#putting these in the tags just in case people haven't seen them

[diviinedogs]

guys I need the world's saddest Yuuji plushie so bad..........

I also want the worsties tbh they're silly guys

[budgebuttons]

There's a lot of reasonably frustrated but ultimately misdirected psa-style posting about how viewers NEED to start reblogging things rather than just liking them because that is the primary mode of post circulation on this site. The modern manifestation of this sentiment seems to miss the fact that, if you've been here for ~15 years, were here prior to, during, and after the exodus to the bird app, you already know that likes have always been more common than reblogs, that many people simply don't want to put your art on their blog, and that guilting end-users into using a microblogging site A Specific Way absolutely does not work. If it did, the trend would have shifted a decade ago. Because this conversation really is that old. Regardless, the modern discourse of how difficult it is to be Seen specifically on Tumblr isn't productive because I think it ultimately misses the reason being an artist online feels so Bad, now.

The social media era has funneled Looking At Stuff on the Internet into an economy of engagement that encourages end-users to treat everything we/they see as quick, cheap, and disposable. This is just another fun and flirty way that capitalism devalues art. It's nothing new. Trying to force masses of users to behave in a way that is healthier for the circulation of art isn't going to do anything to solve the discontent we all feel when we hurl something into the void and it is ultimately ignored. I swear up and down: A higher notes number won't feel better, either. Popularity is just as demoralizing as radio silence, but it manifests differently. Instead of 4 likes and maybe 1 reblog from Old Faithful Mutual, you get a horde of people who treat you like a content machine. You keep hoping for an impossibly Bigger Number. The notifs on the first Big Number Post haven't even settled, and people are already asking when the follow-up is coming. You get anons, but most of them are trying to passively convince you to give them More Content.

It's really, really hard to make people care about art. If there was a silver bullet for making the average person appreciate the enormity of human effort behind every beautiful thing they encounter, we would have found it centuries ago.

The best thing creatives can do for their lives online is to be friendly, or at least kind, with other creators. "Big" artists don't form in-groups because they're snobs. They find each other because they casually showed each other support, and their mutual appreciation for that Thing that wound them up in the same tag becomes a foundation for connection, and in many cases, the ever-illusive Bigger Audience as they introduce themselves to each others' circles. We get more eyes on our work by building community with each other.

Where does that leave people who are just here to look at things, not post them? I think the answer is almost identical: COMMENT!! Please, comment! The first step to engaging with art on a more meaningful level is to point out something you particularly enjoy about a given work. It can go in the replies, it can go in the tags, doesn't matter!! If you notice some symbolism or make some connection, there is all likelihood that OP put it there because they desperately wanted somebody to notice it. Let them know why you like it!

Reaching for the nebulous, impossible goal of better post circulation isn't going to make being a creator online in 2023 suck less. Meaningfully connecting with each other can, will, and does. You can make someone's day just by passingly letting them know that their effort is worth more than a number.

[the-kr8tor]

hiii!! hello!! hii!!

have you done something like hobie taking his civilian gn s/o to the spider society? (he got another spare watch ofc) meeting the other spideys and see how futuristic nueva york is

Hi, hun! Thank you for the lovely request! 😘

Pairing: Hobie Brown x gn! Reader/ Spider-Punk x gn! Reader

Tags: no use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader, FLUFF.

ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ

You gasp when the portal opens in the lobby, hundreds of spider people roam around the hall, crawling over the walls and ceiling, swinging, startling you. After successfully pestering him, he finally relents

"There's so many of you!" You whirl around to look at Hobie watching your reaction unabashedly.

His lips curl into a smile, hand circling your wrist to put on your own bracelet just before you start glitching out.

"Cute" you bring your hand up in front of you to admire the accessory. "Thank you"

"It's functional too, prevents you from glitching out through dimensions" he fixes the collar of your shirt from when the portal messed it up.

"Sounds scary" you chuckle nervously.

"Won't happen to you as long as you keep it on you" as long as I'm with you. Hobie continued in his mind. "C'mon then, lovey" he holds out his hand for you.

Without missing a beat, you cup his hand in yours. "Thought you've got a reputation to uphold?"

He side glances at you, "I've got my priorities straight, don't want you falling for another Spider-person"

Heat rises in your cheeks at his nonchalant comment. "Never" you say softly, Hobie could hear your voice from a mile away, he squeezes once as a thank you, twice for good luck.

Spider people greet you and Hobie as you walk through the halls. Some give you a look that you only see from friends whom you haven't seen in years. You smile politely as they avoid your stare.

Tugging at Hobie's hand, you look at him with questions swirling in your mind. "What's up with some of them?"

"Haven't got a scooby-doo, they probably know you in their dimension" he tugs you closer to him, bending his knees to loop his arm under your legs, hand curled around your back protectively. Walking towards an open balcony. "Hold on, it's better to see the sights while swinging"

You have more questions than answers, but you push it back, holding his vest in your grip, looking up at him excitedly. "Let's go, webslinger"

Hobie smiles mischievously down at you before dropping down at a height, you scream in delight, gut falling with you right before Hobie aims up and swings you both before landing on the harsh ground.

Once you bravely open your tightly shut eyes, you see Nueva York in all its glory. The sight takes your breath away, tall skyscrapers and futuristic trains that go up to the sky. The sun shining down at the greenery below, you savour the light since in your shared dimension it's been raining non stop with grey clouds blanketing the heavens.

You pass by a bright neon sign, pink shining on Hobie's side profile. He feels your intense stare, masked face looking down at you, you can feel him grin despite the cloth blocking his face.

"Got somethin' on my handsome face?"

"Yeah, your ego–!!" Hobie lets go of his web, his arms wrapped tightly around you, your legs clinging to his waist, both falling down fast like a bullet shot from a gun. You squeal with exhilaration, your laugh contagious, Hobie guffaws with you in tandem.

Wind rushing in your ears, you feel your soul leave your body when Hobie abruptly pulls back up, continuing swinging like nothing.

Air goes back in your lungs, "fuck! How is your arm still in its socket after that?" You don't notice the shaking in your legs.

"Sheer will, love" Hobie nuzzles his face right under the shell of your ear, leaving a quick peck on the smooth skin.

Landing back on solid ground, your legs wobble on the balcony like a newborn giraffe. He has his palm right over the small of your back, at the ready, just in case you fall flat.

"You good?" Hobie slides his hand over to your waist, warmth radiating off his palm. You nod slowly, getting acclimated on the steady floors.

"Hobie! There you are!"

Three spider people make their way towards you, the trio stops once they see you look at them with a growing smile. You recognize them just from Hobie's stories.

"Is that-?" Pavitr starts.

"Them?" Miles finishes Pav's sentence.

"Don't be weird" Gwen shoves them both with her shoulders. "Hi, I'm Gwen" she makes her way towards you, hand outstretched in greeting.

"Hello! I know!" You say excitedly, "I mean, I kind of know you based on Hobie's stories" taking her hand, you shake it with a smile.

Meanwhile Hobie watches you click immediately with his friends, his heart tender at the sight.

"Ohhh you tell them about us?" Pavitr, you've come to know, takes you in his arms, a bear hug squeezing you tightly. "Hobie's secretly a softie, isn't he" holding you at arms length, you slyly nod, making Pav laugh in agreement. Hobie could only huff without interrupting the interaction.

Miles, you've deduced, gives you a friendly fist bump. "Miles Morales, it's nice to finally meet you"

You reciprocate his greeting, "it's nice to finally meet you too! I love your suit especially the red bits"

"Finally someone that appreciates my style!" Miles goes for a high five that you match in enthusiasm with a loud clap of hands. "I like you already!"

"I can't believe I'm here!" You finally look back to Hobie, his lips curled into a fond smile that makes you grin wider than you ever thought possible. "Can't even fathom this entire place!"

Gwen loops her arm around yours, "let's get you acquainted then"

"Yes, please!"

"We're coming with!" Miles chides in.

"First stop, the cafeteria" Pav leads the way, pointing and adding information about the society.

"Oi! You're stealing them from me!" Hobie follows closely behind, boots thumping on the floor to catch up.

Looking over your shoulder, you throw him a wink and a sweet smile. Thanking him wordlessly. His eyes soften at the sight in front of him.

[ao3commentoftheday]

Hey, I'm glad you're back. I love your posts and always wait for them. Your opinions and all the knowledge you share here has been extremely helpful for me personally who new to AO3. So wanted to thank you for that.

I wanted to say that I write for a relatively huge fandom with many ships and characters and nearly all of them are popular. Even rare ships will have their own fanbase. But my own fics are not about ships. I love the dynamic of 2-3 characters and write mostly about them in the 'Gen' category because I don't see the potential of sexual relationships in them. Also because it'll be incestuous. I have no problem with that but I'm not thrilled about writing or reading it.

Fics on these characters as ships get more engagement and more readers than General ones do. I read somewhere that Gen fics always get less engagement than the ship-y ones which made me realize that no matter how hard I work on my stories and no matter how much effort I put into writing them it'll never get readers. The only regular reader I have is a friend who isn't in the fandom but reads my stuff because she understands how hard it is to write and not get even miniscule amount of response. It's disheartening at best to put your heart and soul into something and be met with cold silence on the other side like you've done something wrong. :(

*hugs* first of all, please know that you haven't done anything at all wrong 💗

While it's certainly true that Gen fics often get less attention than fics that focus on relationships, it's also true that there are people out there who are desperate for them and so grateful for the few that they see posted.

I think it also varies from fandom to fandom, and even from trope to trope.

I don't know if this is the case for you, but I've seen Gen fics on AO3 before that didn't have any relationships tagged. If you're someone who posts like that, I recommend adding in some & relationships. A&B indicates a friendship or a mentor/student relationship or colleagues etc as opposed to romance or sex. For people who like the dynamic between character A and character B, they might be quite happy to read a fic focusing on their friendship too.

It's always important to remember that popular fics are just that: popular. They might or might not be objectively "good". They might or might not be creative or well-written or even coherent. There's just something about them that strikes a chord with a group of people in that moment.

Gen readers and writers: have you got some thoughts to share with anon? Let them know they're not alone.

[sehodreams]

this isn’t really an MTL but riize reaction to you tryna be the dom? or reader tryna be bratty and them just not having it the rest is up to you 😉

Hi babe, sorry for taking so much time answering this one, thank you so much for your patience 🥹😭

TW and Tags: bratty!reader, sexual content, MDNI, orgasm denial, spanking, marks, teasing, Dom!Riize (?).

Eunseok would immediately put you in your place, do you think that since he lets you do whatever you want most of the time you can treat him like that? Oh no princess, learn your limits. He loves to spoil you and treat you like the most precious little thing he has ever seen, because for him you are that, but you can't just go and talk back to him or disobey him, he doesn't like that, so he'll make it clear in case you haven't noticed, and he'll do it exactly where you're the most vulnerable at, his bed. Forget about cumming the next nights, he won't give you what you want until you're crying, begging and apologizing, he can't spoil you anymore until you understand that between the two of you, at the end, he's the one in control, and you, as his little doll, have to think twice before you make him mad.

Shotaro and Sungchan are nice, sometimes too nice, and you could've gotten the idea that they'll never get angry at you doesn't matter what you do, but if you ever lie, doesn't matter how little it is, and they discover it, you better get ready for what's about to come, because they're the nicest people you could ever know until you push their buttons, and when that unusual occasion comes, you'll get punished like you deserve. They're the kind that want to talk about it first, because you're two adults and you can use your words, but if they see you won't listen to them and realize what you did was wrong, prepare to get spanked until your eyes are tearing and you can't look at their faces of how embarrassed you feel after they finish with you, because if you don't get it with their words, they'll make sure you do it with their hands against your skin, and in Sungchan's case, he'd be extra hard with you, leaving more marks beside the palm of his hand on your ass, perhaps purple spots on your wrists and thighs from you trying to escape his grip, little reminders of your mistake to never repeat them again.

Sohee and Anton don't get easily fed up, you'd have to do something extremely unacceptable for them to think that's it, like publicly embarrassing them, saying things they didn't want others to hear, or don't treating them right in front of their friends, something so disgraceful to the two of you that they'll have to excuse themselves and leave, and then, when you were completely alone, they'll say how disappointed they are, but don't worry, they'll make you get your act together again, if you couldn't do something as simple as being a decent person in front of others, they'll have to teach you how to be one, so not only you'll get punished after each incident, pushing you down the bed and leaving the good boy act behind, no smiles or giggles and soft caressings anymore, using the strength they haven't showed you before, making you cry with each touch, in the future, before going out together, they'll always tease you, feeling your pussy with their fingers and leaving you all hot and desperate, "if you do well today, when we come back you'll get what you need".

Seunghan likes jokes, he enjoys them, but he doesn't like to be offended, he wants to laugh with you, not to be laughed at, so if you start teasing him too much, soon he'll show you your place again, with his hand around your throat and that cheeky grin in his face, when you're in his room, he'll make you the joke until you can't help but cry and apologize for acting like that, "look at you, you say my cock is so small no one else would like it? Come on, you can't even take half of it, let's see if you laugh again after I finish with you tonight"

Wonbin loves a bratty reader, he would create useless rules and would ask more things from you just to have the opportunity of punishing you more often, he's always waiting for you to act up so he can treat you like he wants, and he would do everything the other boys do as much as he can, like teasing and overstimulating you, enjoying your crying face whenever you're taking him, and he'd also laugh at you and leave little (but multiple) marks on your body, he lives for the sound of your broken voice apologizing when he's fucking you and then the embarrassed expression you have when you see the mess you've done after he finishes with you, he can't wait for your next mistake to use you and make you cockdrunk again.

[wellgoslowly]

Hello! I was wondering if I can get a request please. The reader works for Lockwood and Co but she has the complete opposite personality of what Lockwood has (ex: reader is more of listener rather than a talker and when she is around new people she is more on the quiet side until she gets comfortable around them) and Lockwood falls for the reader. Thank you!

Ain't a Life a Many Splendored Thing?

a/n: a bit of a shorter post but I think I might make it into a series!! I loved this prompt and I loved writing it sm!!! it's not much but I didn't want to write more before knowing if yall would want a part 2 :) also yes the title is from hello hello by elton john from the hit movie gnomeo and juliet.

pairing: lockwood x fem!reader

word count: 1.4k

warnings: none :)

tags: @hufflepuff1619 (thank you for the request!) @oblivious-idiot @tangledinlove @ikeasupremacy @givemea-dam-break @neewtmas [if u guys want to be put on a tag list just lmk in the comments!!! also if i missed anyone im sorry!!!!]

The moment that you stepped into 35 Portland Row for your interview, it was obvious to everyone that Lockwood was a goner.

You two were clearly exact opposites- where he was confident and cocky, you seemed more reserved and humble. Where he was reckless, you seemed calculated and exact. And it was now evident that while he found it natural to talk in order to prevent awkward silences around new people (especially those whom he found to be very attractive), you were perfectly comfortable with listening to him ramble.

“And right up here is the attic.” He was saying now as the two of you climbed up the creaking stairs. “You've met Lucy, obviously- this is her room. And yours as well, if you choose to live here.” He watched you take in the room, filled with Lucy's drawings and scarce decorations on the walls, your eyes lingering on the small bed hastily shoved in the corner. He looked at you with apprehension, admittedly a little worried that you would turn to him and say that you'd changed your mind and reject the employment offer.

Instead, you turned to him with a slight smile on your face and said, “Is it ok with Lucy? If I stay here?” Instantly, Lockwood was filled with relief. “It was her idea, actually.” He said softly, watching you nod in understanding. “Alright then.” You said, a sense of finality in your voice. Lockwood smiled and watched as you walked to set the small bag of belongings you had taken to your interview on top of your new bed. “I'll leave you to it, then. Dinner should be ready soon.” He said to you. You didn't respond, but Lockwood wasn't worried- he knew exactly what your soft smile was meant to convey.

------

“Lockwood, I just- I don't know if she fits here.” It had been only 3 days after you had officially joined Lockwood & Co., but Lockwood wasn't necessarily surprised by the remark George threw him from across the table that morning. You and Lucy were asleep, still tired after facing an infuriating ambush from a large cluster of Type Ones while on a Type Two case.

“What do you mean, George?” Lockwood asked as he took a sip of his tea. “I mean, she's just so quiet. She never speaks, and when she does it's either in one word responses or a couple phrases- even then, she mostly only ever talks to you. I'm just worried about how well she'll be able to communicate in the future.” George explained, his hands moving wildly about.

“You haven't seen her in the field, George- she's brilliant. Her sight is comparable to mine, and her touch… it's like Lucy with her Listening. Yes, she's a bit… reserved, but I'm sure she just needs to warm up to us, is all.” Lockwood smiled at his friend as he took another sip of tea, peeling open the front page of a new issue of True Hauntings.

“Don't think I didn't notice how you avoided the comment about how she only seems to talk to you.” George grumbled, taking a bite out of a piece of toast. Lockwood didn't look up from the text on the page in front of him as he mumbled a soft “I don't know what you're talking about.” George scoffed in response, starting to say something that sounded a lot like “you're clearly gone for her, why do I even try”, when you walked in, hair amess and blinking sleep out of your eyes.

The kitchen fell into immediate silence, George's face flushing in embarrassment as you looked at him, your expression unreadable. “If you're going to talk about me, you could at least do it while I'm around.” Lockwood looked up at that as he didn't notice you silently entering the kitchen. He took in your sleep-addled state and the look of fear in George's eyes. And then you were softly smiling. “I was joking, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.” You said before sitting down next to Lockwood.

George snorted. “I think that's the most you've said to me the entire time you've been here.” George said, apparently taking your joke to heart. Lockwood softly kicked George under the table, but you just laughed a little.

Deciding to change the subject, Lockwood turned to you with a smile. “I'm sorry for him. What he meant to say was good morning. Would you like some tea?” You smiled at Lockwood, and he was hit with the thought that it mightve been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. “Yes, please.” You responded. Lockwood nodded, getting up to turn the kettle on once more.

The morning passed like that- you and George softly trading barbs with one another, Lockwood making you your tea and toast, and Lucy stumbling in once you were almost done with breakfast and mumbling a “gmornin” to you and the boys. Soon, the discussion turned from an easygoing conversation over breakfast and lapsed into a more serious discussion as Lockwood started explaining the cases that you all had scheduled for that night.

You and Lockwood would be going out to a house that was reported to contain a Type Two and a couple Type Ones, George would be staying home to do some research for a bigger case the four of you had coming up the next week (he had also gotten injured a couple of days ago and his wound hadn't fully healed), and Lucy would be going to an office afflicted by a couple Type Ones.

Lockwood had been too busy dishing out the information for the night's events to realize that you hadn't been talking. It was only after Lucy and George had nodded in understanding and set out to set their own respective tasks- Lucy heading down to the basement and George getting ready to go to the Archives- when Lockwood looked to you and realized that you had been drawing on the Thinking Cloth the entire time.

He leaned over slightly, watching as you drew a small landscape on a tiny piece of empty space with a green pen that Lockwood wasn't sure he had ever seen before. He smiled as you drew, watching the concentration on your face. “Did you hear the cases for tonight?” He asked softly, watching the quirk at the corner of your lips.

“George is doing research, Lucy's got a couple of Type Ones, and you and me have got the Type Two.” You clicked your pen, signaling that you were finished with your drawing, and then you turned to look at Lockwood. “How'd I do?” You asked softly. “With the cases, or the drawing?” You shrugged, a look in your eyes that told him “both.” He smiled. “Excellent.” He whispered, making you smile.

Eventually, the two of you migrated from the kitchen to the library. Lockwood sat in his favorite armchair, surveying a stack of recent magazines as he decided which one to read first. You left the room quickly, and Lockwood frowned at your departure as he settled into the chair with a week old gossip rag.

But as quickly as you left, you had returned, a book in your hand as you sat down in the chair next to Lockwood. You two sat there for a while, Lockwood taking breaks to explain to you different London Society news while you happily listened and Lockwood smiling to himself every time you reached a point in your book that made you laugh or make some sort of exclamation of disbelief.

He was content, he realized, to just sit there and exist by your side. While he normally felt the need to make his presence known, to charm and impress anyone he might’ve just met, he found that he was very happy to just sit and read with you.

An hour or so later, Lockwood decided that he wanted to go down to the basement and get some training in before the case that night. He was about to ask you if you'd care to join before he noticed that you had fallen asleep, arms curled around your legs and head laying peacefully against the cushioning of the chair. He smiled as he closed his magazine, getting up slowly and draping a blanket over you without a sound.

As Lockwood walked out of the library, he realized that George had been right. Not about you not fitting in- no, you had definitely proven George wrong. Instead, he was forced to admit that George might've been right about Lockwood being gone for you.

hehehe thanks for reading!!! I just put in my 2 weeks at my soul sucking part time job so I'll hopefully have more motivation to work on these hehe!!! I'll also be making a masterlist very soon- I've been meaning to do that for a while

also if yall want a part 2, pls lmk! I loved writing this and I think I could do a lot more w it hehehehe. anywhom if you've read this far, thank you for reading!!! love u!

mwah, linnie

[thechekhov]

you mentioned in recent tags about a horror comic you drew- i understand not wanting to link publicly to it to avoid creating MORE misinterpretations, but i really like your storytelling and now i’m curious?? so if you could, that’d be great! no pressure either way!

(i’m sending this off anon so you have the choice to respond to it privately anyways) (love your art thanks) (and the dungeon meshi reacts)

Thanks for the kind message! And it's not a secret or anything, it's straight up this post:

I used language comparing humans and other animals as two separate things (for the sake of drawing the narrative conclusions I needed to, in order to make the concept understood in only a few pages), like this:

But because of this simplified language, people drew their OWN wild conclusions about me as a person.

For example, this guy on twitter:

I never actually said humans WEREN'T animals, never said humans were somehow 'above' biology...I was simply putting them into a separate category capable of a specific set of skills for the sake of the comparison I made in the last couple of pages as the punchline.

But they decided that it must "clearly" mean I believe X, Y and Z.

This has happened MORE than enough times!

Writing is difficult, and writing for varied audiences with different dialects, different levels of reading ability, and different attention spans is hard! Sometimes, people don't want to sit through 2 pages of 'well humans are animals but due to a specific evolutionary niche we fill our ability to use language and calculate mathematical equations to the degree that we do is really unique--'

Now, mind you... I STILL got grief for trying to be soft-boiled in my delivery. People (who don't have a linguistics degree) IMMEDIATELY also messaged me to tell me that chimps CAN learn language - and haven't I seen that one video with the gorilla, the dolphin, etc?

And that's it's own can of worms. (No, other animals cannot learn language the way humans can. Yes, they can communicate in complex ways. No, language is a very specific human thing as far as leading scientists are concerned, at least based on current data. Yes, I went to University for this. I have a degree. Please just trust me.)

It happens, I'm not actively mad about it... Humans tend to take whatever we read and run with it.

But we make this mistake often! I know I also make this mistake. We come conclusions based on scarce evidence! We jump to the worst case scenario! We presume that we know better than that person what they believe, based on minimal interaction with them.

It's yet another thing that's unique to humans thanks to... wait for it... language!

It's the price we pay for having memes.

[space-station-collective]

hey hey hi all

i haven't seen anyone actually mention this user, i think they're semi-new, but i wanna put a warning out:

there's a blog on here, @ / collectivelycorndogs , who appears to be a satire blog exclusively to make fun of both endogenic systems AND systems as a whole

please please be careful, i know for us sometimes seeing things dedicated like this can be very upsetting, and i want people to be aware and block them in case their account shows up

PLEASE do not go and interact with them because it's probably exactly what they want, just block and move on. they showed up on our dash because they're posting in endo safe / endogenic tags and general plurality tags

do what you guys have to do to protect your peace. i just want to help that in any way i can

-the host (he/they)

EDIT: looks like they're either deactivated or taken down! or they've blocked everyone, that too, but less likely. so, that user seems to no longer be a concern! -host

[melanieathene]

Mr. Wonderful

This is a love story.

I'd like to say it was a classic case of love at first sight, but I don't know if that's true.

All I know for certain is that it's a love that was meant to be.

We don't get many quality folk in this dump that calls itself a diner. Truckers who haven't seen a washcloth in days – weeks maybe. Bums who stumble in to get out of the cold, taking up table space long after they've drained the last drop of coffee in their cup. Old folks on a tight budget looking for a cheap meal. Cheaters looking to score, streetwalkers looking to oblige them. Impatient, forlorn, pitiful people. Losers, every one.

He stood out like a sunbeam slicing through a cloudy sky. Clean, well-dressed, and handsome – god, he took my breath away with his movie star good looks. He was way prettier than the models you see in those fancy magazines – the ones I leaf through in the grocery line, but can never afford to buy.

“I'm gonna to marry that man,” I murmured.

Rhonda snapped her gum as she turned her head to follow my gaze. “Him?” She snorted. “Honey, he's out of your league. Married. Or gay. My money is on gay. Look at the long-haired fella he's with. There's something going on between them.”

“I don't care. I want that table. I'll trade you for the party of six.” I hitched my thumb towards table three.

The cackling old biddies sitting there were fussy, but they were surprisingly good tippers. Regulars who liked to meet up after church, or their book club, or whatever. Normally, Rhonda and I butted heads over who got to serve 'em.

“Your loss.” Rhonda shrugged and sauntered away. I saw the good-looking guy shoot a glance at her ample bosom as she walked by.

Gay, my ass.

I popped a couple of buttons on my blouse, the better to display my cleavage. If he liked boobs, mine were an even bigger eyeful than Rhonda's. The rest of the package wasn't bad either.

The green eyes that turned my way as I approached the back-corner booth set me in mind of an emerald I once saw in a store window. Dazzling. No other word for it.

“What can I offer you, gentlemen?” I asked in as sultry a voice as I could muster.

“Well, I don't know,” Mr. Wonderful drawled – and damned if he didn't sound just as good as he looked. “What do you have to offer?” The suggestive smile that accompanied the question set my pulse racing and my cheeks ablaze.

“Dean!” the tall one barked.

Oh-oh. I quickly suppressed a sigh. Jealous boyfriend alert. Abort! Abort!

But it would appear luck was on my side, because the next words out of his mouth were:

“You'll have to excuse my brother. He... He's...” Mr. Tall flung up his hands, as if giving up on trying to explain the unexplainable.

His (hallelujah!) brother grinned unrepentantly.

“I'll have a salad – the house dressing is fine,” Mr. Tall continued, obviously deeming it better for all concerned if he changed the subject. “He'll have the double cheeseburger with fries. And, uh... two coffees, please. Make mine decaf.”

“And pie,” Dean added. His eyes caressed my name tag, before straying over to the curve of my breast. “Apple if you've got it, Sherri with an 'i'. With whipped cream –”

“And a cherry on top?”

“Ahh, a woman after my own heart. Thank you, darlin'.”

I could feel the weight of his stare as I walked away. Who could blame me if I put a little extra wiggle in my walk?

“Not gay,” I whispered as Rhonda and I crossed paths. “With his brother. And he's a first class flirt.”

“Hrmph,” she muttered. “That don't mean nothing. I might bump him from gay to bi, but that's the best I can do for you. My gaydar's never wrong.”

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Rhonda? She's my best friend and I love her to bits, but she can be an insufferable pain in the ass when she thinks she's right. Which is all the time.

I wasn't going to let her be right this time. Mr. Wonderful – Dean! – was the kind of man I'd been dreaming of for far too many years. I was through with settling for Cracker Jack toys! I wanted a real prize. And there he was... not ten feet away.

A glance over my shoulder at the booth showed Dean frowning as Mr. Tall shoved his laptop towards him. They both seemed pretty engrossed by whatever was on that screen. Real serious, like. So it would appear that I had a little competition after all. Digital competition. Pfftt! I wasn't worried about that. With my looks and bubbly personality, most men easily sway the way I want them to go. I fluffed my hair and unfastened yet another button. Hey, when you're going for the gold, you gotta give it all you've got.

I picked up the tray containing their order and called up my best smile. The megawatt one that best shows off my dimples and pearly whites.

That smile dimmed considerably as I turned to face them.

There was a third person in the booth. Another man. Another looker, with dark, wind-swept hair and heavy five o'clock shadow on his chiseled jaw. Dean had scooched over to make room for Mr. Trench Coat, but they were sitting close. Really close. In fact, they were pressed together from shoulder to hip to knee.

Dean caught my eye as I approached and hissed, “Personal space!”

“My apologies,” Mr. Trench Coat replied in a low rumble that rivalled Dean's for the honour of sexiest voice ever. Though why he was apologizing wasn't clear to me. Dean was the one who hadn't moved over far enough in the first place. The bigger question was where he had come from, though. I hadn't heard the bell ring to announce his arrival. It was a mystery that didn't sit well with me.

“Would you like to place an order, sir?” I said, polite and frosty in the same breath, as I set plates in front of the two brothers.

“No.”

No, thank you. Lovely manners you have, there.

Blue eyes lifted to meet my gaze, staring at me – through me – as if they could see into my very soul.

“No, thank you,” he intoned.

And just like that, I was dismissed. I mattered less to him than the cockroaches in the kitchen.

His eyes turned back to Dean. Dean's gaze fell to his plate. Mr. Tall choked back what could have been a chuckle – or maybe he just swallowed funny.

I beat a hasty retreat. But I wasn't done with table nine yet. Dean was clearly a dessert man. And I had pie as my secret weapon. Homemade pie, too. None of that pasty store-bought stuff most dives like ours serve. I baked it myself twice a week to squeeze a few extra bucks from our skinflint boss, and I wasn't beyond letting that little fact slip when I brought a slice over to Dean. So, take that, Blue Eyes.

Confidence restored, I felt almost generous towards the poor guy. I even brought him a glass of ice water – which he didn't touch. Nor did he thank me for it.

It was a fairly busy night, but I kept glancing over to that corner as I hurried about my tasks. Dean had once again inched closer to Blue Eyes – or maybe Blue Eyes was crowding him? Either way, their knees and elbows were knocking. Mr. Tall noticed this too. Judging from the knowing little smirk he wore, it wasn't the first time he'd seen it happen. But even his eyebrows rose when Blue Eyes casually swiped a fry from Dean's plate, and Dean didn't so much as blink. He'd slapped Mr. Tall's hand when he'd tried that trick not five minutes before, hard, growling something along the lines of, “if you insist on eating rabbit food, don't expect me to share the good stuff.”

Blue Eyes dove in for another fry. And then a third. And then he snagged Dean's coffee and took a tentative sip.

Apparently, that wasn't much to his liking. I had to turn away from the sourpuss face he pulled, just so I didn't laugh out loud. When I turned back, Dean was doctoring his coffee – pouring in creamer and adding tons of sugar – all without taking his eyes off the computer screen or his mind off his ongoing conversation with Mr. Tall. He removed the stir stick from the mug and licked it. Blue Eyes took advantage of his distracted state to grab the coffee and cautiously sample the results. He smiled and took a second, deeper drink. And a fourth fry.

It was with considerably less enthusiasm than I had originally planned that I delivered the pie and declared it was made by yours truly.

Oh, I hovered in the vicinity, ready and eager to reap the rewards of my labour, but I had a sinking feeling that Rhonda – once again – was going to be proven right.

Sure enough, I wasn't the one Dean sought out after the first bite. The look of bliss that crossed his face was all I'd wished for – and more – but it was Blue Eyes he turned to. Blue Eyes on the receiving end of an ecstatic smile. Blue Eyes who obligingly opened his mouth when so prompted, and thus received the second forkful of my pie.

What Blue Eyes thought of it, I'll never know. For at that very moment, the bell that had been faithfully announcing arrivals and departures (except for Blue Eyes', of course) blasted from its place above the door, followed by the door itself. Shattered glass flew in all directions, and the metal frame embedded itself in table five. I heard Rhonda scream, saw her limping for the kitchen with blood seeping from a gash on her left leg. Customers who jumped up, preparing to follow her example and flee, were trampled as a horde of people poured into the diner – fifteen – twenty – maybe more. They looked like a biker gang, all dressed in black leather with dangling chains, all tattoos and piercings and unkempt beards. We've had a lot of bikers pass through. Most of 'em never cause a spot of trouble, though a couple of times we've had rival gangs rumbling in our parking lot. But I'd never, ever before seen black eyes like this lot had. Black. So very black. Like the gates of hell must be...

I'm a little hazy on what happened next. There was a lot of hollering and pushing and crashing. Things flew through the air – tables, chairs, even people.

I slipped in a puddle of what I sincerely hoped was ketchup, and felt myself falling... but, somehow, Dean was there to catch me. He scooped me up in his arms like the hero in one of those stupid romance novels Rhonda likes to read. He carried me through the mêlée, shoved me into the restroom, and told me to lock the door and keep it locked.

He didn't have to tell me twice. I didn't have to see any more to know that whatever was happening out there, it was bad. Really bad.

I just prayed the bathroom door was strong enough to keep it from happening to me.

If there had been a window, I would have climbed out of it and run away.

But there wasn't a window. And I would never have known the end of the story if I had skipped out at the middle.

Two clear voices rang out, rising above the continuous chorus of furious shouts and frantic cries. A sudden wash of light crept under the door, almost blinding me with its intensity. The silence that followed was almost worse than the horrible noise that preceded it.

I'm not ashamed to admit I screamed like a little girl when a quiet knock sounded on the door. I was bawling like one too, I was that scared: snot and mascara smearing my face, breath hitching and heart hammering fit to burst.

“Sherri? Sherri, it's Sam. It's over. It's okay to come out.”

“I don't know you, Sam.” I sniffled and drew closer to the door, but I wasn't about to open it. “Why should I trust you?”

“I'm Dean's brother.”

“Where's Dean?”

“He was injured in the attack. Cas is... uh... patching him up. Don't worry, Dean's in good hands.”

“Is Cas a doctor?”

“No... not exactly. He's... It's hard to explain. Sherri, will you open the door? We have to get you out of here.”

“Dean told me to stay put.”

“Oh, for Christ's sake,” I heard Sam mutter. And then, louder, “Cas! Can you help Dean over here? I need him to convince Sherri that it's safe.”

Slow, shuffling footsteps made their way across the floor. It felt like an eternity before the voice I wanted to hear finally spoke my name.

“Sherri,” he said wearily. “It's Dean. Open the door.”

Blue Eyes was standing there scowling at me when I cracked the door open. His arm was snugly draped around Dean's waist, clearly supporting most of his weight. Dean's arm was slung around Blue Eyes' shoulders, further steading himself. I suppose I should have felt guilty for making Dean come to me in his condition, but I didn't. I flung myself against his chest and hugged him tight. But not too tight, and not for as long as I really wanted to hold him. His quick gasp let me know how much his ribs were hurting him.

“Thank you,” I said, reluctantly stepping back. “Thank you for saving my life.”

“It's what we do. Besides, how could I deprive the world of a five star pie maker like you?” The cocky grin was back and (damn!) it looked good on his face. Even bruised and bleeding, he was one fine looking man.

Blue Eyes' fingers twitched, knotting into the fabric of Dean's shirt. His little finger brushed against bare flesh where the shirt had rucked up. Dean shivered and turned a questioning gaze his way. “Sam will take you home,” he said absentmindedly, as if he'd already forgotten I was still standing there. It was obvious he was trying real hard to fit a puzzle together, as if he'd just found a missing piece and the picture was finally making sense.

Sam ushered me away, his giant hand hovering near my face, ready to shield me from the worst of the carnage, or so I believed at that moment. We were almost to the door when a thought struck me.

“Rhonda!” I exclaimed, suddenly stopping dead in my tracks. “She went into the kitchen. She was hurt.”

“Wait here.” Sam righted a toppled chair and gently but firmly insisted I sit down. I bit my lip as I looked around. Carnage? Where was the carnage? There should have been bodies. Lots of bodies. But there were none, just a strange, dark ash that coated every surface. As if the people had been burned away.

I remembered the blazing light.

Just before it flared, I remembered a voice calling, “Dean! Dean!” Desperation filled the cry. The anguish of a man about to lose all that he held dear. The voice of a blue-eyed man who liked his coffee overly sweet.

And I remembered Dean's voice crying out in reply. One single word: “Cas!” As if the name carried with it a thousand conversations they'd never had – should have had – might now have.

The kitchen door swung on its rusty hinges, and Sam came towards me carrying Rhonda as if she weighed no more than a kitten. She was unconscious, but alive. I felt my heart blossom in relief as I rose from the chair and rested a hand on her arm. Sam led us out the door. Out to the blessed smell of fresh air, where a hint of rain lingered like a promise on the breeze.

I don't know why I turned around for one final look at Mr. Wonderful.

He didn't look back at me.

He and Blue Eyes were too busy staring into each other's eyes.

Slowly, Dean leaned forward. Just as slowly, Blue Eyes tilted his head and leaned in to meet him halfway.

All love stories should end with such a tender, yearning kiss.

And, like I said at the beginning, this is a love story.

It just isn't mine.

Originally posted 2015-03-03. Just thought it might be fun to post some old stories here. :)

[pommunist]

Hello, I'm another anon that is also kind of scared to keep posting about the situation. Actually, I've reblogged a couple of posts actually of the situation but, not too much of it. I don't want to come across as too negative and I try to be careful of what I reblog about it. Though, I also fear that people might think that I'm perfectly fine or okay with Dapper/Pomme and the french cc's being gone because I don't express my outward opinion on it (which it does make me depressed). I try to liveblog as normal when I watch my streamer in the QSMP and not think about it because I know that it will just send me in a downward spiral, but it upsets me to think that some people might believe that I or other blogs that are quiet about their opinions - would not be depressed over it or upset. The whole situation surrounding Dapper and Pomme has made me cry, I was so emotionally attached to these eggs. I'm glad they're out of that shitty treatment though, even if I miss them a lot. It also makes me depressed that the french cc's on the server are going to be gone and that the QSMP Studios didn't even care to keep them on by communicating to Pomme and leaving her in the dark for three weeks. Quackity should have been more involved into his own project, and communicating with ALL of his employees, he's the boss, he should have checked so that this terrible worker situation wouldn't have happened to begin with - maybe that's unrealistic of me and just my emotions talking but it's how I feel. Dapper shouldn't have been hired, I don't know if that's a hot take or not but I haven't seen many people talk about it? They were hired as a minor, where people make constant sex jokes and have a sex club - it just makes me uncomfortable that they were exposed to that and to working conditions that they should have never been in. It also makes me uncomfortable to see that there's still admins working in the QSMP like cucurucho or mr.reaper because their situation still isn't fixed? I haven't seen anyone else talk about this either and it just sits so weirdly to me. If the admins are being put on a break so that they can restructure QSMP, why is there still a few there working? It's just a lot of my thoughts, sorry for the vent but I felt that I needed to get my emotions out there without being known for it (blog wise)

At the end of the day anon, your blog is your blog, you should express yourself on it the way YOU want.

Don’t worry about what people may think, do what feels right for you and if there are some who may find it annoying or whatever, then they’ll just block tags and not see what they don’t want to see anymore.

I worried a lot about bothering people at first and then started thinking that if it’s the case, they can just block me, no hard feelings, and I can keep sharing what I want on my blog, and they don’t have to see it. win win situation !

As for the rest, about Dapper’s admin being hired as a minor tbh it’s true that they shouldn’t have been hired. I know they were close to turn into an official adult when they were hired, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to play Dapper, but Qstudios should have been very strict on this stuff.

As for some admins still being on the server, it was to expect when they reopened it, if only because if there are players on QSMP, you at least need someone who will help with bugs, server maintenance, making sure someone doesn’t break something important…

I think once during a recent BBH stream, you could see the « government names » of the admins (QNPCXX). When asked about them, Lea said that these were high ranked admins (and one of them was a « bad » one). So yeah chances are that admins that currently have access to the server are high admins/people who weren’t volunteers.

[noforkingclue]

New Friends?

Summary: you always felt that the hotel you worked at was slightly creepy but you passed it off due to it being an old building. However, a chance encounter one night changes everthing.

Author's note: I was inspired by this after seeing the last ever Ghosts episode, so spoilers for that if you haven't seen it. I honestly can't believe the series is over and I'm definitely going to need to re-watch it at some point!

Hope you like it :)

BBC Ghosts tag list: @violetlucreziastuff,  @mxacegrey

Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary, @byebyebreezywrites, @spngingerbread21, @layazul, @lov3vivian, @simonsbluee

Why did all the creepy things happen at night?

Why didn’t horror films happen during the daytime when it was bright and there were lots of people about? Why was it had to be you who was working the night shift?

Why did you have to have all these fucking questions?

A couple had decided to leave in the middle of the night and of course you had to draw the short straw to make it presentable. Ok, so you wouldn’t be doing a full clean but your manager wanted it to at least look presentable in case there were any late night guests. You let out a huff as you let the door swing open as you inspected the room. Your old line manager wouldn’t be making anyone do this. This new one was a bit of a stickler to the rules and almost seemed to have it out for you.

You fluffed up the pillows and pulled back the duvet. There were no suspicious stains on the sheets so they’d do in a pinch. You made a note to change them in the morning as you made your way to the bathroom. Best to check that as well in case your guest were vicious serial killers who killed their latest victim in your room.

At first you didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. You let out a sigh of relief as you turned around and froze. Ok, maybe you theory about them being serial killers was more accurate than you initially thought. You slowly crept forward and narrowed your eyes. There wasn’t a lot of blood for a decapitated head. In films there was always gushing blood but this-

“Hello.”

“Ahh!”

You cried out and jumped backwards, scuttling away. Your eyes widened in shock and you raised a shaking hand.

“What the… you spoke…”

“Well, yeah! Wait,” the head frowned, “you can see me?”

“I’m imagining this,” you stood up and ran a hand over your face, “I’m imagining this. I’m… sleep deprived, that’s it!”

You staggered back ignoring the cried from the head. This was all in your mind. You hadn’t been sleeping too well lately and that was why you’re seeing random talking heads.

Right?

*

“I know you can hear us.”

“Come on, just one word.”

“It is incredibly rude to ignore people when they are talking to you. Did your parents not teach you any manners?”

You put your hands over your ears as you continued to walk quickly down the corridor. For the past week you had been followed around by what you assumed (but didn’t want to believe) to be ghosts. You were just about keeping it together but you could see your colleagues becoming concerned. Your new line manager was becoming harsher, not just with you, but with everyone and that added pressure wasn’t helping.

“My dear if you would just-“

You slammed the door of the room you were meant to be cleaning in one of the ghosts (you think one of them called him Thomas?) face. You knew you were going to get in trouble for that later but you could always pass it off as the wind slamming it or it slipping out of your grip.

“I think she wants to be left alone,” said one of them (possibly Pat?), “you remember how Alison was when she first saw us. Give her time.”

You let out a sigh of relief and picked up your cleaning supplies. You headed into the bathroom and paused when you saw a familiar head in the bath. You sagged and sat down on the floor, back resting against the tub.

“So I’m not going insane?” you asked

“That rather depends on what you class as insane.”

You closed your eyes and leant back. Maybe you should just give in?

“I’m Humphrey by the way.”

“Y/n.”

“Nice to meet you, well, meet you again and as much as I can while I’m in here.”

You leant over the bath and smiled at him.

“Better?” you asked

“Yeah.” Humphrey frowned, “You alright?”

“Why do you say that?”

“You look a bit stressed.”

“Just my manager being a dick. Giving me too much work that I can’t always complete on time. Throwing her weight around and acting like a jerk. God, sometimes I really just want to-“

You let out a frustrated noise and sat back down.

“Sounds like you want a bit of revenge.”

“Revenge? I just want some breathing space.”

“Well if there’s one person who would be good at that.”

“Who?”

“Julian.”

“Julian?”

You jumped when a ghost stuck his head through the wall. You had been getting used to that happening but you could never get used to that happening. You didn’t need to see Humphrey to know that he was rolling his eyes.

“I heard my name,” Julian said, giving you what he thought was a charming smile, “in what way do you need my expertise?”

As you glanced up at the disgraced politician all you could think of was,

‘Well, what’s the worst that could happen?’

[lanasblood]

guys please don't do this! 😩

I understand that mistakes happen, and sometimes people misuse hashtags unintentionally, but I'M BEGGING do NOT put every single avatar hashtag under every single post of yours when it's not even relating in the slightest bit.

the neteyam x reader hashtag used to be my safe place. every night, I would scroll through it (especially the latest posts) discovering incredible stories and falling in love with them. but now, it's an absolute mess. like what the actual fuck does neteyam x reader have to do with a tsu'tey fic? and why on earth would you use those hashtags for your daily rants? it's like people have forgotten what hashtags are meant for or worse, they do it on purpose so that more people see their posts which I find extremetly egotistical and off-putting. there's this thing, don't use hashtags with the sole purpose of gaining more views and likes for your posts (or whatever you share with the world). let me tell you something: instead of making you more likable, it's the complete opposite for me. if I see your atokirina x pa'li fic tagged as neteyam fluff, I will fucking block you, no matter how great of a writer you are, i'm not playing around here.

don't get me wrong, use all the appropriate avatar hashtags under your fic, but for the love of eywa, make it fit!!! like go ahead and use avatar the way of water every damn time (I do that too) but don't you dare tag jake or neytiri under some random-ass lo'ak smut if not even their names make a freaking cameo, it's just wrong, and it ruins the whole experience for the rest of us.

I'm not here to spread negativity or point fingers, i'm just ranting and maybe spread some sense of awareness in this way. i'm not encouraging you to publicly shame people for their hashtag use either; rather if you notice someone repeatedly misusing hashtags, you could reach out to them politely, ask them about their reasons behind it, and perhaps they're unaware of the impact it has; a gentle reminder might do wonders. 

let's all make tumblr a place where we can easily find the amazing fics we crave, without having to scroll endlessly (also in case it hasn't been clear, i don't mean any of my mooties, i'm solely talking about the discover page with blogs I haven't seen before)

much love to you if you read this far 💕

[radnewspaperroom]

Solomon observation for lesson 11

I'm gonna do a read more in case some of you haven't yet, but make sure you block the different spoiler tags in your settings to avoid spoilers in the future, ok?

I find Solomon's whole interaction with Belphie to be mind boggling. Solomon has always been the kind to playfully act ignorant of jabs at him and blame for situations that he outright causes and brings about.

During S4, he helps Belphie and Satan with a prank that actually causes Lucifer to be bound to Solomon and Mephistopheles. But plays innocent at first.

Here we see him unashamed, correcting the blame and being willing to be public enemy number 1. A good mirror to Mammon's odd blame taking during the Cerberus excursion. Mammon is known for abandoning MC to his brothers wrath of him, and using them as a shield for balme (the custard) but he steps up and tells the truth about who got everyone to go to the castle

And, did anyone else get a little freaked out and think "we're about to see Solomon do something with his full chest? Like actually put forth a great deal of effort into fucking the boys up....if need be?"

We've never seen Solomon truly angry before. Peeved off maybe, but full on wrath/anger/rage? Not yet. Still haven't I don't believe. But he's made it Crystal clear he is feeling things that aren't just neutrality and mischievousness.

But I worry he's doing his regression arc. He's treating demons like ticking time bombs, which is fair on one hand. But he's removed himself in a way that kinda makes me think he's a hypocrite. Like he's better than them because he's not a demon.

He automatically assumes the worst about the lot, instead of just taking it out on Belphie for attacking MC. He claims they're ganging up on MC and takes offense to it.

He still sees them as "other" than himself, and always keeps how to deal with them specifically in mind. Always keeping them at arms length. Never fully allowing anyone to get close and Allow himself to be vulnerable.

And not just with the brothers, but with MC too.

How much do we (MCs) know about Solomon?

1. He can't grow old or die from sickness, but he is killable.

2. He's ancient. Far older than he claims he can remember.

3. He's had a pact with Barbatos for centuries.

4. He's a scientist/alchemist at heart. The sentence: "for science!" Was basically made for fuckers like him.

5. He claims ignorance to sarcasm, taking people's insults as compliments.

6. He can't cook and He accidentally even makes potions when cooking. (Swear I think it's cause he's immortal. He's 'for science'd his way into the kitchen and developed a fucked up sense of taste)

7. He's known 13 just a bit longer than Barbatos, or so it seems currently.

8. He's got a one track mind. Once he's got an experiment going, good luck getting his attention till he's done.

9. He's traveled through time before.

10. He likes to keep secrets. Even from MC about seemingly the most trivial things.

11. He sees demons as puppets and tools to be used, not really friends to be close with. He started to change that in the OG, but again, I'm worried this is regression era, where he's gonna slide back into old habbits.

I also worry it's a bit of jealousy making him act out. This is the most time since MC was stuck in the human world with no teleportation magic that he's gotten to spend with them.

He's gotten to live with them at Cocytus Hall, eat dinner every night with them. Go shopping. He's getting that newly wed experience the brothers have got since day 1.

Once the brothers accept MC as human, that'll come to a crash and burn. Simeon and Luke will go back to the celestial realm and MC's room will be open for them to go to (return to) and his honeymoon phase will be over as the newly infatuated brothers aren't gonna be keen on sharing their new love with him. It'll be just like present day

I said it in a different post, but Solomon has got issues, when it comes to having faith in someone other than himself.

He doesn't trust Asmo or Barbatos 100% cause they're demons, and he doesn't trust MC blindly yet, despite or perhaps because both of them are human.

He's constantly thinking about the next move, or 20 potential ones in any situation and calculating how to Speedrun the best outcome. And to be a scientist about it, he can't let feelings sway his ultimate decision.

He's got a staggering inability to just say "I trust you", take a backsest or to trust MC's judgement. He wouldn't be able to answer MC if they asked him to trust them over the grimmore thing.

If you choose the "I'll follow your lead" option before meeting Lucifer, he says this...

Solomon doesn't have faith in anyone but himself, and seeing MC's faith in him is enough to make him be vocal about it. Like he's honestly surprised his apprentice and romantic partner trusts him fully.

If there's something MC has buckets of: it's moxie and faith, and god damn if that ain't one hell of a combination.

[nichesexymanbloodbath]

Do you like Tumblr Sexymen? BOY DO I HAVE A COMPETITION FOR YOU!

Welcome to the 2023 niche tumblr non-sexyman competition! What is this, you may be asking? Well, let me tell you!

Do you have a character who you love so much? Is he an absolutely horrendous man who meets several of the qualifications of a tumblr sexyman, but for whatever reason, he isn't one yet? Maybe he's too niche, or the mods of the wiki just haven't realized his potential yet. Well, this bracket is for that exact purpose!

I'm Hermann (pronouns are they/them), and I'll be your moderator (yes, I am also the moderator of the @clash-of-the-wizards . I'm running 2 polls at once, because I have absolutely no life). In this bracket, we'll be pitting 32 niche, or otherwise non-canonical, sexymen against each other, and seeing who comes out victorious! Maybe, whoever wins will be the next person I submit to the moderators of the sexypedia, and maybe they'll become canon! Here's hoping!

GUIDELINES

If it's a rule on the sexypedia, it applies here. These rules include: Real people will not be considered, minors will not be considered, original characters will (sadly) not be considered, and no personifications of real-world locations and/or tragedies will be considered. Please read up on the sexypedia rules before submitting your sexyman nomination

Please make sure your characters do fit the sexyman archetypes! I will be looking over each and every entry individually, and I have full rights to disqualify anyone. The more archetypes a character fits, the more likely I am to consider them for the bracket.

You can submit any character from any fandom, just so long as they exist within the rules and boundaries of the competition

Please don't come back and repeatedly nominate the same sexyman-to-be. You can come back and nominate several sexymen, but I do want some diversity. I'm asking for NICHE sexymen for a reason!

SEXYMEN ALREADY IN THE WIKI WILL NOT BE PUT IN THE RUNNING!!!! I might start one for sexymen already in the wiki but who receive minimal recognition, but this one is for the sexymen who aren't there but deserve to be there!

Lastly, have fun! This is for funnies! It's just to see what sexymen tumblr wants to see added to the register!

Unlike my other bracket, and unlike most other brackets I've seen, for the sake of both diversity and staying true to the sexyman feeling, I will be hand-picking our contestants. You're more likely to have your sexyman added if you include the archetypes that fit them in your submission, because it spares me research time, and I appreciate that :) it is, however, not required. Just know, the initial part of this isn't decided by votes, unless I have a tie that I need broken. In such case, you guys will be the final judges.

Got any questions about the polls or about me? My ask box is open, and I'll try and answer everything! Something about the comp inspires you to make art? I think you so should! I just ask you either drop it in my inbox or you tag me in the post!

DEADLINES

NOMINATIONS WILL CLOSE AT 11:59 PM EST on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5.

I HAVE ENTERED:

Newton Geiszler - Pacific Rim Londo Mollari - Babylon 5

YOU WILL ENTER:

Whoever the hell you want! Go crazy!

Now....

GO SEXY THOSE MEN! ... or something!

[accessibleaesthetics]

wrt copying an image description someone else wrote in a reblog, is that... okay? should I credit the person? the only reason I haven't been doing that is I'm not sure what the "code of conduct" for that is, like, whether it would be considered rude to copy & paste someone else's description. sorry if this seems silly im just very autistic and need to understand what's considered best practice w this

Thank you for asking this, because I promise you are not the only one confused about it. It's not a silly question at all.

On Tumblr, copy/pasting another person's words into a separate post without credit, even the original post of the thread, is generally considered rude in almost all cases, especially if you don't give credit. Image descriptions are the exception.

This is because unlike other types of content, it's not really about authorship so much as it is about getting the information itself to as many people as possible. And since the original post is the one that shows up in the tags and search results, putting that description in the original post usually creates a waterfall effect (more people see the accessible version in the tags/search, more people reblog that version, more people see the reblogs of that version and continue to reblog that version, etc.).

While I can't definitively speak for every image describer on this website, I can say that I have never met one who would be offended by you taking their ID and putting it in the original post. I can confidently say the vast majority of image describers would actually be thrilled about this, and would not be concerned about credit at all.

Now, if you would like to give credit, you still can! Some people do— I've seen some end an ID they add to their post with (written by [username]), maybe even @ mentioning them. This is by no means a faux pas, but it's extra.

So next time you have someone add a description to your work, feel free to credit them or messgage them with a thank you or reblog it—all of that is okay. But the most important thing is to add it to the original post. That's what most image describers really want.

You can also take IDs from other reblogs and put it in your reblog if you are not the OP, but still don't want to reblog from the person who described the image. It's perfectly fine!

[avidbeader]

So, I've been doing the Great Sheith Reblog for a while now, gradually reblogging almost everything I shared before that was tagged as Sheith. Lots of art, gifsets, fics and recs, old merch posts, and meta to go around with the occasional dash of salt because lord, dumbness about shipping brings out the salt sometimes. But most of the time it's a lovely nostalgia hit and a reminder of why I still love this ship with all my fandom heart. It's bittersweet sometimes, seeing the usernames that left with Tumblr's worst decision ever, the fellow fans who have moved on to other things, and yes, the hopes and dreams we had before Season 8.

Long blathering under the cut: musings about the persistence of anti-shippers and what queerbaiting actually means.

But occasionally what both amuses and frustrates me is how things line up because it's 2024 and we still have klantis/antis over on the former Twitter spreading the same lies about Shiro and Keith - about their ages, about how they met, about what their relationship is. Right now over there, arguing is happening again because someone put up a clout-chasing poll about which mlm ship was the most influential and included KL but not Sheith (KL beat Johnlock and then lost to Hualian, so I'm happy twice over). Side note - I think if we take "influence" as a completely neutral term, then yeah, KL has been a huge negative influence on fandoms as it was one of the places that allowed puriteen attitudes and anti behavior to grow unchecked for so long. That helped turn some ship fandoms into cults, in which you had to believe with utter certainty that your ship would be canon or you weren't a "true" fan of the ship. That put more emphasis on opposing a rival ship through wank and harassment instead of focusing on the joy and fun of creating for the ship you supposedly love.

And that poll prodded someone to create a Google Form for soliciting answers as to what the biggest examples of queerbaiting are in media. And of course people are saying KL and Adam/Shiro, among other things that are not at all queerbait. These are examples of people guessing wrong and getting mad about it. Queerbait requires that the producers/writers/etc. say outright that a ship is going to happen and then it doesn't, without any influences from the powers above them making changes. Not received fan "wisdom". Not marketing doing things without consulting the producers.

And I just reblogged someone's ask in which they said they felt queerbaited by Sheith solely because of the "brother" line in "The Black Paladins". The answer is excellent and worth a ready if you haven't seen it on my blog already.

Breaking it down:

KL is not queerbait. KL was never planned as a potential ship and LM/JDS said so multiple times. They said it never occurred to them as a possibility and by the time KL's popularity took off they were too far along in the writing to try and go back and make changes, because animators need time to draw. LM flat-out said she was surprised that it became a thing. If the producers are telling you over and over in no uncertain terms that a ship had never been on the table and couldn't be added to the table now, that's not a case of queerbait. And they spoke of Lance's love interests as female every single time. JDS/LM never said anything that would lead fans into thinking KL was a possibility without the deliberate and willful misinterpreting of their words.

Adam/Shiro is not queerbait. Adam is a minor character in a series with a large cast. He has two functions: to be evidence of Shiro's status as a queer man and to be a "face" for all the pilots that died in the first wave of Sendak's invasion. Some people try to claim that LM and JDS queerbaited with their answers at SDCC 2018, but they're wrong. The only thing LM said was that we would see more of Adam in S7. And we did. She did not promise we'd see more of him with Shiro. That was people inserting what they wanted to hear, just like them trying to elevate Adam's status to a fiancé when again, LM clearly stated that they were serious and considering getting engaged. Not engaged. Not married. Just a couple that was serious about each other but broke up.

I don't consider Sheith to be true queerbait. It might fall under the cryptoqueer situation explained at the end of the post linked above, but JDS and LM were mostly very careful to talk of Sheith in terms of deep friendship and devotion to one another, after the initial wave of support for fan content during S1, prior to the klanti movement taking off. The only thing that skirts the line for me is a quote, I think from JDS, saying that if Shiro had a new love interest it would be someone he has known a long time. Or maybe that was about the romances in general being developed over seasons and not Shiro-specific - I would need to research. (Yet more proof that the endcard "wedding" was not planned since we didn't see the unnamed groom until S7 and they never interacted.) And that was said before studio execs started meddling and caused the trainwreck of S8.

I do think we were supposed to have an open ending for Sheith. Klantis like to point out a storyboard artist claiming that "no one wins" this ship war as evidence that KL was supposed to happen and got changed, but that statement applies if Sheith is left open-ended and Allurance happens, even without the endcards.

When I have a chance, I'll try and dig up the links for the various quotes I mention above. Thank you for reading if you made it this far!