#the coder is very funny

[voxiferous]

Image description: A news article titled "Developer Creates Infinite Maze that Traps AI Training Bots"

Link to an article about it, since the screenshotted one is paywalled: [LINK]

[krowbby]

sigh. i wish i could be excited about g*od *mens s3 but i'll be real i didn't even watch s2. s1 was fun but it just did not have the parts of the book i cared about. and i know im in the minority in the fandom! but i love anathema and newt and the them SO much and the four horsemen are such a fave of mine and since theyre barely in the show.... ah well. i will just be over here rereading and relistening to the book haha

[starryeyed-apple]

a fresh start (back to the beginning)

part i of small town au xavier series

synopsis: you thought that once you left your hometown, you were done with it forever. but fate has a funny way of working itself out, and your world falling apart drives you to return. and in the back of your mind, you can't help but remember him...

★pairing: xavier x fem!reader ★wc: 2.4k ★content: fluff and some angst, humor. small town dynamics, returning to hometown, childhood crushes. reader's grandpa had a health emergency as part of the plot (he's okay). reader is a medical coder, and still has heart problems. brief zayne mention (back in the city). mainly exposition in this chapter. ★a/n: YIPPEE YIPPEEEE im so excited to be starting this one. please be patient with me as this is the first series I've done in a while, and it may take time to get updates out because I want to take my time and have fun with this <3 ★masterlist ★read on ao3

Maybe you should've known, that despite everything in you trying to stay away, you'd always come back again.

There's a rush of relief when you see the deer on the town's welcome sign once you turn off the freeway, mixed with a sinking feeling of dread. A sensation that you've never been able to shake. A deep seated disappointment that yes, every road you'd taken away from here had eventually led you straight back.

You'd tried. You really did.

And you'd done pretty well for yourself, for a while. You'd landed a career that actually suited your education, one with benefits and a retirement plan on top of that. Also, it didn't make you want to peel your skin off 24/7, so that was a bonus.

You had a nice little townhouse all to yourself, with low enough rent, and good restaurants near your neighborhood.

A tight-knit group of sweet friends pulled you along with them when they went out on the weekends. And your boy—

You pause in your reminiscing, glancing down towards your hand on the steering wheel when you turn the car off the main street.

Yeah, no. Not thinking about that.

But it all boiled down to that phone call that nearly stopped your heart, already too faint for its own good all on its own.

The stop sign right before you turn onto your street is still a little crooked, a monument to the storm that had ravaged through the town back in '02. You'd only been a kid, and remembered how the water on the street came up to your knees before Gramps had swept you back inside.

Gramps, you think with an ache in your heart, hands tightening on the steering wheel before you force your grip to loosen.

His old beat-up truck is still in the driveway when you pull in next to it, and you have to remind yourself that that's all the scare was—fear, unrealized.

He was still inside, still okay. Maybe a little worse for wear, but alive.

Still, you wouldn't believe it until you saw it.

And so you're rushing out of the car when you've barely turned the ignition off. The keys dangle in your shaky hands when you take the steps up to the front door two at a time, an unbidden sob escaping your throat when the door's already opening.

Your grandpa just smiles, waving you closer from the wheelchair that his longtime neighbor pushes out—the very neighbor who'd found him passed out in the driver's seat of his truck when they came home after work.

"Oh, my girl," he sighs when you collapse into the hug he's waiting for, crying into his shoulder.

His wrinkled hand comes to pat the top of your head, and you finally feel at ease for the first time in the last 48 hours, since you'd gotten the call he was in the hospital. It was just a mini-stroke, they'd reassured, and you wanted to laugh bitterly if the sound wasn't stuck in your throat. Just.

"I'm okay. It's all okay now."

He wipes your tears and laughs, deep and joyous, when you pout at him.

"You scared me." You try not to sound like a whiny child, but the sound escapes you anyway, afraid you'd lost the only family you'd ever had in the blink of an eye.

"I'm sorry, girlie." He pats your head again, smiling, and it brings the first smile in the past two days onto your face. Relief finally floods your chest, and you deflate with it. "Come on, let's get you inside. Have you eaten? You look more like death than I do."

You laugh at the familiar dark humor as you grab onto his wheelchair handles to push him inside. Shooting a grateful glance towards Bethany, your neighbor, you mouth a sincere thank you. She just smiles.

"Anytime, sweetie," she hums, tucking your hair behind your ear, and the familiarity soothes that ache that still sits in your chest.

That persistent, gnawing feeling that now that you're back, you're not getting out again.

Still, there's comfort when she offers a warm greeting to your return, "Welcome home."

With a quiet groan, you squint at your laptop screen, all the letters making up the medical jargon jumbling together. You reread the sentence about which vein had been surgically connected to which artery for the fifth time, glance towards the codes, and lean back in your chair.

It had only been a week back home, and you were already going crazy. You could still do all your work remotely, thank god—but that just meant you were stuck with the same work and same old views all day, now. It was hard not to start feeling stir-crazy already, missing the life you had built for yourself.

Even if it had already started falling apart before you got the call.

Rubbing the heels of your palms against your eyes, you sigh, blinking rapidly at the lights that swim in your vision when you pull them back.

"Too many veins. Too many fucking arteries," you grumble, reaching for another sip of your latte, only to discover you were on its last dregs again. "Aarya—"

"No way," the barista calls from the counter, leveling you with a glare that rivals your own. "That's the second one you've had today, missy. I'm not making you another one, I know how your heart acts up when you've had too much."

You groan and huff, head dropping onto your arms on the corner of the table where you'd set up your work.

"It's not my fault." You switch tactics to whining instead, smirking into your arms when you sneak a glance to see your old high school friend wincing at the sound. If it grated on her nerves enough, she'd give in. She always had. "This is the fifth cardiovascular surgery in a row."

"That's too bad," Aarya sings, shooting you a smirk when you lift your head to glare at her. "Hey, you wanted to move to the city to work for a big hospital, now you have to deal with the consequences."

You stick your tongue out at her, and she returns it with a rude gesture that makes you bark out a laugh. It eases that tension at the base of your neck, and you sigh, rolling out the remaining tightness.

Glancing out the window you're seated next to, you squint at the small stage set up at the civic center right across the street from your favorite coffee shop.

"What's going on over there?" you ask, glancing over the small crowd that had gathered around whoever was giving a speech on stage.

Aarya leaves the counter to walk up behind you, leaning down to get a better look.

"Oh, that." She rolls her eyes, disinterested. "It's re-election time."

You look at the speaker for a few more seconds. Their platinum blond hair is graying, eyes too blue even from a distance, and then realization hits you.

"Is Mayor Shen still the mayor?"

"Yup," with a pop of the p, she shoots you a knowing smirk. "Some things never change, do they?"

"Is that even legal?" you ask, trying to remember if there was ever a time when the richest man in town hadn't also ran it. "Can you be mayor of a town for that long?"

"Who knows?" Aarya throws up her hands with a shrug, readjusting her septum piercing before sitting across from you. "Small towns and all that. People like things to stay the same."

"I guess so," you mutter, chin propped on your hand as you look back at your friend. "Does anybody even run against him?"

"Yeah, sometimes. I think somebody else is campaigning this year, but I can't remember who." She smirks, a familiar look in all its cynical charm. "They'll lose anyway."

You sigh, shaking your head as you look back at your laptop screen. With a groan, you slam it shut, earning an arch of Aarya's pierced eyebrow.

"Dr. Li will forgive me for taking a break," you tell her with a bright smile, and she huffs out a laugh.

"Dr. Li sounds like a merciful boss."

"Sometimes," you allow with a shrug. Zayne could be sweet if the mood struck him, especially if you were catering to his sweet tooth.

The surgeon was far too serious for his own good, but you had grown fond of him in the time you worked for the cardiovascular department in Linkon City's top hospital. His medical reports were way more organized than most other doctors you've coded for, and he was patient whenever you needed to ask for clarification.

"He's not really my boss, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." You nod, staring longingly at what had once been a full cup of coffee, as if willing it to refill on its own. "Hospital administration pays me."

Your phone chimes with a medication reminder, and you pass on the message in a quick text to your grandpa. Waiting, you see the read notification light up with the time, and frown when there's no further response.

With a sigh, you push yourself up from your seat, tucking your laptop back into your tote bag.

"Gotta go check on the old man," you explain at Aarya's questioning look. Fondness coats your voice at the nickname for him, emphasizing your hushed worry, and she softens.

"How's he doing?" she asks, her voice notably quieter, kinder than her usual harsh-edged monotone that you love so dearly.

"He's good," you brush off, because he was. Because he had to be.

You couldn't entertain any notion that he wasn't, even if he was remaining tight-lipped on everything the doctors had to say in his brief hospital visit. Stubborn as always, just like he'd raised you to be.

"Yeah, he's good."

"Good." Aarya is nodding, her mouth opening to say something else, but you're already spinning around towards the door, your practically empty drink in hand in preparation to throw away.

You stumble back in surprise when you collide right into somebody else as they walk into the café.

The jingle of the bell distantly rings in your mind while you sway dangerously, steadied by the gentle strength in the hands that quickly come around your shoulders.

"Woah," you hear a soft voice mumble.

It's faintly familiar in its melodic lilt, and your widening eyes shoot up towards its owner.

Deep blue eyes peer back at you, slowly widening a fraction as they take you in.

"Xavier," you breathe, and clear your throat. "Uh. Hi."

Xavier Shen blinks a few times.

Long, slow blinks, his head tilting to the side as he continues to take you in. It makes the bangs of his fluffy, silvery blond hair fall across his gaze, and he doesn't even bother to push it back.

"Oh," he finally says after a long moment that feels more and more like eternity. "It's you."

You try not to wince at the utterly lackluster reaction. Or retreat into your shell because of how long it took him to even recognize you.

"Yup." You attempt a laugh, grimacing internally when it comes out strained. "It's me…hi."

Trying to wave awkwardly, it gets even more awkward when you remember your cup is still in your hand.

The awkwardness intensifies when you realize even though it wasn't completely empty before, it's definitely empty now.

"Oh, shit," you hiss, eyes narrowing in on the very noticeable little coffee stain over the pocket of the completely white, pure as fucking snow hoodie that Xavier was wearing.

Your face heats up when he looks down and slowly blinks again.

"I'm so, so sorry," you begin to ramble, hovering around him in a panic. He just stares at the stain, then back up at you. "I—I can pay for you to get it cleaned, or get you a new—"

"It's fine," he interrupts you, not even trying to cover up the yawn that stretches across his face.

He rubs at his eyes, and with the tiniest tilt of his head that can hardly even be called a nod—honestly, it easily could've just been him looking at the menu behind you—he moves past you.

You're left blinking rapidly, empty cup still in hand, staring at the door you had been about to exit through.

You hear him ordering a drink from Aarya behind you, in that same soft-spoken tone he'd always had, and you try not to feel like you've just been left in the dust. A toy never even taken out of its box.

Some things never change, do they? You can practically hear Aarya's voice as you feel the weight of her gaze on your back when you leave, in a daze all the way back to your parked car.

Well.

That…wasn't exactly how you'd imagined it.

But in hindsight, it was Xavier Shen.

Effortlessly cool, top student Xavier Shen, having not a single care in the world as he aced every single test while hardly lifting a finger to study. Sleeping in the back of the classroom and finishing an exam in ten minutes when it was passed back to him.

Xavier Shen, who led the school's fencing team all the way to the national level of competition, and came home with the only first place trophy to grace its barren display cases. And another trophy every year after that, his name shining proudly on the top of the team's list on the shiny plaque.

Xavier Shen, only son of the rich and successful mayor, unsmiling but present in every newspaper photo of a town charity event.

Xavier, who disappeared from school for days or weeks a time, and came back paler, more tired than before.

Xavier, valedictorian and refusing to make a speech. Xavier, never bothering to show up at a school dance, absent even when he won the title of prom king.

Except for…

You clear your throat, shaking your head as you sink further into the driver's seat. Your face is hot when you bury it in your hands, banging your forehead against your steering wheel.

Popular without trying, without even caring, aloof and beautiful Xavier Shen.

Who met your eyes every time you would sneak a glance back at him. Who never said anything when you passed him in the halls, even with the way your eyes were glued to his every move.

Xavier, your biggest childhood crush, who hardly knew you ever even existed.

So maybe it should've been all you expected after all.

[tesalicious2]

Why you don't prank the Guard commanders

Since they are almost constantly tired and at the end of their rope, anything could set them over the edge and no one wants that

not only that but they will usually react very strongly because of their extenuating circumstances and it is often blown out of proportions

HOWEVER, the other battalions don't know that and just want to help their brothers have fun! what's wrong with that

THIRE:

Thire got off a three day mission with General Yoda that ends up with Thire covered in some giant monsters stomach fluids and snot

He had to sit in it for a ten hour ride back and is humilated, with Yoda attempting to comfort him which only makes it worse

On his way back to the HQ, some troopers from the 104th decided to hit a guard with fake slime, a funny little prank

When Thire is at the end of his rope, he goes for violence

Thire waltzes into the mess, calls out whoever pranked him, and proceeded to dress them down, chew them up, and spit them out in front of everyone in the entire mess (made up of a few battalions and some Padawan Commanders)

It boiled down to 'you morons, i will kill you, you tiny roaches are nothing to me and i will throw you in the trash compactor like the disgusting garbage you are' with much more colorful and degrading language thrown in

Many now fear Thire and Wolffe outright refuses to work with the man out of fear

STONE:

Stone had just stopped three prison riots, captured two escapees from said riots, updated the entire security system, and hadn't slept because of the previous items for four days

Some men from Kit Fisto's SCUBA battalion thought it would be funny to hide some of Stone's stuff that was in his office (ie, datapads, pens, etc) and moved his stuff three inches to any side

Stone, who usually just jumped onto the coach in his office with the lights off, missed the middle and went to far up and smacked his nose on the wooden arm of the couch and cracked a tooth

This was not a fun way to cap the last four days

He found the troopers and filled their SCUBA tubes with spiders for them to find when they shipped out. Too bad the spiders crawled onto their faces on the ship and not in the water :(

THORN:

Thorn had been assissting senators for three full days with only 5 hours of sleep while standing throughout meetings

He had been ready to sleep and was heading to his last meeting with General Kenobi and some of his troopers present

Wooley and Longshot decided to lighten the mood by setting their voice coders to a different language and telling him he was going crazy

They also removed the nonslip pads from the couch and it slid out from underneath him

This may not have been bad at all but after three days, every little thing is annoying as shit and exhausting

After that meeting, Thorn decides to take revenge

Thorn is a believer in you get what you give so he does something harmless

relatively harmless

He sneaks onto the 212th barracks on the ship and places a speaker into the vents of the barracks, above Wooley and Longshots bunks (as close as he could get, the sound reverbs so everyone is pretty mad about this prank)

Every so often, in random intervals (no more than 4 hours, no less than 1 hours) a beep would sound, not too loud but loud enough to be annoying after 2 days

At night, it gets louder and more frequent and quieter during the day

Many troopers lose sleep over finding the thing (Thorn literally unscrewed wall panels to hide it), its been 3 weeks and they arrive at their new battle field in a week

Four days before their arrival, as the speaker is about to die, in the middle of the night, the speaker goes to full volume and shouts 'THIS IS COMMANDER THORN. I MAY BE THE CAUSE OF YOUR SLEEPLESSNESS BUT LONGSHOT AND WOOLEY STARTED THIS. I WILL DO IT AGAIN ASSHOLES. THE SPEAKER IS GOING TO DIE SO ENJOY YOUR *TEMPORARY* FREEDOM. HAHHAHAHAHAH-' and then the speaker dies (Thorn hacked the cameras and enjoys playing the screaming arguments and shouts at the speaker during rough days)

Longshot and Wooley never hear the end of it

FOX:

Fox had been going through hell the entire week and he was ready to kill someone, even though his shift wasn't over yet.

Jesse, Fives, and Hardcase had decided to help Fox lighten up by shooting him with silly string throughout the day, switching armor with blank armor to keep hidden

Fox was paranoid and had to be sedated. He eventually tracked down the three and had his revenge not through their own annoyance

At first, he replaced their weapons with modified silly guns that quickly ended, leading them to believe they were free (the whole revenge lasted an hour ish as the three enjoyed playing with the silly string)

Unknown to them, Rex's entire room had been filled with silly string, his blasters, the padding in his matress, the drawers in his dress, the hair wash was liquid silly string, the soap was frozen strong, his pillow, his chair was broken then 'welded' back together with silly string and fell apart when he sat on it, etc.

He kept finding it and it lasted for days, the moment he thought it was over, more string came up. He was paranoid, everything was silly string

When he finally complained to the command chat, Fox told him that Jesse, Hardcase, and Fives caused it and that he overheard them planning it

When Rex punished them, they said they never did anything with silly string but many others saw them spraying each other with the silly string FOX pranked them with so everyone assumed they were messing with the leftovers from Rex's prank. Not only that but they weren't quiet about pranking Fox so everyone thought he was the warm up for Rex.

No matter what they said, Rex didn't believe a word and they were stuck on latrine duty for a whole month

When Rex found out about Fox getting pranked as well, Rex let them get punished by him too

Fox made them clean out all the massiff kennels and play areas, cleaning any stains from the puppies and getting used for bite practice by the adults everyday for their next leave.

Fox came by and watched them everyday, laughing at their misery

HOUND:

Hound loves pranks and jokes and will happily engage and laugh at them

however, the timing has to be right and most don't get that part (only the other ARF troopers know)

Some troopers from the 41st took his bed sheets and pillows and blankets and towels after some of his troopers and Hound ended a four hour chase through the sewers (they didn't know about the chase).

Hound normally would've thought this was hilarious but after spending two hours covered in sewage looking for towels around HQ just to shower, he was pretty mad

After cleaning up and ready for bed, he snuck into the 41st barracks and woke them up with a growling, snarling grizzer leaning over their face and a hand over their mouth.

He whispered, 'don't scream, you touch my shit again, I will end you and everyone you love.'

Rinse and repeat then he sneaks away

[sunnysidesevenup]

Overview

Trying to make this post a bit more “official”, but still a little funny <3

For those who haven’t seen this project before, this is a fun little dating sim featuring people’s TWST oc’s. It started as a bit of a joke but now it’s… definitely not. It’s actually a full game now. Even people who have no knowledge of TWST will be able to play it, haha…

If you’d like to be added to the tag list, let me know ^^

Updates from the Dev Team!

First up, all the sprites have been completed! The bases being done by me, and then expressions made by those who wanted to <3 You might see the sprites floating around, depending on who wants to post theirs or not. Most likely they’ll be used in memes lmao

Nearly all the first meetings have been written! Everyone has been doing an excellent job writing for their own characters. Even if we keep getting derailed by ships….

The shop has been completed! Mostly. Featuring the weirdest collection of items you have ever seen. And marketable plushies. Why are there plushies of students at a school shop? The world may never know…

Some Interesting Patch Notes

From our lovely coder @ramshackle-ramblings, who you should check out immediately. Seriously. Go do so. I am paraphrasing these notes because I think they’re hilarious, also some of them happened a while ago. Sorry for the slow updates.

We’re on version 0.0.2!! This is very exciting.

Tilly is no longer hoarding infinite cream soda. I think this is a win.

Griffin is no longer breaking the game! Yippee! I’m still keep the Griffin Thanos snap meme on hand though. Just in case.

March exists again. And might be the main character now considering the infinite Yurch loop.

Gave Tilly his hat back. This one was actually my fault, sorry Tilly…

Infinite Yurch Loop Fixed. These guys just REALLY wanted you to witness them fight.

And, of course, out of context memes.

We have a whole channel for these, so we can’t leave them out. Sadly there is an image limit 😭

Dev Team (& Character Cast)

check them out. Do it. You know you want to.

Abraham & Alise @ramshackle-ramblings (sorry for the double tag <3)

Griffin @twsted-void

March @kumikokane

Yurena @ranas-twisted-wonderland

Constance @theolivetree123

Tsuki @prefectrose

Otto @w1ndigo0

Rory @miriaocs

Arlo (from me and against his will <3)

Tag List

@purplefirepit @kirexa

[shepherds-of-haven]

omg yknow i associate the smell of the current alcohol i use for disinfecting with shoh and the first time i discovered interactive fiction during the midst of the pandemic 😭 (this one and absinthian ballad being my gateway into it) i used it a lot while i was down with covid at home back then but switched back to the alcohol i usually use

coincidentally my usual brand got sold out while i was restocking in december last year so when i got my hands on the one from when i was sick again i felt compelled to give the alpha demo a try (by then past me had only played up until the public one and didn't think too much of it) and became obsessed!! getting a quick peek into the game and how its variables work together (when dashingdon was still up) as a coder myself somewhat made me inspired to pick up a visual novel project with some old friends we've paused for a while LOL

but yeah thank you so much for letting us experience the world you've created and getting to know the people within it, looking forward to what's in store for the future! 🫶

may or may not have written this after having caught a whiff of the aforementioned alcohol again 😭😭

Hahaha, it's so funny how sense and memory work in tandem, I love that you've come to associate a disinfectant smell with ShoH! 🤣 I'm so glad that it inspired you to work on your own project again, and thank you for the very kind words!!

[yanderes-galore]

Fandom: Invader Zim

Character: Gaz Membrane (aged up)

Pairing: Romantic

Type of Fic: Concept

(Optional) Other info I should know: Gender-neutral human reader

I can try, sure. Although it may be short as I kept running out of ideas :( Decided to flesh out the aged up AU in this.

Yandere! Gaz Membrane Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Manipulation, Slight isolation, Jealousy, Implied murder, Dubious relationship.

Alright, I imagine this would be an AU around college.

Both Gaz and Dib are in college for different careers.

Dib is probably studying science or something like that, despite being fixated on the paranormal due to Zim.

Gaz seems like she'd be a coder, like a video game coder who's antisocial and tends to be by herself?

Those seem like the careers the two siblings would major in.

Gaz probably still likes the goth aesthetic, often staying in her dorm coding while ordering pizza.

She's still petty like she was when she was younger too.

She still rarely smiles and many tend to leave her alone.

That's fine for her... She likes her focus.

She tends to play with people online but isn't fond of human interaction.

For the most part Gaz is a shut in.

However, many in her class remark that she is an excellent coder.

Not only that, but Dib is probably also excellent in his field.

Gaz, when it comes to her obsession, is still very quiet.

She observes your presence and possibly even enjoys it.

Compared to others, you're more tolerable than most people.

She isn't really possessive or protective.

She cares for her obsession but, again, is relatively quiet about it.

Imagine if you two are in the same major or another class?

Either one would make you two interact.

At first she's cold, always focused on her handheld or her laptop.

Although... Over time you two end up interacting for projects.

Which allows you two to become friends.

Gaz originally viewed talking to you as a means to an end like she does with most people.

Yet over time she realized your presence is, at the very least, tolerable if not pleasant.

I feel as a yandere she isn't that intense... around you at least.

I imagine to those around you she'd be horrible.

Gaz doesn't care for many people except her family and you in this case.

Many are scared of her, they have been since she was young.

Not like she cares though.

After all, she's the most at ease in her passions.

You are quickly becoming one of her... passions.

Gaz likes to bond with you as she codes, especially if you're both coders or working on a game together.

An interesting idea is Gaz convinced Dib to help her in her obsession.

For example, maybe making a camera to watch you.

Dib is nervous about why she'd want such a thing...

Yet Gaz is very secretive on why she wants such a thing.

For the most part Gaz doesn't really bother with cameras.

She follows you around herself, watching either from the shadows or just hanging out with you.

You two are no doubt both introverts...

Which means you two get along best with one another.

This works in her favor as she doesn't need to worry about other people near you.

Not like they'd come close with her around, right?

I can even see you and Gaz pulling all nighters on certain projects.

It may just be work with some company... but to Gaz it's like bonding.

To you she's quiet, occasionally smiling around you while you both hang out.

To others... Many feel she could kill.

She's already known to stalk and torment others.

Especially if they're too close to you.

It's worse if Gaz finds out someone likes you romantically.

Apparently, once she finds out, that person just... disappears?

No one on campus knows why or where they go...

But they're nowhere to be found, supposedly transferring away.

Or worse, but best not to look into that.

It's funny how oblivious you are.

Gaz just seems to be your quiet goth friend who enjoys coding and your time together.

The thought of her being behind disappearances or even stalking you doesn't register in your mind.

Gaz also seems like the type of person to install malware or spyware on your PC to learn more about you.

All really subtle things that don't link back to her.

Gaz would never hurt her obsession... but others are fine.

This is her own twisted way of dealing with her crush.

She isn't sure if she can tell you right away...

Which leads to her being your best friend and learning everything you have to offer.

Including watching over you as you sleep in her dorm.

She may not admit it, but you mean a lot to Gaz.

Even Dib can tell... although he finds the way she deals with her feelings... creepy.

When wasn't Gaz creepy, though? She's been that way since they were babies....

Dib doesn't entirely support Gaz... yet doesn't go against it either.

Mostly because Gaz threatens him to not look into it.

Gaz is completely fine with keeping her feelings quiet.

She's patient... but until then...

She has competition.

Subtle ways Gaz keeps you to herself is you staying at her dorm often or study sessions.

It's quiet, just like her, and you just see one another as friends.

Gaz knows she should tell you her feelings some day.

After all, someone else may do it before her...

But she'll prevent that no matter what it takes.

When she does, she'll be your girlfriend.

She won't kidnap... yet you're already isolated as is....

You won't see her red flags and she'll tone it down when you're hers.

She may not be possessive... outwardly at least.

Yet she can be jealous.

Jealous to the point it irritates her.

For now, Gaz will just study, play games, and eat pizza with you...

She'll wait to confess...

Then you can really be all hers, with a bit of patience... and some planning.

[nomsfaultau]

Oh yeah qsmp Phil is just out there enjoying the island

Weeks-long imprisonment where he lost his sense of reality? Death Game where he was forced to fight his friends for the lives of the children? Being possessed and made to fight his own child for days?

Nope! He's just been chilling at the beach with his (platonic) husband and kidd :)

wait doesn’t he have two kids

did

did one die? I heard the child mortality rate was really high on the normal vacation island.

okay things I know on this:

Something something doll house??? He played a hardcore stream and then woke up in the qsmp I remember that being said.

is that the Bolas bolas bolas thing

ender king! I know this one! He fought Chyanne! (I don’t think I’m spelling right..) One of the eggs! It was very said and techno was there?

His twitter profile changed from egg nest emoji to empty nest and this made everyone sad

clipped wings? Cane??

my roommate insists evil Quackity is not actually evil (el- something? El rapido???) and was just abused and experimented on. He got very passionate about defending this character and I just nodded along to whatever it said.

i know for a fact Phil’s eggs were replaced by evil guys (coders?) at some point and he immediately clocked because I felt very vindicated about choices I made in both Lambs and Fault

also I can’t tell which one is Philza’s /p husband. I think there’s like five who can be considered that. I think it’s Missa. I’m crossing my fingers it’s Missa because otherwise some joke I made with scraps of information were not as funny as I thought they were

[tenaciouschronicler]

June 12-18 2025 2010

Paradox Space? Alternia?? Carcino??? Where the heck are we????

It looks like we've got a new story line but not necessarily an Intermission. Kinda like when we were with WV for some pages. It does have its own name: Hivebent. The planet we are on is grey with two moons which look like the ones that we saw when Die ended up in the timeline where Slick didn't exist. So the whole of the intermission takes place on Alternia. That means exiles end up on the dead planet of their session players. Finally, the race that exists on this planet are called trolls. I'm almost positive in-universe the trolls are astonished that the kids were able to guess that info when that's not exactly the case.

We get a lot of information in these pages so instead of going by update I'm gonna break it down by troll and generic info about them. Mostly because I'd never get this done otherwise.

carcinoGenetisist a.k.a. KARKAT VANTAS

Does not have any time to even consider humoring us. Out of all the introductions during the naming portion, we get the most insight with Karkat here. Hes got the same level of awareness as Rose but more of the snark of Dave.

Your name is KARKAT VANTAS. [Your name is JOHN.] You have a passion for RIDICULOUSLY TERRIBLE ROMANTIC MOVIES AND ROMCOMS. [You have a passion for REALLY TERRIBLE MOVIES.] You like to program computers, but you are NOTORIOUSLY PRETTY AWFUL AT IT. [You like to program computers but you are NOT VERY GOOD AT IT.] Your trolltag is carcinoGeneticist and you speak in a manner that is ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY ORNERY, ALL THE TIME.

Comparing John and Karkat is so funny. They are our first characters for their respective sessions which makes them the 'default' protag, in so much as a comic like this has a protag. On top of that, we get introduced on their birthday. The biggest difference in the initial paragraph is how much more detail we get with Karkat. We've already got a taste in the chatlogs with how much he dumps even if he says he wont. It makes sense then that we get extra info regarding each sentence like how his movie taste should be embarrassing or he thinks himself a virus coder.

Not a one to one but while John aspires to be a MAGICIAN, Karkat here aspires to be a THRESHECUTIONER. Very different job ideals and good for preparing us for how violent this society is comparatively. As well, we get confirmation that this is indeed Carcino by giving us his trolltag and letting us know he is almost always combative and stubborn.

Like John, the walls of his room contain movie posters. The ones I can tell right off the bat are 50 First Dates and Hitch. [Midnight Sam here! I figured out the other poster because of John Cusack, its Serendipity]. Much like ones we've seen, they are greyscale but these have the addition of horns on each actor and indiscernible, long ass titles.

We get a little bit of captcha nonsense where we learn Karkat uses ENCRYPTION which he later trades with the yet-to-be-named hacker. Hes also able to pick up items without having to captcha them.

I haven't talked about this yet but we seem to be seeing past events leading up to their entry to the game while also getting information of what is to happen without having to wait for it, unlike with the kids where we work in the present time.

The lawnrings are empty. Blood skims the voids in your porous cranial plates, as if grazing the hollow of a threshed stem, or say, an abandoned cocoon. A sour note is produced. It's the one Agitation plays to make its audience squirm. [...] You have a feeling it's going to be a long night.

Karkat interrupts the normal poetic moment and goes onto a tangent about how useless he finds everything comparing it to the mail, which they don't have. He goes back inside showing off the equivalent of Game Bro, Game Grub, and talking to a different troll than we've met, terminallyCapricious.

After we get introduced to TC we return to Karkat and his attempts to code with ~ATH. According to Karkat ‘[i]ts logic is composed of nothing but infinite loops, or at best, loops of effectively interminable construction.’ Apparently to make the code finish executing you have to find a way to terminate it “manually” which is typically done by binding the code to a real lifespan. Karkat's main code is tied to the death of the universe, U, with a subloop tied to his own death. ‘[C]oding with this language is all about finding ways to trick it into doing what you want.’ which TA is apparently very good at. Kar shows us one of those said codes which ‘immediately causes the user's computer to explode, and places a curse on the user forever, along with everyone he knows, and everyone he'll ever meet.’ Very cool. I wanna sit on this. Like really think about it because 1. Kar apparently executes this code later and 2. the logic behind it is perhaps a way to end the game. The kids game session is essentially looping code that has no way to exit the subloops, unlike Karkat's, to execute the main loop and end the game.

Speaking of TA and the game we get to see a chat with him and Kar which spirals into a toxic mess before Kar calls for a time out to learn more about said game. Between TA and Gamzee, I think Karkat values his friendship with TA way more. While he brushes it off as a running joke, Kar genuinely feels embarassed about the devolving convo. This guy does not feel shame easily.

On the game side of things, this is all TA's fault and also AA's. AA is the one who found the tech (Rose's server? another time capsule?) in some ruins and gave it to TA whos essentially rebuilt it or 'adapted' it as he says. This is gonna just go so swimmingly.

terminallyCapricious a.k.a GAMZEE MAKARA

I’m gonna be so honest, I was not expecting a new character revealed so soon. As abrupt as it feels, it works very well with the transition of the chatlog. Karkat is absolutely awful in that log. I mean the level of vitriol is off the charts. On the one hand we were warned that this is his style of communication but on the other my god hes about as cuddly as a jumping cactus. But that's also what makes this log funny to me. Unstoppable force (Karkat’s rage) v. Immovable object (Gamzee’s nonchalance). It just takes so much out of the rants and makes him more like a chihuahua, I cant take it seriously.

Your name is GAMZEE MAKARA.

You get pretty excited by CLOWNS OF A GRIM PERSUASION WHICH MAY NOT BE IN FULL POSSESSION OF THEIR MENTAL FACULTIES.

You like to practice on your ONE WHEEL DEVICE, which you are GOD AWFUL at because your FEET DO NOT RACH THE PEDALS.

Your trolltag is terminallyCapricious and you speak in a manner that is JuSt A lItTlE bIt WhImSiCaL.

Gamzee’s intro reminds me a lot of Dave's in how it gives a third party perspective like someone is talking to us directly rather than narrating to us. He’s got wild hair and tall horns with white face paint. Combined with what he shares about his cult I”m inclined to say hes a Juggalo/ into the Insane Clown Posse ( I know like two songs from animation memes). Combine that with the unicycle, horns and clubs, he is very firmly in the clown circle. The symbol on his shirt is the same one for Saturn which rules Capricorn and his color is a darker purple than Rose’s. There's some insane clown posters on the walls and bottles of Faygo everywhere which makes me really want a Faygo. Maybe I can convince my mom to stop at Fiesta tomorrow before we pick up my dad at the airport.

Gamz’s modus leaps up to the top of the worst modi possible list, the MIRACLE MODUS. Its got tons of cards but it flashes all sorts of colors an everything gets put in all willy nilly while getting anything out of it seems to be up to the whims of the universe. Which I guess is exact;y what hes all about. Gamzee apparently makes pies out of the stuff trolls use to sleep in which he notes hes not supposed to as it ‘does funny things to a trolls head’ but his Custodian is very neglectful and never thought to teach him that. His hive lies fairly close to the ocean where SEA DWELLERS live and are noted to be very hostile.

GC starts pestering Gamzee and proves my point on just how unbothered Gamz is about everything. GC very much does not like that she cant get under his skin but likes the idea of inviting Karkat to play TA’s game even less. This makes me wonder why these guys even got together to play this game in the first place. From the little interactions we've gotten it doesn’t really seem like any of these trolls like each other.

gallowsCalibrator a.k.a TEREZI PYROPE

Much like herself Terezi's room is alot. Full to the brim with a variety of multiple, clashing colors, SCALEMATE plushies and chalk drawings.

Your name is TEREZI PYROPE.

You are pretty enthusiastic about dragons. But you have a PARTICULAR AFFECTION for their COLORFUL SCALES, which you gather and use to decorate your hive.

You take an interest A justice, holding particular fascination for ORCHESTRATING THE DEMISE OF THE WICKED.

Your trolltag is gallowsCalibrator and you SP34K W1TH TH3 NUM3R4LS TH3 BLlND ROPH3TS ONC3 US3D.

Shed probably get alomg well with AR until he figure out just how skewed her judicial beliefs are. Terezi here is a junior prosecutor with something akin to synesthesia where she can taste colors. Literally. Whether she always had this ability or she gained it after becoming blind is unclear. I does explain all the color. Its implied that she was blinded during a LARPing accident which is much more extreme than our version probably is.

We get a bit derailed compared to Karkat and Gamzee as Terezi goes on to roleplay a courtroom drama featuring SENATOR LEMONSNOUT and beetle embezelment.

Alternia

Six sweeps is equal to 13 Earth years which comes out to one sweep for every 2 years and 2 month on Earth. There is something called a bi-lunar perigee though there's no reference for how long that is. A perigee is actually when the moon is closest to earth and happens about every 28 days. So either one day is equal to 28 of ours or the phenomena occurs differently there.

Also Earth doesn't exist yet.

Trolls are indeed a species with a larval stage and birthdays are known as wriggling days.

TROLLIAN is also a new application with a recently released BETA.

When you mature, you aspire to join the ranks of the most lethal members of your society, the THRESHECUTIONERS.

You hope one day to join the honorable ranks of the LEGISLACERATORS.

Some interesting job titles.

SBURB does not currently exist for the trolls "But it will soon." which absolutely is not threatening whatsoever./s

Also Karkat and five others are supposed to play it but we know that 12 of them end up in the Medium so did they somehow merge the two six-player sessions? Does that mean that six is the maximum amount of players for a single session? Or is it more of that destiny bs? I know TA set it up to be competing teams but SBURB has done more with less.

It is your RECUPERACOON full of nourishing SOPOR SLIME. Every young troll enjoys the cozy embrace of such a vessel each night, and the relaxing ooze helps assuage the terrible visions of blood and carnage that plague the dark subconscious of your species.

Ok aside from the weird uses of words that add to the alien nature of the trolls being aliens, I've never heard of SOPOR. I've heard of Stupor and apparently they are both abnormal states of deep sleep with stupor being the more severe of the two and probably why its more commonly used. On the one hand it explains Gamzee's 'high' state if its supposed to be a soporific agent to assist in sleeping. Directly ingesting it is probably not the safest idea. On the other hand!, I know it says it helps with the inherited PTSD of the species but how would that affect something like oh say, waking up your dream self?

Trolls think fashion stupid.

Is this true or is this just Karkat being Karkat?

Is that John Cusack? The thing that most people don't realize is that John Cusack is a universal constant.

Serious question, forgive me... who tf is John Cusack?? I'm sorry I'm TERRIBLE at names and faces.

You were allowed to design this hive when you were young, after you emerged victorious from your trials deep in the brooding caverns. You have lived here with your CUSTODIAN ever since. It's almost as if your people have placed great cultural importance on teaching children to become architecturally adept while very young.

I am looking very suspiciously.

Troll TV shows have shorter titles than troll movies because TV is a much newer form of media in their society.

On Alternia, there is no such thing as a defense attorney, or a defense.

Not related to Alternia but our command ==> has changed to ======>. Dont know if theres a story reason or if it just helps diferenciate the two stories.

[sweetfirebird]

Genuinely dying that they believe, after that shitshow of a parade and all his previous miserable rallies, that any serious number of MAGA would buy a Trump phone. So fucking funny. Why do they keep forgetting that their base is poor as shit? Rich people can bribe him with crypto or a "Trump card" or a whole fucking used plane nobody else wanted. But people who love their iPhones are not going to trade them in for a crappy plastic gold-colored phone with no security and --considering how they do everything--very probably no quality control.

I am sure it's a grift too of course but like, with no training, no skills, no factories, no coders of quality, no networks built, they are going to challenge... Apple. I don't use Apple but wow are they high on their own supply. They really are. Incredible.

I know some MAGA will buy it like some Cybertruck owners stubbornly insist they love their shitmobiles. But not huge numbers. Of course not.

And then they don't even have a celebrity or one of the "glamor" Trumps hawking it. It's fucking Eric. lol

[ask-the-puppet-and-the-puppeteer]

error: unrecognized command line option '$ Alpha hello can you talk?'. Case sensitivity issue: check if the capitalization of the letters in your command is correct.

What a dumb fucking error. Not everyone's a goddamn coder. Lemme fix that for ya.

$ alpha hello can you talk?

error: unrecognized command line option '$ Alpha, can you understand us? Bob once for yes.'. Case sensitivity issue: check if the capitalization of the letters in your command is correct.

That dumb fucking error again. Ugh. What kind of fucking wannabe computer science nerd would care about case sensitivity in a fucking askblog? The fuck you mean "just shut up and fix it"? What am I, your fucking maid? Your personal fucking on-call I.T. servant? Har har, very fucking funny. Anyways, imma just rewrite it to listen to both commands.

There we go, now fuck off.

$ Alpha, can you understand us? Bob once for yes.

< Previous | First | Next >

[rotting-ink]

I have a question that may seem out of nowhere but…seeing your work has me thinking of maybe making my own IF game one day, but I have zero clue on how to code or make the game. Are there any tools you’d suggest to help me learn? Thank you!

Immediately, get Twine! Ren.py is nice and all, but I love Twine. I can do so much and all without the ability to draw.

DO NOT ignore the free templates on Twine they offer. They offer some fun things to do with Stylesheet section that you can have a LOT of fun playing around with.

What I did to properly learn A LOT, is to download a twine game on itch, then import it to your own twine. I did this right at the start JUST to look over the coding they did. It was such a good way to see how your favourite authors and coders choose to do things. Like, it's literally how i Learned. Looking at all the things you could do to collect variable answers, like the cycle option as well as listbox. It makes for amazing reading and I still have my own notes for all the extras that were hard to find in the official twine cookbook (WHICH IS STILL A V GOOD RESOURCE) Also, genuinely, keep playing other IFs. You'll get inspired as you go. Even the Wayfinder author legit keeps a helpful guide on their page just from how fuckin insane their own game is!

OH! THE WAY TO LINK TO ANOTHER PASSAGE IS [[ ]]. ITS VERY OBVIOUS BUT I DIDNT FIND THIS OUT FOR A BIT TOO LONG AND I WAS CONFUSIONED FOR A DAY. then, so your players can read something other than the passage name you can add a | in the middle. So you can fully put [[You slowly continue down the hallway....|Hallway.StealTheirBallsPassage]]. I've done this so much just to make myself giggle.

Join the Twine discord. Those people are fucking legends. I prefer to use sugarcube, it's closer to what I learned in school, and I can just send in either something I'm having trouble with or something I want to do but don't know how, and they fully take time out of their day to help. Then ALSO, the twine reddit. I have gone there in times of need more often than I dare to voice.

Genuinely, the more you spend time coding, the easier it gets. I'M NOT KIDDING. It used to take me a lot longer than a day or two to fix up a demo, have a nice layout, plus audio, and a solid amount of choices built into the text, but these days, now that I'm used to all of it, it takes next to no time at all! It's downright fucking funny. ALSO YOU HAVE TO BE READY TO GET EXPERIMENTAL WITH IT! That's the best way to learn.

Invest in someone else to read and play through when you're getting up in the word count. YOU WILL MISS THINGS. Rotwood is literally 106883 Words and 346 Passages long now. Do you know how fucking bug riddled and messy my game would be if not for my beta testers? VERY.

Hope that's what you're been wanting to know. GO have fun!

[unsoundedcomic]

I see you use lots of computer-y terminology for the Khert when you're talking out here in the real world. Occasionally the characters do too, like the Khert hubs.

Is there value in reading Unsounded's whole world as textually a big simulation on some machine – with the gods as original coders, and wrights as parts of the program which have learned how to modify it directly?

Or is it more of a helpful way to conceptualise their magical realities for us in this computer-heavy world – like Duane could read a story set here and ask "Does their internet imply everything is just a big pymaric?" for much the same meaning?

No worries if it's something you'd rather keep mysterious for now, or potentially metaphorical without committing either way!

It's tough to say it's definitively NOT a simulation. After all, you and I could be in a simulation and the comic could be a feature of it. So I leave that up to your interpretation.

But I use that terminology... for a very specific reason. And it's not a reason the story will ever broach. The true origins of the world will never be revealed, not in the text nor on here, but I know them. And the structure of it all is, of course, relevant to that.

It's funny to imagine Duane isekai'd to our world and finding computing strangely familiar. Like the little girl in Jurassic Park. "This is a UNIX system... I know this...!"

[agendratum]

i only managed to get through a chapter and a half during this break but i'm soooooooooo

very excited and happy to see all of them again, they're my friends

some notes

xiao ke was supposed to look 16?? damn

baijie is a name form a porn novel. okay

baijie is taller than qiushi <3

xiong qi!! xiao ke!! baijie!! qiushi!! my friends!!

cool fucking horror bro, i knew what was supposed to happened and still got chills what the hell aksdlj

also very funny. especially baijie, the funniest person in the door

i'll probably keep using my tag from the drama but i don't think qiushi is a coder here....

on the other hand, he also isn't bald

[nobody-nexus]

More Sinful Circus stuff!

I forgot to show Sun and Moon's designs, who in this are guards that make sure none of the prisoners like murder one another. They have admin powers, meaning in this both the sun and moon are stronger then Caine which is funny to me

Sun is very much rules are rules no matter how ridiculous they are. Her favorites are Gangle and Ragatha because they're the MOST likely to listen to her, whilst Jax literally never listens- so she's constantly pissed at him

Moon is the more 'good cop' of the two- willing to bend the rules a LITTLE but not by much. She has a crush on Caine because she adores his crazy demeanor and creative personality, but hates Pomni due to how dangerous she can be- especially around others

Also here's the sexualities, genders, and ships (+ a brotp) within this AU! (Keep in mind the sexualities, genders, and ships are NOT CANON to the official material ^^)

Surprise surprise, the first one is Ragapom. THEY ARE MY COMFORT SHIP. Pomni is a transfem lesbian whilst Ragatha is just a bisexual mess. Their ship dynamic is very simple: Easy to fluster x calm mommy gf. Ft: Masochism! Ragatha's kind of in denial of finding Pomni's murderous side hot buuuut she does find it hot. Especially when she growls

Next is Jax x Zooble, which I call Bad Rabbit. Like NO ONE in the prison expected this. They just one day became a thing and told NO ONE ELSE about it. They're partners in crime who smoke weed and take ibuprofen together honestly. Like they insult one another a lot, but it's their form of love... Also they support each other's chaotic adventures and behavior

Caine x Moon- one of the two only straight people in the circus fell in love with authority. I'd like to think that Moon's like the ONLY one that can calm down Caine's madness by a little bit- and Sun HATES that they love one another. The coders do nothing about it cause they don't care, but Sun VERY MUCH CARES (Caine isn't aware Sun doesn't approve)

GANGLE AND KINGER ARE BESTIES YOUR HONOR. We love two atutistic people just existing with one another. Gangle will keep Kinger company in his 'kingdom' while she doodles. Kinger 100% treats Gangle like a daughter, even giving her a princess like role- complete with a paper crown

Like I said in the first post- if you have any questions about the Sinful Circus AU- my inbox is nice and open! I'll happily continue making stuff involving this AU! I was thinking the next thing I discuss is a more in depth look on how Abstraction works and what the monsters in this AU do. Stay tuned for that ^^

[sunshine-in-a-bottle]

hello, suds :D

i come with six ships for the shipping bingo card (pick and choose which ones you want to do): c!dreamnoblade, c!dreamza, c!awesamdrunz, c!aswesamdream, c!awesampunz, c!drunz (for the first two you can also use the bingo card from here (https://www.tumblr.com/sunshine-in-a-bottle/764332055865835520)

I am frothing at the mouth. God you are being so nice to me right now and letting me be insane. I appreciate you so much.

DNB^. I did both because of course I did. I love your template I Needed To Use It.

DNB obviously got a lot more for the second bingo than the first because they are objectively the healthiest possible pairing you can get here. Look at them. Theyre perfect for each other. Theyre narrative foils, theyre parallels going in opposite directions but forever side by side in their path. It would have to be a very specific universe for them to even BEGIN to be able to make each other worse.

I know because of the way things worked it couldn't be called something canon, but in a world where the DSMP was made in a different medium, DNB would have been an excellent endgame for both of their characters. It maximizes their healing. They both get to be understood at a fundamental level, and seek comfort that they just wouldn't be able to get from other people.

Techno gets to take care of someone who really needs that care, someone who laughs at his jokes and finds him funny, someone who is rewarding to try and make laugh, because god knows Dream tries so hard to be insurmountable. Dream gets that personal attention he so desperately needs without being enabled or placated, or shut down for expressing clear boundaries. Literally my only gripe with the pairing is that its so healthy that I can't go batshit insane about problematic behavior like I like to do.

But honestly the yearning can be so intense that it makes up for anything else. My god can these two yearn, quietly but intently.

Dreamza^. By god this is the greatest crack rarepair to have ever existed in the history of ever.

Its so incredibly unlikely to happen just because of how canon went, but they have so much hidden potential as both a character study and for Shenanigans. They're both admins. They meet for the first time because Philza broke into Dream's server. Philza's son has made Dream's life miserable. Dream is like a younger version of Philza in all the confidence and control and burgeoning power that leaves Philza with both a sense of deja vu but also makes him feel like he's back in the old days, when things were a little less complicated. Dream is reckless and has no self preservation, but even if he has the skill to back it up, Philza still can't help but want to watch his back. Dream's trust is fragile and intense and hard-earned, and doesn't it feel good to earn it? To see this silly young man who endures the world feel safe to reach out a hand to Philza and let Philza take it?

Also the AU concept of Dream being an insane coder with no training VS Philza who actually knows what he's doing and is fascinated and horrified by how Dream runs the server is funny, okay?

Also Kristen can watch them fuck, no notes.

^Awesamdrunz. Listen. Listen. I experience mental illness. I'm going directly to super hell. There's so many things wrong with them, and with anyone else this would go terribly but somehow they make it work. This is somehow the healthiest relationship they could achieve. They can make each other so much worse in some ways (excusing each others crimes) but they could also make each other so much better in others (Dream heals, Sam is redeemed, Punz feels less alone.) I read 100 fics about them and they were all my own. I too want to be an evil necromancer who is consistently loafed on and gets self care.

I didn't mark "I wish more people would ship them" because honestly I'm pretty content with the amount of people who do ship them already. This ship is one part porn, one part crack, one part angst, and three parts kidnapping, I'm not expecting everyone in the fandom to turn around and go THERE IT IS. THE SHIP OF ALL TIME when its such a specific flavor of insanity and doesn't have a ton of canon merit. I like being able to bother my friends about it, and everyone who wants to sit with me on tumblr and ao3 and rotate it with me is nice and good. This feels comfortable.

^Awesamdream. I had to take a break from writing this and came back wondering "why didn't I put that they were perfect for each other." maybe it was for Torture in Prison reasons??? Maybe I was thinking about how they aren't a ship that is perfect in a healthy sort of way, theyre both so mentally ill about each other from prison after all, and Sam's control issues don't naturally blend with Dream's control issues.

But I kind of don't mind that they aren't perfect for each other? I don't think they need to fit like a glove, weaving in and out of each other and completely complimenting the other. Their hands don't fit perfectly- if its post prison, especially, since Dream's lacking a couple fingers- and Dream steps on Sam's feet when they dance. But it feels good to write them a little messy, a little fucked up, but still able to Be Good to each other, Sam towards Dream especially. Not healthy, but happy.

(admittedly, I had to write them like that myself for the most part when I first joined the fandom. Most of what Awesamdream was at the time was torture porn and angst, because YKnow, Prison, but I really wanted to explore them Being Happy and wasn't sure where to start. I'm really grateful for the dreblr discord server for giving me a place to write a lot of my early fics for them.)

^SamPunz. Do you understand how delightful these two are? Do you understand The Vibes that they give when they're together. Listen I'm rapidly running out of braincells but I love to imagine just. In the CKAU the way that Punz fundamentally changes Sam for the better by forcibly instilling boundaries that Dream can't instill on his own.

The way that Punz is so misanthropic, so distrusting of people and so angry at the world and at Sam for what he did. Punz isn't sure they want to believe Sam's capable of change, because in their mind it would be so much easier to kill him and be done with it.

But Dream wants and hopes that Sam can be better if they just try, so Punz is forced to Not Kill As A First Solution. Punz is forced to deal with the an absolute travesty of a creeper. Punz goes from "humanity can't be saved lets kill the server and everything on it and becomes gods" to "actually people might be able to change and become better. I don't like having feelings about this. I don't like having to reckon with my own humanity. Goddamn it Sam."

Listen I'm just rotating Punz pushing Sam against the wall, holding the Communication Knife to his throat, and threatening him. Sam is trying very hard not to find this extremely attractive. He is failing.

I need them to fuck.