *then hears Alex: "Okay, let's find out if your dream-ship is a super-marine or a sub-marine... but if David says that it'll float... he's the expert, after all... I think it's best if three of us go to the lake-side and two stay on the land-side. The ground is more uneven in the lake..."* *sees Alex, Abdi and Jonas immediately go toward the lake and therefore stays on the shore with Matteo* *bends down at the same time the others do to lift the raft* On the count of three? *sees everyone nod, but doesn't get the chance to count because just at that moment the girls come running to the jetty – Kiki, Sam and Hanna holding their phones in their hands* *hears Kiki call out to them: "Hold on! We have to save that for posterity..." and sees her point her phone at them* *hears Jonas: "Dude, are you crazy? You guys could also help! This thing is super heavy!"* *hears Hanna: "But who's supposed to film it, then?!"* *groans and repeats* On three! One –  two – three! *then heaves up the raft*

Matteo: *sighs when they apparently continue straight away* *waits for the signal* *isn't really bothered by the fact that the girls are filming* *heaves up the raft and carries it with the guys until they're all standing in the water* *hears Jonas: "Okay, and now let's let go of it... slooooowly!"* *lowers it together with the others and then lets go of it carefully* *cheers with the guys when it really floats* Well, that's one thing that's working... *then hears Carlos: "We'll start with the ones that weigh the least... David, get up!"*

David: *holds his breath when they lower the raft into the water and exhales in relieve when he realizes that it really floats* *also cheers with the others, but then hears Carlos' words and laughingly shakes his head* Matteo and I surely weigh the same... he's probably even lighter than me... *hears Carlos and Abdi tell him that he shouldn't make such a fuss and that Matteo had to get on after him because they would slowly work their way up and rolls his eyes at their words* *says in an amused tone of voice* Okay –  but it's not my fault if it sinks... *then takes a deep breath and laughs quietly* Okay... *then slowly climbs on the raft* *crawls to the middle and sits down cross-legged* *bobs around a little and grins at the others* You see! It's looking good! Next one!

Matteo: *only laughs when David says that he's lighter* Sure... *sees Jonas grin: "That little charmer..."* *then watches David climb on the raft and hears the girls cheer at the shore when it works* I guess it's my turn... *climbs on the raft and freezes when it sways a little* *but then pulls himself up completely and sits down in front of David* It's working... next one, please... *they climb onto the raft one after the other and it really carries all of them* *then hears the girls laughing on the shore and hears Hanna: "And isn't there something you guys forgot?"*

David: *watches a little amused as one by one everyone carefully climbs on the raft* *at some point spreads his legs and pulls Matteo between them – only so that they save some space and so that they all fit on the raft, of course* *just like the rest of the boys looks at Hanna in confusion when he hears her question and shrugs* *hears Carlos call: "Yeah, right! Beer!"* *laughs and sees Hanna shake her head* *then hears Jonas: "Huh, what do you think we forgot!?" and Mia: "Well, if you wanted to float on the same spot all day long, then everything's alright. But in case you wanted to move, then some oars wouldn't hurt!"* *laughs and looks at the others* Yes, okay, we could have thought of that... *hears Jonas call toward the girls: "Hey, aren't there some oars in those old boats by the jetty? Could one of you go check?"*

Matteo: *didn't mind at all that he had to scoot closer to David, only to save some space, of course* *looks just as confused as the others when no one can think of what they forgot* *then laughs very loudly once they realize what they forgot* *thinks that it's somehow typical* Hey, we'll just use our hands... well, the ones sitting on the edge... *sees Carlos shake his head: "Yeah, no, of course."* *but then sees Kiki go and really return with two old oars* *sees her walk into the water and hand the oars to them* *they all answer in unison: "Thanks, Kiki!"* *sees Carlos and Alex take one oar each and then the raft starts to move* *leans a little more against David and whispers* Somehow I have a bad feeling...

David: *is happy when Kiki really manages to find two oars and even more so when they really start moving* *wraps his arms around Matteo when he leans more against him and grins at his words* *kisses him on the cheek and quietly whispers into his ear* I'll watch out for you should we sink... *hears Carlos groaning: "Hey, that's totally exhausting!" and Jonas: "Hey, Dude, don't be such a baby! Let me!"* *feels the raft sway dangerously and sees some water splash over when Jonas and Carlos switch places but then it calms down again when Jonas starts to row* *they manage to move forward only slowly but they still move quite the distance from the jetty* *eventually hears Carlos: "Hey, Brudis, we really should have brought beer..." and Abdi: "Digga, it's not even 12..." and Carlos again: "So what? A refreshment wouldn't hurt right now – it’s going to be really hot today!"* *sees Jonas grin: "Refreshment? There you go!" and laughs when he sees Jonas splash quite a lot of water toward Carlos* *also gets splashed with some of it and really finds it quite refreshing* *hears Carlos splutter: "Whoa, Jonas, dude, are you ret... umm, stupid?!"* *has already pulled up his eyebrows when Carlos started talking, but then smiles in relief and a little with pride that he managed to turn his sentence around* *hears Jonas laugh and nudges Carlos' side* Hey, come on, it's really refreshing... we should all jump in...

Matteo: *grins when David says that he'll watch out for him* Well I’m really glad... *holds onto David's legs when the raft sways when Jonas and Carlos switch places* *then laughs when Jonas splashes him with water because it's really a refreshment* *hears Carlos' outburst and tenses up briefly* *but then grins when he says stupid* *hears and sees Carlos shake his head: "Sometimes you're really an idiot! David was right!"* *then hears Alex from behind them: "Right about what?"* *answers for Carlos* That we're all idiots, except Abdi... *hears Alex laugh and ask Abdi: "How did you win that title?"* *sees Abdi shrug: "I haven't annoyed David yet."* *then hears Jonas again: "Okay, so what’s it gonna be, guys, in or not?"* *shrugs* Maybe we should take turns? Someone has to stay with the raft...

David: *grins when Carlos said that he was right and nods at his explanation to Alex and grinningly tilts his head when he hears Abdi's suspicion why that is* Let's put it like that: So far, he hasn't said or done anything idiotic in my presence... *sees Alex look at everyone, lift his eyebrows and hears him ask: "And all the others did?!"* *sees everyone nod and hears Carlos say: "But with Abdi it's also only a matter of time..."* *hears everyone laugh at that and hears Abdi complain* *sees Alex look at him and hears him ask: "And you? Do you also refer to yourself as an idiot or only the others?"* *at first is really shocked about such a direct question, but then smiles because he has to think about the fact that he has acted really idiotic toward Matteo and also a little toward Jonas and says* I'm also one! *then hears Carlos: "And what about Alex?"* *shrugs* So far he isn’t – at least since I've known him... *Carlos: "Then be glad that you've only met him now..." and Abdi: "Hey, I thought I was the only one who wasn't an idiot!" and Jonas: "So the only question that remains is whether Abdi or Alex will be the first one to act idiotic in David's presence..." and Alex: "This conversation is idiotic!"* *laughs and nods* A little... *is quite glad when Jonas changes the topic* *would really like to go into the water and nods* Definitely in! *hears Carlos say to Matteo: "Hey, it's totally windless! It won't float away!"* *shakes Matteo a little and gets ready to stand up* *murmurs* Come on... Carlos is right! *then hears Jonas: "Guys, it feels like it's 40 degrees Celsius! I'm going in!"* *sees him put the oar on the raft and watches as he lets himself fall over into the water* *gets up and causes the raft to sway a little more* *but only grins, takes a small step toward the edge of the raft and then also jumps into the water*

Matteo: *laughs at the conversation about idiots* *is a little surprised when he hears Alex' direct question* *but then thinks that he should actually be used to this level of directness from Alex* *waits to see what David answers to object if he has to* *but then grins when he says that he's also one* *then murmurs at Jonas' question* My guess is Abdi... *grumbles slightly when everyone tells him that they can leave the raft by itself* Okay... but if not, then I want it to be noted that this time, I wasn't the idiot... *waits for David to jump into the water and then scoots to the edge* *doesn't jump but instead lets himself slide into the water* Yeah, okay... that's really better than 40 degrees...

David: *grins at Matteo's murmuring and nudges him slightly* *says very quietly* Hey, give Alex a chance –  I might need his money, after all... *after resurfacing he looks around for the raft and sees that Matteo is now also in the water* *beams and swims toward him* *nods* Definitely better than 40 degrees! *puts his hand on his neck and pulls him closer to kiss him* *then hears two loud splashes and turns around to see that Abdi and Carlos have also made it into the water* *calls toward the raft* Come on, Alex! It's really a nice refreshment! *watches Alex get up and elegantly dive into the lake head-first* *hears Carlos snort: "Show-off!" and grins* *then hears Jonas: "So, guys, now I want to know! Davenzi claim they are the kings at holding their breaths... now I want proof! Who's in?"*

Matteo: *immediately wraps one arm around David when he swims to him and returns his kiss only too gladly* *but then turns so that he's next to him and watches everyone come into the water* *laughs slightly when Carlos calls Alex a show-off* Well, if you know how to... *sees Carlos throw him a contemptuous look and only laughs* *then hears Jonas' statement and has to laugh* *loudly declares* We are! *but is still surprised when everyone wants to join in and sees how they quickly form a circle* *hears Jonas: "Okay, on the count of three everyone dives under... 1, 2... 3!"* *holds his breath and then submerges* *sees Carlos resurface pretty quickly and thinks that now the smoker's lungs will probably show* *then also sees Abdi resurface and unfortunately has to follow suit shortly after him* *sees Carlos and Abdi laughing when he resurfaces and then sees Jonas come up as well* *hears Jonas say with a grin: "King my ass!"* *shrugs one shoulder* One king is still down there... *then hears Carlos note: "Yeah the ones without smoker's lungs are still down there..."*

David: *laughs at Jonas' challenge and nods at Matteo's words* Of course we're in! *grins and looks at the others to see who wants to participate* *waits for Jonas to count to three, takes a deep breath and submerges together with the others* *at first has his eyes open and at first looks at Matteo, because that's actually their thing and he doesn't care that the others are also participating* *from the corner of his eyes he sees Carlos resurface after a while and closes his eyes when he sees Abdi following* *opens them again when he realizes that he won't be able to hold his breath for much longer and sees that only Alex is still under water with him* *tilts his head slightly and grins a little* *then realizes that he really can't hold it for much longer, but plans to still count to ten before giving up* *sees Alex resurface by the time he counted to 5 and can only manage to count to 7 before he has to give up* *is received by everyone once he has resurfaced, gasps for air and can hear Carlos first: "Dude, that might have been record-breaking! We should have timed it!" and Abdi: "First of all, we should stop smoking!"* *laughs quietly and pushes the wet hair off his forehead* *feels Jonas clap his shoulder: "Brudi, you're our king!"* *shakes his head and says a little breathlessly* Maybe at diving... but you're all better when it comes to swimming – I'm out of practice when it comes to that!

Matteo: *considers if he would be able to kick Alex without getting punched for it* *but then sees Alex already come up and cheers when David follows a moment later* *grins at him widely* *lets the guys celebrate him first and then nudges him a little* *smiles a little wickedly and then says* Rematch! *pulls David closer when he hears Abdi: "Dude, no, I can't do it again... I'll swim for a while."* *hears Jonas laughing: "No, guys, I think we're all out here... they've switched into couple mode."* *doesn't care right now what the others are doing* *is only looking at David* On three... 1, 2, 3... *submerges with him and keeps his eyes open* *looks at him for maybe two seconds before he pulls him closer and kisses him*

David: *grins at Matteo's words, tilts his head a little and murmurs* Okay... *puts his arm around Matteo's waist when he pulls him closer and looks at him* *somehow tunes out the others and barely notices Jonas saying that the others are all out* *is fine with that* *smiles at Matteo's look and they simultaneously take a deep breath before submerging together* *immediately pulls him closer once they are under water, returns his gaze and leans toward him* *closes his eyes when they kiss and tries to move against the buoyancy with one hand and his legs while his other hand is holding Matteo close to him* *once again feels like it's only them and that only they are important and that nothing else matters as long as they have each other and quietly sighs into the kiss* *but realizes that he loses some valuable air because of it and he has to resurface again* *puts his other arm around Matteo as well and pulls him up with him without releasing the kiss* *only briefly gasps for air once they are on the surface again and then searches for his lips once more*

Matteo: *gasps for air at the same time David does and immediately kisses him again* *wraps his arms around him a little tighter* *but then has to let go of him so that he doesn't sink* *but grins at him broadly* I won... *then looks around for the other guys and sees that they are swimming some distance away* Do you think they'll notice if we just disappear... to somewhere where no one is around? *they basically didn't have a minute to themselves today*

David: *grumbles when Matteo lets go of him but then laughs when he hears his words* *nods and says in an amused tone of voice* Yes – you're the best! *pulls him a little closer again while Matteo looks around so that he won’t even think about swimming away from him* *but then hears his question, smiles pretty widely and also looks around* *it's quite the distance to the shore – they probably wouldn't be able to make it unnoticed – but once they’d reach the shore it would be quite the distance from the jetty and not really visible from the lake* *grins slightly* The question is whether it bothers us if they notice... I guess we won't make it to the shore unseen... *laughs quietly* Or do you have a good excuse? That we have to pee and don't want to pollute the lake or something like that?!

Matteo: *looks around as well and sees that it's pretty far to the shore no matter what direction* *grumbles a little* *then shrugs one shoulder* It wouldn't really bother me... *then laughs* The truth? *pulls him with him toward the closest shore* If someone asks, we'll just tell them that we want to have sex without being interrupted... let's see if it works...

David: *grins when Matteo says that it wouldn't bother him and also shrugs one shoulder* Me neither. With me, everyone always thinks that I'm a bad influence, anyways... *laughs* Okay... *let's Matteo pull him with him for a while, but then swims toward the shore by himself – after all, he has to practice some more to defeat Carlos at the end of their holiday* *after only a few strokes he hears Abdi: "Hey Brudis! Where are you going?"* *turns around and sees that Abdi is about to follow them* *looks at Matteo* Well, then, give them the truth... *laughs quietly and shakes his head* I'm not yelling that across the entire lake...

Matteo: *swims next to David toward the shore* *thinks that they really might make it unnoticed when he hears Abdi* *laughs slightly and tells David* What? Do you think I wouldn't do it? *stops and turns around so that he can see Abdi* *but then only yells back* We're swimming to the shore! *hears Abdi: "Hang on, I'll come with you!"* *shakes his head with a laugh and then really yells* Better not, we want to have sex! *hears Jonas and Carlos burst out laughing and sees Abdi look a little befuddled* *sees him stop and waves to him before turning around again* *grins at David* Okay, let's keep moving... *continues to swim*

David: *shrugs in amusement at Matteo's question but then laughs* I wouldn't put it past you... *blushes slightly when Matte really yells over the entire lake that they want to have sex and Carlos and Jonas burst out laughing* *sees Matteo grin and can't help but grin as well* You're really impossible, Florenzi! *but then also continues to swim toward the shore* *is really exhausted when they finally reach it, because it had really been quite the distance, but still trudges up the bank and takes a look around* *notices that they've really picked a good spot because behind the bank he can see a small meadow at a clearing surrounded by trees and shrubbery* *grins slightly at Matteo and jokingly says* Okay, you'll quickly go to the tent to get the condoms and I'll wait here... *plops down on the grass and looks up at Matteo*

Matteo: *laughs and would shrug one shoulder if he weren't swimming right now* Honesty is one of my biggest strengths! *is super exhausted when they finally reach the shore and trudges after David* *then hears David's words and groans loudly* Fuck, nooo! *sees that David has already laid down and shakes his head* No way, you're the one that's Mr. advanced PE! *lays down on his back next to him with his limbs splayed out* You go get them!

David: *laughs quietly when Matteo groans loudly and then also realizes that they don't have anything with them and looks over at him when he lies down next to him* *holds his hand out to him and entwines their fingers* *is too exhausted from swimming to scoot closer* *shakes his head* Nah... when it's 35 degrees or more I deny having been in advanced PE... *remains lying there in silence with Matteo for a while to get some strength back* *eventually sighs, jolts up, scoots over to Matteo and straddles him* *leans down to him, pushes a strand of hair off his forehead and grins* Okay, ready to have some fun even without condoms or did the swimming exhaust you so much that you have to take a nap first? *tenderly touches the skin under Matteo's binder with his fingers*

Matteo: *immediately grabs his hand as well and lets his thumb run over David's palm* Yes, okay, I'll accept that... *then they are both quiet for a while and he thinks that this is also quite nice* *just the two of them here* *then looks up in surprise when David jolts up* *wonders if he wants to go to the tent, after all, and even wants to stop him* *then grins when he straddles him and looks up at him* *tilts his head at his question and grins* *shakes his head a little reproachfully and reaches a hand out to pull him down by his neck* Let me think about it really hard... *then pulls him into a kiss*

David: *grins slightly when Matteo pulls him down and immediately returns the kiss* *deepens it after a while and then murmurs against Matteo's lips* Feels like you've decided against a nap... *then kisses him again and presses closer to him*

*spends a large part of the afternoon with Matteo at the clearing "having fun" and enjoys the quiet and being close to him* *when they eventually decide to join the others again they have to realize that the raft and the others have already left the lake* *so they make their way back to the tent on foot, along the shore and through the heat so that they can finally take off their already dry swim binders, and once they have arrived at the tent they realize that it's already a little after 5 and that the sky is already a little overcast* *glances up and smiles slightly* A thunderstorm would be nice today...

(next play)

[appelssiini]

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you want to know better.

i got tagged by @violasmirabiles thank youuu! <3

1. Name/Nicknames: Noora, i dont really have any good nicknames

2. Gender: female

3. Star Sign: capricorn

4. Height: somewhere around 164cm i think

5. Time: almost noon

6. Birthday: january 16

7. Favourite Band: ooo dont do this to meeee i’ll just say Hanoi Rocks

8. Favourite Solo Artist: also dont do this to meeee i’ll just say Bowie

9. Song Stuck in My Head: fucking MACARENA AGAIN

10. Last Movie: some silly 80s teenager movie that i forgot the name of, i’ve been brainlessly watching those a lot lately (and it definitely has nothing to do with rdj’s sweet young ass being in them)

11. Last Show: we binge-watched the first season of The Crown with my mom

12. When I Created This Blog: i had to check and it was in november 2012 holy shit :DD

13. What I Post: everything lol, no theme here! band stuff, hanoi rocks, all things space, all things whatever fandom is my current hyperfixation, pretty things...

14. Last Thing I Googled: external memories for my laptop to put all my videos in

15. Other Blogs: just the new brilliantly stupidly named @stony-pony for my endless marvel posts lol

16. Do I get asks?: naah not really

17. Why I Chose My URL: do you really wanna know? :D it’s a stupid play with Yaffa’s name: yaffa = an orange = appelsiini in finnish (i have no idea why i put two s’ there lol) i was like 15 okay  and now im too attached to it to change it :D

18. Following: a lot of people, all kinds of weird blogs

19. Followers: the last time i checked somewhere around 420

20. Average Hours of Sleep: i need 8 so that’s what im going for

21. Lucky Number: i dont know, maybe 3, 9 (for some reason i like 3s and 9s and numbers that have those in them. they are pretty colors in my brain)

22. Instruments: i used to play guitar years ago, now i have no idea how to

23. What I Am Wearing: an old monroes band shirt (it says Modern day miracle in the back and for some reason i really like it) aaand the shorts i sleep in

24. Dream Job: if someone knows what i want to do in the future please tell me too. i’ll just say some media shit. video, editing, maybe writing i dont know 

25. Dream Trip: backpacking and seeing as much as possible

26. Favourite Food: im boring and say pizza. sushi maybe? that one pasta salad. grilled cheese? i dont know

27. Nationality: finnish

28. Favourite Song: (feel like this woulda been more appropriate with the other music/art questions but hey whatever.) <- just had to leave this from the previous poster because yeah. but uhhhh this is impossible so i’ll just say a song that has been a new fave for a few months: Escorzo - Suave

29. Last Book I Read: i havent really read any books in a while :(( does fanfiction count?? :DD

30. Top 3 fictional universes I would love to live in: the one where covid never came and i’d somehow know what school i wanna apply into and wasnt a nervous wreck, the one where i could time travel to see hanoi rocks, and because im an adult and if i wanna be a stupid-ass fangirl no one can stop me i’ll say the mcu so i could go get my back blown out by tony stark. thank you bye

im not gonna tag anyone cos i just woke up and i dont have the brain capacity for that yet. if you wanna you can do this and tag me, i love reading these :)