#makes me more skeptical than ever of the Internet

[reasonsforhope]

hey, how do you cope with people saying we only have a small amount of time left to stop the worst effects of climate change? no matter how hopeful and ok i am, that always sends me back into a spiral :(

A few different ways

1. The biggest one is that I do math. Because renewable energy is growing exponentially

Up until basically 2021 to now, all of the climate change models were based on the idea that our ability to handle climate change will grow linearly. But that's wrong: it's growing exponentially, most of all in the green energy sector. And we're finally starting to see proof of this - and that it's going to keep going.

And many types of climate change mitigation serve as multipliers for other types. Like building a big combo in a video game.

Change has been rapidly accelerating and I genuinely believe that it's going to happen much faster than anyone is currently predicting

2. A lot of the most exciting and groundbreaking things happening around climate change are happening in developing nations, so they're not on most people's radars.

But they will expand, as developing nations are widely undergoing a massive boom in infrastructure, development, and quality of life - and as they collaborate and communicate with each other in doing so

3. Every country, state, city, province, town, nonprofit, community, and movement is basically its own test case

We're going to figure out the best ways to handle things in a remarkably quick amount of time, because everyone is trying out solutions at once. Instead of doing 100 different studies on solutions in order, we get try out 100 (more like 10,000) different versions of different solutions simultaneously, and then figure out which ones worked best and why. The spread of solutions becomes infinitely faster, especially as more and more of the world gets access to the internet and other key infrastructure

4. There's a very real chance that many of the impacts of climate change will be reversible

Yeah, you read that right.

Will it take a while? Yes. But we're mostly talking a few decades to a few centuries, which is NOTHING in geological history terms.

We have more proof than ever of just how resilient nature is. Major rivers are being restored from dried up or dead to thriving ecosystems in under a decade. Life bounces back so fast when we let it.

I know there's a lot of skepticism about carbon capture and carbon removal. That's reasonable, some of those projects are definitely bs (mostly the ones run by gas companies, involving carbon credits, and/or trying to pump CO2 thousands of feet underground)

But there's very real potential for carbon removal through restoring ecosystems and regenerative agriculture

The research into carbon removal has also just exploded in the past three years, so there are almost certainly more and better technologies to come

There's also some promising developments in industrial carbon removal, especially this process of harvesting atmospheric CO2 and other air pollution to make baking soda and other industrially useful chemicals

As we take carbon out of the air in larger amounts, less heat will be trapped in the atmosphere

If less heat is trapped in the atmosphere, then the planet will start to cool down

If the planet starts to cool down, a lot of things will stabilize again. And they'll probably start to stabilize pretty quickly

[eyeheartboobiez]

-> 𝗃𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝖽 𝗑 𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗋!𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

-> 𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅 𝗆𝖾𝖽𝗂𝖺 𝖺𝗎!

-> 𝖺/𝗇: 𝗈𝗄𝖺𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖫𝖠𝖲𝖳 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗂𝗆𝗆𝖺 𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗂𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝖼𝗄𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗃𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝖼𝗅𝖺𝗂𝗆 𝗂 𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖺𝗋😭

Jason Todd and ex girlfriend, Artemis Grace, spotted outside a club together just hours ago! May this old flame be finding its spark again? (8/20/2022 3:14 AM PT)

For months now, people have been buzzing after Gotham elite Jason Todd and singer Y/N Y/LN hinted at being in a relationship. Ever since this past March when they were initially spotted together, fans have done nothing short of obsessing over the two.

Artemis Grace, former girlfriend of Jason, had gotten into some hot water recently when insiders claimed that the singer had something to do with leaking Y/N’s unreleased track, Fantasize.

As mentioned in former articles, TMZ investigators came to the conclusion that Artemis was involved in publishing the song as a way of “getting her lick back”. Time logs show that the dubbed “rival” singer entered the same studio as Y/N not too long after she left for the night.

Many people online have been more than vocal about their love for the song, despite the fact that it was released without the artist’s consent.

While Artemis has yet issue a statement regarding the accusations, she seems to have plenty of time to be out partying with her ex.

Fast forward to last night, when just hours ago, Jason and Artemis were seen leaving a nightclub together and looking very close for comfort. Onlookers were not only shocked, but absolutely gagged when they saw the two hugging each other goodbye.

With their late night rendezvous breaking headlines, some fans are starting to question if Jason may have also played a part in helping Artemis, or if they ever really broke up at all!

The exes, who were romantically involved for almost two years, have a long history of being toxic towards each other. Their on-again-off-again relationship was notorious for its dysfunctionality, making it hard to keep up most of the time.

It wasn't until late last year when both Jason and Artemis officially called it quits by posting an announcement on their respective Instagram accounts (although many were skeptical to believe it).

Despite the initial shock of the situation, it begs the question: Where does Y/N stand in all of this?

Fans of the singer songwriter were quick to come to her support, majority of whom expressing their clear disappointment in Jason.

“I was really betting on these two,” says Twitter user @y/n’scoochiehairs. “I feel like a child of divorce…”. The fan account, while only just a few months old, grew exponentially due to their constant posts about the alleged couple.

Many sentiments like this have been circulating the internet once the pictures from last night began to surface. Y/N is notorious for putting her emotions into her songs, so at least we know she’ll be releasing new music soon, right?

— replies —

user1: oh she really aint playing...

user2: COOK HIM GOOD SIS!!

user3: girl this is a whole bar put this energy into a song or sumn😭

user4: sooo what im hearing is that ur single🤔

⤷ user5: ntm on my wife now..

user6: this next album bouta be BIBLICAL

user7: genuinely hope youre doing okay🥺🫶

user8: ily queen🩷

people you may know!

liked by b_zarro and 613,189 others

@artemisofmighdall: last night was a dream✨

View all 25,846 comments

user1: first you mess with her music then you mess with her man.. if bold was a person…

user2: the hell is she smiling so damn big for?? ain’t shit funny😐

user3: girl you betta PRAY i don’t catch you in these streets…

user4: “last night was a dream” yeah and you in for a rude awakening cuz wth💀

user5: these comments killing me😭

user6: you already going to hell for being a ginger now you just making it worse for yourself🤦‍♀️

— creator has turned off comments—

end notes: is jason involved or is he just being framed👀 lmk what you think!!

[chrollohearttags]

little miss pressure • armin artlert

armin was notorious for his wild ways and sexscapades but ends up meeting his match in the form of a girl he’d never expect. And it leaves the notorious playboy stuck on his new fixation.

plus size black reader, (y/n) works in the adult entertainment industry, alcohol and weed use, armin and reader are some FREAKS, reader is very hyper sexual and tbh a bad bitch 😝 (this is nasty, I apologize in advance!)

════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ════

producer!armin has always been a man synonymous with a less than savory lifestyle. Sex, drugs, fame and glory..it was all he ever desired. To live each day as if it were his last and let the consequences happen as they may. His vices were those every other music industry maestro that got into it for all the wrong..and selfish reasons. Especially when it came to women, which may have been his greatest weakness.

Switching them out like his latest pair of Amiris or his brand new Audemars. Picking them up at every illustrious strip club or his infamous house parties..working his way through a ten mile long roster of girls. Comprised of every bachelorette (and sometimes others wives) this side of South Beach. He didn’t care about what followed or if he hurt their feelings. All he wanted was his one night and a good nut. After that, what they did was none of his concern. And hell, with his good looks, he could get away with just about anything. Until you came along…until (y/n) showed up at one of his little soirées. Invited by a friend of a friend, who had spoken all about the engineer and all his antics. About the hits he’s produced, his track record and extremely high body count. Something that didn’t particularly off put you, seeing as how promiscuity was your entire profession. You were an upcoming adult film star, taking the internet and nsfw spaces by storm. A brick house of a woman who didn’t mind flaunting that beautiful body and working it in ways that many wish they could. Sex with you had been described a ‘spiritual experience’ by many. From the incredible head game to the pussy that had gotten many of your bills paid. A month after working with a couple of creators and collaborating with a few porn production companies, it all took off. Your OnlyFans was jumping and everyone wanted a taste of the newest BBW on the scene. And tonight, you were out prowling for some trouble to get into. You had your fair share of good hookups but you needed the man that was going to give you the type of dick that would change your life. It came not a moment too soon when you got some alone time with Mr. Artlert. Trust, he was more than well aware of your reputation and he wanted to see if it preceded you. And the feeling was mutual..

seeing as how you had only ever spotted him with skinny model types and BBL bodies..not that anything was wrong with it but you were a bit skeptical. Not questioning if you could pull him or anything but if he could truly handle you! Would he truly be worth the hype. But after downing a few daiquiris; making subtle eye contact from the room, he’d approach you with that signature smug look on his face, flashing you a toothy grin and boldly greeting you with a hug. “Yeah, (friend name) told me all about you..it’s very, very nice to meet you, miss (y/n). So glad you made it out.” Sealing it with a classic peck to the back of your hand..by the look on his face, he was more than likely assuming that you’d be easy pickings. Insecure and lacking self esteem as a bigger woman. That you’d be happy that someone like him was even looking in your direction. But was he sorely mistaken! Especially when hours later, after chatting you up the whole night and once the rest of his guests had gone home..he got you up to his bedroom and out of that designer on your body. “Are the rumors true, sweetheart?” “Find out for yourself if you’re man enough.” All it took was a shared spliff and a little more liquor before you had him spread across his own bed, toes curling midair as he released loud screams. “Ohhhhh fuck! (Y/N)…goddamn.” Howling from the head he received..engulfing all eight and a half inches of that veiny girth as if you lacked a gag reflex of any sort. “Yeah, fuck this throat. Don’t play with me.” Emitting strings of spit and covering that cock in it. Flicking your tongue around his sack and momentarily over his asshole. All while jerking him off. Never in his life had he had a bitch so nasty and he loved it! God, he loved how you abandoned every bit of your morals in the bedroom. Making his nut from sucking his dick when no one woman had ever done so before. “They weren’t lying, huh?” “Told you..”

but he was no minute man himself. See, after getting slurped up like that, he had to a little something to prove..and he’d do so by devouring your pussy while he ushered you atop his mouth. “Don’t look at me like that, sit the fuck down, baby. I can take it.” Assured in his abilities and absolutely infatuated with your flavor…moaning as he inhaled your scent and flicked his tongue all over your clit. Kneading his hands into that thick ass and hips, even prompting you to bounce up and down on his face. Causing a collision with those heavy cheeks. “Yes! Right there…oh God..” drawing out high pitched wails from your sore throat and sweet juices from that tightness. Coating his entire chest in your squirt. And from there, he couldn’t let up off of you. At least not until he pinned those legs back and put that dick stomach deep. “Wet this dick up then since it’s like that.” With those substances coursing your systems, it brought forth an even nastier side for both of you..if that were even possible! “Ion think you’ll leave me alone if I do.” Your feet plastered to the headboard as he pounded you relentlessly. “This pussy so fucking good!…” cracking only a few minutes and strokes in because he had never felt it this wet and gushy before. It was like being encompassed and coddled in a warm blanket that nestled his dick as if were made especially for him. Folding you into a mating press and having to bare all of his body weight just to reign you in. His one hundred seventy pounds in comparison to your nearly three hundred. He had piped many women in his young life but you were the true definition of pressure. Making loud smacking noises from the slick dribbling from that plump cunt. The fatter the pussy, the wetter and he was learning first hand. Burrowed over your face and feeding you slow, sloppy kisses, along with tons of slaps and spit..another first for the philandering bachelor. He didn’t want to leave it if he were being frank.

“Yeah, beat that motherfucker up, daddy. Keep going!” Reaching down to massage your bud with those coffin shaped claws as you glared into his eyes and done something that would truly drive him insane. “F—fuck! Squeezing me like that..gonna make me nut all in your shit.” Throbbing and fully swollen inside of you. Posing the statement like a threat but that was exactly what you were hoping for! And when he couldn’t control himself another moment, you found yourself filled to the brim and with a heavy slap to your ass, he’d command you all fours where he all but shoved his face between your cheeks, eating you out once more because he loved drinking it in. Shortly after, stuffing your other hole with a thumb and your pussy full of his still erect cock. Placing a foot on your head, beating your shit in and making you arch your back. That ass moving like water nearly drove him insane. The best backshots he’s ever given. And after rounds and rounds of fucking each other senseless..all for footage for your page, the producer was all but unconsciousness from exhaustion. Housing his entire load into your womb without so much as a second thought. He was sure to be sleeping peacefully, even telling you that you could spend the night. Words he had never uttered prior. Knowing that you had gotten him hooked and it surely wouldn’t be the last you’d be seeing of Armin Artlert. But for now..you’d gotten what you came for..

and you’d be gone before the sun could rise.

@lusts1ck 🫶🏾

[yandereunsolved]

Dissect Me, Doctor - ,, yandere JPM with a psychologist reader

cw(s): yandere themes, dismemberment, suggestive themes, (James) necrophilia, noncon touching, cannibalism, mention of reader having breakdowns & panic attacks

✧ James found you by God's hand one fateful day. You could say it was more than a mere coincidence, eh? He had just finished killing one of the hotel guests. He was about to call Miss Evers in to clean up the mess when he spotted something sticking out of the dead gentleman's breast pocket. He plucked the card out of your pocket and read it allowed, 'Doctor...' His curiosity was the least bit piqued. Psychologists weren't exactly popular in the 1930s. The true study of the mind hadn't emerged, but James had always lived to study humans. To study their fight or flight instinct, how their bodies react to various torture methods, and how fear affects the human psyche. Perhaps he has found someone who shares his fondness for such things. It would be a great way to meet someone new. Considering Elizabeth refuses to speak with him, he has grown desperate. Not even defiling his killings tapered his already suppressed desires. 

✧ He got Sally to teach him how to use this magic witch named 'Wi-fi' who owns the internet—or something like that. Most new technology is just rubbish used to get people to make inauthentic connections. Although perhaps just this once, it can be used for the betterment of his temperament. He has Sally schedule an initial appointment at the hotel. Sally uses the excuse that James is bedridden and terribly ill (non-contagious), but he hates telehealth and just wants someone to talk to in person. You were skeptical because of the rumors surrounding The Cortez, but you were in desperate need of another client, and he was willing to pay extra—a lot extra.

✧ You had your first session in his room, and you immediately got strange vibes from him. He wasn't ill, that was for sure. Perhaps he was a little pale, but he probably hasn't gotten enough sun or vitamin D lately. He was even smoking! He was sitting all relaxed on a couch, dressed up in 1930s-esque attire, with a cane leaning against his lap. He introduced himself as James Patrick March, and you immediately understood why you were called. He either has a personality disorder or is a compulsive liar. Perhaps both. You asked him simple questions, such as his real name and when he was born. You were only getting nonsensical answers. He could not have been born in the late 1800's or early 1900's; that is ridiculous! 

James only felt himself grow hotter with each question you asked. It was like a fire had been lit beneath his skin, and he needed to put it out. Then you asked the question that really got him going.

"Since you refuse to use your real name, I'll just call you Mr. March. How is your personal life going? Are you currently sexually active?"

"I have peculiar interests and refined tastes. How do you modern people phrase it? 'Where there is a hole there is a goal'?"

✧ With that astounded expression on your face, he feels his urges compell him to end this lovely conversation early. That look would look perfect on your dead corpse. He takes the sabre out of his cane and tries to slit your throat; he narrowly misses. Somehow, you unlock his room door and bolt through the hallways. How promising. He walks through the winding hallways slowly. You scramble to find the exit, and he struggles with not just outright chasing you through the maze. No, he must preserve the hunt. After what feels like an eternity to you—only eleven minutes in real time—you finally trip over a stair and hit your head on the railing. Talented fox. You nearly escaped to the lobby. You are too much of a challenge to let go so easily. He's going to keep you to get his release. In more ways than one. 

✧ You wake up in the middle of the night in the same room as before. It's freezing, and your clothes are nowhere to be found. Your head is pounding, and you are barely able to breathe. James drugged you with some cocktail of drugs—some legal, most not. You feel blades ghosting your body. You feel them just barely slicing into your skin. It must be sleep paralysis, you rationalize. Something whispers sweet nothings into your ears. You are barely able to discern what those words are. 

"You taste... a dream."

"Never leave."

"The best prey— never leave me."

✧ You drift off once again before groggily waking up in a different room. You are still in the Cortez, now in room seventy-four. You feel much different today, weighed down and yet free. You don't have any marks on you that would indicate you were harmed last night. You feel the need to escape, but you are also incredibly confused. A maid is in your room, setting down a new set of clothes. She explains that you passed out after you tripped on a stair while leaving the session early. You accuse her of helping the strange man you interviewed who tried to kill you. She chuckles and says that you aren't his type. Her voice has a little bit of spite in it. That was the moment that you were introduced to Miss Evers. Quite possibly the only person who simultaneously envies you for getting all of James attention and pities you for your lack of self-awareness and intelligence in the situation.

✧ Before you are even able to shoo her off this JPM impersonator comes in your room and greets you. You are naturally apprehensive. He is naturally enthralled to see that his trophy prey has awoken. He cannot wait to just see how you react today. You try to leave and he explains that you never finished your session. You accuse him now of trying to murder you. He brushes it off and insists that you at least have breakfast with him before you leave. You are about to answer firmly when Miss Evers folding of a towel loudly snaps together. This 'James' scolds her and she gives him a doe-eyed look. Before you are even able to say no he is ushering you down the hallway in silken pajamas someone put on you while you were passed. The thought makes you shudder.

✧ You both were served a hearty and delicious breakfast. It isn't very filling to you, no matter how much you eat. It must be how queasy you are from yesterday. If it happened. Perhaps you had a mental break due to all the stress you have been through lately. You don't get a lot of time to think because you are snapped from your thoughts. This James speaks about your future together and how you will have a long and fufilling relationship. He asks you to give him a psyche evaluation. When you say no, he subtly threatens you with the thought of not paying because you didn't actually fill his full session. You reluctantly agree.

✧ He's both incredibly frustrated and intrigued by your persistence. How many times must he explain to you that he isn't a 'cosplayer' or someone with a personality disorder. He is simply the great James Patrick March. No matter. It will make you even more fun to play with.

"Your delusions, doctor, are clouding your mind. So I suppose I will have to make you see the truth—one way or another."

He sets up small 'challenges' to see if you can pass them. He wants to test how long your mental fortitude will hold up. 

✧ The first of those was dismembering himself in front of your very eyes. He does it multiple times, and they are all random. He will pluck his eye out and stir it in his tea. He will cut open his chest and stuff his organs into your suitcase. He will remove whatever is covering his neck and finger from his suicide wound. He asks if you would like to feel it, stroke it, touch it, or play with it.

"Doctor, I understand you only deal with the human mind, but would you like to feel this and assess if it is real? Do you believe me now?"

He will stab himself in the heart during one of your sessions and tell you that this is what you do to him. In the most extreme cases, if he isn't getting your coveted attention, he will take himself apart limb by limb and place them on your bed like a cross.

✧ You begin to come to terms with the fact that, at least, this man is psychotic. Perhaps not a ghost, but definitely a killer and wickedly sadistic. You try so many of the phones in the hotel, but so many seem not to work. You try to find your way out once again, but you seem to be trapped within these walls. Which comes to one of his many other tactics: trapping you in The Cortez's hallway maze. He is able to distort the minds of his guests and make sure that they never get out. Like a rat trying to find an escape from a box maze that has no exit. He enjoys just slowly walking behind you and taking in your panic and your quick breaths when your clothing rides up on you. He is able to take a respectful peek at what he will inevitably see time and time again.

✧ He keeps you trapped in the hotel. You never even have a chance to get to the lobby. He has a nice breakfast, lunch, and dinner with you. He has his daily sessions with you. Outside of that? His torture. All of his torture. All of it. He threatens you with it subtly if you do something that he is displeased with. He'll even lock you in that death closet of his and make you stand right near the spike. Sometimes you prefer to be in there because you can hide from him. He likes it when you hide in his death traps. So he totally leaves you alone and totally just doesn't sit right outside your ability to view him.

You are coming to the point where those times when he is cordial are the times you crave. All part of his plan, of course. Although—he hopes that you will keep up the chase, he likes that fiery spirit of yours.

✧ You often find him getting release from his dead victims. You know because your relentless cycle of agony and pleasure stops. At least he doesn't force himself on you when you are awake. You end up doing your best to stay as far away as possible from him during that time. Only you always end up stumbling into the same room as him. You avert your eyes, yet he always has something cheeky to say to you.

"Ngh—darling, darling, wait! This.... this could be us. This could be me. You and me. Nothing could be a replacement for how your flesh feels against mine."

He always turns around and gives you one of those godforsaken winks of his.

✧ That isn't the only time his victims come into play. You are always suspicious of the food he serves you. It's either drugged or the meat could be made from his victims. You first learned that the hard way. You were served meatloaf, and James called in manloaf. He stated that it was made in this very hotel by the very guest who was trying to help you leave. You wanted them so bad, you can have them—in your stomach.

✧ Not even the Countess is able to help. Not that she tries. She is too busy luring more men in. She's forgotten about James mostly, except for the betrayal. She gives you a few warnings and some caution when she can. You are almost like one of her children. Perhaps she would help you if you really were in need. Maybe.

✧ You still get those sensations in your sleep. The feeling of fingertips ghosting on your figure. How the sheets seem to slip off your body. A warm presence keeps you close throughout the night. It often manifests in such strange dreams. It feels like James's thoughts are being injected into your own mind. You dream of him against you—sometimes he is brutally murdering you, and in others he is sensually caressing you. He always seems to tease and taunt you with those tantalizing images in your mind.

✧ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ ⁿ⁰ — You often have panic attacks and breakdowns because of him. Your heart rate quickens as sweat rolls down your body. Your legs shake and give in. The entire hotel seems to spin around you. You have to seek him out for your own comfort. It's so twisted and vile. You can feel bile rising in the back of your throat when it happens. You almost have to crawl on your hands and knees to reach him. Yet, it feels like heaven. His skin is so soft and supple. His suit is always made of the most comfortable materials. His body is always so cool to the touch. In those moments, your body melts into his. That is, until your mind stops its dissociation long enough to realize the trauma you were going through. You are falling for him—a classic case of Stockholm syndrome. You couldn't stand for this. You need to fight against this, against him.

✧ Unfortunately, your non-belief in ghosts stops when you see multiple people you thought were dead trying to warn you. You see your patient, who was killed in this very hotel. They tell you that they're so happy to see you. They are so happy you are here with them. You have to put on your therapist hat again and calm them down. It all clicks. Other people you thought were guests here were warning you. You are being oddly welcomed into the space. The others are cautious of your presence and afraid to upset the owner, the one who holds so much power over them. That strange being that seemed to flicker in and out of your peripheral occasionally. You finally make peace with the fact that James Patrick March is indeed a ghost. You really do need to escape here.

✧ You steal the hotel's shipping schedule for their toiletries and linens. You make a plan to escape. You think you are so clever, and it really makes James hot under his white buttoned collar. He lets you think that you are so much more astute than him. It makes him a little desperate, but he won't show it. He needs your touch so badly. He needs you to love him so badly. He needs you to be his little trophy victim. He needs you to help him chase his highs. He needs you. He needs you. He needs you. You, only you.

✧ He confesses his undying adoration for you and clings to your waist as you try to walk out. He sighs and tries one more tactic before you step out the door. He promises to tell you the entire truth. You are caught off guard by this, and your hand slips off the door. He leads you to his trophy room and shows you his 10 Commandment killings. He directs you to the corner, where your body lies. You are covered in wounds that have long since dried out. Your eyes are lifeless. You have his name etched across your naked chest. You scream, shout, and sob. James gently holds you and soothes you even as you thrash, kick, and gnaw at him.

"You've been trapped here the entire time. Since that night."

As if that makes it any better. You aren't that stupid. You could connect the dots—lack of appetite, coldness, the odd sensations, everything. You are stuck with this monster for all eternity.

"Hmm, yes! I saw you and just knew that I had to have you. Have you gotten my diagnosis yet, my love? It's lovesickness, and your body is the cure."

.ೃ࿐ -ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- .ೃ࿐

⟿ taglist: @coentinim @bluerthanvelvet444 @cxndiedvi0lets @doll3tt33 @lacucarachapisser @etheral-moon @fear-is-truth @marchsfreakshow @girlyfart @nahoyasboyfriend

.ೃ࿐ -ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- .ೃ࿐

[astraltrickster]

All the people calling the analysis of the queer undertones in Goncharov "reaching" and "tumblr fangirlism" need to sit down and do some damned research because listen, I'm one of the first people to be skeptical of intent in things like this, I lived through TJLC, but this is, decidedly...not that. Matteo JWHJ 0715 addressed it in this 1975 interview, one of the few he's ever done! He makes it clear, in no uncertain terms, he is a queer person, he uses his pseudonym for his and his family's safety, and his work cannot be fully understood without understanding his struggle with being unable to fulfill a role prescribed to him.

(Hell, the comment about him sometimes wishing he was a woman so that he might be loved the way a man is supposed to love a woman makes me wonder if he ended up being on the mlm-transfem cusp, but that's as far as I'm willing to speculate, especially because odds are decent he's still alive so that would be not just historically unstable but also just plain rude.)

And I mean, okay, it's an obscure interview, I don't blame some of you if you hadn't seen it until now, and I know that filmbros can look at a guy saying "yeah this movie is partially about my queer experience" and still be like "oh but it's just METAPHORS there aren't REALLY gay people on screen and besides he was probably joking anyway", but...some of you at this point are just reinventing "UGH why do you freaks have to make EVERYTHING gay?" and claiming it's not homophobic because you are also gay.

Yes, the queer elements are a lot more subtle than you might get in 2022, but that doesn't mean this is just "internet shipper goggles"; you don't even get the full power of the themes if you don't acknowledge the complex web of attraction going on here. There's a running theme of characters obsessing over the ideal of something to the point of destroying the real thing they're based on - from "heritage"-obsessed nationalists destroying priceless, irreplaceable historical and cultural artifacts as acceptable collateral damage to take out one enemy, to Joe straining all his family relationships and driving himself deeper and deeper into debt in the interest of propping up their image of the perfect, loving, wealthy, glamorous unit; to, yes, the entire mess of the Andrey/Goncharov/Katya/Sofia would-be polycule. They contain so many examples of this running motif that you can't deny that the whole tangled net of homoerotic attraction is there without sacrificing the thematic integrity of the entire film.

And hell, with that - even if it wasn't part of the writer's intention, well, this is what "death of the author" means, not "the author is a prick so Hatsune Miku wrote it". If the themes of a piece have better payoff if you include an unintended subtextual detail - who cares that it was unintended? It's still THERE, echoing and amplifying the themes. Whether he intended to or not (and it's pretty clear from the interview that he did), he wrote a bi4bi couple being thrown into chaos because suddenly they couldn't pretend they were straight anymore.

(Speaking of which, while I can't fully agree with the reading that Goncharov and Katya's marriage was exclusively one of convenience, I can't say I really have a problem with it as a whole either...but can some of you out there please stop insinuating that it HAD to be because they MUST both be totally 100% Kinsey 6 gay? Bisexual people can have sexuality crises with body counts in the dozens too, thank you~)

[kokobussy]

S P A C E   B O Y  -  Alien!Hyunjin x Human!Reader

summary: hyunjin is an alien and he fucks you. that’s it. that’s the story

warning: sexual content 18+, alien genitalia, anal play, drool/saliva stuff 

You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.

You admire it.

I admire its purity. A survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.

  “Are you unclouded by conscience, remorse,  or delusions of morality?”

  Hyunjin makes sure to take his time to answer your question. He’s almost too interested in the despair and downfall of Nostromo’s crew as they scramble to find a solution for the terrors that lie within the dark walls of their ship. As the movie keeps going trudging on in the background, haunting music and fear-filled voices bounce off the walls of your living room, you take the time to admire Hyunjin. 

  The way his hair frames his face neatly; the way the glitter across his face twinkles with each changing scene on the screen. The way his dark eyes flicker across the screen as more information is divulged. But once it’s clear to him that you won’t stop staring until your pestering has been answered, Hyunjin finally hums something like a response. “Hm?”

  “If you hurt me,” you begin again, rolling each word around your head thoughtfully,”would you feel guilty?”

For a moment, Hyunjin continues to be silent. The air around him is entirely still as he thinks on the question. He reaches for the remote slowly and takes his time to find and press the pause button. The television is frozen on an image of the Xenomorph looming above an unsuspecting crew member looking for his cat, Jonesy. The crew member, Brett, is unaware of the ultimate predator lying in wait for the kill.

  The silence is eerie and far too long for the question you’ve asked. His answer should be instant.

  Yes, I would feel guilty if I hurt you.

  Yes, it would make me upset to see you hurt.

  Of course, I would feel bad. Why would you say that?

  Any of these responses, or variations of them, should come out of his mouth effortlessly and immediately. 

A voices in your mind insists, nags even, that Hyunjin is different. Hyunjin contemplates everything as if he needs to envision himself doing the action in order to give you a satisfying answer. Those dark eyes remain eerily still as he thinks it over. His arm, casually resting against the arm of your couch now, forms a comfortable fist-shaped seat for his chin. There is no exertion in his movement, no flexing and relaxing of hard-working muscle, no strain as his body adjusts to involuntary and voluntary movement. Hyunjin’s body doesn’t heave and twitch with signs of life. As still as he is right now, as quiet as he is, Hyunjin could easily be mistaken for a picture or a drawing from someone’s imagination; an image frozen in time. 

  “I wouldn’t hurt you,” he says earnestly, eyes finally meeting yours from across the couch,”In fact, I do a lot to protect you.”

  Your stomach flutters at the admission.

  “Oh yeah,” you ask skeptically, praying that the amusement in your voice translates intergalactically,”And what do you do to protect me?” Although Hyunjin is an alien, you’ve done far more to protect him than he could ever to to protect you. The world is vast and dangerous and without proper care, there’s no way Hyunjin would be able to survive on his own. People, humans, are cruel. Never mind the elements, wild animals, and other things on the planet that could potentially kill him instantly.

  In the few months that he’s been here, you’ve given Hyunjin food, shelter, and an up-close view of earth he’s never had before. He has access to the internet, to books, to anything that a poor graduate student can offer him really. When you’re away at work, Hyunjin has access to your library of books and the slimy gaping maw that is the internet. In his short time here, he’s learned all kinds of differing languages, cultures, philosophies, and more from the quick taps of your keyboard to your sticker-covered monitor. It only took a day or two for him to fully communicate with you. Although there are still terms and colloquialisms that he doesn’t fully understand, the two of you can speak pretty well.

  Your heart does warm at the idea of Hyunjin wanting to protect you in some way. As the weeks have passed, the two of you have gotten about as close as you can to an alien in this situation. Although his statement of protection is comforting and a sign of friendship, the butterflies in your stomach don’t settle at the implications. 

Hyunjin isn’t like you, not in the slightest. He probably wasn’t protecting you from your creepy professor or bitchy roommates. Could there be dangerous alien plots waiting to ensnare you? Are there other-worldly visitors that roam the earth alongside him? Visitors that want to cause you and other people of earth harm? Is it some sort of venom that Hyunjin spews out on occasion? What is he protecting you from? 

  It’s his turn to let out a huff of amused air before giving you a pointed look as if the answer is right there in front of you, obvious and true. 

  “Well, for one thing,” Hyunjin says with a strange calmness,” this isn’t my real appearance. Do you think my people look like this naturally?”

  A breeze flows through you, raising the hairs on the back of your neck and making them prick and tighten. As you look over at Hyunjin on your couch, a spell suddenly breaks and you realize that it is true. You don’t know what he looks like underneath this...disguise.

  Hyunjin could look like one of the Greys underneath his glittery flesh suit. He could have large beady black eyes and pincers near his mouth that rip and tear. He could have eyes on the side of his head that turn inwards when he blinks or drifts off to sleep. Hyunjin could be an unfathomable being that would make your head explode if you laid your eyes on him. 

  Hyunjin is an alien and certainly not international pop star, Hwang. Hyunjin is someone else, something else, wearing a clever disguise. As you look over his features and try your hardest not to show the fear broiling inside you, a seed of doubt in your stomach now burrows its way into the very soil of you. 

  Hoping humor is something that all distant life forms can understand, you squint your eyes in mock suspicion and hope that the fear that’s beginning to blossom inside of you is completely hidden. You hear a voice that sounds exactly like yours ask,“What do you normally look like?” 

  Hyunjin’s resulting smile is every bit as patronizing and irritating as it feels. “That’s what I’m protecting you from,” he laughs lightly,”Humans are...delicate. They can barely handle variations in their own species. How would they react to something not of this world?”

  As you look at Hyunjin, a sleep-addled memory begins to play behind your eyes. A memory that makes you think about when Hyunjin occasionally does strange things. Like when his mouth opens too wide to eat handfuls of Cheerios or some days when he spends a little too long in the shower and somehow releases a weird iridescent goo all over your bathroom; each goo accident results in a sheepish Hyunjin coming to ask for assistance. 

  This strange memory occurs when you’re asleep in your room and are abruptly woken up by a series of clicks assaulting your ears from beyond your window. You never remember how or when the figure got inside your bedroom. You only remember the paralysis, the way your body seemed unwilling to move as you watched the creature crawl toward your desk. No matter how much you willed yourself awake, to move, you remained frozen in your bed.

  But, really, what would you have done? What would have happened if you turned on the light and faced the creature in that moment? What would actually seeing this creature in the light do to make the situation better or worse?

  Then your memory reveals the horror, the fear, of the creature standing to full height, tall and imposing over your desk. It stared at the textbooks you’d left on your desk earlier that night and thumbed through the pages rapidly. It shuttered, twitched, chittered, and moved jerkily as it flipped through each page of your study guide to Human Anatomy & Physiology 2.

  Then it happened. 

  The part that you will always remember clearly. 

  The dark creature stopped what it was doing and looked up at the poster of Hwang hanging above your desk. It spent some time staring at the poster of Hwang’s blonde hair, his dark roots, the elaborate angle he hung his body, and probably even the glitter dancing across his nose and cheeks. Then a series of clicks and chitters filled the room along with the snapping and twisting of limbs that you’d only ever heard in movies. A particularly harsh snap caused a miserable groan to spill from its lips. It was a sound that Hyunjin hasn’t emitted since. 

  The memory ends with you inevitably turning on the light and seeing the ends of twin dark pointed tentacles just disappearing into either side of the pale creature’s back. It heaved a deep sigh of finality, shoulders relaxing and chest heaving. As the creature took its time to relax, to calm, you could see the sudden protrusion of human-like knobs appearing in a line on his back, one after the other. A spine, you brain supplies, a human spine. 

  “What the fuck are you doing in my room,” you asked, no screamed, hysterically. The creature turned around promptly at the sound and there was Hwang staring back at you, eyes wide.

  You screamed. Obviously.

  Over the course of more screaming, more accusations, and more general confusion, you soon realized that it was not international popstar Hwang standing naked in your bedroom after scaling your apartment building. It was a traveler from a distant star. With the resemblance being nearly uncanny, if not identical, you named him Hyunjin.

  Remembering his disregard from a few moments ago, a scoff passes through your lips. You may be afraid but there’s no way you would give up an opportunity like this. Puffing out your chest, you counter the insinuation,”But I’m—“ 

  “Different?” He supplies,” I don’t think you’re that different from other humans.”

  Whether it’s his mentality after interacting with you and your roommates or an assumption, you’re not really sure. The small bleed in his statement makes another thought cross your mind. Another thought that leaves you a little more unsure than before. 

  Does he know other humans, you thought, am I really the first one he’s ever encountered? 

  But then the reality of a lie comes to your attention as you think of the unlikely. Is he lying? Could this all be some long-lasting joke that a friend is pulling on you? Wanting to see how many ridiculous antics you’ll put up with until you break. Despite this thought, an impending sense of...something haunts you. Glancing briefly at the television screen, you wonder just how similar you are to Brett. Are you unaware of the threat hovering about your head?

  Although fear thrums through your veins, you need to know what lies underneath its flesh suit. “I promise I won’t freak out,” you nod, moving closer to Hyunjin on the couch. You’re so close now that you can feel the coolness of his skin reach for yours. 

  “Promise?” he parrots, tilting his head in confusion.

  You try to explain the word without using the word in question,”It’s like a swear.” When the furrow in his brow doesn’t disappear, you try again,”I don’t know...a bond through words? Between people?” 

  Instead of answering in a language you know or have heard of, Hyunjin chitters in response and adds a hard click for punctuation. By the tone, you can only assume that this is his attempt at some equivalent for the word, ‘promise’. 

  Sighing, you lean forward and squish the pale orbs of his face. For a moment the alien flinches in your hold and just barely keeps himself from grabbing onto your wrist. You can’t ignore the flash of distrust in his eyes or the way his hands fall back into his lap. “Hyunjin,” you stare at him,”you know I don’t know what that means.” The sight of his lips pursing as he stares at you brings a smile to your face. Hyunjin keeps staring at you, confusion evident as he wraps his hands around your wrists.

  You hold him there for a moment, admiring the softness of his cheeks, until his eyes begin to harden. Letting go instantly, Hyunjin wiggles off the feeling of your hands on him before settling on the couch again. “If you ‘promise’ not to panic,” he starts tentatively,”I’ll show you some things.” Instantly, your cheeks stretch with the fierceness of your grin. The fact that you’ve somehow convinced Hyunjin to trust you in this way makes you more excited than anything else. The sight of your happiness, your excitement, makes him try to backtrack. “ Not everything,” he insists,” Not all at once.” You continue grinning, but now a slight bounce has accompanied your happy demeanor. He almost can’t stand the sight of it.” Just enough that you’ll leave me alone,” I want to get back to this movie. The Xenomorph is starting to kill the humans.”

  The sight of his smile now has yours falling. Was Alien the right choice for movie night?

  Rolling his shoulders with a sigh, Hyunjin maneuvers himself to face you fully on the couch. He folds his legs and tucks his feet neatly as his hands land on his knees. His eyes wander the planes of your face before settling on your eyes. A shiver runs through you at the closeness of him. You’re not sure why Hyunjin is always cold. No matter how many layers of clothing you gave him or blanket burritos you’ve wrapped him in, the strange being always ran cold. Something tells you to lean in closer to Hyunjin, to really look at how much effort he’s put into the guise before revealing his true self. When you do your hands instinctively land on the meat of his thighs for balance. 

  Hyunjin does flinch this time, the feeling of your warm fingers in such a delicate place, before settling back into his seat. This close you can see the way his eyes remain entirely still. When he looks about your face, his eyes don’t move to take in each frame. Hyunjin seems to be taking in everything at once. You can also see the larger than ‘normal’ pupil looking back at you; the size of a nickel if you think about it. The poster of Hwang can only bring so many of his features to light. Maybe the pupil size was just...hard to see. Or maybe this is one of the many things that Hyunjin wants to show to you. 

  There’s a flutter in your stomach again, but it’s different than before. Something about the flutter this time, the particular fury of butterflies flapping against your viscera, and the slight acidity in your mouth reminds you that this isn’t worry. This isn’t about displeasing an attractive person or embarrassing yourself in front of your crush. This is fear. 

  Hyunjin is not actually Hyunjin. It’s a name that you gave to the alien in front of you because you couldn’t pronounce his real now. Now that reality has crashed your parade, you can only imagine what he actually has hidden beneath the thin pale skin that covers his body. You can only imagine what horrors beyond your compression that lie within the bones of it. You have no idea what he looks like underneath it all, what horrors he had to hide that made him hiss and grunt as he shifted; if his skin is even really skin or if the paler tone is his true color. All you can do is adjust yourself on the couch, your legs touching his, and prepare for the inevitable,”I’m ready.”

  No, you’re not ready, but he doesn’t need to know. 

  There is no ceremonious noise that signals when Hyunjin will begin. With his concentration and your near-vibrating excitement, your apartment is entirely silent. Your roommates are gone for the weekend, away from this place of potential danger. Your private reveal party has seemingly no potential disturbances or possibility of interruptions. But there’s also nothing to save you in case things get far too scary, too fast. When Hyunjin’s lips begin to start and reveal the whites of his now sharpened canines, you realize just how alone you truly are.

  Along with his canines, the rest of his teeth now form into perfectly edged points that sit perfectly behind his lips. If he wanted to, Hyunjin could probably tear through the toughest of flesh with those fangs. “Last chance,” Hyunjin says with disinterest and just a hint of warning, now his lips curl into a smile that reveal full rows of sharp white bone. Even though he could probably chomp through all of your bones, your fingers remain on his thighs. There is still some hesitance in his eyes as Hyunjin looks at you; like he doesn’t want to hurt you or scare you in any real way. It’s that hesitance, that human emotion, that keeps you trusting him. Sort of. 

  Just as you gather slightly more courage, it begins to sour again as your brain finally processes the small moment. “Did you,” you start, eyes falling to the pink of his lips,”...your lips didn’t move.”

  “What?” he asks dumbly, blinking owlishly at your reaction. 

  His lips remain still, unmoving.

  Tension falls over you as the fluttering feeling in your stomach crawls up into your neck, one of those many butterflies crawls its way into your throat and spreads its large voluptuous wings, choking the wet flesh there. There’s a sort of ache somewhere on your head like the pulling and healing of skin; like the life cycle of a scab in the matter of seconds. It happens so suddenly, so abruptly, that you ignore it. You’re still overcome with the shock of Hyunjin’s ability to speak without moving his mouth.

  “Oh my god,” you gasp, staring at his lips,”so you’ve been moving your lips all this time for what? For show?”

  Now, as he continues to prepare himself to reveal some of his inner workings, you find that the fleshy lips on his face do not move; like a mask. If you thought back on it now, you would note the delay in his speech; how it took time for his mouth to catch up with his words. Maybe his kind didn’t have lips. Almost all of Hyunjin is fabricated. His hair, his eyes, his smile, his brow, the glitter dancing across his nose, everything is an exact replica of your poster. The only thing that differentiates him from the real Hwang is his mannerisms. Like the way he forgets to blink, his inability to handle fluorescent lights, his unmoving nature.

  Who is the real Hyunjin?

  What is his real name?

  Does he mean harm?

  “Focus,” Hyunjin groans in annoyance, like he has somewhere better to be,”this is your last chance. I’d rather not deal with the consequences of this, but you keep asking. No matter what you say, things aren’t going to return to how it was before.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m ready. I promise. No more interruptions.”

  Hyunjin makes sure to roll his eyes again so you feel every bit of annoyed energy flowing off of him. This time though, you can see a slight delay when he blinks. It seems like something moves over his eyes briefly and with a shiver you suddenly realize what it is. A translucent lid falls away into the abyss of his dark brown eye. Eyebrows furrowing, you think of your Hwang posters upstairs and wonder just how much of his form is pretend. There’s no way he can hide all of his extraterrestrial features. The huge pupils are the perfect example of that.

  Finally, once you’re quiet enough for his liking, Hyunjin’s mouth opens. Out of the dark abyss, a long appendage reveals itself. You’ve seen it plenty of times when he ate or talked, but it always resembled the soft pink tongue that mammals tended to have. That almost all living things on earth tended to have; but Hyunjin isn’t from this earth.

  The appendage is blue when it reveals itself, blue and flat. There are no slight involuntary twitches as it reveals itself further and further. His “tongue” continues its descent, remaining entirely still as if every single muscle is under his control. And maybe it is. Hyunjin’s tongue petals at the end into a softened flat point that curls downward slightly.

  It’s definitely...different.

It’s also definitely fairly long, but not so horrific that you wouldn’t be able to sleep at night at the thought of it. In fact, the longer you look at it, the cuter it is. The sight of his tongue hanging out of his mouth, blue as can be, makes you smile and mimic the being before you. A huff of amused air leaves Hyunjin’s body as he watches you. Seeing that you’re comfortable enough to be silly, he takes it as a sign to continue. 

  Slowly but surely more blue is revealed and along with its length, small bumps begin to show on the now wider sides of his tongue. It continues all the way down, never stopping or speeding up, until it reaches the middle of his chest. The pads of your fingers flex against his thigh as you try your hardest not to gasp. It takes everything in you to school your expression so he doesn’t hide away; so he doesn’t think that you can’t handle it. You want to know what he really is. At the same time though, your stomach begins to burn slightly at the sight of it. 

  How did he hide this in his mouth for this long? 

  You try to remember that he’s still the same Hyunjin you dragged to “human” museums to admire art. He’s still the same Hyunjin who hates the harsh coldness of ice cream and adores the flavor of coffee; who loves pizza without cheese. 

  Yes, you’ve explained to him that that’s just bread with sauce. No, he doesn’t care and still calls it pizza. He’s still the same Hyunjin who’s been living in your apartment for a month now. 

  He just has a really really really long blue tongue. 

  Suddenly Hyunjin begins to move that tongue. This close to him still it’s easy for the blue appendage to reach you easily. It flicks against the rough pink tip of your own tongue before wrapping around it. Despite its odd dry appearance and strange softness, Hyunjin’s tongue is entirely wet. His saliva seems... thicker. Rather than a noticeable sheen that covers the organ, you can clearly feel the glob of fluid on your tongue. It’s only then that you remember you’re still sticking your fucking tongue out. 

  Then he folds it back into the seemingly bottomless cavern that is his mouth. There’s a minute before you slip yours back into your mouth too. Your nerves make your mouth prick with saliva. You swallow repeatedly, ignoring the small lump in your throat. 

  “Well?” Hyunjin asks carefully, looking about your face for any sign of distress. 

  Despite the uneasiness you still feel, the very idea of witnessing a real life alien right before your eyes trumps it. Hyunjin really is an otherwordly thing and not some creep who’s been bullshitting this entire time. You lean back against your couch now, somewhat relaxed at having everything confirmed right in front of you,”That’s fucking amazing, dude.”

  Hyunjin laughs and runs his fingers through his hair,”I’m glad you like it. One less thing I have to keep up.” With that his blue tongue slips out again through his plush lips and wets the surrounding flesh before slipping back inside. He turns towards the television without anothe word.  Turning the movie back on, Hyunjin doesn’t spare you a second glance as the story progresses. As the film continues, you can’t help but think about just how long he has to keep up this appearance. 

  Every day. 

  Every single day. 

  Every moment of every day spent in a form that isn’t his. 

  You’ve seen Hyunjin stare at himself in reflective surfaces as if spooked by the person he sees.

  It must be exhausting.

  As the movie continues, the Xenomorph opens its mouth wide, saliva and acid careening out of its mouth as it prepares to demolish its new host. The open mouth reveals a smaller deadlier mouth that takes chunks out of one of the characters. With only two other passengers of the Nostromo left, it’s up to Ripley to save herself and Jonesy from certain death. Your eyes wander back over to Hyunjin who’s now sprawling out on the couch and mumbling something under his breath; something like “they almost got it right”. Instead of asking about whether it’s the killing instinct of the Xenomorph or its particularly large bulbous head, your eyes roam over Hyunjin’s lithe frame. Although he’s referenced your anatomy textbook when he first shape-shifted and the Hwang poster for further analysis, Hyunjin couldn’t have gotten everything right. 

  There’s only so much that pictures could do. Although he did seem to get the rest of Hwang correct, there were some things that were off. His glittery sheen that lines his cheeks and nose is the same as in the picture of Hwang and its presence is a constant reminder that Hyunjin doesn’t know what makeup really is. He doesn’t know that it’s a decoration, something you can wipe off and apply at will. But Hyunjin is still Hwang and therefore still beautiful in your eyes. Although he wears Hwang like a mask, Hyunjin’s otherworldly beauty comes through in the way that e carries himself through the house. In the way that he wraps his arms around you in an attempt to show affection, to show thanks. You don’t need to look up at the posters in your room to remember that Hyunjin is not really Hwang; that he is not human. Despite all of this, you still find yourself desiring him in some way. He’s gentle when he wants to be and adorably curious. The longer you stare at him, admire him, the more you feel desire burning its way into your skin. Everything feels just slightly too tight. The inside of your flesh feels wet and sticky as beads of sweat start to bubble on your hairline and back of your neck. When did it get so hot in here?

  “Where are you going?”

  As the credits begin to peek on the screen, you find yourself getting up and heading upstairs. The longer you stay here, the hotter you seem to become. You can feel the way your shirt sticks to your skin as you look at Hyunjin’s unassuming face. God he’s so hot. “Upstairs,” you answer breathlessly, noting the way Hyunjin’s collar bones shine in the light. An ache courses through your body; starting from the cloying heat of your stomach to the dull throb of your hole. You clench your thighs together and mumble something like a,”Good night.” But Hyunjin isn’t interested in your good nights. His eyes stay on your thighs, watching the way the flex occasionally as he stares. The heat builds into something ridiculous, something impossible to ignore, and without another word you head to your room. 

  That heat persisted well into the next morning. The heat was and is unyielding, pulling and clawing at your insides as it demanded touch. This need for touch couldn’t be quelled by a platonic hug between friends, but it also couldn’t be quelled by nearly buzzing your clit off three times. That heat, that need for touch, stayed between your thighs and only grew more viciously throughout the day. By the time you got home, you were a mess. With each step further into your apartment, the soaked fabric of your panties squish and squelch against you. You feel sticky, overheated, like your skin simply couldn’t calm down no matter how hard you tried. Although you remember breaking out your vibrator earlier and relieving yourself, you’re almost certain you can go again. The only thing that seems to calm your nerves, to cool off your body, seems to be jacking off.

    You take determined steps to your bedroom and when you walk inside, excitement bubbling in your belly, you see Hyunjin lying across your bed. Legs sprawling out on the fabric, feet kicking slowly in the air, he reads impossibly fast through thick pages. As he lays there, you notice the way your shirt hangs off of one of his shoulders and the cloth shorts he’s also taken from your closet that hangs loosely around his waist and thighs. 

  Now you’ve been around beautiful people before, but there’s something about Hyunjin here and now that makes you itch. The air about your stirs with something thick that fills every breath you take. 

  You’ve been around beautiful people before, but there’s something about Hyunjin here and now that makes you itch. The air about you stirs with something thick that fills every breath you take. It smells like the largest of flowers; impossible structures that curl and dominate the space they’re in. It’s a floral scent that demands to be known, that brings a haziness to your mind. It makes your mind wanders to last night. To the feeling of his cool skin on yours and the feeling of that blue tongue wrapping around your pink tongue. What would it feel like between your legs lapping at the nectar between your thighs? What would his large fingers feel like as they rub and dig and claw at your walls? How would he sound as he came? Would he roar in your ear? Would he bear his sharp canines and grunt with each loud wet slap against your skin? 

  Hyunjin’s rolling onto his back before you can catch your bearings and sits up in bed to stare at your new presence in the room. The shorts have ridden up and reveal more of his pale thighs than before. Your thighs clench and unclench as you try your hardest to ignore the wetness in your pants. The denim of your jeans catches against the tacky fabric as you search for some sort of relief fro the unending pressure that pushes against your hole and presses into your clit. All you can the wet in your pants; to search for some sort of relief from the unending pressure that pushes against your hole and presses against your clit. All you can think of is owning Hyunjin, of riding his face and the length of his tongue until you’re creaming all over his face. Maybe his cum is thick. Maybe it’s blue. Maybe it’ll cling to your throat as you swallow each warm rope of cum while his cock pulses in your mou— 

  When he looks over at you, his initial annoyance at the distraction seems to fade in an instant. Suddenly his dark eyes show something like concern. “Hey,” he says softly, leaning in to get a better look at you,”are you okay?” You begin to peel off your jacket and hang the tired article over your door. As you walk about the room, gathering comfy clothes to change into, you can’t help but notice the intensifying floral smell. This close to the alien, he smells...different. His scent smells something like a flower, like heady pollen cloying heavily behind your nose. It’s all-consuming; overwhelming in a way that you can’t really fathom.

  The heat has become unbearable the longer he’s in the room; or that you’re in the room with him. You’re not entirely sure why this is happening. In the heat of pollen, wet and the dull ache between your legs, you feel his large hand cup your moist cheek. You didn’t even process Hyunjin rising from the bed and coming towards you. Just how out of it are you? What’s happening?

  You move away from his hold and make your way towards the kitchen, determined. You grab at a water bottle in the fridge and chug the liquid immediately. Water soaks droplets into your shirt as you drink furiously. It’s only when Hyunjin pulls the bottle away and presses his large hand against your cheek again that you come out of your haze. “Hyunjin?” you ask, or at least try to, and lean into the cold palm of his hand. The coolness of his flesh lures you to a sense of awareness, but not fully. Not like before. Something has changed. 

  “I feel weird,” you whisper, fingers reaching out to smooth the worried lines on his face. The ever-present glitter there remains undisturbed. Despite your maneuvers, Hyunjin’s eyebrows furrow further. “What do you mean ‘weird’ ?”

  In addition to that ache, there’s a longing deep within your bones. It’s a kind of needling, an uncomfortable feeling that turns and twists in your stomach. Honey cloys and weighs at the back of your throat as you lean closer into Hyunjin’s hold. 

  His dark eyes wander around your face, landing somewhere above your eyes. His nostrils flare as he whispers, “You smell different.”. That cloying smell clings to your nose as you try to blink your way out of this strange haze. It’s still too warm and just a hint of too much, but you’re able to deal now; to understand. Your mouth is too full of moisture. You think back to what could’ve done this and find nothing out of the ordinary. But then you remember the brushing of tongues yesterday and swallowing something too thick, too viscous to be normal spit. “Did you do something to me?” He tilts his head and watches you move away from him slightly. The distance you’ve put between each other does nothing to calm the longing. You think about all the times you’ve touched him in the past. There were casual touches, the occasional hug, but they never caused whatever this was.

  “Am I dying?” you ask frantically, staring into his huge eyes,”Are you killing me right now? What the fuck, dude? Not cool!”

  “Relax. If I killed you, where would I stay?”

  “You’d take over my body and live as me,” you say as a matter of factly,”Obviously.”

  “I can’t ‘take over’ your body. I can look like people but I can’t be them.”

  “Then what’s happening?”

  It happens so suddenly, so abruptly, that you can’t slap his hand away. Even after it happens, you can only sit there in shock and disbelief. The only confirmation that you have is the firm pressure of the thing, the taste of salt and flowers, and the slight pain of it all. Hyunjin leans in closer and pulls slightly, ignoring the way your hands grip his wrist in protest.

  My tongue can’t go as far as yours, you think, you’ll rip it out. 

  “I’m not going to pull anymore,” he says aloud,”but you have to trust...”

  He seems to find whatever he’s looking for almost immediately. His eyes widen briefly before taking an impossibly closer look. You can feel the brunt of his nail almost piercing the tip of your tongue in an attempt to hold it down. Ouch. 

  “Sorry,” he mumbles. When he finally pulls his fingers off and out of your mouth, a thick blue substance follows after him. He tries to shake it off but the blue-tinged substance sticks stubbornly before smearing it into the arm of your couch. The sight of it makes the sticky feeling in your mouth that much more apparent. Each swallow takes effort and for a moment you think you’re choking.

  “What is that—”

   “I don’t know.”

  “Am I dying? You spat in my mouth and now I’m dying?”

  “Hey! I didn’t spit in your mouth.”

  “Hyunjin, something is wrong.”

  “I know,” he starts, glaring at you now,”you smell different and your eyes are...dilated.”

  That makes you take pause. Instead of arguing with him further, you try to think about the state of your body. This close to him you can barely think. You would’ve remembered Hyunjin smelling like flowers in bloom. So why does he smell different now? Why do you feel so warm? Why are you sweating through your clothes? What is that blue stuff on your tongue?

  Maybe out of nervousness or habit, Hyunjin licks his lips that you’re met with the blue tongue from earlier. Then you think of his touch, the feeling of it, and find yourself frowning.

  “Have you always smelled like flowers?”

  Now it’s Hyunjin’s turn to frown.

  “No...that only happens during mating cycles.”

  “Mating? Like animals?”

  “That’s the closest word for it in your language. I smell like flowers?”

  “Yes.”

  “How can you smell that?

  “That must mean we’re compatible.”

  It’s strange how these words, how their meaning, make your heart race; makes your hole clench around nothing. “You smell different too,” Hyunjin admits shyly, fingers finding your waist,”you smell really good.” 

  Those fingers around your waist cool the unbearable burning in your bones. You find yourself wanting more of it; wanting to finally be cooled off. Would it be so bad to indulge? Hyunjin might be different, but he still looks like Hwang. He still sounds like Hwang. What could the harm be? 

  You don’t really think about the possibility of Hyunjin not being right. Is the possibility of his touch, his wet, killing you worth it? He’s never been to earth after all. He’s never seen humans before so he probably hasn’t been with them in a sexual way. 

  You choose to accept it, to not think as the hazy feeling from before engulfs you yet again. Finally, you lean into the being as much as you can, nearly moaning at the coolness of his skin, and hold onto his wide shoulders. Hyunjin stares at your eyes with a light of interest and asks,”What now?”

  Your thumbs rub the cool skin of shoulders, noting the bones within them, and ask,

  “Do aliens kiss?”

  His answer is instant and filled with confusion,“What’s a ‘kiss’ ?”

  Your first kiss with Hyunjin is awkward. 

  His plush lips don’t move. His hands stay on your waist, unmoving. It’s almost like kissing a statue. When you open your eyes in the middle of it, the alien is already staring back at you. At the sight of those dark brown eyes searing back at you, you finally pull away unsatisfied. Hyunjin just smiles almost politely as he says,”that was nice.”

  Exasperation flows through you as you counter quickly,”That wasn’t...a real kiss, Hyunjin.” He doesn’t respond or really listen to the instructions you’ve taken it upon yourself to explain. Instead Hyunjin’s hands finally begin to wander your body. He squeezes and holds any part of your flesh that will yield to his hands. Your tops and bottoms of your ass, the flesh of your back, your arms, all blessed with gentle touches under his strange ministrations.

  “Are you paying attention?” you ask suddenly, fingers moving down to hold onto his biceps. “No,” he answers curtly, as if a decision has finally been made,”we have something like a kiss, but it’s...a little more involved.” That piques your interest. Hyunjin presses you against the harsh countertop of your kitchen and finds his way between your legs. Fingers settling on your spread thighs and a grin making its way onto his features, he tilts his head and says,”Trust me.”

  In an instant Hyunjin’s long tongue reveals itself and carefully licks the side of your face. His saliva leaves a sticky residue that’s around the same thickness you felt in your throat yesterday. That thin tongue, long and fluttering, makes its way down to your neck. The soft licks tickle your skin and have an inquisitive air about them. Your hands find the fabric of his shirt and cling to the soft sides underneath, anchoring yourself there. There’s an uncomfortable heat that crawls from the surface of your skin into the depths of your flesh. Each touch, each strange lick, makes your skin burn with an odd sensitivity.

  His tongue seems to taste your skin. There are no shudders of joy as he continues his ministrations; no gasps of pleasure as he hovers above your body. As he presses plush lips against your skin, a small gasp claws its way out of your throat. Maybe he needs guidance. How could he know anything about the human body really; about where to pull pleasure from?

“This feels nice,” you say quietly,”really nice.” You feel those lips form into a kind of smile against your skin. A breath of laughter cools the blue dollop of saliva on your skin as Hyunjin smiles against you. Your fingers run through his hair gently, noting the way the strands stiffen in your hold. “Can you lick—”

  Pain.

  Searing, never-ending pain, spreads across the expanse of your neck. The feeling of thin burning wetness and thick liquid pooling onto the cushion underneath you; a warm splash on your shoulder. All you can do is grunt and open your mouth in a silent scream as Hyunjin’s sharp teeth burrow their way into your neck. Your hold on his body turns into a desperate grip as you cry out finally.

  “H-hyunjin! Stop!”

  But before your brain can truly process the pain, the fact that Hyunjin has wounded you fiercely and unexpectedly like a rabid dog, the fire begins to dull again. With a slight tilt of his head, his teeth sink further into your skin and while you feel that warm wetness, that rush of blood rising to the surface, you also feel your toes curl, your back arch, and a flutter in your stomach.

  There’s pleasure battling that pain now, taming it into something strange yet manageable.

  “Sorry,” he mumbles moves away from the sensitive flesh. The reality of his action is clear as day as he wipes the mess of blue and red from his face, the now purple substance stains his shorts; maybe even the kitchen floor. When your finger tips reach to that bite, you find your blood frozen in time. It doesn’t flow faster or slower, it just simply stops moving altogether. As your fingers touch each puncture in your skin those teeth left behind, each perfectly pointed hole, that same pleasure rises again. “What did you do?” you whisper, eyes widening and then narrowing in confusion. Hyunjin’s tongue peeks out to lick the remaining fluid as he answers,”It’s... what we do. Like your ‘kiss’ ”.

  Despite how badly you want to feel the mark, to assess the damage of what he’s done, you can no longer disregard the deep ache between your legs; the longing that sits deep in the pit of your stomach. Your clothes come off clumsily and land somewhere on the living room floor. Now emboldened Hyunjin’s hands slip underneath the fabric of your shirt. His eyes widen in awe at the feeling as if feeling your skin for the first time. 

  When you pull off your shirt and toss it somewhere in the corner, you realize that it is the first time he’s ever seen you naked. His fingers dance across your tan skin and trace each scar, each freckle, each mark, each stretch mark that litters your skin —  that makes you human — in marvelous wonder. “You smell different now,” Hyunjin whispers,”sweeter.”

  As you pull down your pants and rid yourself of the tacky fabric of your underwear, you wonder if he’s going to mark other areas with his bite and blue fluids. You want him to desperately. More than the fact that he looks like Hwang is your curiosity; your desire and want. What will it feel like? Will it all be pleasure pain? You need to know. Only when you’re naked in front of him does Hyunjin remove his open shirt to reveal a very human torso. 

  “Here,” you mumble, brushing your fingers along the top of your chest,”bite here.” Hyunjin doesn’t want to disappoint you in the slightest.

  Another bite, another piercing of teeth, another painful moment that’s immediately eclipsed with pleasure. This time you cry out and arch into his body as he hovers. This time Hyunjin holds onto you for support and moves towards a hardened nipple. “Easy,” you say, voice heavy with haze and confusion,”Don’t bite there.” You already feel the grazing of a sharp tip digging into the very skin of your nipple. Hyunjin doesn’t move right away. He continues to tease, to encircle your peak with the very edge of his tooth as his eyes meet yours. “Hyunjin—”

  Pulling the strands of his hair in an attempt to steer him away, he takes this as encouragement for his playful antics. Just before the sharp canine can break skin, your nipple meets the soft caress of his blue tongue. The plush appendage caresses your chest. Every so often, just as you lose yourself in his tongue, the threat of his canine jolts your crescendo of moans and pleas, resulting in the ever-present dribble and ache of your insides. The more his tongue entangles your chest, the heavier the scent of flowers rushes over your senses and blossoms on the inside of your nose and the back of your throat. His tongue leaves a blue-tinged residue that stays wet and thick against your skin as he pulls away. 

  The longer he licks, the more he licks, the more your body burns. Soon Hyunjin begins to travel around the expanse of your torso; nipping and tasting every inch of skin. As he travels and explores your body, the bites on your neck and chest burn deliciously with a feeling you can’t explain. With little effort, he kneels on the ground and pulls your leg over his shoulder. Whether he’s seen this before on the internet or read about it on of your many... books, you can’t bother to wonder. The burning turns to an ache. The aching turns into longing. The cycle continues in a never-ending circle that your honey-drunk brain can’t even process until Hyunjin viciously bites into the dip of your hip. This time your pleasure is unabashed, loud and wanton. You cry out, twisting his hair between your fingers and arching your hips further into his hold.

  “Hyunjin, keep going,” you beg, your breath failing you,”c’mon, keep going, please!”

  For once the alien is quiet and uninterested in banter. His eyes darken with interest as his nostrils flare. He sniffs the air pointedly. You’re too far gone to pretend to be embarrassed or attempt to make yourself wanton. You sit there calmly against the counter as his gaze wanders over your sex. The air around him changes as he continues. His fingers dance across the soft fleshy hood of your clit, thumb pressing against the small organ tentatively. As he continues staring and admiring the soft lines of your labia, Hyunjin begins licking his lips hungrily. You look down to see Hyunjin’s hungry gaze and the sight of blue-tinged drool lining the soft flesh on his face.

  From this angle, you can see and feel the blue glossy substance on your skin. You can practically feel his hunger as his gaze remains unrelenting against you. All you want to do is feel him against you. The ache you feel in your chest is almost overwhelming. Raising your hips you thrust your hips forward him in a small cant, attempting to entice the alien. The open display of lewdness is enough to bring Hyunjin came to your reality. 

  His nose brushes against your wet. You can hear more than feel the way he takes a deep whiff of your arousal. You burn too much to be embarrassed by the display. Hyunjin’s fingers dig into either side of your flesh thighs and spread the skin there until he meets a clear view of his prize. A flash of blue comes across your vision before you feel the soft tongue lap at you. Its gentle in its ministrations, curious as it explores each fold and crevice. The velvety feel of the organ makes you push against it, pulling moans out of you as it molds and swishes against you.

  Hyunjin groans around your hole as his tongue enters and sucks harshly at the swollen flesh of your opening and perineum. You’re so close to the full sensation of pleasure that you can nearly taste it. But Hyunjin is curious. He doesn’t search wholeheartedly for your orgasm, but instead flicks and twists his tongue inside of you. As his tongue digs further inside you, you note a hardness in the organ that wasn’t there a moment ago. It seems to grow firm nside you, those warty bumps on the side hardening as he searches you further and further. It’s when his tongue gets dangerously far that you feel a start of fear in you. 

  “Hyunjin,” you whisper on instinct, the slight fear in your voice undeniable. As hot as the sight of him between your legs is, there’s no telling if Hyunjin is even compatible with your body. Despite the very human features he seems to have, Hyunjin is ultimately wearing a disguise; appealing to your nature and what you deem appropriate. You have no idea what he could be like he’s in the mood. Would he spit venom as he crests? Would he rip out the flesh of your neck and claim you as his alien bride? Would his saliva, the blue-tinged liquid dripping from his appendage, melt your skin? Would he bite off your head like a praying mantis after it was all said and done? 

  There was no telling what could happen. But as Hyunjin’s tongue turns from that plush petal softness to rigid and firm, your mind begins to blank. The tongue slithers against your walls slowly, methodically, pressing with purpose against the ridges inside of you. If you pay close attention, you could’ve realized that Hyunjin is mapping your cunt with his tongue, tasting and learning each delicate crease that made up your hole. The appendage seems to change shape, becoming thicker and firmer, as you arch and moan in confusion and desperation. You can’t tell if it feels good or if it feels foreign and strange. 

  As Hyunjin continues, you begin to feel hotter. At first, you attribute this to your movements, your gasping and groaning as Hyunjin seems to eat you from the inside out, but you begin to realize that you wouldn’t sweat like this. Droplets of sweat blossom on your skin as you writhe underneath his hands. His grip remains firm as if you’re getting in the way of his fun. 

  As your hips follow along with the movement of his tongue, chasing after each push and pull of the appendage that swirls and flicks at your deepest parts, you feel a pressure building in your head. It’s insistent, needling, pushing against a sort of barrier that you didn’t even know you really had. It seems like the pain from last night is back briefly. Your nose scrunches at the feeling and your hand comes up to tug at your hair, attempting to relieve your scalp from the cold pressure. Darkness surrounds you as the pressure pushes and pushes until you finally begin to go slack, to give in. Only then do you hear it.

  “Stay still.”

  The voice is all too familiar.

  You hear his voice bouncing off of your head and settling deep. But his mouth is busy, you thought, how could he be talking to me? It’s then that it clicks. It makes you shudder in disbelief. How much more about Hyunjin would you find out over the next couple of days? Can he read your mind?

  When you look down at him, Hyunjin’s eyes are already there to greet you. He stares up to you with purpose, pushing against your spongy wall until you’re seeing stars again. Then your body alights with sensitivity, a sort of heat that seems to take over you. It feels more intense than any heat you’ve experienced, focused on a particular area. 

  A ping of nerves brings you out of your haze as Hyunjin’s tongue fully unfurls. It gets impossibly higher and soaks your walls with thickness. Finally, he emits a sound similar to a keen once he feels it. 

  When his tongue withdraws you feel incredibly empty and exposed. You can see your glossy fluids coating his tongue as he furls it back into his mouth. For a brief moment, your heat is sated. You reach for him and Hyunjin comes easily. Standing at his full height, you kiss the tops of his cheeks, his forehead, all around his face and grin as he mimics you. He presses clumsy kisses against the tops of your cheeks, your forehead, and all over. As you begin to relax, to feel the ache of those punctures all about your body, it’s back.

  Furious and unending, mind-numbing and impossible need that burns every cell in your body. For a moment, you think of dying, of how death would surely come if this didn’t end soon. Hyunjin continues pressing tentative kisses across your face and neck. He finds his way to his initial mark on your body and sucks at the wound carefully. As he continues to bring you pleasure, to find ways to make you arch and cry, you yearn to bring him further. You yearn to make him ache and burn as you do. You yearn to make him cry out, to make him beg with undeniable burning pleasure. 

  As he continues his ministrations, your hand reaches between the two of you to find his shorts. You rub at the creases in his pants and feel for any sensitive piece of flesh that should be there, but you find...nothing. Your search is long enough that Hyunjin sits up slightly on his knees and watches your hand. There’s nothing hidden away in folds that swells with each particular rub. There’s nothing resting against his thigh, aching to be touched. There’s nothing but legs and some sort of hard object in his pants that’s circular in shape. It doesn’t give way like vaginas do; doesn’t resist and lean in to touch like cocks do; so what could be lying beneath the cotton fabric?

  “What are you looking for?” Hyunjin asks, pressing your hand closer to a flat hard surface in his pants. It’s circular in nature with a hard outer shell and a soft middle. From what you can see now, there’s a slowly spreading wet patch that stains his pants. You rub tentatively, trying to alternate between the harder and slightly softer surface. Each rub, each firm push, seems to bring him further to the edge. Hyunjin pants slightly, eyes half lidded, as he stares at your thighs. 

  Rather than ask “what is that” you follow his lead and add pressure, nearly digging your hand into that rock hard surface. His eyes roll back into his head as he closes them, his hand gripping your wrist to keep you there. His hips begin thrusting into your hand steadily, a loud groan spilling from his lips. As he seems to crest, or get near to it, more fluid begins to stain his pants. Despite the cotton barrier, your hands begin to grow sticky with the liquid and the sight of Hyunjin coming undone in front of you has you clenching your thighs. “Show me,” you say, pulling your lower lip between your teeth,”show me.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “It’s okay. Really.”

  Hyunjin pulls the fabric of his shorts down in one fluid motion. There’s no time to wonder about the lack of underwear once you see the sight of it. A light blue and purple sheath with a long drooling slit in the middle. You reach your hand out again and run your fingers along the drooling slit, smiling at the way Hyunjin shudders and his hands tighten on the waistband of his pants. There isn’t a sense of alarm or confusion like you thought there would be. There also isn’t a sense of disgust. The sight of Hyunjin shuddering in pleasure, the clear arousal in his eyes, is enough to keep you going. But some of that leaves you when the narrow slit starts to widen and open.

  The first thing you notice is the color. The elaborate baby blues and light purples and baby pinks all bleed together into a delicious portrait of delicate wet flesh. The second thing you notice is the shape. It’s...a tentacle. An elongated curved shaft forms into a gently pointed tip. Out of the hard shell that encased his cock is a flap of purple flesh that gently folds over the sensitive area of his possible pubis. The tentacle is smooth with no defined ridges or creases. It curves gently, elegantly in the middle as the worm-like tip seemingly searches for its promised temporary home. Rather than dribbling cum from the smooth head, the appendage is wet all over. It dribbles more of that thick blue-cyan fluid all over; some occasionally lands on the shorts that have pooled on the floor. 

  It’s beautiful.

  The third and final thing you notice is the slight movement of the tip independently from the “shaft”. It jerkily moves before holding still as if searching for something. 

  Is he doing that, you think to yourself, is he moving it?

  “No.” Hyunjin says quietly,”I’m not.”

  It’s then that you notice how tightly he's holding onto your form. You move your hand towards the organ and pet the flesh gently, gasping as it violently twitches in your hand. A firm hold on it has Hyunjin grunting out and shuddering before you can even properly jerk the flesh.

  “Sensitive?”

  He doesn’t respond, only shakes in your hold. It’s warm in your hand and each squeeze has Hyunjin panting harder; as if you’re stroking a raw nerve. Your hand wanders to the flap of his skin, fingers carefully and gently sliding underneath. Hyunjin’s resulting moan, loud and wanton, has you jumping nearly out of your skin.

  “Please,” he moans, breathy and desperate,”please, please please please please” — it goes on and on until you shush him and say,”Okay, okay.” More fluid drips from around the organ and lands in thick ribbons on your thighs. When you look up at him, you see a blue tint on the tops of his cheeks. Is he blushing?

  There are no guiding hands that hold his cock in place as Hyunjin turns you around and bends you over the counter. As you lean against the harsh surface, you can feel his long fingers in your hair that grab viciously at your curls. You feel prodding and pressure as the slender tip of his tentacle nudges its way into you. It bullies its way into your walls. It has a mind of its own as it demands the promise of heat. When Hyunjin fully enters you, you swear he’s slightly bigger than before. But before you can question, his hips begin to move. As he thrusts, you can feel the tip nudge around your walls as if poking you. Suddenly the tip pokes hard in an upwards motion and finds what it's looking for. You gasp and cling to Hyunjin’s shoulders as your spongy flesh is pounded mercilessly until your voice grows hoarse and your toes curl; until your back arches; until you can feel the very second your brain goes cock drunk.

  You flutter around him and squeeze so tight that Hyunjin can only moan aloud. His tongue hangs with the feeling of it, breathing barely able to catch up. Then you’re there crying out your pleasure and simultaneously choking on the tip of his tongue as it curls around and licks into your mouth. It nearly swallows you whole, nearly drowns you in the feeling. His pace slows slightly and for a split second, you notice the lack of stirring, the sound of fluids mixing. In fact, there isn’t as much give either. Your stomach tight with orgasm stays tense as it accommodates a thicker more prominent length than before. 

  “Hyunjin,” you whimper,”What...?” 

  The tip still abuses your spongy flesh despite the change in size. As he picks up the pace, you feel the effort in each vicious thrust, each punch of his cock in your narrow hole; each drag against your ridges. In an attempt to steady himself, Hyunjin sits up and presses against your lower stomach. “You taste good,” he groans, nearly drooling. Your moans turn to screams, begging for all he’s willing to give. Would you die here? Impaled by him in the throes of passion? Just how deep could he go?

  “Hy-Hyun- oh my god.” 

  The pointed curved head of his cock presses against your spongy insides as he sits fully inside of you. You look down at your stomach, eyes glazing over the bite marks on your flesh, and notice a very noticeable bump staring back at you. You feel far too full, far too stuffed to even process what’s happening to you. How could you even take that much of him to begin with? It almost embarrasses you how willing your body is to let him in, to accept him. “Breathe,” he hisses quietly, a sound that seems like it’s meant to be reassuring. 

  You feel far too full, far too stuffed to even process what’s happening to you. How could you even take that much of him to begin with? It almost embarrasses you how willing your body is to let him in, to accept him. “Breathe,” he hisses quietly, a sound that seems like it’s meant to be reassuring. 

  It’s bigger now. It’s thicker and more insistent as it bruises your gummy walls. The slap of wet flesh plunging into an impossibly tight hole filling the room. You can feel just how deep he is now. The deepest that anyone or anything has ever been. Deeper than anything or anyone should be. Just as you start to adjust to the impossible feeling of being full, you feel another nudge against an entirely different hole. You can’t see where it comes from or what part of Hyunjin it’s coming out of, but you can only assume another tentacle has come through. The feel cool fluid drool into your ass. Somewhere in the distance, in the haze that Hyunjin has created, you feel that pressure against your temples. Then you hear it.

  “Okay?”

  It doesn’t take much to give your consent. The idea of Hyunjin filling almost every hole he can find has you clenching around his cock involuntarily. You nod against the counter and push your hips against the wet tentacle. That’s all it takes. You are a little scared when it pushes easily inside of you. Whatever viscous fluid coats his second tentacle makes its wandering form easier to take. You’re so hot now, so incredibly turned on, that you can’t even care about the danger. You’re willing to take anything and everything. You cum again. And again. The orgasm is a constant thing that leaves you shaking underneath him, leaving you leaking clear fluid onto your kitchen floor. 

  It goes on seemingly forever. Hyunjin doesn’t grow anymore in size — Thank God — but his hips never stop their brutal pace. His cock, the tentacle fiendishly ripping orgasm from orgasm out of you, doesn’t give any indication of stopping. Your heat continues to burn, although not as fiercely, with every pounding of his hips. Through the haze of your coupling, lightning shocks through your lower back as you cum again. Hyunjin doesn’t slow down once; doesn’t even seem inconvenienced by the frequent sound of your spent hitting the tile beneath you. Despite the difference in your species, the animalistic act of mating is something that comes easily to the both of you. You moan in his hold, cry out when he continues grinding out that spongy spot in you. 

  Suddenly something changes in the air. 

  Hyunjin’s hips finally stutter. The second tentacle spasms against the tight heat of your ass while the first begins to pulse. As it pulses, you feel a harsh coolness soothe your burning walls. The fluid sits heavily in your stomach as Hyunjin continues releasing his spent. It begins to hurt a little as he finishes, some of the cyan fluid leaking out onto the floor below you. You feel fuller than before, even as Hyunjin begins to decrease in size. He pulls you closer as you squirm in his hold, crying out in pleasure when the second tentacle continues moving slightly. 

  Suddenly Hyunjin finds his way to your shoulder, and with some finality, bites into the flesh there. This is deeper than the others, unyielding and harsh. If you weren’t currently so full of thick viscous fluid, you’d notice just how close to your arteries he is. The sensation of being to full, the savagery of the bite, is enough to put you over the edge again. Your vision blears on the edges as you feel yourself release onto the floor below you for a final time. It’s Hyunjin’s weight that keeps you pinned to your place on the counter. It’s also Hyunjin’s weight that keeps you collapsing into a heap on the floor. Before you faint, before you fall into Hyunjin’s arms and succumb yourself to the rest you so very much need. Before your consciousness slips from you, you hear one last thing that makes you bubble with fear.

  “Mate.”

[dollypopup]

So, I wasn't gonna post anything about this, honestly, but because I was directly asked, here's my 2 cents!

First, I want to thank you for saying you trust me with this! I'm also on the ace-spectrum, and I'm a queer, bisexual woman, so I do have a lot of empathy with you and everyone else who was down for queer rep.

(Also, I do not have Anon turned on for my asks. I absolutely respect your privacy, but I've been harassed before, and if people want to come at me, they can do it with their whole chest. Similarly, if people want to come TO me, I'd love to be friends!) I want to start off with the fact that whilst I understand that you believe the article, I don't. Call it the skeptic in me, or my media literacy classes during my grad program or denial or what have you, but we live in a huge era of misinformation. A tabloid is not likely to be any kind of reliable source, and a random reddit user even less so. It's like making a balloon full of pudding and having a clown say it's helium. We're not going to know until the needle pops it. Surely, no one would ever lie on the internet.

That being said, as much as I yearned and wanted for Demi Colin to be confirmed, it's not set in stone, and so it couldn't have been taken away from us. Honestly, even being ace-spec, a lot of the HC of Demi!Colin started putting a bad taste in my mouth when I realized that a lot of this predominately cishet fandomw as doing it as a means of keeping Colin 'pure' for Penelope, and that struck me as incredibly acephobic. Sure, they were HCing him as one of us. . .but not because it fit with his character or provided a rich and interesting arc for him to explore, but more so that his identity was an extension of their hopes and wants for Penelope. It wasn't for him as a character, but for him as a prize. And that made me so very sad, so my dream of Demi!Colin died when I saw that happening so frequently. Us Demi and Ace folks deserved better than that, and we continue to.

Either way, I think you are absolutely allowed to feel your disappointment! This is a frustration safe zone! There was a lot of potential this season, especially for Colin, that I feel has been dropped. But even IF that article contains some truth (big, heavy IF). . .idk, I see it through the lens that lot of us Demi folks have had sex. Even no strings attached sex. I know I have. Was I disassociated from it for a lot of the time? Yeah. Was it satisfying? No. But did it happen? It did. I chose to take part in it, and they were experiences that helped me grow. And I am no less Demi for it! IF this article is true, instead of us freaking. . .I feel like it could tell us a lot about Colin's character.

He is a man who has had, largely, no good role models in his life. Not in this regard. Who does he have to guide him? Anthony? Literally said he should have taken Colin to brothels. Benedict? Hell, he had a threesome himself. Why wouldn't Colin be out here thinking 'This is what Men do, this is what my brothers do, why not?' Colin is young. He's 23 still trying to find himself. And the entire idea of 'oh, he's a nerd! no way he's had threesomes' lol, like nerds aren't kinky? Come on, I'm a nerd and I've done way more than people would assume I have. He was traveling for months, and I think this really isn't as huge a deal as we're making it out to be. I ship Polin exclusively, and I love the idea of them having their firsts together, but I'm also not angry otherwise. In my mind, he's still demi. Just like he'll always be ND, even if it isn't confirmed.

Sidenote, o want to touch on something that is somewhat unrelated to your post, but something I'm seeing a lot is the whole 'it's dehumanizing for him to watch two women!' or 'it's lesbian fetishization!'

from the very bottom of my heart, as a gay woman, people saying that can eat me. These are the same people who didn't care about any of our representation, before. They didn't care about having lesbian characters, didn't bring them up. Now that it affects their (largely) het pairing, and specifically Colin as a perfect prize in a pairing he has largely been denied a narrative within, we're talking pieces and pawns for their discontent? No, I refuse. There are legitimate criticisms that can and should take place about Bridgerton's lack of care toward wlw, and especially that our only representation may actually just be a lesbian performance for the sake of a threesome, but this is not a criticism on COLIN. It is a criticism on the PRODUCTION. Because if we had queer women in the series before, it wouldn't be an issue. However, I refuse to have my sexuality used as a 'ewwww gross! look what they're doing! isn't that soooo wrong?' gotcha moment by people who just don't like his character. If we're gonna have a conversation about it, we should have a conversation about it based purely on our actual desire to protect and care for queer women. Not using us as stepping stone soap boxes to prop up an argument.

Queer people are really done dirty in the Polin fandom, and this is proof of it. Demi!Colin is important to me, and he continues living on in my heart and my fics, and even if it turns out that he's fucked up and down the Amalfi coastline and watched live porn, that won't make him less demi to me, personally. Ace spec people's experience with sex is all unique, and honestly, watching seems very in line with Colin's character. I don't agree with peeps who call it weird or gross that he watches porn.

This is an incredibly puritanical fandom, and I find it more and more evident as I spend time in it. The entire 'suffering' 'penance' 'deserve her' 'grovel' train was already very clear in that regard, and then people only wanting Colin to be a virgin so he remained 'pure' and 'untarnished' (legit takes I had to read with my own eyeballs) for Penelope was so Catholic on main that it made me feel insane.

Us ace-spec peeps deserve to be and should have the space to be upset at any developments taking place! We also deserve to be free from people doing pseudo pearl clutching and hiding behind feminist and queer-friendly language to disguise that they're just upset that Colin is getting anything at all in his storyline that centers around him and his own discovery outside of Penelope. Even if he isn't a virgin, he can absolutely still be Demi, Anon! And I hope that brings you some comfort.

Am I a fan of the threesomes foursomes moresomes and live porn speculation? No, not particularly. Am I livid furious throwing up about it? Also no. This series has betrayed me and disappointed me in so many ways, but so has the fandom. I guess I'm accustomed to it, now. But I want to reiterate that we should not believe everything that is posted. Some rando on a reddit forum confirming a tabloid article does not investigative journalism and peer review and confirmed sources make.

But in the event that the season does disappoint and gives us some baffling storylines: this is where fanfic can be such a comfort. It's how a story lives on in perpetuity. I've written trans!Colin and queer!Colin and demi!Colin and virgin!Colin and bdsm!Colin and all sorts! We can give we everything we want. It's our playground and it's meant to be fun.

But over my dead body will I believe a Sun UK article lol

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Magic: Return of the Asspull

So the word on Twitter is that there have been leaked reports of a new anime called "Dragon Ball Magic". I'm pretty sure it's all made-up bullshit, but I remember thinking Dragon Ball Super was a pipe dream too, and here we are. So I may as well discuss the topic here.

The whole thing comes across like a modern day Dragon Ball AF, where there seems to be a lot more emphasis on hype and speculation than tangible evidence. For example, there's a twitter account dedicated to gathering all the information available about the new series, but all it really does is amplify rumors and fanworks. When I search for the title on Twitter I mostly get skeptics making fun of the idea, or true believers talking about the show as if it were objective fact. Like AF, there's a lot of excitement but no clear picture of what the the thing actually is. The only real consensus I can find is the following:

Dragon Ball Magic will feature the Supreme Kai

Goku will be turned into a child, just like in Dragon Ball GT

Geekdom101 talked about this once, so that means it must be real.

And that's why I led off with the screenshot of the tail-yanking scene from GT, because I was trying to find an appropriate image of GT Goku and the Supreme Kai, and... yeah, that's it.

The more I think about it, the more this feels like something an internet troll would come up with. Like, someone started with the stupidest moment in the worst Dragon Ball series ever, and built a rumor around it. Oh, and also the rumor namedrops Geekdom101, just to make it extra absurd. It's the sort of thing gullible people would flock to while everyone in on the joke would have a laugh over it.

I don't know enough about Geekdom101 to insult him properly, but I'm like 90% sure he's an asshole. Back when Twitter actually worked properly, I'd see his name trending and there'd be a bunch of people in the fandom going "Dammit, what's he done this time?" Does he have inside sources in the anime industry? I dunno, maybe he does, but I think he's got a credibility problem. I mean, he calls himself "Geekdom101", and his avatar is Golden Frieza with a pair of glasses and holding a lightsaber. His YouTube videos look like a clickbait parody, with things like "Kai-o-ken EXPLAINED" and "WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR". Also plenty of what-if and who-would-win videos.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that maybe this is a guy who makes a decent living off his fandom channel, and when there's not much going on, he'll cobble together a story just to keep the conversation going and draw more attention to his videos. Which... I mean, if that's profitable, so be it, but if Geekdom told me water was wet I'd want to double-check for myself.

As to the rest, even if Toei was really planning something like DB Magic, there's no guarantee they'd actually follow through with it. Plans change, and even if this were 100% legit, it means nothing without an official confirmation and a release date. That "Superman Lives!" movie with Nic Cage was a real thing... right until it wasn't.

But I find the concept too vague and too specific all at once. Like, okay, it's Supreme Kai and a de-aged Goku. Why them in particular? What are they going to do? It just feels like something someone made up to get a reaction from the fans. GT likers are supposed to get all excited or defensive about a potential GT reboot, and other fans are supposed to get upset that the Supreme Kai got the lead instead of their favorite C-lister.

Compare this to the early reveals for DBS: Superhero. Toei teased a few details, and gradually it became clear that the Red Ribbon Army was back somehow, and maybe there were some new androids, and there was a lot about Piccolo and Gohan, so it seemed like they'd be a big part of the story. It wasn't a complete picture, but it made sense from a promotional standpoint. People were more concerned with the CG animation than any of the characters or plot.

I mean, anyone can come up with this stuff. I mean, my uncle works for Nintendo, and he told me that the next anime is going to be called Dragon Ball Snazzy, and it'll be about Vegeta and 18 starting up a private detective agency. Or... I don't know, Dragon Ball Jazz, which is a prequel series featuring a young Dr. Brief and Gine as secret agents. Wait, how about Dragon Ball Spatula, starring Elder Guru and Launch as they explore the multiverse!

And you know, I'd probably watch any of these shows. Hell, I sat through GT, and it was awful! The bar's pretty low when it comes to making a Dragon Ball project that I'm willing to try out. But people have been clamoring for Dragon Ball Super II ever since the first series went off the air in 2018, and that was years ago. This Dragon Ball Magic business just sounds like the same old empty hype with a fresh coat of paint.

Or maybe the whole thing is real, but my advice is: Don't get your hopes up. Life's too short to get worked up over things that might never happen. If it actually comes to pass, then it'll still be just as much fun whether you believed it ahead of time or not.

[catelyngrant]

let your faith die, bring your wonder (bsg, laura roslin)

She knows, with increasing tangibility, that the path she’s on will end soon. She’ll leave nothing but a legacy, and that’s only if the human race is very, very lucky. Or, five conversations Laura Roslin had and one she didn't. Written for @galactica-bigbang

Me, writing BSG fic? In the year 2023? Yeah, it wasn't on my bingo card either. But that's been a theme this year, and this weekend marks the 20th anniversary of BSG's premiere, and...here we are. I have some feelings about this, which will go under the cut.

I joined Tumblr after the heyday of the BSG fandom, so many of you didn't know me during that time (others haven't gotten rid of me since). It was a long time ago! The last time I wrote Laura Roslin fic was in 2011. BSG was my last major fandom during the LiveJournal era, and after it came Doctor Who and the start of my Tumblr era, which has lasted much longer and been (mostly) a joy...

But nothing's ever been like BSG. The glory days of my time in that fandom are untouchable. No fandom, and very few other external factors, have impacted my life the way BSG did. If I hadn't begrudgingly watched this show that I was deeply skeptical about (I had never watched sci-fi and had no real interest, but a friend insisted) and loved it so much that I spent most of my free time talking about it with people on the internet...

I'd be a fundamentally different person. The trajectory of my life was altered with that first episode. And now, twenty years after it first aired and coming up on seventeen since I first watched it, there is virtually no part of my daily existence that isn't impacted by/the direct or indirect result of my decision to watch this show all those years ago.

This is because of the people, of course. The incredible cast that brought this show to life, and Mary McDonnell above all, who remains very dear to me in ways I never could have imagined way back when. Laura Roslin was and is one of the greatest characters ever created, and to this day remains my favorite of all time.

Much more, though, it's because of my friends.

Most of us haven't talked about BSG in years. It's not something that I even think about particularly often, not explicitly. It's foundational, not front and center. But BSG directly gave me so many of the people that matter most, and indirectly has led to so much more joy and chaos, and so many more people, through the ripples that are still making their way into my future.

I signed up for this challenge on a whim, thinking it would be fun to revisit BSG and Laura after all this time. Then life happened, aggressively, and finishing this ended up being much more challenging than I expected. I'm glad I did, though.

It's been a ride. I'm excited to see where it will take me next.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Adam B. Coleman

Published: Apr 17, 2024

Recently I was driving through an affluent neighborhood outside of Boston and I saw more "Black Lives Matter" flags on one street than I've ever seen in totality in any black majority working-class neighborhood.

If I were to presume that most of the people who live in this area are white, why do they feel the need to brandish this flag more so than black people? It only makes sense if "Black Lives Matter" were using the image of black people as a front for an upper-class religion.

Most people agree with black lives matter as a sentiment, including me, but for many it's a way to signal to other ideological believers where they stand and differentiate themselves from the non-believers.

It's no different than if I wore a cross on my chest to let others know about my faith in Christ: they want to signal to the world their social justice & economic status. Within their class bubble, this is how they measure their righteousness against others within their enclave.

That flag has nothing to do with me as a black person but instead has everything to do with making upper-class suburbanites feel less guilty about their social status and elevate their moral standing amongst their social circle.

They find affirmation about us needing them as our faux saviors through other upper-class blacks, especially the academics who are well-versed in their ideological scripture and reject people like me as being false prophets attempting to lead them astray.

Sometimes when people are void of significant problems, they manufacture their own or adopt other people's problems. I believe a significant reason why this ideology holds so strongly amongst the wealthy is because it gives them purpose and an issue to strive to resolve.

However, regular people who are just trying to make ends meet don't need to create problems that aren't there: they have enough of them already. They don't generally have an ego that accepts the possibility of how they can become the saviors of the world, one flag at a time.

Coincidentally, on that same street, those same houses all had LGBT flags and "hate has no home here" lawn signs: It was like driving through an internet meme mocking the ideological left.

Because they rarely leave their bubble, they can't see the absurdity in their actions. They are distant from the demographics they claim to champion, making their advocacy theoretical and improbable for them to bring a resolution to the problems they claim are abundant.

Personally, I am skeptical about anyone who attempts to state their character unprovoked. When I see a neighborhood like that which is trying to convey that they are good people, I think to myself "If you're moral people, you don't need to tell me this: It will shine through."

I worry that there is a segment of wealthy Americans who are insecure about their morality, which is why they quickly bought into a narrative about them being inherently racist or immoral based on what they look like. Maybe this is their way to repent for their sins?

The reason we are being inundated with racial fallacies, outrageous claims, and ideological bent in our media coverage, entertainment, and legislation is that the people who dominate in these fields have all graduated from the same seminary-esque liberal universities.

What's very clear to me is that the flourishing of radical left-wing ideology is fueled by those who reign at the top of the economic ladder. They are disconnected from the rest of us & can't see the ridiculousness of what they're doing because their bubble only reflects their image.

[psychicbergara]

i really think the thing is that ryan is at the center of several different forces that put him in an unfortunate position to be a target for shitty attitudes:

the skeptical side of things attracts people with superiority complexes (obviously not ever skeptic is an asshole but there is a tendency for some skeptics to think they're smarter and better than stupid believers) + racism (like in a world where shane was the believer he would get so much more grace) + parasocial relationships (people watch shane make jokes about ryan being dumb or whatever and think 'oh hey i can make those kinda jokes too obviously ryan would know its not serious' ignoring that ryan is shanes actual real life friend who knows him and is not serious and ryan knows that but ryan doesnt know random fan #192382) + people just being kinda mean all the time on the internet nowadays

it really is so crazy to me though when its so called "fans" of the show who act like this though. if you're not having a good time why are you even here etc...and obligatory shane would be mad at you for being mean to one of his best friends and thinking of him as genuinely stupid

whew sorry for going off i've just been spending a lot of time thinking about this unfortunately. #benicetoryan2k23

anon dont apologize AT ALL!! you consolidated it really well and i could not agree with you more. this shows how much more ryan might have to deal with when it comes to fans and it’s sooo fucking upsetting. so your message is perfect, i don’t need to add anything tbh

and literally i will start a campaign with that hashtag if i have to, these people need to stop testing me fr

[multiversal-bridge]

So there's been a big discussion lately about the pacing in the works of Wildbow (creator of bespoke internet fiction), particularly in his latest work, Pale, which has become longer than the others in just a couple of years of writing. I have thoughts about this and I can't get them out of my head so I'll just post.

I think the framing of this discussion leaves something out? Because I genuinely think Pale is Wildbow's best paced work.

Sounds super weird to say that when it's so long, right?

But I think there's a difference between length and quality of pacing, and I think the key to understanding what Wildbow's doing is this:

Pale is paced like a television show.

To explain a bit more what I mean by this:

Movies and television shows are forms of storytelling that are both valid in different ways, and allow you to do different things. The advantage of a television show is that you get to add layers of nuance to character's psychology as well as explore a number of different characters over the full runtime of the show. (Bear in mind I'm trying to imply a TV show that everyone agrees is good throughout its run, like the Sopranos or something.) There's advantages to doing this sort of thing, at least if you do it well.

Wildbow is a big fan of TV and talks a lot about shows he watches. So it's not surprising that his pacing is like TV. You bring on a character for an episode, and you may not see them again in the next season, but their mini-arc informed the larger arc that was going on with the protagonists at that point in the story. A chapter is basically written like an episode. 2-3 arcs roughly corresponds to a season of the show, with certain arcs ending in a major change in the status quo.

And Wildbow has a very good sense of those larger arcs. I was talking with a friend recently about what a contrast Pale is with the later A Song of Ice and Fire books. Where Martin is creating an ever-expanding list of characters going off in ever expanding directions, in Pale Wildbow keeps his characters from straying too far by tying new ideas back to the main plot. We have an arc where we meet a bunch of new magical creatures, but it's also about gaining allies and figuring out which of them are being used as pawns by the conspirators behind the main mystery. And yeah, recently, we got in theory like 18 new characters, but in practice we've only really focused on like three of them, and they're ultimately extensions of the final villain(s) in a plot that seems to be chugging toward the last station.

And I like this better than the pacing in Ward, or Pact, or Twig, or the latter half of Worm! In all of those works, there were moments where I thought oh, come on, this is stretched out way more than it needs to be. In contrast, despite its length, I've never really felt that with Pale. And I was initially skeptical about some of the plot developments!

It's true that Wildbow's chapters have gotten longer, but it feels to me like that's more about embracing an episode structure with multiple scenes in it, whereas in other works I often felt a bit cut off by one-scene chapters. Wildbow may also be playing to his strengths, as Pale focuses much more on psychological dialogues instead if action scenes. And character psychology has always been at the heart of what makes Wildbow works good.

Your milage may vary. I might just be weirdly into psychological dialogue scenes. And I freely confess that there may be a difference in experiencing the story chapter by chapter over the last two years, as I have, and maybe it might not read as well binged all at once. But I've seen writing that's badly paced before (including in other long-form web fiction), and this doesn't trip that trigger for me.

Obviously no one should feel obligated to read Pale. But may be more helpful to think of Pale as a good thing that's continued in its same good vein for a long time than something that's suffering from the sin of excess. At the very least, there are reasons why those of us who are reading it are having such a fun time.

[tangibletechnomancy]

This a Moonmelon , scientifically knows as asidus. This fruit grows in some parts of Japan , and it's known for it's weird blue color. What you probably don't know about this fruit, is that it can switch flavors after you eat it. Everything sour will taste sweet, and everything salty will taste bitter, and it gives water a strong orange-like taste. This fruit is Very expensive. It costs about ￥16000 JPY (which is about 200 dollars). Keep reading for more fun facts about this incredible fruit!

This iteration of Moonmelon is the first chunk of my latest as-of-yet-untitled WIP.

What I'm doing is taking various infamous hoaxes, from the internet age and long before, and creating new "proof" of them with AI to compile for a "magazine." The purpose is to encourage nuanced thinking about how technology and disinformation relate.

For those inclined to be overly trusting of every application of new technology, this is a reminder that it can also make it all that much easier to lie. It still takes time and skill - it took me about 3 hours of attempts to get images this passable, and that's while leaving in enough wonk to illustrate some things to look out for after that first glance - but it's easier now, and attainable with different skills, than ever before, and it will only continue to get easier. This is not a threat, it is not a promise, it's just an inevitable side effect of the fact that technology marches on. Technology makes it more and more important to remember to practice healthy skepticism! If it sounds too good, bad, or just plain bizarre to be true, remember that it likely is! Check more into it, instead of simply accepting everything you read!

And for those inclined to look at that new ease of lying and fear we're entering a new age of disinformation that will render truth meaningless, this is a reminder that we don't need new technology to lie. We don't need AI to create hoaxes. We already have Photoshop, and before that we had airbrushes and double-exposures, and before that we had little girls with paper cutouts of fairies, and before that we had people lying in writing and painting fantastic creatures that didn't exist but they swore they saw. We've had parts from different animals taxidermied together and passed off as mythical beings for centuries. People have been lying since the dawn of time. Even so, life goes on - because although the minority of people who develop any given skill that uses it to make hoaxes has existed for as long as humanity has, they are still a minority. The bottleneck for disinformation has never been the technology; it's always been people's desire and willingness to lie. Forgetting this, in fact, may make you more inclined to believe disinformation, rather than less - just because you've proven a photo wasn't AI-generated, doesn't mean you've proven it is what it says it is!

Created with Simple Stable

[exeggcute]

your blog is cool and youre the only person on tumblr i really follow on tech stuff. is the transition to manifest v3 really worth all the hubbub?

first of all thank you! and second of all, lol. to be honest I haven't had a major eye on the v2 > v3 transition but you may be unsurprised to learn that I'm not taking hard sides here and am both slightly suspicious of the changeover and also less than convinced by some of the "this is the worst shit ever" blowback. not to suck google's dick either (unless any recruiters are reading this...?) (jk my least favorite person on r/technicalwriting works at google so unless you can guarantee that I will not come into contact with that man, it's gonna be a hard no) but to some extent I think this is one of those things where google, as the de facto governing entity for how internet browsers are designed[1] is, for better or worse, in the seat to steer the ship right now and inevitably has to make design choices that will shape the future of (how people will access) the web.[2]

[1] insert comment about firefox here but considering firefox is almost singlehandedly bankrolled by google it works out the same in the end. hence my perpetual dislike of the way-oversimplified "maverick underdog mozilla singlehandedly holding the line again google" narrative... go tell me where the money is coming from!!!

[2] also I know the W3C is the actual governing entity for internet protocol design and has influenced browser design on a more abstract level but that's still a degree of separation away and tbh I'm not super familiar with W3C drama. although I can only assume there's drama lol.

and google being google has both real and imagined interests in shaping the web by virtue of their other business ventures (e.g. but not exclusively e.g., advertising) and so I think some amount of blowback is gonna be inevitable when they propose Big Fundamental Changes. which, like, I'm the last person who's gonna say "no we should definitely drop our defenses and approach this without an ounce of skepticism" lol so I think the knee-jerk Uh Oh impulse is totally fair and maybe even warranted. but after the initial jerk I also think it's worth hearing shit out and, you know, on the face of it I can see why the changes outlined in the v3 manifest bring positive changes to the table. security and performance and shit. but security and performance are relatively boring selling points, and when google has earned a poor public reputation thanks to the other shit they've pulled I think it's understandable that even well-meaning changes will be met with general suspicion.

buuuut I still get irritated by the verging-on-clickbait headlines where literally every change about v3 is framed as "google is finally killing ad blockers" and then you read the article and ad blockers aren't mentioned directly a single time. like it'll literally just be about v3 lol. arguably I'm just being naive/willfully ignorant because of course it's all really about ad blockers since google is an advertising business and the other benefits are a smokescreen and blah blah blah but I do kinda feel like that borders on conspiratorial thinking, especially since ad blockers will work in v3, albeit differently, and google is actively working with/taking feedback from extension developers (including ad block extension developers). a lot of it genuinely just seems like "major version change will require significant technical work to implement, more at 11".

who knows though, I could eat my words :shrug:

kind of related but I was always kind of surprised by the amount of pushback against the web integrity API thing because I read the proposal behind it and it seemed pretty well-intentioned to me. granted there were some fair/serious concerns that even the proposal pointed out and a lot unanswered implementation details (and tbf it was a proposal/WIP) but I got Why they were proposing it, invalid traffic being the bogeyman it is. and like I am not a cryptography guy in the slightest but as I understand it the WEI was basically just an SSL certificate in reverse?

a lot of it makes me think about the web3 article from a few years back where a guy talked about designing an NFT that looked cool on various storefronts but looked like a poop emoji in your actual wallet after you bought it, which, in the process of trying to google it to link here, led me to this substack post where someone summarized it as "NFTs are centralized and no one cares." which is pretty much exactly what I was getting at (and why I thought about it in this context) with how even ostensibly open protocols can devolve into walled gardens built around those protocols with bonus features tacked on, if the protocols themselves don't offer those features out the gates (and enough people want them). idk. food for thought I guess. I really am just rambling here though so let me humble myself by reminding us all that I have a B.A. in english and love to speculate lolol. not an expert!

[lediableblancdotcom]

I need some help! I am pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but I need someone to confirm or deny. Has anyone seen this set of trading cards in real life? They are said to be "Marvel Ultimate" released in 2019, 120 cards in the set, and are in Spanish language. There are only two sellers that have sold these cards, single or by set, and I am beginning to believe they are the same person. I think they are fake AF, but I could be wrong, them being released in another country from my own and all. I have seen slightly different images for the same card and the names are not consistent throughout the set (Gambit on the front, Gambito on the backs). I am about to scrap them, but if they are confirmed real, I would like to add them to the database. Anyone know? Update:

So I asked the guy selling these straight up if they were real or not and he told me they were distributed through the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio. He said they did several sets in the 2019 time period.

I am still skeptical.....

Now, El Comercio newspaper is the biggest newspaper in Peru and has released Marvel Books and materials, but those were all copyrighted and produced through DK. So you would think the cards would have some markings. Still searching with this "new information" NO ONE on the internet has heard of these cards EXCEPT for this one guy. Peru is a big country and El Comerico is a big newspaper, so you would think someone out there other than this guy would know about or be selling these cards. Also, Peruvian cards, especially Marvel, are released under Pepsi Cards....so you would think they would have a hand in something they have copyrights to.

I am still thinking these are SUS....I am going to hold on to them and not put them up on the database until I have some confirmation.

Update Update:

I talked to a few card dealers that know their shit and none of them have ever heard of this set and doing more research with the info I have pulled from the ONE person that has the set (the dealer selling them) I can find NOTHING that is outside his own auctions. There are not even images on google of this set that do not tie back directly to this ONE seller. So I am going to deem these card fakes made by the dealer or at least bootleg release. Either way they are not going on the site as legit cards. I will save the images and info I have collected, just in case something else pops up later that confirms there authenticity, but for now, no go.

FINAL UPDATE!!!!

Yes, they have been confirmed as really good bootleg cards! A wonderful man named David gave me the skinny on these cards. They are unlicensed, but good ones (which is surprising they put this much effort into bootlegs). They were released in Peru through newstands in card packs of 30, and marked Vol 1-4, making the 120 card set when finished. There was also a set of DC cards that was released the same way. So, all those that are unbothered by buying unlicensed goods, buy them if you want, but being unlicensed they will not be making up onto the lediableblanc database. Mystery solved!