#i want to make like cc that reflects every day people

[deathbypufferfish]

I have an extremely important infant cc idea

[strayheartless]

Saw something on Twitter that asked what the point of Genesis was; whether people liked his character or tolerated him. They suggested that he was badly used as an interesting character and I just want to throw my two Gil in here.

To me Genesis is perfectly used in Crisis core but you have to understand what his role is in mythology/alagorical sense to truely appreciate him. I am not trying to be pretentious when I say that I’m genuinely meaning it.

Genesis isn’t just the Loveless obsessed mini boss. There is actual depth to his character. However, his characterisation confuses a lot of people because it’s different from others.

Genesis at the core of his characterisation (and goddess knows it would inflate his ego if his character had been made that self aware.) acts as one of the fates. He is prophet, death bringer and actualiser. He recites the prophesy [Loveless] and brings about the events of FFvii.

Loveless cannot be read as anything other than a prophesy. It just can’t. You just need to listen to all of the lines that are vocalised to know that:

“When the war of the beast brings about worlds end, the goddess descends from the sky, wings of light and dark spread afar she guides us to bliss her gift everlasting.”

Arguably this stanza references the war in Wuti and the creation of Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth. “Wings of dark and light” references quite literally their own singular mutations that spring forth as a black wing (Genesis) and a white wing (Angeal and Sephiroth). It then goes on to highlight their ascension into their life stream. This is simply the prologue.

The mistake everyone makes is assuming that the poem is simply talking about the three firsts. It’s not. It is dually talking about the trinity and Seph, cloud and Zack.

“Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus and take to the sky. Ripples from on the waters surface the wandering soul knows no rest.”

This part of Act one refers to both Sephiroth and Cloud. Sephiroth is the one in CC who is wandering lost without a home nor a family. His friends have deserted him, and he is alone. By FFvii this is Cloud. He quite literally cannot catch a brake.

The “ripples from the waters surface” surface is the reflection of the two stories. It is the distortion of Sephiroths identity as the hero he has been trained to be into the monster he becomes. It is also the distortion of clouds own identity as his mind is broken and takes on someone else’s identity.

“Three friends go to battle, one is captured, one flies away, the one that is left becomes a hero”

Captured =Angeal and Zack

flies away = Genesis and Sephiroth

Becomes a hero = Sephiroth and Cloud

Angeal is captured more or less in modeoheim and dies. While Zack is quite literally is captured by Hojo with Cloud and dies as a result of that captivity. Arguably Zack was never free.

Genesis was the one who flew away from Sinra and from Nibleheim. He fled before he can behold the consequences of his actions. He his arguably the lynch pin for every major development in crisis core. Had he not challenged Sephiroth; had he not gotten hurt and been unable to heal then nothing that transpired would have happened. Had Genesis not revolted; had he not taunted Sephiroth the plot would never have come to the conclusion it did.

Sephiroth is also the one who flies away in therms of the main FFvii plot because he disappears after Nibleheim, he is the antagonist in a very similar way to Gen in CC. He appears every now and then to fuck up Clouds day and had he not been hurt by Cloud non of what happens in FFvii would transpire because it is that moment that puts Cloud at the forefront of Sephs mind. It is that moment that interests Hojo enough to experiment on Cloud and connect him to Sephiroth via the J-cells.

And then there is the hero left behind. Simply put, Genesis and Angeal leave Sephiroth to become the hero. They make villains of themselves and Leave Shinras golden boy behind to clean up their mess. And when sephiroth dies Shinra immortalises him by reporting that he died a hero. We know this because Aeirth literally states it in FFvii when cloud asked her if she knows who he is and she answers that he was a war hero that died five years previous.

Cloud by comparison is the one left by ALL of them to become a hero. Zack is dead, Sephiroth is now the villain, Genesis and Angeal own deaths impact so much of Clouds own story that they doubly place a burden of expectation upon him. Cloud literally carried all of their dreams and Honour around with him as he uses the Buster sword.

But I digress. Without analysing the entire play (at least the parts we have) you can see from what I have looked at above that Loveless isn’t just some poem; It’s a prophesy.

And Genesis being the one to speak this Prophesy is significant because he is quite literally the lynch pin for all of it. Like I said, had he not been hurt then events would have progressed differently.

I’m not saying he is the most important character of the story. He’s absolutely not; that is Cloud. But he’s not unimportant, nor is he just there. He is one of the most interesting plot devices FFvii has in my opinion.

Because he is quite literally the mouth piece of Minerva. He is a fate of the gods. He is past present and future, and he serves as the narrator at the beginning of the Shakespeare play to profess “two houses both alike in dignity.”

Genesis isn’t nothing. He is a walking Oman of death and destiny.

((Please remember this is my opinion and if you disagree I’d love to know but blessed don’t be rude. I like discussing but I really hate being yelled at.))

[kai-the-person]

This is purely my perspective on the days events and the actions of the characters that the cc's are playing!This in no way reflects my views on the creators, I just find it highly entertaining to watch, commentate, and discuss.

Bbh is really good at PVP and is really smart but he has been extremely short sighted. He has made enemies in every single team and his team is suffering for it.

I'm a red team main and while at first they didn't realize Tubbo wasn't in on it, now they do.

They weren't fighting so hard for green because the team hadn't won. They have a vendetta against q!bad now. Tubbo was just an unfortunate casualty.

They invited Tina, Roirer, Bagi, and Etoiles over for a party basically.

Some of those people are blue team! They had a great time, Jaiden even killed Slime because she thought he was attacking Tina. (Totally was if you count psychological warfare)

You can't roll up under a banner of peace and then kill someone. You can't claim something is unfair and you need to make a rule around it only to turn around and do it yourself. (I'm not saying bad was terrible for this, it was smart and a good move, but it undermines his point)

Bbh is trying to win the battle by any means necessary when he should be looking at the war. All of the teams are angry at him specifically and that's going to come back to bite him. Hard.

Look at what happened at the end. If the day had 5 more minutes, green team would've made a comeback.

Bbh needs to make allies outside his team. Because if he doesn't, none of the teams are going to be willing to work with him when he needs it.

People just dm'd Jaiden to ask if they'd let them kill her and she agreed!

I think, as time goes on, more temporary alliances like this will form.

And bbh will have cut the branch he was sitting on. (The fact it's still attached to the tree at all is mind boggling.)

And I want him to continue this only to realize what he's done when it's too late. I want him to be offering people up prot4 books in good faith only for them to see an imaginary bear trap with loot too good to be true.

:My overarching theories: Click away, cause I love hurt/no comfort and angst :)

I want this to follow him to the island, as everybody destroys his platforms in the sky. I want Phil to remove him from the allowed list on the doors to Chayanne and Tallulah's room. I want them to be willing to watch Dapper, but unwilling to let him watch their eggs. In the end, bbh sees all the eggs as his. And his access to 6/7 (or however many get back) will be revoked. And there will be nothing he can do about it. If he was motivated enough to tear apart his friends (did he even consider them friends?) In such a brutal way to get his egg back, what else is he capable of?

He's done all of this to get Dapper back. Betrayed and tore his friends apart past the point of any other team. Because that's what they are. His friends. I want this to alter the dynamics of his relationships with the other characters so badly, that he is left alone to get even worse.

I crave the angst.

Again, I've seen a lot of comments on here talking about all the hate everybody receives (especially by red mains which really sucks from a fellow red main). So I want to reiterate, bbh the cc is a great dude from what I hear. And this is all critiquing the actions of q!bad and theorizing on the actions the characters might perform not the actions of the actual people playing them.

[slowfae]

A few things i like to do in my free time to help me visualise my Drs

This is all a bunch of stuff i do in my free time anyway, so might as well playing around with it for shifting. It works for scripting, if you are not an artist, and want to picture your Dr self.

I am a very visual person, so it’s something that help me personally.

Life Makeover

This app is my obsession lately. It allow you to customise your character almost entirely. It’s definitely targeted more towards women, but i have seen people playing around with the character customisation to make it look more androgynous.

There is also a sims 4 like building feature. It’s not as great as the sims itself, but i managed to do a cute build. The proportions feels more realistic than the sims 4, and the general 3D and light quality is very nice for a mobile game, it’s very pretty to look at.

I recreated myself, since i don’t really change my appearance (outside the fact i am a fairy in pretty much all my drs). But it’s fun playing around with the outfits, what i would wear if i was in this universe, since there is a lot of fantasy outfit in the game.

The sims 4

I mentioned it earlier, I’m a big sims player. Every time i start a new script, i make a house or an apartment to visualise where i would live. Especially since the sims 4 base game is free now, you could just install aesthetic CC to make your dream house.

If you don’t like to build, there is plenty of option you can download in the gallery. A lot of the place I’m shifting to are fantasy setting, so i don’t always find good visualisation on Pinterest .

I made this apartment for me and my best friend MHA Dr, for our attempt on group shifting. I didn’t shift yet, bit she stayed in her DR for 3 days and she said the floor plan was pretty accurate. She just said the couch was different in her dr, but I’m pretty sure it’s because she didn’t like the one i chose 🤣

Of course the fun part of the sims is to create your dr self and your dr friends and see how they interact with each other. I created a save with the intention to channel my dr through it, if that makes sense.

I have seen some unexpected things playing out 😆

For exemple my Dr parents kept wanting to make more children, and did 2 without me controlling it, my mom called me telling me they were considering doing another kid, asking me what I think. I responded it was not really for me to decide and next time I saw her in the game…she was pregnant!

I think it makes sense, since I was making the perfect parents I never had, that they like parenting and having a full house, so now I consider it part of my script. I’m the oldest of four siblings now I guess.

Room Planner

Another app, for construction this time. You don’t have to pay to use it, the free version is just a little bit more limited. It’s meant for real life building, so the proportion reflect real life and you can find plenty of ikea furniture in the catalog.

That’s everything for apps, I’m sure it has been talked about before, but I hope it can give some inspiration to other shifters

🧚🏻‍♀️

[bookish-library]

Love letter to languages that are not English (as a native English speaker).

Your languages are so cool. Not only cool, but they are also so pretty, hearing people speak Spanish, or French, or Portuguese sounds like something out of this world in the best way possible.

To Spanish speakers: (personas que hablan Español)

Gosh yall sound amazing. From the incredible feat of rolling your "r's" (as someone who cannot no matter how hard I try) to how your letters interact in a way that English wishes it could, yall sound beautiful. The way of describing things is so beautiful, especially in song, everything is so romantic and described in a way that english cannot achieve. Your different ways to say "I love you", the weight each one of them carries, how your language bonds you together, strangers or no. I have been learning Spanish for around 4 years now, and I cannot get enough of it. Your music (I love Missa and Evan Craft) and the beautiful lyricism has me nearly in tears sometimes, yall have a way of saying things that english songs don't. I love the Spanish language and all that comes with it.

To French speakers: (personnes qui parle francais)

Your language is on a whole 'nother level because wow. Between the one pronunciation sound of about 7 different words that somehow all almost sound the same yet mean vastly different words and the way your words are built, English could never come close lol. Yall somehow have the ability to make noises within words and vowels that my mouth simply does not understand how to do (not from lack of trying), and yall someone manage to sound fierce, gentle, and graceful within one word. Your language is kicking my butt on duolingo lol, but it is worth it to try and learn this language. I first got into French because of Miraculous Ladybug, and yalls music is so fun. I love papa ou te [I think I spelled that right], as well as songs by Lnni Kim.

To the Portugese speakers: (pessoas que falam portugues)

Yall are so cool. Your language sounds like a friend you have not seen in a long time, but are finally meeting them once more, and they have changed, but they are still the friend you know. You've got vowels that english would have to amalgamate other vowel to even try and achieve a semblance, and you've got wayyyy more curses than english does lol. Your language reminds me of if French and Spanish had a really cool kid, that kid would be Portugese. It's rapid-fire fast, and yet somehow takes each step with grace. I cannot wait to learn this language, to attempt to wrap my head around this beautiful language.

This next part is just personal reflection

The qsmp has allowed me to learn so much about the world around me. I am finding that I can understand Spanish so much faster than I could before, and while I may not be the best speaker, just being able to listen and understand is such a fun experience. Though I do not know portugese, my experience with Spanish has allowed me to get a glimpse into this language, especially with watching Cellbit and Roier interact. Being able to at least slightly keep up with their rapid fire conversations feels like such an achievement to me, and has def inspired me to try and learn portugese one day. I am trying to learn French right now, because of traveling to France for irl events soon, and I want to be able to interact with people on their own turf. French is kicking my butt lol, but to be able to pick up words here and there on streams, or to understand bits and pieces of the songs I am singing is such a fun feeling. Getting to hear other songs that have such different rhythms, instruments, or tone is so cool, and if anyone has any reccomendations in any language, I would love to hear them. (Une fille de soleil by Lou and Adryano is a favorite, especially since it blends french and spanish) Qsmp is such an amazing project, and I love every time the cc's get into discussions about their language, or trade slang, or teach each other words. So excited to continue this language journey!

[teasdays]

Hi hello I'm your friendly neighbourhood ghost, can I pretty please have the context about Wilbur abuse??? If you are ok with it of course , And thank you, I hope you are having a great day

hi hello ghost! Yeah no worries, I bet it's... difficult to wade through everything that's been going on

So last week, Shubble (streamer, she/they) hosted a stream about their experiences with an unnamed abuser. You can watch it here (if you prefer to read, turn on CC & read the transcript). It's a pretty hard-hitting video, and people pretty immediately guessed that it was, in fact, Wilbur Soot. He's since confirmed it himself in a statement/kind of apology (?) which u can find on his twitter... Shubble has, understandably, rejected it.

That's the short answer!

Uh for a longer one lol, there's more info here: this is an EXCELLENT conversation Shubble had (before W*lbur was officially named) with her friend lexiemariex. They both talk about the abuse and misogyny they've faced as women dating within the streaming community. Neither of them named anyone at this point either, and I actually haven't had time to watch the whole thing yet !! But about 45 minutes in so far they have both shared a lot of really important perspectives on domestic abuse, their experiences as victims (in their words) during & in recovery from those relationships, and about the really harmful norms within streaming.

Just to add a couple comments of my own: if a community is MAINLY dominated by white cis men, that's usually NOT a coincidence; it's usually (at least partly) because the environment is hostile to diversity. Several other people have also come forward about negative experiences with Shubble's ex in particular, but I REALLY think--personally--that it is a mistake to focus just on him. He is, for better or worse, Just Some Guy: it REALLY sounds like his behaviours reflect a deeply harmful culture within streaming. We can't and should not try to cancel all streamers, obviously! But... if we REALLY want to centre survivors? We need to hold the whole community accountable for the CULTURE they've gotten comfortable with.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that all white men in streaming are malicious people, who only want to hurt/abuse/have power over the weak & helpless women in their sphere. But there's been writing on the wall for a long time: there's a lot of casual misogyny that we HAVE seen streamers ignore, even if they wouldn't (necessarily...) make those jokes themselves. I do NOT have receipts on hand lol, but that's been my observation over the years. So I think it's... too simplistic to say that Shubble's ex, and lexie's, were just outliers. A couple of bad eggs.

We can cancel them, and exile them from streaming, sure--fine. We certainly don't owe anyone a platform. But we also NEED to look beyond the individual people & understand that every single one of them is a product of their culture and community.

tl;dr Shubble's ex is shitty, for sure, but he's not the whole problem! He's a symptom.

oh omg last thing actually: as people navigate how to respond to unfeminist/antifeminist content creators, I'd like to recommend Roxane Gay's perspective in Bad Feminist (excerpt here). As people who consume media, we have to understand that our consumption will always be imperfect, because (again) the problems are deeply embedded in like. the whole culture . We can & will continue to work for a better future, but in the meantime we've gotta forgive ourselves & our comrades for being imperfect <3

[mistpearls]

𓏲 * ( pat chayanit, cis woman, she & her, lisa manoban cc ) ⸺ pictures of MAY RENITA ATCHAREE , the twenty - seven year old singer, have been showing up all over my feed, and considering the last time they were #trending, it was due to a performance fancam from their concert — i’m not likely to unfollow anytime soon. with their baggy jeans and basic crop top, they’ve managed to garner a reputation for being more hard-working than forgetful. their critics say that they’re more conceited than out-going when they aren’t too busy focusing on their at least styling long dark colored locks in styles waves, laughter that fills the room, putting her all into everything she does. reputation.com has taken to calling them COOKIE in order to avoid a lawsuit ( again ).

THE BASICS.

full name: renita atcharee. nickname(s): may. age: twenty - seven. date of birth: february 16. gender & pronouns: cis woman, she & her. orientation: pansexual. languages: english, thai, mandarin, korean. occupation: singer ( solo / girl group ), rapper, & dancer .

THE HEADCANONS.

with two parents who are successful in their own right, may had always known that she, too, was going to be able to make a name for herself... which ultimately came in the form of performing.

being a singer was the only thing may ever wanted to be and because of that, she tirelessly worked to be able to make her dreams become a reality. plus, with her parents being entertainers as well, they were supportive in all of her endeavors.

eventually, she worked up a name for herself after debuting in a south korean girl group and it's been amazing ever since. may loving what she does and it shows whenever she's on stage.

personality wise, may is pretty much a woman who thrives on vibes. she used to be someone who conformed to what the audience wanted, reading through what everyone would say about her and try to please everyone. but, of course, no matter what she did, it didn't seem to matter. eventually, taking a toll on her until she decided one day that she was simply going to be herself. didn't care what people said, what they thought of her, may was going to be herself and everyone else was going to have to deal with it.

overall, she's a pretty happy person. loves hanging out with friends, meeting new people, partying, etc. may truly lives her life to the fullest and her positive outlook on life seems to reflect in everything around her.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

other members of blackpink ( stealing the actual group name bc i am uncreative).

friends: best, close, etc. after extending into the american market, may could've made a lot of friends within this industry.

worked with: collabs, photoshoots, sponsorships, etc. they could've either gotten along pretty well or couldn't wait for it to be over.

fake enemies: someone the public thinks hate each other, but in reality, they're pretty decent friends and laugh about it every time they hear something new.

assumed friends: much like the previous, it would be polar opposites. everyone thinks their good friends, but in reality, they can't stand each other. maybe it's because their often seen in the same places or even have the same friends.

ex-friends: they used to be close once upon a time, but eventually they stopped. could've ended badly or they simply drifted apart for various reasons.

exes: most of may's relationships have been hidden from the public eye and even when leaked, it was never confirmed nor denied. could've ended on bad/good terms. these would be short term ones.

public relationship: the first relationship she's ever went public with and they lasted for a little while before calling it quits. again, could've remained friends or simply don't want anything to do with each other.

a pr relationship: something may probably didn't want to do, but for the sake of traction for both of their respective careers. they could've gotten a long ( actually really good friends behind the scenes ) or couldn't stand each other.

hookups/one nighters/etc.

[guzsdaily]

Slow last day

Day 26 - Dec 1st, 12.023

So today was the last day of my "return to work", and it wasn't the most productive of them, to be honest with you. I didn't start the day following my routine and used some time to configure my network ad blocker and what some new videos in the morning, I don't have really a reason, maybe the climate being just too hot and melting my energy, and also this week's project not going so well as I hoped, but they are just excuses really.

However... I was able to complete most of the tasks of this week! And finished a working prototype that I like! It is kinda surprising how much work you can do if you know... just do it.

I'm feeling satisfied and proud now, and even knowing that I didn't complete the project itself this week, I can work on it again right where I left after next week. Likewise, I need to organize the next month's projects and tasks, which I probably will focus more on the tools and things that I need to do to find a job. There are things like resume, portfolio, challenges, tools and concept that I still need to do and/or learn, so having a project for it to list them would be good. Even more, knowing that the year is ending, I need to take care and don't lose focus with all events that happens during this period. Things like my girlfriend's birthday, Christmas and 31st of December will probably affect how I can focus on work, but are good tests on the system that I'm trying. Also, something that I noticed is the time I spend with my girlfriend, which of course decreased, but I noticed that I'm not stopping to work or doing thing to be with her even when my normal working hours end, so it is something that I also need to take care of.

Nonetheless, it was a good week and a good learning experience to improve as the weeks passes, and I adapt and change to, hopefully, someone better. Because again, I'm just someone who's trying to improve.

---

Also, shout out to @sophia-codes again, she's being someone great to work with and just tank in general about tech. And she nailed perfectly the front-end of the application to the style that I wanted, I'm really thankful that she accepted my invite to work in this project, hope she also liked it and hopefully helped her on her journey on learning web development. Hope we can work again in other projects!

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Today's artists & creative things

Song: Abrasive - by Ratatat I normally work listening to Daft Punk and "disco songs" that are recommended alongside them, I don't know why, I kinda just associated this type of song with my coding work and because of the somewhat lack of lyrics, it doesn't distract me. But this song, for some reason it popped out of nowhere in the recommendations, and every time I listen to it, I start to dance in the chair. Why? First, it pretty much just electric guitars, which already scales the likeness factor for me. But second, it is such a good song to listen to. It doesn't have lyrics, or any things that make it somewhat stand out of what I already listen to. However, it is just pure upbeat, I listed to it and just feel happy and feel a sense of gratefulness for being alive, and the official music video reflects it so perfectly. The music video is just people feeling joy, dancing, showing talent, life, energy. Perfect song to listen to, even more to remember yourself to be happy just for the sake of being happy and living y'know?

---

Copyright (c) 2023-present Gustavo "Guz" L. de Mello <contact.guz013@gmail.com>

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License

[viscountessevie]

It makes me sad to see how on CC’s last post so much of the Bridgerton cast were commenting and sharing like Kathryn, Florence, Ruby commented and even reposted her post, Shelley Jonny CVD, JQ, and a bunch of the crew. But on Simone’s most recent post only Jonny commented. It makes me sad to think she was even a bit isolated on that cast. Also C gets hyped up from Hollywood Indians and not just on her desi posts but they’re silent for Simone-these are the people that should have her back

Hey anon, thanks for waiting! It's been an exciting weekend but also a lot of incredibly heavy stuff has come up and I realised I was pretty mentally exhausted. I still am to be honest so I apologise for not delivering on my usual essays and am going to keep this fairly shorter than my usual asks!

So first off I want to direct you to this post of mine because it's the same tone I want to take with this ask. That I hear you and its okay to be upset. It really does seem unfair.

That being said, I have said time and time again I really do not like pitting these two women. [Ik you aren't doing that anon but just constantly comparing them can get tiring and like you said its sad to see!]

Yes, while I disagree with CC's Bridgerton opinions and how she has conducted herself on her solo press tour, I still do enjoy her as an actress and am looking forward to her next project! However, since her Bridgerton press has made me uncomfortable and view her in a less than great light *to me*, I have created a boundary not to engage in any of her press tours or interviews in the future. And hopefully no one will send me asks about it anymore because the interviews won't be for Bridgerton!

Anyways all that said, and while we are talking about personal boundaries with yourself: my advice to everyone who does keep checking these things (which I understand can be addictive and you want to see our girl supported but not at the expense of your own mental health!) is to set that boundary not to check. I never check these things, hell I don't even read or watch press and my peace of mind has been better for it! The only time I hear about this is from anons on here or, one or two friends who happen to notice these things sometimes.

If you all choose to do this, great I'm happy for you to have more peace of mind in an already chaotic fandom with drama every day ahahah. Now, its time to reflect on how this behaviour from the cast is not on us or Simone. It's a reflection of the cast and it's their own damn problem. It's none of our business and they're just showing themselves, to be honest. [We can't even use the algorithm excuse to brush them off anymore, it takes less than 5 seconds to search up Simone's name and drop a like/comment. But whatever, their devices, their choices. I do not care anymore.]

We LOVE our girl, like/comment on her IG and hype her up enough and she knows and sees all of them. I think we can also take comfort in the fact that Simone probably does not care for these things (who in the cast is commenting or liking) and knows her worth so we shouldn't care too imo! We get back a lot of our power and control over how we feel when we just choose not to care honestly.

All that matters is our favourite IG grandpa got so excited he commented twice on our ViscountYES's post!!

[kuackity]

From this day onwards I officially name us mutuals forever and ever now you can't escape I say it with all my love

I actually have been on Tumblr a really really long time but it's pretty much my first time actually constantly posting my own stuff and trying to reach out to others because I always have been way too anxious to try it

I'm proud of being your source of second hand c!Dream content

At the beginning I actually tried to get into c!Tommy lore because I already knew that c!Dream mains get into a lot of discourse constantly but I just wasn't able to I also refrain from posting a lot of my thoughts because of fear of discourse so I suppose even while obsessing over the DSMP one can't stop fearing the discourse

But at least there's not so much drama over the ccs so that's better

Somehow this turned into a mini fic I think but

I'm obsessed with the idea of Quackity compulsively checking his face over and over again because he can feel something there he knows it's there he can feel it on his skin but it doesn't show he can see it on his dreams he can feel it all the time but whenever he reaches out to touch whenever he searches for his own reflection on every shiny diamond or golden thing he can find and he doesn't see it

And then it happens randomly he's just distracted and it's late at night and it's kinda dark and Luzu and Quackity and everybody else is far at their own place right now and Quackity knows he's never exactly been the strongest fighter he's just trying to hurry up to any place with lights and a roof

And then something attacks him he despawns and finally he can feel it again and he wants to scream because right now isn't the time for his dream ghost pains but then he sees it at long last on his reflection on the river nearby his face and the scar beneath his eye he immediately graps at it because now he can actually sense it beneath his palm he can sense it on his skin he can see it on his face he can trace it with his fingers

He sees the difference between the wrinkly white-ish pink-ish new skin that forms right on top of the open injury and the rest of his tanned skin and he can feel the difference on the texture between the rest of his face and the overexposed bumpy scar he has now

And he's happy and he's scared and he finally doesn't feel insane anymore but when he goes to sleep that night and he sees the him from his dreams again with his loan shark wide smile that the scar crosses over he can't help but feel like he's becoming more and more like the man he dreams about

Do you think he would get some seeing problems from it? C!Quackity isn't blind but he does canonically have a harder time seeing after pickaxe death -Beloved Drellumina

Bold of you to assume I would want to escape, now you are trapped with me, this was my plan all along. MUAJAJAJAJAJA

I understand, I like c!tommy cause I am of the sunshine type I think, and he was that at the beginning and I am not one for giving my opinions neither cause I know I am biased so I won't be objective

I love it! You should polish it and publish it so more people can join this train of angst; I am so down for k!Quackity being between feeling validated now that he has the scar but at the same time insecure cause he is looking more and more like c!Quackity, he is always in this awkward middle.

I think indeed he would get problem seeing from it, maybe with his peripheral vision? Depends on how he was attacked we can make a consequence to that, cause there can be a lot.

I am happy to be mutuals now I am just like the smiley face :D

[tellhound]

I know what you mean about having no energy-- I try and take it slow, and think of the day as a waffle, or another yummy food you normally cut into pieces. So, consider a Belgian Waffle-- it's four triangles in a circle, right, so I try and break the day into four segments-- work, chores, misc activities like learning languages or studying other things, and then fun things, like fic and shows! It works all right.

I mean, I very much am enjoying it, but I'd be happy to recommend you some magic fics if you're interested.

Yes, Steve is much more fleshed out. But who knows-- do you have any conspiracy theories about Eddie? Do you think he'll come back from the dead? I cried so hard during that season. And yes, about the dialects-- it could also be a time thing. As in, certain shows were made at other times, so it reflects the dialect of the time. For example, I was watching a Japanese film from the 60s the other night-- the dialect is so much heavier and stronger, and the words run together, versus today when Japanese speak very crisply and clearly? I'm generalizing, of course, but yes. Do you speak any other languages/ do you know what I mean?

True friends are difficult to find-- and I feel that hunger in you, or in younger you. It's really hard to meet new people, and it was even harder when we were younger. I would always have one friend who was special to me, but I could never connect to the others-- I was often called an old soul, which, I still don't know what that means? I just hope that you've got some friends these days that you can trust-- if you want to talk about them, or about your friend, go ahead. I'm here to listen.

Forever is a horrible word. Nothing can last forever, not even our lives, nor our state of being. We're constantly changing as human beings, in every minute, every hour, if you have the openness to change. Have you changed a lot this year/ this month? I believe I have.

Oh friend. You have to dream about it. You said you might like someone, right? You should let yourself feel, and you should try to get to know them. There is hope in dreaming, and even if it makes you sad, it's still good to give it a shot. I'm not pushing you, merely trying trying to encourage you-- you deserve to be happy. You said you are getting to know them, so that's good! Just as long as you have energy, you know.

I have forgotten which show I told you to watch, but yes! Shows are amazing, and relaxing-- I have a few guilty pleasure shows, but that might give me away LOL! Are you watching anything right now?

OH! The smell, the atmosphere, the sparks flying-- day or night, a bonfire is most lovely. Are you religious/spiritual? Flame is very spiritual to me. I love forests because of all the living beings in it, and whenever I can wander into them, I always find something!

Oh, I'm okay, don't worry! It was just busy and taxing on my body, nothing lewd, just a lot of heavy thoughts and a lot to take on all of a sudden.

SA is perfect, frankly-- it gives me a air of mystery, wouldn't you say? And names are very powerful, particularly in who you are as a person. I know your name is CC/CousCous, but sometimes I call you by different animal names that remind me of you in my head!

Ah, I saw your post about the boat! It was very dark, and I won't eat you, don't worry! Wow, To Whom it May Concern knocked me off my feet-- the longing, the wanting. It's human to want and to long, but that song encapsulated it. "The way your kisses taste, I missed you, but I haven't met you yet. Oh but I want to, How I do." fuck. I cried, honestly.

I have a couple more songs to recommend you, if you don't mind. So, Strangers by Ethel Cain seems to have that same vibe, but different-- the yearning,and a bit of some other things I won't say. And Close to you by Dayglow-- two strangers at a party, who never speak to each other, but watch each other closely. Reminds me of us, a bit?

And Slow Dancing in the Dark by Joji-- this song has a lot of meaning to me. Someone I loved deeply, viciously, and it was never really returned properly, sent it to me in the first year of our love that never came to be. The lines blurred a lot, and I was a different person then, so I understand what happened.

But it might help you to understand me better, because of that. I never was able to compete with that other person, and they left me eventually; we never dated, but I loved them so much it hurt and over the course of a few years that love stretched taut and broke, eventually, when they said they were choosing the other person. Now I understand they weren't right for me, but I listen to it and I hope that there is someone out there for me who I don't have to compete for-- I'm still waiting for them.

The lyrics that hit the hardest in my opinion in that song are: "You looked at me like I was someone else, oh well, can't you see?"

Hope you're having a good week,

SA.

I... Might have to try that waffle thing. It seems really genius. Is that something you've come up with yourself or was it something that someone else taught you?

Always feel free to recommend fics to me! I may not read them all, but I love getting reccomended things!

At this point I'm 100% Eddie will be back. Been looking a lot at the Kas theory and there's just too many coincidences for that not to happen. Don't remember it all, but basically I think Eddie will return as a vampire if you don't know what the Kas theory is. I'd be happy to provide you some links to some videos and stuff that can explain it a lot better than I could if you're interested.

Didn't think about the fact that it could be a time period thing, but that definitely seems like a possibility too. You must have a really good ear for things like that, cause it truly don't hear the difference.

I'm from Sweden, so I speak Swedish and obviously English. There's also a "language" called the robber language that I'm getting better at speaking. It's just a stupid "language" that comes from a Swedish children's book where you add an o after every consonant and then you say that consonant again. So 't' for example would be 'tot'. So for example the word 'stubborn' would be sos-tot-u-bob-bob-o-ror-non 😂

It's not really a useful "language" but it's fun to speak it with others who understand it.

What about you? Do you speak any other languages?

The way I understand it, being called an old soul just means that you're acting more mature and wise than someone your age usually does. It's supposed to a compliment. But isn't it really just the same as telling someone that they grew up too fast? That they never truly got to experience what it's like to be a child?

I definitely have some friends in my life now that I know I can trust and that will hopefully stay for a long time. And when they didn't leave me after that night we all drank together a few weeks ago I don't see them leaving me any time soon. Though I'm putting the alcohol on the shelf for now.

I hope you've got friends now too. The kind you can really trust.

I want to belive I've changed at least some this year. Mostly I guess I'm finally starting to somewhat understand my own worth and that I don't need to keep putting up with the same shit that I've put up with for far too long now.

Yeah I do like someone. I can't really deny it to myself anymore. And it's exciting but also a bit scary. Wish I could talk about this person but I can't do that this openly. Maybe it's already too obvious who it is.

I'll go through your asks and see what shows it was. Haven't watched anything since stranger things and it might be time to find something again.

Now I'm curious what those shows are though. But I'm not gonna force you to reveal anything you don't want to. Guess you can tell me about them if you ever feel comfortable enough to reveal who you are. And it's okay if that never happens.

Wouldn't call myself religious. Spiritual? Others have called me that, don't think I've ever referred to myself as it though. But I suppose maybe I am? Would you say you're religious or spiritual?

Glad to hear that you're okay. I'm always here if you just wanna vent or something though.

I'll keep calling you SA then ^^ love love love that you're calling me by the names of animals. That really made me happy to read for some reason <3

Maybe I should've warned you a bit more before suggesting that song 😅 I've spent a lot of time in the past crying when listening to that song.

You like dark things don't you? But maybe I do too considering how quickly I added Strangers to one of my playlists. Close to you is on repeat for me right now and I get what you mean when you say it reminds you of us. Slow dancing in the dark was such a vibe. Not what I'd normally listen to, but I added it to my playlist for lonely nights.

I'm sorry that happend to you. But I'm certain there is someone out there for you that you won't have to compete for. <3

It's a pretty good week this far. Have to work with the coworker I don't get along with this weekend though, so we'll see how that's gonna affect me this time.

Hope you're having a good week too.

Actually there's another song I'd like to reccomend too before I end this. Exless by Kate Stephenson is a great one to get to know and understand me better.

[pppunz]

please consider a step!dream and f!reader but every time she gets bratty (when he’s doing homework or in online classes or whatnot) she’ll record herself sucking his dick, just absolute filthy shit they do

IPhone Camera [CC!Dream x Fem!Reader]

Warnings: sub!reader, dom!dream, fem reader, stepcest, blowjobs, degradation, blackmail mention, that one kink where you get off to being watched that I can never spell

Notes: What’s this? Solar posting four days apart and not 18? Damn. Anyways, I hope you guys are doing well and stay safe. :)

You did nothing but grin up at him, slightly smushed by his hand pushing your cheek to his thigh.

“I told you I was sorry! You looked bored, I wanted to help you out.” You explained, a feigned innocence in your voice.

This, of course, wasn’t true. For the past three of his online classes, you had been teasing him. First by wearing nothing but panties and one of his t-shirts, second by kneeling down under his desk (so nobody could see you) and with no specific movements, palmed his cock through his pants.

For a moment, Clay almost wanted to believe and take mercy on you. “You know what, fine.” he said as he pulled his now semi-hardened cock out of his sweatpants. Your mouth nearly watered at the sight of his perfectly veined and thick member.

“But, you said I couldn’t interrupt you during class, Clay.” You said in confusion as you watched his hand rub his cock up and down slowly. Your confusion became worse when he also took his phone off the desk and handed it to you.

“I want you to film yourself sucking me off like a good girl, that way if you decide to pull something like this again, I have blackmail to use against you.” Clay explained, “We wouldn’t want everyone to know how much of a slut you are for your Stepbrother, now do we?

For the average person, his threat would’ve seemed like too much, but this was the way your relationship was. You knew the only people he would send it to were Sapnap and George, who already had their suspicions about you both. Regardless, the threat had you pressing your thighs together.

“Anything for you, daddy.” You mumbled as he opened the camera app and handed you the phone.

“And stay quiet, my next class is starting.” He demanded as you pressed record and put his cock to your lips. You heard the familiar sound of the professor talking, though you didn’t care enough to listen. Taking one look at Clay, he looked just as composed as he did before you were sucking him off.

You opened your mouth further and let his cock go further down your throat. Clay let out a quiet groan, that was immediately passed off as a cough. You could’ve laughed if his cock weren’t down your throat. He was losing his composure, slowly but surely, and there was still 55 minutes left of his class.

You continued at your somewhat slow pace, allowing him to adjust and get used to it. His first mistake was making you do this in the first place, his second mistake was getting comfortable.

With his phone filming both your face and his cock perfectly, you sped up as well as let more of it down your throat. The more you bobbed, the more you gagged. And you knew exactly how much he loved it when you gagged.

It didn’t take long for Clay to start to lose it, his cheeks were flushed and he couldn’t help but throw his head back when his cock hit the back of your throat. He was close to giving up.

You pulled off his cock with a pop and turned your head to face the camera. Your reflection was red-faced and spit covered, it was perfect. “Come on daddy, cum all over your slut’s pretty face.”

That was enough for Clay. “Fuck…” he groaned, quickly leaving the class and throwing his head back. “You’re such a good slut, such a good fucking slut for your Stepbrother.”

Your hand jerked his cock off, no part of him left untouched. With one more jerk, he came undone.

“Ah, fuck, cumming!” He cursed, cum shooting out of his cock in spurts that covered your face. You lolled your tongue out, letting some of his cum in your mouth. Clay’s head was thrown back, his chest moving up and down in steady but quick intervals.

“Don’t you dare turn off that camera, I’m not done showing you off.”

[eulchu]

LET'S TALK: DREAM AND THE DREAM STANS

PART 1: DREAM STANS

i'm going to start this off by sharing a very cherished memory.

mcc day, september 2021. my roommates and i tune in to watch dream's live stream. it's the first time watching for my best friend who, although clinically online and very well versed in twitch etiquette, had always stuck to hispanic streamers. dream loses after a very close competition. still, my friend turns to me and says: "i'm a little emotional right now. i've never seen a chat so kind and encouraging in my life. usually i have to close it because they're, well, horrible, but this was one of the most heart-warming things i've seen on twitch chat. it's like you guys are his little cheerleaders."

i've heard bad things about the dream stans. i've DEFINITELY seen some of them. i'm no stranger to fandom culture. i hate making 'not every...' posts because that defies the point of holding accountable those who are toxic. i'm not above being critical of my own 'fave'.

however, i'm sick of seeing the demonized version that the internet has deemed reflective of reality in regards of dream 'stans'. because it's not true! i've seen the worst of the worst. i've been involved in pretty shitty fandoms. you know how dream keeps standing up for his 'stans'? he's not enabling the 'stan' community that many people think it is.

not to be cheesy, but dream fans are like nothing i've ever come across. maybe because we've had too much shit spewed at us. because we've had to endure death threats that, upon reacting, would not only make things worse for us, but for dream too. we've learnt to keep quiet in our little bubble to avoid conflict. we've been driven to the point of exhaustion. now, i'm not claiming this has been the case since the very begining. i'm sure early 2020/2021 had many dream stans who were a pain in the ass.

it is, however, quite revolting to realize dream's community's growth keeps getting looked past. by anon users. by ccs. by whole ass men older and more mature than many of us, with far more power and not one ounce of regret when their comments send a hurricane of harassment dream's (and by default, our) way. if any of them took a second of their day, they would find out all most of these 'dream stans' nowadays do is respectfully denfend themselves and their cc.

i'm tired of the whole 'dream enables hate in his community' narrative. we're human too. i could've snapped so many times at threats being sent MY way - not even dream's - and i never do, because god, i could fight fire with fire. but we've learnt the hard way that it doesn't benefit anyone. doesn't help the situation. certainty doesn't help dream. so we keep quiet. we turn into the bigger person per request for dream. i'm a mindless dream stan for being decent because dream asked me to? sure, say that to my face when you're not telling me to die. you're LUCKY dream is the last line in defense that's still standing in my moral compass.

dream has managed to create such a community that reflects who he is as a person. which isn't the cold, manipulative bigot that people think he is. dream's community is nothing but a reflection of his infinite kindness, compassion, acceptance and eagerness to learn and grow. thinking dream enables his fans' behavior as marketing strategy is a major downplay of who he is as a character.

i remember one quote from him, a long time ago, "don't let anyone tell you you're weird for liking something because they're the weird ones". i can imagine dream, who latches to games for days straight, and forgets to sleep sometimes, was just another kid who was shamed for liking things 'a little too much'. if anything, all dream's ever wanted to do is create a safe community where people aren't shamed for their 'weird ticks' or 'fixations'. when he's defensive of his community, he's not defensive of the people who send death threats and harass and doxx. he's defensive of a community that he built with care, in hopes to shelter all the 'freaky' kids that don't have something to go back to.

fuck anyone who tries to paint dream's community as something toxic. it's the furthest thing from it.

[sunflowerdaisybee]

thank you for answering my question, even if you dont write for other fandoms its fine :)) may i request cc!karl with an s/o who has really broken english and a strong accent? and then one day he brings them onto his stream and some people start making fun of their english and accent and karl's just like >:0 tysm as always, i love your work! -froggy

I love this idea so much but I didn’t want to offend anyone which is why there’s like no dialogue until the end, if it does come off as offensive please tell me so that I can fix it, also I added onto this a bit because I thought it fit well:] <3

Summary: Karl loves you for you, so why can’t his chat do the same

Genre: Tiny angst, mostly fluff

Pairing: Karl X Reader

Pronouns: They/Them

[A/n]: Requests are open! <3

Karl never minded how you spoke or how you pronounced certain words. He understood you well enough to know that you love him and that he loves you. Language was merely a see-through barrier that he was already working his way through.

The two of you would set aside time each week and work on language skills, he would help you with English and you would teach him parts of your native language. It was like a date night except a lot more fun.

It had gotten to the point where some of the words you had taught him had slipped into his pool of everyday lingo, which was quickly picked up by his chat. Upon worming out the info that he had been learning the language from his significant other, they had insisted he brought you on stream.

It was a while before the two of you had both felt comfortable enough to bring you onto stream. You felt you had greatly improved your English language skills and that you would be able to comfortably communicate with Karl's chat.

Sadly though that was necessarily the case. As soon as Karl brought you into screen and you began talking there was a lot of backlash. At first, people thought you were faking it and called you out for being rude, though once you both clarified to the chat that it wasn't a joke, the tides turned a little.

There was a flood of supportive comments talking about how much they loved your accent and how it suited you well. What ruined the mood though was back-to-back dono's from a group of people who were sending in hate comment after hate comment. Karl was quick to have these people banned but that still didn't stop the stinging pain in your chest.

Karl hastily scolded the chat, thanking those who were sweet but continuing to scold those who were on edge. His words to the chat helped your inner hatred some, but it still wasn't enough to completely squash the feeling.

You quickly excused yourself to the bathroom, saying that you would be right back. But after 15 minutes had passed and you still hadn't returned, Karl left to find you. He found you in the bathroom, as you said you would be, except you were staring at your reflection rather than removing bodily waste.

Karl lingered in the doorway for a moment, watching as your critical eyes picked every piece of yourself apart. With no hesitation he came to stand behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing a gentle kiss to your shoulder.

"You know I love you right? And that I love the way you talk and the way you say my name. I love how when you don't know a word you will act it out or try to explain it to me. I love everything about you and everything you do, regardless of what my chat has to say." Karl laid his head on you, which caused his voice to be a bit muffled but you understood him all the same.

"Love you too Karl, best boyfriend of all time."

[wowbright]

Fic: Forever’s Not Enough Time

Klaine/CC Valentine's Challenge: Day 10 prompt song, Anyone by Justin Bieber.

Words: ~2750 words

Rating: Teen and Up

Summary: A dinner with the sister missionaries leads to a flirtatious duet.

A vignette in my Mormon!Klaine universe. This one takes place after Clues I Didn’t See and before Losing My Sleep.

My Mormon!Klaine Masterpost.

Notes: (1) The photo is from the sealing room of the LDS Temple in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I mention the reflections in the double mirrors in the story and wanted to provide a visual. (2) This one was hard, because I apparently neither think nor talk like Justin Bieber. But I worked in little bits of the lyrics here and there. Have fun hunting, if that's your thing. (3) Here’s the video for The Circle of Our Love, which appears toward the end of the story. (4) As always, I welcome questions, typo identification, feedback on German spelling/grammar, and encouragement!

--------------

“Do you think that orange cola counts as one cola or half a cola?” asked Schwester Rose halfway through dinner, staring longingly at the dregs of soda at the bottom of her glass.

“Half. It’s literally fifty percent orange soda and fifty percent cola, isn't it?” Blaine said, always attentive to Schwester Rose’s concerns. He looked especially dapper today in his brown tweed suit and the new matching necktie and pocket handkerchief set he had picked up on a recent visit to their favorite consignment store in the Altstadt. His hair was meticulously styled, but with a little less gel than he usually employed, so that it retained just enough volume and bounce to tantalize Kurt and make him want to dig his fingers into it.

Kurt, however, knew that the special attention Blaine had given to his hair had been for Schwester Rose’s sake, and not his. It was their last dinner together before her transfer away from Ingolstadt. Usually, the transfer would have taken place at the conference, but a travel delay meant that her replacement wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow.

Kurt liked Schwester Rose. She was pleasant and energetic and a good counterbalance to Schwester Wilde. But he didn't think he would miss her. It was against mission rules to keep in touch with an active missionary after they’d left your area, and if you missed every missionary that you had to part ways with, you would spend your whole mission moping around.

Blaine, on the other hand, was going to miss Schwester Rose. Kurt wasn’t oblivious. He’d noticed the way Blaine always laughed at Schwester Rose’s jokes, and how bubbly they both got whenever they talked about cats or Disney movies or memory verses, and how perfect they were for each other with their shared, irrepressible positivity. Kurt was fairly certain Blaine’s crush wasn’t overly serious—not the kind of thing you had to bring up with the mission president—but given time and attention, it could blossom into something much more. Kurt wouldn't be surprised if Blaine and Schwester Rose got back in touch after their missions were over and he ended up getting a wedding invitation soon after. Hopefully, Kurt would be over his companion by then, and his heart wouldn't break too severely when it came time to sit in the sealing room and watch as they kneeled at the altar, their reflections in the double mirrors stretching out into eternity.

“My mother worked in restaurants for many years,” said Schwester Wilde, “and she says when they were out of Spezi, they would mix it on their own with two-thirds cola and a third orange soda. So I’d say it counts as two-thirds of a cola.” She paused and looked at her own drink, still half full. “You could order another one and we could split it in half, then we wouldn't go over one each.”

Kurt loved being a missionary. He really did. But when he got home, he would not miss the nitpicky rules, nor the nitpicky discussions that ensued from them. It was time to put his zone leader hat on. “A caffeinated soft drink is a caffeinated soft drink, people. I know none of us were expecting the new rules, but now that they're in place, you have two choices if you want to drink more than one orange cola a day: split hairs ad infinitum in order to try to justify yourself according to the letter of the law, or admit to yourselves that you don't think the new mission rule is inspired.”

All three of his fellow missionaries turned to look at him, their eyes wide.

“That’s strong language,” Schwester Wilde said.

“It’s intentional,” Kurt replied.

Schwester Rose's expression turned contrite. “I wasn’t … I wasn’t trying to be disobedient,” she said, her voice wobbling slightly. “I was trying to figure out how to be obedient.”

Kurt hadn't meant to make Schwester Rose feel bad. Especially not in front of Blaine. Ugh. His companion would think he was a total jerk now. Kurt gentled his voice. “Schwester Rose, I wasn't trying to be harsh or critical of you. The truth is, I don't care how many colas you drink each day. But you know what the memorandum said. It said ‘no more than one regular cola or other caffeinated beverage per day.’ Now, if you have prayed about this and don't feel that Heavenly Father wants you to follow the new rule, or wants you to taper down to the new limits, that's between you and him. I won’t interfere. But if you have that witness, I want you to rely on that witness—not on rationalization. One of the most important skills you can learn on your mission is to trust the guidance you receive from the Holy Ghost.”

Kurt caught Blaine beaming at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Oh, it’s not the Holy Ghost,” muttered Schwester Rose dejectedly. “I just really like orange cola.”

“Here,” said Schwester Wilde, “As my special going away present to you, I will create a custom-made decaf orange cola for you.” She slid out of the booth and went over to the counter, and came back with two bottles of decaf cola and one of orange soda. “This round’s on me.”

The missionaries drank up what was left in their glasses and let Schwester Wilde be their soda jerk. The stuff wasn't bad—not quite the same as a Spezi or Mezzo Mix, but still tasty. And Schwester Rose was back to her usual effervescent self, chatting brightly and making Blaine smile and laugh. And maybe that last part hurt a little, but the pain of it was outweighed by the warmth in Kurt’s heart from seeing his companion happy.

Kurt would totally be able to let Blaine go when the time came.

“What was up with the timing of that memorandum, though?” Schwester Wilde asked. “Why didn't President Steele announce it at conference? Especially considering how detailed it is. Plus, he could have cleared up any questions about orange cola.”

The memo had been detailed. It read:

No caffeine pills.

No medications containing caffeine except by prescription from a licensed medical professional.

No energy drinks, shots, or powders.

No coffee or tea in any form (e.g., no chocolate-covered espresso beans or other coffee- or tea-containing candies, desserts, ice creams, supplements, etc.)

No regular cola or caffeinated beverages stored or consumed in the home.

No more than one regular cola or other caffeinated beverage per day outside the home, not to exceed 500 milliliters.

Soft drinks, regardless of caffeine content, should only be consumed with meals. Missionaries may accept soft drinks outside of meals only where politeness dictates, for example, offered when visiting a home and water is not available as an alternative.

“I can only assume that he didn't receive his prompting until after the conference was over,” Kurt said, stirring his drink with his straw. He so wanted to share the bit of gossip he’d gotten from Elder Saint James, but he must not give in to the inclinations of the natural man. As zone leader, he was supposed to set a good example for the other missionaries. And as smoldering as that little tidbit was, like a hot coal bouncing on his hands that would be such a relief to toss out into the open, he needed to be valiant and endure its heat.

“Yeah, but why didn't he receive his prompting before conference?” continued Schwester Wilde. “Don’t you find that a little ... Suspicious?”

“Schwester Wilde, you are not being subtle,” said Schwester Rose. “You are clearly hinting at something.”

Schwester Wilde took a neat sip of her drink, her lips two thin lines on either side of the straw. “I think something happened at conference. And I think we all witnessed it.”

This entire time, Kurt’s foot had been bouncing beneath the table without him even being cognizant of it. He lunged forward excitedly and lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “I heard Elder Clarington has been popping caffeine pills.”

“Oh, thank goodness!” said Schwester Rose, smacking herself on the cheek. “I was worried he was having a nervous breakdown. Or on cocaine!”

“Shhh!” hissed Kurt and Schwester Wilde simultaneously. You couldn't have missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shouting about cocaine in a public establishment.

“But then why did he got promoted to assistant to the president?” whispered Schwester Wilde.

Blaine, who had been silent throughout this part of the conversation, piped in. “I think sometimes people get chosen for a calling because they’re prepared for it. But sometimes people get chosen so that the calling can prepare them.”

The sisters furrowed their eyebrows at him.

“You know, for higher worthiness,” Blaine said. “Didn't you two have people in your young women’s groups who were sort of on their way out of the church, and they got appointed to leadership positions to help keep them in?”

“No,” Schwester Wilde said. “Because that's stupid. Why would you put someone incompetent or uncommitted in a position of authority?”

“I'm not saying I would,” Blaine said. “But the Holy Ghost might? I mean, if you have that kind of leadership position, you have to constantly check in with the person above you. Elder Clarington will now be working directly with President Steele on a daily basis, and President Steele can keep an eye on him and support him in his struggles.”

“I suppose the Lord works in mysterious ways,” Schwester Rose said.    

“I guess,” said Schwester Wilde. “But I heard, back in Utah where he comes from, if you've been assistant to the president, you can get hired for pretty much any job. It doesn't seem fair that Elder Clarington is padding his resume when this is really a demotion, not a promotion.”

“No, it doesn’t seem fair,” Kurt agreed. “But we all came here to serve, right? Not to become assistant to the president. Besides, it’s not like he’s working alone. His new companion will share the responsibilities, and I think Elder Saint James will do a good job. He’s more … relaxed then Elder Clarington.”

The conversation moved to lighter things, like favorite Disney princesses and musical numbers. Soon, it was time to walk the sisters to their bus stop and go their separate ways to evening appointments.

“You know what I want as my parting gift?” Schwester Rose said, doing a little hop of excitement as they left the restaurant.

“More decaf orange cola?” Kurt said.

“No.” She rolled her eyes playfully. “Remember that movie we watched on Easter? Saturday’s Warrior? It was so cute! And the songs have been going through my head over and over, but I've only heard them once, so I don't know if I have them right. But you and Elder Anderson seemed to have every single one of them memorized when we watched it. And I love both your voices so much. Sing one of the songs for me! Pretty please!” She tugged on Schwester Wilde’s sleeve, like a little girl begging for candy, even though it was surely Blaine’s sleeve she wanted to tug on. But it was against the rules for sisters and elders to touch each other outside of handshakes. Sometimes a companion had to suit as a body double.

“What do you want us to sing?” asked Kurt. “The missionary duet?”

“No, that song is stupid. One of the pretty ones. Like the one where he's painting in the park, or the one where he’s in the premortal existence with his girlfriend …”

“You mean, I've seen that smile somewhere before?” Blaine sang the lyrics, his eyes meeting Kurt’s in both invitation and challenge.

Kurt was never one to back down from a duet. “I've heard your voice before …”

This song. Kurt had loved it so much when he was a kid. Even though he didn't believe in fate, it was romantic to think that soulmates existed, that the person you belonged with in this life was someone you had been with in the premortal existence. When he was just a little boy, he would daydream about singing it with an older boy he’d met at the Hill Cumorah Pageant, about to go on his mission. Spencer had been so handsome and sweet and kind, asking Kurt to show him how to sew on a button and letting him tag along beside him wherever he went, and he’d had the friendliest eyes.

But eventually, Kurt had figured out he wasn't supposed to feel that way about other boys. The song had taken on a bittersweet edge. When Kurt sang it, he could no longer think of himself as one of the dueting lovers.

The circle of our love is more than just a rising sun that sets;

the circle of our love, it goes forever.

But the way Blaine was singing with him now—his expression sincere and warm, and his voice full of emotion—Kurt felt like maybe he was allowed to inhabit this song. That maybe soulmates and eternal love could be real, even for him.

Maybe it was true. Not in the way Kurt wanted it to be true, but true nonetheless. Blaine loved him deeply, and even if that love would never have the physical expression Kurt longed for, it was intense and real. Maybe it was eternal, too. Maybe, even without a sealing in the temple, friends could be reunited in the afterlife.

The circle of our love extends beyond the reach of time,

Beyond the span of days and years, it goes forever.

Why did the celestial kingdom have to be limited to heterosexual couples and their progeny? Earthly life provided such a rich network of relationships; it didn't make sense that we would lose them in heaven. Maybe heaven was more like earth than Kurt had previously imagined. Maybe there was a place for friendship there. Maybe friends, too, could be together and dream together and create worlds together.

*

The circle of our love is found in every warm and tender thing

that lips may breathe or hearts may beat, forever.

I love you. That's what Blaine was really singing. I love you. I love you. I love you.

He’d been hedging on it before. He knew he loved Kurt, but he wasn’t sure how much.

Now, he knew.

Kurt was meant to be the only one Blaine would ever love, in this life and the next. And even then, forever wouldn’t be enough time to show Kurt the extent of his feelings.

As Blaine sang the words to Kurt and heard them echoed back, he felt the rightness of them. That this exact moment, hearing Kurt sing about love and eternity, was the moment he had waited for all his life. The moment when he would find his eternal companion.

This wasn't a crush. This wasn't temporal love that ended in either betrayal or death. It could be infinite, if Blaine didn't shy away from it.

The circle of our love begins with now—

Now. Now. Eternity begins with now. It hit Blaine like a bag of bricks: I've got to tell him.

Blaine's love for Kurt was the greatest gift God had ever offered him. It opened the door to paradise. But if Blaine didn't do anything about this gift, if he kept quiet and wallowed in the fear of Kurt rejecting him, the door would close.

The prospect of confessing his feelings was terrifying. Kurt might say that he loved the church more than he loved Blaine, that forever wasn't possible between two men, that the physical intimacy Blaine longed for was sinful and depraved.

But it didn't matter. Blaine needed Kurt to know he was the only one Blaine wanted to ever love. He had to give Kurt the choice to accept that love or reject it.

Because that's what you did when you loved somebody, wasn't it? You let them make their own choices. God had modeled such love in the plan of salvation: giving people free agency so they could decide between good and evil, so they could choose to love him or to turn away from him.

If Blaine did nothing, he would be throwing away God’s gift of eternal love before even trying to unwrap it.

The circle of our love begins with now and every promised dream;

In God's eternal plan, it goes forever.

So he had to do something.

It was just a matter of what and when.

[lazyliars]

The Quackity Meta: a Tale of Two Absolutes

More than anything else, Quackity wants control, and to never, ever lose his own autonomy. And that is why he despises Technoblade.

But wait, how is Technoblade a threat to Quackity's autonomy? Techno is all for individual freedom! He wants to eradicate the government so that no one can be controlled!

There's the question though... How do people exercise control within the framework of a video game like m/inec/raft?

“a person exercising power or control in a cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary way.”

Power on the Dream SMP cannot be translated one-to-one with real  life power. In real life, yes, a government had infinitely more power than an individual, for numerous reasons. But on the Dream SMP, the government's power is always directly tied to the power of the individuals who are willing to defend that power.

Technoblade is powerful. This is not debatable. How he uses this power, historically, has been a mix of generosity and self-interest*, although primarily the latter.

Generously, He gains resources and then distributes them to his allies during the Pogtopia Rebellion, gearing everyone up and giving them a fighting chance against Dream. However, in the aftermath of Tubbo's being appointed president, Techno turns on them, swiftly and mercilessly. The moment that it becomes clear** that Pogtopia's interests don't align with his own, he crushes them with the aim to prevent them from ever recovering.

( *I use self-interest as a neutral term here. Everyone on the SMP is selfish to some extent – it doesn't make them evil, and in fact has been treated as a positive at times, as well as a negative.

**I want to note that whether or not Technoblade knew of Pogtopia's goal of reinstating the government is unclear. It would seem that from Techno's POV that he didn't know, or assumed that it was a minority who wanted another government. But on the other hand, no one was actively lying to him about their intent, and people like Tommy and Quackity made their goals very clear.  Further doubt is cast on the idea that Techno had no idea when you take into account that he enchanted the Netherite armor in the vault with worthless enchants like Fire Res.

Ultimately, there's no way to know until it is confirmed by cc!Techno himself, and it doesn't pertain that much to this analysis, but I'm aware that it's a hotly debated topic so I wanted to address it.)

It can be argued that Techno's destruction of L'manberg, both the first and especially the second time, was necessary. It can also be argued that it was cruel and a disproportionate retribution against both culpable and innocent parties. Extant of these arguments however, how does it feature into control?

Well, we can’t talk about control without mentioning the most controlling force on the server and the other person on Quackity's hitlist, Dream.

Dream is a tyrant. I don't think anyone can really make an argument against that in good faith at this point. He ticks off every box, no matter how vague or esoteric. This makes the interactions that Quackity and Techno have with him very interesting.

Quackity despises Dream. He's one of the earliest adopters of the hating-Dream-train, to the point that some people have compared him to Cassandra, a priestess who was cursed with the vision of prophecies that would always be true, but never believed. And indeed, Quackity's apprehension of Dream comes in as early as Pogtopia, and grows at a steady pace after the fact.

But despite his rightfully calling out Dream's hypocrisies and his controlling tendencies, Quackity was largely ignored on this front, especially when the time came to exile Tommy and Quackity basically predicted the next arc – If they gave Dream this concession, they would never be able to get out from under his thumb. Flash forwards to the Green Festival, and the moment Tubbo hands over the discs, any illusion of nicety drops and Dream proceeds to destroy them, side by side with...

Technoblade has always had an amiable relationship with Dream. From their first proper interaction on the server being Dream giving Techno some hefty resources, to their snap team-up on Doomsday, they've had a smooth time, with some notable bumps.

Techno fought against Dream during the Pogtopia rebellion, but when it became clear that Dream was more invested in chaos than his other allies, Techno temporarily allied with him to summon the Withers and drive the nail deeper into Manberg’s coffin.

The only time Techno has really bothered to challenge Dream directly is when he came for Tommy in exile. Techno went to great lengths to protect Tommy, hiding him and distracting Dream.

He did give Dream the option to call in his favor and take Tommy, but there are arguments to be made that he did this more as a challenge – that Tommy is worth the favor. Again, we probably wont ever know.

The difference in their relationships with Dream is polarizing. It also reflects the difference in personality – Quackity is an aggressive, ambitious person, whereas Techno leans more towards passivity and caution. Quackity is looking for enemies to challenge, where Techno is avoiding them, people who actually stand a chance against him most of all.

Technoblade is an individual with extraordinary amounts of power. Others have pointed out that he is rarely challenged by other characters or the narrative, and regardless of the merits or flaws in that, it paints him as nearly untouchable. His being in the good graces of Dream only adds to this.

And like with Dream, the only way that people have been able to threaten Techno is when they work together. The Butcher Army, for all it's flaws, managed to capture Techno through numbers – with Tubbo and Fundy (barely) holding off Techno's blood rage while Quackity snuck off to take Carl hostage. And they would have gotten away with it too, if the other most powerful person on the server hadn't stepped in – both by pointing Techno to a totem of undying in the days before the attack, and by getting Punz to cause a distraction and directing Techno to the final control room, where he could escape with Carl.

So, if the most powerful person in the world can only be threatened by people working together, and the most common form of organization is by government, then what does it say about Technoblade, who wants the government destroyed?

People like Tubbo, Fundy and yes, Quackity, all benefit from organizing and working together. They all tend to be less armed, less ready to defend themselves, and completely unable to stand up to titans like Techno and Dream on their own. It's safety in numbers, but it's also control, and control is power.

Ranboo's insistence that Snowchester is a Government is interesting when viewed through this lens. Ranboo is another person who is insanely rich, and able to defend himself and his belongings consistently. Ranboo doesn't need other people to defend him – he's living with Techno and Phil not out of necessity for his survival, but out of need for connection with others.

This seems to be the main difference he finds with Snowchester, which has a more structured environment, geared to defend itself and it's people, if harm should come their way.

Which makes sense, considering it's founder, Tubbo, holds no earthly belongings, and Jack, another prominent member, has made a character trait out of losing his things every other day. The two of them have no conceivable way to defend themselves against people who are stronger than they are. But together, holding the keys to nuclear armaments, they can suddenly play on the field of gods.

The anarchist commune, despite having all members working together and being on good terms, aren't really an organization, they're individuals with common goals and interests. They don't need to live together to be strong, they're all already strong, they choose to be near each other because they want to.

Snowchester is not a government and has no ruler, but together, it's members hold power. They have sway in the world when they work as a collective, and most members have a vested interest in keeping themselves and each other defended because of this. Consequently, the “identity” of Snowchester becomes more prominent, resulting in the flag, the uniforms and the, well, identity.

(Now, the more perceptive among you might have noticed that I basically just compared Techno Phil and Ranboo to the ultra rich 1%, which. Um. Is a pretty serious comparison to make about in a block game rp?

And I wanna say that I don’t think this was necessarily intentional on the parts of either the CCs or the characters, and beyond that, it’s just one way of examining the text. This analysis is by no means the “Right” way to view the story, just a different one.

Regardless...)

Techno uses his considerable power to further his own goals, first and foremost. This is not inherently good or evil, it just is.

Contrast with New L'manberg's cabinet; Four people, pooling their limited power to further their shared goals. Not good or evil, just a way of exercising power.

But power is not static. Power is fluid and changing, moreso now on the SMP than ever before, and Quackity and Technoblade are fighting to define what Power means going forwards.

Techno is fighting for the status quo, knowingly or not. Individuals with power should lead the world, and those without should strive to emulate their betters. He destroys all forms of government, which strip away the rights of the individual in exchange for hierarchy and consolidated power within that hierarchy.

At it's best, this is a very freeing ideology, where nothing and no one can hold back the individual. The world is your oyster if you are willing to work for it.

But at it's worst? “Violence is the only universal language,” is the key phrase. Where does this ideology leave people who aren't strong? Where does it leave those who cannot fend for themselves? If Violence is the only universal language, then the weak have no means to speak.

Quackity is fighting to get a foothold for a contrary ideology – One that prioritizes words over violence and offers alternative methods of gaining and exercising control, such as through currency and conversation. Quackity has tried to varying degrees of success to implement this on the level of his own individual power, such as during the elections, but his attempts at employing this on a grand scale have all been short-lived.

At it's best, this ideology can uplift anyone, regardless of their strength. It encourages more communication, more commerce, and thrives under, you guessed it, strong government.

At it's worst however, it creates a brutally controlling environment. Where a few people gain absurd amounts of power through the complex machinations of a fiat currency, and are then able to use their sway and influence with governing forces to exercise power that they would never be able to hold on their own.

Again, neither of these ideologies are inherently good or evil. They both have flaws and benefits, and benefit no one more than perhaps Techno and Quackity respectively, while hindering the other.

Techno is benefited by anarchy because he holds incredible amounts of individual power. He is the strongest person on the server, he is rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and on a meta level, he's straight up good at the game. The current status quo puts him firmly at the top of the food chain, and this is most obvious on Doomsday, when he and the other two most powerful individuals (Dream and Philza) come together and crush the combined forces of New L'manberg. They are not meaningfully challenged in any way, whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Quackity is deeply hindered by the current status quo. He's not strong, he's poor, and he's vulnerable to anyone who wants to bully him with brute force. On a meta level, cc!Quackity just straight up does not play m/inecraf/t as much as some of the other people that on the server. (To be clear, I do not mention that as a criticism, just to contrast Techno. Neither of their levels of play are better or worse for content, they just add to the experience differently.)

On the other hand, in a government? Quackity “Law Student” HQ is suddenly on top. He's charismatic enough to debate with Wilbur “Can Talk His Way out of Anything” Soot during the elections, and come out of that arena smelling like roses. Back during the days of El Rapids, Quackity held his men back from conflict with Dream, and talked him into a corner of technical truths where Dream had to concede that he viewed El Rapids as an independent nation if he wanted to get involved with their conflicts.

And Techno, while he is brilliant and an English Major, suddenly loses a lot of his intimidation factor if he has to respect laws preventing brutal murder. Techno can certainly debate, but his go to conflict resolution is usually violence, and if you take that away, you take away the threat of challenging him. Because make no mistake, challenging Technoblade right now? Is suicide.

And this duality, this grey morality and clash of ideals, is why Quackity is my favorite character on the SMP. He isn't strong. The power he holds is tenuous and balanced on a knife's edge. It would make more sense for him to stay quiet, keep his head down, and if anything, try to change things from the shadows, where he'll be in the least danger.

But he isn't quiet. He doesn't just challenge authority, he challenges the authority; Dream, Wilbur, and of course, Technoblade.

And in all but one of those matches, he's come out with a concession from his enemy gripped between his teeth. He schooled Wilbur in the debates. He forced Dream to grant El Rapids Independence at a time when he hadn't done so for New L'manberg.

But he failed miserably when he challenged Technoblade. Quackity lost that fight in the final control room before it began. He lost the moment he formed the Butcher Army. He would have lost if he managed to kill Technoblade, and he lost still when he died.

He lost because he conceded that the only way to achieve his goal was through violence. He decided that the only way to establish himself and New L'manberg as powerful? Was to kill Technoblade. And he lost that fight and he always will. There was never a way that he walked out of that fight with the victory; Quackity lost the ideological battle long ago.

But not the war.

As of writing this, Quackity is in the process of introducing an economy to the Dream SMP, on Sam's initiative. There is no action I can think of that is wiser for him to take right now. Now, when Dream has been deposed and there's a vacuum in power; Now, when people are getting tired of endless violence and the loss it brings; Now, when people are looking for something new.

An economy is a direct challenge to Might Makes Right. Trading, supply and demand, politics. It offers a new way for people to obtain resources and a direct alternative to brute force; other methods to pay for slights and breaches of honor and etiquette. No more will pet wars be fought with iron swords and shields, but with money! A healthy sum of cash for the murder of Fungi!

If Quackity can get this system off the ground (and with Sam's help, he definitely can,) the stage would suddenly be tilted in the favor of not just Quackity, but the people who he has associated himself with most closely – Tommy, Fundy, even Schlatt. They're all business men, all scammers. This could be Quackity's world, and he's damn well intending for everyone to live in it.

We’ll have to see what Techno thinks of this - Quackity hasn’t made any moves to start another government, and an economy doesn’t inherently contradict anarchy. But it does hold a potential threat to Techno’s current power.

And as for Quackity? What will he do once he’s at the top? Will he finally become a true tyrant? Will he usher in a new age of equality and justice? Or will he eschew all of that in favor of personal riches. For once, the cards are in Quackity's favor, and we might get the chance to see what he does when he holds real power.