#i'm not trying to start anything with this post. it admittedly got away from me. but the way this website approaches certain topics-

[nero-neptune]

the weird doubling-down going on with the ceo is Beyond embarrassing (also, he's insane, a death wish =/= a death threat. what is this, twitter?)

tho, there's this weird false equivalency(?) that keeps coming up in response, basically "what are doing about the terf and nazi blogs?", as if they both recieve an equal amount of concern (they don't). terf blogs get permabanned all the time (go on any terf blocklist, even new ones, and a lot of those names are gonna lead you to killed dead blogs). they typically have smaller followings (and largely follow each other), so it's not gonna become trending news when permabans happen, but they very much do happen.

it's the blatantly racist nazi and outright white supremacist blogs that face little to zero consequences, flying under the block/report radar, posting the most disturbing shit i've seen in my life, followed by memes. fair enough, there's no real action taken by staff (from what i can tell), but there's absolutely no coordinated effort made by the userbase to drive them away either (too alienating?). there's nothing like shinigami eyes for nazis/white supremacists/fascists/what-have-you. it isn't Nearly as common for blog headers to tell nazis to stay away, or for users to compile/update fascist blocklists, or warn others that they reblogged from a white supremacist. it's nbd, somehow. i've reported Tons of blogs for overt hate speech and damn near nothing happens to those 1488ers. it straight up isn't a priority, not for staff and not for a substantial chunk of this userbase. there's this clear discrepancy (to me) which allows nazis to thrive and their posts to "break containment". so long as you're "funny" ig.

i didn't realize this was gonna start one way and end with me ranting about nazis and racism on tumblr dot com. but Christ, it's been bothering me for Years. can we try taking action against the racism problem now? or am i asking too much on the "we can excuse racism" website?

[genericpuff]

I'm curious - how many unanswered asks do you have in your inbox? Or do you just delete the ones you don't plan on answering?

do you feel good anon

do you feel good about yourself with this question

targeting me like that

geeeeez

ok but more seriously LMAO i have an embarrassingly large amount of unanswered asks but i do read all of them <3 a lot of them honestly are just from folks like, sharing their anonymous opinions about either LO and LR, with the odd one about comic advice, sharing webtoon recommendations, and other things of that nature!

In the case of the LO asks, it's stuff that often has already been spoken about at length before so I don't really have anything to add (but trust me, I'm usually in total agreement, if I heavily disagree with a take I'll usually try to respond to it but it's rare that that's the case because most of the takes are just things like "wow the art in this panel sucks" like yep it sure do LOL) and often it just feels like my inbox is just like, a comment box for people to get their feelings out anonymously and honestly that's fine, I just also can't really respond to every single one unfortunately, but I do read them and I love y'all's takes!

With LR asks, y'all are way too sweet to me and send me just the kindest things about LR, and I hope y'all know that even if I wind up not getting back to your ask about it, I do read everything you send and appreciate so much the amount of support you've all shown for this project since I took it on <3 A lot of those asks are literally my version of "do it for her" where I read them and it reminds me of why it's so worth doing what I do :') <3

Whenever people recommend me other works to read, I add them to a list and I am currently trying to tackle it :) (honestly that list isn't as big as you'd think, a lot of the recommendations are for the same stuff, like other Greek myth retelling comics or otherwise just bad webtoons that people want me to suffer thru LOL) I just recently finally got a physical copy of Song of Achilles and while it's slow going, I'm gonna be sharing my extended thoughts about it, either in a big Tumblr post or maybe a video if I can motivate myself to do it 🤔

And of course, the comic advice asks... these ones admittedly I do tend to actually move into my drafts because I really, REALLY do want to respond to them, but I'm also not someone to half-ass responses to questions like that. That is a bit of a bad habit on my end because it often means I'm spending crazy amounts of time going over topics that can be researched, but I also just really love talking about comics so it doesn't feel good to get a comic advice ask and just leave it at "idk just start" like yeah, do that, but also I want to pass on all the things I WISH I had known when I was first starting out and I'm glad people see me as someone to learn those things from! So when it comes to those asks, don't worry, I'm picking away at them <3 (but also man, I should probably just like... put together some kind of hitchhiker's guide to comic making or something huh LOL)

Anyways! I do have a lot of unanswered asks and honestly, I'm not really one to delete them, even if I don't get back to some of them it is still nice to read them in their own little curated space separate from my main blog, it's kind of like a personal comment section between myself and those of you who took the time to write <3 The only asks I tend to outright delete are ones that are just like, way too bad faith to even want to give any attention to, or bot spam lmao But for the majority of y'all who have sent genuine asks to my inbox and never saw a response and worry that I might have ignored it or deleted it, I hope you can have reassurance in knowing that they are all still there and even if I can't make time every day to respond to them, receiving all your personal takes about LO and your amazing feedback and kind words about LR is something I'm always excited to see whenever that little notification pops up in my Inbox tab. I see you and appreciate you <3

[hazbinsponsoredbyvee]

I mean I understand why Radioapple is popular. The Enemies to Lovers trope is like one of the hottest tropes there is, and while Alastor and Vox were technically enemies everyone could tell Alastor didn't take their rivalry very seriously, likely because he didn't view Vox as an actual threat, but Vox was very quick to instigate and was easily shut down by Alastor which is also why Radiosilence is very popular, people love the one-sided thing between them and the bits of past lore we were given. But with Lucifer it's easy to see there's actual angry tension between the two, it's not a one-sided rivalry, Lucifer pisses Al off just as Al pisses Lucifer off so them and their dynamic fit the actual Enemies part perfectly and from there it's much easier to make scenarios in which they would become lovers. Hate sex being very popular because they have a lot of hate for each other, and if they were to have sex it would end in a lot of blood and tears and most likely a very torn up room. That's just my take on it. Tbh the only Radioapple I like is the Berryverse Radioapple which was a thing before the first season, it's kind of an AU where Alastor is a way better version of Al and is Angel's pimp and Lucifer is Vox because he sells Apple mac products.

As someone whose lifeblood is enemies to lovers, I totally get that. And when I first saw that people shipped radioapple my first thought was 'Oh yeah, that makes sense - enemies to lovers. Probably if I look at it close enough, I'll start shipping it too, cause I can never help myself with that trope.'

But then I did start to look at it closer, and I just... don't see any romantic or sexual tension between them. It seems a very superficial enmity because it's just the two most prideful beings being jealous of each other with no real heart behind it. No hate to them as enemies, cause enemies doesn't need to be a complicated thing, I just don't see enough there for anything to develop out of it. Maybe if Alastor wasn't aroace, but as it is, I think it would have to be very special circumstances for him to be interested in anyone like that.

As for radiostatic, I respectfully disagree about Alastor not taking their rivalry seriously. I think he just does a much better job of hiding it. This can even be seen in the (admittedly non-canon) comics, where Vox tries to get a rise out of Alastor, he rolls his eyes and walks away, but the second he's out of earshot starts grumbling and even swearing.

In the show itself, I went in knowing nothing, and in the first episode when Alastor and Vaggie were making the commercial, I was immediately convinced that he had been hurt by/had a grudge against someone in the television industry. Then, when he came out of his tailor's shop (which he knew was right across from Vox's shop, and why did he have to repair a coat that already had so many tears in it?), he stops to pose, cracks an eye open, and then gets all irritated when he gets no reaction. And then what does he do? Immediately goes on air to antagonize Vox right back. (I also saw a post talking about how he references the first part of the song, that Vox wasn't even on air for, implying that he also spies on Vox, but that's shaky evidence, I feel like.)

And the end of that episode really sealed it for me, with him waiting in the shadows, then picking up the watch and powering it on just to taunt Vox. Cause yeah, my first watch of Stayed Gone, I got the same impression that Alastor didn't take the rivalry seriously, but then here he was, going out of his way get a rise out of Vox. It suddenly showed that whatever was between them was very personal, and fuck, the only trope I like more than enemies to lovers is friends to enemies to lovers.

Well, sorry for this soapbox. I'm a big proponent of ship and let ship, so this is in no way trying to put down anyone who views these characters differently, I'm just sharing my opinion!

[rattys-prinxiety-countdown]

HE'S FINALLY DONE! This would have been posted hours ago but the day got away from me and I needed to catch up. Presenting the one, the only, Intruality fusion Cox! (Thank you to @frogsandsquids for the name recommendation, I hope you like it!)

Intruality is admittedly not a ship I know a lot about, or initially one I liked very much. At the start of creating this fusion, I had no idea how to mesh a character I adore (Remus) with one I don't really care for (Patton). I gave it my all to figure out what worked, and what didnt 😩. I started with trying to do a something that leaned into a creepy/cute aesthetic (Sort of like Melanie Martinez if you know her vibe??) but then my friends thought I should try to lean more into a "Sexy Dad" aesthetic, so it got scrapped, and I restarted. Two more times. (HUGE thanks to my friend Miles, who let me bounce ideas off them for hours before I settled on what became the final product.)

Beyond the designing nightmare, this took way longer than it should have (9 hours) but I have a good excuse. I was testing new skills and trying new things during this process. This was the first time I tried giving my art a thicker outline to make it pop. Also, this was the first time I made a piece where I had to add "layers of clothing" to the base layer. Click more to see what I mean

BOOM! Hes a jester!

This is Cox (He/They). This fusion has a love for jokes, pranks, and above all, baking (who cares if only 10 percent of the time the recipe goes according to plan, we're measuring with our HEARTS, and NOT with the recipe cards!)

Thanks again to my friend Miles, I got some ideas for how this fusion behaves. One may think the fusion would be a little sexual or even flirtatious, but anything Cox comes up with goes through the Patton-Pending Dad™ filter. He's very affectionate, and unfortunately, can be little overbearing/annoying without realizing it. He constantly deflects with humor, and is a little self deprecating, but they're working on it and doing a hell of a job.

Lets talk about the mask. (This gets a little heavy and I do apologize for that)

It was initially going to stay bunny ears until Miles+CO. talked me out of it. The mask is literal. Cox uses it to mask himself, and put out a very bubbly "Patton-like" persona. He choses to keep the "less happy, family friendly" part of himself away from view while Patton and Remus work on it from the inside. They enjoy the quiet time they get while baking, and it gives the Remus inside Cox to experiment with some less than ideal recipes.

There's so much I still want to say I'm just forgetting. I will point out that Miles hasn't even seen Sanders Sides, all the information they got (and by extension, the ideas they passed onto me) were given from the Sanders Sides Wikis 😭 he took the time out of his day to research Sanders Sides lore and I'm so appreciative of it. They also sketched an idea for their own Intruality fusion, but admittedly its got an incredibly angsty, dark theme and I dunno if he's ok with me sharing it.

I'll be working on the analogical fusion next! It will be here soon-ish!

Ps: I went digging for some intruality fusions to gain ANY sort of inspiration for this, and instead found tons and tons of fanart. I came out of this understanding the appeal of the ship a lot more and *dramatic sigh* woe is me,,,, i ship them now 🤭

[nihilxes]

Hey, so since people feel the need to bring private things out into the public... It's my turn to do that too because I've had enough. Over these past couple of years alone I've dealt with a lot and I'm sick and tired of it. I don't want anyone to hurt me anymore.

So let's get things started--

The person that was behind the stopsmearingshadowtoons (now deleted) blog was none other than Jesta aka @jestamusingisback. How do I know this? Because not only did others call her out on it but it wasn't until Toons told them to delete, saying I'm living my life and so he is (me) that they listened and deleted the blog. Ideally, the blog shouldn't have ever been made because I didn't even do anything. All I did was simply unfollow Jesta from Tumblr and Twitter because she was being a bad friend by basically ignoring me despite my attempts to try to talk to her, especially when she was leaving concerning messages on my server, saying how she wanted to overdose on her medications so she could just sleep her problems away. This had nothing to do with Toons at all. Similarly, I unfollowed some other people as well but again, the reason for this had nothing to do with Toons. I unfollowed them for personal reasons and that's that.

This isn't the first time that just because I simply unfollowed Jesta she got upset about it. Before I had unfollowed her because she was failing to tag Toon's URL for me, which she said she would because she knew how uncomfortable I was seeing Toon's name pop up everywhere, and for good reason. When I unfollowed her, she proceeded to block me everywhere and started to send harassing messages not only to me but to some of my friends as well. She would temporarily unblock me just to send me a screenshot and then would block me again. Here are some of the things she sent me:

Not only was she stalking and harassing me but like I said, she was doing so to some of my friends too by misinterpreting what some of them were saying and thinking they were talking about her and Toons, which none of them were.

I sent this screenshot to Toons and told her to basically stop harassing me and my friends and making up lies that I was sending people to stalk and harass her when again, I never did. I would vent to my friends about what had happened between us but never told anyone to go and bother Toons. What they did with that information was entirely on them because I told them to just leave Toons alone so me stalking her wasn't even a thing. I had her blocked everywhere so how could I even stalk her? She was basically playing the victim and trying to gain sympathy but because of her lies, I got blocked by some other people, none of who I know but either way like I said they were spreading lies about me and yet somehow this is fair?

Eventually, me and Jesta talked things out on Xbox:

After that, things were fine and we didn't have any issues. As long as Toon's URL was tagged for me, I was fine and I hadn't thought about Toons in a long time until recent events. I unfollowed Jesta this time because, like I said, I felt she was being a bad friend to me. Admittedly I probably should have sat down with her and talked things out but she was barely talking to me during that time so I wasn't sure if I would be just wasting my time or annoying her.

Lastly, let's address some things in her recent Rules/About post. Not only does she have me on her DNI list but again, she's lying about everything. I never got mad at Toons or her for leaving the fandom because hello, I left too after all the bullying, stalking, and death-threats I was getting:

I don't even know what Jevil and Spinel ship you're talking about... so that one is just a baseless lie. I never got jealous whenever you would make new friends or form ships with them. The only thing I worried about was being too annoying with our ship or that you were getting bored of our ship, but I never got jealous.

Like I said, I've dealt with a lot in just these last few years alone and I just don't want to deal with these things anymore. I'm tired of all the lies and deceit. I'm tired of being paranoid about every single person I talk to because I just keep thinking they're going to hurt me in some shape or form. I'm always on high-alert because I don't know who to trust. I can't trust theirs words because it's things I've heard before by people that ended up hurting me in the end.

So... That's it. I've just had enough.

[sapphorror]

Now that you have read the ZimVoid arc, what are your toughts on Zib and Za2r (Zib❤Zim2[2im{twoim}])?

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!! alright, maybe I was definitely going to say this all anyway, but now I have a decent excuse to braindump it all at once instead of trying to write, I don't know, coherent analysis.

Yeah, I'm obsessed with this guy. I'm still only just starting to build a proper 3D model of him in my head, so don't take anything I rave about here too seriously, but my god is Zib something else. Also, really cute. No one told me he'd be cute and I wasn't at all equipped to deal with what I got. I was operating under the assumption he was going to be at least a LITTLE cool, but this is the most pathetic wet meow meow of a character I have ever seen, and that is no small statement.

(Also also, is it just me, or does the way Zib's drawn remind anyone else of rubber hose animation like, moreso than the comics artstyle generally does? I can't quite pin down what's making it feel that way, but I like it. Gives him Vibes™, y'know?)

Anyway. Fusions like Zib are always going to be fun, just for what they imply about their component characters and the game of trying to identify what characteristics come from where. And Zib is especially fun for this because Zim and Dib are such similar people to begin with. It honestly doesn't surprise me that the Zimfluence went initially unnoticed by our Dib, not just because he's more prone to cognitive bias than he likes to believe, but because there are so many overlapping traits between these two guys that Zib wasn't so much altered by the fusion as he was exacerbated. They blend seamlessly to the point it's really hard to pick out where one ends and the other begins, and in a different kind of story, Dib might actually be forced to reflect on what that implies about him and his motivations. As is, he's just going to keep fooling himself, though.

Probably the most obvious dichotomy between them, at least where it applies to Zib, is motive, and that definitely brings up some interesting questions. When he chooses to take over the Earth, is that the Zim side disguised by Dib-passing justifications, or does it say a whole lot more about Dib's actual loyalty to the Earth against his loyalty to opposing Zim than anyone would really like it to? How about the total lack of internal conflict when it comes to decimating the Armada and wrecking the Irken Empire? What does that say about Zim's ultimate loyalties?

Granted, I am at this point pretty certain Zib didn't just put on the PAK and call it a day, I think he took precautionary measures to ensure that the Dib half remained the 'dominant' personality, given that in 10 Minutes to Doom we see him completely subsumed by Zim's coding, so this isn't a perfect equal split. But it is still a split—Zib clearly did not have the foresight to account for everything, if he even wanted to—and the fact he prepared himself for this is itself interesting, because it means the decision was premeditated, not done on a whim during some momentary mental break. This might even be why he's half-Irken; instead of the PAK altering his biology, maybe Zib altered his biology so it could survive the long-term integration of the PAK. And isn't it just insane to imagine any version of Dib willingly body-horroring himself like that, stripping away his own humanity? When he accused our Dib of being just another ignorant human, could that maybe be a sign that he didn't want to have anything in common with those people anymore?

None of this is what really gets me about Zib, though. This is.

Admittedly, I'm sort of predisposed here, because I have this whole Thing about Dib's unfaltering belief he can somehow prove himself to humanity, despite all evidence to the contrary, being in essence identical to Zim's delusion that he's already adored by all... that's it's whole own post, tbh, but my point is Dib's ostracization wouldn't be solved by exposing Zim, and it's fun to see that explicitly confirmed.

But it's also more specific than that. Because what Zib was forced to realize here is that he destroyed the only person capable of actually caring about him. And that's why the Zimvoid is the Zimvoid, isn't it? Zib could've used those portals to escape anywhere or lure in anything, but instead he does this. Part of that's the obsessive need to succeed where he'd previously failed and decimate the Armada (+ repeatedly 'defeat' Zim because he's still too emotionally stunted to understand that's not actually what he needs), and I think all of that is important, but there's also something to be said about how deeply driven Dib is by the desire for external validation, and here he went and fused himself with the one person in the universe who might be even more love-hungry than he is. Zib's not afraid of being alone simply because he dislikes isolation—I mean, even within the Zimvoid, he still physically and ESPECIALLY emotionally isolates himself from the other Zims. Being the only person left in his reality means there's no one to admire his greatness, and given who he's a combination of, of course that's his worst nightmare. And ridiculous as it may be, he understands that Zim is the only person who's ever given him that kind of attention. So why not make a whole planet of them? Why not trick them into idolizing him? I mean, who else could even matter besides Zim?

Also? This one's sort of auxiliary to the last point, but there is something deeply, deeply sexy and thematically chewy in Dib wanting/needing Zim so badly that he quite literally became him, and that not being enough. I mean, what is the Zimvoid but a huge collector's display? And it's exactly this that makes him the architect of his own ultimate tragedy. I have a thing for characters who damn themselves not through any single choice, but by passing up a million little opportunities to save themselves, totally confident in their decisions right up til the moment it actually is too late. He could've used those portals to escape to another timeline. He could've designed the Zimvoid as anything other than a ticking timebomb of lies, conflict, and an ever inflating population of lunatics. He could've given up on his destructive plans and just enjoyed the huge fucked up harem he built for himself. He could've quit while he was ahead.

And the really funny thing is, even after the collapse of the Zimvoid, his total isolation is still a consequence of his own actions. I mean, the Zim from his own timeline literally cannot be taken away from him through any method short of murder. He's still right there. But by winning, by possessing his Zim to the point of consumption, Zib defeated the entire purpose of having Zim in the first place. They'll never be separated, and that's exactly the reason why he'll always be alone.

As for ZA2R... hm. I'm not sure if I have much to say about them just yet, but suffice to say I am Deeply Compelled. I'm always weak for that (false) god x worshipper dynamic. It's about someone as lonely and broken and closed off as Zib finding out the hard way that they're still capable of genuine love, no matter how bad they are at it, and there's something very special in every Zim's desire to be someone's favorite being so specifically exploited. I mean, the dynamic of highest subordinate is essentially identical to the one Zim likes to imagine he has with the Tallest, only actually real. Dishonest and exploitative, to be sure, but still real. And hey, important question, but what about #2's personal Dib and the fact Zib is always going to be implicitly competing against the person actually cosmically destined for his partner, because he fucked his own cosmic destiny up so badly? Or the inevitable spectacle of Dib's semi-latent yandere tendencies being brought to bear against himself?

Also! Shameless Homestuck chatter, but I take so much joy in pale ZADR dynamics (black diamond romance my beloved), and the fun thing about ZA2R is that their default pacifier/pacified dynamic swaps. In, uh, normal person terms, they've managed to contrive themselves a situation in which Zim is actually the comparatively sane/stable one, keyword comparatively, and being worked to death about it. There's nothing I love more than a justified role reversal, y'know?

THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT FOR NOW but like I've been thinking about these guys nonstop for 24 hours already, I WILL be losing my mind about them again. I don't know when, I don't know how, but it's gonna happen.

[strawberryfairi]

“I loved you then…back when I knew you”

Synopsis: 💎 When your old high school best friend, and admittedly, first love randomly shows up at your door one morning after a bit over ten years apart, your memories of him that you once locked away comes flooding back. Are you open to hearing him out after all this time? (In other words…will you take your man back or nah?)

♕Pairings: Kazutora X Black Fem Reader 🤎 (ANYONE CAN READ)🛑Content: 18+ Eventual smut, Some grief, Some angst ~Crossposted On: Wattpad ONLY ~Updating WEEKLY

w.c. 2.6k💠 Released March 28, 2024

NOTE🧚🏾‍♀️✨: This chapter is so rushed and short fr I'm def not proud of this one, BUT due to this fact I'm doing a double post of chapters 9 + 10❤︎ You're welcome teehee.

Previous | Next Chapter Chapters Masterlist

CHAPTER 9; BROKEN

It's been a while now after finding out a bit of Kazutora's past. You were way too nervous to really ask him anything about it as you really didn't want to upset him and ruin your already blurry friendship.

You figured if he wants to share anything about it he will, in his own time.

Today was another one of those school days that were unbearably boring. Though it was actually a bright, clear skied day, the morning was quiet, everyone tired and sluggish from a weekend full of cloudy skies, and rain.

It wasn't until lunchtime that things finally started to get more...exciting for you and your friends.

"Are you deadass?!" You gaped at your friend Hanako-chan, along with the other girls at the lunch table.

"Yup! He asked me out last Friday after school! It was so cute; I couldn't believe it!" Her cheeks were dusty pink as she recalled the memory of her crush asking her out.

"Wooooow! I'm so happy for you, Hanako-chan." You smiled softly at her.

"This is the same guy that came to hang for Halloween, right?" Yumi chimed in, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Yeah! His name's Sora Kobayashi." She swooned hard.

"Oooo! Hanako Kobayashi kinda eats, you know? It's got a lil ring to it." You smirked devilishly, her face turned deep red as the other girls giggled.

"It's giving future husband!" Asuka-chan chimed in, a bright smile on her face.

Suddenly, some commotion going on towards the entrance of the cafeteria caught all of your attention, heads turning nearly in sync with each other.

It was Kazutora, who hadn't been here earlier today, strolling in casually with those two other guys you'd seen with him once before. You already knew what was going on as his eyes locked with yours. A charming grin made its way on his face as he approached you.

"Speaking of husbands...." Yumi murmured with a devilish smile, looking your way for a moment.

"Hey", he nodded towards you, "hey girls." He then acknowledged your friends to which they all smirked.

"Heeeeyyyy." They sang, dragging it out obnoxiously long.

"Ohhh would you look at that, suddenly we all have somewhere to go, right girls?" Miyazaki-chan cut in, clearing her throat and raising a brow so all the girls would get what she's trying to do.

"O-oh yeah yeah! We're needed...elsewhere currently. See ya!" Asuka chuckled, making it so obvious they were leaving us alone on purpose. You sighed, discreetly rolling your eyes.

How y'all needed elsewhere during lunch...?

"Why'd you come to school so late? You dropped me off just to dip out then come back?" You questioned, your brows furrowed. He put on his signature cheeky smile, his eyes closed from how wide it was.

"Uh oh..." You deadpan, already knowing he was up to absolutely no good with that look. "What did you do?" You narrowed your eyes. He shook his head. "What are you doing?" You said next, your expression still the same as the intrigue started to rise more. He shook his head again. "What are you about to do?" This time your brow raised as there wasn't any other variation left that you could think of.

"There it is! I'm bustin' you outta here!" He says excitedly.

"You what?" A playful scoff escaping you as a small amused grin made its way on your lips. Kazutora grabbed your hand with both of his, pulling a bit so you'd stand out of your seat.

"Uh uh! I can't leave!" You pulled against him, trying to keep yourself planted.

"Yeah you can! I do it all the time." He shrugged like it was the most simplest thing ever.

"Yeah but you're not supposed to! And I'm not you!" You frown.

"C'mon goody two shoes, I'm kinda on a time crunch right now."

"No, I can't skip school! Bruh!" You spout rapidly, feeling a mixture of nervous excitement. It was kind of true that you were a 'goody' type of student. Never skipping school, always on time for class, and getting your homework done to the best of your ability was always your thing. Compared to Kazutora you probably were an angelic, perfect example student.

The idea of skipping has never even crossed your mind before, seeing as you figured teachers would worry and highly likely call your mom, which would then petrify her and have an entire S.W.A.T team level search party coming for you. It just wasn't worth it to skip. Besides, where would you be skipping to? For what?

"It's fine! You can miss half'a day." He chuckled, finally pulling you along towards the caf entrance.

"No, I'm serious! This isn't a good idea! I'm gonna get in- You cut yourself off with a gasp, feeling slightly disoriented as Kazutora abruptly pulled you towards him and casually flung you over his shoulder.

"Hey! If you don't put me down!" You blurted out frantically in English, making him laugh. "You're embarrassing me in front of all these-oh my gosh...." You facepalmed in defeat, watching as everyone laughed and took in the scene unfolding in amusement.

"It'll be fun, trust me!" He assured playfully, still keeping you perched up on his shoulder as he and his friends walked out of the school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kazutora had taken you all over the place today. First it was some street race that he took you to watch together. It was all kinds of older guys and even some your age, dressed in streetwear, smoking and driving really cool looking cars.

You were glad he'd taken you to your place first to change out of your uniform, it would've looked so awkward since everyone else was dressed so amazing.

You were wearing a cute black skater style skirt with a slit by the right thigh, sheer nude stockings and a white cropped top. Over the fit you had on a hot pink cardigan with your first initial stitched in the back, and white two and a half inch knee high, heeled boots. It was fully into November by this point, so the cardigan was much needed. It wasn't necessarily blending with the streetwear vibe, but you were still cute nonetheless.

Afterwards he'd taken you out to get food at this ramen place! It was here that you started to wonder if this was his way of taking you out on a date without actually saying it. He was all smiles the entire time, talking up a storm with you, and insisted on paying for everything.

Then you both just wandered around the shopping district, trying on all kinds of things and even clothes and accessories you didn't even like. He'd even gone out of his way to buy you something you liked a lot. These gold, medium sized hoop earrings with little faux diamonds embedded into them. To say you were overjoyed and flattered would be an understatement. Immediately the jewelry became your absolute most cherished item in your accessories drawer.

And now, hours and hours later, the two of you were off somewhere deep in the city, strolling into some random skyscraper.

"K, what are we doing?!" You chuckle, going along with things as he leads you to a basic looking metal door in the main entrance of the building. The door revealed flights on flights of squared stairs, an elevator on the right upon coming inside.

"You'll see." He replies vaguely, a cute yet mischievous looking grin on his face. The two of you went all the way to the top floor, heading to the door that leads to outside.

Instantly you were met with an astonishing view, other buildings, street lights, and the night sky all greeting the both you. It was almost a fully clear sky up above, thousands and thousands of stars along with the half moon shined so brightly. "This is beauuuutiful! We're so high up!" You beam, smiling as the wind slightly brushes past you, making your skirt and cardigan sway.

"I know. I come up here all the time." He says softly, walking ahead of you.

"Come on!" He urges, giving you a nod. Snapping out of your daze you catch up to him, the two of you walking near the edge of the building.

"Wait...don't go too far, K." You warn, feeling your heart drop slightly as he kept going. The two of you weren't so close where you could fall, but it was enough to make you just a bit nervous.

"It's fine, don't worry." He assures. "I brought you here 'cause this spot is really special to me." He says softly with a particularly warm smile.

Your heart fluttered wildly in your chest at his words, a small smile dancing its way across your lips. "I'm glad you took me here. I really like it."

"Y'know, I'm really happy I met you. I want you to know that." He continues, brushing his hand behind his neck nervously.

"Aaaw, I'm glad I met you too, K! You're my best friend." You admit softly, feeling your cheeks heat up as that's the first time you'd ever told him you felt that way.

"Actually, I brought you here 'cause...I gotta-..I gotta tell you something." He adds hesitantly, looking to the side a bit as his expression turns a bit pained.

This time your heart practically attempts to leap out of your chest. You purse your lips together to try and conceal the fully wide, glowy smile, clasping your hands together. Your little paper bag with your new earrings sat between your fingers. You might be joining Hanako-chan in the no longer single committee real soon!

"Yeah?" You murmur softly, biting your tongue.

Was he actually gonna go and confess his feelings?! Maybe that's why he came and took you out of school. He set up this whole thing just so you guys could end here, and he could ask you to be his girlfriend!

"Um..I don't really know how to say this..." He trails off, still not making any kind of eye contact with you.

"No, it's ok!" You assure sweetly, taking a step closer to him. By now your brows start to furrow a bit, slowly becoming concerned as his expression turns almost stony, and his eyes look hollow.

Maybe this wasn't what you thought it was...

"W-what's wrong?!" You press, placing a hand on his arm.

"I-...I may not..see you again." He finally mutters weakly, his eyes looking up at yours finally.

You blink, shaking your head a bit. Immediately your hand drops from his arm, looking at him as though he just went and slapped you across your face.

"What? What do you mean?" You question, your tone a bit sharper than you intended.

"I'm not gonna see you again. Not for a long time probably-

"What are you talkin' about? What does that even mean?!" You rant, feeling your heart start to crack. He lets out an exasperated, conflicted sigh, burying his hands in his pockets.

"I can't really tell you why, but after tomorrow...I just won't be able to see you again." He explains again, not bothering to expand any further.

"You can't tell me?! You brought me here just to say this?! To just drop me?!" Your chest rises and falls visibly as your breathing becomes heavier, an overwhelming amount of emotions starting to wash over you. Anger, confusion, worry, betrayal, even denial.

"I'm sorry." He replied barely above a whisper. You scoff at his weak response.

"You're sorry?! Sorry for what exactly, 'cause you don't seem all that sorry. What did I even do-

"No no, you didn't do anything! It's not even about you, I just have-

"So if I didn't do anything why are you doing this?! You took me out of school, spent all day playing nice, and brought me here just to tell me you're never gonna see me again, and you can't even at least explain to me why?!" You argued with a shaky voice. By now you'd already started crying, the tears streaming down your face like waterfalls.

"I promise I'd tell you if I could, but I can't." Kazutora says regretfully, a pained look on his face as he tries to reach for your hand.

"You can't or you won't?" You question sharply, snatching your hand away as you take a step back.

He goes silent, looking down and to the side, not even at least trying to answer you.

"Wow. So that's it, you just...say nothing." You scoff, shaking your head, looking over at him as if he were the worst person you knew. "I'm sorry..." He mutters monotonously. "I can't believe you." You grumble bitterly. What you really meant was 'I can't believe I actually fell for you'.

"Well I'm glad then, that you won't see me again, 'cause I don't wanna see you." You scowl, giving him one last look before storming off back inside the building, heart breaking even further when he doesn't bother to try and stop you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You'd went home and just cried and cried and cried all night until you fell asleep. It was so bad your mom could hear your sobs, bursting into your room to figure out what the matter was. You'd managed to tell her the whole story, crying into her chest as she tried to console you as best as she could.

The next day was the worst, the realization that what had happened last night wasn't a dream but very much reality made your heart break all over again. You were in so much pain, everything ached, and your head was pounding.

You didn't eat, you didn't turn on any lights in your room, you barely even spoke.

The girls had been blowing up your chat since yesterday, wanting to hear the 'tea' about how things went with you and Kazutora when the two of you ditched school together. You'd went and turned the group chat and individual chats with them on do not disturb. Honestly you were just embarrassed, feeling so stupid about the way you felt about him since it all blew up in your face. It's the way you really swore he was gonna confess to you, tell you he loves you and the two of you would just...who knows?

None of that even matters at this point? He doesn't want you around so any fantasies you once had before were all turned into pitiful ash in a matter of seconds. Your mom had told you last night that she believes he still cares about you and likes you, but he just went and chose to push you away 'cause he's not ready.

You hated him, hated everything about him, especially the things you used to love the most. Even more so you hated the memories, the memories that would flash through your mind, plaguing and haunting you relentlessly every second of every day.

Each day after felt worse and worse, unlike what your mom had assured you of. Every day that you two didn't speak chipped off pieces of your heart. Everything reminded you of him, the stuffed bunny he got you, your own bed that he'd laid in with you multiple times, when you walk outside and he's not there waiting for you to walk to school together.

School was the absolute worst. You'd gone from Hanemiya-san's princess to Hanemiya-san's ex. Rumors spread all over like wildfire, and of course with Kazutora no longer coming to school people felt completely free to voice their opinions loud and proud. Of course your friends would come to your defense, but now all of you were outnumbered, so it didn't do much to stop anyone from talking their shit.

Finally, weeks turned into months, which turned into years.

It took two years for you to finally free yourself from the depression of being left by Kazutora, college being the exciting new beginning for you.

You'd decided to go home, back to America to really clean off your slate. You met new people, made new friends, though you kept in touch with all of your friends from Japan. It was rough though, talking to your friends in Japan, they'd always remind you of what you left behind....

[justastrugglinghotchocolate]

Since TLG will come to an end soon, I think it's time to introduce ya'll to the protagonists of the next brainrot piece of mine.

From left to right, you got Victor Frankenstein, Lucy Westenra, and finally Henry Jekyll Jr. (or Henry^3). They are the main trio of the modern reimagining mashup I've been working on and their stories will be followed throughout the entire series.

Unlike The Losing Game, this property will probably not be written out as a fic. Instead I'd rather do comics of them. I'm a full believer in never starting with a dream project though, so while you'll get a lot of sketches, small comics, and even animations of these guys, you won't see anything official until way later.

I'll have more info later on, after I get back into posting (which admittedly has become quite nerve-wracking for me as I spend more time away), but please enjoy!

Also, to make things easier for myself, Henry^3, though he's a very different character, will just be tagged as Henry Clerval. He shares the most similarity with Clerval, so I think this works lol.

bare outlines (i'm trying to get better at these) under the cut

[strandnreyes]

jen, i've been trying to think of something super unhinged for nice ask week and i haven't been able to think of anything. so here's my shit excuse for nice ask week and sorry that you might have to look some of these up. please rank these fictional vampires in order from least want to befriend to most want to befriend AND ALSO from not-est to hottest (others opinions are welcome - this is MY ask, MY rules - just kidding pls post this jen, i worked so hard on it):

1. count dracula, dracula (specifically, the 1992 adaptation of the novel in which gary oldman - admittedly, my older gentleman crush - plays dracula)

2. stefan salvatore, the vampire diaries

3. damon salvatore, the vampire diaries (had to ask for both brothers, come on)

4. laurent, twilight (u know i think he is a lil something something)

5. daddy cullen i mean carlisle cullen, twilight

6. dakota fanning looking extremely slay, twilight

7. spike, buffy the vampire slayer

8. count von count, seasame street

9. eric northman, true blood

10. bella swan, vampiric edition, twilight

11. blade, blade

12. me.

THANK YOU FOR COMING

hello, lola. first let me start by saying here is a different vampire ranking without a definition of best, just vibes (you create one vampire au and suddenly this is your whole life). I am not rereading it though, so no promises that I'm not about to contradict myself

I appreciate how hard you worked on asking this, so I hope you appreciate how hard I worked on answering it

Least want to befriend to most want to befriend:

damon - he seems like a walking red flag, he really does

2. dakota fanning - I respect a girlboss but I do think she would kill me after one wrong move. would constantly have a tummy ache, stressed to the max.

3. spike - I have never seen buffy, but google tells me he was a villain. have to play it safe here

4. bella - I'm so sorry bella but I think you would annoy me

5. blade - I really tried looking him up to give an honest friend ranking, but there were so many version?? is it a comic? a movie? a tv show? idk I got confused therefore he defaults to the middle of the list

6. laurent - one of the nicer members of his little posse (unlike that bitch james). might try to kill me but a good sob story would probably get me out of it

7. count dracula - i just read his backstory. that's so tragic, I think he could use a friend

8. carlisle - turning a bunch of teenagers into vampires when they were on their death bed is a little odd, but he had good intentions. and now look at the house he provides for them like I'll move in no questions asked

9. stefan - admittedly have only seen a few seasons of tvd, but he seems to have some kind of morals so that's always a good place to start for a friendship

10. eric - "calculating yet loyal and generally willing to absolve those that aggravate him, unless they have grievously crossed him. However, he is fiercely vindictive towards anyone who harms or threatens those he loves". thank you, trueblood.fandom.com. If I'm befriending all of these vampires, making him a top priority seems like a good choice

11. count von count - he has a cat. I'm using him and abusing our friendship for that. sorry count

12. lola - who shouldn't (?) be on this list (unless you have a secret to tell)

okay hotness below the cut because this is already too long

Least hot to most hot

1. dakota fanning (jane) - default to last because she is a child lmao

2. count von count - he is a cartoon (puppet? I don't know). I feel like there is only one right answer here and it is to put him in the second least hot position (unless that's your thing. you do you)

3. damon - this man creeps me out. I don't know if it's the eyes or what but again, bad vibes. stay away from her (elena), old man!

4. count dracula - willy wonka looking vampire. sorry to your older gentleman crush. you can keep him

5. eric northman - I do not know this man but he is giving 'just some guy' with a little bit of finance bro

6. bella - one too many awkward smiles while tucks her hair behind her ear moments, you know?

7. spike - cheek bones are cheek boning. some may say too much though. hair is giving 90s boy band. although for his time I can excuse it

8. carlisle cullen - not the biggest dilf in twilight, but an important one

9. laurent - unfortunate that you didn't pick the picture where he rolls up with his jacket undone and no shirt underneath. what an entrance. he also gets hotness points because laurent is a very good vampire name

10. stefan salvatore - the objectively better brother based on my limited knowledge. good picture. love a henley moment. look at those forearms.

11. blade - I don't know this man, but I would like to.

*you can't be ranked on the hotness scale because you did not provide a picture. sorry ;)

[jayorsaiic]

This was originally posted on my ao3 account! It was made back in 2022 so I'm not THAT eager about it but it's still a work that doesn't make me want to rip every organ out whenever I reread it.

Link to full on ao3!:

Preview ahead :)!

As the traveler finally finished doing his daily commissions within the nation of Liyue, he had a thought.

"Paimon, how about we visit some old friends before we set off to Sumeru in a few days?"

This gained a pleased and excited reaction from the other, kicking her feet in mid air with a squeal.

"Ooo yes! Paimon would love to eat another tasty dish of Xiangling's!" She pauses, realizing that's the only reason she got excited in the first place as she gives a guilty look to the traveler. "Uhmm, but it would also be nice to see Xiangling without the tasty dishes included! Eheh…definitely!"

The traveler couldn't do anything but laugh at her, shaking his head in the process as he acts disappointed. "Sure Paimon, but I won't believe you until you say you're the best travel companion in all of Teyvat!"

Furrowing her eyebrows, she starts waving her finger in the traveler's face as she gives one of her usual Paimon lectures. "Heyyy!! You can't force me to compliment you and steal my line! Be fair at least!!"

Aether admittedly laughs even more by how serious she was.

"Alright alright, we'll see if Xiangling is in town. After that I get to choose the next person, deal?" As much as the other wants to say nothing out of spite, she agrees nonetheless.

"Fine…deal. Now lets hurry before we miss Xiangling!"

"H-hey! Wait!!" Flying in a random direction, he quickly runs to catch up with Paimon.

_ _ _

It was close to noon as the two were approaching Wangshu Inn. Before now, they managed to catch up with a good amount of people.

Yunjin had another opera to practice for, Chongyun and XingQiu were hanging out, Ningguang was doing her usual duties, Xiangling made the two of them a "parting dish", and Xinyan had a moment to spare to treat them to a new song of hers.

"Paimon is starvingggg, do you think Smiley Yanxiao could fix up something quick for us?"

"Paimon, you ate not too long ago, how are you already starvingggg again?"

"Pleeeeease traveler?? It's not right to let others go hungry!! Oh how the world is so cruel…"

Sighing, he complies.

"Fine, but this is your last meal for today."

"Yayyy! Thank you!! You're the best travel companion in all of Teyvat!!"

"Don't try to butter me up now!"

Eventually, the two get their meals and sit down by the tables next to the bridge. There were only a few people out by that time so there wasn't much commotion.

The two travel buddies chatted for a little until the other thought for a moment as he proceeds to stand up.

"Hey Paimon, I'm going to see if Xiao is here. Is that okay with you?" She perked up, acting as if she remembered they came here for Xiao in the first place due to their small detour distracting her. "Oh oh! let me go with you! I want to talk to Xiao too!" He chuckled.

"No, it's alright. How aboooout, you watch over the food to make sure no one else gets into it?" He recommended, snapping once he got to his conclusion. The little one simultaneously whines and pouts, acting like a small puppy who's getting left by their owner. "This just sounds like you're trying to keep me away from whatever else you're trying to do! Are you trying to trick Paimon?"

"No no no!" He sighs. "I just wanted to talk to Xiao alone is all. It would be a pretty boring conversation for you to be there for, so I'm technically saving you time and energy." She rolls her eyes but complys nonetheless. "Fine fineee, but if he's there let him know Paimon said hi!"

"Will do!"

With that, he set off for Xiao's usual spot, and to his surprise, he actually was there. The Yaksha was scanning the area for any signs of danger to the civilians of Liyue per usual.

As the traveler approached the other, he perked up and turned his head slightly once he heard footsteps.

"Oh, it's you."

[eartheats]

status: part 1 of 3

[a video seems to be posted. care to click?]

[the video starts a bit unintentionally; one can hear somebody fumbling around what appears to be a backpack before there's a sudden, bright light of the backpack being opened, before the rotomphone is unceremoniously dumped out with what appears to be quite a few things. some pencils, notebooks, pokemon treats, and lots of other stuff; it all gets cleared as ren seems to be setting up their room in the blueberry academy. they're full of giggles and bright laughter, and one can see madison (out of nurse uniform for once) in the background as they both help get the room set up]

🔆: Hey, Mads! Should I start puttin' these books up on this shelf we got here, or do you think they'd be better off in the bookshelf?

[madison looks over for a moment, contemplating before pointing to something off in the background]

👩‍⚕️: I'd probably say the bookshelf. Unless you think there's going to be a lot of books you'll need?

🔆: Well, ya never know. I've been gettin' by at Uva through Completely Legal Downloads [ren airquotes this, to the amusement of themself and madison, who chuckles] of the books I need. But I like this place so far! If they ain't super expensive I'll probs buy 'em to support the place, y'know?

👩‍⚕️: Sounds like someone's developing a bias.

[that gets ren to laugh a bit as they start putting some of their notebooks on the bookshelf]

🔆: Can ya blame me? I mean, I like Uva as it is now--Mr. Clavell definitely hasn't been lyin' when he said he's trying to improve the school. But...there's somethin' about an experience that doesn't have any shitty memories attached that's appealin', you know?

[madison seems to pause at that, as she gets to work on organizing some of the other stuff ren brought with them--clothes new and old, for starters.]

👩‍⚕️: I guess I can't. Not entirely, at least. You do seem infinitely happier than I've seen you in a bit, though.

🔆: Eh, ya think so?

👩‍⚕️: ...Maybe not as much as when you got to go and see your friends in Unova, but it's still pretty noticeable. [madison laughs a bit, getting all of ren's clothes on hangers] I'm glad that hasn't been taken from you. I was worried after...you know...

[madison gestures at the air a bit, and ren doesn't respond for a bit. their face goes...notably more blank, than anything, and they just keep putting notebooks away for a bit until they're done; madison's done hanging their clothes by the time they are.]

🔆: I'm not gonna let her take anymore happiness from me. [ren's tone is surprisingly determined] I've...I've worked so damn hard to find an arcdamned bright side in life, and my own happiness. Somethin' I can be proud of, and share with everyone I know. And fuck, I actually wanna get to know people! I wanna learn all about this school, and more about battle that I'd have never gotten the chance to. Me an' Lulu especially love it, and Bouton and Soba have been showin' a lotta promise too. I just don't want it all to be for nothin', y'know? And that's why I ain't gonna let her take it. I'm--

[there's a pause, and eagle eyed watchers might have noticed madison moving in the background beforehand--what stops ren's words is a soft hug from madison. one she has to lean down for, admittedly, because she does have a foot or so on ren's tiny ass, but it causes them to start for a moment.

it isn't long before they lean in and wrap their arms around madison in kind; mads' hand goes up to run through their hair]

👩‍⚕️: ...Good. I was hoping you'd say that, kid. [madison sounds genuinely proud of them, and though it's barely able to be seen, her expression is warm] You deserve all of the good things in life. And I want you to be able to experience them, too. Without worrying about the future, or what's to come, or anything like that. You go out there and enjoy every bit of what the Academy has to offer, alright?

[madison lets go of ren--or at least tries to. they cling tighter for a moment, startling madison before bringing themself up and wiping their eyes.

they were clearly crying, but the smile on their face is extremely bright]

🔆: I'm...I'm gonna, Mads! You better watch--by the time I'm done learnin' all I can here, Paldea's gonna have to crown a new Champion! Maybe even a new Top Champion, heehee!

[that gets madison to laugh]

👩‍⚕️: Well, look at you starting to dream big! You're gonna have a lot of responsibilities if you take the Top Champion position, though. Are you really prepared for that?

🔆: Nope! Not yet at least! But I'm gonna learn, and I'm gonna become the best damned trainer! Just watch me, Mads!

[madison laughs again, ruffling ren's hair a bit before separating; this time, ren obliges]

👩‍⚕️: Alright, kid! You get out there and enjoy all this Academy has to offer! But you better promise to keep us all updated, you hear me?

🔆: Heehee, crystal, Mads! Ahh, I should probs get going--there's probs some kinda orientation, right? But I still have...

[madison starts to gently shoo ren out the door, smiling a bit]

👩‍⚕️: Don't you worry about unpacking everything else; you leave that to me, kiddo. You get out there and start your school life!

🔆: Heehee, I will! Thank you bunches, Mads, I'll pay you back for the help!

[ren darts off after a wave goodbye, prompting a bit of laughing from madison]

👩‍⚕️: You try, and I'll repay it tenfold, kid. Focus on class!

[it goes quiet for a bit as madison seems to go back to getting everything organized for them. it last for a few minutes, and the recording almost shuts itself down, but...

madison's phone rings, and she picks it up without missing a beat.]

👩‍⚕️: Hello? ...I'm not sure if you have--oh! Oh. Hello, Detective. Yes, you've reached the right number, this is my burner phone. --Yes, this is Madison. Can I help you with something...?

[...]

👩‍⚕️: Discussing the case and gathering information, huh...well, I'm at about the safest place both of us can be, so sure. I'll bite. What do you want to know?

[to be continued]

[for-dramas-sake]

The Starry Love ep 25, 26 thoughts

YOUQIN IS BACK. I don't need to say anything else...JUST KIDDING.

Fair warning though: Most of this LONG post is fawning over Youqin. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The beginning of ep 25 made me so tense. Girl, just tell them before things escalate--too late.

Gotta hand it to Qingheng. He knows how to end things with a bang! (evil smile) I love this.

MY EMOTIONS! This is the beginning of the end of the soul shard arc and I'm conflicted. I love these 3 and my heart breaks when they learn the truth. But then Youqin is going to come back. Let's get through these tears, guys! (reaches for a tissue)

Chaofeng and Qingkui really should just run away and start a family away from the Void realm. They could have the happy ending they freaking need. I can see that happening! Let's make it reality. P.s. Bring Haichou

Every time that guy with a moustache shows up: Aren't you supposed to be dead? Was that explained earlier?

The two baby-faced Immortals show up and this their backup? No. The true backup is the soul shards! 3 men protecting their woman? That's romantic.

Once again Youqin is doing a selfless sacrifice: his soul shards give up themselves for her. This getting to be a very bad habit!

Youqin is coming back!!!!!!! My Immortal Turtle! He's got the same deadpan expression and he's still powerful. Phew!

Dingyun just died? I didn't expect that moment of sacrifice from someone like him.

I am legit, no lie, crying. Those 3 saying goodbye breaks my heart. Excuse me a moment while I sob in the corner.

Yay…Youqin has no emotions! The Immortal Realm will be rejoicing tonight. Bring out the wine.

Between you and me, the turtle DEFINITELY has his emotions and he's in love with her. Those eyes don't lie. And Yetan is in love with him no doubt.

I never liked the Immortal Emperor. It was his constant constipation face that irked me and that fact that he's willing to throw his son to the Guixu because "he's earned it".

I knew he remembered everything, and he knows Yetan's true identity. I'm just an emotional mess right now!

Admittedly I put off any attachment to Chaofeng and Qingkui because Youqin was coming back, but now that he is back, I can say: the Void couple are super cute. I wish them happiness no matter short it is.

Short complaint: Heavenly/Immortal clothes are boring as hell. It's just pastels and various shades of white. They do this all the time with fantasy dramas. (shakes head) Come on, let's do something different. But this clothes-changing-scene is adorable. Poor dragonfly guy, he can never win.

(gasps) The hugs! My heart is rollercoaster: first, the tears now the heart palpitations from the adorableness radiating off the Immortal couple! And he's Immortal Turtle, but out his shell. (I will keep this analogy up for as long as I darn well, please. And yes, I wish I could have thought of turtle references for Foxy and Greed, but I couldn't.)

It's going to be impossible for our lovebirds to keep their dates a secret. Youqin is doing a terrible job at keeping his emotions in check, now that he has them. And Yetan has literally never been doted on, so you know she loves this.

I totally see the 3 shards in the new Youqin. He's a mixture of all 3 and still has some traces of the old turtle. Again, Chen Xingxu does a phenomenal job playing so many different characters.

The Void Queen is going after Chaofeng and the Void gang. Haichou is trying to do the right thing by keeping all news from his friend, but Chaofeng is still the little schemer. I bet he'll sneak out and draw the army away from Qingkui or something like that.

Here are the links to my thoughts on previous episodes:

23, 24 / 21, 22 / 19, 20 / 17,18 / 15,16 / 13,14 / 11, 12 / 9, 10 / 7, 8 / 5, 6 / 3, 4 / 1, 2

[bellaxgiornata]

13, 18, 20! You don’t have to answer all three at once though ❤️

Ahh thank you for the asks!! 💕 I appreciate the distraction! It's at least still got me thinking about fics! Though I might answer 18 in another post since I saw it asked by someone else! And also, these are long-winded replies. Which is why my answers are below the cut because this one got long real fast 😅 Wouldn't be me if I didn't over-explain though!

13. What are some must-read fanfics in your fandoms? Why do you admire these, and how have they impacted your works?

So there are a TON of fics that I would highly recommend from so many incredible authors in the Daredevil fandom that it would take me a bit to assemble a list right now. I honestly need to make a new Matt Murdock fic rec list and sit my ass down and catch up on reading for it. I know there's a ton of newer Matt Murdock fic authors and I'm dying to read y'all's stuff, too. Like I have a massive TBR list. Obviously anything y'all see me reblog I always highly recommend, though sadly I haven't read many fics this whole year because I kid you not, I'm almost always writing and editing in my free time. Which is how I constantly have so much to update every week.

Most of the fics I've read are over on AO3 as well, but the main Daredevil story that comes to mind when I think of one having an impact on my writing is The Red Thread by @pastafossa. I know, I know. It's like classic Daredevil literature at this point and everyone in the fandom has most likely read it or heard of it, but in all honesty, without that fic I'd never have started writing for Matt at all (and sadly I actually am SUPER behind on it because, as I've said, I haven't read much this year 😅). I remember first stumbling on it last fall and being like HOLY SHIT THAT WORD COUNT! And then being SO CONFUSED why it was written in second person as I read it, but everything was so goddamn good--the plot, the characters, the relationships--that honestly I stopped noticing the POV. It took me MONTHS later to discover that was what a Reader insert fic was (because it truly is such a beautiful blend of OC/Reader that I could only ever hope to aspire to). That was the first Reader fic I read and I didn't realize it until I stumbled further into the Matt/Reader section way later on AO3. But honestly, once I caught up on that fic, I was desperate for more Matt Murdock content and was just like, what the hell, I'll try my hand at writing a Daredevil story, too. Thus Life Worth Living came about and every Matt series I've written after that. So TRT honestly had a massive impact on me ever stepping foot into this fandom, especially with the way Pasta writes Matt (and smut, if we're being honest cause 🔥).

20. What’s your favorite work you’ve ever written?

Y'all are probably expecting me to say FFTD or ATY but it's actually Life Worth Living. Admittedly I cringe a bit at the writing in the beginning chapters compared to what I write now because I started it last November, though it has progressively matured a little more as I continued on writing it (and I stopped overusing ellipses which I am desperately trying to edit through as I re-post that fic over on tumblr). But that was the first fic I'd written where I really had come up with so much of my own plot and such a fleshed out OC. It was the first fic I really got excited about writing, and it was the first fic that really drew me back into writing fanfiction after a couple of years away from it. It's also the fic that helped me fall in love with Matt even more as I explored his character when I first started writing him, and it is the first fic where I'd ever written smut. I also spent so much time crafting so many plot twists along with so many little bread crumb clues of things that were coming down the line in that story. Like, I spent a lot of time and put a lot of love into that series--more than I had for anything else before. Though sadly when I re-entered fanfic after a few years away, I learned that OCs are not as popular as they once were, so that fic has been set aside for a bit while I've been working on all these Reader insert fics. Though someday I'd like to come back to it. I've had the next two chapters sitting as rough drafts since April now...

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend and while KR may try and very well might suck the joy out of the rest of this season I refuse to let her take away the joy of this last episode, so its song time!! And in honor of the lovely, poignant Chim and Ravi storyline this episode, I think we should talk about The Projectionist. Admittedly I honed in on this one because Chim's "hand it off" to Ravi gave me strong "we're leaving our shadows behind us now" vibes, but the closure they both got definitely felt summed up nicely by "makes us brave again". There start of this one made me think of Chimney Begins, and the "truth is heavier than fiction" struck hard for him and Ravi's story (which for some reason happened entirely off screen and was never mentioned 😠😠😠), so hope you enjoy this one too!!

Also no regrets on you roping me into 911!! Its been frustrating lately but its also has been gratifying seeing what a well thought out drama can be, especially in a wee woo show which normally wouldn't be on my radar. And like you said, we survived RNM and while I may have a lot to bitch about in these last 2 seasons, it hasn't reached that level of terrible with the incredible speed RNM managed it to. Actually now that I think of it all (Eddie getting sidelined reminding me of Alex, Buck's reconned growth being like Michael, BT drug on even though it was painful to watch exactly like you know what, the constant praise of L and inserting her where she isn't needed....) bestie I think I know where KR gets her "ideas" from (hopefully I didn't just totally corrupt our song post)!!

Oh I'm glad you've got a song for me because I am very busy trying to be "I do not see, I do not perceive" about this new woman but naturally no one ever tags for anything so the constant stream of "oh god, they're soooo cute together! She's soooo pretty! I don't mind if we don't get Buddie if he's with her!" (while knowing zero things about what kind of person she is beyond her looks. How very progressive and feminist of you 🙄)

ANYWAY, I started on a fic, wrote some smut for the first time ever, and I'm getting ready to go chill and work on puzzles and paint my nails. Agreed that this show still is able to deliver sometimes which is more than we ever got with RNM after that last episode of season 1 tanked things and never recovered, so at least there's that!

So in the spirit of focusing on the good stuff, lets talk about Ravi and Chim!

When I was young, I fell in love with story With the eleventh hour, with the blaze of glory The theatre lights dim and all goes quiet In the darkest of rooms, light shines the brightest

This is such a good song because it's all about the love of movies and storytelling which is SO good for Chim since we know he's a movie buff! I'm also thinking of little baby Ravi being so sick who probably spent a lot of time in hospital beds, watching movies and imagining being somewhere else. BRB gotta go cry about that for a minute. Also, the idea of falling in love with the last minute save and them both having jobs that are intense and they have seconds to save people, and how this show has a foundation of hope and that light shining through even when things look dark and hopeless.

When hands are tied and clocks are ticking An audience convinced: we're leaning in Holding our breath again Just when we thought the game was over The music lifts and our dying soldier lives And we breathe a sigh of relief we’re leaving, we’re leaving our shadows behind us now. we’re leaving, we’re leaving it all behind for now.

This ties into the hope of the show too, of us the audience holding our breaths through these rescues and breathing a sigh of relief with the character when they pull off a save. But I'm also thinking about holding my breath through Ravi's story and how he thought he was pulling off this heroic save, but not only did he lose a child, he save the man that was trying to kill his kids. He didn't get to have that sigh of relief and he's still be holding his breath this whole time until Chim lets him know it's okay to breathe again.

I love that talk with Chim and Ravi and you're right it fits so perfectly with that last line, and learning to leave those shadows behind so they can work on saving the next one.

but even dust was made to settle and if we’re made of dust, then what makes us any different? i guess we give what we’ve been given: a family tree so very good at giving up when we’ve had enough. though truth is heavier than fiction, gravity lifts as the projectionist rolls tape. and it makes us brave again and it makes us brave again and it makes us brave.

I love that line “even dust was made to settle/and if we’re made of dust, then what makes us any different?” like, nature is pulling everything to settle and you need to accept it and let the shadow go and settle in the with dust where you belong. AND THEN!! You have that brilliant line “I guess we give what we’ve been given: a family tree so very good at giving up when we’ve had enough” like !!! That’s Chim!! He has this family that just gave up on trying to deal with him, and he finally, to protect himself, gave up on trying to reach out to them. And even now, we see that he’s trying to let the hurt go, but he’s not expending any more energy on that relationship. But compare that with Chim and his firefam and his job! He NEVER gives up! He pushes back against a bad captain to make sure Hen has a place, he pushes Hen and Karen because he knows how good they are for each other, he pushes Buck and Bobby, he goes after Maddie because he knows that she needs some space but she also needs to know that he is right there waiting for her when she’s ready.

Then of course you have that whole “truth is heaver than fiction” bit which strikes me as Chim having to pull back from the “movie” aspect of the job (something that inspired Buck to join as well and a lesson he also had to learn) because it’s not always easy to brush off when the perfect movie save doesn’t happen and a patient it lost. It’s not always easy when the one you save is the one that was hurting the one who didn’t make it. But facing that truth, letting it be heavy, letting it carry weight and learning to not let the weight drag you down, is what it means to be brave and do the job.

so we’re leaving, we’re leaving our shadows behind us now. we’re leaving, we’re leaving it all behind for now. and it makes us brave again and it makes us brave. we’re leaving, we’re leaving ‘em all behind for now.

I love this song, I just listened to it the other day and it was such a good one for this week! Chim and Ravi’s conversations really felt like them making the choice to be brave and leave those shadows behind and I love love loved seeing Ravi welcomed back to the firefam with open arms. This episode was a real highlight this season for me, so I’m so happy we got to talk about a song for this one. All the love for Chim and Ravi!

[yummychalt]

Who am I?

Greetings lovelies! My name is Chalt

I've been a writer for almost my whole life, although admittedly it did start on a roblox wolf roleplay game where I pretended to be emo and mysterious for several hours a day. Now I write fanfiction!

I prefer She/Her and They/Them as that's what I'm used to responding it, I can go by anything! And name wise, just call me Chalt, I know the internet uses the "use the first word in their username as their name" rule, but for my sanity do not call me Yummy

I'm a very mediocre editor, started learning the basics this year. While I use a variety of apps, Capcut is currently my main, as learning Davinci is very... complicated ; - ;

I'm an artistic swimmer, have been for about 10 years! I'd say I'm fairly accomplished in the sport, but I'm certainly not someone who would be recognized by name outside of my region. Just know, I tried very hard to swim to Trigun, but my mom is a hater and pushed me away from the idea.

Some other things I enjoy besides writing; Anime! (obviously) My favorites include Trigun, MP100, Saiki k, and Erased. I'm also a bit of a Gamer™ and some of my favorites are Subnautica, Minecraft, The Stanly Parable (I was there BEFORE it got popular (:< ), Pokemon, and FNaF. You can thank my unpredictable taste in media because of 8-Bitryan, he's been my comfort youtuber since I was but a wee baby.

I'm a very sarcastic and silly gal, so if something comes off as degrading I can promise you it was a well meant joke. While I try to use tone tags, I tend to forget, which is why you'll see me use a sickening amount of emojis.

This page will be used both to post drabbles and keep people updated on my fanfic over on Ao3. Ideas for the fic are welcomed with wide arms

If you want to know anything more about me, talk about shared interests, or just want a friend do not hesitate to reach out! I'm friendly and it makes my day seeing people wanting to chat, and I promise my DMs are a judgement free zone. ┏━━━━ My Socials! ━━━━┓

Instagram (I don't post here but my dms are open to chat)

Tiktok

AO3

[writing-nebula]

Update! (Also, sneak peek at the chapter!)

H I I'M NOT DEAD, HERE'S THAT UPDATE I PROMISED

Admittedly, most of this is going to be copied from AO3, with a few wording changes, as I summed myself up pretty well there, s o if you don't happen to follow Aura on AO3-

"I'll let you know if I think a chapter will take 6+ months" 9 months (10 months now, near 11 w h o o p s), no chapter, and no update later:

All I can really say at this point is sorry about the lack of update- I got a job, started writing a few other stories, some oneshots you may have seen me post if you've looked at my AO3, and just generally been Too Busy to work on Aura, even if I hadn't been having major writing block issues for it specifically

I'm making this update to assure you guys that this story hasn't been abandoned, that I'm not dropping it- I am still working on it! It's just going a lot slower than I would've liked, and I'm not sure if there's much I can do about that at this point in time.

That being said, I'm making this update now because I have actually made great progress on the next chapter! It's certainly not done, but the block seems to have mostly lifted for now, and I know exactly what I want to write for the rest of the chapter.

A n d, so I don't just leave you hanging here, I d o have a few scenes I'll be posting alongside this- both to assure you I am working on it, and to apologize for taking so long lol. I'm doing my best with it, I promise you!

That's all I have to say, I think- thank you all so much for your patience, and I hope to have something more out for you soon!! Alrighty- with that being said, I have a few scenes to add here, also copied from my update on AO3, so if you read there nothing has changed! But for those who might only follow Aura via Tumblr, here are a few preview scenes for the upcoming chapter, under the cut! I'm really excited to show the whole thing to y'all when it's done :D

"That was, uh, Mark and Amy, probably- I had a dizzy spell a few minutes ago, they both freaked out when I hit the floor."

"Oh," that would explain the suddenness of it- "then- That means there's someone new?"

Now excited- and feeling less shaky- Anti pushed himself to his feet, smiling when the human joined him and trying to peer past him again. "Who is it? A fan ego? I know there are a couple out there you like-"

He cut himself off when he registered the confusion drifting out from the living room, and from Jack himself.

"...What is it?"

"...See, we don't know who or what appeared," Jack told him with a frown. "Nothing changed, and we can't find sign of anybody..."

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

When he entered his room, the feeling increased tenfold, which should be impossible, Marvin put spells up to prevent him from feeling their emotions so strongly up here- ...Which meant he was right.

There's someone in here.

Anti took a deep breath, trying to push away the fear and apprehension that kept squeezing, tightening like a vice around his chest- it's not me, it's not mine-

He took another deep breath, letting it out slow.

He shut the door behind him.

"...I know you're there," he started quietly, not wanting anyone outside the room to hear him. "I don't know why you're hiding from everyone, but... I'm not going to tell them." He paused, shoulders slumping in relief as the fear eased up somewhat.

"I won't tell them you're here, but you can't just hide in my room forever, okay? Not without at least calming down. I can... Feel you, and it's a lot."

Still no response, but as he sighed, going to his little desk and sitting down to use his laptop, he felt the fear in the air receding further- to be replaced by a gentle spark of curiosity.

He smiled, just to himself, and put on Jack's Resident Evil playlist. I'll give him some time to adjust. It's not like I can blame him for being nervous... 

When he felt a presence watching over his shoulder, he chose not to comment aloud, and he was very proud of himself for not immediately turning to look- though he honestly doubted he'd see anything anyway. 

...I just wish I knew who the hell 'he' is.

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

Anti was honestly used to the feeling of someone watching over his shoulder, at this point. Three days and this mysterious, silent, invisible ego still hadn't shown himself, though Anti was very sure he was still there.

Besides the watching whenever he was using his laptop, he could still feel him- nervousness, curiosity, faint stabs of irritation. It felt like a million things at once and were way stronger than one person's emotions could feel, but it had only ever seemed like one person, so he just dealt with it.

Today it was Golf With Friends, rather than the usual horror game- he mostly had it up for distraction, because despite Marvin's charms on the room, he could still feel Jack and Mark's excitement from the recording room, though thankfully he was too far away to physically hear them.

...With how focused he was, trying to ignore the emotion feelings, he wasn't really paying attention to his 'roommate'.

But he still noticed the instant that presence solidified, became something real-

And Anti found himself holding his breath as the semi-annoying phantom sensation became the very very real feeling of somebody actively leaning over him.

it's a hell of a time to stop being shy why the fuck-

"...What are you watching this time?"

Anti's racing thoughts screeched to a halt, and he exhaled sharply, keeping his gaze fixed on the laptop screen.

He felt frozen, fixed in place- and it wasn't because the guy finally spoke, the question startled him, sure, but it was reasonable enough, he probably couldn't see the screen very well.

No, the problem wasn't the question- it was the voice.

Calm, but deep enough for a faint rumble in his chest. Smooth, but not soothing- more cold. 

The faintest of echoes ringing in his ears, two voices just below the first- similar, but different.

...I know that voice.

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

(Please note that these are still from a newer draft, and wording or more may change between these and the final chapter!)