#not familiar with the etiquette with this stuff

[lizclipse]

I'm a sucker for timelines so

hopefully im not overdoing it (not exactly a teacher who knows how to grade smth) and this stuff is actually helpful in some way

2025-2026: a general increase is optimistic so soon (esp without eco problems) is optimistic, but honestly we need some optimism

2027: appreciate the use of a real mission for this :)

2030: would this second embankment not trigger a renewed call for a second canal? not sure if there's any news about this from the first one, tho

2034: i'd keep an eye on the h_3 mining, since there seems to be missions to look into it already in the works (2025 is a year ive seen a couple times in a shit-quick search, might be bs)

2036: i'm not personally convinced that fusion will be market-ready by then, especially not the ITER variety. i know there are other techniques being looked at, maybe some might be more viable for this point? (i may look into it myself and get back to you, but if i do that now i'll get lost and never come back)

2036-2037: the martian mission feels odd to me, since all i've heard about such a thing is that it's currently 1-way (the main thing that bothers me about the film 'the martian'). are there plans for a send-and-return currently?

2037: ykno that optimism thing i mentioned? you could guess what i feel about a certain point in here :) otherwise, it might be worth looking in to skyhooks, as those might be more viable that sp-elevators, and the baby surprises me. would expect missions like this to prevent that sort of thing, so i'd at prolly expect a scandal (or at the least an investigation into the how, sovereignty should be fine since antartica is similar legally)

2040: self-sufficiency is huge, but i'd expect it happening on the moon to be a pre-requisite for a mars mission because of the difficulty getting things there

2042: i'm surprised that the US gov would involve themselves like this after big QOL improvements earlier, is there some political stuff that makes them slide back?

2048: a year feels like a very short time for a full QM revolution. it would do one prolly, but physics needs a ton of time lol

2050: half the states being western corpo based feels odd to me. western corps have had a historically hard time breaking into the chinese market, and i'd expect Taiwan to have some say here due to their historical claims on the chinese mainland (they'd also have a large influence as well due to a shitload of western tech depending on them). oh, and there's a bunch of climate targets aimed at 2050, so it might be a good idea to mark how closely they were hit (or just think about it idk)

2051: i really like the beamed energy idea happening :3 would it affect the fusion reactor demand?

2053: i could be really mistaken on all the mars mission stuff, but wouldn't it have to be at least semi-sustainable from the get-go? considering the months travel time & cost of launching things, regularly supplying a permanent base would be hella, hella expensive

2057: what is $1T in comparison to other big corpos? inflation is a bitch honestly

2060: new york feels odd at first since i'd expect a lot of space to be necessary, but it is the area with some of the highest energy demand so it'd make sense nearby at least

2067/2071: i'm curious on the life on venus here. mars seems like a much more likely place, but is the intent here that there's a completely different kind of life on venus? this feels like a big deal tbh, and might be worth exploring more (like huge advancements etc)? i would take care with this, tho, since (i believe) our current knowledge of chemistry seems to indicate that carbon/water is the single best basis, and alternatives are non-viable enough to make life built on it really unlikely. also, panspermia isn't super relevant at the moment, but i don't think you could ever outright prove that is didn't happen (doesn't seem likely to be right tho).

general things: i like the asteroid & (especially) the gas giant (& venus possibly) mining, since it's cool and opens a lot of potential for mega-corp shenanigans. not sure we'd colonise the gas giants themselves, but i can 100% see some of the moons. i'd be curious on a map showing the territory ranges for corps and govs closer to the end. also the 'massive object' is an interesting mystery...

overall, i really like it, and it seems fairly reasonable for a potential future timeline. curious on the setting, tho, and whether the massive object is going to be alien in nature :)

Unfinished Timeline for an Untitled Setting

Critique and advice is more than welcome, though please be nice about it. Goes up to about 2081 rn, though I plan to get at least another 50 years further in before I get to the time I want the bulk of the setting to be set in.

Timeline:

2022: First controlled break-even fusion reaction, followed by first controlled net-gain fusion reaction.

2025-2026: Increasing unrest in USA leads to mass riots outside the white-house. Sweeping reforms after growing revolts threaten to become a major armed rebellion. NASA miraculously left untouched, general increase in standard of living. Economic crisis narrowly averted.

2027: First nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) tested in orbit by NASA and DARPA. GPT-style language modeling declared “dead end” for self-aware AI.

2030: First Lunar base established under NASA Artemis program. Suez Canal temporarily blocked by a poorly driven cargo ship again. Evergreen Shipping goes bankrupt.

2034: Lunar Gateway established under joint NASA, ESA, JAXA, DLR, ASI, and CNSA. Lunar helium-3 mining declared officially nonviable. Radial detonation engines become standard for lower ascent stages, SpaceX Starship, NASA SLS, and Roscosmos Soyuz phased out. Drop in launch prices.

2034-2036: Additional modules added to the Lunar Gateway from SpaceX, KARI, ISRO, and Roscosmos. Lunar Gateway Collaborative Group (LGCG) established consisting of all current contributors to the station.

2036: First commercial fusion energy plant reaches full operation in France under ITER. Mass production of Tritium begins. First fully private space station under SpaceX. Asteroid mining corporations begin formation. Establishment of Nigerian Organization for the Development of Space (NODS). Ecuador experiences communist revolution.

2036-2037: First manned martian mission under LGCG, first human footsteps on another planetary body.

2037: Elon Musk assassinated. New SpaceX leadership declares plans for space elevator. North Korea collapses, Korean peninsula unified under South Korean leadership, becoming simply Korea. Indian nuclear stockpile secretly surpasses 50000 Gt. First baby born on the moon.

2040: Artemis base becomes semi-self sufficient, producing it’s own food and air from hydroponics, and water from mined lunar ice. Lunar LH2 and hydrolox production begins. Lunar population passes 100.

2040-2042: First commercial fusion power plants established in the US, UK, Australia, Korea, and Japan.

2042: A joint US Government and SpaceX black operation destabilizes Ecuador, leading to a corporate takeover of the territory.

2044: Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand form West Pacific Trade Organization (WPTO). Construction of the base of SpaceX’s planned space elevator begins off the coast of Ecuador.

2047: LCC completed at CERN. Mission for permanent martian base declared. Major economic crisis in China, intervention from several megacorps results in a decrease in Chinese government power and increase in corporate control in the region. SpaceX space elevator counterweight construction begins in geostationary orbit.

2048: Major revolution in quantum mechanics brought on by new data from the LCC. Lunar population passes 250.

2050: China splits into 4 corporate states, Amazon Corporate Territory (ACT) with its capitol in Chongqing, Samsung Independent State (SIS) with its capitol in Shanghai, Territory for Electronic Developments (TED) made up of Apple and Microsoft with its capitol in Yinchuan, and the Chinese Corporate Union (CCU) made up of several formerly state-owned corporations with their capitol in Wuhan and possession of the Three Gorges Dam. Beijing becomes an independent city-state controlled by the former Chinese government, retaining control over the CNSA. Massive revolution in battery energy density. Permanent martian base established by LGCG.

2051: Breakthrough in photon manipulation, beamed energy and solar collection becomes increasingly viable. Many asteroid mining corps branch into solar power, notably Binghamton Vacuum Mining Solutions (BVMS). Lunar population passes 500.

2052: Martian population surpasses 100.

2053: Martian base reaches semi-self sustainability.

2055: All 4 Chinese corporate states and the Beijing city state form the Chinese Federation for Space Exploration (CFSE), supplanting the old CNSA. Lunar Gateway module renamed and LGCG roster amended accordingly. SpaceX space elevator cable completed, first test cart sent to GEO. WPTO begins construction of a space elevator in the Banda Sea.

2056: SpaceX space elevator declared complete, commercial operation begins.

2057: BVMS surpasses $1T in net worth, becomes primary supplier of energy for the Artemis Lunar Base. Lunar Population surpasses 1k, massive migratory population surge begins following influx of energy from BVMS. Martian population surpasses 250. First fusion reactor in Ecuador.

2058: WPTO space elevator counterweight begins construction in GEO.

2060: First fusion reactors in Nigeria and India. First large-scale solar collector on Earth constructed in New York operated by BVMS. Large population surge in Binghamton NY. Lunar population surpasses 5k. Martian space station established. Regulations for GEO development established.

2061: First lunar-built spacecraft flown. Secondary lunar settlement founded by CFSE. Massive influx of funds for the WPTO space elevator from the CFSE, GEO counterweight construction begun. Lunar Gateway population surpasses 100. First fusion reactor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Congo space agency (DRCSA) founded.

2064: WPTO space elevator cable completed, declared complete and opened to commercial operation.

2065: BVME establishes unmanned Mercurian base. CFSE settlement population surpasses 100. Martian population surpasses 500. Lunar Gateway population surpasses 200.

2066: Mass expansion of Artemis Base life support systems using BVMS produced automated construction equipment. Aerostat scientific outpost established by LGCG.

2067: Microbial life discovered on Venus. Venus outpost (and LGCG) acquires substantial funding boost. Artemis base population surpasses 2.5k and begins to plateau.

2069: Unmanned mission to Europa announced by LGCG, plans to use BVMS automated platforms to drill into subsurface ocean established. Martian base purchases automated construction equipment from BVMS, massive population boon ensues. CFSE settlement population surpasses 750. Lunar gateway population surpasses 500. Martian base population surpasses 500. BVME becomes the largest corporate entity in the system.

2070: BVMS performs feasibility study on gas giant aerostat mining platforms.

2071: Study of Venusian lifeforms disproves Earth-Venus panspermia.

2073: BVMS tests laser-sail propulsion on small unmanned craft.

2075: LGCG Europa mission discovers multicellular aquatic life in Europa’s subsurface ocean. Plans for a dedicated research base drafted.

2076: Multi-corporate base established on Ceres to facilitate further asteroid belt mining. BVMS intentionally excluded from this project.

(System effectively split into quarters: Past Venus under BVMS, Between Venus and Mars under LGCG, belt under Multi-corporate mining control, outer system unclaimed.)

2077: GEO-Lunar cycler niche mostly filled by Intraplanetary Transport Services corp (ITS).

2080: Permanent scientific base established at the Europa Breach Point (EBP) with mostly automated systems and a small (5 human) management and maintenance crew.

2081: Panspermia further disproved by study of Europan life. Massive object detected in Jupiter’s lower atmosphere. BVMS begins mission to establish a mining aerostat on Saturn, utilizing laser sail propulsion to transport equipment.

(Saturn Aerostat site intended for use in the further colonization of the outer solar system and the Uranus planetary system itself. Atomic Rockets page)

[radiance1]

The Ghost Prince does not, under any circumstances, answer a summoning after it was made aware he existed. None know why he doesn't, some are bitter and hateful of it while others are thankful that it's one less bloodthirsty manic to deal with.

The Ghost King meanwhile hasn't been seen in multiple eons, so the magical community who wanted to use his power just, stopped, trying to summon him for a long time.

Most magic users knew that the Ghost Prince never answered a summons, and that the Ghost King just dropped off the radar.

So could you really blame Constantine for not taking it that seriously when some wannabe hotshot cultists try to summon both of them in the middle of a city to wreak havoc?

He'll give them some credit though. Points for doing it in broad daylight and actually being somewhat of a threat with not relying on just summoning the Ghost royalty and figuring out what to do from there.

The area they were in was somewhat destroyed, then the cultists manage to complete the summoning circle to summon both of them and Constantine, well he just light up a smoke.

It isn't going to work anyways so what does it matter?

...

Is that a fucking Ice cream truck he hears? Who the fuck is driving an Ice cream truck while their city is being under attacked with cultists trying to summon eldritch ghost royalty?

He'll give them some points for dedication, though.

Then he looked at the cultists and nearly had a goddamn heart attack to see that the summoning circle is actually fucking lighting up and working.

The Bat is so gonna give him a headache over this.

----

Danny Phantom, crown prince of the Infinite Realms. Does not answer summons.

For one, it is annoying as shit, whenever someone interrupts his day just to ask for infinite power (that he can't give), world domination (that he won't do) or infinite riches (which he also can't do).

It just got annoying being summoned all the time so. One day he just, well, no. And hey, it worked out well enough for him to not continue doing it.

Then he also learned that Pariah Dark is basically the same, after he got out the coffin and stopped trying to take over the world for whatever reason. He was actually a pretty swell guy!

He was just with him too, with him being not so swell at the time for making him go through lessons about Ghost etiquette, rules, stuff that's expected of him as the crown prince.

And don't even get him started on the engagement and marriage proposals.

Overall, he just wanted to find an excuse to leave. Then he felt the familiar suggestive pull of a summoning and, instead of rejection as he usually does in a second. He thought for a bit if he wanted to go with that or crown prince duties.

It was tempting, but dealing with cultists seemed worse than this so he was about to reject.

At least, before he heard an Ice cream truck playing in the background. He doesn't even know how the hell that popped up through the pull but by the gods has it been a while since he's had Ice cream.

So he answers and is gone with a pop.

Pariah Dark just stares for a good second or two, before breathing out and deciding to also answer. Fright Knight is just there, off to side, questioning what he should do now.

Danny wastes no time with the cultists on the other side and in fact, he pushes them out of the way and goes diving for that Ice cream truck he hears. Only to realize he doesn't, have any money on him.

Fuck.

Pariah Dark is less inclined to follow the rules imposed by humans like money, but he does know it can be important. Once in a while. Not that often, but it has its times.

So when he sees his adopted son being sad over being unable to pay for some kind of human delicacy, he digs around in his hair (yes, his hair.) and pulls out some money and puts it on the counter as payment.

The man inside the tiny vehicle had shrieked before getting what they wanted. Which is good. Fear is a good motivator, Pariah thinks.

Unknown to him, it wasn't out of fear (Well, mostly) but because the Ghost King placed down a coin made of pure, solid gold on his counter.

The two then go about their business in the human realm, completely forgetting about the fact that they were summoned here for something.

Constantine is both relieved and about to have an aneurysm at seeing Infinite Realm royalty only answering a summon because of Ice cream.

[defire]

do you perhaps have any prompts for when the living weapon is rescued and is just… so fucking awkward and doesn’t even notice. like no social cues existent (same), no sense of manners, social etiquette or politeness. they dont really talk unless spoken to first, but when they do speak they have absolutely no filter. this guy could murder everyone in the room but would not survive a high school lunch table

Oh hell yeah this is my cup of tea and my favorite brand.

Living weapon after they are rescued:

["long as I can remember" vibes]

Sorry it took me this long to answer! I was going through some stuff. I wanted to make sure i could give you quality content 👌 accidentally made too many though.

Eating as fast as possible and super messy. Everyone is just trying to talk and slowly stops as whumpee slurps their food down.

"are you ok whumpee?" "Yes, sorry, so sorry, I'm done. What do you need from me?"

Just casually leaning onto the table in a new tank top, and everyone suddenly notices the evenly-spaced scars down each shoulder. Clearly intentional. Everyone looks horrified at whumpee.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I forgot to cover, um," whumpee backing away flushing and covering their shoulders because they think their scars are gross.

Whumpee biting off their nails, picking their nose, other stuff they got used to doing whenever they had a chance because there was rarely any access to basic hygiene.

Or, whumpee coming in scrubbed and smelling like 5 different soaps because even the slightest smell of body odor triggers them

Whumpee sitting down stiffly, then stiffly mimicking others' relaxed posture when they see people staring. "Whumpee, it's ok, you can relax." "I am relaxed, I'm doing the relaxing thing. I've got this leg on the other leg just like you, what am I doing wrong?!" (Panicking that they're not following protocol!)

Right after being rescued, insisting that they're fine, because any touch feels like an attack.

Getting angry/defensive/paranoid when people show concern. They're not familiar with it and don't trust it at all.

Defending their abusers, forced laughter, panic in their eyes. "It was just a few lashes. Technically they were being merciful." "For refusing to kill a child!"

"I don't really have feelings, it's ok."

"Your OWN PEOPLE tortured you?" "No, torture is different, I've been tortured actually, it's not as scary, hah, uh," whumpee's voice falters as they freeze, that familiar sense of dread trickling down their spine as they flash back.

"I'm aware that you are saying you're not going to hurt me, yes. I understand completely. The concept." Whumpee smiles stiffly. "But do you believe me?" Caretaker pushes. Whumpee swallows, still smiling. "If that's what you want me to do."

When they hold their breath as they sit down in a comfortable chair for the first time in years.

This is going to have a pt 2 because it's really long!

[celuere]

Freaky arlejuno SINCE ITS THEIR ANNIVERSARY TODAY ONE YEAR AGO I MADE JUNO AKANWKQNEOQKENE but we all know Juno is a FREAK in so many senses and harbors like a shit ton of rare stuff in her laboratory, one of them being sex pollen. It’s a slim bottle with a yellowish powder stored inside which cost her like a whole kidney so she only uses it on really important occasions for example when she wants to enhance a potions effect, etc. but due to a specific… incident she stores it in a hidden drawer inside her desk.

Because maybe keeping the etiquette at the bottle on its bottom AND next to her perfume bottle maybe wasn’t the smartest choice but back then it was already too late. After a certain ginger had bursted into her lab to annoy her about how annoying their Harbinger colleagues are. The conversation making her completely forget about the two very familiar bottles before her but the damage was done and she spent the next five minutes abusing every fontainian insult under the sun until the effect of the natural aphrodisiac took over.

Arlecchino certainly didn’t expect the sight of her wife sprawled over her desk with her fingers in between her legs and GOD they broke some furniture on that day because who is she to leave her wife to fend for herself in such trying times?

[the-white-void]

Oh! You've Heard This Story?

Summary: Once again, your end has begun, and the story starts anew. Yet, she remembers this story; one told over and over again.

Warning: This contains mentions of violence and repetitive deaths which may be uncomfortable to some readers.

One || two || three

Taglist: @kthehoeforfictionalmen @pix-stuff @kthehoeforfictionalmen @time-shardz @scarletttcroww @mysteriaqueen @atsukawolfcat @junkoslette @mef0rg0r @altheq0 @obliviousariies2007

Blood of gold stained the podium as the blade of the Archon of Inazuma sliced your neck. Leaving the crowds that once cheered for your end turned to fear and shallow worries of regret.

You've seen this before. As your head descended from your body, your consciousness still lingered, even for only a moment. The screams of agony laced with regret and sorrow; the cries of the archons as they saw the precious blood that was wasted on the floor.

That is how it always ended.

Your mind now eases as your death finally comes, then onto the next show.

You open your eyes once more to the lush green grass tickled your ears, and the trees swayed its leaves on your rags; the warm rays that lay on your skin. A scene all too familiar.

You have given up on trying to survive on this game of cat and mouse; simply letting it all roll like a ball, because out of all the countless times you tried to escape before were all futile, even giving up showed the same ending.

There is no end to this scripted play.

Fate is like a chord. No matter how you pull to change it, it will always return to its original form.

You pick yourself up, dust off a few leaves stuck on your rags and walked up to a nearby tree bearing some apples. You reach out for one close yet ripe.

"Maybe Amber noticed me already and might shoot my arm." You blurted out as the apple twisted and fell on your face. "Ah! It's already loose." you mumbled with your brow raised before picking up the apple from the ground; you dusted off the dirt then took a bite. "Doesn't matter, you missed." You uttered as you look to the side where the brunette wearing red hid from afar; her bow lowered from when it first had you a target.

Her face painted with worry and confusion, she focuses her bow to you once more, ready for your retaliation. Yet, you walk back to the spot where you first woke up; legs crossed with your bum on the ground as you continued to eat the apple.

"What?" The brunette mumbles with her brows furrowed, confused why you just say down defenceless while chewing on your apple till you ate it all and the core was left. "Could it be a trick? Are they just luring me in?" Thoughts flooded her head thinking about what you could be planning if you already know where she was.

After laying the core of the apple you just ate on the ground, you look back at where the brunette was hiding. "Even if you are here to catch the imposter, there is still etiquette for how knights capture fiends." You spoke with a sigh and a small smile, waiting for her to shoot her bow, or throw Baron Bunny to your face.

An arrow of fire flew past you and hit the tree right behind you, barely grazing your hair. Amber then emerges from the bushes while her bow was still pointed at you "You have the right to remain silent. Your actions of impersonating the divine deity..." She continues to mouth out paragraphs you've heard countless times before, still smiling without a care in the world.

In a nation distant to the airy breezes of Mondstat, in the land hidden in the forests where rain comes and goes, the land where knowledge is weighed more than mora, Sumeru.

Lying inside the Sanctuary of Surasthana where the Archon resides, she sprung up with a cold sweat, as if she just had a nightmare. Her gasps were heavy and her hands shaking; her dream was as vivid as if it were real, like the times she would occasionally possess the receptionist of the Adventurers Guild, however, unlike those dreams, it was not coveted by the mind of a human nor god. The scene was too real to be revered as a dream.

"Oh... Very well,I'll see you all. Soon."

Were the last words of the imposter before their head departed from their body. "What did they mean? Will it happen again? I saw their memories; it happened to them over and over again. Like a samsara, after reaching an end it'll go back to the beginning. How long have they been doing this? Do they have a goal?" Questions drowned out all their senses before a loud arrogant voice broke her focus.

A short man wearing blue accents and a large hat was snapping his fingers in front of the archon's face with an annoyed look. "Hey! I've been calling you for ages; you said you wanted me to do something." His tone filled with salt and bitterness as he pulled his arms back together crossed.

Lesser Lord Kusanali, the dendro Archon, one who was calm and collected was in a cold sweat, unable to comprehend what reality she had just seen. If it were to happen in this world as well, would it too crumble and wither away.

"H- hat guy..." The dendro Archon's voice trembled when she muttered her words. Looking towards Hat Guy with her eyes widened and trembling "What happened these past few days? There was the imposter a- and..." Her voice trails off as she tries to word out what happened, but her tongue falters to convey what was on her mind.

"The imposter? That news just landed in the Akademia an hour ago. I guess that's what you can expect of a god who can read minds." He mumbles while the Archon gathers her thoughts.

"What? But the imposter was just about to be executed. Everyone was there and... the imposter was... calm... they- they said something then… then…” her eyes wonder off around the room remembering the words of the imposter.

“... Hat guy. Take me to Mondstat; I need to talk to the imposter.” Her eyes were then set on the short man; eyes painted with determination and fear, set on speaking with the one branded as an imposter, yet whose last is shrouded in a thick fog of uncertainty.

The man that looked at the Dendro god puzzled and perplexed. “What?! Are you- just when you hear about an imposter; you wanna go meet them?!! Don't you know how dangerous that thing could be?” His aloof and sour tone shifted to a raised and concerned voice after hearing the Archon's desire to met with the imposter.

Kusanali sighs with her eyes faltering, wondering if it just a ruse after all. She ponders for some time, recollecting and organising the memories she had of the imposter. “The execution just happened with the Electro Archon beheading the the imposter, but before that, the imposter allowed me to look through their memories, then…” her memory was then blank.

“Can they dream?” Hat Guy's voice cut her focus. “If you really wanna talk to them, you can go in their dream and just talk to them there.”

The idea lit up the Lesser Lord's face “Yes. Their dreams. They looked young, they probably still have dreams, like escaping… or… wait… can they dream?” Her voice questioned the mentality and consciousness of the imposter.

[dykeomania]

lovergirl!hazel headcanons

｡.｡ just some evidence of a love that transcends hunger, tbh.

a/n: i needed a break from writing a fic and wanted to write something sappy. this is the something sappy in question. wanted it to give how-you-become-hazel's-lover -> what she does when you're actually her lover vibe but it just got real mushy. i like it. i hope you like it, too. proofread, but i'm blind as fuck + i'm rusty, so.

tags: gender neutral (i think. i may have fucked up once or twice. please correct me if i did, i proofread fr fr over time. not intended for cis men), body neutral, and poc friendly. some niche reader things (tarot mention, reader wears makeup). mild nsfw -- kissing, making out, heavy petting. almost third base. starts in high school, ends in college.

practice fanfic etiquette. please don't plagiarize or repost my stuff.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who sits up straight on the edge of your bathtub and looks up at you in complete awe when you're getting ready. she's got the dumbest, most lovesick puppy look in her eyes as she watches her lover line her lips, and apply a sheer coat of gloss on top. when they turn around to ask if it's even, hazel smiles so wide that it makes the apples of her cheeks sore.

she doesn't really know if it looks okay, she just knows that she wants to kiss you.

she only manages an mhm because it's what you want from her and, well.. at this point, hazel's convinced that she'd drop just about everything to give whatever you want.

you snicker, closing the space between you in slow and steady strides. "what are you looking at, huh?" you teases, grin stretched across lips lined nude, gleaming pink.

"mmm..." hazel can't help but like, drunklenly (she's dead sober).. haphazardly loop you in by the belt loop, head tilting easily to the right. "yyyyyou."

her eyes droop as she falls victim to the familiar spell that you cast over her. one that starts with you taking her face in her hands, and bringing yourself close enough for to take in all at once. she's made dizzy by the smell of your conditioner, made defenseless by the familiar trace of your body wash radiating off of your skin.

"what're you looking at me for?" you grin, your hands hot on her cheeks as you stand between her legs.

"why wouldn't i wanna look at you?" hazel gently manages, hand finding comfortable purchase on your hips. she grips gently with admiration, fingertips pressing into sacred flesh of something, someone, who she couldn't believe is hers. "you're just so pretty."

but let's take a few steps back first,

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who meets you purely by coincidence. you don't go to fight club, and you don't do cheer. you don't have any classes together, you hardly even know of each other. you do, however, have to work concessions for football together one night.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who doesn't talk much, and honestly standing next to you feels kinda stupid with the bruise that she has on her cheek. she usually never really cares and she's usually super talkative -- she doesn't talk much because well.. she doesn't really know.. how to. how to talk to pretty people -- well, it's not like she finds you pretty, it's just.. anyways,

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who makes some dumb joke about athletes and you kind of snort.. and she's immediately charmed. hazel callahan who has a desire to keep you entertained, and continues to do so throughout the remainder of the game.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who actually is in your class, but, neither of you just really noticed. hazel callahan who sits next to you in the weeks following. who spends her free periods with you. who eats lunch with you. who eventually gets around to telling you about fight club, over turkey and rye sandwiches.

"so you just, like..." you take a break from chewing, tonguing some bread out of your back molar. "punch the shit out of each other, and it's school-sponsored?"

"...well, yeah. but in like a self-defense, queer way. bring people together, create some solidarity. a safe-space on campus for queer community, kind of thing."

"oh okay, so like, in a slay way," you revise.

hazel stares. scoffing out a gentle laugh. "uh... yeah.." hazel furrows her brows, shaking her head. "um.. what does that.. what does that, like, mean?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who becomes your best friend.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who really likes you. like, as a person.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who likes you maybe a little bit too much.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who doesn't know how to embroider, so when you embroidered her converse -- creating a wreath of vines, speckled with bright little flowers around the all star symbol -- she was so happy. but she felt so bad because she didn't know how to repay you.

"let me make it up to you?" she insists, fingers playing with your own, but not creating enough distraction to prevent you from protesting.

"what?" you scoff, subconsciously locking her hands with yours, as though you're about to declare a thumb war. "no, how?"

"i don't know! this is so nice, let me like..." hazel shrugs voice dropping timidly, "..take you out or something."

a beat passes, one that feels like forever. a large enough one to create space for all the butterflies to rumble around both of your stomachs, and for the elephant to pass through the room. hazel can't tell if it's your hand that's begun to sweat in your grasp, or if it's hers.

your eyes narrow at her, grin stretched into something cheshire as you shake your hand, and hers. "i think you just wanna take me out on a date."

hazel smiles sheepishly, cheeks flushing a bright flamingo. she shrugs, next words quiet and intentional,

"so what if i do?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan doesn't know how to embroider but she does have an eye for wildflowers. when the girl who shows up at your doorstep, it's with a dorky smile, a batch of spring, and a bandaid wrapped around her index finger and her thumb. the flowers that she biked about an hour north to pluck -- from a field she discovered after having simply gone too far -- are bunched together and wrapped in a trader joe's paper bag, the kind that her mom always leaves in the kitchen under the sink. she put the boquet together herself. spent too much time thinking about whether or not you would like the arrangement or the colors, probably went to the store to grab a few of your favorite flowers that she couldn't find.

"oh, these are for you. see, i tried to make this whole thing, like.. semi.. transactional. again, like, i don't really know how to embroider flowers, or like anything really, so... these were next best thing, i guess." she offers, as though it's nothing.

"you look.. really nice." hazel's eyes linger, stricken and dumb. she fills her lungs with air, huffing out her next sentence. "are yoooouuu.. ready to go?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who thinks that star signs mean nothing, and doesn't know jackshit about crystals or anything of the like. but hazel callahan who is all eyes and ears, criss-cross-apple-sauce with you on her floor, as she watches you knock your knuckles on a deck of tarot cards and shuffle through them for what you called a "semi unreliable, two-card reading."

hazel callahan who jumps a little when two cards fly out from the deck. who furrows her eyebrows when you turn the over. an the lovers and two of cups, both upright.

"what..." she snorts. "what does that mean?"

"um.." she watches you blush. "it means.." and she blushes when your eyes linger on hers, and then look up. feels her stomach flutter when she watches you take a deep breath in through your nose, like you're shuffling through all of the words in your head.

"...let's just saaaaayyyy... nnnew connections might be coming your way, soon."

hazel has no fucking idea what that means, looking at you, she surely could hope that that's true.

...

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who is shocked that you want to like.. have a sleepover with her. this doesn't really happen to her. like at all. but it's happening with you, so she's down.. but it has to be planned. hazel callahan pulls out all the stops to try to make sure that it's.. well, perfect, she guesses? she makes sure that it's on a weekend where her mom is out of town (not even because she wants to do anything but you know how her mom is). she asks you what all of your favorite snacks are beforehand, and offers to go get more if you run out. she makes sure that you have satin pillowcases if you have textured hair, just in case you forget a bonnet, or anything. probably does that regardless of whether or not that's applicable to you, because she hears it's better for your skin and what not. she gets a weighted blanket for you and some extra pillows + takes out an extra throw if she knows that you get cold easily, or damn near strips her bed down to just one comforter and gets a desk fan to face her bed if she knows that you get too hot.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who you create a shared movie list with, and who will sit with you and watch all of your favorite movies. all of your least favorite movies. will watch movies that you insist that she must see and will do so with very little fight because it's whatever you want, really. hazel callahan who is very quickly realizing that she would do whatever you wanted, as long as it meant that it got you to smile.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ (hazel callahan who, granted, talks through a lot of those fucking movies. like. hazel callahan who has a really fucking hard time paying attention to movies.)

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who clearly has overthought everything. who laughs at and understands all of your dumb jokes and is always a little shocked when you laugh at hers. who lets you rest your head on her shoulder when you watch movies in her home-theater. who lays with you in her bed and compares your tiktok for you page with hers and finds it a little too easy to poke fun of you. finds it not as easy to remain calm when your head rests comfortably on her chest, and thus hopes to god that all of the cringy tiktok audios are masking the sound of her heart beating out of her chest.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who looks at you when you mention that it's getting late, and insists that there's a guest room if you wanna sleep in there, or an air mattress that she was supposed to blow up.

"it's too late for that, though." you frown.

"no," hazel, being hazel, is quick to reassure, shaking her head. "no, no, i could totally blow it up. we have an automated pump, it'll take like 20 minutes."

"mm, i don't know, it's still kinda late for all of that..."

hazel blinks at you. her eyebrows raise, corners of her lips gently upturning. "okay. i mean, do you wanna take the guest room?"

you look up at her, eyes big on purpose. "that guest room's kinda scary." you lift a brow. "it's dark. and cold."

hazel thinks she might.. be tripping. she has to be. her blink is slow, and her face knots together, and releases -- the way it does when she gets all timid and indecisive. "o..kay..." she grins nonetheless, furrowing her eyebrows. "so then .. where are you gonna sleep?"

"..i mean.." you burn, and so does she. "...i could just sleep here with you?"

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who can't help but feel girlish and vulnerable laying in her bed with you, her stomach tied in knots over how there is nothing usual about this situation. fully seeing you in your pajamas. feeling the gentle flesh of your bare calves rub against hers. being within such close proximity of you that she can still smell the lingering remnants of soap on your skin from your shower.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who dares to let her finger dance on your upper bicep, but that's just about it, really.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who only nudges closer only when you nudge closer. who only lowers her voice, when you lower your voice. who only holds eye contact when you start it, but is always the first to look away.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who falls into a trap: eye contact held after some conversation that did not, and does not matter. she follows your eyes down, chocolate eyes focusing on the arch of your cupids bow. she does tilt her head up to find her nose nudging softly against the underside of yours. she doesn't know how you two got this close. hazel callahan who feels her hands grow sweaty, feeling your breath linger over her the chap of her lips. who nearly stiffens when she feels your hand press into her back, but instead arches into the crevice your body makes and presses her palm against your hip.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who does what she thinks she's supposed to do, and kisses you -- soft and gentle, like the whispers that fluttered over both of your lips earlier. brief, and endearing.

her lips stick to yours, and then her lips press into yours. and then her lips open when yours do, and her hand tightens on you when yours does.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who has no fucking idea what she's doing. like, seriously. she kind of knows -- i mean, okay, yeah, she knows how to kiss, but this is, like.. not just a kiss. hazel's kisses are brief. gentle, maybe a little slow. never this deep. hazel callahan who forgets herself when her fingers weave through your hair. hazel callahan who doesn't recognize the way her breath shakes in your throat when your fingers ambitiously sift through her thick, black locks and pull.

hazel callahan whose lips slot over yours, and unlock. who leans forward when you lean back, and is almost nearly on top of you.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who doesn't know what to do with her hand, so she puts it everywhere. glides it over your side, presses it over the expanse of your lower back. who smooths her hand under your shirt and marvels in the way your skin burns against her palm. who itches to explore, traversing over your stomach, venturing up, up, and up--

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who stops dead in her tracks when you hum something sour in her mouth and grab her wrist. who looks at you stunned with parted lips as you softly shake your head against hers.

"not yet," you pant, opening your eyes to look at her. "not yet."

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who bats her lashes, dizzy with affection yet sobered from your action. she knows how you sound. not like you're rejecting her, but like you're admitting something, which you.. might be. something that she understands. regardless, she understands.

but she burns bright with embarrassment, stomach rattling with a guilt that crawls up her throat and wraps around it, tightening and tightening...

"yeah," she manages a whispers after a while. somehow, it's still raspy. "yeah, okay.."

"okay.."

"...m'sorry--"

"don't be," you shake your head. "keep kissing me."

you rush, and it's kind of just in time. whatever stinging was lingering in her chest subsides as you bring yourself closer, lips softly capturing her lower lip in affirmation after hazel just stares at you.

hazel callahan who blinks, oscillating between consciences, dazed and a little confused. she's cautious and readjusted, her hand only lingering over your side as she whispers a faint "are you sure..?"

the sentence dissolves when on the tip of hazel's tongue when her lips find yours again, at your action, which is her answer. hazel callahan who listens. who lets you take her hand and place it somewhere that feels more comfortable, somewhere that's right and yet still sensual.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who is wiped, but intentional with every kiss that either you or her leads, every swipe of her lips over your jaw, every tender kiss that you let her place against the stretch of your neck.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who will admire within her bounds. kissing you, and drowning in you until she is simply too sleepy to continue. until she is dizzy and feels comfortable enough to nuzzle her face somewhere into the crook of you, breathing you in until you become a part of her dreams,

and she will wake -- in the morning, and in the middle of the night -- only to have a hard time believing that she isn't still dreaming.

...

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who kind of has to get used to.. all of it. who crushes, even though she's already "achieved," so to speak. who grins at her phone when she's texted, who finds any excuse to facetime you and keep you on the line -- sometimes just so that she can look at you. who finds any excuse to be around you.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who you can't get rid of once you go both go to college. who facetimes you whenever, who visits you on weekends. who comes into your space and steals all of your sweatshirts and your pajama pants and of course, all of your spare time.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel "no, i can make that for you" callahan who can't embroider, but can crochet. she will buy you that jellycat that you really want, a hundred percent. hazel callahan will also greet you with a fucked up rendition of said stuffed animal that you wanted (giving jamdog, perhaps) and furrows her eyebrows when you have to hide your laugh with your hand.

"what?" she asks, grin dulling only for a moment. "do you not like it?"

"no it's--" you cover your mouth. "it's perfect." you cackle. when you cup her cheeks, all the worry and fear of judgement fades. sort of. at least enough. "you're perfect, babe. i love it."

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who does, in fact, keep a picture in her wallet of her lover, ready at all times. hazel callahan who weaves her lover into casual conversation.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who still doesn't really understand figure of speech all that well so when you say things like "i wish you could just come over," she literally goes "..well like, i could,"

and then proceeds to make like, a three hour drive.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who keeps the picture that you hate of yourself as her lockscreen and it's not to spite you, it's because she thinks you're beautiful, and she has no idea what you're talking about.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who figures out what names you like to be called by throwing everything at a wall and seeing that sticks. pretty. handsome. lover. angel. baby. and when she does find one, one that makes you blush just about as hard as she does every time you even look in her direction, she holds it over your head to high heavens. makes it your contact name. uses it to punctuate reassuring sentences, when she greets you, when she tells you goodnight.

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who gets to take you on real dates, and gets excited to. who gets giddy when you get ready. who gets to fix your hair and come up behind you when you take mirror selfies once you're finished. who now feels comfortable enough to place her hands at the mid-point of your waist and let them venture toward your frontside while she rests her chin on your shoulder, and leans in to kiss your cheek. who tells you you smell nice, and makes you smile when she buries her face into some part of you and literally just goes rahhhh!!!!

ღ*♡∞:｡.｡ hazel callahan who is also stuck sometimes, in moment such as these, watching the wonder who she has had a crush on since high school -- jesus, has it really been that long? -- with gentle eyes and a completely disarmed disposition.

hazel callahan who is honestly such a fucking loser -- like, literally, loser-since-birth, no-hope-since-middle-school, gay-haircut-and-new-repotoire-can't-save-you, loser, and can't help but ponder and marvel over how someone like you is in her hands. in her face. in her life.

"m'not that pretty," you insist, fingers weaving through her hair, nails etching at hazel's scalp in a way that hazel has grown to like. love, even.

her eyes flicker over your face, smile lopsided and eyes heavy like despite everything, you don't even know the half of it. she scoffs, voice hardly above a whisper,

"yeah no, you are so much more than pretty."

[messrsrarchives]

i had an exchange with someone yesterday who basically said that if we can critique self-pub lit, we can critique fanfiction. which,,, insane take but alas, i found a way to analogise it.

we're all familiar with the potluck analogy of fandom: everyone has brought a dish for free that they made in their spare time, and it would be bad social etiquette to turn around to the person who made the sausage casserole and say you hated it, yes? you understand that there is a variety of other dishes and you can take the stuff you do like, give compliments to the people who made it, and have an overall better time at this potluck because instead of standing over the sausage casserole like 😡, you're now eating a plate of mac and cheese and having fun like 😄

you also understand that everyone here - those eating and those cooking - are here because they enjoy the space. you understand that if you were to say to someone, "i hate this sausage casserole this person sucks!!!!", there is infact always a chance that even if the one who cooked isn't in your general vicinity, they will see this. because you're sharing this space. (this is y'all when you make tiktoks about how much you disliked a fic as if the authors aren't also sharing this space with you)

but okay you've left the potluck and you're still hungry so you stop by a local restaurant. this restaurant is run by chefs that went to culinary school (traditionally published authors) and those that are home-trained (self-published authors).

because you have paid for this meal, it does not matter what chef you have, because they entered this industry as someone who provides a product that you pay for. you are well within your right to send the meal back to either chef and say you didn't like it or say that you think it would've been better if they did X instead of Y - you got a product, you did not like it, it does not matter who sold it to you.

you did not pay for anything at the potluck. this was a communal space that people contributed to because they like cooking and they like hanging out there, and it would be mean if you were to treat them to the same standard as you did the chefs at the restaurant.

and to take it further, you are within your right to then get home after the restaurant and write a review, regardless of whether it was one of the self-trained chefs or not. it would be insane if you were to then go "and linda who cooked the sausage casserole at the potluck? 2/5 stars, sucked, didn't enjoy" because linda is not a professional chef and should not be rated alongside professional chefs (this is y'all when you put fics on goodreads if that wasn't clear)

self-published authors still enter themselves into the world of published literature. they may not have an entire team behind them but they are still working on a Product that you Pay for, thus you are allowed to critique it.

fanfiction is not made for You specifically, but rather shared with Everyone in this space for Free, and if you truly think you are entitled to criticising things that you dislike? maybe a communal space isn't quite your vibe

[squidsquidsquidsquidsquidgame]

The Long Distance And Re-learning

Character: Dae-Ho X fem!reader

Summary: Your long distance boyfriend, Dae-Ho, teaches you all about Korea and their etiquette when you visit him.

Warnings: none🦑🦑

You arrived at the airport, your heart racing with excitement. After weeks of messaging and phone calls, you were finally in South Korea to see Dae-Ho, your long-distance boyfriend. You could hardly believe it—his soft smiles and shy words were now tangible in front of you, and soon, you'd be spending days with him in person.

When you spotted him waiting at the arrivals gate, you couldn't stop the grin that spread across your face. He stood there, tall and a little nervous, wearing a cozy sweater and jeans, holding a sign that read, Welcome to Korea!

"Hey, babe!" you called, walking toward him.Dae-Ho turned, his eyes lighting up the moment they landed on you. He stepped forward, wrapping you in a warm embrace. The familiar scent of his cologne and the softness of his sweater felt so real now, so different from the phone calls and video chats.

"You're here," he said softly, his voice almost a whisper, as if he couldn't quite believe it either. You laughed, pulling back to look at him. "I wouldn’t miss it for the world."

After all the excitement of the reunion, Dae-Ho led you to his car. As you drove through the bustling streets of Seoul, he began to explain some of the cultural norms in Korea, knowing that you wanted to learn everything about his world.

“Okay,” he started, glancing over at you. “First thing’s first. In Korea, we bow to show respect. It doesn’t have to be a deep bow, but a little nod or bow of the head goes a long way, especially in formal situations.”

You nodded, trying to remember. "Got it. Bowing—respect."

He smiled at your effort. "Exactly. Also, when you're handing something to someone—like a gift or even a business card—you should always use two hands. It's a sign of respect."

You raised your eyebrows. "Two hands? That's so different from back home."

“It’s a small thing, but it matters. People notice it,” he said, his voice soft but serious, like it was something important to him. "Oh, and when you���re receiving something from someone, do the same."

"Okay, two hands—respect," you repeated, nodding seriously.

As the day went on, Dae-Ho took you to some of his favorite spots in the city. He made sure to point out things you should or shouldn’t do—like how to order food politely in restaurants, the importance of taking your shoes off when entering a home, and how to be mindful of space on the subway.

When you arrived at a cozy café in a quiet neighborhood, you were both seated at a table. Dae-Ho was especially careful when ordering your drinks, asking the server politely for everything in the right way. You noticed the way people greeted each other in soft tones, and how courteous everyone seemed to be.

"I can see why you're always so polite," you teased him with a soft smile.He blushed slightly, looking away before glancing back at you. "It’s just how we’re raised here. Showing respect is everything."

You took his hand across the table, squeezing it gently. "I love how much you care about this stuff. It’s... it’s sweet. Even when it’s not easy to learn, I’ll try my best."

Dae-Ho's eyes softened, and he leaned across the table, his voice just above a whisper. "You don’t have to try that hard. I love that you’re even trying. Just be yourself, and I’ll be happy."

You both shared a moment of silence, content in each other’s presence. Despite the cultural differences, you knew that this trip—this time with him—was just the beginning of something even more special.

Later, as you walked down the brightly lit streets of Seoul, Dae-Ho taught you more about the language and etiquette, and the more you learned, the more you realized how much he wanted to share his world with you. By the time the day ended, you felt closer to him than ever before, grateful not only for the lessons about Korea, but for the way he had opened his heart to you—just like he was opening up this beautiful new world.

🦑🦑🦑

[aoipierce]

we need to talk about spoilers and tumblr etiquette

hi all. i've noticed a rising problem in the ssmy/hrkg fandom with people getting spoiled against their will on a website that used to be pretty good about spoilers, particularly in the hrkg side on account of the more frequent chapter updates, plus the influx of people coming from twitter, etc. i'm gonna go out on a limb and assume a lot of you are new to tumblr. i don't fault you for not being familiar with how things work here but we need to talk about how to post in a way that is mindful to others as to not disrupt people's experience, especially with the new chapter schedule and so we don't have to be here every month.

there are really only 2 basic things to keep in mind:

tag your spoilers. tumblr has a pretty functional tagging system, with the option to filter/hide certain tags and key words. if your post contains spoilers it is the most basic of rules to tag them so tumblr filters can do their job. to tag effectively, it's recommended to use #(series name) spoilers. you can use as many tags or variations as you want for more effect.

hide all spoilers under a Read More. tumblr has a function when creating posts where you can add a "cut" and put stuff under it. this will hide the content in the dashboard and people have to click manually to see it. this is also ideal for images, as merely putting a text warning at the top of the post unfortunately does nothing, since our eyes tend to go over the text and land directly on the larger visual. this way, people won't see the spoilers unless they actively choose to.

honestly, that's it. these two things are all you need to do to post spoilers safely so everyone can have a good time.

on to the faq:

Q: why should i tag and hide spoilers?

A: because not everyone likes to get spoiled! some of us want things to be a surprise, and we don't want the experience ruined for us by people posting spoilers out of context. even for the people who don't mind spoilers, they deserve the option to choose whether or not they want to see them. it's just common courtesy and allows people to curate their own experience.

Q: shouldn't people know not to go into the series tag if they're avoiding spoilers? why should i use additional tags?

A: if you tag your posts with the series name or use certain keywords, it doesn't just show up when people explore the tag, but tumblr may put that post in their dashboard or for you tab as a recommended post, so they may end up seeing it against their will even if they stay away from the main tag. also, it's just pretty basic etiquette and provides context.

Q: why is it necessary to hide spoilers under a read more if i already tagged the post?

A: it's possible that posts may bypass tumblr's filtters for whatever reason. maybe it is not the exact same tag as the filtered one (ex. "#hirakagi spoilers" vs "#kagihira spoilers") or someone who reblogged failed to tag it properly, or they didn't have spoilers filtered. hiding under a read more is just an extra safety measure that goes a long way to ensure people don't get jumpscared by unwanted spoilers or images.

hope this helps! honestly other than this the ssmy/kghr community here on tumblr has been amazing and it's been wonderful to see this side of the fandom grow. i just want all of us to blog safely and have a good time. anyone is free to add to this post if there's anything i missed.

[pillowbugs]

idea: submas au(?) where pre-battle subway, both of them were already somewhat known on the internet, but for different reasons. maybe not super famous, but definitely notable in their various circles.

let's say emmet has a blog / vlog (iamemmet) where he and a couple friends (elesa, burgh, etc) just mess around and battle and stuff (think online / showdown battle videos on yt except they're actually irl). he does talk about trains sometimes, and is visibly excited whenever he does, but most of his fans are there to watch him battle more than anything.

meanwhile, ingo runs a train blog (Conductor I) where he posts long and detailed writeups of virtually anything to do with trains. he is known to be quite passionate, and has gotten into various extremely heated arguments with other railfans on internet forums over the merits of certain trains and railfan etiquette. maybe he collabs with other blogs covering other topics run by his friends (e.g. trains vs planes annual debate feat. highflyinggirl (skyla), starlight express review feat. spectralscribe (shauntal), etc). overall, though, he's fairly guarded regarding his personal life, and most of what people know about him, excluding his train-related opinions, is from whenever he collabs with other people.

they have collaborated with each other before, so people absolutely know they're twins. there is a running joke about how emmet's fans might actually know more about ingo than his own fans, simply because emmet is much more open with his personal life and inevitably that includes a lot of stuff involving his brother.

so one day, they both announce that they're taking an indefinite hiatus from their blogs because of a project. after almost a year of speculation - oh, look, there's a new battle facility in unova! wait, these guys look familiar... and it does happen to be a facility integrated into the subway...

so of course, their existing fans congratulate both of them on their new positions, everyone's celebrating. both of them do return to posting on their blogs after things have settled a bit more (albeit less frequently than before the hiatus, because they have a job now). however, with their newfound mainstream fame, comes a gigantic new wave of fans from the battle subway.

and this is where things get incredibly messy within the fandom. maybe less so on emmet's end - he's quite open on his blog about being a subway boss, and vice versa, and he acts more or less the same way on both accounts, so within his fanbase, the question is just "when did you find him?" because he's been the same throughout. he is emmet. that's it. though, there is of course still a bit of fan elitism from those who found him before the subway and know all the "deep lore" about him.

ingo's fanbase, however, is an absolute bloodbath. there are actual factions. the two most notorious are the subway-onlies, the ones who are most likely to be called fake fans by the rest because they're only interested in his persona as a subway boss; and the conductor purists, who only enjoy his blog and forum presence but not his irl job, and think he has gone downhill after achieving mainstream success. in fact, many of the subway-onlies don't even realise ingo has a 'personal' blog, or any social media presence besides his official account as a subway boss, while the most diehard conductor purists have disavowed the battle subway because in their minds, it's taking attention away from the blog.

a big reason for the divide is that ingo gives a very different image on his blog and as a subway boss; a passionate, friendly railfan who can be quite verbose especially in roasting people online, versus the professional, polite facility head with a serious demeanour. many fans who found him through the subway are surprised at the content of his blog, even if most of them also love seeing this side of him. a certain subset of the fandom is very insistent that the blog shows his 'real' personality, while his being a subway boss is entirely an act.

in short, big fanbase = problems. many people looking in are genuinely terrified and confused as to whatever the hell is going on in there. there is Drama. get the popcorn.

[jennelikejennay]

One thing that bugs me about the way Vulcans are usually depicted (with some lovely exceptions) is that their philosophy—logic, or the teachings of Surak, for short I'm just going to call it Surakianism—is very often shown as a bad thing. Either that, or Vulcans aren't following it at all.

Writing about religion (and I do think Surakianism is best approached as a religion*) is always fraught. Because generally as a writer, you don't actually practice the faith in question, so naturally you'll have an outside view. That's doubly true of Surakianism, a way of life humans basically can't follow and it would probably be bad for us to try.

[*I know they don't call it a religion. But the way it deeply affects the interior life of Vulcans, their ethics, and so on feels very religious to me. It doesn't seem to have a position on theism; Vulcans get their beliefs about god(s) from elsewhere, such as traditional Vulcan polytheism and their own perceptions of the universe. But the way it exists as a social structure AND a guide to the inner self is absolutely religious to me.]

We are told that Vulcans developed this philosophy specifically because they needed it—they were destroying themselves without it! Their emotions were overpowering and violent, and they were clannish to the extreme. So despite what most of the human characters say, especially Bones, I think the path of logic is a good thing for Vulcans, even if humans don't get it at all.

Surak's teachings can be summed up into three basic points (a Vulcan somewhere just raised an eyebrow clear into their bangs at this oversimplification, but I'm doing my best here):

1. Logic, or the use of reason as a guide and the control of emotions

2. Nonviolence

3. IDIC—infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

Of course we only ever hear about the first one, because that's part humans notice. I'd say it was like reducing Catholics to fish Fridays and Mormons to underwear, but that's exactly what people do, so I guess it's understandable.

But I think the ordering goes the other way for Vulcans. First, acknowledge that others are of value, including and especially when they're different from you. Then, do them no harm. And finally, to achieve that goal, control your wild, violent emotions.

People imagine pre-reform Vulcans a lot of ways (and I never get tired of reading about them), but I think the best guide as to what they're like is by looking at Romulans. Romulans aren't wildly expressive with their emotions, we're certainly not talking about people who would otherwise be laughing and crying constantly. Instead, they're secretive and carry long, hateful grudges. They're loyal only to those closest to them, and they seem entirely without empathy otherwise.

Imagine the Vulcan emotions are like that. They have strong bonds to their clan, probably in part because of their telepathy. They're suspicious of outsiders, angry, prone to violence. Preferring the familiar is an instinct in humans too, but a mild one. Certainly humans have been and still are racist, but it's something we can generally overcome. I'm not sure the Vulcans could, not by relying on their emotions.

So they came up with the solution to control their emotions completely. Use reason instead as a guide to behavior, because logic will tell you that your own clan is not more important than another, and that reaching out in peace is beneficial to yourself and others. Don't give your emotions any credence and don't let them run wild.

Humans do some of this ourselves, and should arguably be doing more. We spend a huge chunk of our childhood learning to control antisocial impulses like screaming, hitting, and biting. We demonstrate self control in many tiny, unnecessary ways, in order to show to others that we are in control of ourselves: stuff like etiquette, social rules, even just leaving the last cookie on the tray for someone else. These are signals that say I am not governed by my appetites; I can be trusted to consider the needs of others.

And we could obviously be doing more. Too many political questions are being answered by people's emotional, knee-jerk responses like "I feel threatened by people who are different" or "I am angry about my enemies and want them punished" instead of "what produces the most benefit for everyone?" If we leaned more heavily on logic and reason to get us our answers, we'd make way better decisions than we do. Star Trek doesn't often acknowledge that in real life, making a snap gut decision doesn't actually have a very high success rate. Logic gives you better odds of saving the day.

But, you might say, Vulcans aren't doing very well at any of this. A heck of a lot of them that we've seen are racist. And while they repress their emotions just great, they don't actually make the most logical decisions most of the time.

But I don't think this actually discredits a religion at all. We all know Christians who are great at the easy parts of their religion—learning Bible verses or saying rosaries—but don't seem to be even trying to love their neighbor. That's in fact the way religions are usually practiced! External elements that people can easily see (like never smiling) are adhered to by social pressure, but more heart-level things are aspirational at best. That doesn't mean the message of a religion is bad; it doesn't really tell us anything.

This is especially true for a religion whose practice isn't optional. You have to follow Surak to stay on the planet. I can see this rule was necessary during the time when the Romulans were kicked out—pacifism doesn't work as a global solution unless everybody's doing it. Now, it seems a bit harsh. I think they get around it by not exiling anybody who's at least giving lip service to logic. That racist baseball guy in DS9 isn't a good Vulcan, but as long as he doesn't do anything violent or openly reject Surak, they're willing to say he counts.

Why are Vulcans so often the opposite of what their religion teaches? I think it's the other way around: their religion focuses specifically on their chief faults: clannishness, racism, ego. It just hasn't successfully transformed everyone. Makes perfect sense, really. We might as well ask why Christianity goes on and on about sex when humans are well known to be super obsessed with sex. Well that's WHY! It's one of our strongest impulses which in the past we felt the most desperate need to control.

The best argument against Surakianism is that total repression isn't the best way to handle emotion, that we need self-awareness of our emotions before we can account for them.

To which all I can say is, don't you think Vulcans know that?

I imagine there are lots and lots of viewpoints on this among Vulcans. Some favor repression and some favor understanding and acceptance; some think it's okay to have a little dry humor and some think we should be serious. We have the kolinahri who believe in the excision of all emotion (which I imagine is universally seen as extreme, like we might see cloistered nuns or monks who reject the world to achieve enlightenment). And surely there are ancient, wise Vulcans who deeply understand all their emotional impulses and are completely in control of them. Spock certainly seems this way by the movie era if not before: he knows that he has emotions, what they are, and how to respond to them. He has overcome the emotion of shame. So he seems not impassive on the outside, but a person at complete peace inside and out.

I just feel like we could stand to see more good Surakians, who are good not in spite of their belief in logic, but because of it. Kind of like how we see both good and bad followers of the Prophets on Bajor. I'm kind of anti religion myself, but I still want to see it given its due—especially a religion founded on such good principles. Sure, it's not a religion humans can really practice, nor need—a good half of our emotions are positive and pro-social, so it's no wonder a person like Bones would be convinced Vulcans are just punishing themselves unnecessarily. But it successfully turned Vulcan from a planet so violent it almost destroyed itself to a home of peace and learning. Of course Vulcans aren't going to mess with what works!

That has been my rant about logic for today. I highly recommend @dduane 's book Spock's World for a much deeper dive into logic and the path Vulcan took to get there.

[shaymincafe]

Ask Karma

Okay so since we're dispensing advice into the community for our newer members, I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring with an ask blog etiquette item that I think people have somewhat neglected recently: ask karma.

Ask karma is the practice of sending asks back to people who have sent you one. When someone sends you an ask, it is generally expected that you will send one back in return. It is to your mutual benefit to do this since now not only do both of you have asks in your inbox to work with, but it also exposes your blogs to each others' followers and can potentially gain you new readers.

Ask Calls are a Two-Way Street

Generally speaking, when someone makes an ask call, you should view it as a quid pro quo situation. Unless the person explicitly states in the post otherwise, they usually wants asks back in return for the ones they're sending out. While this is not always the case, like with me where I have way too many asks already and don't need more, more often than not, this is the expectation and it's bad form to not do so.

It's the equivalent of borrowing someone's pencil in school and never giving it back. At the end of the day, it's not super consequential, but the person whose pencil you just took isn't going to be super happy that they gave that to you and got nothing in return. You feel me?

This is especially true for written blogs, who I have noticed tend to get hit by this the most. Written blogs can get through their posts a lot faster than most art blogs and therefore need asks more often. But they also tend to get a lot fewer asks!

I experienced it myself during the PokeAskMagi event where I sent out around 20 asks from @askthewhiterocket and got back 7 in total for the entire event. By comparison, Shaymin Cafe also sent out around 20 asks and got approximately 12 in return. Not a lot more but it's still a better ROI especially consider Shaymin Cafe was the far less active of the two blogs during the event.

Everyone who sent an ask to Ask the White Rocket also sent one to Shaymin Cafe, despite the majority of the blogs I interacted with getting asks from BOTH of my blogs. In addition, during my final ask call for Ask the White Rocket, I got 1 ask in return for like 5 sent out, even after explicitly stating that the inbox was empty and I wanted asks.

I realize Shaymin Cafe is a popular blog and since I had two blogs, people probably ended up just sending an ask to the more popular blog of the two since Shaymes is a fun character and such. But the same thing happened last year when Shaymes wasn't even an active character and I was really only answering asks from Kyo's blog. To be quite frank, that's unfair to the written blogs, and unfair to me too.

It takes time to send asks. Ask hints make it easier, sure, but not everyone has them. Additionally, not all ask hints are incredibly straight forward. Some require you to read a bit in the blog's backlog if you aren't familiar with it to craft an ask that a person can work with (this is why I tend to link stuff with my ask hints). Some people might also want to double check the rules of a blog first or read up on the characters to ensure they're not sending a human character to a blog that doesn't allow them, or a Gengar to a character with trauma from ghost-types without expressed permission from the creator first. This goes doubly so when you're sending asks out from multiple blogs, like I was during the event.

That effort should not go unrewarded, so the least you can do is send an ask in return! It's just good manners.

This also goes for Munday asks

Admittedly, I am pretty bad about this myself, so we're going a little pot calling kettle black, BUT it's generally good form to also send Munday asks back to people who send them to you. Now if they're not open to Munday asks or w/e then no sweat it's fine, but let's be real, we all like to yap. We all like to talk about our characters. We all enjoy answering Munday asks, so spread the love and send asks back to people who send them to you.

Part of the reason I don't really make the effort to send out Munday asks much anymore and part of why I don't open for Munday as frequently either is candidly I got very tired of sending out like a dozen Munday asks to everyone I saw open for Mundays and then getting like... 2 in return. There were a couple weeks back in like July-August were I quite literally got 0 Munday asks, and it was incredibly disheartening. Like, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed coming up with questions for other people, but it was also a total downer to sit there the entire day waiting for asks to come in and then never getting any. Not even one asking how my day was or how my weekend went. Total and complete silence.

And sure, thinking of questions is hard, I get it! You wanna know my secret? When I was sending out Munday asks regularly, I googled first date questions or improv icebreakers. There's so many great questions to ask people from those. Sure, they can be be incredibly shallow and I'm sure any veteran ask blogger whose been at this a while has probably asked and answered whether they like coffee or tea better. But I'd rather answer that ask for like the fourth time than get nothing because then I'd at least get the opportunity to talk about my thoughts on both for a minute.

This also goes quadrupley so for the memes. There are times where I see people reblogging memes and going the whole day without any interaction because they're a smaller blog. And I'll admit, I straight up have sometimes gone on anon and sent them like three asks back to back because I didn't want them to feel like no one cared about them or their characters. They deserve to get a bunch of asks too, that's part of the fun!

And I think with memes the not sending asks in return is far less excusable because usually there's emojis or numbers that you can literally just copy and paste into the ask box. I cannot tell you how many times I saw blogs I'd never met before reblogging a meme post and it took me all of five minutes to go pick a random emoji and a name from their cast page and drop that into their inbox. It is quite literally that easy.

You should also, generally speaking, send an ask to the person you got the meme from too. Whether they were the one who created it or simply just brought it into popularity, sending them an ask for the meme is a nice way to say thank you for letting you use it too. It took time and effort to create and/or find that meme, and I guarantee you they did not do it simply because they wanted other people to use it on their own blogs. They did it so THEY could answer asks from it on their OWN blog. So give them the opportunity to!

FAQ

The blog I want to send an ask to has (insert species of character) and my blog doesn't interact with that (or vice versa).

That's fine! You don't have to send an ask in character if you don't want to. Sure that's the norm, but if the casts of your blogs are incompatible for some reason, then by all means just don't send an in character ask.

The blog I want to send an ask to doesn't have readily available/up to date asks hints.

You have a couple options here. You can read back through the blog to see what has recently happened to get a feel for what might be a good ask. If you're lucky maybe they'll have a taglist somewhere that'll make backtracking easy. But if not, skimming is fine too. Otherwise, just directly DM the blog and ask them what kind of ask they want. I've done this several times and that can be a great way to get a blog exactly what ask their looking for.

The blog I want to send a Munday ask to is doing a meme I don't want to engage with.

Send them a normal question then! I guarantee you they wouldn't be opposed to answering something opposed to the meme, and even if they don't respond, they'll at least know you tried to return their ask.

The blog that sent me an ask said in their ask call they don't want asks in return.

No need to send one back then! If they said they don't want any, then they aren't expecting any in return. I do this all the time! Sometimes we just like sending out asks for fun and that's a-okay!

The blog I want to send an ask to has closed their inbox.

That's okay! In this instance, it is perfectly reasonable to not send an ask in return. If they've closed their inbox, they're likely not expecting asks back. So you're totally in the clear to not send one in return. No need to go crawling through their submission box to send one in (people actually don't usually like this). Just maybe keep an eye out in the future for if their inbox reopens!

Unless they like explicitly made a post asking for asks within like the last day. In that case please tell them because they probably forgot to open it again (happens more often than you think).

The blog I want to send an ask to doesn't have an organization system making their story, characters, hints, and other materials used in ask crafting difficult to find.

In that case, the burden lies with that blog, not you. Organization is EXTREMELY important. Skins covers this a bit in their ask blog advice post. Having easily accessible tag lists, ask hints, and casts pages can really help with getting asks sent your way. In the same way it isn't fair to someone to not send asks in return, it's equally unfair to make someone scroll through a bunch of meme reblogs just find materials to send an ask with.

The best you can do in this situation is message the blog to ask them for what they want. But if the materials to craft the ask aren't readily available to you, that is on them not you.

In short, please exercise Ask Karma. If someone sends you an ask, please send one back! Thank you!

[wonderingpanda]

Hey 👋 so excited that you are writing for the boys of Tales of the tmnt. I was wondering if you can write something about the female reader going to the costume party dressed up as Leo’s favorite female character (whatever you like) and he ends up all cute and flustered that he can’t stop looking at the reader through out the party. Something fluffy and cute.

Please and Thank you 🙏

Love Interest

Tottmnt!Leo x Fem!Reader

Finally, I finished it!🎉🥳 Tbh, I wasn’t too sure who to put as Leo’s favourite female character and at first I was thinking more Star Trek (because I think it’s pretty well known that the Leo’s are sci-fi lovers) but I didn’t know how many people would be familiar with it so I chose to go off the Batman reference from the movie. Anyway, that was really unnecessary but I felt like sharing the process. Please enjoy, I hope you like it!

Down in the sewers, Leo was busy sprawled out on his bed, working on his comic book as usual.

“They’re heroes, yeah, woo, yeah!” He whispered as he continued drawing.

“You’re my hero Leo!” He whispered the words as he drew a picture of Y/n L/n, a friend from school he had started crushing on. He kicked his legs giddily as he began daydreaming of scenarios where he got to save her, show off his skills, hold her in his arms as they travelled along rooftops… if only that could be reality.

“Come on Leo, you’re gonna make us late!” Donnie called from the other side of the room.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Instead of working on his comic tonight though, Leo was going to be attending a costume party with the rest of his brothers. They only had a little while to get ready, so the boys began getting dressed up and gathering their things.

“C’mon, ergh-almost! *huff* You couldn’t of gone with a more shell friendly outfit!?” Raph lifted his head up, he was helping Leo get on the rest of his costume.

“Come on, just pull!” Leo complained. They continued a back-and-forth struggle till the final piece eventually fell into place.

“There!” Raph huffed “You happy?”

“Yes actually.” Leo smiled proudly before his face shifted to a nervous frown. He began twisting around to check how he looked and anxiously glanced at Raph. “Do you think Y/n will like it?”

He burst out laughing. “Please, Y/n’ll like whatever costume you decide to put on. I mean, you look like a dork but I don’t think she’ll care.”

“Ok.. wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” But Leo wasn’t given an answer as Donnie came rushing between them.

“Do you think we should leave now or in a couple minutes? Cos the party starts in like 13 but I looked up party etiquette on Wikipedia and it says you’re supposed to be there 30 minutes after start time.”

“Wikipedia, seriously?” Leo judged.

“Well it’s not like you have any experience with this stuff!” Donnie pointed out.

“You’re right, I don’t.” Leo admitted. “And because of that, I say it’s best to just play it safe and leave now so we can arrive on time.”

“You just want to see Y/n, don’t you?” Mikey teased, poking out from behind the three.

“I do not!” He defended.

“Yeah right, I bet you can’t wait to see her all dressed up.” Donnie smirked.

“Oh please stop.”

“Yeah, and he’ll probably ask her to dance.” Raph joined in.

“Ask her to- what? No!”

“Aww you’re probably gonna try and get all cozy with her so you can start making out together. Mm mm mwa!” Mikey made the noise right next to Leo’s ear, causing him to jump.

“No, no and no.” Leo pointed at each of his brothers. “We’re just going to go and everything’s going to be chill, no one’s going try or ask or do anything. Ok?”

His brothers all exchanged squinted side-eyes before Donnie casually shrugged. “Whatever you say Nardo.”

“But seriously, let’s go. It’s party time!” Raph cheered as they all began to leave.

————————————

The lower half of building where the party was happening was entirely quiet in contrast to the loud bass and blaring lights that could be seen and heard towards the top level.

Leo and his brothers were caught up in some conversation when they opened the door but stopped as they were immediately swarmed by almost everyone in the room.

“Hey, oh my gosh it’s you!”

“Yo guys, the turtles are here!”

“Love the costumes.”

Amongst the chaos Leo managed to spot April doing her best to wave from the back of the crowd.

“Hey guys I see April, imma go over and say hi.”

“Yeah I gotta go to, see you all.” Donnie quickly waved as he headed over to talk to his friends.

As they all disbanded so did the crowd and Leo was able to easily walk across the room.

“Hey April!” He smiled and waved.

“Leo, hey! You all good after whatever that was.” April raised her eyebrows and glanced over to the entrance before looking back at Leo.

“Yeah, it’s still hard to get used to so many people liking us now.” He nervously laughed.

“Speaking of people who like you.” April mumbled. “Hey Y/n, Leo’s here!”

Y/n glanced to where the two were and turned to start walking over. “Oh, hey Leo!”

Leo looked over in her direction, feeling a pile of nerves simply at the prospect of greeting her. But when he saw what she was wearing everything increased by a million.

It was like one of those slow motion sparkly walks that you see in movies. Where everything fades out and all you can see is the pretty love interest waking forward with romantic music playing in the background. At least, that’s how Leo saw it.

“Hey, Y/n. Uh I like your costume. Catwoman! You look amazing.” His cheeks heated up the longer he spent looking at her.

“Thanks! I was originally thinking of going as Carol Marcus (Star Trek character, for those who don’t know) but I figured people would get this reference more.” She smiled and held her hands together.

Oh wow, so no matter what she wore she was going to end up dressing as the love interest for one of the heroes he pictured himself as. Leo figured he may as well die on the spot because his brain was no longer working.

“Oh, so you’re into older stuff. That’s pretty cool.” Seriously Leo, that just sounded obnoxious!

“Yeah. Well anyway, I’m going to go get something to drink. Do either of you want anything?” Y/n asked. April waved off the offer.

“Nah I’m good, thanks though!”

“You don’t need to get me anything.” Leo shyly smiled. Thank goodness blush was less visible on his skin or else he’d be dead.

“Okay! I’ll see you guys around then. See you later!” Y/n waved as she walked off into the crowd.

“Bye!” April called.

“See ya!” Leo anxiously chuckled. He stood in a slouched position for a moment.

“At least try to stand upright when you’re talking to her. You look like you just got punched in the gut.” April advised, causing Leo to stand upright quickly.

“Oh r-right, of course.” He coughed into his hand and gave April a blatant, overly toothy smile.

“So.” She spoke up. “What did you think of Y/n’s costume?”

“C-costume. Right, yes, her costume. I love it I think it’s really pretty and well-made.” Leo closed his eyes in an attempt to stay composed. An attempt that failed miserably, I might add.

“Maybe you should have gone as Batman, then you two could’ve paired up.” Leo frowned and gave April an aggressive side-eye.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.” April smiled and patted Leo on the head, causing him to sigh and look down.

“No I don’t.”

Y/n’s costume was the only thing on Leo’s mind for the rest of the night. Anytime he noticed her he couldn’t help but sneak glances every few minutes.

He was talking to a group of friends and had to be snapped back to reality as he couldn’t stop looking over in her direction.

There was even a point where she noticed him and he immediately looked away with a bright red face. But, then again, his face was already a blushing mess for most of the night.

He could barely get near Y/n because every time he did, his heart would race and he’d begin to feel an overwhelming amount of nerves? Love? Maybe a mix of both…

Either way, point is he was helpless. Helpless to his own feelings. So when everyone started gathering to dance to a popular song and Y/n grabbed his hand to pull him in, oh how the world felt irrelevant.

Little did he know, Y/n did this intentionally so she’d be able to dance with him. The two looked at each other and began laughing while uncontrollably smiling as the music played.

Feeling bold, Y/n decided to go in for a dip which caught Leo off-guard but he succeeded in catching her. Now they were even closer, very much unbelievably closer. What would happen if the two just inched their faces forward and…

“Who wants to play truth or dare!” Some random person yelled, leading the entire room to erupt into cheers.

Y/n quickly followed the large crowd of people as a circle started to form and waved over Leo as he was still repeating that entire sequence of events in his head. Was that a ‘we should kiss’ moment or a ‘we’re having fun’ moment because he really couldn’t tell!

Well now it was over and he instead found himself in a circle with Donnie on his right, Raph on his left, and Y/n sat opposite him from across the circle.

The game began and went on for a few rounds till some guy decided to point at Y/n.

“Y/n! Truth or dare?” Feeling hyped up, Y/n chose to go for the more interesting choice.

“Dare.”

The guy let out a menacing chuckle and began rubbing his hands together. “Alright, I dare you… to text your crush.”

“Pfft what are you, five?” Y/n burst out laughing.

“Five year olds can text now?” He asked.

Y/n rolled her eyes playfully before pulling her phone out. Leo’s mind started racing. Who was she going to text? Would it be him? What if it wasn’t him? What if she lied? What if it was one of his brothers? What if-

“I can’t, phones dead.” She shrugged before placing her phone back down beside her. The guy groaned.

“Ok. Then I dare you… to pledge your elegance to the holy sanctimony of caterpillar.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Y/n raised her eyebrows.

“It’s a thing.” He nonchalantly replied.

“It’s not a thing.” The girl next to him shook her head. He waved his hand dismissively at her.

“It’s totally a thing.”

“Alright then. I pledge my elegance to the holy sanctimony of caterpillar.” Y/n gave a confused look as the guy raised his fists.

“Huzzah! Welcome, to the caterpillar cult.” She stifled a laugh at his absurd announcement.

“What the? Uh, ok I guess that’s my turn. Um… Leo! Truth or dare?” She made eye contact with him, only briefly but still.

“Uh, um. Ehh truth.” Stupid Leo. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Y/n began to look around for ideas. “Ok, since we were on the topic of crushes I think it’s only right to ask; who do you have a crush on?” She smiled and leaned forward, followed by everyone else in the circle.

Honestly, she may have played it as a teasing joke but Y/n genuinely wanted to know. Yes she knew he’d probably lie but his response would at least give away something.

“Who do I have a crush on?” Leo began sweating bullets and avoided eye contact at all costs. “Uh well I have a crush on a girl, human, a human girl. Yep, that’s-that’s who it is.”

“Uh huh. Yeah I asked who they are not what they are so, I’m gonna need a little more information than that.” Y/n smiled deviously, she just wanted to know a little

more.

“She’s charming, s-smart, uh pretty very pretty ca-c-p-person that, of whom I know to a certain degree.” He began internally cringing at how he had stuttered. Dammit Leo! Why do you have to be you?

Y/n sat there for a good moment, analysing all the info she’d just got out of him. “Mmm… good enough! You go.”

He let out a quiet sigh of relief before turning to his right. “Whew. Donnie, truth or dare?

“Truth.” Not a moment of hesitation.

Leo smiled jokingly, hoping to act all teasing to take the pressure off of himself. “Who do you have a cru-“

“Don’t.” Donnie replied sternly.

“Ok.” He got the message and quickly reeled back.

The game finished up soon after and everyone split off to go do different things.

The rest of the night went as it did before. Leo would be talking to someone, look over in Y/n’s direction, feel like his stomach had turned into a butterfly enclosure and turn back to the people he was talking too, ignoring the increasing blush covering his face.

Every minute, every second, every waking moment of his existence had just been infiltrated by the thought of Y/n and her stunning outfit.

And Y/n noticed. Oh she noticed. It’s what led her to walk up to him the second she saw he was alone.

“Hey Leo.” She sat down next to him. Oh boy, here he goes again.

“Hey Y/n, again. How many times have we greeted each other tonight now?” Leo wondered leading Y/n to giggle slightly.

“I don’t know. The party’ll be over soon so I figured I’d try to sneak in one more moment with you before we all have to leave.” She leaned to the side and bumped her shoulder playfully with his. Leo’s eyes widened after hearing what she said.

“It’s already near the end? That was quick.” Y/n burst out laughing.

“Leo, it’s like 11pm. We’ve been here for hours!”

“Wait seriously!?” He sat up straighter with his hands as support before sinking back into a comfortable position. “Huh, time really does fly by.”

A moment of silence passed till Leo decided to ignore his nerves and speak up.

“By the way, I never actually told you how much I like your outfit.”

“Oh you don’t have to.” Y/n tried to wave him off.

“But seriously, it’s super pretty and looks amazing on you. I love it.” Leo grinned genuinely while gesturing to her outfit.

“Thanks Leo, I love your costume too. How did you even manage to get it on?” Y/n wondered.

“Help from Raph.” Leo stated.

“Ahh I see...” They both fell into silence again for a little while. Feeling nervous, Y/n glanced to the side and decided to just drop the bomb by asking “Are we- do we have a thing going on between us or is that just me being stupid?”

“Huh, uh w-what?” Leo’s eyes widened in shock as he turned to look at her. She in turn looked in his direction, although her gaze rested just a little off to the side from his face as she felt too anxious to make eye contact with him.

“Like I know, or at least I think I know, that you’ve been looking over at me a few times tonight and it felt like there was something going on back when we were dancing with everyone else. So I’m just wondering if it’s like a thing or not, you know?” Y/n chose to finally make eye contact with Leo and was met with his adorably awkward, blushing face.

“I’m going to be totally honest with you I assumed you just thought I was being weird.” He sunk his head down a little, tensing at the topic of conversation. Y/n smiled and shook her head in disbelief.

“Leo you’re like the most amazing person I know. Also, I’m not gonna lie, I thought it was pretty cute how you were acting the whole night.” She blushed and look down to the side again. Leo was once again overcome with surprise but tried his best to keep it together.

“You thought, oh. I think your pretty cute too uh not just in that costume but in general like I think your super pretty every day, all the time.” He laughed nervously and gave Y/n an adoring look.

“Ok I’m just going to say it because I think it’s super obvious at this point.” Y/n took a deep breath to try and calm down. “I’ve already practically said it but I like you. And I mean that in a more than friends way.” She confessed.

“Thank god, because I like you as so much more than a friend.” Leo sighed. Y/n smiled and decided to lean in, whispering something in his ear. Leo quickly perked up and his entire face turned pink.

“Heh.”

————————————

Leo smiled nervously as he walked back towards a corner of the room, Y/n following.

“You know I’m not really used to this kind of thing so I don’t know-“

He didn’t even get a complete sentence out before Y/n began to kiss him. They kissed again as she wrapped her arms around his neck and slightly pushed him further back. They went for another kiss and another before they both pulled away and Leo sighed.

“I love being a turtle.”

They both smiled and quickly went back to their make-out session. Best party ever.

What no one noticed though was the mysterious figure hidden on the side of a building facing the party. They were dressed in purple and black with a mask covering their entire face, yellow buggish eyes that looked almost like goggles, a long bandana wrapped around their head and the symbol of a red foot displayed clearly on the front of their outfit.

“I’ve located the turtles, and it looks like they’ve already made some friends.”

I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know it’s just meant to be fluff but I couldn’t help myself, I need the foot clan to appear already 😭. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please keep requesting, peace, love, and have an awesome day/night wherever you are!✨

[stainedglassvariations]

Grey's Rest: Chapter One

He’s watching you again.

The brioche you’re working loses its stickiness beneath his unwavering gaze; the dough turning smooth then stretching so thin until you can see the sunlight filtering through it. He is there even after its final proof, and as it comes out of the oven. It isn’t until the loaf is cool enough to cut does he move.

Beneath your lashes, you do some watching of your own as he lingers by the door like he always does. You can admit to some curiosity, wondering if it is you that causes his hesitation or something else. It is that same curiosity that stays your hand, keeps you from confronting him. Even now, you are still a huntress, and you do not frighten away your prey.

So, you let him leave as he has done for the past three months, and return to your breads and pastries. Soon, you will have your answers. 

Of that, you are sure.

He proves you right three weeks later. For the first time since you first saw him slip into your cafe, he comes to the counter. 

Your stranger is handsome in a tired, broken way that fills you with far too much empathy. His eyes are dark, the bags beneath them even darker, and his hair is the color of tarnished gold. The haggardness on his face brings to mind another man, but you push down the swell of grief before it can even begin to rise. 

“Good afternoon,” your smile is placid, your movements slow as you bring pen to paper, “how may I serve you today?”

The way he looks at you, for just a moment, is frantic, frenzied, and then he smoothes it away as a mason would mortar. Your curiosity spikes. 

“Just a black coffee, thank you. Whatever blend you recommend is fine.”

There is a familiar twinge in your breast as you note his order, the same frustration you once felt whenever there was a flash of a flask, and it is your turn to temper down your emotions.

“A bit late,” you say as you reach for the finest beans you keep in stock. Hawaiian in origin, and should be otherwise far too expensive for a shop of your standing. “Are you sure I can’t interest you in any of my teas? I grow the plants myself.”

You never show him your back.

“Night shift,” he replies, stilted as if not expecting you to engage him in conversation. “Besides, I have no idea when it comes to that stuff. Always just thought of it as hot leaf juice if I’m being honest.”

Your smile softens into something a little more genuine as you pour the coffee beans into the grinder. 

“Funny, I had a friend tell me the same thing once. Though, he was far less diplomatic about it.”

Again, you see something dark in those eyes of his before it disappears behind a façade. By the time you have fine grounds, you would’ve forgotten had you been anyone else. His gaze falls to the crank in your hand.

“Do you grind all this coffee by hand?” He asks; face deceptively innocent. You do have applaud his ability to lie - he's almost as good as you.

“Not in the mornings,” you reach for the pour over, “it’s too busy for that. Are you in a rush?”

“No, not really.” This time, it’s his turn to smile. A soft, delicate thing that could only be described as heartbreaking. “And even if I was, I would still say I wasn’t.”

It’s a familiar dance this worn and weathered man is trying to lure you in. It is the only dance that has ever made you stumble, and you are far too old to be making mistakes like this again. 

“Careful,” you flick on the electric kettle, “there’s etiquette when it comes to flirting with the barista.”

He leans forward then, elbows planting themselves firmly on your walnut countertop, and he smells of toasted sugar and pine. 

“Is that what we’re doing? Flirting?”

“Can we call it flirting when I don’t even know your name?” You watch as the temperature on your kettle starts to rise in steady, ten degree increments. “You seem to have me at a disadvantage here, Stranger.”

A moment of silence, save for the beginnings of the boiling water, then:

“Ray. My name is Ray.”

You look up at him.

“Welcome to Grey’s Rest, Ray. Please, make yourself at home.”

It is easily the best cup of coffee Ray’s ever had.

Smooth, mellow, with the slightest hint of something fruity. The number written on the inside of the sleeve only adds to the experience. It’s almost enough to make him forget about the strange language racing through his Star’s mind, and the eerie way you carry yourself. Not a single wasted movement or honest emotion. 

It is a novel experience, being so blind to another human being. He would be intrigued if it were anybody else. Instead, there is a mounting frustration building inside him. Three months, and he still feels as if he knows nothing about you. Three months of waiting, watching, wanting, yet you’re still so far away.

Well, maybe not that far.

He smiles into his coffee, and takes out his phone. Maybe he can’t read your thoughts or your face, but that could change with time. He’s already waited three years, what’s another nine months now that he has you.

“Grey’s Rest?”

Blaze’s hand, hot and heavy on his shoulder, drags him from his pleasant daydreams and back into his hellish reality.

“What of it?” He snaps, shaking him off. 

“Nothing, but word on the street is that the owner is a real fox. I’ve been meaning to drop by myself.” The grin on Blaze’s face makes his skin crawl, but he holds his tongue. Give him an inch, and he would take the entire tape measure.

“The coffee’s good, that’s all I can say.” He chugs the rest and throws the cup into the trash. “Now suit up. I want to get this over with as fast as possible.”

Hours later, when he trudges back into the agency smelling of blood and smoke, there’s a single name in the sea of messages he immediately hones in on.

My Star:

‘If you’re not opposed to a little manual labor, I take Sundays to tend to my garden and prepare the cafe for the week.’

The grin on his face is so wide, it makes his cheeks hurt. From the door, Blaze watches him with a cruel, curious smirk.

[plebbotheblob]

Hi! I've been staring at my sad, sad, empty posting page for far too long, so now I'm going to post some of my own stuff and reblog stuff and try to have fun with this!

I'm not too familiar with Tumblr etiquette yet, but I'll try my best. :)

[i-didnt-do-1t]

cw. mentioned death.

It wasn’t the first time her and Jack had fought, she wasn’t sure if she could include the argument on the rooftop, but they’d had their fair share of petty fights since.

This didn’t feel petty though, it felt far too real, and charged and she didn’t get angry like this often but he was making her sound like she was crazy.

“I still don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

“You do, I know you do.” She paused, waiting for him to respond or turn to face her, watching the way the muscles on his back worked as he reached up to paint the top left corner of a new back drop for Medda. “Jack would you look at me-“

“I’m paintin’, Kathy.”

“We’re having a conversation.”

“I can multi-task.”

She tensed her jaw, could feel a quiet aching creeping up her throat and tried to swallow it down but it didn’t help.

“You’re being rude.”

“Kathy.” It was spat and overtly unapologetic, his back still turned to her though she could see the white knuckle grip he had on his paintbrush. “Sorry that I weren’t taught etiquette like the guys you grew up around, but could just let me work? And stop asking about stuff I ain’t wanna talk about?”

“I’m not trying to be invasive. There’s no need to be so horrible.”

When he didn’t turn around, and didn’t answer, she tightened her arms around herself, folded over her chest.

“Fine.”

The slight heels of her shoes echoed around the auditorium as she stormed out, maybe Jack looked at her then, felt sick the way she did whenever they argued and it was real and serious, but she didn’t turn around to check.

She slammed the door behind her.

…

She didn’t mean to end up at the distribution gate, the path was familiar these days and she frequently walked the cobblestoned streets to meet Jack when he collected the evening edition but it was nearer night now, the sky dark and drizzling with rain and if she was cold she wouldn’t admit it.

There were still two figures, just inside the gate, loading excess piles of papers into a cart, and one of them brushing up the courtyard in a way that felt pointless considering it was late autumn. The one at the cart threw his head back in what looked like a laugh and Katherine almost felt bad interrupting but curiosity and anger had brewed into a concoction of stubbornness in the pit of her stomach.

“Excuse me?” The gate creaked open under her touch. “Mr delancey?”

It had been months since she last talked to them, had no reason to run into them aside from the strike, but she’d seen them around her father’s office, always together, always scowling.

They both stopped to look at her, as she stepped into the yard, aware of the mud staining the hem of her dress and the way it splattered across her shoes.

“Pulitzer?” It was Oscar, she was fairly certain, though she couldn’t say for sure. Tall, and messy brown curly hair and dark eyes as glared at her. “The hell do you want. Kelly ain’t here.”

“I know he’s not.” She hesitated, observed the way the two of them shared a look. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Oscar raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

She swallowed.

“I- the last time I spoke to you, in my father’s office, you mentioned that Jack had a brother.” Oscar’s expression shifted. “Was his name Michael, by any chance?”

The silence, aside from the city settling down for the evening, seemed to stretch, only to be interrupted by Oscar barking out a laugh.

“Yeah. Yeah, the kid was called Michael. Why do you wanna know. Kelly ain’t told you?” His voice was amused.

If she wasn’t so frustrated, she knew she wouldn’t reveal something so personal, and she wasn’t doing it to be mean, she reassured herself, she just had to know. How on earth was she meant to help Jack if she didn’t know.

Still, It wasn’t all that comforting a thought, especially not as Oscar looked at her, leaning back casually against the cart he’d just been loading, a gleam of something cruel in his eyes.

Or maybe it was just the street lamp.

“Jack’s been saying it in his sleep.” She said, instead of acknowledging it. “And waking up crying, night terrors, I assume.”

“Yeah. He used to get those.”

“So. Why. Over what. I know- I know the refuge was bad but I don’t quite understand-“

“Michael’s dead.”

The stubbornness in her stomach turned to lead. “What?”

“Michael. Kelly’s brother.” He spoke slowly, like she was stupid, shoving a hand in his pocket and pulling out a box of cigarettes as he did so, “he died, and cowboy pretty much killed him.”

“No. No, Jack wouldn’t-“

“You want a smoke?”

Her hands were shaking, she was freezing. The box was being held out to her and she acted on instinct, reaching for one. His fingers were freezing and ink stained where hers brushed his, short bitten fingernails lined with dirt and grit.

“Jack wouldn’t.” She repeated.

“Maybe not on purpose.” He fished a match from a different pocket. “But he loaded him on the back of the carriage, tryna escape the refuge y’know. Like a fuckin’ idiot. And the kid fell off. Cracked his head open and then got run over by the back wheel.”

He said it casually as he lit the end of his cigarette. Like it was nothing.

.

“What.”

Her voice was a croak.

Oscar inhaled smoke and scoffed at her.

“Cowboy got out and Michael didn’t. Could see it from the window.”

“Oh. my god.”

“S’ probably reachin’ that time a year. It was near christmas, I think. Right mo?”

“Yeah. Yeah. cause Snyder gave folk turkey at dinner a couple weeks later.”

“Oh yeah. Course. It was shit.”

The cold air was biting. Katherine could feel it down to her bones.

“I- wait. So Jack-“

“Yeah. Fuckin’ stupid. Kelly can have a go at me all he fuckin’ wants. But at least I kept my wee brother alive.”

“But-“

“You can tell when you know, you see how he acts with the tiny Jacobs? It’s like he forgets sometimes, that he ain’t his.”

That backs of her eyes burned, the aching from the back of her throat creeping up the base of her skull and she had to press a palm over her mouth, gaze blurring with tears.

“Are you cryin’, Pulitzer?”

She was sure she was going to throw up.

“Christ. It was ages ago. Cryin’ ain’t gonna do shit. But it’s probably why he’s havin’ nightmares.”

He exhaled smoke as he spoke, and the smell of it turned Katherine’s stomach.

She pictured Jack again, alone in the theatre, covered in paint and the way she knew he roughly wiped away angry tears with the back of his hand.

The empty look in his eyes when he’d wake up from one of those dreams, pushing away the hand that was carding through his hair, breathing heavy and ignoring her and pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes.

“You gonna smoke that or jus’ hold it.”

She let her hand fall, wordlessly handed back the cigarette. Oscar hesitated.

Held her gaze.

“I dunno actually.” He paused, gave her a once over. “Maybe you should smoke it.”

Beside him Morris nodded, exhaling a lung full of smoke into the cold air.

“It helps.”