#moreso background work

[commissionsdarian]

"Temporal Overtime Limitation Decree": This law stipulates that employees cannot exceed a certain number of hours while conducting time-travel missions to prevent temporal fatigue and potential disruptions. However, a clever loophole allows the commission to employ "time dilation devices," artificially stretching mission durations, while technically keeping employees within the defined limits.

Haha yeah. This one.

[doomednarrative]

Lays down on the floor.

[l-amplights]

oufhghg silly obj mouse cursors i made

in order: Busy - Clock from ITS TIME FOR THE Working in background - Fan/Clock normal cursor - Fan from Inanimate Insanity Location select - GPS from The Nightly Manor Help select - Book from bfdi unavailable - No Way from ITS TIME FOR THE text select - Texty from ONE/HFJONE alt select - Daddy Long Legs from BURNER link select - Winner from TPOT move - shifty from Object Fool/Animatic Battle precision select - Animatic from Animatic Battle

blahh blah download here (google drive)

also these were made moreso for fun rather than like. being super easy to see while using so keep that in mind

how switch your mouse to them vvv

i only know how to do this on windows so

go to your mouse settings

click on pointers

double click on a cursor and choose the respective custom cursor (they should all be named after what theyre intended for but nothing is stopping you from having them all be the same or whatever)

click apply

w :thumbsup:

[buggachat]

Honestly I think my take on the "Chat Noir was not there in the final battle" comes down to the fact that I kind of just don't think a satisfying final battle between Chat Noir and Monarch was actually possible.

I read a lot of fic, for example, and I've read the scenario play out a lot of times in a ton of ways and I've never been fully convinced of it tbh (and not because they weren't great fic!!). It seems just completely traumatic for Adrien in a way that the scenario inherently cannot properly focus on, because it's all happening in the middle of an action scene and Adrien is too busy being Mid-Battle to properly have a cathartic breakdown about it all. I mean, Chat Blanc already showed us what would happen if he did have a breakdown mid-battle (and why wouldn't he?). And though it'd be fun to have a big triumphant moment of him defeating his abusive father, Adrien simply isn't a character who would find that scenario triumphant, or cathartic, or anything other than viscerally traumatic.

Also, I agree that it's unfair that Chat Noir was not present— like it was unfairly tilted in Ladybug's favor— but I don't think it'd be fair if he was present, either. Because Marinette is, in fact, the main character. The main character whose character arc is primarily focused on her finding her footing as a hero and discovering all the responsibilities that come with that power (as opposed to Adrien, whose character arc is moreso about freedom and identity). And let's face it, in a fight between Ladybug and Chat Noir and Monarch, nobody would be focused on Ladybug at all. It's not about her. It's not her fight. She'd just be there as moral support and an extra set of hands, which really doesn't work for her character arc at all and is completely unfair to her!

Basically, it would just be Chat Noir temporarily acting as the main character and having the worst time of his life in the most un-cathartic battle for him possible left completely traumatized with Ladybug in the background awkwardly trying to comfort him after the fact? And then the season ends? And then the next season presumably goes back to Ladybug being the main character? After a time-skip to the new school year? It's just an ending that I feel like is a lot better in theory than actually on paper. And you can probably make an argument for ways that it could be made to work, where it would enhance Ladybug's story in a meaningful way where she still feels like the main character, and would somehow be triumphant for Chat Noir despite it probably being the worst moment of his life, and somehow not make the rest of the series following feel like bonus content as opposed to a continuation of the story...... but, I dunno. I think it's a lot easier said than done.

The fact of the matter is, I've always been waaayyyy more interested in how the aftermath of Gabriel's defeat affects Adrien than the battle itself. Post-Hawkmoth defeat is one of my favorite types of fic for a reason, and it's because the aftermath can be so juicy, especially for Adrien as a character. I think whether or not Adrien is actually there in the battle itself has always been kind of irrelevant to me, because no matter how Gabriel is defeated, his defeat will have immense repercussions on Adrien's life going forward. And the way they did it, Marinette is now a part of it in a more active way, too. Which is good for her character!

( Also, if he was there to triumphantly defeat Gabriel, would that mean he would just.... watch his father die? of cataclysm? a-and.... nathalie would just.... die, too? so he'd have three dead parents after all that? who he watched all die (or, in emilie's case, saw her corpse)? or is this a scenario where MONARCH BEATS CHAT NOIR and still makes the wish? is that cathartic? for Adrien to lose to Gabriel? Frankly, I loved seeing Gimmi and The Wish, it's been teased for so long that I was expecting it, and I loved the fact that Nathalie got to live as her narrative reward for coming to her senses and trying to murder Gabriel with a crossbow. I like that we got to watch a full season of Gabriel painfully dying to a cataclysm— poetically inflicted on him by Adrien, but of Gabriel's own doing. I like that Nathalie has presumably adopted Adrien after having an arc of her trying to be a parent to him once she realized nobody else would, that's so much more interesting than any other alternative. I just don't see how all of these things, some of my favorite things that season 5 gave, can still all exist at once with Chat Noir present in the final battle in any way that's satisfying. )

[miguel-owhora]

dragon!price who's an alpha—a lonely alpha. he's been alone for quite some time now, his nest barren and empty, no mate to sing dragonic songs back to him miles away, no mate to rekindle the embers in his heart.

his hoard—sorry, the 141—help him fill these empty spots. soap's rambunctious attitude and gaz's encouragement and ghost's dryly amused comments fill in the lonely parts, bringing him down from the soaring heavens and back to the ground, where price hears the thumping of the earth's core if he falls back into his dragonic instincts deep enough.

dragons are rare to come nowadays. most spend their lives in secrecy, in some rural land most would struggle to pronounce the names of, spent hiding in either solitude or with their mates—and in certain cases, families.

so imagine price's surprise when laswell drops in a new member into his little hoard. she says it's temporary, but there's a glimmer on her eyes when she says it, one that makes sense when price sees you—another dragon.

an omega, price's alpha brain tells him, awakening with glee at another dragon hybrid, at someone who could complete him. a potential mate.

price's alpha instincts are purring when he introduces himself, and he must look like a fool, when he hears his boys sniggering in the background. something lights up something in his chest, instincts roaring to life, when you smile at him and shake his hand. your hand makes his burn, hotter than anything else, hotter than the fire he hatched out of.

it comes to no surprise to him when you're even more reserved than ghost. dragon hybrids are already secretive as they are; omega dragon hybrids are worse. but eventually, price worms his way past the walls you've put up and the fun part comes: courtship.

for every type of naturalborn hybrid that roams earth, they each have their own courtship rituals. for many of them, alphas must prove their worth to their potential mate. werewolf hybrids will bring back game, will defend territory; harpies—depending on which region they live in—will also prove their worth by bringing back prey and helping to build nests.

price can recall the number of times soap had dragged in the corpse of a deer, still warm and fresh to ghost, or how gaz had proudly weaved a wall of brambles and sticks (nevermind the nails and sharp blades) outside ghost's private room. it amused him to no end, seeing them fall prey to their instincts.

but price isn't laughing when he succumbed to his own instincts.

your introduction to the team and you letting price get close to you already had his dragonic alpha mind reeling with excitement. even moreso when you approved of him courting you.

now, dragon hybrids were something else. oftentimes, they were more older than the other hybrids, more ancient and forged deep within the earth's core, connected to mother earth like no other. as such, their courting rituals were more.. barbaric, in other words.

price feels alive when he has to fight you, when your claws dig at his skin and his teeth at your shoulder, near your bite mark. when you roar with fury and punch him away, when your omegan sex has his alphan sex pumping with life. when you both tear up the training room, your set of wings flapping and glittering underneath the artificial lights, when price finally pins you down, when you give a purr of approval.

price finds the prettiest items and gifts them to you, when he dances between feeling overjoyed when you accept it, feeling like he's been stabbed when you reject it. gift by gift price feels pride bloom within him when he sees your little gift hoard grow. when he gifts you a pack of his cherished cigars and gives you his signature hat, he has to go outside and do circles in the heavens when you accept it with gentle hands and carefully guard it.

all of his hard work pays off when you tug him by his scruff and take him to your bedroom, where your bed is carefully nestled with different blankets, with clothes that reek of him. he feels like the luckiest man when you strip yourself of your clothes and lay on the bed, letting your wings—gorgeous things they are—spread out underneath you, take up the bed. your cock, hard and leaking and big, lays on your belly, cum pooling like ichor.

you spread your legs, the scent of an omega ready to mate and take what's theirs, registering in price's brain. it's all he needs before he's racing to tear his clothes off and climbs on you.

he's purring loudly when he touches you all over, dipping his head to kiss at your body, thankful that you gave him the chance to prove his worth. your scent is thick and heavy, musk strong. it makes the embers in his chest flicker and grow to a small fire.

the fire grows when he slips his cock inside, shuddering at how tight and hot you are, burning him. you don't help him, content to lay back and let him figure it out, but price is more than happy to do it by himself. anything for you.

he gets you to cum several times, spilling all over your belly, makes you whimper his name, dig your claws into his back and pull him close to kiss him hard.

price is only ever given permission to cum when you decide he's worthy. your claws dig into your chest and rip it open, an ancient heart beating, cracks of old magic glowing an unusual color. price knows what's to come, but he still grits his teeth when you also rip his chest open.

his knot is forming, catching on your hole, when the two hearts—ancient and waiting for each other after so many years—intertwine together. price pushes his knot in and finally cums, fuck, he shudders and moans, in pleasure and in pain when he feels your anal barbs dig around his cock and knot, making sure he's secured for a while.

the world seems brighter when he collapses on you, open chests bleeding together. he gives little nudges of his hips, cockhead kissing your womb, brushing against your prostate. he feels you sigh contently, and price's heart is a wildfire.

[deerspherestudios]

hello!! i finished the mushroom oasis demo last night and its safe to say that this is the best visual novel i’ve played so far and i’m so excited to see what’s coming for the approaching days!!!/gen

now for the asks,

1. is there any reason in particular why specifically forget-me-nots were used in day 2?

2. will we get to know more of mychael’s past as the story progresses?

Aaaa thank you, that's always such a high compliment for a silly yan game like mine haha <3! I'm excited to release Day 3 soon!! As for your questions:

is there any reason in particular why specifically forget-me-nots were used in day 2?

Actually, in the first draft of the Day 2 background, the flowers were gonna be white or yellow! I was more focused on how it'd look visually, and couldn't decide between the two, so I released a poll where players help decide and forget-me-nots won! In a way I think it worked out perfectly, I myself am happy with the final results!

2. will we get to know more of mychael's past as the story progresses?

I wanna say yes and no? Mychael isn't the type of person to talk about his past, but you can definitely speculate. He's not the kind of character with history he's running away from, moreso just a guy wanting to live his days out peacefully in the woods. I'll only give as necessary that's related to the ongoing story, don't expect him to traumadump anytime soon haha.

[project-sekai-facts]

someone asked for the full list

don't question what i use tiermaker for

Tier 1: As stated in today's fact, Shizuku and Haruka can be considered the most attractive characters in the game, as multiple characters have shown attraction to them. Shizuku moreso than Haruka, but there's not too much of a difference to separate the tiers.

Tier 2: These characters have all been stated somewhere to be attractive.

Mafuyu is considered to be outstanding in all fields, including appearance. It's occassionally commented that she is quite pretty. Ichika and KAITO's first kizuna title is "Ikemen while playing", ikemen meaning handsome or cool. Ena has a Twitter account for selfies that has a reasonable following, and she often gets comments saying that she's pretty or cute. Len has a similar sort of idol aura to Haruka does, and is referred to as 'princely'.

Tier 3: These characters are never explicitly stated in the game to be attractive, but you can work it out.

A few background characters in Petit SEKAI Episode 9 mention that Akito and Toya are hot. Given that the miniseries is non-canon and a gag show it's up for debate how true this is, although it is a believable detail, hence why they're in this tier.

As for Rui, we have to look at the Valentine's Virtual Live from 2021 (wiki screenshots below). Keep in mind here that Rui is not popular in school at all and doesn't have many friends at this point in the game. He mentions that he received a few boxes of chocolate in his shoe locker on Valentine's Day, which admittedly could be platonic. However, the fact that this continues on into a joke about Tsukasa trying to claim that he got chocolates too before revealing that he got friendzoned by multiple girls (more on that in a second), makes it seem more likely that these weren't platonic. Linking back to the fact that he's not popular and doesn't really have many friends, he's probably pretty good-looking.

Tier 4: An being scouted as a model was an important part of the plot of Wishing For Your Happiness Upon The Blue Sky, and it's mentioned in an area conversation that Kanade has been talent scouted for modelling before.

Tier 5: Full disclosure that probably all of the MMJ VSingers are either pretty or cute, the ones mentioned here are just the ones I remember it being stated/implied. In the April Fools 2022 area conversation with the Lukas, MMJ!Luka says that WxS!Luka is very cute. N25!Luka calls her MMJ variant out for calling herself cute, and MMJ!Luka says that she herself is cute. (TL)

Kohane is mainly referred to as cute by An, which is biased, but other characters have pointed this fact out before as well, so she qualifies for this tier.

Mizuki loves cute clothes and accessories and always tries to look cute. I believe a few other characters have called them cute, but unfortunately the only instance I can actually remember is one transphobic faceless background character saying "you can't tell and they're super cute".

Also Minori and Airi are here because they're idols and have been called cute because that's part of being an idol I suppose.

Tier 6: Yes he gets his own tier because it's funny. This guy runs on rule of funny like 50% of the time. Anyway, as mentioned earlier, in the 2021 Valentine's Virtual Live, he gets annoyed when he hears Rui talking about receiving (implied romantic) chocolate and tries to claim that he too received (implied confession) chocolate, before saying too much and revealing that he only received friend chocolates that girls gave out to all the other boys as well.

Tsukasa's actually a lot more popular than Rui and doesn't have the same "outcast" reputation, plus in his A Once-In-A-Lifetime Pandemonium card story, Ibuki (Taniyama) mentions that Tsukasa's friends from class are really popular with girls, and Rui's friends are surprised he's in that kinda crowd (not that Tsukasa quite gets it). What I'm saying is that he's in a crowd of popular guys that are good with women and he's failing in that second aspect. The reason why is never stated but considering the school's resident outcast is able to get Valentine's chocolate for probably no reason other than looks, it's safe to assume Tsukasa is maybe lacking in that field.

But.

I think two guys have flirted with him? One definitely has anyway. The other is more up for debate but was probably written with the intent of ship tease. Depends on how you choose to interpret it.

In other words on a scale of attractive to unattractive he's the secret 3rd option (appeals to the mlms).

[theraprism]

Class subtext thoughts on Gatsby, Flatland, and Bill.

So broadly speaking, we've had some idea of what Bill's home dimension was like since the 2015 in-character AMA, when the idea that it was nearly (if not fully) identical to the world of Flatland was first introduced. During the Weirdmaggedon 4-parter, we finally learned that Bill had obliterated his home dimension and called it liberation. (From what I recall the fan concensus on this information was that it was a malicious act of evil on Bill's part -- up until the Book's release, I don't think the idea that it was a tragedy or accident ever had much ground to stand on.) Journal 3 picked up on this again when it established the existence of Exwhylia, which (importantly!) also reinforced the hierarchical nature of existence that Flatland presents.

I'll own up to the fact I've never read Flatland myself (it is on the neverending list of classics that I still haven't gotten to yet) and will be instead be relying mainly on Wikipedia and Sparknotes clones for this analysis, but the good news is that canon Gravity Falls materials have given us the basics of how Bill's home dimension operated at this point, and so knowledge of the work seems less required and moreso recommended. Similarly to Gatsby (the book as well as the character). More on that later.

To be more specific, the important info that Hirsch has given us about Euclydia is that it was repressive in the extreme. The exact ways that it maintained this are left up to the imagination, to an extent (e.g. there is no evidence of the upper echelons of Euclydia carrying out public executions against the lower classes, as there are in Flatland), but the Book does directly pull an image from Flatland that illustrates the class hierarchy there.

Since Flatland was written originally as a satire of the stratification in Victorian society, the work goes to great lengths to specify and elaborate on the different social roles of each shape (for example, women as lines, though the gender stratification isn't relevant in Bill's case). More relevant is the way that the work considers upward mobility through generations, and the fact that isoceles triangles (working class) are considered among the lowest beings in existence, just above irregular shapes. Bill has been referred to and drawn inconsistently as both isoceles and equilateral, but based on what we learn from Exwhylia in Journal 3, it's possible that this distinction is not relevant in the GF multiverse's reinterpretation of Flatland. See:

I'm sure a part of this reduction of the hierarchy in the original Flatland has to do with the work needing to be at least somewhat accessible to younger readers, but it does textually ensure that, regardless of the specific details of Bill's geometry, he comes from a background where, in spite of his exceptional ability to see the third dimension, he saw those around him receive resources more freely. His singling out of irregular quadrilaterals reads to me as a form of internalized classism; he needs someone to punch down to.

And earlier:

He describes his regular shape as an out-and-out "power". Bill explicitly carries with him the classist ideals and values of his home dimension despite its destruction. The way he internalizes different ideas about himself and who he is is probably a subject for another post, but the point is that these qualities Bill is emphasizing aren't simply a matter of arrogance. Bill is trying to sell himself as a gentleman, a respectable individual from an upper-middle class position.

This is where Gatsby becomes relevant, because The Great Gatsby is all about a man who wants more than anything to cross the threshold of inborn greatness and become a true upperclassman. Bill appealing to his innate biological qualities as evidence for his own greatness relates back to the notion that such greatness is an ontological trait which cannot be given, but can also not be taken away. Note what he explicitly says here about the themes of class in Gatsby:

If you walk up to any college English professor and ask them what Gatsby has to say about the American Dream, I really do not think you are going to hear them say the word "bittersweet". The American Dream is a false idol and illusion; Gatsby himself is utterly miserable and meets a miserable end. There is nothing "sweet" about it.

At the same time, it makes sense that Bill would describe it as bittersweet, because for all his powers of sight, Bill cannot imagine a future where he is happy. Throwing crazy parties every night (for Gatsby at his home, for Bill on the Earth's remains), staring at an unreachable desire far out in the distance -- that's his end goal. He emerged from a position where he was repressed and since then his life has been a steady climb/crawl in the direction of power and control. Both Gatsby and Bill seek to reclaim a lost sense of fulfillment and purpose through this ascent, and both seek to become untouchable as gods are, but both are brought down in the end due to the consequences of their own actions, stemming directly from the violence they bring into their worlds of their own volition. In case you've forgotten, or if you've never read it, Gatsby's money is not clean. We may not see Bill use money, but his social currency is not clean either.

I think it's telling that Flatland can be understood as it relates to Bill's character through summary, but with Gatsby, there is so much subtle incentive to actually read the thing. From the GIF originally posted by Hirsch that I included at the top of the post to the PDF link on ThisIsNotAWebsiteDotCom.com to the fact that the gag in the Book itself goes on for multiple pages when it could have ended after one or two, the intertextuality is paramount. I think that's really cool. It's rare to see intertextuality this well-considered in genre fiction, and I think it makes the whole analytical process more fun.

[thezombieprostitute]

Lmao this made me think of Jakey Poo

You know what? I'm making this canon for how Jake and Sunshine met.

Summary: Jake knows he's the luckiest man in the world and it's all because of you.

Warnings: None at this time. Please let me know if I missed any!

A/N: Reader is female. No physical descriptors used.

Part 1

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Poor Jake didn't have much going for him when he left military service for the civilian life. He's just not sure what to do with himself outside of work and gaming. He tries to go out, especially when he's meeting up with The Losers again, but often he finds himself just feeling lonely with too much time on his hands.

Then he gets a ticket from you. The problem seems like an easy enough fix so Jake, still being the new guy on the team, gets assigned to it. He signs onto the Zoom app that he despises with all of his being, but it's company policy to use it.

When you answer the Zoom call your voice is so sweet that it takes Jake a second to respond. You actually think there's something wrong with the connection and he hears you saying, "frick. Even in the future nothing works."

He laughs, recognizing the Spaceballs reference, and startles you. "Sorry about that," he chuckles, as he hears your gasp. "That was just...really funny. Don't meet a lot of Spaceballs fans these days." He shakes his head, "anyways, I'm going to take control of your computer for a bit so I can try to fix it."

"Of course," you reply. It is standard procedure.

Jake gets a remote look at your desktop background and gasps, "you're a Pokemon fan!"

"Gen 1 and proud," you reply.

"That might explain what happened," he starts. "You let your Magnemite get too close to your laptop!" You laugh at the joke and Jake feels his cheeks heat up.

"Well it certainly isn't a Rattata chewing on the wires," you chuckle back.

"Hmm. Maybe we should get maintenance to double check," he jokes. He starts poking around your system files and is immediately at a loss. "What the..."

"Everything okay?"

"Umm..." Jake starts floundering. "I, um, I think. Hmm..."

Shit, he thinks. He was really hoping he could impress you. He's never even seen you but you're so nice and a fellow geek. He wanted to go in, press a button and fix your problem, but this is something more complicated than the ticket implied. He's wishing he had his pirate hat to help him think.

"Okay," he shakes his head, clearing his thoughts, "I think I'm going to need to take a look at the computer itself to figure this out."

"Sure thing." You exchange names and give him your cubicle number and quickly start cleaning up your desk. He might be an IT guy but his voice is very sexy, his laugh even moreso. And he's a fellow geek! Not someone who looks down on you for liking "childish things". You want to make a good impression.

By the time Jake gets to your cubicle you've tidied up pretty well. You smile up at him and Jake swears he's never met a more beautiful woman in his life. He's barely able to get out a "hi" because you've taken his breath away.

You're trying hard not to giggle and kick your feet at how cute Jake is. The fact that you've flustered him isn't lost on you and it makes you feel even giddier.

"Um, I um, I like your, your Gravity Falls sweater," Jake finally gets out.

Looking down you realize you're wearing your handmade Mabel Pines sweater and your face lights up. "Oh, thanks! I made it myself!"

"That's so cool," Jake says, earnestly. "I'm always so jealous of people who can make their own cosplay stuff."

"I could make you something," you quickly offer. "If, that is, um, if you'd like."

He smiles at you and, for the first time in a very long time, he feels like everything's going to be okay. The clouds are parting and you, the sunshine, are lighting up his life.

Part 1

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Tagging: @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @ellethespaceunicorn; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory; @late-to-the-party-81; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly

[ftmtftm]

Can you make a post going over Serano's theory and the parts of it you don't agree with and why? I'd be interested in your perspective

I kind of have in the past if you dig for it. I think I'd reframe or rework a lot of it now though. I'm also not super interested in fully rehashing it in full at the moment because I'm reaching a point of burnout, but I'll talk about the easy surface level stuff.

My issues with Serano's theories have very little to do with the things she's explicitly written about transmisogyny and trans womanhood in terms of systemic transmisogyny and what that looks like* and it has moreso to do with the way she makes assumptions about the "opposite" experiences trans men "have".

"Have" is in quotes there because reading The Whipping Girl as a trans man it becomes very obvious that - at the time of writing - Serano had little to no interaction with trans men besides maybe two primary sources. Most of what she specifically says about trans male experiences in the book is conjecture and assumptions being made based on how Cis Binary Patriarchy works for cis binary people (when... trans people don't actually fit into Cis Binary Patriarchy on a systemic level, ever).

She opens The Whipping Girl by stating that she will be focusing on transmisogyny and trans womanhood and not focusing on other trans experiences, but she doesn't really actually do that though!!!! I wish she had!! It would have made her work significantly stronger because she had very real important things to say that do hold up and are real and that do matter!!!

However, instead whenever trans men come up, The Whipping Girl makes baseless comparisons that essentially go:

"Trans women experience [ a very real example of systemic transmisogyny ] AND AS SUCH trans men experience the opposite [ insert universalized experiences of one or two trans men that doesn't get examined at all and is given absolutely no nuance and the lack of nuance can be explained away by saying "well she did say she's only writing about trans women, why should she give examining trans men's experiences that much attention" ]".

She could have just stopped and not spoken about trans men at all and retained the scope she initially set for herself at the beginning of the book or she should have more directly acknowledged that her scope was limited and left a door open for others to step in - like she has since done and stated should be done.

It's very frustrating talking about the flaws and blindspots in her work - that she herself currently directly acknowledges - only to be met with "Well you just don't understand her!! You're trying to say she's wrong and that transmisogyny doesn't exist" because... that's not what's being said. That's not the conversation that's being had.

Transmisogyny does exist, but we can talk about it, Patriarchy, and trans oppression in better, more robust ways. That's what Intersectional theory is all about.

*I do take issue with the Whiteness and Binaryness of the way she writes about trans womanhood though. Especially because I think it's very clear that her theory is also heavily impacted by her background as a White biologist. She hasn't done any deconstruction of biology/sexology as racist, intersexist institutions and leaves little room for genuine intersectional thought in her supposedly intersectional theory. I think in many ways Serano is another White Feminist that's appropriated Intersectionality without examining her own Whiteness despite Intersectional theory having direct roots in Black Feminism BUT we can have that conversation after people start treating her like a human being, yk?

[elizabethwritesmen]

The Devil Wears Lace

chapter 1 : July 2, 2022

pairing: simon “ghost” riley x reader

summary: you obviously weren’t expecting someone to kidnap you after your shift at the bar that night. even moreso, you weren’t expecting them to want to kill you. but the thing you weren’t expecting the most was the masked man who saved you.

warnings: 18+ for eventual smut, kidnapping, violence, talk of unaliving the reader, dark themes throughout this whole series, leg injury, talk of being tied up and drugged, i think that’s everything but let me know if i missed something!

a/n: this chapter is basically the prologue, so it’s super short but gives necessary background info (:

series masterlist

July 2, 2022

I don’t remember much. In fact, I don’t remember anything clearly after being taken.

What had happened was, I was walking to my car after my shift at the bar ended. I happened to be parked on the side, in the alley. There, three men were waiting for me. Waiting to take me.

I put up a fight, really and truly, I did. I think I even gave them a run for their money considering they were all quite large compared to me. I punched, and scratched, and bit what I could. But they overpowered me, and one of them hit me on the head with something. Who knows what? Doesn’t matter.

Since then, I’d been fading in and out of consciousness. The first time was on the ride there. I’d been shoved in the back of a van with several boxes, wedged in between them like some kind of cargo. The driver hit a turn way too sharp and slung one of them onto its side, the contents emptying onto me. One of the things in there was a small safe with sharp edges. It slammed into my ankle, breaking the skin and cutting deep. I instantly woke up, screaming, red hot pain searing through my entire leg, and they pulled over somewhere. One of them crawled into the back with me, and I tried to resist him but I was tied up with my arms behind my back. I even kicked at him, but there was only so much I could do with one good foot.

“Shut the fuck up!” he growled, taking a syringe out of his pocket and forcefully twisting me so he could shove it into my arm.

The next time, I was in a warehouse. Everything was dark and blurry, shapes fading together. I felt… wrong. Woozy, like I’d been drinking. Then I momentarily remembered the syringe and realized that thought wasn’t too far off. There was probably something in my system to keep me docile. That only lasted for a second before I was out again. Then again I just barely faded into a conversation two men I’d not yet seen were having in front of me.

“We’ve got to wait until the 4th or it won’t work,” one raised his voice at the other, tensions high.

“I say we kill the bitch now. She’ll be worth just as much dead as she will be alive.”

“You don’t know that!”

Everything went black again. I couldn’t even manage to panic about the fact that I was probably going to die. What day did I get snatched? I thought it was the 30th of June. How long had I been there?

I don’t remember waking up again at all, until a loud sound rocked the building. My eyes cracked open, vision still shaky, to see men rushing in. A fight ensued between them and my many captors. I watched as intently as I could manage as they took each one of them down, police arresting them all.

A man rushed my way. I couldn’t see him clearly until he was right in front of me, tall and large and… masked.

Strange.

I tried to scoot away from him, scared he was going to hurt me in my drugged up state, and he spoke softly as not to frighten me further.

“It’s okay, I’m here to take you somewhere safe.” I stayed wary, eyes focusing in on him. I had to focus in on him. If I didn’t, he just looked like a blob. “They’ve got you fucked up good,” he commented, then asked, “Will you let me cut off these ropes?”

I nodded and he leaned down, slicing through the binds on my ankles, careful of the wound that was looking worse for wear from being ignored. “Can you stand?” He asked, and when I didn’t respond, he tutted. “Let’s try.” He picked me up from under my arms, placing me on my feet.

Fuck if that wasn’t the worst pain I’d ever felt. I cried out as pressure was placed, falling into him in the least graceful way possible. His arms secured themselves around me, placing me gently back on the ground.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to stand,” he hummed, kneeling behind me to cut the ropes off of my hands. I relaxed my entire body, relieved to have mobility back. “Put this on,” he commanded, slipping his jacket off and handing it to me. I furrowed my brows, looking down to see my clothes were in tatters, ripped to shreds just about. The low cut T shirt with my work’s logo on it was completely open and the matching skirt was half off. My bra and panties were on full display, light hitting the lace perfectly. I gasped, grabbing the warm fabric from him and trying to put it on. I was too weak, though, so he had to do it for me. He zipped it up, and once he was satisfied with my modesty, he hauled me into his arms, carrying me out of the building. I started to slip out of consciousness again, my mind still foggy from whatever was in my veins. The last thing I remembered seeing was him, walking away.

[dreadintensifies]

i really love dead boy detectives from a creative standpoint

dont get me wrong, the characters are a delight to watch and the story is engaging and refreshing, but to me the creative visual choices are the real stand-out of the show.

theres so much detail and *love* put into every single frame. not to mention all of the interesting things they tried and risks they took, from unique angles that felt straight out of a comic book page to snappy pacing that feels like reading through panels, everything from the framing to the effects was deliberate and passionate and exciting, i hope its success allows for so much more creativity and experimentation.

another incredible visual aspect is the set design, oh boy the set design. so much love and attention to detail put into every single object placed. two particular stand outs are nikos room and esthers house (especially esthers house the love i have for that house)

nikos room because what an incredible way to tell you everything you need to know about a person at a glance. from the upbeat, if awkward decor to the lines of yaoi lined up perfectly across the wall. and esthers house, which just brings me so much joy. all throughout her house, in blink and you will miss it moments, are pieces of history. furniture that was made centuries ago, lamps that were in style decades ago, and so much more. old technology thats long outdated, styles from different eras clashing subtly in the background, things showing a life long lived. because of course she would collect things over the years, of course she would simply keep what she likes, and the amount of care that was put into who she is as a character and how that impacts her house is such a small but incredible detail to consider

anyways i really love the visually creative aspects of this show

and i truely just cant get past how much i enjoyed the way it feels like reading a comic. even moreso than the spiderverse trilogy, i truely felt like i was seeing panels come to life in the best possible way

man i sure hope there arent several dozen shows in our future that try to replicate that but without the heart that made it work in the first place

[cat-identifier]

yay i was able to catch a submission window!! so ive been working at an animal shelter for almost a year now and have seen a truly absurd amount and variety of cats, but i have never seen a cat similar to this one that came to the shelter as a stray at the start of the year.

she's obviously some kind of dilute(?) tortoiseshell with medium white, but she has blue eyes and i have seen a loooot of dilute tortoiseshells in my time here, just never one like her. the darker patches aren't blue/gray at all, but moreso brownish. she has some darker orange stripes on the cream patch on her face which combined with the blue eyes would make me think some kind of flamepoint influence, but she's a calico 😭 i've just been so curious this whole time and desperate for some insight. obviously she came in as a stray so we don't know her background or genetics etc etc but its just crazy. thank you!!

- @caecilians

—

Calicos can be colorpoint too, and that's exactly what this gal is! Red and black tortoiseshell colorpoint with medium-high white!

[dreamerwitches]

Right! Off we go off we go! Andreana and Kako. Yeah I'm still torn on this. I just think the original doppel worked really well and this one just... ruined it..? I don't think they needed to change the doppel aspects and in doing so it made it look worse. The dual blades looks too busy and kinda dumb and why is her hand up there?? I get she's reckless so she might have cut it off but still... I'm unsure about the legs either. Her whole body is a mishmash of colours and her legs are suddenly all one colour? Dunno... I'd give her a bigger book skirt, highlight the bookmarks more (yes I know the legs are probably bookmarks but moreso as a skirt) and probably give her legs more like her arms.

Oh dear Maura... why did they choose the curtain one..? Maura and Nanaka. It's... it's boring, anyone with eyes can see it's boring. I just feel like the witch takes away from everything interesting about the original. My favourite part is how dark Nanaka's inclusion is and of course, that's absent here. And even the upside down curtain was at least a little interesting but now it's just curtains hanging the regular ol' way. I feel like this witch would be way way better animated instead of just sitting there curtain-ly. They should've chosen someone else with a better doppel...

Meiyui and Delanna. Now I know why she's in a crib, she's just straight up babyish and sleep themed. I think she's fine, nothing special. The crib is fun and creepy. I kinda wish the mouths were more creepy but I guess that's just her style :T

Heidesommer and Konomi... ehhhhh this is super boring... the doppel is more fun... witch is just a mound, it looks like a pile of junk. I don't have much to say about it... doppel is better

Cendrillon and Rena. Now. I think the full witch is beautiful. The colours are so pretty, the faces are horrifying and the bird detailing is lovely. But... is it the doppel..? N-Not for me... Like, I just feel the bird theming comes out of NOWHERE. Her theme is Cinderella, where did this come from?! (actually do birds peck out the eyes of the ugly stepsisters or something in the original? Maybe, that would be a bit better) And the three legs don't do it for me. I felt the one leg to highlight the missing glass slipper works well. And the hair pieces being on the side of her body doesn't sit right with me. Neither does the tail(?) piece, looks stuck on like they were like 'oh, fuck, we forgot the fan part!' BUT. It is a beautiful witch. Do I see this doppel coming from it if it was the other way around? No Also here I included Cendrillon's brief anime appearance and it lines up pretty well! I think in the anime one the body looks more lumpy, the beak isn't as big and its missing the wings.

Zola and Kaede. Meh, disappointed. Why is she less detailed than the doppel??? But I suppose we already kinda saw what she was gonna look like anyway, I should have prepared myself... From the anime, my favourite part was her body and it just feels kinda hard to see here, like, show me those RIBS! I wanna see them! And those big ol' arms! But they're so hidden by the background and her body mehh. Plus I think the face of the doppel is weird and creepy and that's just not there in the final... Also don't like how the horns(?) just completely differ from the doppels style. They kinda look like veins but I dunno if I like them.

Also special guest... my own full witch interpretation from (i think) last years witchtober. I prefer mine thank youuu. But if I redid the witch I'd give her the doppel face, I believe I was basing mine off the anime image at the time

Let's finish on a good one! Momoko and Elfriede! Another that's super pretty, I have few complaints. The head is horrifying and I love it and the dress is still super pretty. Only gripe is I prefer the black lace to the gold gems. My biggest gripe is the fat, bloated hand at the bottom. Why..? What was wrong with the doppel's ones? I think such a slim and elegant needed something better than a hand that looks like a balloon dog. If the fingers were longer I think it would have worked better. And the floating fingies look a little dumb but thats minor

[fallout-mountains]

Thoughts on Fallout 4 companions after playing the game for a bit and reading a whole lot of headcanons and fanfic and reactions:

- Hancock said he didn’t want to look at this face in the mirror and decides to do a drug instead of surgery. That’s some real self-hate there.

- There’s so much self-flagellation

- One the same note, ghouls can’t go under surgery?

- Someone mentioned that quests for the minuteman could have been handed out by the Freedom radio, instead of Preston, so that more backstory could be given to Preston.

- Nick and Deacon we’re probably thought to be too old and they didn’t want it to be creepy of hooking up with an older guy…(sigh)

- That it’s easy to write Sole to be compatible with everyone, since the game allows you to role play that character in many ways.

- MacCready’s backstory is both endearing and weird (because of him not going to see his son). I think the people who made the game didn’t want to bother with coding him leaving for a bit and then coming back, but… really? Should have changed the background story a bit to at least add that he needs to stay in case the medication didn’t work (or something like that)

- Deacon since he changes his face and has seemingly traveled could be in another Fallout game, any of them…

- Since Deacon changes his appearance, you get more attached to his voice. (He also has some very interesting things to say.)

- That when Deacon changes his face, Dezdemona is there the whole to verify it’s still him.

- Nick rolls with the punches, and has a very good emotional IQ, moreso than any of the other companions. He’s so even keel emotionally, that the Far harbor expansion hits a bit harder, because that’s where you see more of His emotion.

- Piper would be the best to adapt to our world

- Majority of the ways people can become your companions is weird why they even offer. (Like why would Hancock travel with Sole and not another person who wasn’t part of quest to raid their warehouse? Doesn’t Piper have other stories to investigate? Doesn’t Deacon have missions to do? Why isn’t Strong following Rex Goodman around? Nick has plenty of other cases to just run around randomly)

- Paladin Danse says that he wasn’t sure about Sole but also highly recommends you join the Brotherhood. So which is it? Also, I only did like one big quest for them and I am given a power armor.

- Is the reason they complain about picking up stuff is that eventually they have to carry some of it?

- Ada is a good companion, but doesn’t offer a perk, hence the reason probably not talked about a lot because no reason to travel with her

- I don’t know why the institute is doing what they are doing

- I really wish they could mark the clothes that can go under a person’s armor.

- Why are people wearing scarves? Is it cold there because it never seems to snow.

- I find it interesting that the companions all generally know each other or at least the have swapping dialogs that make it seem that way. (Curie has literally been locked away for 200 years.)

- They have veritbirds but no land vehicles. There’s supposedly caravans, but no wagons? Would it be too dangerous to have that?

I probably have more, but that’s for now

[crushedsweets]

Jdjejfjsjd can we know more about ninajack????? Pleasssseeee sucker????

I GOT YOU. i organized it by concept rambles, then if i were to write a 'getting together' one-shot thing.

A SORT OF BACKGROUND/GENERAL CONCEPT..

nina has a crush on everyone. usually its veryyy short and fleeting and she realizes it was moreso admiration and appreciation rather than romance, but its like she's hardwired for romantic love. even when she's "with" jeff (she calls him her boyfriend/fiancé but neither are very loyal), she's crushing like crazy

so, when she's introduced to Jack through Clocky.. he's tall, mysterious, has a nice voice, polite, freaky. SHE'S CRUSHING HARD. REALLY FUCKING HARD. like running off with clocky squealing and spinning and going 'I THINK IM IN LOOOVEEE HE'S SOOO FINEEEE' and clockys like no. you are not. please.

nina would start asking clocky/toby "ohh we should visit jack today i bet he's lonely lets go see him" and they see right through her shit. clockys more likely to be like 'i do not want you bothering him, i dont think he can take it' since she'd be aware of the whole... falling in love with jenny only to be horribly betrayed fiasco.... and even if she loves nina, she doesn't trust her not to hurt people. but toby is more likely to think its funny as fuck and bring nina along.

another big point is. nina's appearance matters a lot to her. she used it all her life to get what she wanted - ranging from when she was little and using doe-eyes to beg her dad for toys, to being a sexy, fun chick at the bar getting drinks from randos... but jack can't see her. he has thermavision and echolocation, so he gets the gist of her appearance, but it'd really mess with her. she doesn't think theres anything about her to love, other than her appearance and what she can give. but he really thinks she has a sweet voice, at least

A CURRENT STORY/ONE-SHOT CONCEPT

it would be after she officially breaks things off with jeff. jeff stabs her in the stomach, liu drags her to jack, and jack tends to her wounds.

they'd require her to stay with jack for a few days, just during her recovery.

nina's depressed, understandably, after the whole ordeal. jack gives him her room so she can actually lay down, and he sleeps on the couch. she never leaves his room, is always in there moping and crying and trying to contact jeff - but he's blocked her on literally everything, so..

it'd start by jack bringing nina meals. breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he'd bring her something and insist she eats. some days she would, some days she'd cry and beg him to leave and take it with him. he'll leave it alone for a while. "this isnt my problem" or whatever, but... she wont heal properly if she's not eating. so jack would eventually try collecting her, pulling her out by the hand and quietly asking her to come eat dinner with him. he'd insist it's for him, that he's been lonely, something like that - a little bit of manipulation, but it works. it gets her to eat.

he'd do it more often, and she'd think she's doing a good thing. he'd start bringing her out to cook with him, all that.

maybe one day while theyre cooking together, nina would be in such a good mood after a long time of moping, and he'd just comment on how nice her laugh is. and immediately she's like oh. woah. ok.

maybe that night, just like he asks her to eat with him so he's not lonely, she'd ask him to come lay with her so she's not lonely. then jack finally gets his fucking bed back. and nina, i guess....

bonus points cuz she'd be wearing his clothes. BIG AS FUCK ON HER. theyre so cute