#it may have been unintentional but the fact that this particular take was the one they kept in was a great move on the director's part

[thegraininessofitall]

[poomphuripan]

what are your thoughts on ming seeming not very emotional in that sex scene of ep 7?

hi nonnie (❁´◡`❁)

i think you probably mean this NC scene in ep 8 right?

actually i had a little discussion with @clowncroccharms about this scene in ep. 8 this week so shoutout to them first for making my gears turn whenever i think about this adaptational change.

so i think it's really interesting that they cheekily brought back that 'sneezing during orgasm' as the final straw for ming to confirm that joe 2.0 is definitely related to joe 1.0 somehow. but i wouldn't say that this particular scene was ming actual realization that joe 2.0 is joe 1.0. i felt this entire episode corresponds more with chapters 75 to 85, with this sex scene corresponding most closely to chapter 80, where sex is just one of the tests ming had for joe 2.0.

In the beginning, it was just like usual, a silent, unilateral venting sex act. Joe was still like an ostrich, concealing his face and emotions. Ming still didn’t utter a word as he forcefully thrust into him. Ming slammed his body with such powerful force that Joe’s head almost hit the headboard. He had experienced Ming’s abilities and strength in bed a long time ago. But at that time, both of them enjoyed it. They often did it throughout the night, satiating themselves. But now, this was for Ming to vent his desires and emotions. Joe merely took it as a job, never complaining. It’s good that this deal is settled to each of their satisfaction. However, something is oddly going on with Ming today. Whether it is intentional or unintentional, he’d touch his body a few times. These touches were like… like he is feeling him out. The areas that Ming touched were all his (older Joe’s) sensitive spots. Although he’s in a different body, he’s come to realize that he is still not immune to these touches. Very soon, he started to feel a different kind of sensation. He instinctively felt that Ming is trying to test him; that he is doubting him. This hasn’t just been once or twice; he just didn’t expect Ming to choose this method… Joe tried hard to control himself from making any sounds but Ming seemed to be doing it deliberately by prolonging his thrusts, very slowly entering and then very slowly pulling out, completely shattering his willpower. For the first time, Joe felt pleasure, making him endlessly terrified. He suppressed his body’s reaction but could not resist the increasing turbulent waves of intense pleasure. Ming also became unusual, his breathing becoming particularly heavy, as if he is trying to repress something. Joe voiced hoarsely, “Enough… you’ve had too much to drink.” Ming turned a deaf ear and continued to change the angle of his thrusts. It is the first time he has the desire to penetrate this body and the feeling is actually this good. It is as if the person beneath him is the one who had been constantly on his mind. At this time, how could he stop? He didn’t care whether it is his drunken delusion or what it may be, he just wanted to grasp firmly onto this current feeling. For the longest time, he had not felt this kind of satisfaction. Both of them are caught in an unprecedented state of ecstasy. Besides desires, there was nothing on their minds. In fact, who they are actually having sex with became insignificant. Joe felt like he is on the verge of drowning to death. He clutched onto the bed sheets tightly, withstanding the thrills of passion that seemed to have separated from his body a long time ago. In this moment, he couldn’t tell which body he is in, whether it is his past life or this present life. This kind of familiar feeling invaded all his memories, causing him to forget where he’s at. Or it could be said that whichever body he was in, at this moment is no longer important.

of course, the series did take the initiative and shuffled things around, making this event right before joe & ming learns that the body of joe 2.0 has been discovered so i actually don't consider that that scene in this week ep as ming's realization of joe 2.0 being joe 1.0, it's more closer to 'ming aggressively accuses that joe 2.0 must be joe 1.0 while joe denies it profusely'.

all gifs courtesy of @jimmysea

and honestly if you look at it from ming's perspective, he might even have just thought that joe 2.0 was actually joe 1.0 who had plastic surgery to look completely different so i don't really think the news/realization has actually hit ming like a rock yet in that moment. not to mention that right after him trying to accuse that joe 2.0 is his p'joe, he receives the news that they've discovered joe 1.0's corpse... i mean can you imagine how insane the thoughts in his head must be... that news is probably going to mess with his crazy theory of joe 2.0 being joe 1.0 as well so i understand why he seems... not very remorseful at this point (ep 8) of the story...

but not to fret because this week's ep 9 is already the moment everyone has been waiting for where ming starts begging on his knees for forgiveness so i can't wait for the actual realization scene where ming figures out how joe 2.0 is truly his joe 1.0 because the remorse definitely hits much harder after these two have seen joe 1.0's corpse face to face.

i hope that answers your question nonnie \(￣︶￣*\))

[liyawritesss]

ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜʙᴄᴜ!ꜱʜᴜʀɪ

Characters: HBCU!Shuri Udaku x Black!GN!Reader

Type: Headcanons

Synopsis: What would a first date withHBCU!Shuri entail? Can you make it past the texting stage, or will you be stuck imagining it all in your head?

Warnings: mild cursing, but other than that, nothing but pure fluff.

A/N: it’s been a minute since i’ve seen anything HBCU!Shuri related, sooooo I decided to take my stab at it. Just a cute lil idea I’ve had for a while now, and thought to finally put it into words.

Tags: @6-noir @playhousedistee @shuririsdefenseattorney @shuriszn @venusdraco @wrendermedone @writingintheshadowsforever @mbakuetshurisprincess @verachii @slytherin-34 @the-lesbian-fangirl @h34rtsformilli @strangefishflapturtle @cuddl3s4shur1 @shuriislut @dejaonline @babyboiboyega @badass-dora-milaje @inmyheadimobsessed @aaliyg @cafehyunji @chunkybabygorl @rosielovesfashion @lulu-network @nichole-224 @niyahwrites @Lppriceisright @hufflehans

Sign Up For My Taglist Here!

The two of you meet by chance in a campus cafe. Shuri was there working on assignments for class, and you’d asked to sit at her table as all the other chairs in the cafe were taken. In engaging in light conversation, the two of you found comfort in each others company. Shuri was surprisingly easy to talk to, which soothed your worries when engaging with the royal.

You noticed that the particular assignment she was struggling with dealt with Literature, and in an effort to befriend toe royal, you offered to tutor her. Shuri graciously accepted your offer, and so, the two of you traveled back to your dorm for the impromptu study session.

Before either of you knew it, night time had come, and you’d been ‘studying’ for hours, which was more of watching random tik toks and getting to know one another.

To return the favor, Shuri asks you out on a date. Though her tone is nervous, she expresses that she thinks you’re cute and your company soothes her, and she would like to take you out sometime. The two of you agree that the next day would be the best, to avoid any unwanted anxiety from the prolonging of the occasion.

When the next evening rolls around, Shuri shows up to your door dressed comfortably yet stylish. She wears a cream colored hoodie with a white tee underneath, a pair of black shorts and cream sneakers to match. It was ironic, because you wore the same color palette for your outfit. A sheepish laugh was shared between the two of you at the realization of your unintentional matching.

Shuri brings flowers, because she’s got such good manners. She’s not basic, however, so in an attempt to make a good impression, she researches the meanings of certain flowers, and has a bouquet made at a local florist to make it extra special. It’s a mixture of purple tulips and daisies, to signify the start of whatever relationship the two of you may have, be it romantic or platonic, and the excitement that comes with it for her.

I believe Shuri would be the kind of person to prefer chill dates to ones that are extravagant or heavily thought out. You’ll probably drive to a nearby corner spot or late night food truck to grab a bite, and either sit at a trail overlooking a body of water or a beachfront. She’s taking it slow purposefully, as the two of you are still getting to know each other and don't want to push you into anything that may make you uncomfortable.

Doesn’t mind handing you the aux cord as the two of you eat in the car - in fact, she more than encourages it. She thinks that a person's taste in music tells a lot about them, so whatever happens to slip from the conversation, she’ll probably pick it up from whatever music you decide to play.

After eating the two of you will just sit at the spot, talking as if you’re two souls reuniting again and catching up on centuries lost. She’s quite the schemer though; will definitely slip your hand into her while you’re so engrossed in what youre talking about, or ghost a hand on your thigh while she maintains interest in your words. Licking her lips, maintaining eye contact, she does it all with intention. She knows it can be intense sometimes, though, and tries to dial it down for the first date at least. But if you reciprocate? She’ll absolutely melt into it.

The date will end with a sweet kiss at your dorm door. Depending on your body language, she’ll either give you a kiss on the forehead, cheek, or lips; she asks first in any case of course. ‘They’re sweeter that way’ she says, which makes you laugh and the heat creep up your neck menacingly.

Shuri texts you to let you know that she’s made it home, as to not have you worry, and throughout texting until you fall asleep on the phone, she definitely hints that she has another date in mind already.

If you enjoyed, please leave a like, comment, and reblog for others to see! And don’t be shy to send in a request!

[merakiui]

Mer Eggs Anon back again

Okay hear me out Mera-

The fwb into yandere into parents- omegaverse style

Darling is having so many problems with their heat and strikes a deal with one of (or all 👀 maybe they take turns) octatrio to help, in return you help them out too with their ruts

Slowly overtime it goes from Fwb to one-sided affection to obsession

But one day somehow (we know how) Darling is pregnant, despite being so careful with contraceptives and protection (scheming boys always win) and hides it. the time for their next heat comes and the boy asks why they aren't in heat (they know), and darling has to tell the boy that they are pregnant

Pull the "I understand if you don't want to be a dad-" and darling is promptly cut off by the joy the boys feel, they proudly claim darling as theirs, he will be a great father and all this other stuff.

And darling is too overwhelmed to even notice that the boy seemed a bit too prepared to be a dad... somehow everything seemed prepared already

It all comes crashing down eventually, darling finding out about the sabotage but by then they are too far along and they already have been claimed, so even if they wanted to they are instinctively bound to their alpha (or alphas)

Okay rant over-

Signing off,

Mer Eggs Anon

MER EGGS, I LOVE THIS AAAAAAA!!!!!!! OTL omegaverse with (supposedly) surprise, unintentional pregnancy is so yummy omg omg!!! <3

Imagine after learning that it was all fully intentional and that he sabotaged your birth control you try to confront him because you’re so shocked and upset and hurt and betrayed and disgusted, but he’s being so sweet to you, telling you you’ll be a wonderful parent, that he’s here for you every step of the way, that this will be perfect—don’t you want a family? You want to be a parent, right? Right? And suddenly you’re not sure why you’re so angry anymore… or!!!! Conversely, holding your ground and not letting them lead you astray with so many hypothetical questions and subtle topic changes, but your determination crumbles when he gives you a dead stare and says, completely serious and stern, “You’re keeping the baby and you’re building this family with me.” Or something along those lines, and he purposely releases too many strong pheromones so you’re forced into submission. You have no choice but to drop the subject and meekly agree because it’s an unfortunate biological fact that omegas are immensely weak to lots of alpha pheromones, especially pregnant ones who have already been marked and claimed by said alpha(s). <3

Omg omg omg also that trope in omegaverse where the pregnant omega misses the alpha when they’re not home, so they surround themself with the alpha’s scent (whether by wrapping themselves in the duvet on their bed or hiding away amongst their shirts in the closet or by rifling through the laundry to find an article of clothing that smells a lot like them). Aaaaa it’s purely instinctual that you’re doing this, but he’s so pleased to come home to find you so compliant and weepy for him, unable to avoid omega instincts.

Floyd’s the easiest to deal with (and easiest to charm). But then he’s also really good at unintentionally charming you because he’s just so genuine and loving and helpful, and he wants so badly to be part of the baby’s life. Also he’s so good at pregnancy sex????? You’d think he’d be rough or lose himself in the moment, but he’s eerily soft—arguably the most gentle sex you’ll ever get from him. <3

Jade may be particular about certain things, such as making sure you aren’t doing too much hard work because he doesn’t want you to injure yourself or the baby, but for the most part he’s just pleased to start a family with you. I think you’ll see more emotions from Jade because he doesn’t take as much care to veil all of them. He’s just so overwhelmed with happiness, so he smiles a lot more—smiles that actually show teeth—and he’s practically glowing with joy and excitement. You even caught him humming when he was preparing breakfast! T-T he becomes so fluffy, so one way or another you’ll find yourself charmed. How can you not when he takes such good care of you?

Azul is a bit of a mess (a lot of a mess, actually), so he frets over every little detail. He wants you to be comfortable at all times, so everything he does is for your sake, even if it means he has to sacrifice his own comfort. Azul was ready to repaint the entire kitchen because you (in the midst of a pregnancy mood swing) whined about how the blue makes you think of gloomy, rainy days. :( Azul just wants you to be happy because when you’re happy he’s overjoyed. <3 you only need to exist and he’s the happiest mer in the world, so there’s no need to entertain escape. Not that you’d get very far. :)

[moony-2001]

Lore Olympus ep. 252 critique

Before all you stans get mad I generally thought this episode was pretty okay. But maybe that’s because not a whole lot happened.

Cassandra

So going in the order of events, first up is our favorite gal Cassandra.

Gotta say, already like her loads.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about her general existence, beyond the fact that it’s stupid that Apollo is using her as a walking incognito tab. My main criticism more lies around the idea of when did Apollo even meet her? He obviously couldn’t have met her during the time skip because there were no interactions allowed between realms during that time and he was kicking it in Olympus.

We also have no indication of when he actually met her post-punishment. There’s no definitive timeline for how far we are post-time skip, but by my estimation, we can’t be more than a month past when the embargo officially lifted. Idk I can already smell the mess that is this storyline a mile away.

The SA plot line

Holy fuck. I don’t exactly know what the hell Rachel is exactly trying to achieve with the SA plot line but I can tell you that the handling of it has been piss poor.

Uhhh... this is great and all except for the fact that Persephone never thought this. There is not one shred of evidence that Persephone ever liked or actually found Apollo handsome. Not even in the very early chapters. She didn't even say that he made her feel special. She said that she liked the way Hades made her feel. Hades made her feel special by grooming her but that's a whole-ass post on its own.

Even after her assault, she continued to express at minimum a clear discomfort for him in front of others and at maximum immense hatred for him when by herself or with only him. And now suddenly Rachel wants to flip the script? Why? What purpose would that serve? Why is she suddenly backpedaling on a plotline that was established within the first 25 episodes/the second day Persephone is on Olympus? The SA plotline is the longest-running and the "big bad" that has yet to be resolved. But now it only pops up when the story needs a little conflict or an extra boost to drive it forward. Plus now she wants to portray Apollo as this misunderstood ex-love interest/boyfriend with whom the audience is supposed to sympathize? It's disgusting. @genericpuff who I really need to stop tagging in these posts I'm so sorry made an excellent essay about how Rachel is burying the SA plot line that basically takes what I've said above and greatly expands it. Go read it, they made a lot of excellent points.

Melinoe

Ah yes. The mystery deity that was really Hades’ inner child/actual child all along!

So I actually had a conversation with another LO critic about how weird I thought this "inner child -> actual canonical child" pipeline was. Now, granted, I could be reading into this way too much but when I first read this, I honestly thought it was some kind of weird/unintentional representation of parents projecting their trauma onto their children.

We've seen this little ghost buddy in past chapters and a lot of people (myself included) thought that our ghost buddy was a representation of Hades' inner child. A little Hades if you will. And it was portrayed that way. We often saw our little ghost buddy/little Hades who was extremely traumatized by Hades' past experiences. The part of Hades that just can't let go despite what he may claim about "moving on" or "being better". But if this little ghost/Hades is actually their kid Melinoe, that means they saw everything that Hades went through. All his traumas, all his struggles. Everything. And now also with Persephone and her little jaunt through the mind-scape and the shit she saw. So now we have to recontextualize all of those scenes where Hades interacts with this being and tbh the scenes kind of become very ick? This is such a strange direction to take this particular storyline. Something about it just rubs me the wrong way and I don't know if it's my above complaint or something else.

But yeah. Pretty tame in comparison to some of my past posts and posts that will come. Until the next chapter and/or my next post.

[radiosummons]

Even though Wolfwood is very much not an actual Catholic priest, I do find it compelling that Vash--someone without any religious beliefs and minimal exposure to "Christianity," courtesy of Rem (OG Trigun)--is the most faithful of the two.

And by "faithful," I don't mean so much in a religious or Christian sort of sense. More that Vash holds onto his faith that there is good in people and that everyone is worth saving. That the taking of a life is something so unspeakable to him that it will literally cause him immense mental, emotional and physical pain when he is forced to do so. His unshakeable belief, i.e. his faith that every life is precious and no one is beyond redepmtion irregardless of how morally corrupt an individual may be is so foundational to who he is as a character.

While I've only really experienced this through anime and various other Japanese based video games, I do enjoy seeing depictions of Christian iconography and concepts form non-Western creators. I love the art and memes of Vash being a "biblically accurate angel" (even though Plants aren't angels, I am so fucking happy that people are picking up on the unintentional symbolism) and I do enjoy the amount of, again, art and memes of Wolfwood being a cringefail Catholic priest.

But I also love the non-Western depiction of Christianity in Trigun, or rather the apocalyptic remnants of it. Despite the fact I have lost my ability to have faith in a higher being (and my own personal beef/distate with the Catholic Church/conservative Christianity as a whole), I find the worldbuilding of Trigun fascinating in this aspect as it provides its audience an alternative form of a global religion that's very relevant to our daily lives.

In Trigun, Christianity is very much a shadow of its former self, a leftover remnant of humanity--more specifically, a remnant of an old forgotten belief system--that has been essentialy been lost. Save for a few remaining Bibles and some memories of particular Catholic iconography/symbolism.

But overall, that's all that remains. Just familiar symbols and various rituals that some people are able to recall from their former lives.

So the decision to pair Vash up with someone like Wolfwood, someone who has lost his faith in humanity as a whole but has resolved himself to protect those that he can (or rather, deems worthy of saving) ... I find that relationship absolutely fascinating. Because I'd argue that in most Western depictions of a holy man (typically Christian and typically Catholic, let's be real), it's usually the holy man that is doing the saving. Or at the very least, is usually helping guide the other characters on their own paths towards redemption.

Despite the fact Wolfwood isn't an actual priest but instead an assassin trained by a mercenary group using the guise of an old religion (again, that most of humanity has clearly forgotten about), I find it to be a wonderful storywriting choice to make Vash the "holy man."

They're both incredibly tragic characters that burden themselves with crippling destinies. Destinies that ultimately lead to their own destruction, but hopefully all for the greater good. Vash holds faith that maybe, just maybe, he can make Nai realize the error of his ways and turn over a new leaf.

Understandably, Wolfwood finds this way of thinking horribly childish and naive. He even takes it as a personal insult when Vash continues to insist that killing people, even if it's for the sake of protecting someone else, is wrong.

But Vash isn't wrong for wanting to see the good in people. To borrow a quote from Everything Everywhere All At Once: "You tell me it's a cruel world, and we're all running around in circles. I know that. I've been on this earth just as many days as you. When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naive. It is strategic and necessary. It's how I've learned to survive through everything. I know you see yourself as a fighter. Well, I see myself as one too. This is how I fight."

Granted, Vash doesn't express his beliefs as eloquently as this. But that doesn't really matter, though. Because Wolfwood doesn't need Vash to make express himself this way for Wolfwood to finally understand him. Vash, by the simple of virtue of being himself, is a good person who chooses to see the good in others.

And Wolfwood ... Wolfwood is someone who chooses to see the bad.

Wolfwood cannot quite bring himself to view the world the way Vash does. And Vash will never be able to share Wolfwood's opinions regarding who is worthy of living, either. But they respect each other and understand where the other person is coming from.

It does take Wolfwood a lot longer to understand Vash as a person, let alone his faith in humanity. But when he does, it's so satisfying to watch Vash become someone important to him. Someone that he wants to protects. Because if Vash won't defend himself, Wolfwood resolves to be the one to protect Vash.

Even if Vash doesn't really want that.

It's so fucking amazing to see these two clash over their ideals, whether it's in the form of playful teasing or straight up beating the shit out of each other. But they stay together and hold each other in such high regard despite their conflicting beliefs.

To me, one of the most beautiful aspescts of Trigun is that Wolfwood--a man of faith but only in name--gets to have such a close connection with Vash--a man of faith through and through--and that because of their relationship, they both inspire a existential AND spiritual crisis within one another.

Because in a world that makes no sense, they both find faith in each other. And if that isn't the most beautiful shit you've ever seen, then I don't know what is.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

Hi there! How are you doing? I have some questions, well, a rant *plus* some questions.

I feel... safer with allo allies than I do with aro/ace communities (online). Does that make me aphobic/bad? I don't go by labels because for me, they're not necessary. If I *were* to label myself based purely on definitions, I would be aroace, specifically, demiromantic asexual. I used to go by this a while back.

I don't fit the stereotype of being aroace at all. I'll talk about the aromantic side. Unlike most arospecs i've seen online, I LOVE Valentine's day! I LOVE shipping! I LOVE consuming romance fiction. I LOVE romance et cetera et cetera and yet I don't experience it like allos do. I need a strong bond with someone in order to fall in love and it takes me really, really, long to do so. But once it happens, my love is not 'weak'. It makes me pass really well as allo because of this, but it makes a lot of people in the aro community mad because I'm 'stealing' a label to 'feel special'. I was always told I was not aroace, that I couldn't be aroace by definition. That I was alloromantic asexual pretending to be on the arospec. That I was too scared to be 'basic'.

On that topic, and I think this is unintentional, but... why is nobody batting an eye when an aro or an ace person shames an allo or calls them weird or basic? Because they're doing exactly what allo aphobes are doing to them. I had this conversation with a friend and he said, 'that doesn't happen, allo people don't get shamed especially by aspec people', yet, I keep seeing things like 'I fucking hate allos so much' and 'To all my aces, we're not like allos, we're better' or something along those lines.

Whenever I enter an aspec online space, I'm made to feel like an intruder because, as I said, my experiences are very similar to the allo experience EXCEPT for the fact that I don't feel romantic attraction unless a strong bond has been formed. I'm not saying the aroace community is bad in any way, don't get my wrong, I'm saying that there is a massive gatekeeping problem going around and so much bubbling hatred and separation, and I don't understand any of it. In a prefect world, I'd happily identify as aroace, but I feel ashamed to do so now.

The gatekeeping... the infighting, I don't want to hate the online community of which I'm supposed to belong but this... this isn't right. The allo allies don't do things like this. They don't make me feel insecure about myself. And yes, while I don't experience romance like an allo would, I feel safe around them. I need to ask, have you seen this too? Have you experienced this? Is this truly all in my head? What do you think?

I apologize for the vent or if I seem aphobic, I just really need answers and I'm tired of the constant hatred... How are you? Did you drink enough water? Did you sleep well today? Did you eat? Again, I'm so sorry if I made you uncomfortable with this!

Vents are totally welcome, Anon. Don't worry.

I'm really sorry you ran into gatekeeping, Anon. I feel like that's something that's really been on the rise especially over the last couple of years. It's a real issue and it causes a lot of harm. This should go without saying, but demiromantic people are aro, and have just as much right to be here as anyone else on the aro spectrum.

I do think at least part of the problem is social media in general and how things are set up these days. We don't have community spaces as much anymore, in particular we've lost moderated spaces where gatekeepers can be properly dealt with. And there's very little curation or organization. Things are chaotic and fragmented, and one person's experience and what kind of posts they say see may vary wildly from someone else's. There's also a competing needs issue, where one aro may need to vent about romance, another may need their romantic side validated and there's no way to organize so each can find the space they each need.

If finding aro spaces/blogs that are more accepting is important to you, Anon (and it's OK both if it is or isn't), my big advice would be seek out demiromantic blogs and posters specifically. There's some very good ones around and they'll be posting about aro things that are relevant to you, and even more importantly won't be gatekeeping demi identities.

For more aro-general blogs, there are ones out there that are also inclusive and anti-gatekeeping, but it may take a bit of work to find them. Be very liberal with your unfollow and block buttons. If someone is gatekeeping block on sight, but also if they're not posting the type of aro content that you need or want to see, you're allowed to organize things so you don't see their posts. Sometimes unfollowing is enough, but blocking also doesn't necessarily mean the other person has done anything wrong, it's just a tool to make sure you're not seeing a blog you don't want to see.

For the shaming allos question, I do think it's a complex topic. For me it depends on context. I definitely do not believe in any kind of ace/aro superiority, being ace and/or aro, or being allo are both neutral. Nobody's smarter or more moral or more pure or anything like that. But sometimes people say things as a vent in the moment and are reacting to a difficult situation they've been in. So for example someone may say 'allos suck' but it comes from a place where they've been very badly treated by allos for being ace or aro but they're referring more to the societal systems that are in place that privilege allo people and make life more difficult for ace/aro people, they don't actually believe being allo makes someone a bad person. (It can be hard to tell what's going on just from a post, again it's OK to unfollow and block, especially if it's just not what you personally need to see in the moment).

Personally I don't come across a lot of this type of stuff, but this is what I mean about things being fragmented, the blogs I follow just aren't posting about the infighting or gatekeeping and I don't happen to see it in the tags when I go in there. But I do hear about it second hand, and it seems like it's a problem on other social media sites I'm not on as well.

I'm sorry you've had a hard time, Anon. But I am glad you've found people you can be comfortable with and be yourself around. That's really important too. And thanks for the reminder that I really should drink more water today.

Hopefully at least some of this is helpful, but if you have more questions or want to discuss anything in more detail, feel free to send in another ask.

All the best!

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for faking my own death?

The context of this story is convoluted, unpleasant, and extraordinarily. However, I will do my best to explain.

About one year ago, I left a note in my office that could have been mistaken for a suicide note. I'm not going to say that it was entirely unintentional, because it most certainly wasn't. That was about where I was mentally at that time. The exact contents of the note aren't necessary, but know that it could have been interpreted in a literal or metaphorical sense. I made it metaphorical, disappearing from the country in an effort to find who I was and where I was meant to go.

The months preceding my "death" had not been pleasant ones. I began to doubt in myself, my morals, and the path I had taken in life for the first time in over a decade. Notably, the murder of my father (which occurred when I was nine years old) was brought into light. That last one, in particular, had an effect on me. For most of my life, I believed I'd inadvertently killed my own father, though I denied this face to myself. However, through the trial (during which I was accused of killing another), it was revealed that my mentor, the reason I am who I am today, was his actual killer, and did everything that he did to me out of some desire for revenge. He was also responsible for attempting to frame me for the other man's death in the most recent trial. It is no wonder I had to take a step back, however, it also would have been no wonder had I killed myself in despair.

For a year, I went on this journey of self-discovery that I have previously mentioned. In this time, I understood many things about myself and what I wish to do with the rest of my life. I feel confident in my life again; I feel as though I will be able to make it. I know I have set myself on the right path, and it is that year long trip which allowed me to do so. I do not regret the time I spent abroad, however, I'm beginning to feel I should have went about it a different way.

The crux of this problem comes in the form of... a friend, of a sort. He is a man to whom I owe a great deal, for he fought tooth and nail to prove my innocence to the world at large as well as myself. He set me back on the right path; the path of truth and justice. I, in all honesty, did not expect him to take that note literally. But he did. For a year, he believed I had killed myself. I underestimated how bad it was, going so far as to instruct a mutual acquaintance of ours not to inform him I was alive when I reached out to him partway through my journey.

Upon my return, he was quite angry at me, to understate things. He said --- or rather, shouted --- some things I rather believe he did not mean, such as that it would have been better had I actually been dead. The situation was extreme, he hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, and I do not hold anything he said against him. However, it has gotten me thinking.

The pain I caused this man was immense. For an entire year, he wallowed in pain and grief. He blamed himself for my "death" and the fact that he had come back into my life (something which my sister did not at all help with, despite the fact that she did not believe I was dead). He was speaking from a place of pain and betrayal, and I fear our relationship may be too damaged to fix. I didn't realize he cared about me enough to be so hurt by the idea that I'd died, and he practically lost a year of his own to his mourning.

I feel terrible. I feel as though I should have waited longer to make a more solid decision. Should have written a clearer note. Should have told our mutual acquaintance to tell him I was alive when I was told he thought I wasn't. I feel as though I know the answer, but I must know. Am I at fault?

[aliciavance4228]

Greek Mythology: Funny Moments

I've wrote "The Iliad: Funny Moments". I've wrote "The Odyssey: Funny Moments". Now I'm going to write this post, so that the Holy Trinity would finally be complete.

Note: When it comes to basically any Greek Myth there's a very fine line between hilarious, weird and straight up disturbing. So please, do acknowledge the fact that everyone might have different opinions about this post..

1. It's hilarious that Acrisius tried to avoid the prophecy of being killed by his grandson Perseus by shipping him and his own daughter Danae away, only to end up dead due to a freak accident when Perseus accidentally hits him on the head with a discus while playing afuneral game. Said funeral was the result of an adventure caused by Perseus being shipped away.

2. One myth had Hephaestus take revenge on Hera for throwing him off Mount Olympus by crafting a golden throne that glued her to her seat when she sat down. He only relented when Dionysus got him too drunk to resist being taken back to Olympus.

3. One story details how Hera was so spectacularly angry at Zeus that she left Olympus. After failing to persuade her to return, Zeus asked for help and was told to make a wooden doll, dress it in a bridal veil, and tell everyone he was getting remarried to lure Hera out. It worked.

On that note, Zeus and Hera's wedding night is said to have lasted for 300 years. 300 years. Divine or not, they must have been really sore after that (or at least exhausted).

4. Hephaestus gets pissed off because his wife Aphrodite is cheating on him with Ares and makes a golden net which he hides by their bed. The next time they start getting it on, the net catches them and hauls them into the air and Hephaestus calls all the other gods to have a good look. The whole of Olympus stands around laughing, and Apollo asks Hermes, 'So, would you mind being chained up naked for everyone to see?' Hermes promptly replies that he wouldn't mind a bit, provided he got to sleep with Aphrodite.

5. An unintentional example, but if you look at some versions of Tiresias and Arachne's myths, Athena has really bad luck when it comes to helping people. A boy almost sees her naked and she tries to shield his innocent eyes? Whoops, she blinded him! A rival tries to kill herself and Athena tries to show her mercy by saving her? Whoops, now her rival's a spider!

6. Speaking of Tiresias, the alternate story of his blindness has a share of funny in it too. He saw a pair of snakes mating one day and separated them with his cane, causing him to be turned into a woman. In following years, adventures as, among others, a temple prostitute ensued, until, meeting the same pair of snakes again and this time leaving them alone, his original form was restored... only for him to happen upon Zeus and Hera in a heated debate about who gets more pleasure out of sex, men or women. They see Tiresias and are immediately like, "Hey, YOU spent time as both a man and a woman! Answer!" He does, which causes Hera to blind him. As even Zeus can't undo what another god did, he gifts him the talent of prophecy via an ability to speak to birds instead. Just in case you wonder, his answer was women.

Wheter his answer was honest or he said that fearing that he might face a worse punishment if his answer was "Men." is debatable.

7. Aphrodite, Hephaistos and Eros are making weapons, in particular Eros is making a javelin. Ares comes in with a strong spear and begins making fun of his son's creation. Eros says it's heavy and says he should try to pick it up. Ares does so, only to find he can't lift it up and his hand is stuck under it.

"Ergh, it's really heavy. Take it back."

"No, you can keep it."

8. The poet Sappho of Lesbos, who (may have) wrote poetry about her love for women and who gave the names to you know exactly what, was supposedly married to Kerkylas of Andros, a name that roughly translates to Dick Allcock from Big Man Island. (Turns out Mr. Biggus Dickus might have existed!) He may be fictional, and "of Kalamamos" may have been better because that means "of pen island", roughly

9. Aphrodite finds out some women of a city don't worship her, because they believe that they’re prettier than her. She gives them terrible B.O. so their husbands will divorce them. Yes, the same person who tried to kill Psyche for similar reasons decided to make some girls smell bad.

10. The start of Hermes' life. He was born in a cave where his mother hid from Hera, and after the birth, his mother Maia tucked him in really tight then went to sleep. Hermes, barely a few hours old, leaves, makes a lyre out of a tortoise, steals 50 cows from Apollo, then goes back to the cave before the sun is up. Apollo notices his cattle missing, and knowing he himself sang and walked right after birth, does not fall for Hermes' cutesy act. He instead drags Hermes in front of Zeus (who tries not to laugh when Hermes starts with the boldfaced lie of "I'll tell you what happened, I, barely a day old, was sleeping soundly when THIS OAF HERE walks in and accuses me of theft!") for judgment. The end of it is that Hermes can keep the cattle, can tell fortunes with dice but in no other way, and becomes the god of thieves among his outrageously long list of tasks.

11. One of Bellerophon's exploits is calling the sea to flood the plain of Xanthus after an attempt on his life. Trying to appease him, the women from the palace lift their dresses up and rush to him. Alas for them, poor Bellerophon ran away for the hills when he saw all those naked women hell-bent on having their way with him.

12. When Herakles has to spend one year as Queen Omphale's slave, she promptly decides to humiliate him by swapping their roles, meaning she gets to wear his lion-skin and wave his club while the mighty hero must wear dresses and weave as a good Ancient Greek housewife. It kinda backfired in a way: it didn't humiliate him but Herakles realized weaving was quite relaxing compared to all this monster-slaying...

13. One myth had Dionysus, god of wine and madness, visit the Underworld to resurrect Ariadne and his mother Semele. When Hades asks for Dionysus to leave his "best beloved" behind as the price, Dionysus leaves his finest wine and/or makes a grapevine grow, and Hades deems it adequate payment.

14. During Heracles' Tenth Labour, he was in a desert and became so frustrated at the heat that he shot an arrow at Helios, who was busy driving the Sun. Helios was impressed at his audacity and gave him a magic cup to cross safely.

15. One day when Ares and Aphrodite were having sex, Ares had his companion/lover Alectryon guard the door in case Helios wandered by, as he'd tell Hephaestus of their indiscretion if found out. Alectryon fell asleep on guard duty and Helios caught them in the act, so as punishment Ares turned him into a rooster, which heralds the sun's arrival by crowing.

16. One version of Zeus's backstory had him raised by a nymph named Amalthea (the other version says he was raised by a goat with the same name, which is funny in of itself). To hide him from Cronus, who ruled the sea, sky, and earth, he was either dangled on a rope from a tree to be in none of those domains, or hid in a cave while a bunch of soldiers made loud noises to cover his cries.

17. The Orphic Mysteries version of Persephone's abduction describes that when Hades opened the earth to steal Persephone, a bunch of pigs fell in with her, much to the consternation of the swineherd Euboleus. Later, to cheer up a mournful Demeter, an old lady named Baubo showed her own genitalia, making the goddess laugh and getting her to eat.

18. The variable fates of Cancer, a large crab who Hera summoned to hamper Heracles while he is fighting the Lernaean Hydra. Heracles either easily crushed it underfoot and Hera memorialized it as a constellation, or it's a constellation now because Heracles kicked it off into the stars.

19. Persephone's daughter Melinoe was either conceived or born at the River Cocytus, where Hermes happened to be stationed as psychopomp. One can only hope he got a raise after that.

20. Poseidon invented the first horse in an attempt to woo Demeter, only to be so distracted by the horse he forgot about Demeter completely.

Credits: TV Tropes

[makememadscientist]

I just read A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and watched the SuperCarlinBrothers videos about the Hunger Games series they put out the last few weeks. There were some interesting points made but I actually disagree completely with the theory that proposed Coin orchestrated Katniss being a tribute for the 74th Hunger Games. I think it's pretty clear that there are already rebels in place in positions around District 12 and within the industry of the Games in the Capitol but I don't think they were pulling the strings yet. They may have been instructed to aid any tributes that looked promising but I don't think it would have been anything more than that until after Katniss and Peeta won.

The videos also suggested that, as with Lucy Gray in the 10th Hunger Games and possibly (probably) the twist of the Third Quarter Quell, the reaping isn't beyond tampering with. People love that Katniss isn't a "chosen one" in the books and I completely agree. I think that her being a tribute was completely unplanned for and a result of her love for her sister.

But I don't think this discredits the idea of the reaping of tributes not being completely random. In fact, I think it's possible that there is unspoken pressure to make sure that tributes from District 12 wouldn't necessarily be good candidates because of President Snow's history with Lucy. Yes, District 12 is the smallest and poorest district. And yes, if the Career Districts actually have some people training for the Games it makes sense that they win the most often. But I also think it's telling that District 12 NEVER wins. In 63 years District 12 has won once! I don't think that is unintentional.

Here is where we kind of go into headcannon territory. Now it has been a few years since I've read the Hunger Games trilogy so take this with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that it is possible that a 12 year old girl who is known to be extremely kind and compassionate doesn't seem like an ideal tribute. I think Prim's name being called was random but I also think that it's possible that her pick wasn't as unlikely as it would appear to be.

It is entirely possible that, even though Snow is not the type of person who would ever advertise weaknesses if it could be helped and a great deal of his relationship with Lucy was obfuscated, there is still some lingering whispers about him having a particular problem with District 12 victors even if the specifics are not known. If that is the case, people trying to garner favor may influence the reaping so that tributes that are chosen for District 12 are less likely to win.

From the description I remember of Haymitch and his Games I don't think he sounds like someone who would have been expected to win. I also don't think that Peeta, although strong, would have had the drive to compete well enough to win if Katniss was not there as an incentive. Gale and Katniss both have their names entered more times than most but are also known to be capable hunters. Even the Peacekeepers (if I'm remembering correctly) know that the two are capable. It is entirely statistically possible for candidates like them to never get called at Reaping but I also think it's possible that candidates like them are specifically not chosen for District 12. At best, there may be incentive to just not say the names of people if they seem too capable or at worst their names are removed entirely from the running. If names like Katniss' are removed, suddenly a 12 year old girl with slim odds of being chosen suddenly has higher odds to battle. In which case, in a funny way, Katniss is the very opposite of a "chosen one" as the LEAST likely to be chosen.

[delta-orionis]

Tuesday Again No Problem 7/23/24

my thumb hurts (did too much crochet)

(I got a few new followers this week, so let me explain: this is a weekly roundup inspired by @girlfriendsofthegalaxy's post series of the same name. It's basically a summary of what I've been up to this week.)

Listening:

I dipped back into Touhou remixes with the House Set of Subterranean Animism, by Kuroneko Lounge:

This artist has made remixes of the soundtracks of all of the Windows Touhou games (to my knowledge at least), and this album is my favorite. It contains remixes of all of the songs from Touhou 11, Subterranean Animism, which is a personal favorite of mine. This album in particular is the strongest of the Kuroneko Lounge's House Sets, in my opinion.

It starts off VERY strong with a pulsing electronic remix of the main title theme, and keeps the energy up from there. In this video version of the album, there are also random "glitches" in the music which I'm pretty sure the artist placed in there intentionally.

Without getting into the plot of Subterranean Animism too much, one of the important characters has powers related to the manipulation of other peoples' subconscious. This makes her effectively invisible, because you can never perceive her intentionally, and if you do actually meet her, those memories will quickly fade away, like a dream. I believe the audio glitches are meant to represent her presence (and they also kind of snap you out of it if you're no longer paying attention to the music). Some people may find the glitches annoying, but I think they're a nice thematic touch.

I used to REALLY like the Touhou games when I was a teenager. I haven't played any of the games in years, but I occasionally revisit the soundtracks because the music still holds up. I honestly think the music is the strongest facet of the series, especially with such an enormous remix community.

Watching:

I spent a good amount of time this week re-visiting Jenny Nicholson videos while I crocheted (more on that later). Her Evermore video is one I return to periodically:

The story of this park is such a fascinating train wreck, especially in the wake of the news that the park is shutting down (for REAL this time. apparently).

Playing:

Fallow week. I've been extremely busy with work, errands, appointments, chores, artfight, etc etc. I keep taking my Switch with me to work with the intention of playing on my lunch break, but I always end up doing something else (usually drafting answers for my ask blog, more on that in the Making section).

Making:

A lot of things. I've been crocheting in my downtime to relax, but I might have flown a little too close to the sun in that department- I ended up hurting my thumb. I think it's because of the crochet hooks I was using; I'm looking into getting some ergonomic hooks, but unfortunately I think I just need to take an extended break from crochet for now while my thumb heals. One silver lining is the fact that I hurt the thumb on my non-dominant hand, so it hasn't affected my ability to draw at all. On the topic of drawing:

I updated my ask blog! I've fallen into a rhythm of posting approximately once a week, which was unintentional, but seems to work well for engagement.

I've got 5 answers in my drafts, all in various states of completion, with 12 more in my inbox. I'd like to answer them all eventually, but I still need to draw things for some, and come up with answers for others. Some of my answers are also quite lengthy, and I need to proofread those. I'm not at a point where I need to close the askbox, but if questions continue to come in faster than I can answer them, I might need to do it, haha. I'm having a lot of fun answering them, though.

In other news: ARTFIGHT. I'm working on an attack right now that I got a little carried away with, hopefully I should be done with it by tomorrow?? I hope??

Also. I recieved SIX attacks in quick succession this week?? Hello??? I'm incredibly honored, especially since this is my first artfight and I wasn't expecting to be attacked by this many people. I really want to revenge everyone who attacked me, but considering the speed at which I draw, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it before the event ends. I'll try my best, even if it means some revenges will get posted after the event concludes. I don't care about points anyway, lol.

---

July continues to be an extremely busy month for me. Even so, work has been going well, and I'm getting a lot of creative things done, so I feel fulfilled in that regard. I'll check in again next week.

[entirely-infinite]

༄ Simple Interference ༄

ACT Ⅰ ◦ RECOGNITION

Act Synopsis: Away from home for a moment longer, Ao’nung finds himself as second company.

Warnings: None. Additional Information: Word count ～ 3.5k , takes place before canon storyline is introduced , brief description of judgment , self imposed seclusion from others , author’s note is below the ‘Read more’. Na’vi Glossary: tìlor ～ beauty , nìwin ～ quickly.

return ～ next [ACT Ⅱ]

Author’s note: I am pleased with the fact that Act Ⅰ has been properly formatted and translated. Like I have mentioned before, English is not my first language. Any particular errors or typos you may see is a fault of mine. Do let me know if there are any particular mistakes. Another thing to note is that details are important. Keep an eye on what is said. Perhaps you will uncover more than you’d think.

Ao’nung took his time to absorb the sight of the calming waters before him. His ilu swims along the path, seeming to have rehearsed the directions of wherever it was that it needed to carry the seemingly distracted Na’vi that mounted it.

Ao’nung’s mind had been in a haze, similar to that of when he hung his head low in submission as he sat through the scoldings of which he grew to ignore.

It wasn’t unlike him to brush off the words of his parents; their grievances were ones that were well intentioned, yes, though it often came off as one that dug into his pride—the one that had grown him into the Metkayinan male that he was now. He wasn’t one to let things go so easily, given his stubborn disposition.

There were times that he felt he saw his parents, despite the fact that they still viewed him like how an ilu would fret over their young—and, those infants were absolutely helpless, he even saw it for himself. He knew that he was dissimilar to them. 

So, why? Why was it that his parents refused to acknowledge him as anything but?

He took to the same location of which he felt provided him with quite a lot of privacy to let his emotions loose. 

The island was well hidden, one that takes someone skilled to weave through the rocks that blocked any Na’vi from seeing the beach that was a few metres further ahead. It was Ao’nung’s personal paradise, only for his eyes to see. Stumbling upon the place was unintentional—having strayed from his group of friends out of sheer boredom to have his keen eyes focus on the sandy clearing. 

With this newfound discovery, Ao’nung would not have exchanged the knowledge of the island for anything in Awa’atlu. This was his, and he wanted it all for his own. Was that so difficult?

His anger that had been barely concealed when he remained on the island with the rest of his fellow brothers and sisters was unveiled before the island that he was now standing on. He doesn’t yell, nor does he choose to curse those who had agitated him. Instead, Ao’nung put the many shells—ones that he had picked up as he sauntered along the beach of the island—to good use. 

He moved toward a few flat rocks that seemed to protrude from the ground beneath it, the position being right by the coastline, seating himself atop it.

Ao’nung remained ever so silent, pulling a shell out from the pile. His resentment had not yet subsided and, in return, his frustration remained present even in how he held onto the sea shell—firm and unforgiving. He supposed that it reflected how he felt about the entire ordeal. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he grew.

He began throwing the sea shells, one by one. Each shell had been flung with the same sense of ferocity, the intent to have it far away from the island in any direction that made it possible. Soon, he had fewer shells to throw, with his frustration ebbing away.

Now that Ao’nung was a lot more relaxed, his senses were no longer clouded; not even the quiet rustle in grassy clearing forty feet behind him could escape his acute hearing. His ears quickly pin themselves back as he turned himself to face the direction where the incongruent sound seemed to have originated from. 

On instinct, his hand darted to where his dagger was, listening to the sound once more.

The rustling remained, the sounds not being any that belonged to an animal that he knew of that lived on land. The more he listened, the more he could assume that the rustling belonged to that of another Na’vi’s footsteps. A Na’vi who appeared to be nosy enough to follow him here.

His hand slowly moved itself away from the sheath that held his dagger, ears lowered.

His eyes narrowed, standing up from his spot as he stepped down from the rock and moved further up the terrain. Ao’nung felt a sense of annoyance rise in his chest once more when there was no response.

[Come out.] “Wrrza’u. Show yourself.” Ao’nung hissed, crossing his arms as his tail swayed slowly—appearing to wait for a response. Hearing the sound of footsteps now discernable nearing him, the Metkayinan male stared at the figure that appeared from the shrubbery. There revealed you, another Na’vi, though not one that he recognised from his clan, which raised his suspicions. 

[Sorry.] “Ngaytxoa. I did not mean to intrude on you.” You spoke, a calm smile over your features as you politely greeted Ao’nung. Unconvinced, the Metkayinan male held up a protective stance, a glare present now. Seeing your hands that held onto a weaved basket that had a small amount of fishes inside, you appear genuine to him. With that—Ao’nung lowered his guard.

“Why are you here?” He asked, ears relaxing slightly as he began to take in your features. Your hair appeared to be skillfully braided, tied in a manner where it blended in with the rest of the braids that seemed to curl themselves around your kuru. You seemed to be a hunter gatherer of the clan from which you belonged to, if you holding onto the basket that was half filled with fish meant anything.

You seemed to be a part of the Reef Na’vi, though your skin appeared to be a slightly darker shade of turquoise, making the lighter patches on your skin more prominent from the Reef people of the Metkayina that he was so used to seeing.

“This island is special to me, too. I like visiting it from time to time—away from the noise.” You replied, inching closer to the other Na’vi. He didn’t seem to react harshly to your movement, his tail swaying slowly now to match the curiosity that swirled into those cerulean blues of his. 

[What is your name?] “Fyape fko syaw ngar? It would be nice to know the name of the person I have been sharing this island with.” You asked, watching how the Na’vi shifted in his spot—as if he had forgotten proper etiquette when meeting another from different clans. You found it amusing, though you chose not to let it show—not before hearing more of the Na’vi’s voice, deciding by then however you should respond.

[My name is Ao’nung.] “...Oeru syaw Ao’nung.” He responds after a few minutes of awkward silence. “From the Metkayina Clan.” Your ears perked up in your own curiosity, tail wagging slightly as a reaction toward the development in getting the shy male to respond. “Ngaru tut?” [And yours?]

“Is that so? Well… It is a pleasure to meet you, I am ___.  From the Nekehanga Clan, just further down south from this island.” You shared with him. You climbed onto the large rocks—the ones that he had been sitting on prior, staring ahead at the sun that appears to be setting—the purple hue bleeding into the orange that signified the afternoon.

“It is going to be night soon, I believe you should be heading back home, yes?” You asked rhetorically, hearing him perching on a seat next to you. He stared ahead, seemingly occupied in his own thoughts.

The sight of an ilu caught your attention, the aquatic creature weaving through the rocks that were metres ahead, chirping in recognition of Ao’nung. It swam over quickly, both pairs of eyes trained on the male before switching over to you. 

“Your ilu is very pretty, what’s her na—” You were cut off by Ao’nung’s voice suddenly interrupting your question.

“—Will we meet again?”

Well, that was new. You were shaking your head internally at how blunt he was when he asked. Despite that, you caved in with an answer that sufficed.

“If you’d like to. I usually come here once every three days.” Ao’nung took in the information, nodding at you to acknowledge that he heard you, muttering a soft farewell. You watched him rise, moving forward and sinking himself into the shallow water before mounting the ilu.

He left right after, just as the piercing dark began to take form.

You decide at that moment to leave, too.

✤

Ao’nung stood near the rocks of Awa’atlu, deciding to return to you once more, feeling far more relaxed than irritated, which was a nice change of pace. Though, it didn’t help the fact that it was incongruent, seeing as how he appeared to be in a better mood when he left the marui of his family after being supposedly chastised once again for his behaviour. Calling for his ilu, Ao’nung’s eyes quickly trained themselves onto the creature surfacing, right until it rose up to waist-level beside the Metkayinan male. 

With time, he grew used to you. He associated your person as part of the island; assuming it as something natural, to which he personally believed in.

He supposed that his eagerness to leave was to head on over to his best kept secret as of yet, having met up with you at the island a few more times since his first encounter.

Curious eyes watched and engraved themselves into his back as he mounted his ilu once more, speeding away from the island of Awa’atlu after sharing a knowing look with his aquatic companion.

Once more, he weaved through the sharp rocks and followed along the same path, his eyes immediately locking onto the familiar figure of you on the sandy beach of the island. You waved at him, a large grin over your features as he dismounted his dear ilu once he neared the shore.

He reciprocated your expression with a small smile. 

[Come, Ao’nung.] “Za’u, ma Ao’nung.” You ushered with a softer voice, as if you needed to be secretive. He found it amusing, though did not make a comment on it as he would—finding no need to tease, only wanting to learn more about you. 

There you both were, stepping into the grassy section of the island. It was one attribute that he acknowledged, but paid little mind to, seeing as he decided on sticking close to the beach—it allowed him to express his emotions with ease as much as it provided him an efficient way to leave as quickly as possible.

The sensations felt new to him, the smoother texture of the grass against his skin a stark, though not unwelcome, contrast from the gritty and granular texture of the sand that latched onto them. The more he trudged, he felt the uncomfortable grains of sand sticking to his legs and feet being gently removed with every step taken through the blades of grass.

Ao’nung returned his attention to you, his ears perking up as he took note of your confident strides. You seemed determined, and he was curious to know why. 

“Where exactly are we going?” Ao’nung questioned, his voice cutting through the silence that had comfortably consumed the journey to wherever it was you were headed. He was still following as you pushed through the leaves and other foliage that stood in your path the longer you ventured, mimicking your actions as he did so.

“It is a spot that could be equal to the sea’s tìlor.” You answered, nearing what appears to be the mouth of a cave. Your words had Ao’nung pause for a moment, feeling as though you were merely exaggerating. 

“I doubt that it would be as beautiful as the ocean.” He responded curtly, feeling as though that it was the truth. 

“Are you saying that because you have seen everything—” You crossed your arms before continuing. “—or the fact that the ocean is all you have ever known?” You rebutted, head tilted slightly at him as your tail flicked about in partial curiosity, your lips pressing together to form a thin line. 

For the Metkayinan male, it left him apprehensive to answer. Your words should aggravate him, seeing how it was a dig at his intelligence and knowledge, though it did the opposite—much to his own surprise. 

Ao’nung supposed that it was the fact you were another Na’vi, one that just so happened to not be from the same clan as him. With differing clans, there was bound to be information that was disparate between one another, down to the teachings and perhaps even tradition. 

He also supposed that it was also how you asked him, a genuine tone enveloping every syllable that slipped past those lips of yours. It was a strange expression to him in comparison to the usually mocking tone of the Metkayinan people, in which not knowing was for the better of the people. Those who mock were not cruel with their words, though their judgemental stares were enough for any growing child to reel back and return to what they know.

He returned from his own thoughts, the sight of you waving your hand in front of his face enough of a stimulus in doing so. Ao’nung took in your appearance once more, his eyes training onto your face that showed nothing but genuine curiosity—as if you wanted to know what it was that occupied his mind.

Would it offend you if he was honest with you, too?

Nìwin. Ao’nung’s mind commanded him as if it, on its own, concluded that he was to be tamed. Do not make yourself a fool. 

“Well, I would not say that—that I’ve really seen everything—that’s impossible, though… I believe that nothing could compare to her. That is all I know.” Ao’nung answers, his ears lowered as he treaded along his words carefully, referring to the ocean with respect. Perhaps it was to show you how loyal he was to what he perceived as the truth—watching your reaction cautiously.

You seemed to be thinking over his words, seeming thoughtful as you acknowledged him—surprising him once more.

“If that is so, is it alright for you to—” At least, was what you wanted to say, though you omitted it from your sentence. “—see the location in question? You can at least learn of another beauty that you can appreciate, then.” You offered to Ao’nung, that smile returning to your face once again.

You were offering him an opportunity to learn about something outside of Metkayina's own bubble of knowledge. Ao’nung supposed that he had already begun to learn new things when he returned to the island to meet up with you.

“If you don’t mind showing me.” Ao’nung whispered now, as if uttering the statement was taboo. You nodded, a hand gesture ushering him before entering the cave. Trusting your input, he followed into the cave. It was then where he felt the transition of the previously soft grass to the firm, smooth rock. The cave had a large opening in the ceiling, allowing the afternoon rays of light to pierce through—hitting the large body of water that was at the left hand corner of the space in the process. 

The cave was not at all extraordinary, though he did not comment once he saw you standing near what seems to be jagged pieces of rock. You lay a hand against the shape, gently rubbing it as you do so. 

It confused him, though it quickly turned into one of bewilderment as the rock appeared to come alive, a bright turquoise now illuminating a section of the cave. Ao’nung watched in disbelief as you made contact with more—with what seemed to be crystals now that he thought about it—the cave lit up with the hues of turquoise and magenta, alongside a few hints of yellow as well peeking through some of the smaller rocks.

The cave seemed to sing, no longer in its previously engrossed slumber that it had been nudged from. A gentle hum that became one of many that intertwined with each other, forming a beautiful symphony that teased a prelude of multiple stories. The sounds did not attempt to overtake one another, seemingly content with the song it had composed. It took Ao’nung a moment for his gaze to see that there were little creatures instead that seemed to be singing. These creatures did not seem to be bothered by the two Na’vi, as they continued to float about inside the cave.

“What do you think about it?” You asked curiously, tail now slightly wagging as if you were anticipating his response. Here you were again, hearing him out again—listening to him and acknowledging his words as if they mattered.

“How…” Ao’nung muttered to himself, seemingly at a loss for words. Though, it was not enough to entirely render the male unsure of what to ask. 

“How is it that you knew of this place?”

You stifled a few chuckles that arose, making your way toward the body of water—sinking your feet first to adjust to the warm temperature that greeted you. You sat down against the flat rock, your hand ushering him over once more.

He trusted you a little more now, following right after. Ao’nung couldn’t help the fact that his body shivered in reaction toward the shift in temperature, his tail flicking about as his body attempted to grow accustomed to the water. His ears perked up when he heard your voice cutting through his thoughts.

“I simply got curious about travelling further out.” You answered, tucking your legs so that your knees were pressed close against your chest. Your many braids splayed themselves over your facial structure, a hand now dipped in the water as you made fluid motions, your attention now on the ripples that were formed from your actions. 

“...And you do not worry about getting hurt?” He pried, seemingly confused at your nonchalant response.

“I do. Though, it cannot hurt for one to be curious.” Ao’nung supposed the answer sufficed, though he did not expect you to add on further.

“Is that not how you found this island as well?”

With hesitation, he nodded. Ao’nung felt unsure of why you felt the need to bring it up.

“That makes the two of us, then.” Ao’nung couldn’t put what he felt into words that even seemed the slightest bit comprehensible, your words causing his skin to tingle in a strange manner—though the feeling was not unwelcome save for his nose slightly scrunching. 

He felt, if not for the third time today, acknowledged. 

As if he was seen, even.

The sensation was new, and it happened to be unlike anything that he had experienced prior to meeting you like this. He settled in the water, his hearing selectively blocking out the hum of the cave. The feeling of curiosity rose in his chest—as if it were now a small flame that had now been reignited, even if it happened to be brief. Bringing his courage forth, he took to asking more questions. You seemed willing to share information to him—willing to teach him what you knew, if anything.

“Nga läpivawk nì’it nì’ul ko, ma ___.” [Tell me more about yourself, ___.]

He watches your ears perk at his sudden usage of your name now. You turn your attention back onto him as you reposition yourself in a much more comfortable posture. 

“I’ll only tell if you do the same, ma Ao’nung.”

To what he found as a pleasant surprise, you answered him quite easily. Questions for him seemed to be reciprocated and replied to with far more ease now that they agreed on an established quid-pro-quo, wherein which Ao’nung learns more in exchange for fishing tips that you could use when patrolling certain areas of the ocean. 

Strangely enough, Ao’nung’s guard was bare for you to see, relaxing as he recounted the mishaps and incidents that had occurred—be it due to his negligence or his friends.

Time had passed by then, despite the fact that it felt only a few minutes spent just talking—even you seemed surprised at how long you two were chatting, only taking note of the lack of light that shone through the opening in the ceiling.

Eclipse had arrived, eating away at the remaining bits of daylight that peeked through the clouds.

“It is already so late, Ao’nung. We should head back, lest we wish to worry our parents even more.” He nodded, getting up from the warm water with a grunt; he shivers slightly, feeling the chill of the night nipping at his skin that had been exposed to the air.

You led him out of the cave, tracing your way back to the beach where his ilu impatiently waits for him in the shallow waters.

“Let’s meet up again,” Ao’nung suggests without missing a beat. He felt a need to stay longer, though the knowing look in his ilu’s eyes swayed him not to.

“You know when I’m here.” You patted his shoulder. “Now go, you need to leave before the tides grow even higher.”

Bidding him a safe journey back home, you turned on your heel and returned to the forested area of the island.

Ao’nung watched you—the unfamiliar, tingling sensation returning to him once more. 

If you had stayed for a little longer, you could have seen him tense as he did.

You could have even seen the silhouette of his tail wagging slightly.

Ao’nung quickly mounted his ilu and returned home.

return ～ next [ACT Ⅱ]

Reblogs and likes are not at all necessary, but are appreciated if you do so. I hope you enjoyed reading this piece. Take care, my dear readers. Irayo nìtxan for reading.

[sheepstiel]

Not any of the previous anons. I think the first one was rude and unkind in the way they approached their point, but I think it needs to be noted that; not feeling represented by someone's art, unfairly demanding a fanartist do things a certain way to cater to your own tastes, and highlighting fatphobic practices are all separate things. And you don't have to be intentionally malicious to be doing something fatphobic -it can be unintentional, unconscious or accidental. Just because you're not "skinny" yourself or struggle with your own body image, or that some people like it or do feel represented by it, doesn't mean it's impossible for you to be acting in a fatphobic manner. Now, I've not seen a lot of the art in question (only some of it) and I understand this is a sensitive topic for you and it sounds like you do believe in body positivity, so I don't believe you've done anything maliciously. But genuinely, with kindness - it's still possible for you to draw things in a fatphobic manner. Now it sounds like some of your art was about working through your own body image, but your explanation sounds a bit like you were drawing Donna in a way that would make you feel good about your own body - which does suggest perhaps it might have been possible you made her slimmer or more 'anime curvy'. Your art is lovely, and you sound like a good person, and I understand this may have been a difficult interaction. Take some time for yourself, but when you get some capacity - consider looking into body positive ways to draw fat bodies without erasing them. Asking an artist to lessen fatphobic drawing tendencies they may not be aware they have (which, yes, includes only using skinny references) when they draw one of the few larger characters in an entire show is not demanding unpaid art cater to one person's tastes. It's challenging fatphobia. And having to adapt your practises when you learn about topics like this isn't a bad thing - doing so, and learning, is in fact a good thing. It makes you human, and willing to learn and grow.

I hope you're okay, and that you have a good day, and that you take care of yourself.

Thank you for approaching me with more kindness on this particular issue. As you noticed, I do feel strongly about this topic. I also feel like I don't owe you an in deep explanation as this touches very much on my personal life and you are, to me, a stranger on the internet.

Mind, I'm not a native speaker. After some research into what the difference between fat and curvy could mean I feel the need to clarify that I personally don't think of Brianna and by extension Donna as fat. That seems to be the main issue here. To me, she's curvy and that is what I drew, still with back rolls, tummy rolls and all that. I never felt the need to question that difference before. The previous anon's opinion clearly doesn't match mine and that's fine.

I was working through my body issues by drawing and loving my body as it is. It is my method of appreciating bodies like mine. Hence, I tend to add my "anime boobs" from time to time.

I use my references for rough skeletons of poses and maybe shadow placement, so I definitely don't use them much for muscle and fat distribution so using the word upsizing was a miscommunication on my part. Regardless, I will take your advice and look into more body positive drawing techniques and try to vary the sizes of the characters I draw, including Donna.

I am kindly asking people not to ask more about this, as it is getting into too personal territory for me. Thank you.

[lake-archive]

This Stinks!

Fandom: Ensemble Stars

Characters: Hokuto Hidaka, Anja-Sophia 'Ann' Wolff (OC) 

Pairing: Hokkann (Hokuto/Ann) (Very loosely implied)

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter - Masterlist

“There are zombies everywhere, so you should go hide somewhere for a while. I’ll find their weakness and defeat them. I feel like I’ve heard that garlic works well against them…”

It had all happened so fast if they had to be completely honest, not even Ann had seen it coming. They were just discussing something with Hokuto rather late, at the end of working hours, but they were interrupted by groans and growls, the attempt to speak yet not getting a word out all the same. It was terrifying to hear and the two in the room would freeze stiff for a few moments, processing what was happening before finally getting a clue… Enough for them to turn around yet by then it had been a little too late. The door had been bashed open, kicked right down and destroyed, rendered unusable most likely. Then again, not like the two were focused on the door but rather the danger up ahead. Before they were able to say or do anything it had been Hokuto who blocked their path by stretching out one arm in front of them, holding them back from taking any action. He had explained himself shortly after and at first it may or may not have gotten them a little distracted… Until they heard the word ‘garlic’ which made them look only rather dumbfounded at him.

“Garlic?” They repeated, staring with wide eyes, shocked at this word in particular. Garlic… Garlic against zombies… Garlic… Garlic… 

The young man turned back to them for a moment, or at least his gaze, looking somewhat confused at them however yet maintaining a rather serious expression all the same. “Did I say something funny?”

“Ah— Wait that—” They were about to respond because if they had to be honest… This was funny, even if it had been unintentional. Yet when looking at his face they just went stiff, finding it rather difficult to tell him. In this very moment he was so keen, so serious, so confident. If they would tell him that he had the wrong undead creatures in mind when speaking their mind, they would either crush or confuse him. And then the two would for sure be food. In fact, at least for this moment they were lucky that those zombies walked at a rather slow speed… Actually, even a snail would outrun them, oddly enough. Some even just had dropped onto the ground, losing their balance and crawling on the floor while squealing and screeching, somewhat. Though it turned into background noise in the end. A rather ear piercing one, sure, but background noise nonetheless since the zombies could not get themselves to stand up. Means they would probably rot on the floor and it would be easy to trample over them, maybe.

“Anja–San, I wasn’t trying to be funny.” Hokuto would continue, merely observing them stuttering and trying to find the right words. This made them flinch regardless.

“Ah— Y… Yes! But…”

“But what? Was something off?”

“J… Just…” Oh god he was way too serious about this! He even glared at them right now despite the moment of peril! Would it be cruel to say anything instead of letting him figure it ou– Actually, with their life in danger they should say a word! What were they doing!? 

“Nevermind. Hide, quickly! I will fight them off! Once I get my hands on some gar—”

“Chair! Lifting!?” They interrupted in a panic, finally deciding to interrupt which had him a little caught off guard. 

“A… Chair? What would—”

“Crushing them!”

“Wouldn’t they just be unfazed? The safer bet would be to cover the area in a garlic smell and—”

“Apologies but garlic where!?” They shouted in somewhat of a panic now, once aware both of their lives were on the line. And thus they had to act quickly! Besides, zombies are fragile and weak! They can’t handle a smack to their face, can they!? Sounds way quicker than searching for garlic! 

“That’s why I will look for some! You stay ba—”

“Chair and desk! Better and quicker!”

“How are you going to carry an entire table!? Besides, those are not your property! We can’t just—”

Yet before more could be said both had turned their gazes to the front.. Spotting all the zombies lying on the ground, groaning and grabbing the air. Their legs were moving, as if still walking and yet they did not move an inch. It only left the duo dumbfounded whil their gazes wandered to the ground just… Watching whatever the hell those rotten, groaning corpses were doing. 

“... We walking past them?”

“Yeah,I think that can also work… But we should stock up on some gar—”

“Forget about garlic… Please…”

At least Hokuto was trying to think of something though… A for effort.

Previous Chapter - Masterlist

[wild-houseplant]

Very very late ZevWarden Week 2022 addition

Nobody say a word about the date. I don’t know what it is today, and neither should anyone else.

I ended up finishing the Promises Kept prompt-- part one of it, anyway. Part two is on the way. Part 1 is here in its fullness (with some under the cut), it’s on AO3 here.

Not sure if it needs a CW but one part of this may read like unintentional weight loss. Also as a heads-up: Zevran might seem overly teary, but I can assure you he has undergone extra trauma in my worldstate and his mental health is hanging by a thread at this point. The crying is a worldstate-typical response for him, unfortunately. If it helps, though, Rhod’s nice about it.

§

The Varterral in the adjacent chamber was moving again. 

The Dalish had asked Zevran to keep half an eye on it while he was hiding in there. At least one of the clan members had stressed the beast was an extremely dangerous one, with fangs like dracolisk horns and housing enough venom to put an entire arlathvhen into the ground. 

Precisely the sort of thing, then, that Zevran had no desire to be within half-an-eye’s range of. To its credit though, the Varterral had been good as gold, only stirring periodically to stretch its hingejoint legs or hunt down the occasional unlucky animal.

Judging by the scuffling sounds coming from out there, something had come along to inadvertently offer itself up to the enormous creature. While he made a game of guessing how many legs its victim had, a shout pierced the hubbub and sent a flash of energy through him. Quickly and carefully, Zevran slipped out and crept into a pile of rubble that formed the unassuming exterior of an escape route. The tunnel, much to the chagrin of his stiff hips, was narrow and winding, and the noise of the conflict died down until he turned another corner and it grew louder again. 

The fighting had certainly ramped up; there had to be at least four people out there, slashing– and casting, if he wasn’t mistaken– away at the huge guardian. One particular voice forced him to pause to let his leaping stomach fall back down into place. Clear, ringing, and with plenty of bark to it at the upper registers, not unlike Rhodri’s.

Nagale! She is at the Keep. How would she know where you are? 

He sighed and pushed on, but the voice. So like hers– distractingly so, not least because of the way it was making his chest ache. Best heard up close, at a murmur, right after awakening when disuse had given it a little smokiness. Blunt as a boulder, haemorrhaging with tenderness, and for his ears only.

Around another curve, a shaft of light passed down the tunnel, and the voice was gaining clarity and an accent–

He climbed faster–

A Tevinter accent–

He moved at a scramble, half-scolding himself for praying she was nowhere near here, ignoring the livid protest of frozen hips until his eyes were at the little window. 

Oh, but it was Rhodri, with gritted sharkteeth and painfully thin in the face, leading the fight against the Varterral with... Isabela? And the Champion of Kirkwall, if he wasn’t mistaken. They had quite a resemblance to Rhodri– but that thought was good as gone as he moved backwards with all the speed the Maker had put in him. His arms and legs scrabbled with barely any synchrony, occasionally causing one hip to swerve out so it bashed into the wall. But his lungs were heaving and his eyes were burning and something in him was going to burst in a moment–

He was out. Out and moving, sprinting if it weren’t for the fact his hips were forcing him to limp. Zevran might have fallen once or twice on the way, but it was hard to keep track of where he was in terms of up or down when the primary focus was moving forward.

And there she was, not seeing him at all even though he was directly in her line of vision. Too focused while spellcasting. Always a target for whatever lurked outside of that, and the thought of something taking advantage of that prompted a fresh round of watering eyes and choked breaths.

Isabela had seen him though, of course she had, and laughed loudly as she swiped a little harder at the Varterral’s legs. Zevran’s weapons were drawn, ready to be artfully plunged into its thorax, but Rhodri waved her hands and crushed the beast to the ground, bursting its belly in the process and sending putrid exudate in every direction.

Isabela shouted his name as he bolted straight past her. Her protest was caught by his wife, and Rhodri was given exactly enough time to spin around, gasp, and lunge into a run herself.

The gap closed. Rhodri somehow evaded his grasp, dropping to her knees and kissing his feet until Zevran managed to get purchase on her robes. He gave them an insistent tug, barely choking out a ‘Come, please.’

She indulged him, Maker bless her, uprighting herself and letting him press himself to her as tightly as his shocknumbed muscles allowed. And she had grown again. Zevran's arms barely closed around her now, and he clutched and scratched and clawed at her back with the franticness of someone who’d fall off if they didn’t. 

Long, hard arms reached around him and pulled him off the ground like he was made of feathers, up until he was high enough to comfortably bury his face in the crook of her neck. The smell– her smell, of fresh salt and starchy, sundried linen, clung to her skin. Zevran managed to take in one shuddering lungful of it before his composure gave out completely. His legs wrapped around her in a vise grip, fingers no doubt biting into her too, but there wasn’t a word of complaint. No shame, no scolding, no pushing him away for drenching her shoulder with tears and making sounds that had the rest of her party murmuring low to each other.

Isabela made a noise of disbelief. “You fell for the Warden? I thought you were just going to sleep with her!”

Someone with a rusty voice tsked and said, “Isabela, could you let the man weep in peace?”

A hand left Zevran’s leg and went onto the back of his neck to hold him in place. He felt Rhodri’s head turn.

The hum of her speaking was gentle on his cheek as she said, "Could you please excuse us for a few moments? We’ll go to the little room where that chest was.”

“Take your time, Rhod.”

She nodded. Her hand returned to his leg, fingers palpating the skin there impatiently as they–well, Rhodri strode them out and away from the ears (and, Zevran guessed, the eyes) of the others.

In one of the antechambers, they descended until Zevran could feel her legs underneath him. She shifted one arm up to his waist and the other went higher still to knead the scruff of his neck. 

He attempted a vocalisation of some kind and burst into a coughing fit for his trouble. It took another two false starts until he was able to even look up.

She was already watching him, wearing the same stunned expression from earlier.

Zevran gave her an unsteady smile. “I kept my promise,” he mumbled. 

Her fingers stroked his back and neck a little harder; she nodded, still staring. 

He chuckled softly. “Mi Rhodri is giving me big eyes. Oh-oh-oh, darling, don’t look away,” he hooked a finger under her jaw and guided her face back toward him. “I was not complaining. But you are not given to staring into my eyes. It is because they are looking particularly ravishing today, no?”

Rhodri’s eyes started to water.

“Oh-oh-oh,” Zevran soothed again. “Forgive me. I am making humour so I do not cry again, you see?” He planted a flourished kiss onto the bridge of her nose that she leaned into hard. Old reflexes kicked in with a vengeance, and it was so gorgeously easy to flick her head up with his fingertips and catch her by the mouth. 

Zevran counted the low groan she made on his lips as the first thing she'd said to him so far–a marvellous greeting, when all was said and done. Her arms tightened around him until he was squashed against her, and with a soft growl, she dipped her tongue into his mouth. 

Ignoring the departure of his last shred of self-control, Zevran let out an uncurated, surprisingly resonant moan and wrapped his legs around her. His hands, sandwiched uselessly between them, struggled to get purchase of some part of her, even when he tried to move them. At the motion, Rhodri snapped backwards, her eyes huge.

“You are injured?” Rhodri gasped. She let go of his back and cradled his wrists in her fingers, scanning him thoroughly. “Was I too rough?”

Panting, he shook his head. “No, no. I merely wished to hold you.” Zevran chuckled thickly. “You have grown, I think?”

Rhodri nodded once. “Conditioning has paid off,” she said matter-of-factly, watching him with all the self-regard of a show horse. “I can say with unreserved confidence that you won’t find a single person who could protect you as well as me.”

She leaned forward until her mouth was by his ear. “I have trained night and day since you left,” she whispered fervently, threading her fingers through his hair. “Eight hours a day, at least. My love, you would not believe my progress. Ask anything of me, anything at all, and I will see it done.”

Zevran leaned into her head. He huffed a weak, guilty laugh and regretted it immediately as Rhodri pulled back, brows knitted.

“You doubt me?” she asked, her voice tight with affront. 

“Not at all,” he crooned. He smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks, privately marvelling at the way tight muscles melted under the simple touch. “But I have left Antiva now. My business with the Crows is almost over.”

“... Almost?”

“Well, there is the matter of Nuncio. I suppose that is how you found me here, no? He must have approached the Champion and asked for assistance in turning me in to him.”

She frowned. “The Ch–? Tank?”

“Eh qué? That was your cousin?” He let out a hum of surprise and rubbed his chin. “That would explain the resemblance, now I think on it.”

“Yes. I met Cousin Tank and their entourage not long after arriving in Kirkwall today. They told me where they were off to, asked me to come along and help.” She gave a shuddering laugh, stroking a long thumb over his cheek. “I had no idea I was on the way to meet you, but once they talked about the Antivan assassin… my stars. You don’t know how much I hoped, dulcis.”

He grinned and waggled his brows at her. “Let it not be said that I let a wish go unfulfilled.”

“Never.”

They left the annexe shortly afterward, mortified on Rhodri’s part and decidedly smug on Zevran’s as he emerged with a sizable love-bite on the front of his neck. The entire party eyed them curiously, but especially the elven man. Even as the party ventured forth to the Crow encampment, he seemed unable to look away.

“Mmm?” Zevran enquired lazily from his wife’s arms. “We can love humans, you know. It is permitted.”

The man frowned. “I know that.” He pointed his nose at Rhodri’s wavy-haired relative. “Hawke and I have been together for some time.”

The Champion, who had previously been watching the clouds with quite some blankness, snapped-to. They put an arm around his waist. 

“Fenris,” they mumbled with a smile. “Not long enough, though.”

A conspiratorial look was shared between the elves before Fenris took Hawke’s other hand and kissed their ring finger (was this a Tevinter custom?). He turned back to Zevran. 

“I merely wondered how you got a Tevinter– a Magister, even, to kiss your feet. Crows are slaves, aren’t they?”

Rhodri’s fingers tightened a fraction around Zevran’s left arm and leg, and he glanced up in time to catch her face reddening.

“Ex- Crow, my friend,” he purred. “And I am afraid I cannot answer your question.” Zevran sighed and curled into Rhodri, adding, “My wife might, though, if she so chooses.”

Fenris’ eyes darted up to her and then away again. 

Rhodri cleared her throat and answered in soft Tevene that– so far as Zevran could make out– her husband was her equal, and Fenris might ask him for his full name and draw his conclusions from that. She pulled her hood over her head and fell silent.

With a smirk, Zevran showed Fenris the ring on his left index finger, quite plainly bearing his surname on it, and after a glance, a wide-eyed Fenris shook his head in amazement and turned away. No further questions came.

It took the party an hour to reach the Crow encampment. Zevran was set down once Nuncio came into view, and the man had barely gotten a furious word out before a wave of Rhodri’s hand reduced him to ashes.

A shield swelled up around the party. Zevran ignored her request that the party stay where they were, walking beside her to leave its confines.

“My love, you will stay in the–” she began forcefully.

“I will not,” he cut over her with equal firmness, blades already out. 

Rhodri gave an exasperated groan. “Dulcis…”  She waved her hand and a shield burst around him. 

In a display of unimpressively, terrifyingly quick magic, twelve rogues were torn out of thin air and crushed into the earth. Four broad humans– no doubt the muscle– met the same fate as Nuncio, and one person who was late to the party simply fell down and never got up again. It was all over in moments.

Rhodri spun around, her face impenetrable as she surveyed the area, and then Zevran.

“Will there be more?” she asked him quietly, urgently.

He shook his head numbly. “Very doubtful.”

“Good. Let’s burn this filth and leave.”

“Not so fast!” Isabela protested. She jogged past Rhodri. “We’re not all rich like you, sweet thing.”

Rhodri tsked. “I can give you whatever pocket change they’re carrying. I’ll quadruple it, even.”

“Do that, too.” Isabela groaned and pointed at the remains of Nuncio, “I wish you hadn’t burned him. He was probably the one with the goodies!”

Zevran snorted internally as his wife acknowledged the censure with a gentle harrumph. 

He was carried the entire way back to Kirkwall. Not even Isabela said a word about it.

[ragunath12]

Blockchain Vulnerabilities: How to Avoid Writing Vulnerable Code and Vulnerable ERC20 Tokens

The way we think about a secure exchange of funds and information has been altered by blockchain technology.

This article focuses on the newly identified ERC20 batchOverflow vulnerability, the mistakes made during development that led to the creation of susceptible ERC20 token development , and the steps you should take to prevent making the same mistakes again.

ERC20 token vulnerability

An occurrence that was subsequently identified as the batchOverflow exploit occurred in April 2018. Vulnerable ERC20 contracts of ERC coins like BeautyChain (BEC) and MeshBox (MESH) were used in the exploit to create an unreasonable amount of tokens out of thin air.

Shortly following the discovery of the batchOverflow issue, PeckShield, a security firm, discovered many vulnerabilities in various Ethereum coins. Among the coins on the impacted list are:

Aurora Dao (AURA)

BeautyChain (BEC)

UG Token (UGT)

Smart Billions (SMART)

FirstCoin (FRST)

GG Token (GG)

CNY Token (CNY)

CNYTokenPlus (CNYt+)

UselessEthereumToken (UET)

Hexagon (HXG)

Education (EDU)

Smart Mesh (SMT)

MTC

SCA

These flaws were found not long after the batchOverflow attack was used. Researchers looked into questionable transactions left by attackers to locate them.

The primary indicator of questionable transactions was an abnormally high transfer rate, which occasionally exceeded the total supply of a token. A number of significant exchanges have fully stopped accepting deposits and withdrawals of ERC20 tokens in order to stop speculation. These conversations were:

OKEx

Poloniex

Changelly

Huobi Pro

Two main problems with ERC20 tokens

Researchers found multiple attacks and gave each one a distinct name while searching for vulnerabilities in ERC20 tokens. Actually, though, there are just two primary issues with all of these tokens:

Overflow vulnerabilities

Unprotected functions

Let’s take a closer look at each of these problems.

Overflow vulnerabilities

Exploiting integer overflow or underflow, a flaw in the ERC20 token standard, is the foundation of overflow vulnerabilities. When the outcome of a mathematical operation falls outside the range that a variable may represent, this issue arises.

When subtracting anything from zero in the context of Ethereum smart contracts, the result is a very big value. The outcome of adding two huge values will be close to zero and will wrap around.

In this instance, line 206 has the susceptible code. This line’s addition is not properly checked for overflow. Large values for _value and _feeSmart can be set to cause their sum to overflow, resulting in a value that is lower than the balance of the account and passing the condition, adding absurdly large values to the balance of the set accounts.

Unprotected function vulnerability

Unprotected functions are the second category of ERC20 token security issues. This type of ERC20 vulnerability only appears when a developer neglects to include the necessary modifier that limits function access. This means that certain essential core features may be freely called by any arbitrary user.

For instance, it’s standard procedure when creating Ethereum smart contracts to restrict access to particular features to a single account. Usually, that account is referred to as the owner.

And the AURA token experienced precisely this. The function that sets the owner isn’t restricted by an ownerOnly modification, even though the functions inside the contract are. Consequently, anybody can use the setOwner function to select a random owner by calling the contract. Fortunately, at this point the owner account can do nothing more than a regular user, so this issue is left safely unpatched.

How to avoid writing vulnerable code

As you can see, these ERC20 functionality vulnerabilities are typically the result of unintentional code errors. Additionally, there are still susceptible contracts on the Ethereum network despite the fact that these errors are well recognised and simple to prevent.

Is there any way to keep from adding to the pile? Can you, when working with create ERC20 token , avoid writing code that is vulnerable? Of course you can, and of course it is doable. We provide the following advice to assist you guarantee a high degree of code safety:

1. To prevent anything from being left exposed, clearly indicate visibility in functions and state variables.

2. Use libraries like OpenZeppelin’s SafeMath to stop overflows and underflows.

3. Watch out while dividing integers by rounding. Because of the constant rounding down, 5/2 equals 2, not 2.5.

4. To reduce gas usage and prevent denial of service assaults, allow users to pull tokens (in bonuses, games, airdrops, and so forth) as opposed to pushing them.

Utilize the most recent Solidity constructs: * Make appropriate use of require and assert so that an automated analyzer can officially verify your code.

Use keccak256 in place of sha3 and selfdestruct in place of suicide.

Create a test contract using Ropsten, a public testnet. Establish a bug bounty programme and allow your contracts to be tested by the community.

Obtain an official audit of your contract’s security.

You may increase the security of your code and avoid writing susceptible code by following these simple steps.

Conclusion

The recent batchOverflow hack demonstrated how a single coding error might result in a significant security issue. Although ERC-20 tokens are susceptible to overflows, developers only need to double-check their code and take extra precautions to avoid both overflows and underflows.