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murfpersonalblog · 3 months

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IWTV S2 Ep8 Musings - Loumand (Spoilers)

This was so effed up, wow; I'm FURIOUS with Armand, even though I've been expecting this from him since Season 1. Cuz the ish he said just never lined up right; the most unreliable narrator's been Armand the whole time! Louis' brain is scrambled, but at least he's SINCERE. But THIS mofo has been deliberately LYING since JUMP.

Longest divorce proceedings ever--took 77 years, dang. Armand said it was the night Madeleine was turned--Mr. They Gave Me A Choice. I Chose. But that's a effing lie, too!

Cuz in Ep6, BEFORE Louis even told Armand he was gonna turn Madz, Santiago was busy committing all those "strange crimes reported;" climbing the Eiffel Tower to wake up Lestat, and breaking into cinemas to steal their color film reels for the Trial's projector.

They threw Sam under the bus as if HE wrote effed up Trial script--but THIS was when they actually started writing it--with ARMAND's input & direction.

But I'm jumping ahead.

WTF is going on here?! O_O Is this a human the Theatre keeps around for the plays, zoned out so they stay alive until they're on stage? So Armand's punishment is the shame of having to feed the "cattle"? And HOW MANY nights was Lou in there? :(

Louis was locked up for over a MONTH!? 😨 While Armand just SAT THERE?!

Lou's not screaming from starvation, MORON--he starved himself for YEARS. His DAUGHTER is DEAD.

The frame of Paul is wild--Louis was ready to end it all. U_U He didn't want to be "rescued"--he wanted his baby girl back. "What was left to endure for?"

Man's a consummate actor--everything you're about to see is FAKE.

A "sacrifice" for the "god" Armand serves, eh? (AMC got my guy out here sucking on rocks, omg. XD I hope they taste like chips or popcorn or something.)

Louis CONSTANTLY shushing people on this show, I love it!

LIES. Lou's WAY too good for Armand; I'd've been like SURPRISE! 🔥 "My rage and madness were asleep--" chile. You loved Armand, and thought he'd cared enough to save you, which is why you were able to swallow that weak AF I Could Not Prevent It excuse from a 500 yr old vamp.

Daniel is on the hunt! I LOVE how they're introducing Raglan like he's just some kindly ole assistant/researcher/editor. Honey, you've got a big storm coming! "Reciprocation"--Daniel's a vampire now, so you KNOW Raglan's gonna start cashing in them I-O-Us from Dan! 💀

77 years later.... 😬

200 years is a mighty long time to maintain a relationship built on death threats, power imbalances, and lies.

Lestat was right--even 77 years was a effing miracle--extra time bought at the price of Louis' memories being oh-so-conveniently erased.

THEY rehearsed it--LIE. There Armand goes, deflecting culpability.

Louis sleeping in Claudia's coffin, stop, my feels. U_U

Omfg Armand; of COURSE you don't remember the last thing y'all said to e/o in Paris b4 y'all left Lestat to travel Egypt--but you can "remember" alllll this other bullcrap, eh?

So they've already done Trinity Gate?

BY ALL MEANS. EXPOSE THEM.

Not Sam being in Daftpunk, y'all need to stop IMMEDIATELY. (But now I know wtf was going on in the Season 3 announcement--I was so confused why they were mentioning Sam!)

ARMAND told the coven to let the audience read Claudia's diaries and VIOLATE her body (of work), omfg 😱

Mr Frankenstein disrespected her at EVERY turn!

I could forgive spitting over "Come to Me" and how Loustat met in NOLA, but I draw the line at spitting at adding the animation of Lestat killing that dear sweet racoon! XD

Armand had the NERVE to look away when they bum-rushed Claudia & Louis with the Mind Gift.

"It's their turn to hurt--" ARMAND said he didn't think Louis would love him for 200 years, so he SOLD THEM TF OUT--to DIE.

They were HOBBLING AROUND WITH GASHED ANKLES, LAUGHED at, and stuffed in RAT BOXES! And ARMAND was in on the whole thing!

This is WILD, AMC, y'all are sick for this, but I love it!

Is DANIEL using Armand's "slave name" and abusing him, y'all? HUH? It's all BULLCRAP--Armand's BEEN in control, with all the real power the WHOLE. EFFING. TIME.

EFF what you call him, or whatever kinky ROLES he PLAYS.

ARMAND decides who lives and dies, as THE coven master--eff who's called Maitre!

Armand was gonna let Lou DIE. "He just took credit for it when the opportunity presented itself." Wow.

He let Louis suffer in that crypt for over a MONTH before he FINALLY had a change of hear/conscience and pulled him out!

And even then he wasn't gonna go WITH Louis--he expected Louis to flee Paris! ALONE.

He stayed with Louis cuz Louis destroyed his whole effing coven! Who else did Armand HAVE but Louis after that? HE CHOSE THE COVEN.

Poor dear; he wasn't held enough between ritualistic fledgling executions. 🙄😒 "We are teachers of one another! Louis, everything that gives you happiness gives me...." WHAT? What does it give you, Armand? (I cannot WAIT for S3 to do more DM, cuz I've been HATING Armand connected in any way to Louis & Claudia. I don't like not liking Armand; he's my fave book character! But AMC's bound & determined to make me spit every time he starts talking.)

Excellent grounds to get the house, the dog, the Farm, Damek, AND Rashid in the divorce! XD

And this gremlin's got the audacity to STILL be lying, even when caught LITERALLY red-handed with his notes to Santiago in the effing margins--meanwhile CLAUDIA was CONDEMNED TO DEATH for premeditating Lestat's death in HER written diaries--which ARMAND had passed around like candy at his carnival of horrors!

"An insignificant detail delivered by an insignificant mortal"--Rolin must hate Armand, he's not giving this dude an INCH. XD And SAM delivered it, not Daniel. SAM snitched on the coven. (WHEN?! And WHY?)

I don't like the whole "you should fear the other one--" only for Raglan to be like SOS GET OUT OF THERE NOW. Didn't Raglan know Armand was lying his arse off? Or was it misdirection--fear Louis' retribution when he busts a cap in Armand's lying arse?

DanLou nation RISE! ^0^

This was beautiful; I'm so happy for them. They started off TERRIBLY, but look at that bond just blossom like a magnolia tree Armand tried to clip and prune and graft and manipulate--only for it to flourish wild and free!

#interview with the vampire #loumand #the vampire armand #iwtv spoilers #iwtv season 2 spoilers #iwtv tvc metas #must see tv #the hype is real

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megumi-fm · 5 months

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26th to 30th Apr; doa🚲 complete!!

hi. gah. okay. here's my wrap up for the month

📝 prepped for and completed the last set of internal tests for this degree [2/2] (which I got through after much cribbing and whining and quite literally projecting study topics onto my blorbos 👍 ) 📝 started GRE prep!

🎓 got some gradecard related paperwork done 🎓 spoke to my prof regarding my internship deliverables for uni—report format, certificate requirements, etc etc

📥 I voted! it was the first central elections since I turned to an adult and the whole experience was quite interesting

💻 completed a bunch of tasks for my internship

💻 made like a super extensive flowchart about all the work done at my internship which took me like a total of 20+ hours T-T 💻 finished preparing my Uni Internship presentation! 💻 submitted the presentation to the assistant guide, waiting on her response to make changes atm

🍶 7+ glasses of daily water intake 🎵 svt's new single is out and I've been going insane about it and thus this challenge comes to an end... I had started this off as an 18day daily habit tracker but then it kind of grew out into a challenge for the month. Special thanks to Yumi the loml <3 (@thelastneuron) for starting the Days of April challenge (Yumi idk when you'll see this but i miss you and I hope you've been kicking ass during your hiatus). also massive thanks to Zip (@zipstidbits) for leaving the kindest comments/tags on my post during the past week and to Tanishka (@booksbluegurl) who is literally the sweetest and has been sending in asks and keeping me company during this challenge <3

there's a lot more i wanna yap about in regards to how the month went but I'll leave that under the tags xD goodnight besties <3

month end brainrot

april started off with dips and more dips but by the end of the month it feels like I've caught up. productivity is a wave so as long as I keep riding at it i'll be okay.

also. progress is cumulative. even the seemingly inconsequential completion of daily tasks has lead to an overall improvement through the week. things add up

I spent a lot of time this month (and moreso this past week) feeling dejected that I've been leaving my tracker posts (and my digital planner entries) incomplete... but like. the whole point of trackers and planners (and this studyblr) is to get work done. work is the priority and the tracking is a means to an end. so if im getting work done that is already a win. yeah... i've had to keep reminding myself that

there is no one-tool-fix for tracking and journalling. what works for planning out one task will not work for the other. I need to strop trying to fit all my plans into one formulaic strategy box

on that note. it's time to return to handwritten journaling. digital journalling (notion + YPT + discord + tumblr) was fun while it lasted <3 but my brain needs novelty again so it's time i switch back. I think I finally have an idea for a system that could be sustainable for me... although I say that every time I switch to a new form of tracking. but hey. as long as it helps me get work done for whatever duration of time, it's good enough

using kpop and kdrama references to make notes and study really paid off. ngl I only did it cause I was super desperate but incorporating stuff I couldn't understand with a topic I really like paid off. It also gave me the motivation and momentum to study for much longer than I otherwise would have

last but not least. my water intake has been really good this month! I've also been eating healthy and I've been cooking more my phone usage has also been reduced by a lot. sure none of them have had a perfect streak but i started at zero and it feels like I've levelled up quite a bit. the exercise component has been a bit difficult to maintain given my workload :/ i need to figure out what to do about that...

yep. that's it for now. this month really tired me out, I think im gonna lay off daily challenges for a while. For now I guess I'll stick to my (bi?tri?)weekly tracker posts xD

#20doa🚲#studyspo #queued #18dayht #studyblr #study motivation #study blog #accountability #studying #student

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lunchtimebedamned1997 · 5 months

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Vee's Studies!

(scroll to the end for timelapse :3)

I'm like, kind of obsessed with them lmao. While I've drawn Vox quite a lot (I've been working on a Vox animation thing over the last month-ish) I hadn't done much of anything when it came to Val and Vel. I knew I'd want to do something with them all later on, but I wanted to get a good understanding of their designs, shape language, and the differences between the three of them so I can play a lot more when it comes to doing them (heh) in my own style.

So, since I was most familiar (and most obsessed with out of the three lol), I started with Vox :3

While I've been working on the animation project, it had kind of been an 'adjust-as-I-go'/'let's-bullshit-this' process, rather than doing the work of understanding why certain things looked more correct than others, so I still learned a LOT from this one study. (Plus the scene makes me wheeze and I happily took the excuse to use that moment as his study reference haha)

Obviously Val is... an asshole, to really undersell it. But this is hell, his character is interesting and his design is immaculate. I think I had the most fun with studying him tbh. Without his santa wings-coat he- *coughs* - yeah. Uh. Good design. I can actually believe that Angel fell for him at one point. Manipulative bastard - sorry tangents. ANYWAY! XD

VERY fun to draw, and a very good balance within these designs of showing off character attributes but also not taking themselves too seriously (The HATS these boys wear! *wheeze* did Velvette just give up fighting them on it? I've gotta know haha)

I missed color too much by this point to make them all match perfectly, and frankly - trying to draw canon Velvette without hue differentiation is AWFUL she has so many details and overlapping elements. If I ever have to draw Vel from 1x03 again I might cry.

Something about her 1x03 look actually makes me feel viseral irritation just by seeing it (like, even b4 I made myself draw it), but then I see her in 1x08 and I wanna draw her forever???? She's so fucking cool? So fucking cute????? The duality of man ig lmao

Anyway, the TLDR is that actually being conscious of how things are represented when drawing a character can lead to surprisingly immense insight... I feel like I not only understand so much more about how to represent their characters, but also a much firmer grasp about how the shape language in the show works.

These designs are immaculate and I had so much fun. I actually have a lot more I could say about this, but my period came today and I'm tired and this post is already massive so I'll leave things here for now! But yeah! Hopefully more Vee's in the future bc I love them!

Wishing you all well! <3

#my art #digital art #fanart #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanart #hellaverse fanart #hazbin hotel vox #valentino hazbin hotel #velvette hazbin hotel #vox fanart #valentino fanart #val fanart #velvette fanart #character studies #vees fanart #the vees #the vees hazbin hotel

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chubsonthemoon · 2 years

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Finished binding @that-banhus's fantastic King of Infinite Space today! You ever get into a pairing fresh out of binging a series and read a fic that just solidifies the characters in your head? Like, they go from "funny lil guy I enjoyed watching on TV" to someone who could be real, someone you could know. That was this fic for me--banhus's Hob is such a delight to read, so vibrant and funny and optimistic. And of course Dream's voice in this is just *chef's kiss* pitch perfect.

Some process chatter, under the cut! <3

SIZE

So this was my first go at a quarto size on legal paper (8.5" x 14"), and I LOVE it. This size is perfect for that 10k-15k range, and with the community imposer designed by the lovely folks at @renegadepublishing (thank you, @simply-sithel and Cocoa!), it was such a breeze to figure out the formatting. (Printing, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess since my printer doesn't do duplex for legal sizes, but I figured it out in the end. And hey, I got a bunch of waste sheets out of it! XD)

BINDING

I did a variation of the paperback format I've seen floating around in the Renegade discord (@ashmouthbooks kindly explained it a few months ago, thank you so much!). French link stitching glued with PVA as per usual, although no tapes or mull.

The cover is made of scrapbook paper and is glued directly to the flyleaf (flyleafs? flyleaves?), although as you can see below I added an extra layer of kraft paper to give it more of a "board" feel:

The pictures in this post are of my second/author copy, with an added a half-centimeter hinge so the spine can open more easily. My first copy did not have a hinge so it's a little stiff when you open it, but it gets the job done baha. Now I know for future binds in this size: hinges are the way to go!

DESIGN (or, as I call it, VibesTM)

The first line of this fic has lived rent-free in my brain for months now: They sat at the New Inn until the afternoon melted into evening, the sunlight thickened to a rich orange, and the late crowd began to trickle into the inn in chattering groups. I remember reading it late at night and immediately sitting up and going "oh hell yeah." This fic gives me that "walking to class in the fall semester and feeling the whole world passing you by and you have books to read and papers to write but you see your friend from across the quad and they wave at you and you wave back and everything is okay, maybe, because the leaves are turning and you're going to make it, dammit, you are going to make it" vibes. So the cover paper is from one of Michael's paper packs, called "Autumn Blaze."

HOWEVER, Banhus also mentioned that the paper looks like a sandy beach, and I'm smacking myself over the head for not doing that intentionally because yes! There's a lovely lovely scene at the end where Dream and Hob are lounging on the shore of the Dreaming and are finally, finally figuring it out, and it's wonderful and so atmospheric and I am 100% going to pretend that my paper choice here was tailored for that scene specifically XD

Titling is permanent adhesive vinyl cut by my Cricut, Charlotte, with hand-drawn "bolding" around each letter done with my uniball Signo white gel pen. And since I've been trying to get better at documenting my fonts, the titling for this one was Perpetua Titling MT, and the body was my go-to Garamond my beloved.

As a bonus, here is my first go at binding this fic, but in quarto letter size instead of legal! Smol :3

And that's all for today! Thank you so much, Banhus, for letting me bind your work! It was a pleasure, and I can't wait for you to receive your copy <3

All my love!

#the sandman #dreamling #dream of the endless #hob gadling #bookbinding #fanbinding #ficbinding #not my fic #King of Infinite Space #Banhus

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usedpidemo · 1 year

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Update - 2nd year anniversary! (plus a reflection, and future plans).

Hi everyone! π here.

Today, May 13th, is the day I officially opened up this blog and began writing degenerate and immoral stories! 2 fucking years have passed, how time flies. So much can change in a year, and so do some of the stats!

First work: Sandwich - Red Velvet Wendy (published 05/13/21, 4:03 a.m.)

Highest note count: Awards after-party affair - Itzy Yuna (published 10/23/22, 1167 notes)

Number of works published: 80 fics (1 fic every 9.1 days)

500 followers: June 18, 2021 (36 days or 1 month, 5 days)

1,000 followers: October 12, 2021 (152 days or 4 months, 30 days)

2,000 followers: June 18, 2022 (401 days or 1 year, 1 month, and 5 days)

3,000 followers: November 12, 2022 (548 days or 1 year, 5 months, and 30 days)

Follower count: 3,953 followers (5.4 followers a day)

I wish I had something awesome lined up to celebrate this milestone, but I don't have anything prepared XD I've been busy and lazy at the same time. (Is that even possible?)

Actually, yeah, I do have a whole week's worth of cool things lined up this week! If I can even follow through with this one...

Monday: AMA

Tuesday: Reader Poll

Wednesday: ???

Thursday: ???

Friday: ???

I don't want to make the fun section of the update elaborately long, so I just want to say thank you so much to everyone for the support! Even though I'm not as active or as productive as I used to be, your eagerness never wavered, and you guys enjoy me talking about random shit on the side, whether it be song lyrics, Pokémon, or literally posts without any context to them. I love you guys. Here's to another year 🧡

Everything else from this point is a brief reflection and introspection of what I've been feeling since then. You can ignore this if you wish to do so.

So today marks the second anniversary since I opened up this Tumblr and became a degenerate writer. The work I've been putting up is getting worse—in a sexual and filthy way, not objectively—and my mental health has been getter much, much better! When I made the same anniversary post around this time a year ago, I was at an all-time low, mentally speaking. I really felt like I had not much left to give at that point, my skill has stagnated, and I thought there wasn't much for me to improve on. If you asked me if I had any future plans for this blog, I'd say I'd be done by the end of 2022, if not sooner.

It's now 2023, and I believe I'm as good as I can be right now. Slumps happen for a reason, and you can't always win, but it's how you bounce back from the lowest of lows that you reach highest of highs. And I believe I can still get better.

Genuinely, not to sound arrogant, because Lord knows I'm not the best fanfic writer—fuck no—I'm not anywhere close, even in a theoretical top 1000 list, but I do think some of my finest work have come up in my most recent fics. I don't know, it feels more polished and there was more effort and deliberation put into it. The numbers don't lie, either; every single work I published since May 2022 has over 400+ notes, and I've even passed the 1000+ note barrier twice! It goes to show that you guys are enjoying what I'm putting out as much as I love making them, slow and difficult it may be. I can fondly smile at last year's additions to my masterlist and say, "I can't believe I did that."

I do want to apologize if my output rate has drastically slowed down, and if I'm not as active as I was before. It's unfortunately part of the sacrifice needed for better quality control, and also because I have more personal commitments to attend to. 2023 has been fantastic for me so far in almost every department, except maybe physically—I could use more exercise—but that can be worked upon.

I do believe I'm on borrowed time. Again, look at the gap between fics over the past six months ago, and it's only going to widen once I enter my third year of college. I also have to begin considering what hobbies and other things I should do to occupy my free time, so I can be more productive as a person. This isn't to say I'm definitely quitting, but I expect more responsibilities to be shouldered onto me in the future, and having time for myself is going to be pretty much a birthday gift with how rare it might be given, and I'd prefer spending my time off recharging and relaxing instead of stressing over inconsequential or 'fun' things.

There's a lot of people I want to thank specifically, because while I was struggling with my own personal battles, they've been encouraging me to continue fighting and have been absolute lads—and lasses—throughout the past year. When I needed someone to talk to that wasn't my therapist, they were there, and I took solace in their comfort and companionship. I can't tag you guys, but if you're reading this—Chunk, Raf, Peach, Aaron, Sol, V1n, Iz, Ddeun, C.o, Kaede, Frisky, Smite, Shaun, Sins, Jett, Eros, Prael, Ken, Cray, CJ, Sooya, Gray, Svn—I sincerely thank you. God bless each and every single one of you. And to Tim, I really hope you can see this, but I'm truly, truly sorry. I hope we can find a way to bury that fracture in our relationship in the past, and we can reconcile. If not, then I just want closure and peace for the both of us.

So in closing, I want to thank you so much for sticking with me through the bad times and prospering with me through the good, and I'm always humbled that you've taken a chance on me when I started, when I was a hopeful newbie, two years ago. Now here we are. I appreciate every single one of you, be it a fellow writer, a reader, or a lurker.

With grace,

Peter / π

#update #anniversary

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rallamajoop · 7 months

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I love your Wintersberg smut fics 😭😭😭 Do you have any more fic drafts/ ideas that are bouncing around in your brain? I'd love to hear... Ethan getting his smart mouth shut up for once and getting fucked stupid is my favorite trope.

Aha, I take it you enjoyed Atypical Side-Effects? Does Medical Log count too? Either way, now I'm very amused that the last ask I got like this one was from someone who was into Ethan bantering his way through sex ‒ I mean, nice to know I'm appealing to multiple markets here! XD

I did post a list of stuff I had in the works back in September, but a lot of those have been checked off and posted since then, so maybe we're due for an update. There's not as much wintersberg on the current list as there was, but we'll see where it goes.

So, fic I have actually made progress on in the last month or two:

The second chapter of Atypical Side-Effects I've been promising everyone is with my beta now, though I cannot tell you there's much smut in this one, and it's currently second in the queue behind...

That post-RE7 Mithan fic where Mia actually gets to come clean that I mentioned in my last WIP post, which has somehow grown into a veritable monster (how tf did this thing break 15k I do not know), and is responsible for stalling progress on most everything else around it while it ate writing time. But it is at last (hopefully) done, and my beta is trying to sort out if it's ready to be unleashed on the world now.

As mentioned in a comment or two, I've also been working on a sequel to my Yuletide Lost Boys fic Pater Unfamilias. It's about halfway done now, I think?

In other misc fandom news, I've still got a couple of semi-cast-off bits of Deus Ex fic that came out of my Spare Parts anthology not-quite-finished (and which I've been promising myself I will totally get back to and finish sometime after that big one above was done). Whether they end up getting added to that story or whether I wind up posting them as their own things remains to be decided.

But back in Resi-land, I may have mentioned in that last post that I had part of a continuation of That One Where Heisenberg Follows Him Home, and that's one I'm still picking away at between other projects. Eventual Ethan/Mia/Heisenberg, just for a little variety, but it's got its teeth in me and definitely wants to go somewhere.

So overall, possibly not quite as much wintersberg as you might have hoped? Though I may have kind of promised someone there was still more of that one Beauty and the Beast wintersberg AU still very much in my plans. And one or two other things from that older list are still in the 'may get back to' pile too.

But if you’re asking about ideas that haven’t necessarily made the draft stage, well, I could always list you a few…

I have forever been toying with the idea of a post-canon Heisenberg-lives idea, where he ends up working for Chris’ outfit as a medical examiner who specialises in cutting apart whatever horrific BOWs have been brought back for study, and also in terrifying any hapless intern who so much as wanders into his lab. I mean, he’d be perfect for the job: plenty experienced in studying bioweapons, utterly un-squeamish about cutting up dead things, and as a bonus, completely qualified to defend himself whenever some ambitious specimen decides to get up again unexpectedly. Speaking of which, mundane AUs where Heisenberg’s some kind of medical examiner should really be more of a thing too (sure, mechanic works too, but is it really gross enough for him?)

Speaking of Heisenberg-lives possibilities, the idea of a universe where he survives (unbeknownst to our heroes) thanks to having bought a ‘life insurance policy’ from the Duke which involves him being resurrected via mould trickery is another one I’ve had forever. Did actually mention it in my last in-progress post (it’s the fairy tale idea titled simply ‘Koschei’), but haven’t really made any progress on it since.

Alternately, in a hypothetical Ethan-lives-Heisenberg-doesn’t AU, the idea of a Heisenberg who continues to haunt Ethan as a mould-ghost ala virtual-Eveline has to rank pretty high on the “has no-one does this? Because someone should totally do this”-scale. No really concrete ideas for this one though, so consider it very much free to a good home.

In more recent ideas, someone pointed out to me a little while ago the possibility that Heisenberg might be able to feel it when Ethan touches anything metal (which sure does cast Ethan’s own arsenal in an interesting light!) Don’t know if I’ll ever actually get around to doing something with this one, but I’ve definitely given this one some thought.

On a related note, look, I still say the idea of Heisenberg deciding to make Ethan appreciate his genius by trapping him in a massive soldat-orgy is one I want someone else to write for me, but I’ve definitely now spent enough time explaining it to certain people that I can’t deny having given it some real thought.

In other free-to-a-good-home ideas, has anyone ever written a decent little Eveline-wins-AU horror story, with Mia and Ethan stuck playing ‘families’ with her, and only conditionally conscious of what’s really going on? Because there just is not enough real horror or fic willing to treat Eveline as the horrific little monster she canonically is around this place.

And just for something completely different, some kind of surreal Mia/Zoe thing set during RE7, with Mia constantly shifting between different levels of awareness of what’s going on, how much she can remember, and what she thinks her relationship to Eveline really is preferably with some at least R-rated Mia/Zoe smut is another of those ideas I’ve been sitting on forever now.

...and I hope that about answers your question, because that's me about out. *g*

#wintersberg #Resident Evil Village #mithan #mithanberg #jensard #The Lost Boys #fic #asks

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nymphl · 3 months

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are you back? please tell me you're back!!! saw you reblogging some stuff and went to see if you had updated :( went down the rabbit hole and reread your hux stories again. hope you ok, xoxo

Hi xD

Life has been A LOT lately and I didn't have any time or energy to write anything. BUT The Acolyte has drawn me back in and YES, I'm back!

What can I say? Manny is something else (love Lee Jung Jae as well, have always loved the man ever since I watched Chief of Staff - what a handsome and charming son of a bitch he is in this kdrama, please go check it out).

And although I've jumped on the bandwagon of Oshamir stories (I'll be posting one soon soon), I'll also be updating Lie to Me and Bloodbound (it has been a while indeed - can't vouch for In the General's Bed though sorry xD).

It's only been this week (and thank God for the winter break - yes, it's winter here in Brazil, even though it feels like spring) that I decided to go check on my stories and saw that I've almost 4k done for LTM and almost 9k for BB.

I need to work a little bit on them before I post thoughn (I'm a bit rusty tbh), but I can guarantee that before this month ends, I'll have updated at least once both of this stories.

Thanks for asking and for remembering my stories, I'm not sure I'll have any readers left after such a long absence though xD Love you all <3

And while we're at it, I'd be delighted if you recommended here your fav Oshamir fics. I plan on checking them out these days.

#ask #anon #answers #general hux #hux x reader #oshamir #qimir the acolyte #osha aniseya #osha x qimir #the acolyte #chief of staff #lee jung jae #writing #my stories #lie to me #bloodbound #hux x you #i'm alive #i'm back

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suna1suna1 · 5 months

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Day 2, Gift

My second drawing for @sonicrarepairweek2024

Okay so my style has done a mega shift in the past couple months since I haven't actually been drawing Sonic until literally yesterday and here's the result lol

Honestly, I like it. And I've definitely come a long way from my last drawing of these two (which I can't remember if I've posted so here lol)

^^^ This one's from January of 2023, and I think it was the first time I'd drawn a kiss like this. I worked for so long on it I got grossed out and sick of looking at it XD

Now, in terms of my headcanons, I think they would just... they're just cute. I have no other real reasons. I think they're cute.

I love their chemistry in Archie (post-genesis wave, bc I'm in the minority that prefers the canon after the reset). Like, they just vibe so well together and I love watching them, but like, Mighty's actually really soft most of the time. Like, he's such a gentle giant, and I mean, I know the way I tend to portray Sonic is a little ooc when it comes to game/comic canon (I tend to prefer movie Sonic). But like, put these two together and it's just... So cute.

#sonighty #sonic the hedgehog #mighty the armadillo #sonic x mighty #sthrarepair24

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swearyshera · 1 year

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Alice,

I've loved being able to read Sweary She-Ra through the years. I happened upon it only a few months after finishing She-Ra (I was late to the party due to not having Netflix, oops), and it gave me so much wonderful content to keep my excitement for the series alive.

The way you explored the characters, especially Catra's mental health and her relationship with Shadow Weaver, helped give me a new understanding and greater appreciation of them. I bring up Catra specifically because, I'll be honest, I wasn't a big Catra fan for awhile. I liked her well enough, then kinda didn't in season 4, but grew fond of her again around season 5. But you helped me understand her thought-process, and I came to like her more because of it. I really like that you also handled her in a nuanced way, where, as you've said many times, you explained her behavior without excusing it, and that made all the difference.

One of the things I really appreciated about your take on She-Ra was how apparent your intelligence was, as well as your writing skill. It wasn't just "Catra says fuck and Glimmer has killed dozens," even though it could have been--you went the extra mile (or kilometer, since you're British :P) and gave us a variety of jokes, as well as mood shifts from comedic to tragic to dramatic to hopeful. All of the characters felt like themselves, even though they were pushed up to 11 and had some creative liberties taken, such as Frosta being a demon and Hordak's Geordie accent. You had a good handle on all of them, which can be very hard to do with a large cast, especially one written by another writer.

I also really appreciated that you took the time to answer asks and build a community here. It gave us lovely jokes such as Bob (that's right, I haven't forgotten about him), Catra's age, and Entrapta reading our comments. I've always been very shy online, but seeing you having such nice interactions with fans helped me open up, and I'm glad I did! I used to ask anonymously from time to time (yes, my first ask was about DT, all the way back during your start on season one, what else would it be? XD), and I'm glad I've gotten to chat and joke with you, as have the rest of us.

I'm so glad that you stuck with this and created such a wonderful fan-series. We never got a movie, but this was just as good, in my opinion. It was like watching SPOP for the first time all over again. I'm excited to see what you create next, be it SPOP-related or not. I hope the future has great things in store for you.

You brought us laughs, tears, and spectacular Glimmer-swears, and your blog means so much to so many people. You mean so much to so many people. I hope you find success in your future endeavors!

FOR THE HONOR OF GAYSKULL!

What can I say, it's truly been an honour (of Gayskull) to write something that I had no idea brought so much to many people. I'm genuinely quite humbled by the reaction.

I always wanted to be fair to all the characters, to show their reasons without necessarily validating the invalid stuff that they've done, and that particularly came across with Catra. It's no secret that I see a lot of parallels between her and my own history, but I've applied the same take-no-shit but be kind approach that I took with myself over the years. And I've learned a lot about mental health during that time, so I could give that sometimes painful realism, but also know just how to make fun of it in the right way.

In some ways, I feel like the characters I've written have taken on their own personality that's very distinct from the original, and that's probably why I think there's a little more mileage in them yet. Both in terms of original stuff (my pilot script Snowflakes has almost 1:1 versions of DT and Perfuma!), but also in the possibility for creating more Sweary stuff, and that is slowly taking shape - although I am taking it easy for a bit, I've already outlined a story which I'd love to make into an audio drama. Currently workshopping it with a couple of people, so watch this space...

It has been a joy to get so many asks from people, yourself included, and my inbox will always be open. I'm not going anywhere for a while! You were very much my DT-asker-in-chief, and I'm super glad you enjoyed their scenes (heck, you even got them a cameo at the end!). So thank you immensely for the support.

I'm happy I've been able to contribute to a wonderful fandom in such a way, and I'm eager to keep on giving back to a community that has given me so many amazing friends.

FOR THE HONOR OF GAYSKULL!

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nocompromise-noregrets · 20 days

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five good things

It's been a while! Let's see...

I finished my BA in Language Studies with English and German with the Open University (part time distance learning) and achieved a first class honours! I've been kind of playing it down and thinking of it as not a huge deal, partly because I've got this internalised sense that you don't brag about your achievements, nobody likes a know-it-all, being intelligent/academic is not the done thing, which dates back to my schooldays (which are over 30 years ago at this point what the hell), but actually...look, I was a solid 64% achiever throughout my initial academic career at 18-24, and I thought that was all I was capable of, but if I've calculated it correctly (not entirely certain, maths is still not my strong point) I think my overall score for this one has been 94% which...holy crap, you guys. Nobody is more surprised by this than me. I think it's a combination of 30 years' extra maturity plus they actually tell you what they want you to do these days, but...wait, I'm playing it down again, aren't I? Anyway. On to the Masters in Applied Linguistics!

Which starts in October, but the course website opens next Wednesday so the plan is to get in there and try and get ahead. Whether I'll actually manage that is up for debate, but I do rather want to try and do at least some of it early, especially because...

I am going to be spending eleven days in Helsinki in mid-late October because Japa from Private Line's new band is playing a show on the 19th, Private Line are playing a show on the 26th, and my absolute hero Michael Monroe has announced a solo acoustic show on the 25th which it would be rude not to attend, since it's a 5-minute walk from my hotel XD I'd already booked to be there from the 18th to the 28th so I could see Japa and PL because I have loved them inordinately since 2006, so when MM announced his solo acoustic tour of Finland beginning in August and ending in October and I realised one of the last dates was while I was already going to be in Helsinki, well. :D :D :D I am super excited, I have a spreadsheet with museums and opening times and days and hopefully I'll be spending a day in Tampere and a day in Turku running round museums as well as all the Helsinki museums, some of which I've already visited several times and am excited to revisit, and some of which I've never been to before. I am looking forward to this SO MUCH YOU GUYS OMG.

And then, when I get back, rather than coming straight home, I will be spending three days in London with the utterly glorious @lemurious who is spending a couple of weeks this side of the pond! I cannot WAIT. We are going to run round London looking at museums and Roman stuff and eating food and drinking beer and nerding out about Tolkien and history and EVERYTHING and it is going to be AWESOME. aaaaAAAAAAAA!

TRSB reveals are in less than an hour! My fic is here, the art by the lovely @erathene, who I am delighted to have got to know this summer, is also here, and I am so excited for everyone to finally get to read a story from Tilda's point of view, after her spending so long on the sidelines of Empty Vessel-'verse! Tilda herself was super excited to finally get to talk properly, as evidenced by the fact that the fic is 46k long (oh GOD) and I've already had to begin the sequel because there wasn't enough space (or time XD ) in the story for everything that needed to happen! She is still going, and will be for some considerable time, and it is such a joy to finally have her unleashed! Those of you who are already familiar with the concept of the Tilda Warning will understand that it very much applies to this fic XD

@sigrielweek is in a month! The eternally awesome @seagull-energy has very kindly done some beautiful art for the header and icon, and I am percolating prompts/themes this weekend (if you have some please sling them my way, you all know I am not at home to the idea fairy at the best of times XDDDD ), and the event will be running between 7-13 October, to coincide with the Battle of the Five Armies on the 10th (following on from Smaug's attack on Lake-town on the 1st)...

Innumerable Stars assignments are out and I am super excited by mine! I can say no more at this point but it's going to be huge fun :D :D :D

Oh! I finished Writers' Month as well as TRSB! The masterpost is here, and I'm rather enjoying re-reading the fics I had to bang out without having time to read them again, at a rather more leisurely pace.

I had a very successful meeting at job number two yesterday to finally kickstart a project my predecessor dropped in my lap having got the relevant people interested and raring to go, without having actually done the doings as to practicalities like funding, and who might actually do the work, and how it all might function. I (not a natural project manager) took fright and immediately shoved it onto the backest of back-burners while I got my feet under me, and only this year have begun to feel as though I might be ready to start exploring how it might work. I am not an academic, unlike my predecessor, at least not in this subject area, and I am very intimidated by everyone else's knowledge, but I have two absolutely fantastic volunteers who are very keen to be involved, and between them they've been coaxing me back towards it. I had a very useful online meeting with the two academics who were interested earlier in the year, and yesterday they came to see us and talk about it some more. Much to my relief, they will sort out the funding, the people to do it, the actual doing of the doings, my volunteers will do the photography (it's a catalogue of the medieval (and possibly later) seals attached to the documents I look after, of which there are at least 3000; I know nothing about seals, we're not really taught about them when we learn to be archivists, they're kind of treated as an adjunct to the "important stuff" which is how to read and interpret the documents they're attached to, so I am massively out of my depth but the academics are awesome and are so excited to get started, I showed them a tiny fraction of the stuff and they were nerding out in a delightfully knowledgeable and also recognisable manner, so I feel much more as though I am among my people, even if we know about different things XD there is so much to learn and find out and I am so excited for them to get started)

We hired a skip last week and emptied out the junkyard that the garden had turned into, plus a certain amount of stuff we didn't need from the loft, got rid of loads of cardboard boxes we didn't need, and generally the house feels a lot better as a result. There are still several boxes of stuff that need to go to the charity warehouse which I have not managed to sort out doing yet, but they're in the corner of the living room and ready to go. Weight off the mind, I swear.

Also I have dismantled the old swingseat and treated myself to a double egg chair which is so much more comfortable. It was in the sale (bonus) and although I probably won't get to use it again this summer it's there (covered up, it came with a cover, so it's protected from the elements) and I can get back out there on it as soon as the weather perks back up again next year. :D :D :D

I (with the missus' capable assistance) redyed my hair last Friday and it is now a delightful confection of sunset colours - orange at the roots, then purple, then pink on the ends. I took some selfies last weekend so there may be a gpoy post if I can work myself up to doing it XD

I'm in the pub right now with a nice beer and the laptop, writing (working on the sequel to the TRSB fic) and generally chilling out and having a lovely evening. The music is 1960s girl groups/Wall of Sound, which is one of my favourite things, and it is delightful.

I think that's more than enough for now. :D :D :D As always, if anyone feels like this exercise might benefit them, do feel free to take it and run with it! Five good things about your day/week/month/year/life, however big or small, and if there are more than five then keep going! Writing it down makes me realise and appreciate it all so much more than I do if it's all just drifting by.

#five good things #trsb2024 #likethenight writes #archival nerdery #writersmonth2024

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parcy-anda-but-with-actual-posts · 2 months

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Okay, so first time in a long time tackling a monthly challenge, I'll go ahead and make cumulative weekly posts here for Smaugust (2024). Just having fun, not trying to impress anyone, but I also want a convenient place to come back to it. =v=; General Warning: Creativity is not my strong suit, but I've tried not to be too predictable.

Day 1: Fruit — A scorpion pepper dragon. Peppers are fruits, technically, but I tried to mix it up by having this dragon be super chill, or at least lazy. It's content to be left to its naps as it overheats easily in its hot, arid environment, being more active at night, and even then, not too active. XD I can expand on lore for this, but keeping things simple for now.

Day 2: Ash — medieval/monk illustration inspired, apologies

For this one, I took a photo of the ash tree out front, and used its outline to create a cloud-breathing false hydra of sorts. Sad hypothetical story time: in reality, this is a mass of separate serpents all coiled up together and spewing thick vapors to obscure what lies at its center. These are the various children of an immortal great mother serpent, of whom all that remains is her head. They wouldn't leave her behind, and their home has decidedly not been safe since the incident; they carry her with them everywhere, hiding in misty places and masquerading as a large tree.

Day 3: Storm — I defaulted to scenic, because design on the word storm alone, I was really struggling with. Have a storm drake-like thing. ^^' I created pale yellow glows that shone through and lit up surrounding foliage as it stalks and prepares to attack something. I also let the colors that come to mind with dark clouds and stormy nights take this thing over completely. Fun experiment. C'X

Day 4+5: Fossil+Hybrid — this doesn't bode well, having to combine to make up for lost days this early. >v<; Here, though, have the unholy spawn of anatomically-somewhat-accurate Aerodactyl and the proportions and vibe of an Azhdarchid. I adore these pterosaurs on an aesthetic and imaginative level... would just about wet myself in fear if faced with one. Maybe someday I'll come back to prompts like this and actually put some respectable time into posing and rendering, but for now, just quick ideas for fun. :3

Day 6: Mist — WHOOPS, I missed one - adding this one in belatedly, but it was done on time... might have overlooked this because it really was thrown together in a hurry, and highly self-indulgent. Like, more than most of these. ^^' Have a cotton ball mass of dragon that curiously rolls up on little towns at pre-sunrise hours, especially at the base of mountains. It's a lazy and harmless enough creature, but it has a way of scaring little ones sh*tless, just the same. The sun rays coming through don't hurt it, luckily, but it does add to the "be not afraid" vibes. X'D

Day 7: Striped —Along with nostalgic inspiration of a friend's character, I based this one on a Cheshire Cat vibe, spiraling shapes vaguely snuck in. I'm still having much too much fun with the rough wash brush... but that's what I've decided to do this whole month, is have fun. ^^ Hopefully you're having a nice day!

Each week will be a different post, since the 30 image limit leaves us just shy of fitting the challenge into one post. >v<; See Week 2, if you like! (or Week 3, or 4, for that matter!)

#smaugust2024

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a-non-ymouswriter · 10 months

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Alright, let's talk Rewind (or my MCYT fics)

i think it's time to finally talk about rewind/remix.

or generally, just my mcyt fics in general.

it's been a while since i updated any of them and trust me, i am very much FILLED WITH GUILT over not updating or continuing them- problem is; i just don't have any motivation in them at the moment. my interest and motivation for them have waned, wilted and withered. the three unfortunate ws that arent wins.

i dont want to say i abandoned them, i hate the thought of abandoning ANY STORY and i like the thought of getting back to them at some point. maybe my motivation will come back, it has in the past and that's a great hope to have.

however i am aware that these stories have been gathering dust and it's possible that motivation will never come back and i hate that.

i know partially why i'm no longer interested? partially- it mainly started with techno's death. it just didn't feel the same anymore now that cc!techno was gone, but if things went differently then maybe i could've continued just as normal. but i'm pretty sure my motivation took a great hit when techno died.

another great hit to my motivation is the whole... thing with cc!dream??? WHICH I WILL NEVER EVEN POKE ABOUT, YOU CANNOT MAKE ME, I WILL IGNORE EVERY ATTEMPT. it felt weird writing about c!dream even though i should REALLY be able to separate the two, cc!s are different from fictional c!s and all that but for some reason i just don't feel too comfy writing him right now.

and since my main series of rewind and remix is MAINLY RELATED TO DREAM- you can see my problem here.

the dream smp is done, over, there is no season 2 and my interest in this fandom is only tethered by the occasional fanfic that i stumble upon and the numerous fanarts that come and go. that interest isn't enough to motivate my writing.

a funny thought though, is that i think i spent a LOT of motivation and kind of burnt myself out in the future back when i was DAILY UPDATING REWIND- like i don't know if you readers remember but i was updating DAILY on rewind. every day, FOR ALMOST A MONTH- something that might never happen again really and i'm still kind of proud of that.

but i'm pretty sure it was very unhealthy of me to do daily updates the way i did- it took A POWER OUTAGE to make me stop doing daily updates and i remember STRESSING OVER NOT UPDATING while the power was out. so yeah, i'm pretty sure i set myself up for failure there XD

but i'm so glad that i was able to at least finish rewind. my very first story that i completed. unfortunately i'm not too confident about finishing the rest of the series (and some other fics).

a friend of mine actually suggested something that i've been thinking about from time to time; i give you guys the outline of what COULD have happened. what i was planning on writing and then completing my works.

it sounds like a good idea but i didn't want to let you guys down in just, giving up like that. but nowadays, it sounds like a better and better alternative than to just wait for my motivation and interest to come back. it's almost been a year already for wishes and family, and remix, i managed to update stream labs a few months ago so that's hopeful but the others...

okay, i'm going to give YOU GUYS the choice here. i'll tell the ao3 readers about it as an important update author's note, but im going to make a poll about this choice soon and i'll even pin it on my tumblr.

it'll last- maybe two weeks? but yeah, it's the least i can do to see what you guys want.

EDIT: polls apparently only last a week, so it'll be up a week.

#non post #dsmp rewind #stream labs live #wishes and family #this is a long time coming tbh #should have done this sooner but i just kept procrastinating

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elshells · 3 months

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Recently I've been getting back into playing DND, and since I'm also trying to get back into interacting with people on this site, I'd figure I'd share with y'all my new-ish hobby of making dice!

For about a year I've been seeing a lot of Instagram reels of people pouring resin into molds and inking the numbers of their homemade dice, and I've always been inspired and mesmerized by these videos. And it just so happens that right before the new year I was gifted the materials to make my own resin dice! So here's what I've made in the last few months (lots of info-dumping/interest sharing under the cut):

This was my very first attempt, done specifically as a test run without any sort of pressure to look good. I was going for an oxidized copper look, but the dye cured much lighter than I expected (though it's a translucent dye so I really shouldn't have been surprised), so in the end I got more of an amber color, which I'm honestly not mad about!

I also mixed in some green glitter, since that was the only other additive I had received other than the dye, and it looks alright, but a lot of the chunkier pieces did sink to one side, so I haven't used it since. The numbers are green to compliment the glitter, and I'm happy with how it turned out, although honestly I could have gone with any other color and they would probably still look good!

At the time, I didn't have a pressure pot to cure it in, so there are some pretty significant bubbles (if you look closely you can see a big chunk missing out of the top of the d4), but there honestly weren't as many as I was expecting! Overall, while these dice are nothing special and aren't very interesting visually to look at, for my first set I'm very proud of them! 6.5/10 dice

At this point, I had bought a pressure pot, so I was feeling more confident in my ability to produce more polished dice. This set was inspired by my first ever DND character (who I recreated as my first Tav in Baldur's Gate 3), a wood elf barbarian/druid named Thaedhel. This reminds me that I haven't talked about Thaedhel on this account at all, which is weird considered I even commissioned some dope art for her, so note to self that I need to make a post gushing about her at some point XD

Anyways, back to the dice. This... was my fourth attempt, and I'm still not pleased with the results. That being said, my goals for this set are lofty, so it's still just a work in progress. This attempt has the best color; I was able to achieve a deep forest green that the previous sets lacked, and the white plumes (meant to represent moonlight for a moon druid) turned out beautifully! The white dye is not translucent, so I had issues before with cloudiness, but this is the best result yet. There's even a pinch of glow-in-the-dark mica powder in the white, so the dice actually glow blue once activated by blacklight! Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that, but maybe once I've perfected them!

Now, for the gripes. For one thing, there's a small red flower in the center of each dice, which unfortunately got swallowed up by the dyes and are only visible from specific angles. I now know that I should have included a clear resin window to keep them from getting lost, so that will be fixed in the future. But for the most part, I was happy with them; I had bought a new mold that included a barrel and crystal d4, and once I took them out I thought they had cured nicely, especially since there were no bubbles to be seen. That is, until I inked in the numbers. I wanted to paint all of the numbers copper except for the highest number on each dice, which is a nice bloody red to represent barbarian rage. But once I started to paint them, I realized how deformed these dice truly were; warped, uneven edges and rough faces that made it impossible to cleanly ink the numbers. The picture actually hides it relatively well, but in person these are some messy dice. Oh, well. Looks like I've got some work to do. 4/10 for the color scheme and not much else.

This is my magnum opus, and it's only about two-weeks old. Inspired by my current character, a tiefling bard named Enyo, I was so pleased with how these turned out, both structurally and in terms of color, that I've actually used them in the last couple of sessions (the d20 is 'moderately lucky,' according to my DM). By far, they're my favorite set!

This was my first time using mica powder as a colorant instead of dye, and it looks sooo good in person. I chose the red metallic powder for her Infernal heritage, and the purple powder is for bardic magic. It's color-shifting powder, too, so in person there's greens and reds that pop out of the purple if the light hits in the right way! But imo, inking the numbers is what really brings the set together, and gold felt appropriately classy and regal, plus it pops like crazy! The pictures truly don't do it justice.

This was made with the same mold as the Thaedhel set, and this time I made sure to give the dice some extra time to harden before I pried them out of the mold (I'm guessing that's why the first set came out so misshapen, I am not a patient person lol). It's not a flawless set; there are still a couple of bubbles despite using the pressure pot, but luckily they're not noticeable. And while I wish the two colors had interacted better (I wanted more of a fiery-pluming effect but they ended up mixing and pooling more than I wanted), I still think they came out beautifully and I genuinely can't stop touching and looking at them whenever I see them. Truly some shiny goblin rocks if I ever saw 'em. It's a 9/10 for me.

#just one of the things I've been up to when I've been offline but oh boy is it a process #if you made it to the end thanks for listening to my silly dice rambles 😅#handmade dice #dnd #ella thinks

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cafeinthemoon · 1 year

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More Myself Than I Am - Chapter V

Chapter 5/?

Wordcount 2,9k

Title Rashomon

Fandom Bungo Stray Dogs

Pairing Ryuunosuke Akutagawa X reader

Previous chapters

1 . 2 . 3 . 4

Symbols ⭕ . ➕ . 💛

Warnings: implied violent death

Tagging @lasidollily @darling-imobsessed @samyayaya (if you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just send an ask or a message 😉)

N. A.: So finally, after several months and with a bunch of other projects to occupy my time, I managed to finish this chapter! I'm so happy! I was a bit hard to work on it bc there were details I've completely forgot about, given the time I've spent away from this story, but it's finally here. In this one, we will have the direct continuation of the previous chapter, and great revelations to reader...

Hope you enjoy it and I'm sorry for all ths time without updates XD

You had no time to turn and look at him.

Something fast, sharp made its way toward you with the power of a lightning and wrapped itself around you before you could think of pushing or stopping it. You looked down and saw what reminded you of a black stripe on your waist; it pulled you behind, and in a split second you found yourself breathless, trembling in your friend’s arms, your ability deactivating by the startle and the exhaustion.

The next thing you remembered was Akutagawa summoning more of those shadows against the men, the stripes widening to block your peripheral sight. The vivid sound of flesh being pierced and sliced was heard, followed by suffocated screams of fear and despair. The stripes came back to their place with a swoosh and disappeared, and then there was silence.

You were still unable to move, only standing thanks to his grip. You didn’t dare look at your adversaries now – or what was left of them – and were satisfied in just imagining what might happened. At least you no longer had to worry.

Now, you needed to focus on the things you just found out.

First, your brother-in-law was a terrible person, involved in activities with high probability of being illegal. Second, your family was now in danger, and you couldn’t do anything for them when you yourself were in a much worse situation. Finally, the man with whom you were about to have a date was an esper just like you. You didn’t know if you should be relieved or desperate: Arthur also had special abilities, but that didn’t bring you any safeness. However, Akutagawa has always been gentle with you; and, when you found yourself in the most dangerous situation of your life since the incident with Virginia, he just came to protect you. Should you expect things to be different?

There wasn’t much time to think about this, though: once the work was done and your survival was assured, the next thing to do was to provide an escape route, something that wasn’t really hard since your partner summoned the shadows again and took you with him to the nearest rooftop, perhaps the same he used to access the alley. You held your breath and shut your eyes tight with the sudden change of place, only opening them again when you sensed a ground under your feet.

Akutagawa still had an arm around you, but with his free hand he grabbed his phone to make a call.

This was what he said when the person answered:

– It’s done. Take your men to the place and clean it.

He turned it off and typed a second number. This time, the conversation lasted a bit longer, and the imperative note in his voice wasn’t present, an indicative of the superiority of the person to whom he talked that time.

– Sir, the mission was accomplished. The men are taking care of the rest.

The person on the other side of the line seemed to ask something, but you weren’t able to hear it.

– No problem – Akutagawa replied – We’re on our way.

There was no need to explain to whom the we was referring to. When the call ended, you had the nerve to ask where he was going to take you.

– To the only place where you can stay safe for now – he looked around and below, as to make sure you didn’t have unwanted eyes watching anything.

No other explanation was given after this. He left that rooftop and took you to the ground of another alley, where there was a black car at its entry, maybe the same you saw him entering in the day he walked you home.

You didn’t question his intentions or hesitate to approach the vehicle: your legs, still able to walk, led you to it, and when the door was opened, your body just found its way inside it. Akutagawa took the place by your side and closed the door.

Once you sat down, your head was so heavy that you had to hold your forehead to not fall on the front seat’s back. An order was whispered to the driver by your friend, and the car started moving fast and silent. The last thing you remembered was trying to lean your back on the seat when a dizziness took over your senses and your sight went completely dark.

***

Your eyes were heavy when you tried to open them for the first time, but you did it after a few attempts. You blinked to get used to the light and, when your sight cleared, you took the next moment to understand your position and surroundings.

Your back was leaning on the softness of an armchair, your head inclined to the side, your hands resting on your lap. You moved on the chair and sensed a numbness on your limbs, typical of a fainting; you searched through your memories and recollected the moment you entered the car and were followed by Akutagawa.

You straightened up on your spot and shivered: your skin was cold despite the regular temperature of the room. You passed your arms around yourself and observed the place…

And were impressed by the sophistication and beauty you found.

It was a large apartment with modest yet fine decoration, with dark, grayish walls and a black, polished floor, covered with carpets. At your right, you sensed there was natural light, as if entering through glass; you turned toward it and discovered a pair of transparent doors, wide open. There was no wind coming in, but that explained the cold air around. You also sensed a slight, mixed smell of camphor and tea.

Quiet steps were heard near your spot, and you found out weren’t left alone in that room. You raised your eyes and saw Akutagawa approaching and stopping in front of your chair. Suddenly, the memory of the fight in the alley, when he activated his powers, came back and you flinched. Ignoring your reaction, he just did what he intended: with his right hand, he touched your ear with his fingertips, the same ear hit by the metal bead controlled by the man of the scars; when you felt the touch, you noticed your skin was covered with a bandage. With the contact, it burned a little: it was when you realized the metal hit hard.

Akutagawa was the first to speak.

– It stopped bleeding, then – and, moving his hand away, – Good.

You touched your ear in the same spot he did.

– Did you make this bandage?

He nodded in confirmation.

– Thank you.

Instead of replying, he went back to the kitchen, then returned with two cups of tea in hands, one of which he offered to you. You murmured a “thank you” and he took a seat on a chair identical to yours, placed near it, crossing his legs in a what might be the most informal manners he was able to assume.

You took the tea in tense silence, except for the moment you complimented him for the good work in preparing the drink.

– I do it the same way almost every day – he justified – It’s a simple recipe, which makes things easier for me, especially in the busy days.

You found it strange that he gave you all this explanation about his relationship with the process of making tea instead of just accepting your compliment, but you didn’t question it, limiting yourself to an “I see” before the silence was again established between you.

When you finished your tea, you kept your eyes in the cup’s bottom, observing the wet leaves inside it while warming your hands with the remaining heat of the porcelain.

Akutagawa, whose practical manners wouldn’t be left aside by the tensions of earlier, was the one who started the conversation.

– I suppose you want to know where you are.

You raised your eyes to him as soon as you heard those words.

– This apartment is mine – he explained – At the moment, we are in a building that belongs to the organization I work for.

You swallowed. After everything you’ve experienced that day, the word organization was starting to acquire a suspicious meaning.

– What kind of... organization is this one?

The young man in front of you didn’t spare your ears nor your nerves with his answer.

– One that serves as a pillar for the city you came to live in: The Port Mafia.

You felt your entire body tensing up, and your hands tightened around the empty cup. You opened your mouth, but closed it again, not knowing what to say to this.

So… I was about to have a date with a member of a criminal organization?

None of this represented a problem to Akutagawa, who seemed to have anticipated it.

– Revealing this to you in the current circumstances wasn’t in my plans, y/n-san – he continued, the same composed tone as before – But we have nor the choice nor the time to make things different. So, let me explain the situation first, then you will have the chance to decide what to do. As you already noticed, I myself am an esper too. My ability is called Rashomon. To summarize, it is a fabric that devours anything that enters its reach, which includes the space itself. I’ve been working for the Mafia since I was a kid, and for all these years it served me well. There are others like us in our organization, as much as there are common people. We are present in all possible segments of society, and this is how it came to our knowledge that a woman with non documented powers has arrived in Yokohama.

You swallowed.

So, I’ve been observed for all this time.

Suddenly, it came to your memory that night when you sensed a strange presence near your building and went to check it out. Since you couldn’t find anything, you forgot about the episode, supposing that it was just an impression. Now, you weren’t so sure of this.

But Akutagawa hasn’t finished yet.

– However, the Port Mafia is not the only group that knows about you: a foreigner organization, involved with international traffic of espers and counting on native agents to maintain its activities, has been surrounding our city for months and discovered your existence by the same time as us. That man Arthur was one of their agents. He was using your sister to approach you. I was designated to follow his steps, and I suppose he was well informed about me, for he recognized me that day when we met.

The image of Arthur cheering up in the company of your sisters in that occasion, then the one of his body falling and crashing down in your living room returned to you, and your hands trembled.

– It’s a shame that I only found about him when it was too late – you whispered.

– And this is what I wanted to ask you about – your friend continued, unaffected – What happened in your apartment?

You took a deep breath and recalled the disturbing events. It was curious that, instead of the expected shame or fear, speaking about the things you heard and saw – and especially what you did about them – brought a deep sensation of relief; it might have been because you had someone like you to hear the story, or because you finally accepted all of that as real, and not a nightmare, once you talked, or even something between these two. Besides, the fact that Akutagawa didn’t interrupt you and showed no signs of shock or disgust with your actions contributed with this sense of comfort: somehow, his view on what happened to you – and about you – had deep importance.

– And now I don’t know what to do – you concluded, your voice beginning to crack – I can’t go back to my house and see how my sisters are doing, neither I can go to the police without exposing myself... I’m trapped...

No verbal response came from your listener, as he gave you a moment to regain sobriety. When he finally opened his mouth, was to make you an offer.

– Now you understand why I said this is the safest place for you now? – and, when you gave him a nod, – But you can’t stay here forever. And, about this, our head wants to have a conversation with you.

You gasped. The head of the Port Mafia – whoever they were – was interested in you and your powers? Well, you wouldn’t have been taken there for any other reason.

– I don’t know how much you’ve heard about this, but we, bearers of special abilities living in this country, are under an inconvenient bureaucracy – Akutagawa continued – This means that our condition needs to be documented and cataloged by the government, or else our lives might become difficult, whether we are involved with an organization that utilizes our powers or not. Since you don’t have such documentation, no support from the regular authorities must be expected in your case. So, as you can see, things are harder for you than for your family at this moment.

Well, good. As if it wasn’t enough for you to go through all the terrible things involving Arthur and his partners, now you had to worry about documentation.

You sighed.

– If my situation is as complicated as you’re saying, what difference my choice would make to you? As far as I can see, I’ve only been a problem for anyone who surrounds me. What does the Port Mafia expect to gain with this case?

Akutagawa uncrossed his legs and stood up, taking the cup from your hands.

– This is exactly what our head wants to discuss with you – he explained – My role was assure your integrity and bring you to our quarters. Any other information you need to know, you will have from him.

Before you had the chance to continue the conversation, two knocks were heard at the front door. Akutagawa extended a stripe of his Rashomon to unlock it, making you flinch: despite having witnessed it in action before, it was just unsettling to watch him use his power in a casual place such as a living room.

The door was open and there you saw a short, young man with vibrant, ginger hair under a hat and a black coat hanging upon his shoulders. He had his hands on his waist, in an informal position that made him stand out of the environment.

For a moment, he didn’t open his mouth, staring at Akutagawa, then at you, then back to the first, as if not knowing if he should say what he came to say or if he arrived at the wrong time.

With a sigh, he finally decided to speak.

– Ah, you’re here at last – and, with a gesture of his thumb that indicated some place behind him – Boss is impatient to see you. He’s waiting in his office.

Akutagawa nodded in concordance.

– We’re on our way.

He looked at you without a word, but you were quick to understand: you were going to see his superior – “the boss”, as his partner said – in the next moments. You stood up too, looking at the ginger, then back to your friend.

– I’m ready.

***

At first, you thought that you would have your eyes covered or you would be knocked out to wake up only when you were in front of the said Mafia’s leader – since you weren’t part of the organization, possessed special abilities and were desperate, every measure must be taken, so that you would never reveal the smallest information to the outside world. However, none of this happened: Akutagawa didn’t even hold your arm during the walk; he just led you to an elevator at his apartment’s floor and, after a few seconds of lifting, its doors opened to reveal a large corridor surrounded by black walls that, according to him, would lead to your destination. He was the first to step into it, and you just followed him.

It was when the reason why you were allowed to see the path became clear.

This is the quarters of the city’s underworld. The closer I get to its head, the harder would be for me to leave and reveal anything.

By the end of the corridor, a tall pair of doors were visible.

– It’s here – his voice echoed through the liminal space, despite his low tone.

He pushed them with little effort, and you saw them move in synchrony, revealing a wide room that would be as dark as its outsides if it wasn’t for the wall entirely made of glass at the observer’s left, just like the one at Akutagawa’s apartment; thanks to them, you were able to analyze your surroundings in precious details.

The room would seem empty with a lighter color palette, but the one chosen for it did an excellent work in using the extra space, from the decorated ceiling lining to the dark green wallpaper, and the intricate patterns of the large, wine-shaded carpet. At the opposite side of the room, at least meters ahead of your spot, there was a woody work-table, a black chair and three shelves full of books, placed on both of the table’s sides and behind it; a second chair, modest if compared with the first one, was before the table, as if it wasn’t part of the room and it was only brought there moments before you arrived.

You and Akutagawa weren’t the only ones at that place: standing at the side of the glass wall, with his hands behind his back, a man with black coat and a red scarf upon his shoulders was observing the outsides. He turned to you as soon as the doors were closed, and greeted you both with a composed smile.

You approached as he went to take a place close to the table, and once you put your eyes on his face, you froze. Yes, he was different from how you used to see him – his hair was properly combed, his beard has been shaved and his entire apparel was dark – but there was no way for you to be deceived.

There you had the head of Port Mafia, though you knew him by another name.

– Dr. Ougai?

Chapter 6

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