#shouting into the void because I have so many good feelings right now

[mcmansionhell]

namesake mcmansion

Howdy folks! Today's McMansion is very special because a) we're returning to Maryland after a long time and b) because the street this McMansion is on is the same as my name. (It was not named after me.) Hence, it is my personal McMansion, which I guess is somewhat like when people used to by the name rights to stars even though it was pretty much a scam. (Shout out btw to my patron Andros who submitted this house to be roasted live on the McMansion Hell Patreon Livestream)

As far as namesake McMansions go, this one is pretty good in the sense that it is high up there on the ol' McMansion scale. Built in 2011, this psuedo-Georgian bad boy boasts 6 bedrooms and 9.5 baths, all totaling around 12,000 square feet. It'll run you 2.5 million which, safe to say, is exponentially larger than its namesake's net worth.

Now, 2011 was an anonymous year for home design, lingering in the dead period between the 2008 black hole and 2013 when the market started to actually, finally, steadily recover. As a result a lot of houses from this time basically look like 2000s McMansions but slightly less outrageous in order to quell recession-era shame.

I'm going to be so serious here and say that the crown molding in this room is a crime against architecture, a crime against what humankind is able to accomplish with mass produced millwork, and also a general affront to common sense. I hate it so much that the more I look at it the more angry I become and that's really not healthy for me so, moving on.

Actually, aside from the fake 2010s distressed polyester rug the rest of this room is literally, basically Windows 98 themed.

I feel like the era of massive, hefty sets of coordinated furniture are over. However, we're the one's actually missing out by not wanting this stuff because we will never see furniture made with real wood instead of various shades of MDF or particleboard ever again.

This is a top 10 on the scale of "least logical kitchen I've ever seen." It's as though the designers engineered this kitchen so that whoever's cooking has to take the most steps humanly possible.

Do you ever see a window configuration so obviously made up by window companies in the 1980s that you almost have to hand it to them? You're literally letting all that warmth from the fire just disappear. But whatever I guess it's fine since we basically just LARP fire now.

Feminism win because women's spaces are prioritized in a shared area or feminism loss because this is basically the bathroom vanity version of women be shopping? (It's the latter.)

I couldn't get to all of this house because there were literally over a hundred photos in the listing but there are so many spaces in here that are basically just half-empty voids, and if not that then actually, literally unfinished. It's giving recession. Anyway, now for the best part:

Not only is this the NBA Backrooms but it's also just a nonsensical basketball court. Tile floors? No lines? Just free balling in the void?

Oh, well I bet the rear exterior is totally normal.

Not to be all sincere about it but much like yours truly who has waited until the literal last second to post this McMansion, this house really is the epitome of hubris all around. Except the house's hubris is specific to this moment in time, a time when gas was like $2/gallon. It's climate hubris. It's a testimony to just how much energy the top 1% of income earners make compared to the rest of us. I have a single window unit. This house has four air conditioning condensers. That's before we get to the monoculture, pesticide-dependent lawn or the three car garage or the asphalt driveway or the roof that'll cost almost as much as the house to replace. We really did think it would all be endless. Oops.

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[churromancermasterofchurros]

I think that the switch from reddit to tumblr is particularly difficult for me so far, and i know it's just been a few days, but i wonder if other people are having these issues as well, so i thought it might be a decent idea to write out my thoughts here.

-first off, i was a lurker almost exclusively on reddit. Much more introverted, and i only spoke about things i knew or if i knew id get karma for it (being a person with RSD, i kind of hated downvotes, regardless if they were just "useless internet points" or not).

-tumblr requires you to be more interactive and speak out more with its etiquette, by reblogging and so forth (ive read in a few places that comments sections werent used much before the refugees invaded tumblr, which i think seems like a cool positive)

-while there arent any downvotes, i still feel anxious to talk/put myself out there. Am i reblogging right? Are my tags funny? Is my blog a big uninteresting mess?

This isnt a problem with the site itself, but with me obviously. But we are talking about my difficulty here, so it still needs to be said.

-the communities arent built in here like they were with reddit, so you sort of have to find it, and the regular posters who have the kind of quality content you want. This is pretty cool, but vastly different from reddit and im having a tough time getting used to it.

-there's definitely a few people i missed from the reddit communities i was in, and i wish i knew if they were here or not. (Talking about you, u/nepalman230)

All this being said, holy hell, its wild. Im putting my thoughts out here right now, and while it does feel....uncomfy, i think its more because im not used to it. It feels more like shouting out to the void. Maybe itll talk back. Who knows?

But i think this site is very neat, and i love love LOVE how much more inclusive tumblr is. Im straight and a cis male, but there were a lot of toxic communities that would just not let people be who they say they are, and im so glad that all my LGBTQ+ friends have a more inclusive place like this, and that so many have migrated over here. I wish i wouldve come here sooner.

Im also very grateful to all you veteran tumblr users putting in the effort to help us out. Youve put so much out here for us, to help us better understand how to navigate these new waters, and honestly? I'd have been really screwed without the help ive received, because tumblr is really kinda chaotic.

Its good to be here, and i'm hoping i can get over all my dysfunctions and really enjoy this space you've shared with us.

[jellieland]

The land around spawn is destroyed. Torn to shreds, full of holes. It's like a warzone.

Martyn leans up against the rocks by the side of the Secret Keeper. It, of course, is pristine. Completely untouched. Unharmed.

Something about that makes him really angry.

He glares up at the massive pillar Joel had jumped off a few weeks ago. Behind it, the sky is bright and clear.

Last week, as Jimmy climbed up it, Martyn had shouted after him. Fly, canary, fly.

Usually he might repeat that to himself, at this point. Laugh wryly, gaze off into the distance dramatically. Maybe make some comment about how letting the canary go free didn't actually keep it safe.

Not this time, though.

He won't laugh about it this time, because everyone else already did.

If he thinks about that, it feels like something is burning in his chest, so he keeps thinking about it.

He's the only red left, after all. He has to really give it everything he's got.

He'll tear them to shreds.

There isn't the same red bloodlust, this time, but he can make his own.

They all banded together. Roped in Jimmy, roped in Mumbo. Slayed the monsters, and congratulated themselves on a job well done, and left Martyn completely alone.

Jimmy had already betrayed him. Tried to punch him into lava. They hadn't really had the chance to resolve that, before he was gone.

It had honestly really stung, which was ridiculous and hypocritical given what he did to Scott last time, but he can't help it, no matter how hard he tries. No matter how much he tells himself that he, of all people, really had no right to feel betrayed.

It's so frustrating when he gets attached. It just makes things so much harder.

"You'd think I would've learned by now," he says, bitter. He looks away from the Secret Keeper, across the torn up ground. "You really would."

Maybe he had just been feeling sentimental, today, for some stupid reason. He'd even thought Tango sounded like—well, it's embarrassing to admit this even to himself, so he won't. Tango, of all people! The guy hates him!

But he'll show them.

He's not sure what, exactly, he'll show them, but he will. He'll make them hurt. He'll make them bleed. No honeyed words, this time.

He'd looted Lizzie's house, earlier, before he'd known quite how this was all going to end up.

He still would have if he'd known, of course—it's not like she was using it. Maybe he would have taken more, actually.

It's better not to think about how she died falling through the void, because when he does he starts to remember what that felt like, and he starts to feel cold, and that's the opposite of what he needs, now.

Mumbo had gone off the rails a bit. He does always seem to do that, when he hits red.

Martyn had still given him the TNT he needed, though, of course.

Mumbo had barely got to do anything. He'd had so little time.

It makes him so, so angry.

"I'm going to kill them," he growls, still staring out and away from the Secret Keeper. "I'm going to kill them. They were so proud of themselves."

He clenches his hands into fists.

He should, probably, be marching back home, planning and gather resources and seething in the shadows.

Looking out over this battlefield is good, though.

It's making him feel how he wants to be feeling.

It would be just wonderful if he could find a way to justify saying here forever, but unfortunately that's beyond even his skill at bending the truth into knots.

He is, unfortunately, going to have to go back to the house, eventually.

The house that Jimmy built, with Jimmy's stuff all along one wall, and the chests they'd been using to measure how many tasks they'd each completed.

He glares straight ahead as the thought crosses his mind.

It's always easier being angry. It's always so, so much easier, being angry.

So he'll keep being angry until he is dead. He'll do what he always does, and scream in the face of sorrow.

Hopefully he'll take a few people down with him.

[highhhfiveee]

Are you gonna finish your pornstar!mikeschmidt x Reader because I want reader to cuss him out and just shout how they feel 😔😔

(Totallly ok if ur not gonna finish it though it was so good anyways >_<)

yes!!! i've actually been on here today writing more [: we're halfway there officially and at 5806 words lmao. sorry to be taking soooooo long on this part, but here's a little [unedited] something to tide you over [hopefully!]:

a peek into safety net, part five

"fair point, i suppose. still, it wouldn't hurt to have a conversation, no matter how difficult. from what you've told me, mike seems to have a good head on his shoulders. he sounds generous, caring, gentle and though nowhere near perfect, of course, you've painted a picture to me that he's tried hard to cultivate a safe space for you. it's a safety net, your own personal nirvana."

dr. kelley's imagery has you transported; you find yourself in the sky, its deep, intentional brushstrokes of pink and orange surrounding you in an endless landscape. a bungee net stretches with moderate tension in four directions, leaving you in the slouchy center. a cool breeze crosses your face as you search around for mike, yelling his name into what seemed to you like a void.

"I understand that your trauma and experiences makes it a bit harder to acclimate and feel entitled to that kind of treatment. that is fair and fine, but what's not is refusing to communicate that to mike. you can talk to me about it all day, rack up on your invoice by all means, but it does nothing if you don't put in the work."

"but I did put in the work! from my anniversary to now!"

"how many days is that?"

"...five," dr. kelley sighs, fatigued by your green nature. she rarely took in clients your age, half her own and like toddlers exploring a brand new world, but something about your fervor had spoken to her. she saw that you weren't one to back down, and after a few sessions, she knew she'd been right.

yet, she was wise enough to know that stubbornness was both a blessing and a curse, and here in this moment, it was the curse that saw you from seeing the truth. "we've talked about self sabotage before. when you first told me of your relationship with mike, how it made you feel, i pointed it out instantly. if you're telling me that you've overcome every feeling you've told me about in five days, i might as well give you my credentials cause you're a better therapist than me, apparently."

very excited to write this last half [: it's very immersive so I can't wait [: see you all soon!

ALSO HAPPY FUCKING PRIDE! I LOVE YOU ALL, YOU’RE SO VALID AND LOVED AND WORTHY! QUEER FOLK 🔛🔝

[tagedeszorns]

(Violetbirdie here) I think it's complicated due to a variety of issues. 40k as a franchise is huge, but it isn't the sort of thing that tends to have overlap with tumblr type fanspaces. It also doesn't help that 40k is a fractured fandom featuring tons of different factions, so it's not like a standard fandom where there are main characters and a main story that people will always flock to. The primarchs are the closest thing we have to that, which is why there is naturally more content for them. In addition, fandom itself is in a bit of a flux state and has been ever since the 2018 nsfw ban which caused a lot of people to leave for twitter, which is now undergoing its own huge changes right now (and I just hate twitter on principle).

I suppose the one thing I think would help, would be somehow getting the 40k tumblresque fandom space more consolidated as a whole. Like, somehow have a blog that is popular for all factions that posts headcanons about everything, thus getting people interested in parts they don't normally think about. Because 40k is a huge time investment to learn about. I've been listening to audiobooks for what feels like nonstop for over a month, and even then I could only ever feel confident telling people about Emperor's Children. So it naturally is harder for new people to get into the fandom and focus on some of the smaller things because there is just so much. It's almost how I view your blog. I check it daily for fun art/headcanons/just general character stuff, and you made me more interested in some of the captains and such. But even then, you have your focuses. So a space even more general where someone would reblog art from everything 40k would likely be nice? Maybe I just miss the livejournal days of fandom. As far as more engagement, I think having silly things like character weeks which encourages people to draw or write or talk about specific aspects is a huge benefit. It sets a schedule and makes people feel like they are shouting less into the void.

But as someone new here, maybe its my weird perspective, but I don't feel like things are getting less popular. If anything, from just checking AO3, it seems like things are only getting more popular for less of the reddit type and more for the Tumblr wanting to see hot dudes and their complicated feelings type. Also more people are getting into 40k in this side of the space through rogue trader. Like people I never talked to about 40k are starting to look into the series because they played Baldurs Gate 3, and needed a new RPG to play, and conveniently Rogue Trader is filling that for them. So, I'm optimistic if anything. Sorry about the long ramble! Just kinda dumping my thoughts out.

I love Tumblr because, unlike Twitter or Bluesky, it allows for way longer, way more elaborately structured posts. I love it when artists don't just slap their pics into a post and be done with it, but instead add stuff like maybe "I read this book, here's a quote, and it gave me this mighty need to draw this". Or "please listen to this music here while looking at my pic! It goes perfectly with it!". Or just a multi-paragraph-essay (preferably very unhinged) about the character in the upper left corner.

This in advance, so you can see I'm totally with you on the "miss Lifejournal"-thing, because blogs are so much better than just 500 characters, four pics and nothing else. And why I think Tumblr is a very good replacement for Lifejournal.

The multitude of Tumblr-blogs with their many different angles are such a treat and provide such a rich ecosystem! I follow artists posting exclusively admech-stuff, others solely Drukhari, some writers focussing on just one Astartes Legion ... it's phantastic and the depth of their niche-knowledge is mindblowing.

I agree with you that this will be overwhelming for new fans coming from rather monolithic stuff like Rogue Trader. And the key to keeping those new people involved and making them feel welcome is showing them all this variety without scaring them away.

Maybe this new feature Tumblr is working on, can be helpful here. I haven't read much about it yet, but it seems the "Community"-feature has the potential to bundle stuff in a way that's more approachable for new and old fans alike. Maybe there's room for your idea of having "character weeks" (I like that! Sounds very MacDonald's. I'll have Fabius with extra pickles, please! 😁).

I'm sharing your optimism that both the new games and maybe the new series/movies will bring a lot of new fans over and some of them may even stick around. I am a bit wary that there's the possibility of a MCU-situation starting to build up, but since Warhammer-lore is in a constant state of flux anyways this might just add some spice to the mix.

So, yeah, hope for the darkest of futures!

[small-but-oho]

Hi! I’m running over here to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR RECENT POST ABOUT DRAMATIC TENSION IN G/T!!!!

I have been shouting into the void about this with friends of mine for YEARS!!

Where did all the fear and angst in the community go?? Why is it all just rainbows and butterflies now? Having light to balance out the dark is great, don’t get me wrong, but I SOOOO agree with you: the entire basis of g/t is its very significant power imbalance.

If we’re all unwilling to acknowledge that then literally what is even the point of making something g/t in the first place? If it’s just two people hanging out… how is that g/t? Where are the stakes? What do these characters want? What are they fighting for? What makes life hard for them that they want to change?

I say this all the time: bad things NEED to happen in fiction. It’s the ONLY WAY to tell a story. Watch any movie or tv show and you’ll see this at play. We want our fictional heroes to struggle, to be afraid and to fight for something because that creates an actual plot.

I, too, am deeply disillusioned by the lack of actual fear and danger in g/t now. Let’s all be honest and acknowledge that being small next to someone so much bigger would be TERRIFYING and not without significant physical and emotional challenges to overcome.

It’s so frustrating when a small character meets a larger one and within .004 seconds they immediately trust them, with their life literally in a stranger’s hands. It’s doesn’t make any sense and leaves so many opportunities for good story telling on the table.

The struggle to adapt to a new environment, to make yourself heard in the face of invalidation, to discover you matter even though you’re different are all tropes that require some kind of unfair dynamic in order to be explored.

I find that journey to be actually super validating! Navigating a dynamic where you feel less than or not taken seriously or surrounded by danger and finding a way to fight through that? Isn’t that quite literally the textbook definition of empowerment and self actualization?

Okay, I’ve gone on long enough, but I just wanted to reach out because it’s so so so refreshing to see someone else in this community actually addressing this!

You rock! Have a wonderful day and keep exploring your story telling, because I think you’ve absolutely got the right idea!

AAAAAAAAAH THANK YOU FOR THIS MESSAGE!!!

I'm so glad you feel the same way ♥️

I legit wonder why this shift towards safe, nonconfrontational works occurred. Is it in reaction to the general state of the world? An influx in new users, who just aren't into fear and angst? Reaction to internet censorship? Idk.

And tbh it's also kinda disheartening as a dark subjects enjoyer. I do wanna write and create works that cater to my interests, but when you look into the tag, it feels like an uphill battle.

So yeah, if you want to, feel free to send me a msg off anon. Maybe we need to cultivate our own little community of like-minded people.

[thatonetwig]

Love your work! Also, I'm a bit of a fan of Hood x Void, and the ship name you gave for them is very cool! Speaking of, what do you think would happen if Hood encountered Void's A.C. form for the first time?

Perfect time to share one of my excerpts!

...

Hood slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion while still feeling disoriented.

"What...happened?", he questioned himself.

Suddenly, he looked up and saw Void floating above the arena with purple sparks forming at his feet. Hood stood up, and he realized that Void was now a darker shade of purple than he usually was.

"Void?! Void! Are you okay?! What happened?!", he called out to him.

Void turned around and saw Hood down below.

"Heh...took you long enough to wake up. Just in time to witness the destruction of the universe...", he said in a voice deeper than Void's own.

The realization struck Hood like a meteorite; he wasn't talking to Void. Rather, something entirely different speaking through his body like a parasite.

"Y-you! Who do you think you are?! W-what have you done with Void?!", Hood demanded angrily.

"Oh you simple-minded organism...haha...", the entity laughed.

"You can refer to me as...A.C. And to put it simply, he's gone. Void is gone."

Hood's anger immediately shifted into fear and an overwhelming sense of despair when he heard those words.

"W-what d-do you m-mean...?", he questioned shakily.

"Well, I was something about him that he didn't tell you about. He was scared; scared of you leaving him for what he truly was beneath the surface...honestly so pathetic...", A.C. said in a taunting manner that felt like a knife being plunged directly into Hood's heart.

"H-he...d-didn't tell me...b-because he was scared...?", Hood asked, sounding like he was about to cry any moment now.

"You heard me correctly. Anyway, before everything else is reduced to nothing, I wanted to strike a deal with you.", A.C. said in a casual manner.

Hood raised his head in shock as he stared up at the entity once again.

"A...deal?"

"Yeah. Imma be honest, in spite of the many times I cringed at you two, it did give me a good laugh from time to time.", A.C. replied.

"So, as a bit of a thank you, I'll spare you from the destruction of this universe as we know it if you don't get in my way. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Hood lowered his head in despair as his voice trembled heavily.

"Y-ye-"

Suddenly, Hood caught himself mid-sentence and felt something awaken within him. It was a feeling that he had never experienced this intensely before; determination. But it wasn't the kind that urged him to run away from danger. No. it was the kind that urged him to fight against it in-spite of his own capabilities. Feeling this, he raised his head once again and looked the entity directly in the eyes.

"No! We don't have a deal! I know Void is still in there somewhere! You think I'll just let you get away with this after all you've done?! You sure as hell won't so long as I'm here! You ain't destroying the universe! Not now, not ever!", Hood shouted in pure determination as he got into a fighting stance.

"Ha...", A.C. chuckled.

"You know, they really were right when they said that love makes you blind to even the biggest of red flags...gotta laugh at the stupidity, really.", A.C. said as the sparks at his feet grew in intensity.

"No matter...you're just another speck in the universe at the end of the day that will be squashed like a bug under my shoe. You ready?", A.C. asked.

Hood didn't back down and nodded his head and taunted the entity with his fists.

"Hehe...should've run away when you had the chance."

[meraki-yao]

This is gonna be really personal, and really venty and probably really selfish, and I’m most likely gonna delete it in the morning, but I feel like this is the only place I can talk about it, so I’m just gonna shout this into the void. If you’re not in a good space either, please stop reading and keep scrolling.

I’m not in a good place in my life right now. Truth be told my mental health has been shit since I was 7, but this is the worst I’ve ever been. Long story short, I was pressured into a college major that I didn’t want by family, and I thought I could pull through the four years of school, but it’s the first semester of the second year and I can’t handle it. I do not suit this major, nor do I find any purpose or joy in trying to deal with it. I hate it, I struggle with, yet it consumes all the time in my life. It’s been like this since the start of college, and it’s just getting worse. It doesn’t help that adults around me keep telling me how good this major is as a career and how I need to start looking for internships. It’s gotten to the point where I’m mentally and physically unhealthy, and I skipped school for the entirety of October without anyone but my sister knowing because classes gave me panic attacks. My parents aren’t people I can talk to about this because 1, they invalidate mental health issues as my fault for not trying hard enough because engineering and science came easy to them 2, they’re the ones who put me in this position in the first place. My sister listens but I help her more than she knows how to help me, and my friends are all busy with their own stuff.

I am seeking professional help on my own, I have bimonthly counselling which helps, and I recently started taking prescribed antidepressants. But for me to find a psychiatrist for a diagnosis on my life long issues and more meds, or for me to start looking into switching a major (which is a fucking arduous process where I am, fuck), I need to wait till I’m done with my exams which will be the last two weeks of December

So for the following month, I’m stuck, and fucked.

RWRB saved me in a way. I accidentally stumbled upon the trailer when it came out and suddenly I had a source of joy, a reason to keep going and keep looking forward to the next day. RWRB made me the happiest I’ve been since January of 2022. I can’t explain why, maybe it’s how I relate to Henry, maybe it’s how firstprince’s relationship is so beautiful, maybe it’s how it’s a rom com, I don’t know. But I have a couple of movies/shows that make a huge impact on my life, and RWRB is one of them. Waking up to something new, waking up happy with something to look forward to felt so good after so long of wanting time to just pass by me. I’ve haven’t watched a movie on repeat since I was 6 and repeating the original Lion King. I started this account because I had so many thoughts about the movie and I wanted to share them.

And I know it’s not the healthiest to hook all of my sanity onto a fandom/movie. But I’m not in a space where I can deal with my actual problems directly right now. And I do have other things in my real life that make me feel a bit better, but RWRB really has been the most effective/impactful one right now.

This is also the first time since Infinity War in 2019 were I followed a movie’s promo and release rather than discover it when all is said and done. And it happened to coincide with the strikes. Which again I’m supportive of and proud of the agreements they achieved, but the timing of everything just makes me so upset.

I thought that Prime would keep it going for a bit, especially after the strike resolved. And right now I’m not saying they’re definitively not doing anything. We don’t know that.

But I thought they would release a new deleted scene on 18th since that’s the date the last two deleted scenes were released, and it was the 100th day since release. When that didn’t happen, I thought they would release it on Thanksgiving. I lost sleep over waiting for it. But that didn’t happen either.

I got an anon ask who kindly but objectively explained the situation on the business side. And after reading and answering those asks…

I felt really fucking bad.

I kinda just lied down, panting and trembling.

It kinda felt like drug addiction withdrawal. Which is a morbid thing to compare it to, because if it weren’t for my myriad of problems this would just be a hyperfixation, but withdrawal is genuinely the only way I can explain my reaction (but to clarify I never actually did drugs)

And the following days I just had this ache and weight in my chest.

I think the reason my reaction is visceral is because RWRB is really my only, singular source of unbridled happiness right now. It’s literally the only thing I’m trying to hold on and stay afloat for, the reason I wake up in the morning. I thought Prime would keep going for a while with a relatively fixed monthly schedule of something new, but that broke off.

And that’s not to say that the fandom isn’t included in my RWRB happiness. I still fucking love the fanart and fanfics I come across.

But the jump from August and September to now, and my worsening issues because of school, it just hits harder.

I’m kind of at a lost right now. I’m getting worse in my own life with exams that I’ll definitely straight up fail (and I used to be a star student: I’ve needed academic validation my whole life) on the horizon, and I feel like I’m losing the only thing I held on to for the past couple of months.

I’m fucked and I don’t know what to do.  

[mcl38]

they haven't quite turned on vcarb the way they did mclaren but from what i've read that seems to be bc daniel keeps saying "it's not the same problem as mclaren" when like idk dude if the only time you've finished a race ahead of yuki was bc you got put on softs at the end of the race it is smelling very shades of mexico '22 to me. just without the having to make up a time penalty bc u punted yuki off the track.

i can say yuki is already getting the lando treatment though. "hOW MANY RACES HAS HE WON AND YOU DARE SAY HES PERFORMING BETTER THAN AN 8 TIME GP WINNER?" (ya i'll go to the top floor of my apartment and shout it into the void through a megaphone too what are you going to do about it) only this time there's a heavy dose of racism added in. the amount of people i have seen calling yuki a "pokémon" derogatorily and refusing to admit the racist connotations there are wild. not to mention the ableist terms i've seen be used to refer to his height. it's all very gross and yet again daniel says nothing to even try to prevent it. it's wild how someone always has to get harassed by his fans regardless of if he fails or succeeds.

ok so like first of all yikes. i rly rate yuki but im v selective w my online (especially my tumblr)

experience so i rly almost never venture out of my mclaren-centred bubble, which means i never rly see what ppl say abt him. 'pokemon' is actually vile like thats so clearly racist bc its not even a pun of his name at all or any sort of reference to his personality?? AND the fact that its a cartoon w the infantilising implications of that... ku's essay on the infantilisation of east asian drivers u will always be famous.... like u guys ever noticed how nyck is also rly short and has a youthful face and nobody ever talked abt him in the way they talk abt yuki? much to think abt

now. permission to be mean here but even if its 'not the same problem as mclaren' is the problem not STILL the fact that daniel in his 10+ year career hasnt bothered to understand the way the engineering of f1 cars works in like any material way and thats the reason he always struggles to identify his driving issues / has a disconnect with his chassis unless its tailored exactly to what he already likes and knows how to drive? i saw that bit from newey's book about how max and checo give rly good feedback and so did webber and vettel and it was kind of subtly implying that during the bit in between (the daniel era) he designed less effective cars be he wasnt getting enough precise feedback.... i genuinely havent been able to sleep at night since. like it felt like smth slotted in my head like aaaah this has been the problem all along. if only daniel wasnt so busy going on podcasts making fun of the idea of women in motorsport and actually spent some time to do some way overdue physics homework... lol. Imao even

the truth of the situation is yuki is in the best form of his career and also wiping the floor w daniel. like factually so. EVEN with team orders favouring daniel so his fans cant say its bc of that like they did with mclaren. i genuinely think its quite sad the amount of personal stock daniel fans have clearly invested in this mans career and how much it bothers them when he doesnt perform to their expectations - like he's ur driver, swallow it and accept it, because thats what he's been doing to try to move on. doing all this intense online hate bullshit only makes him look bad bc it highlights how badly and for how long he rly has been embarrassingly underperforming. but by this point it feels like they WANT him to underperform bc they crave that martyr underdog victimised figure to root for and fight for - which is why ur totally right anon, that someone always inevitably gets harrassed regardless of if daniel is failing or succeeding. 

i will say one thing which is that i rly dont think daniel is at all aware of whatever the fuck his fans do on twitter and instagram (and deffo not tumblr lmao). so i dont think this is an issue of like him telling his fans to chill out - and it doesnt work anyways, bc lando literally has made talking abt how much cyberbullying sucks a part of his personality and theres still some rly mean and hateful lando fans (not in a fun way like me<3 lol) (i hate on my own blog and in discord groupchats). so like thats not necessarily on him, its more on netflix for making him the lowest common denominator guy to like, ykwim? also the unfortunate reality is that despite the tshirts and the kneeling (or no kneeling) no one rly seems to stand up to defend the drivers of colour who literally constantly get SUCH vitriol thrown towards them w any occasion. im not expecting daniel of all ppl to say anything abt it ngl

[caracuuw]

Hey, so, what if. Writing snippet based off of some of what Viking was talking about in his “what could have been” stream last night. Obviously, this isn’t finished, but I’m happy with it as is, and I think it’s easy enough to follow! Also, if you’d prefer to read it over on ao3, here is the link :)

“I thought you didn’t have enough diamonds for the ritual yet.” Taneesha said, slowly.

“Turns out,” Viking shrugged. “I did.” He tossed in another armful of eggs.

“Alright…” Taneesha eyed him as he went back and forth. “What about Legs’ IOU, then? What are your plans for that, if you don’t need him to get the diamonds?”

“Oh, this?” Viking shuffled around in his pocket for a moment before procuring a small, leather bound book that Taneesha was fairly certain she had watched Viking give back to Legundo after calling in his favor. “Eh, it can go in here too, I suppose.” He dropped over the edge of the hole, with seemingly a complete lack of care and consideration.

“Woah, woah, woah—” Taneesha protested, but it was far too late by the time she had even processed what was going on; the IOU was long gone, now. “Hey!” She shouted. “I worked hard for that! You worked hard to get me to give it to you! Just because you don’t need it for the diamonds doesn’t mean it isn’t still useful! You— you can’t just throw it away like that!”

“Ehh…” Viking trailed off. “I wouldn’t get too upset, if I were you. I mean, it only means as much as Legs’ “”word“” means, which is to say, it means literally absolutely nothing, apparently, so… into the void it goes too! Buh-bye!”

“I— what?” Taneesha started. “What do you mean, ‘too’?”

“I mean… the void is hungry, and this ritual needs a lot to feed it, so…” He was already back to grabbing as many things as he could hold from the chests along the wall to also dump into the void. Taneesha couldn’t help but notice the severed and frayed leads laying in a pile in the corner. Viking must have already sacrificed any… live offerings… he had down there, at this point. “Of all the people here, I’d expect you to understand that the most,” Viking commented. “You’ve had your fair share of experience with the void, you know how these things go.”

Taneesha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

Viking hummed in acknowledgment of this, but didn’t bother continuing on, which was… unhelpful.

“Viking,” Taneesha started. Now that she was really taking a good look at him, she could see how… unkempt he looked, compared to usual. Something about him, he didn’t look entirely… he didn’t look particularly well, she guessed. “What- what is this about? Why are you doing this right now?”

Viking shrugged again. “I have everything I need. Why not, huh? Why not do it now?”

“It’s just— you seemed pretty particular about it all being in order when you were telling me about it. This seems… this feels pretty spontaneous. And I thought I was supposed to help. Are you— is everything alright?”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s just fine.” Viking said with unsettling nonchalance. “And you are gonna help!” He was in front of her now, grabbing onto her shoulders, just tight enough to be uncomfortable, and looking her directly in the eye. “You’re gonna jump in with me, right, Taneesha?” Taneesha pulled back in surprise as she realized— Viking’s eyes, they—

“Viking,” Taneesha said in a low voice, stepping out and away from Viking’s grasp. “What happened to your eyes?”

“What do you mean?” Viking asked. There was no confusion behind his voice.

“Your eyes are both blue.”

“Okay… and yours are purple.” Viking said that as if that was supposed to somehow make her observation any less concerning.

“Viking, why are your eyes both blue?”

Viking shook his head, turning back to the chests. “I dunno,” he said. He wasn’t even trying to hide that he was obviously lying. That almost worried Taneesha more than the eyes themselves. “It’s not important. Here come help me with this stuff.”

“Viking, what is going on?”

“We’re going to get our memories back, Taneesha! I don’t understand what’s not to get here! You’re going to jump in with me to complete the ritual, and then we’ll have our memories back! Now come on, give me a hand here!”

“Viking—”

“Taneesha.”

“What if— what if I don’t want to, anymore.” Viking froze. “What if I don’t wanna do this right now?” She amended the sentence.

There was an agonizing pause. “That’s ridiculous. You and I both know that’s bs, right?”

“No, Viking. I don’t— I don’t like this. What is happening here? What happened to your yellow eye? And what—” She looked him over for a second time. He did not look well. “What happened to your compass?”

Viking scrunched up his face in a sour look and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them. He made what Taneesha guessed was supposed to be a forced grin, though it looked a lot more like a snarl. “Y’know,” he began. “You really can’t trust anyone around here to get anything done for you, can you? Not even if you have their word, not even if you have a wish, not even if you believe that they are the one person who might understand, who might get it—” He let out a pained bark of laughter. “Hell, you can’t even trust your own self to get things done for you!”

There was a beat, and then another. Taneesha swallowed. “What did you do, Viking?”

“I did exactly what had to be done.”

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Okay, another one!

Baking buddies!

(If I recall correctly, Julian likes to/knows how to bake, right? Or I could be wrong, I've been switching social media 😅 But I think you did mention it somewhere here🤔 But I hope I got it right, otherwise, this can be ignored 😭)

This one is what the title implied, baking buddies! Featuring Ziana again, and Rain (@silly-farmer's farmer, since she also can bake/likes to bake. If you know some farmers/NPCs who also know how to bake, feel free to add them as well! I don't know many farmers like you do, unfortunately 😭🙏🏻)

Imagine them all (Julian, Rain & Ziana) good at baking but then there is one that they haven't baked yet (probably... Strange Bun for example in here? 🤔) and one of them suggested trying this out together. So, imagine the scene as they all mess up and struggle in the kitchen trying to bake this thing and after many errors, it's done! And now, for the taste!

The result...? (Up to you 👀 Is it good? Or bad and that they worked hard in vain? This is also another funny interaction, hehe.)

Have fun! ^^ I don't know why I have so many ideas (this is like, a gist of it) 😅🙏🏻

Uh, have a good day, Mousy, and uh, bye! *runs* 🏃🏻‍♀️💨

Hello again! Here's another story, and thanks for the question!

This time, in addition to Julian and Ziana, the heroes will also be Rain (@silly-farmer) and Wren (@girls4zelda). This story is shorter than the previous one, hope you don't mind. Enjoy ❤️

_________________________________________

"The culinary disaster"

________________________________________

The spacious cottage kitchen was filled with various sounds and pleasant aromas. The banging of pans against each other, the sweet smell of strawberry jam, the heat from the oven where baked goods were baking, the noise of water from the tap, the kettle boiling.... And talking, so much talking. Of course, because there are not one but four cooks in the room at once, running from one part of the kitchen to another, trying to get the food everywhere in time.

"Goddamn it! What are we doing wrong?!"

Ah, yes, on top of all this, the kitchen is filled with the shouts of those very same cooks.

"I don't get it", Rain continued to wail. "We're doing everything according to the recipe. This bun is much easier to make than the other dishes!" She gestured with her hand to the tray on which a few burnt pastries lay.

Julian, Ziana, and Wren sat at the walnut kitchen table and watched poor Rain try to figure out the reason for such a botched cooking job.

"Maybe the recipe itself was wrong?" Ziana cautiously voiced her suggestion. Cooking with her friends in the kitchen at Rain's house had seemed like a great idea to her earlier, but she hadn't realized that they would encounter such a problem as not being able to cook a bun properly after perhaps the sixth attempt.

"I don't think there was anything wrong with the recipe. It's just a normal bun, we've made dozens of them before", answered Wren. And indeed, on the table there was a whole vase with freshly baked cookies, puffs and buns and various jams and fruits, which were beckoning with their aroma and beauty.

"Well..." Julian began cautiously. "You don't put void mayonnaise in ordinary buns".

"That's true". Wren couldn't agree more. "Rain, my friend, why don't we just forget about the Strange Bun? Sit down with us, and we'll finally start the meal."

But Rain, arms crossed, waited for the timer on the oven to reach zero. "I'll check on that last bun, and then we'll be done".

All three of them looked sympathetically at the blue-haired girl. They understood that the failed baking had hit Rain's confidence hard, as she was a great cook, and had even agreed with her friends to organize a communal cookout, teaching them new recipes. And all was well... Until Shane left her the recipe for that obscure bake yesterday. And now Rain wants to make sure she hasn't lost her skills. Thankfully, the timer has already managed to emit a chime, alerting those present that it's time to pull out the baking tray.

"YEEEEES!!! We did it! We are the best!" Rain's excitement slightly startled all three of her friends, but they immediately breathed a sigh of relief as the girl held the hot baking tray victoriously in her hands, where a - oh, miracle - properly cooked Strange Bun was displayed.

Rain, satisfied, set the bun aside on a plate, letting it cool. The pastry itself looked true to its name: the dough was unnaturally orange, and the filling was an acid purple color.

"So", Rain summarized, "would anyone like to try this pastry?"

"Nope", Ziana, Julian and Wren answered their friend honestly.

"That's good! I don't want to either..." She looked a little suspiciously at that 'culinary misunderstanding'.

"Now let's drink tea!" Finally, Julian poured hot jasmine tea into each of their cups, and they all sat down at the table, eating the delicious fruits of their labor, listening to praise about each other for their good cooking.

[evermetnotforgotten]

Set in the far future.

In many ways, Graham's relationship with his parents was quite simple. Firstly, be kicked out at sixteen because you were a delinquent little shithead who was well on the path to either being shot up on a street corner, or thrown in prison for being the one doing the shooting. Spend twenty-odd years in the wind. Then call dear old mum and dad up on a whim one day asking whether they're free for a coffee and a slice of cake—their choice, your shout.

They’d picked the key lime pie.

Most of their questions, surprisingly, had been in line with that of a normal suburban family. Less about his decades-long absence—the lie about getting out and into a job driving diplomats around seemed to inspire the desired amount of polite disinterest—and much, much more about ‘wait, you're telling us our long lost son is now married to a man?’ In their first few reconnecting dinners Graham had already located and defused the bomb of ‘we'd actually hoped and dreamed of our only son telling us he was only a gay teen instead of in a teenage gang,’ and done similar to the IED of ‘good thing we've changed churches since you were little or blessed Father Derrick would have simply had a stroke between the pews’—along with the total landmine, dear Lord in heaven the nuclear fucking blast of ‘but so… if you're married, doesn't that mean you're Gay now?’

But they were willing, and forthcoming. And surprisingly relaxed about his sudden reappearance in their lives.

All that had been left was for them to finally meet him—his sweet and kind husband, the infamous Lev. Which, apparently, called for dinner at Pete and Cressida's spacious suburban home.

"Topoff, my boy?" A question from Pete to Lev that Graham only moderately tenses up at, for more than one reason. Would rather not have to explain them all.

"Do you have any more of that sparkling, actually?"

"For you? Course we do. Would you pass the apple juice, hun?”

The first impression had nearly ended in disaster. Trust his old man and lady to blow through his first two cardinal requests immediately—he'd been firm to the point of militant on the topic of touching Lev without asking first, then witnessed in horror as his mother completely lost her mind and initiated a crushing hug. Then was the wine, though on that Lev had reassured they were in the green. Couldn’t drink on the meds anyway.

Now, outside overlooking the garden, wooden bannister flickering with light from the ceramic potted citronella candles, the wine flowing and barbecue cooling… things were actually starting to feel good. Calm. He's not checking his watch every minute, and his husband seems to be at relative ease while keeping deft pace with the conversation. Lev presses the kitchen knife down past the crust of the chocolate tart he’d insisted on bringing, listening to Cressida explain of the accreditation process of an arts therapist.

As the conversation dwindles, his mother twists her blond hair at the back of her head and spears it with a pin. The look brewing on her face is one of an imminent interrogation, but Graham recognises it far too late to cut her off at the pass.

"So you're… gay, Lev? Is that right, is that what you prefer?"

"Ma," Graham scowls, warning low and short. 

Just as Cressida's eyes flash with equal challenge, gearing up to meet her son’s protest with one of her own, Lev responds with an easy smile, a raised hand. "It's okay—I'm actually bisexual."

"Oh! So you're the same then. That must keep things simple."

Peter, whose cheeks are drawing closer to the tint of his chequered shirt with each fresh glass of wine, chimes in. "So you've been with both. Women, men… lucky guy, lucky guy…"

“Christ. Dad…”

"Yes, that is what the ‘bi’ part means, Pete. Oh, I know the loveliest lesbian couple whose daughter is a bisexual. Can you imagine that? All that diversity under the one roof."

Though Graham wants so, so badly to cup his hands over his face and screech into the miniature void there forever, Lev’s chime of a laugh rings above the abject horror roiling in his gut. “We do tend to flock, I’ll give you that.”

Seeming impressed with the response, Peter reaches for the bottle on the table and sets about refilling glasses again, even though most are still half-full. Graham reaches across to steady his mother's glass as the red comes dangerously close to sloshing up and over the other side. One of two teeny little dogs—rat-sized morsels that Daisy would have eaten for breakfast and barfed up before lunch—scurries around to their side of the table, interpreting the sudden movement as a potential signal of pending table scraps.

"Well," Peter says, "our son must have done at least one thing right in his life to have won you over. It's all a downright comfort, if you ask us. Isn't it, honey?"

He doesn't know quite why that's the part, out of everything, that gets him. Something slimy and misshapen rears its head within Graham’s chest, writhing through the holes of his ribcage where it's installed itself into the gaps and expanded like some sort of horrible, living caulk. He's done fuck all to deserve a man as good as Lev, right hand to God. Still feels as though he's long-conning him into staying, most days. But when his partner responds by taking Graham's hand under the table, giving a reassuring squeeze, the dial of all that noise is turned down low. The domesticity just a little less cloying.

"I feel lucky to have him, actually." A wink only meant for him. “He’s put up with me so far.”

"Ha! Just wait until you've been together forty years and he's still leaving dishes by the sink—"

"Or when it becomes impossible to go to on a fifteen minute shopping trip that doesn't turn into a forty-five minute catch-up with a playgroup friend—"

"I'm really glad that you two haven't changed. Just so glad.” Though Graham says it in exasperation, the fondness is hard to ignore. He brings his husband’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it. 

"So Lev, Graham tells us you're working on a coffee table, is that right?"

-

“So… verdict?” He’s almost scared to ask, but needs to know his partner is okay after… all that. 

"They're nice! Really nice.”

“But…?”

A sigh from the passenger seat. “But it was… difficult. I guess."

Graham winces, blows air out through his cheeks. Should have known it would always be a little bit trial-by-fire. "Yeah, sorry. Thought they'd gotten all of the, uh, sexuality talk out of their system. Apparently not.”

Lev turns, giving him a curious look. "Oh, no, not that part. That was fine. Though I'm really glad they didn't want more details than they did," and a laugh tinged with the specific kind of glee of knowing exactly how terribly that could have gone. "I just… it's hard when I don't like how they treated you."

Graham frowns. He hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary in the course of the evening. "What do you mean?"

"Throwing your sixteen year old kid out of the house when he's clearly in it deep, and cutting off all contact." Lev shakes his head, looking out the windscreen at the blur of pines whizzing past. “Your dad said they were praying for you to come back… but how would they have known if you’d needed to?”

Graham hears his old man’s farewell of the night. Don’t be a stranger, hey kiddo? We’ve missed you. “I… used to rob 7-Elevens with that crew. In gorilla masks.”

Not a beat missed. “We’ve all been sixteen.”

Spotting a tiny smile out of the corner of his eye at his own bark of a laugh, Graham reaches over the handbrake to place his hand on Lev’s thigh. As always, it’s covered by a smaller, warmer one.

Now just as ever, Graham feels like he could be in awe of the indestructible core of his partner until the day that he dies. Though Lev would be the first to deny and the last to admit it, there's a grain of diamond at the very centre of him. 

Behind a fortress or surrounded by ash and rubble—it's still beautiful. Still incredible.

“I’d still… like to stay in touch with them.” Graham clears his throat. “If that’s alright. You wouldn’t have to come, though, if you don't want to.”

“Ah, wasn’t at all saying that we shouldn’t.” A gentle apology squeeze. “Would really love to go to that gallery.”

“Doesn’t have to be any time soon.”

“‘Course. But I want to. Let’s do it.”

[creators-novel]

They weren’t faring great.

Vyz has the quintet on the ropes. As much effort as they’ve been putting into this fight, he just hasn’t slowed down! It’s impossible, it’s overwhelming!

Koto gulps down a trickle of her blood as she hovers in the air, “I don’t know… how much longer I can do this, guys…!” Divine Illuminer begins to fail her as she falls backward. “Koto!”, Straus dashes under her to catch her and drops to his knees. Vyz growls, “Burning out already, are we?” Straus grits his teeth and hangs onto Koto, “Never… I’ll never stop!” But Divine Paranormatrix seems just about drained as well. DarkClaw yanks Vyz back and uppercuts him, “It’s ok! Red and us can handle him!”

Vyz turns and slashes at him, “You can’t handle the darkness…”

Red appears and blasts fire at his back, “Try us, then!”

“I’ve already died once ‘cause of you.”, says DarkClaw as he taunts Vyz by holding his arms out, “I ain’t scared of it anymore. And I ain’t scared of you, pal!”

Vyz glares at them, “How unfortunate for you.” With a precise strike, he knocks them away and chases after them. Leaving Straus and Koto to try to recover while the others keep him busy.

Straus, for the first time in this fight, really considers if this is it… at this rate, everyone will perish, or be stuck fighting forever. “I…I can’t…”

Koto breathes heavily, “Brother…there’s still…!”                 

“(Mistress…)”, Illumi interjects, “(I…don’t know if Para and I have the energy left for that.)”

Para agrees, “(She’s right. I’m out of steam, Straus… I can’t keep up with this…)”

The siblings give each other a frightened look, “(We have to do SOMETHING!)”, they both think.

In a blink, both Paranormatrix and Illuminer shut off completely, and the scales tip again. Our heroes across the vast Multiverse begin to get overwhelmed. Straus stops himself from swearing under his breath as he punches the ground. “No…”, Koto whimpers. Straus watches his friends try to keep themselves up, then looks at Koto as tears fill her eyes.

“(Para…is there really no way we can do that fusion thing again?)”

“(It can buy us time, but it won’t be enough to win… I’m sorry, Straus.)”

…So, is that it, then?

…

Well, would we be here to tell the tale if it was?

Straus locks eyes with Red and hears a new voice. “(I’ll offer you all my energy.)”, says Blazi, “(Just make sure you win this.)”

Red holds out her hand, giving whatever bestial power she has left at that moment to Straus, Koto, Para, and Illumi. As she powers down, she falters but can conscious. It’s a good thing too; because she won’t want to miss what happens next. Vyz is completely oblivious as Straus feels his power return to him, “This… is enough! Koto, Para, Illumi let’s do it!” He and Koto stand up, and she holds his hand, “Thank you… thank you all for your help! We’ll take it from here!” They close their eyes as the fusion commences, and the scales tip one final time. A blue light, brighter than any seen before, shines through the cracks and ravines, through every part of the Void, stretching far and wide across the Multiverse. It is strength, it is perseverance, it is divinity in every sense of the word.

It is Creation.

Vyz shields his eyes, “What the-!? How can this be!?”

Amadi points towards the light’s source, catching a glimpse of their silhouetted form, “Look!”

Uriel’s eyes light up, and she flashes a wide, toothy smile. “It’s them!”, she yips, “THIS FIGHT IS STILL OURS!”

“HERE COMES THE PAIN!”, shouts Nathaniel as the party gets a boost in power.

             Red’s eyes sparkle as she watches the fusion finish, “Wow…” Exisite is silent, but his astonishment can be felt through his expression. “HAHA! YUS!!”, DarkClaw laughs.

“We see it now.”, says the benevolent figure as they lightly float midair.

Vyz rolls his (many) eyes, “Who is this now? Or you Straus or Koto?”

“Yes.”

“What are you, some sort of smart aleck?”, Vyz throws his hands back and fires a strong beam of dark energy at them; Which the mysterious being holds their hand out and catches, disintegrating it into nothing, “…Yes.”

Vyz chuckles, albeit losing what’s left of his patience fast, “Hmhmhm… pull whatever cute tricks you want. But I know you can do NOTHING to stand in the way of-“

“HAH!”, he is swiftly interrupted by a fist meeting his face and making him do a triple somersault into the floor. “We’re not ready to give in yet!”

Vyz grips at the broken ground under him, “This is garbage! You will not stand in my way, whoever you are!”

“But everyone knows who I am. I’m why Jupiter lost! Oh- and call us Paralluminer by the way.”, they wink.

“How adorable…you will fall under that name.”

DarkClaw shakes his arm a bit as his Kuro form shuts down, “Hoo… we’re all outta juice here.”

“It’s up to you now.”, says Exisite, also powering down.

Red looks up and pleads with Paralluminer, “Please…come back to us!”, to which they smile and give a thumbs up before flying down at Vyz, grabbing his shirt, and tossing him upwards. The force shatters the sky above them, breaking through into the upper layer of Voidverse; where the others can now witness the grand finale on full display. Even the Stygians momentarily slow their assault to watch their master be thrown around like a toy. However, Vyz soon regains himself and breaks away from Paralluminer. He too starts to float in the air. And as the two stare each other down, the final clash begins.

            It truly is a sight to behold. Those unable to see it in person could feel it all around them, the Multiverse at any moment could be split apart. And yet, it was being held together by the smallest threads, people who would not let their home and the lives of everyone be lost forever! Voidverse is being torn asunder, if not for their friends being there, Paralluminer would surely destroy it from the inside out. It’s not like Vyz cared at this point. He could just rebuild it after all, once these pests were dead and gone! They’re locked in on each other, and this one on one is finally an even matchup. Everyone holds their breath as the image of the two titanic forces clash and fire and punch and kick; it’s dizzying just how fast they’re going. Their afterimages appear and disappear as explosions of color and erasure dance along in the air above them. It’s not long until the voidlings get their stamina back and keep up the pressure.

“Oof, it’s a bullet hell up there!”, Ex observes.

“Don’t give in now, everyone!!”, calls Uriel as she shoots lightning.

Nova charges a laser and fires, “None of us will!”

“OUR FAITH WILL NEVER FALTER!”, declares Azura.

            Paralluminer looks down for a moment. As Vyz charges at them once more, they catch their fist and use their other hand to make them look down at the battlefield below. “See all this teamwork happening? It was earned through love, appreciation, and friendship. You just sat there, hating, fueled by anger and revenge. And what has that darkness brought you!? Nothing but fear and loneliness! We want to help you start anew!”

Vyz watches as the very last of his servants begin to die off one by one. He roars and forcefully breaks away from them, “You can’t fix the broken! You delude yourselves thinking the world is great, but it’s all black and white!”

“It’s more than that! The world is made of so much more, can’t you see it?”

He holds his head in anger, “The rules of fate decide what we are the moment we’re born. And if we’re made to be different, we suffer the consequences. Because that is the fate of those who are unique, like Straus and I. And YOU of all people should have seen that! But I am different! I will make those who destroyed me suffer the same fate! And if Straus won’t join me, then he’ll suffer the same fate he was given all those years ago! Why can’t you just accept that this is reality?!”

Paralluminer sighs, “…Wrong answer.”

“Stop talking and fall!”

“Never.”

“I’ll teach the whole Multiverse how wrong it’s been to us! Once I get my hands on all of creation, those stupid fools will be punished!”

            The battle continues, but as Vyz is further consumed by his rage, Paralluminer can’t help but feel…concerned? Apprehensive? Regretful? What is this feeling, exactly?

“(Are we really going to have to…kill him?)”, asks Koto.

“(Hmm…)”, Straus thinks on it. Will they have to? “(He’s about as corrupt as it gets…)”

There’s absolutely no way they can make him change his mind, so what’s left? How can they defeat them without breaking their one rule? They’ve tried everything, haven’t they? Well, there’s one more thing. Either way, it will end his suffering; it’s just a matter of how much it could hurt.

            On the outside, everyone is unnerved to see Paralluminer zoned out. Now?! Of all the times to be lost in thought, NOW? Vyz seizes the opportunity to grab their head and do the opposite of what they did to him: slamming them back through the floor, back to the lower layer. As their face creates a crater in the dirt, Vyz leans down and hisses, “You…will learn…!”

Paralluminer points upwards, and says muffled, “I think I finally know what to do!”

“-?!”

Without another word, Paralluminer grips Vyz’s arm, while casting the Purify spell.

Vyz backs away immediately. He looks to his arm and sees that where the spell landed now glows with white light, and begins to crack. “…What- what did you do-!?”

Paralluminer sits up, “You seem to be fighting yourself more than you’re fighting me… call it a hunch, but I don’t think you ever wanted any of this.”

“You don’t…”, his face begins to crack now, “You don’t know what I want.”

They stand up, and go to him, “I can still help you; you know.”

“Get away! Don’t even touch me!”

“…We may not entirely get it, but a part of us can kinda sympathize with you. Life is full of unwavering cruelty that can break anyone during their early stages. Some are deserted to be left alone because people thought they weren’t good enough. Or perhaps, a loved one had to let them go because someone else wanted to exploit them. Or… they simply die with their family, because their killers saw them as a monster. Some of us have already died once… so please, quit this so no one else has to.”

Vyz is shaken by their words, he takes a deep breath and thinks hard before continuing, “…The thing is, I know you’re correct.”, his body cracks more, at least the spell is silencing the noise in his mind, “But even if I were to agree, I wouldn’t even be around. What you just did has left me with very little time.”

“But we can change that.”

“I…wouldn’t bother. I think I’m ok with this… I spent so much time being angry and wondering if I could share that hate with someone else. But now… I realize I no longer need to… I think… I can make peace knowing you and your friends will aim to make the Multiverse a better place. So, thank you.”

The Void begins to lose its ground, it sinks back into itself and begins to fade. Paralluminer looks up at the many stars and Worlds shining down on them, and they smile. “…The world isn’t all black and white, it’s colorful too.”

“I guess I’ve realized that too late…”, Vyz’s entire body now glimmers, and his legs start to dissipate first. “Just do me a favor.”

“Hm?”

“Take care of this home of yours…” His torso and arms are gone now. “Make it into something I always wanted to see …”. Vyz closes his eyes, and the rest of him vanishes. All that’s left behind is a small, fiery white soul that drifts off into the ether.

“We’ll do the best we can.”

Paralluminer unfuses; and Koto spins around to a stop, “Whew… so…tired. Ugh.”, she flops over and lays down. “(Very good job, Mistress. You can rest now.)”, reassures Illumi. Straus also collapses and starts catching his breath. Everyone else runs up to congratulate them.

Uriel waves at them happily, “Koto! Straus!”

Koto greets her dizzily, “Ooh! Heyyy Uriiiii!”

DarkClaw helps Straus sit up and hugs him, “You’ve done good, kid.”

Everyone celebrates the victory. Koto’s parents hug her tight, Red and Straus share a kiss, it’s love and glory throughout the group.

“I just have one more question…”, asks a sleepy Koto as happy tears fall down her face, “Can we go home now?”

“Of course, ya lil’ goof.”, says DarkClaw. Everyone laughs and continues to revel in the victory as they return to the surface and meet up with the others.

They did it.

They won.

[jimkirksgirl]

snw uhura is ugly, masculine and fat

uhura-hermoine was right. it was not unkind to say ceelia gooding uhura is ugly and fat because she is. they should never have cast as uhura.

maybe we should ask ourselves why no one cares about snw uhura. you know something has gone wrong with star trek when chapel is now far more popular than uhura? and why is that? because uhura is miscast and a downgrade from Nichols.

we need to stop pretending that been cute does not sell. tos uhura was very popular because she was very pretty.

people like you are part of the problem because you know many of us are right. if more people speak more on how ugly snw uhura is, maybe they will recast her.

and dont feel bad for ceelia, she is a narcissist and has zero respect for the character. ceelia wants to hijack uhura and insert herself in the role. that is not the role of an actor. they are hired to play a character not themselves.

you are making it worse by pretending i am not right. why should we be fair or be kind with words when the writers of the show and the actress on purpose chose to make uhura ugly, non binary and masculine looking to suit their awful agenda.

But it is unkind and uncharitable to call someone “fat,” masculine,” and “ugly.” Just because you personally or others personally don’t like that someone, such as Celia, was cast in a role for a show/movie doesn’t justify being hurtful and malicious towards them. There is never a good enough reason to be unkind to someone. Bullying someone for any purpose is uncalled for and never acceptable. And you should know by now that all of your bitching and complaining isn’t going to change Celia’s casting. So this endless shouting into the void about how unhappy you are with her performance and casting choice is pointless.

May I also remind you that there has only been one season of SNW so don’t you think that maybe the writers just haven’t gotten to the point in their story where this version of Uhura gets to shine in the way Chapel does? Season two hasn’t even been released yet so there is a possibility that she may get her moment like Chapel has in season one.

I fail to see how the writers and Paramount are pushing an agenda in this particular area. Celia plays Uhura as she is in TOS/AOS: a woman who identifies as a woman. I don’t recall Celia insisting that this version of Uhura identify as non-binary as she does personally. You’re really reaching if you think that simply because Celia doesn’t look like Jess Bush in the sense that she isn’t tall, thin, and has longer hair that the writers/Paramount are trying to push any kind of agenda. Now, I can’t tell you why they chose Celia for this role or why they have written her the way they have, but again, there has only been one season of this show thus far. Uhura could absolutely have her moment in season two and beyond. Especially if this version of Trek takes place in the prime timeline then Uhura has plenty of time to blossom into the version of her that we see in TOS.

On a final note, I highly doubt that Nichols would condone any sort of bullying of a fellow black woman in any capacity if she were still alive today.

[kittyprincessofcats]

RWBY Volume 9 Ep 1 - A  Place of Particular Concern

I wanted to make this post before episode 2, but oh well - in my defense, I was sick. (I also haven’t watched episode 2 yet, so for me it still is “before”.)

I’ll try to be brief as well and just write down the stuff I really want to say. Don’t know if I’ll make a post like this for every episode either, depends on whether I’ll feel up for it. (Likely not, but I wanted to do it this time.)

- First things first: Aaah, RWBY is finally back! For me this is actually a first-time experience too, since I didn’t get into RWBY until Volume 8 was already almost over. (If I remember right the last few eps of Vol 8 were the first ones I actually watched “live” (or well, with a week’s delay)).

- As a whole, I’m a lot more relaxed about Volume 9 than I was about late Volume 8 (or than I am about Volume 10). Because we’re taking this detour in the Ever After (a good choice imo, since RWBY has so many characters by now that it can get a bit overwhelming), and the only named characters here are Team RWBY, Jaune, and Neo, I don’t have as much to get anxious about. My only faves here who could get hurt are Team RWBY, and since they’re the main characters I think they’ll be fine. My other faves are either not in the void (Cinder, Salem, Ilia) or already dead (Penny... don’t touch me I’m still not over it), so I think this volume is going to be comparatively easy on my nerves (now watch me eat my words as Team RWBY goes through hell...). (My little sisters’ faves are Jaune and Neo respectively, so I’ll see how they like this volume...)

- I wonder who the mysterious narrator in the beginning is. Well, we’ll find out. (But the last time we had a “mysterious narrator” she turned out to be very important, so...)

- Love how it wastes no time throwing us back into the Vol 8 ending from Ruby’s POV.

- Who’s voice is that calling “Ruby!” when she wakes up at the beach? Is that still Penny? Sounds more like Yang to me, but I’m really not sure.

- The two suns made me think of Star Wars.

- I love Little. (And I also like that Ruby being kind to a little mouse even while she’s going through a lot herself is what ends up freeing Weiss and Blake from the mice. Kindness is good and all that.)

- Interesting to know that cartoons exist on Remnant. Makes sense, though, they have TVs and all after all...

- Bit sad we didn’t get to see Weiss and Blake’s reunion. Also, is this the first time they’ve said the name “Gambol Shroud” out loud in the show?

- The way Weiss tells Blake “I’m really glad you’re okay”... Yeah, until just now she thought all of her teammates were dead. And she’s clearly still processing that Penny’s dead for real.

- Weiss cheering Blake on when she’s trying to get her weapon is adorable.

- Love how Ruby nudges her shoulder to wake Little up.

- “I can be your trusty guide” -> cut to them falling asleep. I love Little.

- “I don’t know if anyone else fell, no.” Oh, I just remembered again that none of Team RWBY know that Jaune is down here, too. They won’t look for him because they don’t know he’s here. And they might not run into him, either. So, what if they just straight up don’t meet him? I’ve even seen theories they might leave the Ever After without him since they don’t know... oh boy, I think something interesting is definitely in store for Jaune this volume.

- The Jabberwalker is terrifying and we definitely haven’t seen the last of them.

- That moment when Ruby wants to join the fight but the realizes she doesn’t have Crescent Rose anymore... yeah, based on the intro as well, I wonder if it’ll maybe take a while - maybe even the whole volume? - until Ruby gets Crescent Rose back.

- “I said I wasn’t done with you yet!” Oh... shout out to Barbara for how she voiced this line. Also, I’ve said it before: Yang is so badass. Thinks she’s dead, only has one arm, still goes afte the Jabberwalker.

- “Dammit! You weren’t supposed to be here!” The way her voice breaks here, oh gosh... Yang just wanted to protect Ruby, she was ready to sacrifice herself for Ruby, and to see now that it didn’t work as Ruby and the others still fell... let me give Yang a hug. (They might also have to talk about those self-sacrificial tendencies, because while I get the “protective big sister instinct” - you’re important too, Yang.)

- “If you thought we wouldn’t come for you, then you must have forgotten who raised me.” When I first heard this line, I thought Ruby meant Tai (and Summer) by this, but then I saw people say that she meant that Yang raised her and gosh... that’s both even sweeter and even more heartbreaking. (But also, Ruby... you didn’t actually “come for” Yang, you though she was dead and then you all fell into the void by accident. Not saying you wouldn’t have come for her if you’d known, but that’s not quite what happened.)

- I’ll be squeeling about that Bumbleby tackle-hug for the next few weeks, thanks for asking. The way Blake says “Yang” so softly, the way Yang touches her head and smiles... it’s perfect. Everything I wanted for their reunion and more.

(Also, I don’t want to get into negativity too much here, but it’s astounding how I’ve already seen the dumbest discourse ever over this scene. “Yang should have hugged Ruby instead; why would she care about someone more than her sister?” and similarly braindead takes... like WTF? Yang and Ruby literally had a really sweet sisterly moment right before this. Yang and Ruby have hugged before. Like, what kind of a braindead take is this? Are people who have siblings not allowed to also have significant others or other people they love and care about? Honestly, it’s just straight-up homophobia, let’s call it what it is. If this hug had happend between, say... Ren and Nora, after one of them thought the other was dead, literally no one would be grasping at straws to find something to complain about. No one would be calling it “ship baiting” or throwing fits. If it doesn’t bother you when it’s a man and a woman, but it does when it’s two women or two men - that’s homophobia. And a lot of the haters also seem to go down the whole “but it’s not canon” rabbithole and like... yes, it is. Just because Blake and Yang haven’t kissed or confessed their feelings out loud yet doesn’t make them not canon. They’re canonically in love, that much is explicitly clear. Deal with it or leave.)

- I like the build-up to Weiss telling everyone what happened (rule of 3 - when Blake and then later Ruby ask, she keeps saying they have to find Yang first and she’s not letting herself really process it either. But when they’re finally all together, Weiss finally allows herself to cry and tell them.

- Okay, time to let out my inner Nuts and Dolts shipper: WOW. The fact that Ruby just straight-up faints when she hears that Penny died. The fact that Weiss didn’t even finish speaking and Ruby already fainted... I’m so here for it! Look, I’m still heartbroken (and still in denial, hoping they’ll bring her back a second time), but if I have to deal with half of my ship being dead, then I at least want to see the other half have the most intense reaction possible to it. I want Ruby to grieve, I want Ruby to go through hell, I want her to just not be normal about this on any level. The intro already tells us that this is the “Ruby is depressed” volume, but I want that to be at least in large parts because of her grief for Penny. Ruby thought she’d lost Penny once, then she got her back, got even closer with her, fell in love with her, went through all of that trouble in Volume 8 to save her from the virus, only to find out she died anyways... yeah, I want Ruby to suffer about it and I’m so glad we’re getting that. (And in my perfect shipper-wish-fullfilment version I want Ruby to have some sort of “I loved her” line when talking about Penny later.)

- I like that Weiss left out Jaune’s exact role in Penny’s death and phrased it as “Jaune tried to help, but she sacrificed herself”. It’s not a lie and Weiss is being a good friend to Jaune by deciding that that part isn’t hers to tell. That being said, I want Ruby to go absolutely ballistic on Jaune when she finds out. I want her to blame Jaune, I want there to be a fight with tears and emotions and rage, I want it all. (To be clear, I’m not blaming Jaune, but I want Ruby to. Like I said, I want Ruby to not be normal about this. Let Ruby go apeshit over losing the girl she loves.)

- So wait, Ruby fainted and they just let her lie there? (Okay, to be fair, we don’t see what happend while she was out.)

- Okay, so Team RWBY currently don’t know that Jaune fell, that Salem has the relic, or how everyone in vacuo is doing. Weiss still saw Winter become the winter maiden and most people get to vacuo though, right? 

- Side-note, what about all the random citizens who fell into the void when Cinder set off that first explosion? Team RWBY knows about them - are they going to at least try and save them too, or is this supposed to be a “they’re background characters, so let’s hope the viewers have forgotten about them” thing?

- Oh, I have feelings about Yang asking Ruby if she’s alright and Ruby brushing it off to talk about Neo instead. I hope WBY will realize that Ruby’s going through it right now.

- Yay for Blake taking charge and coming up with a plan. She’s come so far.

- Yang thought she was dead... don’t touch me.

- “I think we’re in a fairytale.” Oh, lovely line to end the first episode on.

Now for the opening:

- Love the song, first of all!

- That opening shot of Jaune and Neo! Jaune still with the broken sword and tears... Yeah, he’s not going to have a good time this volume either. Likely there’s going to be a lot of wrestling with guilt over Penny. Also, as some people have pointed out, there are quite a few parallels between Jaune and Neo. They’ve both lost someone they love (Pyrrha and Roman), they’re both keeping a tragic keepsake of that person (Pyrrha’s red fabric and Roman’s hat), they both (arguably for Jaune?) want revenge for that person’s death... yeah, will be interesting to see if this volume does anything with that.

- That montage of everyone growing more confident while Ruby receeds and becomes more depressed, the part where it’s just Ruby crying, then that montage of everyone else walking and getting faster while Ruby walks behind and gets slower and slower and hangs her head... Yeah, this is “Ruby has depression” -  the volume, and I’m really looking forward to that for several reasons. First of all because I feel like Ruby is ironically one of the less developed characters on the show and I can’t wait for her to finally have the time to get that development. (This is another reason why I think it was a good call to have a smaller cast this this volume.) And secondly because I’ve been struggling with what’s likely depression and I think seeing that represented in a show I like would feel really healing.

- I would have never noticed the “no 11th hour” thing with Jaune on my own - props to all of you for picking up on that!

- Well that part with Ruby on the bridge isn’t creepy at all.

- Neo’s sitting behind a table sipping tea while wearing Roman’s hat and that’s when it hit me that she’s the mad hatter. Brilliant!

- Also, I wouldn’t have picked up on Jaune being the white rabbit (who’s always too late!) myself, but I love it. Also, this is another parallel between him and Neo and I wonder what their stories will have to do with each other this volume.

- Also interesting how we see both Ruby and Neo turning into... was her name Alyx? - well, our Alice, “the girl who fell through the world”, you know who I mean. Just like Jaune and Neo have parallels, Ruby has paralles with both of them as well (she’s also just lost the redhead she loves and might also keep a tragic keepsake of Penny’s).

Okay, one personal prediction I want to make: So far, every one of the last RWBY volumes had one character in particular stand out and steal the show for me, my “fave of the volume”, so to speak. For Volume 5 it was Ilia, for Volume 6 it was Salem, for Volume 7 it was Penny, and for Volume 8 it was Cinder. And based on the first episode and opening I think that for Volume 9 it’s going to be Ruby. That whole going through depression and mourning Penny thing... yeah, I think Ruby is who I’ll feel for the most here and I’m ready for it. Make this her volume, she deserves it. (I definitely also hope for some amazing Bumbleby moments, tough.)

I am apparently incapable of writing “short” posts.

[ladyniniane]

Happy birthday to me!

I’m 27 now! Some musings below the cut.

So this last year was good…but also pretty hectic in some places? I’m happy that a solution has been found to my cat’s health problems. 

The biggest change for me right now is that I’ve decided to leave my job. Long story short: they didn’t keep their promise of giving me a raise (and it’s almost impossible to get one). I’m fed up of not getting enough recognition and being just an expandable employee. Plus, my manager had been petty for no reason. So it was starting to take a toll on my wellbeing. To be honest, I’m going through all sort of emotions at this moment, sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice, but deep down I believe I did. It’s a big jump into the unknown and it’s a bit scary. But I will try to find a way. Beside, I can still be proud of my work achievements. 

A year ago, I started taking driving lessons again after…4 years without driving. I was determined to get my driver’s license, but sadly I didn’t. I’m even more afraid of driving than I was before, because the exam was an extremely…unpleasant experience to say the least. Going back to driving and taking these lessons took a lot of energy and I feel kinda burned out when it comes to driving. Getting help isn’t easy, and even if I know that I sound like an emo kid, many people don’t really understand what I’m really going through. This experience leaves me a taste of failure, but we will see later.

A thing I’m proud of is writing. I’m able to write consistently and I did my best word count ever during NaNoWriMo in November 2022 and I did all the Camp NaNos. I’ve been able to move forward on many projects. I’ve also published stuff on the internet again, something I hadn’t done in 3 years. But, that’s where the disheartening part starts. My stories get (some) views, but barely any interactions (shout out to those who did interact, you’re axe some) I feel like I’m screaming in the void. I write for myself, but I also write to connect with other people, especially since I put a lot of time and effort in it. I know that it happens to many people and that at the end of the day I’m not entitled to anything. I hope that it doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of my stories, I think that it’s just that my audience isn’t there. 

There were also many pleasing moments, travels, food, books and all the little nothings that make life beautiful. I’ve progressed at dealing with some doubts, traumas and anxieties even though some new stuff has taken their place (put a coin in the jukebox and whe start again?). That’s funny because when I turned 25, I thought that things would only go upward from this point on. Turns out that they’re still a little chaotic and that I still have many things to figure out (and that makes it even more sad for people who think everything is over at 25, come on, that’s just the beginning). Anyway, that’s just life, trying out stuff, making mistakes and at the end, maybe, find your place. 

There are good things to come, I think, and right now I’m excited for the FE OC Week. 

Anyway, happy 27th birthday to me! I’m happy to turn 27, I like this number and beside, every year imparts me with more wisdom and life experience. Which is good. And as Julian of Norwich wrote: “All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well”.