#this actually looks better on mobile than on desktop SURPRISE!

[hoonclub]

SUNGHOON / 220715 — FUTURE PERFECT (PASS THE MIC)

[improper-integral]

I posted 8,194 times in 2022

That's 2,259 more posts than 2021!

60 posts created (1%)

8,134 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@stupid-lemon-eater

@thebadwulff

@annundriel

@snake-and-mouse

@upsidedowngoblin

I tagged 7,118 of my posts in 2022

Only 13% of my posts had no tags

#honestly me - 634 posts

#lmao - 476 posts

#supernatural - 288 posts

#our flag means death - 255 posts

#tumblr - 211 posts

#the devil judge - 195 posts

#cats - 187 posts

#destiel - 185 posts

#tgcf - 182 posts

#fanfic - 145 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i don't care about mcr but this post distresses me cause i'm apparently like the same age as batman in the new movie which is uncomfortable

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Today I turn 34!

My 30s really have been better than my 20s, so far. Hopefully that trend continues for the upcoming year!

I took today off so I could have a 3 day weekend, and I'm going on a quick solo road trip to Big Bear (mountain area of SoCal) to celebrate 😊 Even though it might be rainy tomorrow, hopefully I can come back with photos to share!

8 notes - Posted August 12, 2022

#4

My blaze post finished last night and I got the "Blaze Report" after I went to bed.

Here are the stats: Impressions: 9223 Likes: 271 Reblogs: 114 Replies: 32 Follows: 2 Shares: 9

Yes, while some people assumed I paid for the $10 version, I actually paid for the $25 version, which estimates 7k impressions, so I'm surprised I got over 9k [insert meme here].

These stats don't line up with the notes on the actual post, which is curious. It has 40 comments (including 3 of my own), 184 reblogs and 356 likes. I'm guessing the difference comes from users who saw the reblogs and not the original sponsored post? Getting only 580 notes with 9k impressions is a little disappointing but that's tumblr for you

Anyway, that was super fun! I think I might try again sometime, but maybe with something less likely to have people curse at me lmao

9 notes - Posted April 25, 2022

#3

alivorte ➡ brillemos

I posted about this earlier today (thanks @tenacioustam and @lib for responding and helping me pick!) but I finally changed my url!

In case you missed it, brillemos means "let's shine" in Spanish! And is also a pun on my name, Bri, because I'm a cringe dork and proud of it 😎

I saved alivorte as a side blog and wrote a little JavaScript that will auto-redirect to my new url, even if you're just looking at a singular post, it will redirect to that post. BUT, it only works on desktop. I don't know how to make it work on mobile and I'm not particularly motivated to try. Sorry mobile-using followers 😅

9 notes - Posted April 19, 2022

#2

I'm registered for the Lesbians Who Tech Pride Summit this year and I recall that you went to the same event before (or something that sounded very, very similar to it). Do you have any tips to get the most out of it? I am still very much a tech newbie who wants to break into tech and the agenda looks a bit overwhelming. Thanks in advance if you have time to answer this ask! If not, it's okay...you sharing your career journey on tumblr has been inspiring, to say the least!

Aww thanks! I did go to Lesbians Who Tech back in 2018 when I was still in grad school. I think I also signed up for the virtual pride summit this year as well, though I probably won't be able to attend (work kinda gets in the way lol).

The biggest regret I have about when I attended in 2018 was being too shy to try to connect with other people there. I think that's probably the biggest benefit to attending events like this in the first place - networking. Which I've never been particularly good at, lol. So if possible, I'd recommend targeting sessions about networking or allow you to network.

Otherwise, as a tech newbie, you likely won't get much benefit from the more technical sessions, unless you already have some prior exposure to the topic or it's marketed as a beginner friendly session (like I found one called Intro to Native Mobile Development on Tuesday, if that suits your fancy). So I'd have some fun with it, look for ones that sound interesting to you! Or check out sessions in a variety of different areas of tech (coding, analytics, product mangement, etc) so you get a wider exposure to the tech world. I feel a little overwhelmed myself looking at how many sessions there are lol so I don't think I can give more specific advice than this, unfortunately.

I hope you have fun attending the summit, and if you ever have any more questions, feel free to reach out at any time!

13 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

585 notes - Posted April 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[meloinaw]

Unearth Hidden Details About Buy Similarweb Traffic

Similarweb is a well-established digital intelligence service that provides objective views of actual website and app performance that enable businesses to make better decisions based on data. The tools and information they provide offer marketers and other business users valuable tools to analyze competitors to optimize marketing strategies, discovering growth opportunities . Similarweb traffic could help entrepreneurs analyze the results of their web presence. It provides valuable insights that can be utilized for marketing promotions, promotion of products and even company expansion. There are some limitations, and must be studied carefully prior to making decisions .

Similarweb allows you to monitor your competition's traffic sources, and pinpoint potential methods to increase your web presence. This is essential because traffic analysis serves as a critical way to measure performance and making business decision-making, planning budgets for marketing and evaluating the success of campaigns - essential tasks for all types of businesses starting from small local businesses to multinational corporations. Similarweb traffic tools that are created to supply the necessary data and information for digital marketing. Click here or visit the official website of our company to learn the details about buy similarweb traffic.

Similarweb traffic websites analysis may less thorough than Google Analytics, but it nevertheless serves as a valuable approach for site owners as well as marketers to get a better understanding of their competition. It is particularly beneficial in an analysis of traffic of competitors' websites and in analyzing which keywords are responsible for that traffic and it is essential that site owners know which words their competitors are using, so that they can optimize their strategies for optimizing search engines accordingly.

Similarweb could help you achieve advantages over the competition in providing you with a list of relevant keywords to target. This service can help save time for busy business and marketing managers. Similarweb traffic gives another advantage it by allowing you to look at the percentage in visitors to a website to similar websites in its sector, allowing it to evaluate whether your enterprise is competitive and/or useful in the development and implementation of strategies that bring in more money to you and your business. The analysis tool on websites grants you an aerial glimpse of important traffic and engagement indicators for the websites of up to four websites that compete with you, providing unobstructed views of crucial traffic or engagement levels and the top search Keywords and Referral Sources for the competitor's website - providing important insight for SEO or content managers alike. Anyone who wants to comprehend how you can buy similarweb traffic, they must visit this page.

The data from Similarweb only takes into account desktop traffic but not mobile traffic which is not surprising considering mobile is now making up an increasing portion of internet user. But there are other methods to collect this information regarding other competitors' mobile-related usage, like similarweb alternatives which offer free statistics on the top referrers on each site.

Similarweb traffic is an excellent way of getting an understanding of the amount of traffic your competition is receiving along with the other channels that are essential to marketing, including referral sites. It could assist with getting partnerships established, discovering influencers, or following up on existing ones. This includes whether or not ads that are paid need to be considered. Although Similarweb traffic indicators can provide an important insight when planning campaigns, the data may at times be misleading, so for optimal results, use Google Analytics as well.

[gmatechnologi]

Mobile - First Design : Crafting User - Centric interfaces for Mobile Applications

Are you tired of websites and applications that don’t quite fit on your mobile screen? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. The world has gone mobile, and it’s high time for designers to catch up! Welcome to our blog post on ‘Mobile-First Design: Crafting User-Centric Interfaces for Mobile Applications.’

In this digital era where smartphones are king, we’ll explore the importance of putting mobile users first and how designing with their needs in mind can lead to engaging, intuitive interfaces that captivate audiences. Get ready to dive into a world where the small screen reigns supreme – let’s revolutionize mobile design together!

Introduction To Mobile-First Design

When it comes to mobile app design, the focus is no longer on solely creating a beautiful interface. Instead, designers are now being tasked with creating user-centric interfaces that prioritize function over form. In other words, mobile-first design is all about putting the user’s needs first and foremost.

The reason for this shift is obvious: we now live in a world where people are constantly on their phones. In fact, recent studies have shown that Americans now spend an average of 5 hours per day on their smartphones. And with more and more people using their phones as their primary internet device, it’s no surprise that companies are starting to take notice.

With mobile-first design, the goal is to simplify the user experience bystripping away superfluous features and functionality. The focus is on creating an interface that is easy to use and navigate, while still providing all of the necessary information and functionality. This can be a challenge, but when done right, mobile-first design can result in a much better overall experience for the user.

Benefits Of A User-Centric Interface On Mobile Applications

There are many benefits to having a user-centric interface on mobile applications. The most important benefit is that it helps create a better user experience. When users have an easy time navigating your app and finding the information they need, they are more likely to use it and recommend it to others.

In addition, a user-centric interface can help increase conversion rates and improve customer satisfaction. If customers can easily find what they are looking for on your app, they are more likely to make a purchase or take the desired action.

Having a user-centric interface can also help you save time and money. By making sure that your app is designed with the user in mind, you can avoid costly redesigns down the line.

Design Principles To Consider When Creating Interfaces

There are many design principles to consider when creating interfaces for mobile applications. Here are a few important ones:

Keep it simple: Mobile users have limited attention spans and patience, so it’s important to keep your interface simple and easy to use. Stick to the essentials and don’t try to pack too much into one screen.

Make it intuitive: Users should be able to figure out how to use your interface without needing extensive instructions or tutorials. This means keeping things self-explanatory and using familiar icons and conventions where possible.

Consider the context: Mobile users often use their devices in different contexts than desktop users, so it’s important to take this into account when designing your interface. For example, people might use your app while walking or commuting, so you need to account for that in your design.

Optimize for touch: Since mobile users will be interacting with your interface through touch, it’s important to optimize for this input method. This means making sure buttons and controls are big enough to be tapped easily, and avoiding features that require precise finger movement (such as complex gestures).

Test on real devices: It’s crucial to test your interface on actual mobile devices before launch, not just in the simulator or emulator. This will help you catch any issues that only occur on real hardware, such as problems with touchscreen sensitivity or screen size differences between devices.

Tools And Platforms To Help Build Interfaces

When it comes to crafting user-centric interfaces for mobile applications, there are a number of tools and platforms that can be extremely helpful. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most popular options.

One of the best tools for mobile interface design is Adobe Photoshop. With Photoshop, you can easily create high-resolution interface designs that look great on any type of device. Photoshop also offers a wide range of features and plugins that can help you streamline your workflow.

Another popular tool for mobile interface design is Sketch. Unlike Photoshop, Sketch was specifically designed for interface design. As such, it offers a number of features and plugins that make it ideal for mobile interface designers.

In terms of platforms, one of the best options for mobile interface development is React Native. React Native is a cross-platform framework that allows you to develop native iOS and Android apps using JavaScript. Thanks to its powerful features and flexibility, React Native is becoming increasingly popular among mobile developers.

We should mention Flutter. Flutter is an open-source platform developed by Google that allows you to create cross-platform applications with ease. Thanks to its intuitive programming language and easy-to-use widgets, Flutter is perfect for those who want to create beautiful interfaces without having to deal with complex codebases.

Usability Testing For Your Mobile Application

User experience (UX) is critical for the success of any mobile application. To ensure your app is providing the best possible UX, it’s important to regularly conduct usability testing. Usability testing allows you to identify any areas of your app that may be confusing or difficult for users, and then make necessary adjustments to improve the overall user experience.

There are a few different ways to approach usability testing for your mobile application. One option is to use a service like UserTesting.com, which provides on-demand access to real human users who can test your app and provide feedback. Another option is to use a tool like Apptimize, which enables you to A/B test different versions of your app with live users in order to determine which design elements are most effective.

Whichever method you choose, regular usability testing should be a key part of your mobile app development process in order to ensure that your app provides the best possible user experience.

Best Practices For Crafting Interfaces

When it comes to crafting interfaces for mobile applications, there are a few best practices that you should keep in mind. First and foremost, always keep the user in mind. What do they need to accomplish with your app? How can you make their experience as smooth and easy as possible?

Another important best practice is to keep things simple. Mobile users are typically looking for quick, easy answers or solutions. They don’t want to have to wade through tons of text or navigate complex menus. Keep your interface clean and streamlined, with obvious buttons and icons.

Always test your interfaces on real devices before you launch. Make sure that everything looks and works the way it should on different screen sizes and operating systems. There’s nothing worse than launching an app only to find out that the interface doesn’t work properly!

– Common Pitfalls When Designing User Interfaces

When it comes to designing user interfaces for Mobile-First Design, there are a few common pitfalls that can trip up even the most experienced designers. Here are a few of the most common pitfalls to watch out for when crafting user-centric interfaces for mobile applications:

1. Not taking advantage of the unique capabilities of mobile devices. Mobile devices offer a variety of unique capabilities that can be leveraged to create more effective and efficient user interfaces. For example, the use of touch screen input can greatly simplify navigation and provide a more immersive experience for users.

2. Overlooking the importance of context. The context in which users will be using your app is critical in determining what sort of interface will be most effective. Will users be primarily using your app while on the go? In that case, an interface that is optimized for quick and easy access to key features may be best. Or will users be using your app in more sedentary situations? In that case, a richer and more robust interface may be appropriate.

Failing to account for different screen sizes and aspect ratios. With the vast array of different mobile devices on the market today, it’s important to design your user interface in a way that is responsive and adaptable to different screen sizes and aspect ratios.

4. Neglecting accessibility considerations. It’s important to keep in mind that not all users will have the same level of ability when it comes to using your app. By taking into account accessibility considerations from the start, you can

– Conclusion

Mobile devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, which has led to a shift in how users access information and interact with businesses. As a result, businesses must adapt their strategies to account for the mobile-first mentality of their customers.

One way to do this is by crafting user-centric interfaces for mobile applications. This means creating an interface that is optimized for the smaller screen size and touch input of mobile devices. Additionally, it is important to consider the different contexts in which users will be accessing your app, as this will impact how they use it.

By keeping these things in mind, you can create a mobile application that provides a great user experience and meets the needs of your customers.

[novalabs]

6 Ideas for Designing Ideal Mobile-first Websites

At Authentic Style, we prioritize design in all we do.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that we have a "mobile first" mentality towards designs when we begin working on a website design project given that 63% of Google visitors in 2019 were made via a mobile device.

Yet what does "mobile first" actually mean? Here, we discuss six factors that we take into account when designing for mobile devices first, as well as how these factors enhance user experience.

1. Start with small goals

According to the mobile-first design philosophy, you should start wireframing or designing for the smallest screen before moving on to larger ones when building a website or app.

Basically, it involves giving the appropriate user experience to the appropriate device.

Your website will display better on all larger devices if it functions and looks excellent on a mobile device.

2. Prioritizing content

The fact that the mobile-first strategy also prioritizes content is more significant, though.

Since mobile devices have the most restrictions (screen size, bandwidth, data usage, etc.), designing for them from the beginning pushes you to put content before any inessential frills.

Mobile users occasionally need different content than desktop ones. The question of what the user will value more may usually be used to change the device-specific content (for example, a module that was previously scrollable on mobile may need to be swipe-able).

3. Navigation needs to be simple.

Keep in mind that for mobile users, navigation should be clear, simple, and intuitive.

Should you represent how to access the navigation with a "hamburger" style menu icon (three lines piled on top of each other)? Nowadays, most consumers are aware of this, but not all are, so take into account your target audience and what would perform best for them.

The second piece of advice we have is to use as few dropdowns and submenus as possible. While they can assist simplify a desktop design, mobile users frequently need the quickest path to the data they're looking for.

4. Improve the speed of your website for mobile users.

We'll want to reduce page load times to an absolute minimum and make sure users aren't consuming a significant quantity of data bandwidth when browsing your site by "thinking mobile first."

Reduce the quantity and size of the photos on a page. Maybe use shapes or bolder, more emotive fonts in place of photos to draw visitors in and increase the likelihood that they will stay on the page longer.

5. Examine videos

In the third quarter of 2018, mobile devices accounted for more than 60% of internet video plays. A mobile user's experience and engagement with the site can be greatly improved by video content. Think about using video blogs or a short video on your site to introduce your business.

Avoid stuff like auto-playing video backdrops on the mobile version of your site since most mobile devices require the user to trigger video playback. Use optimal poster pictures instead, and make all videos something that the viewer has to tap their finger to start.

6. A consistent user experience across all platforms

We've discussed designing the "best experience" for each individual platform, but we also need to think about how those experiences should be comparable to one another. The main goal of responsive design is to make sure nothing detracts from the user experience on your site just because it is being seen on a smaller screen.

Try to make sure that every feature is available on all platforms. Although design features might be hidden within browser breakpoints, we should always aim to build from the premise that all content should be accessible on all available screens. Finding a layout and size that are appropriate for the optimum screen width is the key to success.

For more contact Nova Labs now.

[hoe-doroki]

On the Job pt. 2

minors do not interact

warnings: 18+, fuck or die sex pollen (which means there are noncon/dubcon elements), reader is a sex worker, masturbation, face fucking, temperature play, (light) pain play, biting

pairing: todoroki x fem!reader

wc: 3.4k

summary: Super human society has a secret. Aphrodisiac quirks aren’t just the things of porn and fantasy–they’re actually quite common and too often fall into the wrong hands. Heroes, of course, do the best that they can, but when they get hit, they must be taken off the line of duty and someone needs to be able to activate the quirk’s release condition. If they’re single, who might that someone be? Obviously, you.

a/n: Half of me didn’t actually think that I would follow up part one, but I feel a heavy obligation towards my fanfic promises so...this is a weight off my shoulders, lol.

edit: I no longer write x reader but here’s my old masterlist - mobile | desktop

You’d gotten the call early today.

Not early in the day—truth be told, you’d hardly known what time it was before picking up the phone. No, you got the call early. As in not last minute. The call saying that your client would have to be transported to the agency from on site and they could tell you the details in the meantime.

The call saying you’d better drive to the agency, because you had to service a hero in an hour.

Now, patience wasn’t usually your virtue of choice—actually you didn’t often tend towards virtues in general. Save perhaps for kindness, which you preferred to deal out on your knees or your back, augmented by praise and the generosity of offering all three of your holes for your clients’ needs. But you were happy to cultivate it today, because an early call meant one thing.

You knew who was coming today.

Your pants were already off and you shirt was pushed up over your breasts as you leisurely played with yourself. You’d licked the tips of your fingers and gotten them started with slow passes over your clit, the other hand pinching your nipple, just a little too hard in prep for a hero who’d probably give it to you rough.

Maybe your reaction wasn’t right. Maybe it wasn’t kind of you to be so relaxed—relaxed and eager, actually—over the news that it was possible that Pro Hero Shouto would die. That he’d been hit with the particularly high stakes brand of aphrodisiac quirk and that if you didn’t trigger the release condition—that was: hot and heavy sex—his heart may very well stop or whatever happened on the other side of these troublesome quirks.

You wouldn’t know. After all, you hadn’t lost a single client yet.

So perhaps that was cold of you. Perhaps it would be more virtuous for you to be worried about him, fretting on the other side of the door with the guards over his ETA.

Then again, as stated: you’d never been one for virtue. Sin was much more fun. And surely it was better to make sure that whenever Shouto did show up, you had a wet pussy that he could waste none of his precious time sinking his cock into.

You groaned at the thought, dipping two fingers from your clit into your cunt and scissoring them. Your head lolled back against the pillows, eyes fluttering closed as you pressed against that front wall the flats of your fingertips, feeling that soppy wetness covering you and beginning to drip down your knuckles.

Yeah, you were ready for him.

In fact, you’d been waiting for Shouto longer than just today. After nabbing the number two pro hero, Dynamight, a few months back, you’d gone ahead and debased yourself  further—how much further was there to go, though, really?—by creating a list of your dream clients. You’d written Dynamight just to check him off, the memory of him cumming in you raw and licking you clean still hot between your thighs.

Your near encyclopedic knowledge of heroes—naturally, you took a healthy interest in your job—had then led you to daydream about Dynamight’s whole hero cohort. You added Red Riot to the list, dreaming of his abs, imagining riding them, teasing sweet whines out of him before backing up and dropping yourself on his cock. You thought of Deku, what it would mean for your ego to nab the number one hero, the flash of jealousy that would rise on his face when you let it slip that you’d already fucked his biggest rival, fucked his goddamn brains out and yours to boot.

Of course, you couldn’t do that. NDAs, after all. You’d already signed away your rights to mentioning anything about what happened to or with Shouto today. Still, you could dream.

Then, of course, your thinking had truly devolved, and you’d thought about the boys being paired up, fighting a villain with an unknown quirk only to be hit by the ever common, ever unknown—thanks to you and your prudence; oops, there was another virtue—aphrodisiac quirk and having to take care of both of them. Spit-roassting, Eiffel Tower, a goddamn daisy chain—anything. Long story short, you’d ended up cumming twice more on your hands before the evening was done.

But also on that list, was Shouto Todoroki.

Who, if you weren’t mistaken, was now on the other side of the door.

After all, these walls weren’t soundproof. It provided quite the show for the lucky guards on the other side, but hey, if you needed to scream for help, they had to be there. By the same coin, you could hear the shuffling on the other side, the footsteps approaching, and the telltale sound of the lock on the door being activated. You pressed your legs together, resting them to the side, hiding your glistening pussy artfully with your legs for the sake of modesty. Everyone knew what was happening here, but you didn’t need to send Shouto’s poor handler back blushing to their colleagues.

Shouto was ushered into the room and, without eye contact, someone yelled to you, “Ready, ma’am?”

“Ready!” you called back, and the door was closed, leaving you alone with the number three hero.

Without modesty, your legs fell open, revealing the mess you’d already made of yourself to Shouto. You dipped the fingers you’d been using into your mouth, and cleaned them dutifully. After all Shouto was still wearing his costume, and you did so hate the agency having to send those to the cleaners with your fluids all over them.

“Hey, bud,” you purred, running a hand slowly up one thigh. “I heard you have a problem.”

Pro Hero Shouto was known for his stoic personality. News conferences and interviews he participated in always consisted of a slow, even tone, and little beyond cold facts. There was something pleasantly mysterious about that, sure, but it didn’t exactly hint that he’d be quick to jump into bed. Sexy voice, though.

But whatever quirk he’d been hit with must have been strong, because the next thing you knew, the index finger from his left hand was tracing down the front of his uniform, cleanly burning a line straight to his already tented crotch. His accessories had already been taken off—his belt, gloves, shoes, even the clasp at his neck had been undone earlier. So there was nothing in his way as he pulled either side of his scorched uniform to the side and off his arms as he approached the bed.

“All business, huh?” you asked, pushing yourself up off your pillows by your forearms, watching as Shouto climbed onto the bed on his knees, finally pulling his jumpsuit down past his crotch.

You’d taken a bet with yourself on the color of his pubes—it’s not like you’d be losing either way if you got to see them. They turned out to be dual-colored, but not the stark red and white of his hair. No, they were more neutral in tone, like yours. Unlike yours, they were nested above a heavy cock, already shining with precum—or actual cum, you didn’t know—at the head.

Shouto didn’t reply to your comment, and you weren’t surprised. Some people went totally nonverbal when hit by sex pollen quirks, and that was fine. You’d rather someone button their lip than ruin the mood by saying something off, after all. All business was fine by you—this was your job, after all. And no matter the size of his mouth, his cock was just fucking right.

You naturally lowered your legs as Shouto began kneeing over you, cock in hand. Your brain only just managed to catch up to what was going on when his legs stopped on either side of your ribs, his leaking cockhead crossing your eyes before you. Automatically, your jaw dropped open, and Shouto’s cock smeared pre against your cheek and the corner of your mouth before sinking deep into your mouth, drawing a first obscene moan out of him.

A humming moan fell out of you too, barely able to take in the taste of Shouto’s cock before it was pressing against the back of your throat, springing tears to your eyes automatically. Something about aphrodisiac quirks so often seemed to play with the taste of these heroes’ cum. No longer was it bitter, but just heady, salty, and more pleasant than it should have been as it coated your tongue and throat. You adored it, and purposefully relaxed your muscles so that you could take more of him in.

Shouto didn’t hold back. With barely half a breath in your lungs, Shouto was thrusting deep in the back of your throat so that your spit dripped from your mouth and smacked wetly between his balls and your chin. You blinked tears out of your eyes and looked up at him to find blown pupils staring back at you, gaze hot and pointed.

There was light behind those eyes. Whatever Shouto was right now, it wasn’t unthinking, not pure instinct. No, the way he was fucking your throat, the way his eyes had you pinned—it was intentional.

Abruptly, Shouto pulled out, a think strand of spit snapping from his dick, cold on your tongue as you panted from the rough treatment. You held your mouth open, expecting him to shove back in once you’d caught your breath, but Shouto seemed to have other plans. He moved down your body, soaked cock again in his palm, and his eyes now set on your pussy. You reached for one of the condoms you’d set out next to you, and held it in front of him.

“Hate to sound like an after-school special, but no glove…”

Shouto paused, eyeing you for just a moment before taking the square and making quick work of it, rolling it over himself.

Then, abruptly, he put a hand on your cheek, drawing your eyes back up to his. “Thank you for your hard work. It does not go unappreciated.”

“What the—”

You were left agog at his statement, wholly unprepared as he swiftly took each of your thighs in one hand, spread them, and plunged in you to the hilt. You gasped high in your chest, your throat still tender from being rawed by Shouto’s dick. He leaned over you, sighing with a relief that doubled then halved the size of his chest. His forehead touched yours in a strange moment of intimacy, and, for a moment, you wondered if that was it. Was that all the release condition took? Penetration? Or had he cum and you just hadn’t noticed?

Were you going to be left to tend to yourself with the bullet vibrator in your glove compartment yet again?

Then Shouto leaned back, looked at you again with those sharp eyes, and began smacking into you with abandon.

“Fuck,” you let out as Shouto’s balls, still wet with your spit, left their mark on your ass with every deep thrust he gave you.

Shouto manhandled your thighs, grabbing them firmly in each hand as he reared back fully on his knees again, taking the lower half of your body with him. You reflexively braced with your arms, and soon they were the only part of you still in contact with the bed, along with your upper back and head still resting on the comfortable stack of pillows.

As was often the case, you’d lost control of the situation. You could barely match Shouto’s thrusts on your own as he repeatedly used his upper body strength to bring you to him, and his lower body strength to send his hips right back in return. If you tried to reach him, your fingertips would barely brush his thighs, much less any other part of him. You were totally at his mercy.

You couldn’t help but eyeball his broad biceps, flexed by holding up the weight of most of your body. And aside from the sweat dripping from his forehead—probably quirk-induced—he was showing little to no strain.

He hadn’t always had muscles like this, you were sure. You couldn’t help but remember pundits sounding off on Shouto’s overreliance on his quirk over physical strength, or the difference between his body and the massive tank that was his father, Endeavor. They’d shown clips of his body—handsome, always handsome—but either Shouto had done a lot of bulking in the last few years or those newscasters had been particularly unkind. Likely both. Because now, drops of sweat were trickling from his body in rivulets; there were no straight paths to go down. A bulging muscle here to dip around, the crease from a flexed ab there to pool in. You were hypnotized by his form, even the thighs straining under the part of his uniform that he hadn’t bothered to burn off.

Your mind was so enraptured by thoughts of Shouto’s body that the sensations happening to yours crept up on you. All at once, you realized that your thighs were burning. Actually, one was burning, and the other was freezing cold, both just under his palms and branching up the fingers currently painting five bruises into each muscle.

A gasp flew out of your mouth and your eyes rolled back as your thighs suddenly began quaking unbidden. Shouto looked down at you, his expression easy save for those passionate eyes, little huffs escaping his slack jaw. “Too much?” he asked.

Your head shook side to side, a vehement no as Shouto dug his fingers even deeper into your flesh, bringing dull throbs of pain so close to where every thrust brought about sharp flashes of pleasure. It felt like a betrayal when he just then loosened his grip to slide his hands up to your knees and hook them over his shoulder. Then those hands, right at the brink of freezing and searing pressed into the meat of your ass as he brought your hips to his with redoubled force.

That first new thrust sent Shouto’s head turning to the side, digging a painful bite into the fleshy part of your calf, making you cry out. A moment later, he let go, his tongue passing over the teeth marks like a salve over a wound.

All the dueling sensations had you close. You’d been teasing yourself for so long before Shouto had even shown up and now he was fucking into you like…well, like his life depended on it.

God, was it wrong to love fuck or die quirks?

You were quick to take a hand and put it back on your aching clit, despite the strain it put on your neck and upper back to lose one arm of support. Part of a good fucking was being folded like a pretzel, and you’d just book a massage appointment tomorrow to deal with it. Surely saving the life of the number three hero was worth a reward.

Shouto’s eyes honed in on your fingers moving rapidly over your clit, and you bet he could feel the twitches of your cunt approaching climax. A hand left your ass and went behind his head to pat your ankles. “Cross them,” he instructed.

Obediently, you crossed your ankles, making your position a bit sturdier as Shouto continued to drive you back onto him with one hand. Then that second hand went to yours, brushing it away with the backs of his knuckles. A surprisingly gentle gesture for the man who was kneading bruises into your ass and biting your leg. Then, with his thumb, he painted one slow, hard, blazing stripe up your clit, and you came instantly.

“Fuck!” you shouted as your back arched in midair, the crown of your head digging into the pillows as your neatly crossed ankles came undone, your thighs shaking and falling from Shouto’s grip. His cock slid out of you as your lower half bounced once on the bed. Before the springs could vault you back, Shouto was on top of you, pressing himself back in your still convulsing cunt.

His thrusts were long, desperate as he breathed into your neck. He mouthed the base of your neck with light bites and suckles—never quite kissing. Your thighs came back up around his hips and his left hand went back to squeezing your thigh. Meanwhile, the right came between your thighs, surprising you as two fingers began prodding at your entrance.

Almost immediately, you could feel the heat of the stretch. Or rather, you would have felt the heat of the stretch, had his fingers not been ice cold against you. You cried out as he curled his fingers forward while his cock kept thrusting straight through you, the hot and cold contrast nearly too much. You wondered how much more intense it would feel if Shouto were unbound by the condom, and you able to bear its full heat.

“Please,” you whimpered as your orgasm began to rise again, too quickly, nearly as sudden as the first one had been, but without all the build up. This one felt like it was going to tear out of you.

Just then, the nips that Shouto had been teasing over your neck went away, and he planted one more good bite on your shoulder as his thrusts became insistent, the fingers petting inside you matched with a cold thumb over your clit. And neither of you could hold on a moment longer.

Shouto groaned low and bone deep in your ear while your voice, still raspy from early, keened in his. Your thighs went tight around his waist and his hand was trapped between you as you both rode out your highs. It took a full minute for your muscles to unwind, and your feet to fall flat to the bed. At that point, Shouto pulled out and rolled over next to you, both of you panting as the sweat dried on your skin.

Shouto pulled the condom off of himself and found a trashcan to toss it into before falling flat on his back again. After a few moments of nothing but heavy breathing, he opened his mouth. “Thank you for your professionalism.”

You snorted. “You’re welcome,” you managed, keeping your laughter at bay. “That’s not what people usually thank me for.”

“Thank you for saving my life?” Shouto tried again, his gaze shifting over to you.

His eyes were still bright, but his gaze less sharp, obscured by dual-colored bangs falling over it. Suddenly, Shouto looked a great deal more innocent than the man who’d been fucking the life out of you just minutes ago. Perhaps an effect of the quirk wearing off, perhaps the effect of unfettered pleasure meeting relief.

“More common, yes,” you replied, unable to keep the smile off your face.

“You’re very good at what you do,” Shouto said, his eyes going to the spot where he’d bitten your shoulder. He circled it with one finger, brows furrowing. “You’re like a hero.”

“Hah,” you returned, looking up at the ceiling. You weren’t going to let this be the moment in your career that made you blush. “Vixen, the orgasm hero. I don’t think it would meet the commission’s guidelines.”

“Perhaps not,” Shouto said, sitting up and pulling up what remained of his costume, frowning at the spot where he’d torn it. You supposed you needn’t have worried about this costume going to the cleaners; the support team would likely toss it and make a replacement.

“There are clothes you can change into in the closet,” you said, pointing to the near invisible door in the back wall.

Shouto waved you away as he stood up. “This will be fine to make it to the locker room with.”

“Suit yourself,” you said as you pushed yourself up, trying to remember where you’d thrown your leggings before you’d started jerking of, grunting as your spine cracked.

Shouto plucked the leggings from near the foot of the bed and tossed them to you before heading towards the door. With his hand on the knob, he turned back and made eye contact with you one last time, the ghost of a smile you’d never seen before on his lips. “Thanks again…Vixen.”

As he closed the door, you could only blame your own impropriety, that utter lack of virtue that you first thought was:

Number two pro hero, Shouto: check.

[renhoeku1]

𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠; Dabi x Fem!Reader

𝐀𝐔; LOV Villain Reader

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭; 3012 words

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠; NSFW, daddy kink, light bondage, asphyxiation, oral: both recieving, face fucking, unprotected sex, dacryphilia, overstimulation, creampie, degradation, dumbification, a single slap, knife play, mentions and descriptions of blood, breeding kink, one mention of pregnancy. Reader has a regeneration quirk.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞; Daddy — Ramsey

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲; He's everything you want but not what you need. He's hungry and forceful, everything about him is powerful and stronger than you. So, you submit. You give him everything and get nothing in return, and yet, you love him. Why? He's possessive and toxic, not that you aren't any better but you're not the one fucking everything with a hole and two legs.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞; Reposting this from my main. I'm still pretty damn proud of this fic. Although I'm still on the fence of this possibly being Dark Content because of the blood and knife play but it's not that much? Let me know what you think! Reblogs are appreciated! The set up is honestly meant for mobile view so apologies to those on desktop.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

He wouldn’t stop until you were a trembling, crying mess beneath him, lapping at your tears and commenting about how weak you were for him. He always did this, working you over with his fingers until you were on the line of desperation, begging and sobbing for daddy’s dick, how you need him so fucking badly it hurts. He especially loves it when he’s between your thighs and his pierced tongue is drawing circles over your bundle of nerves, pulling every broken moan from your lips as his fingers thrust in and out of your aching cunt. You’ve already come once, but he would never be done with you. There were times you were sure he was bored of you, finished with your little games and ready to toss you aside, only for him to surprise you with his dick in your mouth and a hand in your hair. Your heart sang symphonies whenever he would praise you but once the act was finished they were nothing but empty words.

⠀⠀𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓

⠀⠀ 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏

⠀⠀ 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘

⠀⠀ 𝑶𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘

His mouth is rough but sweet, tasting of smoke, and his skin smells the same. He's warm, a fiery inferno of blue heat, his hands finding your face and holding you in place as he devours your mouth, your own fingers fiddling desperately at his belt and the button of his jeans. You can feel him smirk into your kiss, his hands sliding down your arms to rest on your biceps and he walks you back to the wall, pushing you up against it roughly. You're his, you're his everything, the fuel to his flame. As long as you belonged to him, his fire would never extinguish.

There's an odd trust between the two of you, you weren't actually dating but you wouldn't call each other friends either. However, you knew where and who you belonged to, he always made sure of it. He could fuck any bitch he wants, but you? You were his. He'd kill the motherfucker who tried to touch you. You could protect yourself, but he was never happy about it. He wanted to be the one to slit a man's throat if he so much as looked at you the wrong way or said something you hated; but seeing you covered in a man's blood always does something to him. He shivers at the sight of you and the next thing both of you know he's fucking you anywhere he can; against a wall, behind a tree, into a bed, or anywhere easily accessible.

He moved your hands above your head holding them together with his larger one as his other moved to your throat, his mouth still on yours. Pulling back only to drag a series of sloppy kisses down to your neck and back up to your ear, he growls," Get on your fucking knees, I wanna feel that mouth." You can only muster a whisper of 'yes daddy' before slipping from his grip and lowering yourself to your knees between him and the wall.

⠀⠀ 𝑪𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰'𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒘

⠀⠀ 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏

⠀⠀ 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘

⠀⠀ (𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘)

Your hands are on your thighs as you watch him pull his cock free, opening your mouth like a good girl as he guides it between your lips. You stick out your tongue, running it along the vein on the underside as he groans, using his hips to push further into your mouth. He loves listening to you gag and watch you choke on him, feeling the vibrations of your coughs is one of the best feelings in the world, in his opinion. The blue-eyed devil looked down at you with a starved glint in his gaze, a flame lit in them just for you. Gently you begin to bob your head, pushing forward until your drool is coving his cock and you're choking and gagging to the point of almost puking before pulling back, saliva dripping so deliciously down your chin as you look up at him teary eyed.

"Love my cock, slut?" He growls, hand grasping your hair tightly as you nod in response. "Show me. Show daddy how much you love his cock." He pushed further into your mouth, the tip of his dick meeting your throat with each bob of your head. "Fuck yeah, just like that—" he moved his other hand to your hair, thrusting forward quickly and as rough as he can manage without hurting you too much. You can barely breathe, your eyes blurring as tears roll down your cheeks from the pain, but you love it. You love feeling him close to you, close to cumming in your throat. You wish to the ends of the earth that he would be yours and only yours, but Dabi wasn't that kind of man.

He pulls out before he can finish and you cough up your lungs, drool pooling from your mouth as well as his precum mixed into it. "Bed, now." He barks, moving and pointing toward the bed behind him. It's a mess from the night before but you don't give a shit. You move to get to your feet but he clicks his tongue, and so you crawl toward it. Climbing into the bed on all fours you move to lie on your back against the pillows. You watch as he pulls off his over shirt and the one underneath, his scarred and toned torso coming into your view. You squirmed where you are, rubbing your thighs together at the sight of him. He kicked off his shoes and removed his pants the rest of the way, moving to crawl over to you. His hands find your bottoms, tugging them down along with your underwear, pulling off your socks too. You're left in your shirt and bra but he doesn't care.

⠀⠀ 𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀ 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀ 𝑫𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀ 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌

⠀⠀ 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀ 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀ 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀ 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

Leaning down to press his lips to your neck his hands push your shirt up and slip underneath your bra, his fingers warming up enough that as he pinches and rolls your nipples between his thumb and forefinger until you're a moaning mess under him. "Daddy—" you whine, trying to lift your legs around him but he growls against you, his teeth coming down on a tender part of your shoulder causing you to cry out in pain. He loved the sound of your cries, making him bite down harder. "You're hurting me!—" he lets up just lightly, only to bite down even harder until he tastes blood. You hit his shoulder as you cry, his hands flying to grab your wrists.

"Shut the fuck up slut, you know you like it." He drags his tongue over the wound as your skin knits back together strand by strand. It was true, you liked it. Dabi flips the two of you over so you're on top of him, your hands moving to splay out on his chest. "You're gonna ride." You nodded, lifting your body enough for him to line himself up before you lowered yourself, sucking in a deep breath at the feeling of his cock getting buried in your cunt. He kisses your cervix and you moan as he does, relieved that he finally bottomed out.

You roll your hips before moving into a crouching position, careful not to let him slip out. Hands on your knees you begin to lift yourself and drop back down slowly, carefully peeling your shirt off and tearing off your bra so the two of you are now naked. "Like this, daddy?" You hum, bouncing a bit faster on his cock, leaning forward to put your hands on his chest for balance. He nods and bares his teeth, hands coming up to your hips to steady you.

⠀⠀ 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏' 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔

⠀⠀ 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑

⠀⠀ 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏

⠀⠀ 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒖𝒑

⠀⠀ 𝑲𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒖𝒑, 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒖𝒑

⠀⠀ 𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚

⠀⠀ 𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏' 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆

⠀⠀ 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 (𝒐𝒉)

⠀⠀ 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 (𝒐𝒉, 𝒐𝒉), 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 (𝒐𝒉, 𝒐𝒉, 𝒐𝒉)

You ride him until the two of you are close but it's clear Dabi has other ideas when he flips the two of you again, lips capturing yours as his hands guide yours to the bed posts where the ropes already wait for you. He's careful in tying you up, creating slip knots that if you tug on them a certain way they'll come undone. Before he can pull away from the kiss you bite down on his tongue, making him rip himself back and yell, the back of his hand coming down across your cheek. "Fucking cheeky whore," he chuckles and you laugh despite the sting," keep that shit up and I'll stop and leave you here." You didn't believe him.

Reaching over to the bedside table he opens a drawer and pulls out a vibrator and a switchblade, lifting them for you to see completely. "Please don't—" Please yes— you whimper and squirm, eyes glancing toward his cock to see it practically jump. This excited him and you knew it, and despite the pain it caused you let him do what he wanted because you could heal. No other girl could do this for him.

"Be a good girl for daddy." He turns on the vibrator and slips it between your legs, running it along the inside of your thighs. Your mews and gasps are music to his ears, your hips lifting and rotating, trying to get your sopping cunt as close as possible to the vibrations that pulsed through your thighs. He smirked, moving it to lightly trail over your folds before pulling it back away from you. The knife came down to the skin of your thigh right after and with one clean slash blood pooled over your flesh as you screamed, the scarred man watching as it stitched back together all on its own. He cut your other thigh in the same place, relishing in your screams, loving the view of the blood covering your skin and the wounds stitching themselves back together.

⠀⠀ 𝑪𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰'𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒘

⠀⠀𝑺𝒐𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒕

⠀⠀𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘

He sliced up your stomach, not too deep but deep enough to bleed, continuing further up and across to your arms. You were the most beautiful to him when covered in a deep crimson, his hand tossing away the blade before it came down to drag his fingers through your blood, the vibrator finally coming down upon your throbbing cunt. You sobbed, begging for more and rolling your hips.

"Daddy, please— need you, need your cock—" he growled in response, rubbing the vibrator in circles around your clit and making you shudder and whine. Three words sat on the tip of your tongue, begging to be said. You wanted so badly for him to feel the same, but alas Dabi wasn't that kind of man, he wasn't the lover type. "I-I—" you groaned, back arching as your eyes rolled,“ lo—"

"I know you do, I know." He knew, of course he did. You loved him. You really, truly did. You loved him despite his possessiveness, despite the pain, despite the heartache of seeing him bed another girl in this very room. You loved him, even though it killed you to do so. You loved him for all the dark, vile shit he's ever done and the kindness he's also shown not only to you but others of the league, even if it's in his own fucked up way. The good, the bad, and the ugly, you loved it all. You were there when he was in so much pain because of his burns that he couldn't move, you were there when he was numb from head to toe from over using his blue flames. Through it all you were there.

⠀⠀𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀𝑫𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 (𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕)

⠀⠀𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌

⠀⠀𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

No one could do the things he wanted and needed like you could. You were the bitch and he the master; you barked when told, sat and stayed when ordered, and killed when unleashed. You were loyal to a man who wasn't loyal to you, and the pain was bitter sweet. He leaned over you, lips pressing to yours as he set the vibrator aside and replaced it with his fingers, thumb stroking your swollen little bud and beckoning every sound from you and into his mouth as if he were a siren, stealing your voice through the sweetness of his tongue. He was intoxicating, sickeningly sweet, someone you couldn't live without but would die the more you tasted him, he was poison and the cure all in one. Touya swallowed every noise you made and you knew the more he consumed the more ravenous he'd be.

He wouldn’t stop until you were a trembling, crying mess beneath him, lapping at your tears and commenting about how weak you were for him. He always did this, working you over with his fingers until you were on the line of desperation, begging and sobbing for daddy’s dick, how you need him so fucking badly it hurts. He especially loves it when he’s between your thighs and his pierced tongue is drawing circles over your bundle of nerves, pulling every broken moan from your lips as his fingers thrust in and out of your aching cunt. You’ve already come once, but he would never be done with you. There were times you were sure he was bored of you, finished with your little games and ready to toss you aside, only for him to surprise you with his dick in your mouth and a hand in your hair. Your heart sang symphonies whenever he would praise you but once the act was finished they were nothing but empty words.

You wished that here and now it would change, that he would love you. Perhaps he did, but never said it to protect himself. His version of affection was always sex, fucking you until nothing other than daddy fell from your tongue. Daddy please, Daddy more, Daddy harder一 He often made you too fucking stupid to think, making you babble and whine and so fucking needy. You were barely even able to keep your eyes open because he feels so damn good, almost heavenly despite being the devil himself. The devil was once an angel, wasn’t he? So was Touya, before he became Dabi. Although you were nothing but a doll for him, he told you the most vulnerable parts of himself and swore you to secrecy. If he didn’t love you, he wouldn’t have done it, right?

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚, 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚

He moves on up your body, leaving searing kisses and indents from his teeth on your skin. Squirming where you laid you whimpered and moaned, watching as his blue gaze flickered up to meet yours as his tongue slowly dragged over one of your nipples as his other hand fondled your other breast, pinching and pulling your bud between his fingers. “Good girl,” his voice was a faint whisper, a low rumble of words that sent heat and blood straight to your glistening core. You look at him through your lashes and you swear you see a faint smile on his lips, watching as he shifted between your legs and reached down. A gasp escapes your throat when you feel him drag himself between your folds, rubbing the head of his dick against your engorged clit. Your hole clenches around nothing, begging for him to fill you up as your hips raise in an attempt to tell him please.

When he finally does fill you, he isn’t gentle. He thrusts in, sinking further into the depths of you as you cry over his size. He’s always had a big dick, and he knew it too. Your hands grasped at the air and your wrists tugged on the ropes, tears slipping from their threshold and cascading down your cheeks. He loved making you cry, he loved seeing the sweet expressions of pain and pleasure painted on your face. He loved doing these things to you, but he never loved you. You never held hands, never kissed outside of this room or wherever he decided to fuck you. It was only ever teeth gnashing, lips bruising, biting tongues and grabbing, pushing, pulling.

“F-Fuck!” You sob, struggling to catch your breath as he thrusts, his larger hands grabbing your thighs and moving your legs up until he is able to push your knees closer to your shoulders. He shifted his form, getting a better angle to abuse that sweet spot inside you, hitting it over and over again until you’re screaming for more. He laughs, grunting and groaning as his eyes grow wild with lust. That’s right, you were his little fuck toy, his pussy pocket, a doll he could bend at his will. “Daddy please一”

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚, 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚

⠀⠀𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚

“What? Want me to s-stop? Don’t think so sweetheart, take it, take it all.” He grunts, raspy voice rolling thunder to your ears,” I wanna hear you scream my fucking name.” You cry out his name as you cream around his cock, mouth falling open and your body shudders. He doesn’t slow, he doesn’t stop, he wouldn’t until he filled you to the brim with his cum only to fuck it back inside of you with his fingers like he always does. You asked him once what he would do if he had gotten you pregnant, all he did was laugh. You didn’t know if that meant something good or not, but either way you’d be his forever. Every thrust brings you closer and closer to your third orgasm and you feel like a dam that’s going to burst. He shoved your knees closer to your face and bared his teeth, snarling as he picked up his pace and slammed deeper into you, beating against your cervix ruthlessly.

You knew he was chasing his own high, not caring if you came again or not. He was always rougher with you when he was close, looking at you with a furious need to breed your cunt. Perhaps that was what he wanted, or he at least entertained the idea. You just wished he’d look at you as more than his property, his little bitch. You wanted to be more, begging him to see you for your worth. “Daddy, daddy please一 s’too much, too much一!” His hand moved around your throat just under your jaw as he let go of one of your legs, continuing his rough rhythm and he squeezed.

You cunt clenched around him and he faltered in his movement as hot ropes of cum paint your insides, it seems endless as he slows and keeps thrusting, fucking his seed deep into you with a satisfied grin. “You like that bitch? You like when I cum inside you?” Touya let go of your throat as you nodded, his throat rumbling with a groan as you coughed and clenched around him more.

He pulled out his softening cock, hands on your knees and keeping your legs spread. He watched as his cum slowly leaked from your cunt, licking his lips as he moved a hand to gather the cum in his fingers and shove it back inside you. You mewed, breathing ragged and nude body shivering against the cold of the room. You needed his warmth, you needed him. You wanted him to look at you and sing praises, to tell you how good you’ve been and how much he adores you just as you do him.

But Touya Todoroki wasn’t that kind of man, he wasn’t a lover. He’d rather see you cry like a whore with his cock down your throat.

⠀⠀𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆

⠀⠀𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆

⠀⠀𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆

⠀⠀𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆

⠀⠀ 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝; 07/03/2021 | 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝; 07/09/2021

𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐤𝐓𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐚𝐝.

[crispyjenkins]

Rexobi. I really just wanna see Rex and Obi-wan drinking together and complaining about the disaster that is Anakin Skywalker. They decide to team up to get anakin to calm the heck down and to talk about his feelings. Anakin doesn’t realize what’s going on but gets the idea he needs to play matchmaker with his master and his captain. He thinks he’s the smart one but he’s really not

(i have once again chickened out of your full prompt and instead give you the leadup to rexobi getting anakin to talk about his feelings. 

i uhhh may be unable to think of anything but a rexobi au à la this post by @norcumii and @dharmaavocado about roleswap-ish senior padawan obi hella vibing with this mutant clone that can’t get above the rank of captain even as an arc trooper because the kaminoans are Like That, and qui-gon is going spare, because between anakin somehow being allowed to be in charge of a whole battalion and obi-wan picking fights with every single seperatist leader, he and cody never get a moment of peace. and like. just obi and rex being dumbass 20 year olds trying to deal with a general/master like anakin in the middle of a war. i don’t have TIME for that though

thank you for the prompt as always, i think this is the only rexobi/obex prompt i’ve ever gotten and this ship is criminally underappreciated. like?? kadavo?? anyways here’s whatever this is)

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 Not for the first time, Rex wishes Kote were the one here dealing with this, because “how to comfort your favorite Jedi” hadn’t exactly been covered in ARC training – actually, Alpha probably withheld the information on purpose, the fucker.

  But Kote is on the other side of the galaxy with the 187th and just as upset they’re not here in Rex’s stead: it’s barely a month off General Kenobi returning to his own face, and Rex knows his vod would strangle the entire Senate if given even half a chance for deploying them separately on their general’s first mission back after the Hardeen... incident. 

  And Fett’s Ghost knows Rex’s own general is going to pitch a fit when he finds out Rex is here instead of taking leave like the rest of the 501st, but Kote certainly wasn’t about to let Kenobi go all the way to Alderaan unguarded so soon after his supposed death; and honestly, Rex would have been offended if they had asked anybody else to do it. Thankfully, Kenobi hadn’t seemed offended when Rex had shown up at the Jedi Temple’s flight hangar before he could take off; instead, he had been rather amused. 

  Even luckier, Alderaan is barely a day’s jump from Coruscant, so they don’t have to spend too much time awkwardly pretending that Rex hadn’t attended the man’s funeral in Kote's place (that he would have attended anyways), or that Rex doesn’t know Anakin hasn’t spoken to his former master since their debrief to the High Council about Cad Bane. Which Rex should absolutely not know in the first place, but Anakin is his friend, for better or for worse, and Ahsoka thinks her master airs far too many of his grievances to his captain.

  It isn't until their cruiser is making the descent over Alderaan that Kenobi finally addresses the tension between them, which only proves that Kenobi is well aware of it, but had put it off as long as he could. It's a humanising observation, that Rex wishes he could have had when he isn't the only vod in a ten mile radius that isn't the pilot, because at least then he wouldn't be the sole receiver of the soft smile Kenobi gives him as he joins Rex to wait by the shuttle's access hatch.

  Rex thanks his progenitor's laughing corpse he has his bucket on, because all he can do is stare. 

  "You are worried about Anakin," Kenobi says matter of factly, though not unkindly, and Rex lets out a breath that's almost a laugh. 

  "I promise I am far more discrete with my thoughts in the field, sir."

  Kenobi chuckles warmly, tucking his arms behind his back to watch the planet under them grow larger as they approach. "Do try not to worry so much, my dear, this will all resolve itself in time." 

  It's hard to stare right at his gentle assuredness, so Rex looks away. "You have far more faith in his ability to forgive than I, sir."

  That laugh strains at the edges. "Yes, well, I'm afraid some of my lessons seem to have been... lacking."

  Rex has regs carbon-printed on his brain, he knows that even without the direct chain of command, the soft push and pull of his relationship with Kenobi, the steady, serene growth of it, is... problematic, for so many reasons that he wouldn't know where to start. Not least of all is rank, how much more important a Jedi is than a replaceable CC-track washout, but, well, Rex had washed out for being too emotional, so it's not as if he's exactly unused to reacting to things inappropriately for a good little soldier.

  "It's not my place, sir," he murmurs, remembering Kadavo, remembering Umbara, remembering the hand Kenobi had laid on his shoulder for far too long after the Blue Shadow virus, and has Rex really been this gone since then? "just say the word and I won't mention it again. But just because Kote isn't here doesn't mean you have to... shoulder all of this alone."

  In fact, it's wildly not his place to make such an offer, however implicit, but that month on Kadavo did happen, and Rex isn't so self-deprecating to believe he  hadn't had a heavy hand in helping Kenobi make it out on the other side as well as he did. He doesn't think so little of the bond they had formed then, to believe that Obi-Wan is unaware of it. 

  Not when he smiles at Rex like that, like he's a warm cup of caf after a week in the trenches, like Rex is... worthy of such sincere affection. 

  As the shuttle settles around them and the pilot announces their arrival over comm, Obi-Wan simply says, "I did not for a moment believe I was, my dear."

-

  "You and Rex seem close."

  Normally Obi-Wan can feel Anakin coming from an entire corridor away, but he also knows Quinlan has been teaching him a few Shadow tricks, so he isn't entirely surprised when Anakin appears at his elbow in the empty bridge looking like a smug necu.

  Aside from eating firstmeal with Kote in the mess, Obi-Wan hasn't even seen Rex today, much less interacted with him: as he understands it, Rex is trying to round up the remaining 501st shinies that are running around the Negotiator, so Obi-Wan really doesn't know where Anakin had gotten that notion. Recently, at least. 

  Anakin rolls his eyes and scoffs, leaning back on the railing next to him and crossing his arms. "Please, Master, even Snips has noticed."

  Obi-Wan refrains from telling him that anyone with a modicum more self-awareness than him has noticed. Be that as it may, "This is one of those times where I truly don't know what you're trying to say, my dear: I have been close with Rex since he was in the 212th."

  It isn't even an exaggeration, that there had been... something between them before Anakin whisked Rex away to his own battalion after his knighting, though back then it had been nothing more than friendship. If he recalls correctly, and he does, the cleanup of the Ryloth capitol had been the first time since then that they had worked closely, while Anakin had been on the ground with the locals and Mace had been with General Syndulla, and Obi-Wan had found he still quite enjoyed the way they worked together. Their time on Naboo combating the Blue Shadow virus had only endeared the captain more to him —he does remember a slip in propriety in his relief that Rex had been rescued safely with Padmé and Ahsoka, a hand left too long on the captain's shoulder until Kote had called him away— enough that Obi-Wan had been both relieved and horrified that it was Rex there to support him on Kadavo.

  "Cody said Rex was the one to go with you to Alderaan; you sure nothing 'happened' while you were there?" Anakin chuckles to himself like he's being incredibly clever, like there isn’t a hickey visible over the collar of his under tunic.

  Obi-Wan raises a brow slowly and refrains from rolling his eyes. "Despite what you may believe, Anakin, not everyone leaps into committed relationships after life-threatening situations." Not that Alderaan had been life-threatening, it had actually been as close to actual leave as Obi-Wan has had the entire war.

  "Please, it took Padmé and I ages to–" 

  Anakin seems to swallow his tongue, then, face rapidly going purple, and it really is a miracle the entire Republic doesn’t know about his marriage; the GAR certainly does.

  Sighing, Obi-Wan checks the chrono and decides it isn't too early for another cup of tea. "If you have a specific question about my relationship with Captain Rex, I do wish you’d be direct, my dear."

  Anakin splutters. "Relationship?!"

  "Great Maker, Anakin, you’re easier to spook than a half-starved blurrg." He pats Anakin’s arm, his sonbrother floundering for anything other than abject confoundment, as Obi-Wan turns away from the bridge to go locate both tea, and his commander to hopefully finalise their newest mission orders. "Don't worry," he calls over his shoulder, "I'll actually let you come to the wedding, unlike someone."

  Not that Obi-Wan has any such plans, Maker knows he and Rex have yet to address their feelings in the first place, but he'd be lying if part of him doesn't want to conspire with the captain in question —and perhaps Ahsoka— to see just how far they could take this before Anakin realises they're stringing him along. 

 Remarkably, Rex is waiting by Obi-Wan’s office with a flimsi cup of tea and a harried smile that promised quite the day chasing after shinies, and Obi-Wan decides conning his former apprentice can wait.

Mando’a: vod/e — “brother/s”, “comrade/s”, “sibling/s”, technically gender neutral but used most often in fandom as “brother/s”

[moldy-mold]

December Blog

In October, I got a surprise job at a stationery place I did not apply to. It was really all about the connections. I’m starting to understand that all stationery places in town know about each other and who works where because the industry is pretty small...

We are nestled in a little shopping plaza which looks like this:

I get to see it every day which makes me psyched to go to work. It is a lovely place, full of plants. My manager is really cool, and my boss is... interesting. She literally said to me “I sense a big change coming from the universe and I think you will be a part of this change.” That’s great! I think.

For the first time in a while, I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. At the same time, I also wonder what would have happened to me if this opportunity did not present itself... I got way too lucky here.

-

Occasionally I’ll pick up a book. In the span of a week, I finished The Devil Wears Prada, the novel in which the famous 2006 Anne Hathaway movie was based on. Basically, it’s about a young woman in NYC trying to impress her hell boss so she can move up in life. But at what cost? Actually, a lot of it was so relatable, I had to put the book down sometimes or else I would actually start crying. It reminded me of the hard times. Compared to the film adaptation, which was a feel-good movie, the book was 10x more depressing... It was still a good book though.

-

✵ The Plant Saga ✵

I got a few new ones since my last update.

Florian (Neon Pothos) - Finally! I’ve always dreamed of getting a hanging pothos!

Estelle (Lantana) -  I failed to take a pic before winter = no flowers and fewer leaves, so I’ll just show you what she pretty much looked like!

Unnamed Pansies. I bought them from the “dying plants section” for $0.25 each and I wasn’t sure I could rescue them. Now they’re doing okay! I accidentally crossbred the two colors and made a pinkish one (on the right, not flowering atm).

He’s not new but Kiryu (Christmas Cactus) is in bloom now since it’s winter!

Hubert (Monstera) is so big now that he needs his own space. The leaves are larger than my head...

-

✵ Art and Social Media ✵

It’s been a year since I deleted mobile twitter and I cannot recommend it enough. I feel that I can now be more present. I check it on desktop once in a while in case someone needed to get my attention. I used to get the FOMO, especially when it came to Tales news, but after a while it goes away completely. Luckily some homies have my back and send me choice updates so I don’t live completely under a rock.

I actually discovered an add-on to my web browser called Better Twitter. I’ve hidden my follower count (to myself only) among other things, so I would not feel punished every time I saw it. There are times where I would like to browse my own page for RTs that I liked. Now I can do it without any fear. Please install it if you have similar concerns.

This year, I’ve really been more lax about posting art since I’ve cut back on social media. I just post whenever I want instead of following a schedule like I used to (Insane. Why did I ever do that.). In my head it feels like I only did 3 pieces but it was actually much more than that. I can’t believe finished my Berseria comic series Undercover! this year and tbh felt like 10 years ago lol.

As of now I think I’ve hit a block or some kind of burn-out. It’s not like I don’t have ideas, it’s just not coming out the way I want them to so I give up. Do you ever get those head voices telling you that you aren’t as good as you thought you were? 🤡

I get caught up with “I need to challenge myself” but in the midst of the challenging, I get too tired and end up with something simple, just so I can finish the piece. Sure, I feel accomplished for a few hours but at the end of the day the head voice says Ah, I failed again. It’s not like this is something recent. I’ve been feeling this way for a long long time. When will I break free...

Secret Side Note I opened my shop again but I don’t wanna announce it officially so here it is. If you have last-minute holiday shopping to do, you are welcome to support this small artist! I close shop for the holidays DEC 19.

moldyartichoke.ecwid.com

Why did I shut down in the first place? Well the real reason was it was too expensive to stay open. It was only later when I realized they let you keep the shop for free if you limit your products. Sure why not!

-

✵ Hold up, I need to scream about Xenoblade 2 ✵

I gotta say my piece before I beat the final chapter... Praying real hard I won’t be disappointed lol.

Now I’ve had my beef with the character designs and a handful of weirdly out-of-place dialogue and voice acting but everything else about it blew me away. It’s been a long time since I have been so enamored with a game. The plot, the LORE, the gameplay. So very fun and interesting!

I didn’t think I would enjoy it since I loved the first one and the second is nothing like it. Some friends pushed me into at least trying it instead of judging it based off of what everyone else thinks. And I do that a lot especially when it comes to $60 games...

If I didn’t borrow it from the cafe owner’s (my ex-boss now) son for a trial run... I don’t think I would have started it. He was a huuuuge fan and I suppose it got me curious as to why he liked it so much.

Anyway, you ever just see a character for literally 5 seconds and you’re like “yep that’s the one”? Happened to me. I absolutely had to keep playing to find out who this guy was. That’s all there is to it.

Thanks Nomura for designing him lmao.

-

✵ Finished Watching... ✵

Word of Honor (cdrama) ◆◆◇ Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Oki pt 1 & 2 ◆◆◆ Tenchi Muyo In Love! 1 & 2 ◆◆◇ Tenchi Muyo Daughter of Darkness ◆◇◇ Couple of Mirrors (cdrama) ◆◆◇ Space Cowboys ◆◆◇ The Devil Wears Prada ◆◆◇ Arcane ◆◆◆ Sailor Moon S The Movie ◆◆◇ Scissor Seven s3 ◆◆◆ Lupin III: The First ◆◆◇ Rush Hour 1 ◆◆◇

-

That’s all for now. Thanks for keeping up with me - I’ll see you guys next year!

[bex-la-get]

Hello, hello! This week, we are going on a little:

Home Tour!

Notes: Answer the following with pictures (dialogue from your characters is optional!). Collages are highly encouraged if you want to answer a question with multiple pictures because tumblr mobile only allows 10 total pics. Otherwise, tumblr on a desktop lets you add multiple pictures (non-beta)!

For both:

What does the outside of the home look like? (Front/back yard, garden, pool, etc)

Living room and home office (if any)?

Kitchen and dining room?

Bedrooms? (Master, guest, others)

Other rooms?

Do you own your dream home? If not, what does that dream home look like?

What is your favorite room to spend time in with each other?

Hi babe! Thanks for the fun questions! Hope you like them!

So, little bit of context: Nat and Ethan recently bought this house after finding out that Nat was pregnant with their third child [Lydia]. So, I imagine them doing this tour shortly after Lydia’s born and they’ve settled into the house. Enjoy!

(Also, please imagine Nat doing with this with a baby strapped to her in one of those wrap things ‘cause that is the cutest damn visual and I need it to be seen).

Previous Questions

For both: What does the outside of the home look like? (Front/back yard, garden, pool, etc).

Nat: Ethan likes a much more modern look when it comes to houses while I prefer more traditional so we tried to find something that matched both. Instead, we ended up finding this beautiful Victorian and we both fell madly in love with the place!

Ethan: I have to admit, it surprised me how much I love this place. But I can’t imagine us living anywhere else now.

Nat: You can’t see it in the picture but the front yard is completely gated which is a huge weight off my mind. With two kids under the age of six and a newborn, the last thing I want to worry about is my kids getting out of the front yard. The gate has a special lock on it too so only people with the code can get in or out. It gives us so much peace of mind.

Nat: We really wanted the backyard to feel like an extension of the house so we decorated it as such. It’s great in the summer time when we can have friends over and have a big cookout. 

Nat: Ethan installed the hammock for me shortly after we moved in. I had always wanted one as a kid and now we get to curl up there in the evenings whenever we want. Plus, the kids love it. 

Ethan: *smiles* Next on the list is to set up a vegetable garden. I would have done it sooner but with Nat so close to giving birth when we moved in, I decided it was worth the wait. But by next spring, I’m hoping to have it set up and ready to go.

Living room and home office (if any)?

Ethan: Technically, we have two living rooms. The first one is more of a formal living room where you can sit and talk with guests, if you want. It’s not pictured but there’s a large fireplace with some bookshelves around the room. We treat it kind of like a study. It’s also where we plan on putting the Christmas tree come the holidays.

Ethan: The second is our “informal” living room-- or “den” as Nat calls it. This is where the television and game consoles are. This room probably gets the most use out of the house since this is where we have movie nights and just spend most of our time when we’re home.

Nat: Don’t forget the office, babe.

Ethan: Oh, right! We try not to bring our work home with us but with both of us working on books right now, we figured it was important to have a good work space away from the rest of the house.

Nat: I admit, I was worried about the black interior when we first saw it, but I’m kind of in love with it now.

Ethan: *smirks* I knew you would.

Nat: *rolls her eyes* Hush, you.

Kitchen and dining room?

Nat: Ah, Ethan’s favorite place in the house!

Ethan: One of my favorites, at least.

Nat: You know, before moving I never understood the hype for all-white kitchens. But I get it now! Look at this place, it’s so bright and open! And remarkably easy to clean.

Ethan: I could’ve told you that a long time ago, my love.

Nat: Yes, but I probably wouldn’t have believed you. *Ethan laughs*

Nat: You know that chandelier is original to the house? This whole room is, actually. It was basically untouched during the renovations. They just upgraded the windows and re-stained the flooring. The rest of the room is virtually untouched, which I absolutely love.

Bedrooms? (Master, guest, others)

Nat: Our room isn’t too fancy. Ethan likes it clean and simple and I like a lot of pillows. I think we managed that alright.

Ethan: We’re trying to keep the kids rooms as neutral as possible right now. Their interests are changing so fast that we don’t want to have to keep redecorating every time they change their mind. We’ll probably do more detailed decorating as they get older.

Other rooms?

Nat: We do technically have a guest room but it’s not considered a “bedroom” since it doesn’t have a closet.

Ethan: It’s a room in our basement that acts as a guest room. The rest of the basement we’re treating like a kids playroom and home gym.

Nat: It’s also where my mom has been staying for the last few weeks. She came up to help us settle in with baby Lydia. She’s been a godsend. *Ethan nods in agreement*

Do you own your dream home? If not, what does that dream home look like?

Nat: Absolutely we own our dream home. This place is amazing and everything I ever wanted in a family home.

Ethan: I never pictured myself with a big house or living in the suburbs, but here, surrounded by my family... it’s beyond my wildest dreams. This is better than a dream home; this is heaven. *Nat smiles and kisses his cheek softly.*

What is your favorite room to spend time in with each other?

Nat: Oooh, that’s a tough one. I love all of the rooms. But I think I’m gonna have to say the den and the backyard.

Ethan: Agreed. Any space where I can spend time with family is my favorite place to be.

Tag list below the cut:

Tag List (let me know if you want to be added/removed):  @genevievemd @jamespotterthefirst @paulfwesley @ethansdique @openheartfanfics @perriewinklenerdie @little-flowers-on-heaven @stateofgracious @coffeeheartaddict @liaromancewriter @potionsprefect @mm2305 @gryffindordaughterofathena @actuallybored @writer-ish @queencarb @takeharryandgo @lsvdw-blog @itsjustwinter​ @imaneditorthankyouverymuch-deac @chaoticchopshopheart​ @ohchoices​ @maurine07​ @oldminniemcg​ @parisa-kh​ @shanzay44​ @uberamsey @izzyourresidentlawyer​ @adiehardfan​ @custaroonie​ @mia143​ @a-crepusculo​ @takemyopenheart​ @toadfrog26​ @quixoticdreamer16​ @barbean​ @headoverheelsforramsey​ @natureblooms24 @jerzwriter

[patchun]

WBaWC Deep Dive: Part 2/2

In the game's preliminary description, ZUN describes it as "a shooting game that's darker than usual, full of animal elements, and just a bit aggressive."

Part 1 here.

Yachie Kicchou. Is this maybe the longest profile of any Touhou character? Yachie's profile gives us more information than anything else about the Animal Realm, so I'd highly recommend reading all of it before we continue. Scroll down and find her profile, then click "Expand." If you're on mobile, this will look pretty bad, so switch to the Desktop mode. While reading, keep this in mind: this profile seems to be just about the only instance of a perspective from a beast spirit. This isn't a neutral perspective, this isn't ZUN's perspective - this is the perspective of a beast spirit, though it doesn't seem to be Yachie's own perspective. I'll be giving my evidence of this later.

The Animal Realm, the ultimate survival-of-the-fittest world.

It's a world where the strong rule as they desire... or at least it was, until a few beasts that were just a little more clever and wily than others began to form organizations.

By now, a select handful of gigantic organizations dominate the world.

The thing about WBaWC is that it's very vague. ZUN does not come out and say "animal rights", he does not say "you should be a vegan", or anything like that. The only thing ZUN wants us to do, without a doubt, is to think about these things, in particular the power dynamic we currently have between humans and animals in the modern world. I mentioned previously the argument for humans to have moral rights because of sentience, and then because of intelligence - but there is another line of reasoning that is used frequently. "This is just the natural order. The survival of the fittest." Opponents of animal rights will say this. But ZUN makes it very clear here - this world no longer follows those rules at all. "It's a world where the strong rule as they desire... or at least, it was..."

Further in her profile, we learn that the beast spirits finally found peace when they gathered all the humans into one area like farm animals and made them into their slaves. So, ZUN begins the game by introducing three characters which cause us to question our notion of moral status, two of which (Urumi and Kutaka) are animals that humans mistreat on a massive scale today, and then, he flips it - puts humans on the other side - all to ask a simple question. "Do you like this? Are you happy with this?" When humans are the ones being dominated, are you satisfied?

Now, there are some really crucial lines here that indicate that this profile is not actually an accurate account, but rather, the situation as told by one of the lesser beast spirits.

Almost all of the animal spirits already have no chance of victory by themselves, and the only way to survive was to team up with one of these organizations and continue fighting as their slaves forever.

Even as everyone continues to fight to exhaustion, an organization can never be stopped.

Pre-Primate Spirit Garden. This is what indicates to me that this is not Yachie's direct perspective. This wouldn't be a beneficial narrative in order for her to maintain her status as a member of the ruling class.

The beast organizations' ruling classes created a shelter for the humans, so that they could continue to be used as ever-capable slaves without going extinct.

The shelter was called the Primate Spirit Garden.

Only when they looked over the Primate Spirit Garden, filled with humans who had no means of resisting, did each of the organizations forget about their conflict. The Primate Spirit Garden was a peaceful recreational facility for everyone in the Animal Realm.

The word here, "shelter" generally has a positive association, right? And look at the last sentence: a peaceful recreational facility for everyone in the Animal Realm? That doesn't sound right. Now, sure, this is interesting, but why am I bringing up that this profile is from the perspective of a beast spirit? What does that matter to our overall understanding of the situation? Well, because of this next line, also within Yachie's profile:

The human spirits intended to devote themselves to the divinity beyond the idols, but they actually came to worship the idols themselves.

As a result, it was only natural that these idols began to dominate the humans.

The idols took control of the Primate Spirit Garden, and the status of the human spirits plummeted to the bottom once again. In being dominated by idols, the Primate Spirit Garden became the most awful, out-of-control organization of all.

Because this, according to everything else I've read, is NOT an accurate description of what ended up happening. The word "dominate" here is particularly noteworthy - from the perspective of a beast spirit, who within this world only understand things from a lens of survival of the fittest, that is exactly what this situation appears as. The thing is, this is where the game's vagueness makes interpretation very difficult - but here's what we know. We know from Yachie's profile that the human spirits were miserable while being ruled by the beast spirits, so much so that they cursed their helpless existences and prayed to Keiki. And we also know this, from ZUN's SCoOW interview:

Q: What do the human spirits who summoned Keiki think of her?

A: The game doesn't mention even a word of that, after all. In that world, the human spirits are nothing more than "materials". Everyone's fighting to steal those materials from each other. Keiki doesn't think of them as anything but materials, either. The reason for that is because the humans in that world want to be that way. You could say they just wanted to become cogs in a better society.

These descriptions... don't really match up, right? You'd read Yachie's profile and assume that the situation got really out of control, that the humans were miserable. Even according to ZUN in the interview, it has gotten out of control to some extent, but... also according to ZUN, this is... what they wanted. So, all that to say, Yachie's profile is not an unbiased description. I thought that was pretty interesting, and it will be important to consider when we talk about the situation of the human spirits under Keiki.

But for now, let's go back to the beast spirit's story of what happened - humans were dominated by the idols and plummeted to the bottom once again.

Survival of the fittest - the law of the animal realm. It's what's natural. What's natural, according to the beast spirits, is good! There is actually a philosophical moral theory called "natural law", and it's kind of the basis for the survival of the fittest argument. But it's also usually used to argue against stuff like homosexuality, abortion, being trans, etc... so uh, I have yet to meet any actual philosophers who use that theory (though I'm sure they exist). In the end, natural law is kind of shaky - because you have to ask the question - if what is natural is what is good, then what exactly do we define as natural? For example, we can look at penguins and see homosexuality, does that mean that natural law can no longer be used to attack homosexuality? Vaccines aren't natural, right? Cars aren't natural, right? Modern technology isn't natural, right? So are these things morally bad? But that's the thing - those three things I said may not be """natural""" according to the general public, but how exactly are they not natural? Vaccines, cars, and modern technology, those things are all made from nature, one way or another. Homosexuality, even if it DIDN'T occur in "nature" occurs within humans for sure! And humans are natural! What we view as natural is fully dependent, more or less, on what we were taught to view as natural. At the end of the day, isn't everything natural? And this is where things get really funny, because in many instances, natural law has been used cynically to defend the status quo and oppression. People were taught that black people were lesser, so it was natural to have them serve us. They were taught homosexuals were unnatural, so keep believing in the church and giving us money. They were taught that animals are meant to be eaten, that's how it is in the wild, so factory farms are okay. These arguments tend not to say "the current power structure isn't natural, so we need to dismantle it" but almost always "the current way things are is the way things should stay." So when we look at Mayumi Joutouguu...

You may not like it,

But this is what peak performance looks like.

Unable to be harmed by anything spiritual, Mayumi and the other idols are invulnerable to the attacks of beast spirits, easily able to defend the humans from their attacks. In other words, in the Animal Realm... Mayumi Joutouguu IS THE FITTEST. Really let that sink in. The Animal Realm, where the strong rule over the weak. Mayumi Joutouguu is the peak of that strength - and yet?

"I shall liberate the human spirits (our prey)

from you accursed idols! Prepare yourself!

It's the law of the Animal Realm that the strong eat the weak!"

From Reimu(Wolf).

"The god of destruction who broke the laws of animal-kind!

Keiki Haniyasushin!"

And this is just two instances. On multiple occasions, Keiki is referred to as having somehow broken the natural law by the beast spirits. And I'm sure that's what the beast spirits believe, because, in Youmu's Otter ending:

"Youmu returns to the Primate Spirit Garden and finds Yachie and Keiki squaring off. Youmu is confused by this and asks if the two of them get along well. Yachie explains that there is no such thing as ‘getting along’ in the Animal Realm. Keiki is surprised by this, stating that she was willing to work with the beast spirits in the future. Yachie acknowledges Keiki as a worthy opponent, but she then states that Keiki must be removed in consideration for the struggle for resources. Keiki tells Youmu that the resources Yachie refers to are the human spirits. Youmu is disturbed by this. Yachie then points out that is another reason why Keiki doesn’t belong here. She states the animal spirits are resources too. In the Animal Realm, everyone is driven by selfishness. Yachie follows the natural order here. However, Keiki, who was summoned by the human spirits, had thought differently."

No longer is the natural law "survival of the fittest", but rather, "everyone is driven by selfishness." Natural law was only used as a justification for the power structures within the Animal Realm until the ruling class was displaced. This game, by and large, follows the narratives of the ruling classes, from the beast spirits to Keiki herself. In that way, the second half of the game is asking more questions about power than it is about animal ethics. It's likely that Yachie and the other beast spirit heads are the ones who present this narrative to the lesser beast spirits, who we have already established according to her profile earlier are miserable, "fighting to exhaustion as the slaves of the large organizations, which could not be stopped". Gives me some serious neoliberalism vibes, but because of the lack of structure in the Animal Realm, I don't think it would be easy to make a political comparison.

So yeah, it's really funny that Mayumi and Keiki aren't really breaking any rules. They're just the new fittest, and the beast spirit ruling class isn't happy with that.

Some side notes about Mayumi:

It's been predicted that the workforce of human and animal spirits will be gradually replaced by the more efficient haniwa, because they can be immediately repaired after they've been destroyed, they can't get sick, and they don't need any rest.

In the SCoOW interview, ZUN compares Mayumi and the idols to AI. He's kind of an old man about it, too, saying that the humans went from being slaves to the beast spirits to being slaves to technology. But if you recall, I mentioned labor when we talked about Eika, and I did so because, well... We don't really have any idea what kind of labor the human and beast spirits are doing, WBaWC is too vague, and doesn't give us much detail. But, ZUN presents this idea, and then describes the Primate Spirit Garden under Keiki as kind of an opposite extreme "dystopia". According to ZUN:

A real "civilization gone too far" situation, where it's becoming a dystopia in a really obvious way.

The way I see it, it's something where "they built objects to rule over the world with, and in the end came to be ruled by those objects." The same as AIs and the like.

But also remember earlier, where ZUN says that that's what the human spirits wanted. Here it's almost as if ZUN is kind of bringing up a WALL-E type situation, where humans will no longer have to work, and every need of theirs will be taken care of by their idols. A very old man thing to say, but what's funny is actually another line that was just a bit earlier in the interview about Mayumi and the haniwa.

Haniwa certainly are mysterious; you wonder why everyone was making them. Archaeology is quick to ascribe religious reasons to anything it doesn't understand, but if you think about it with today's moral values in mind, it might not seem that way. I've thought about things like that for a long time. Personally, I believe they made them just because they felt like it. That might not have been the initial reason, but the act of creation itself gradually became enjoyable, and they started making more variations. To fulfill their creative desires, you know?

Think about that for a second. ZUN has introduced a society with very little forced labor, and called it dystopian. But he has also just stated that he believes that the people who made haniwa worked on them because they wanted to. To be honest, I don't know if ZUN even realizes this.

Finally, Keiki Haniyasushin. Thanks for sticking with me so far. Taking a look at her profile, the main thing that stands out to me is this:

The idols she creates are excellent items that can gather faith, act as stand-ins, play with you, and decorate your home.

A very different description than what was given by the beast spirit, huh? Is this what Keiki thinks her idols are doing? Is it actually what her idols are doing, and the beast spirits simply see that as domination because they can't comprehend any other way? Or is this just a little joke? Or is it somehow all of these? WBaWC is too vague! I'm sorry, but I don't know! Without a human spirit perspective on this, we really just can't deduce that. All we know is that the human spirits for sure liked living under Keiki more than living under the beast spirits.

As for Keiki, I don't have all that much philosophical to say, but I did think these quotes from the Marisa endings were cool.

Marisa (Otter)

"Yachie then explains the story from the beast spirits’ perspective. Marisa thinks it would have been better if she was told this from the start. Yachie apologies, but she reasons that didn’t want to risk failure. According to her, if she revealed the plan to the humans, there would be a chance Keiki would hear about it. However, Marisa was unable to read Yachie’s true intentions from her words. It is suggested that Marisa just didn’t see Keiki as an evil god."

Marisa (Eagle)

To Marisa, Keiki didn’t seem like an evil god. She wonders why the beast spirits hated her so much.

While Reimu and Youmu viewed what they were doing as more like work, Marisa was just in it for the ride, and as a result, she had some interesting thoughts about Keiki when she reflected on what she had just done. Keiki is one of the few Touhou bosses to not recognize at all that she was doing something bad, because Keiki doesn't believe she was doing anything bad. It's mentioned multiple times that she planned to coexist with the beast spirits "so long as they started to respect human spirits". Which casts further doubt on the description of the haniwa in Yachie's profile, which almost made it sound like they were going around indiscriminately slaughtering beast spirits. Wouldn't that be unnecessary if they were invincible?

Keiki's relationship to human spirits could also be looked at as pet ownership, or more accurately, like animals at a zoo or preservation area, I think. Caring for their every need, protecting them from the cruel "survival of the fittest" world outside. I mean, I don't have a problem with pet ownership at all, but I do have a problem with people who own pets irresponsibly and don't try as hard as they can to meet their pets' needs. My cat is my son.

The last thing I'll say is this: Keiki is coming back. Probably in 17.5. This may not be news to those of you who have already looked into this, but let me inform you if not. Marisa (Wolf)'s Extra, after beating Saki:

Marisa: I got no idea what the politics of the Animal Realm are like...... But I can hardly imagine this family o'yours ruling it. There's no denyin' you guys are strong, but......

Saki: What is it?

Marisa: Keiki strikes me as the most dangerous person.

Somehow it seems like she can come at us with all her power again.

And in Reimu (Wolf)'s ending:

Afterward, Reimu learns that Keiki threw the Animal Realm into chaos through her idolatry. She had the feeling that not humans vs. beasts, not physical vs. spiritual, but a religious confrontation was approaching.

And in Youmu (Eagle)'s ending:

Later, Keiki Haniyasushin showed up on Earth. This wasn’t too surprising since Keiki was never a god of the Animal Realm in the first place. However, for some reason, it seemed eerily likely that the Animal Realm’s survival of fittest conflict would follow Keiki into the surface world.

And personally that makes me very excited. And we just got a game about markets?? Hm...

FINALLY. This game has heavy Buddhist themes, and I am no expert on Buddhism, but:

Saki Kurokoma, Prince Shoutoku's horse that was ridden around to spread Buddhism. I don't have much to say about this character, haha. But I figured you'd want to see her anyways, and it's my Buddhism segue.

As far as Buddhism goes, the "animal realm" is one of the realms of reincarnation. To go from the human realm to the animal realm is bad, it means you were probably a pretty selfish person. Which begs us to ask, what might these people have done in their past lives? Does that mean that they deserve the suffering in the unnaturally cruel Animal Realm of Touhou? And what does that say about the dynamic we have with animals in the modern world, the parallel to the Animal Realm? Well, in the (Buddhist) animal realm, according to some Buddhist teachings, you act only on instinct and only for selfish desire. This is because of the misconception that animals act only on instinct and for selfish desire, a theme that we've played with a bit in this exploration, and a theme that ZUN strictly opposes with the character of Kutaka. If you own any pets, you already know that this just isn't true. Just like with humans, animal behavior is complex, and to attribute it to pure instinct is accurate to a degree - but the thing is, you can do the exact same thing to human behavior (we're also animals). It's just another way of creating human exceptionalism, something this game is really challenging. Specifically, the Buddhist animal realm is not a place, though, it's just a cycle of reincarnation. It's not actually a hell, not even close, it just means you've been reincarnated AS an animal in the real world. And this isn't a negative thing inherently, but it is viewed as hellish because of how animals are treated, not only by humans, but also by other animals!

So, there's probably more to say here. When reading Yachie's profile you may say, "Everyone working to exhaustion as slaves to huge organizations owned by a select few? Wow, that sounds like corporate America!" and you'd be right, and there's probably something there, to be honest. But because the Animal Realm is extremely vague, it's difficult to make any connections like that.

I think there's probably deeper stuff to dive into. Like I said, I'm no expert on Buddhism, so someone who is may be able to find a meaning that I've missed here. But to conclude,

As ZUN said, if you look for something the game is trying to show you, you'll just find a world filled with satire and vague circumstances. But... if you look for what the game is trying to ask you... there's quite a lot.

What is the criteria for moral rights? Can we create a criteria that makes sense and only applies to humans?

What is our justification for our treatment of animals in the modern world?

How would you feel about it if that dynamic was reversed?

And well, we don't really get any answers. ZUN really just gives us two pieces of his personal view:

The survival of the fittest argument is bullshit.

Natural law is bullshit.

Our current relationship with farm animals is not healthy, and we need to create a more positive image for them outside of being just our tools for food.

Thanks for reading. Reblogs appreciated.

[cindylouwho-2]

Etsy Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Report - Sales Down a Bit, But Still Relatively Strong

As ecommerce continues to slide and the world fears a recession, Etsy’s second quarter results for 2022 actually beat many projections and met their own. Can this continue?

This post covers the highlights of the financial call that sellers might be interested in, with my commentary in square brackets. Have comments? Please leave them below, email me through my website, or contact me on Twitter.

The relevant materials, for those who want to take a closer look:

The press release

Transcript of the earnings call

Slides from the presentation

Video of the call; click on “Webcast”

My summary of the first quarter 2021 for comparison

The basic numbers (covering April to June 2022, compared to the same period in 2021):

Sales on Etsy were $2.6 billion, down 6%

Total sales for all 4 marketplaces (Etsy, Reverb, Depop, Elo7) were $3 billion, down 0.4% (note that Etsy did not own Depop and Elo7 one year ago)

Revenue (including all 4 sites) was up 10.6% to $585 million; seller service revenue was up 9.1% to $145.5 million, while marketplace revenue was up 11.1% to 439.5 million. This improvement was partly due to the Etsy transaction fee increase, and also Etsy Ads. 

Income was $73.1 million, down 25.6%, which Etsy attributed to increasing staff 70% in a year, including Depop and Elo7 hires

Active sellers on Etsy alone are now 5.3 million, up only 100,000 (2%) YOY and down from last quarter’s 5.5 million, while there are now 88.1 million active buyers on Etsy, down from just over 90 million a year ago [note that “active” means one charge or transaction in the past 12 months; some “active” shops currently have nothing for sale]  

Sales on mobile are now at 66%, up from 63% last year, with the mobile app now contributing more sales than desktop (since the first quarter).

Sales with at least one non-US party are 44% of the total, up from 41% YOY

Why Did Sales Drop?

In short, economic and other trends. CEO Josh Silverman noted that some (but not all) of the total drop on Etsy was due to currency fluctuations; sales for all 4 marketplaces would have been up 2.6% instead of down 0.4% had currency rates not changed. 

Not only did active buyers drop, but they also spent slightly less (40 cents per buyer less) than they did previously (see slide 25). Some categories such as Home and Living are down while others such as Travel, Weddings and Paper & Party Supplies are up (slide 24). Etsy estimates that 75% of the sales drop is from much lower sales in both Home & Living and Craft Supplies, which made a lot of money during the pandemic. 

In the US, people are now about as mobile as they were in 2019, meaning they aren’t at home as much to shop online. 

Etsy Search

Slide 6 (shown above) is from the search portion of the presentation. Silverman describes search as now being run by multiple search engines, including the old text- based exact match form of relevancy, X-Walk (using the way buyers interreact with listings/shops to turn up the right results), and “Neural IR” (”do we understand what you are looking for even if you do not know how to describe it?”). [While this might surprise some sellers, Google also combines many different algorithms to come up with one set of search results.]

Silverman considers the success of the “add to cart” button on search pages to be “...a testament to the fact that we’ve improved the quality of search and the information provided on the search result page, enough that some people are ready to buy without even needing to visit the seller’s listing page.”

The press release reports that XWalk is now used in all countries, not the just the US, which is something they promised previously. 

Advertising, Promotions and Nudges

Etsy Ads seller budgets are up 80% this year, continuing this growth trend. Revenue from ads has grown twice as much as total sales have in the past 5 years. Recently, this is due to better relevance and more clicks, as well as adding more ad slots throughout the site, including the home page. 

Brand marketing spend was up 4%, while the overall marketing budget was down 2% due to a small drop in performance marketing. “Our performance marketing spend declined year-over-year driven by our improving model and data feed efficiencies combined with softer consumer demand and weaker Google search trends for our related terms.”  Offsite ads are now shown in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, and Mexico. 

"[w]e prompted signed-out browsers to download the Etsy App, leading to a 53% increase in downloads" YOY. [If your listings are not optimized for the app, you are likely falling behind.]

Depop, Reverb & Elo7

All three of the other marketplaces have struggled in the current economy, and have decreased Etsy’s net income. They still feel that Depop  and Elo7 were good acquisitions for Etsy in the long term. 

The new CEO of Depop, Kruti Patel Goyal, was previously Chief Product Officer of Etsy and will push some of the same things there. 

Reverb has upgraded search and also created landing pages for outside search engines. [Maybe similar to Market pages on Etsy?]

Elo7 has introduced new shipping carriers. 

Miscellaneous

The pandemic buyer cohort is more valuable than buyers acquired previously.

Etsy will be advertising the buyer purchase protection changes more as we get closer to the holiday season. 

While other ecommerce and retail companies are laying people off, Etsy did not, but did slow hiring somewhat in the second quarter. 

Etsy sees most of its future growth coming from outside of the US and the UK.

Habitual buyers made 46% of the orders this quarter, with strong improvement in Germany and Australia. 

"we began proactively reviewing listings for potential handmade violations - in fact, in the second quarter we removed approximately 50% more listings than in all of 2021" [the call gave no further clarification on this statement, which comes from the press release]

Etsy is sitting on $1.1 billion in cash. 

My Thoughts

This was probably the most boring call I have followed; no big announcements, and no grand plans. There was a palpable relief that numbers weren't as bad as they could have been, so although sales being down was nothing to celebrate, they are actually pretty proud of the performance. They are also still worried about what the third quarter will look like, but did not give us any figures on July. 

A lot of retail and ecommerce companies are panicking; Etsy is not. The next 6 to 12 months will likely show us whether or not they are being realistic about the future. 

[makeste]

BnHA 6th Popularity Poll Reaction Post - Risky Spoiler-Dodging Edition

hey guys, so seeing as the results from the 6th popularity poll were leaked today, I figured I would do a separate reaction + analysis post this year, rather than piling it in as an extra on top of the chapter reaction post tomorrow. I figure this makes more sense anyway, since they’re really two completely different things. also this way I can write as much as I want lol.

also, just fyi, I am still completely unspoiled for chapter 293. and probably the smart thing to do to keep it that way would be to log off tumblr and hold off posting this until tomorrow, but I apparently have no impulse control today so oh well. anyway, so I’m hoping you guys will keep this spoiler-free if you don’t mind! as always, I would prefer to just jump right in completely unaware tomorrow like Troy returning to the study room with the pizza boxes lol.

okay so this first part is just going to be my predictions. fyi I am writing this part on Wednesday night, and then I’ll add on the results part on Thursday or Friday (ETA: Thursday, apparently, since I am impatient.)

okay so first of all, just as a refresher, this poll was open to Japanese voters from Aug 3 to Sep 30. meaning chapters 279 through 285. meanwhile last year’s poll took place around the tail end of the MVA arc. so between then and now we had Heroes Rising, the Endeavor Agency arc, and the War arc up to the part where the 1-A kids took on Gigantomachia in Gunga, and started battling Tomura in Jakku. so technically only a couple of arcs, but a LOT of stuff going down in them. oh and season 4 of the anime as well

so! firstly, I predict that my truculent africanized honeybee son will hold on to his crown at #1, coming off a year in which he did some internship-boosted soul searching, borrowed OFA in movie canon, and finished out the voting period as the my-body-moved-on-its-own character development MVP. like CALL ME CRAZY lol, but I’m pretty sure his title is safe. and then after him will be Deku and Shouto as usual

Aizawa should hopefully also have a strong showing because the dude had a banner fucking year. reunited with his old dead friend, took on Tomura with his hopelessly inept hero pals, and then chopped his fucking leg off. he had better be in the top 10. his fucking leg died for this, idk what else he has to do

Endeavor also stands a decent chance of doing well given the internship arc and the final episode of season 4. which I’m sure will go down just swimmingly if that does happen lmao. especially if he somehow manages to rank higher than...

Dabi, which I don’t think he will btw, but you never know. anyways though, but I’m thinking Dabi’s going to have a stronger showing than in past years (in the last poll he only got 367 votes and was ranked 19th). mostly because of his fight in the Gunga mansion, and his cheekily censored name reveal to...

Hawks, who is also going to rank pretty high here, I think. might be he loses some points for killing off Twice, but his back was basically to the wall there. and he has always been very popular, and I think season 4 will also give him a boost, along with his heavy involvement in the first half of the War arc

Tomura was already in 6th place last year and I think he cracks the top 5 this year. he’s gotten exponentially more popular since the MVA arc, and got a boost in the last poll even though his flashback had only just barely happened, and he hadn’t finished Awakening yet and all that stuff. anyway, so he’s only gotten cooler and more tragic since then so I think he makes a big play here

Kirishima, Momo, Tokoyami, and Mina should also hopefully do well, since the poll opened right in the middle of all that Gigantomachia action, and Toko had just got done being an absolute badass and protecting his birb dad. I don’t think he’ll quite make it to the top ten, but he should

and last but not least, I’m hoping that Mirko will come out and take the polls by storm, although I have no clue how popular she is in Japan lol. she’s clearly Horikoshi’s favorite though. she SHOULD be everyone’s favorite, but I mean, we’ll see how it goes

anyway that’s it as far as predictions! and so now, through the magic of writing stuff at different times, we will fast-forward to the part where we actually find out the results!

OH MY GOD YES, STEAMPUNK KHLKSLLKL. HERE FOR IT. JOLLY GOOD SHOW. 5 STARS

Kacchan looks SO COCKY and SO HAPPY and SO ADORABLE, YES I SAID IT. he is adorable as FUCK. I don’t quite know what it is about this particular Kacchan that just screams “LOOK HOW FUCKING CUTE MY STUPID, LOUD SON IS WITH HIS BIZARRE WINDOWPANE-LOOKING CONVERTIBLE SUNGLASS GOGGLES and his POORLY TIED CRAVAT”, but I think it’s because he looks like if a Digimon character and a FMA character had a baby

anyway, so it looks like most of the people present here are more or less who we expected to see. except that I can’t tell for sure if that’s Dabi or Shindou, and if it’s Shindou I’m going to punch somebody in the face so you will have to excuse me

Iida wearing a TRENCHCOAT and a TOP HAT with ENGINE EXHAUST GOGGLE ACCENTS is my new favorite Iida of all time. take note how there is no possible way he can wear those goggles with them sitting on top of his hat like that. plus he’s already got glasses on. these are just purely for aesthetic and IF THAT AIN’T JUST THE STEAMPUNK WAY

Deku out here speaking softly and carrying a lead pipe. Kacchan you best look out. seems like he’s done watching you take first place year after year while he languishes in the number two spot. your only hope is that he trips while attacking you because his boots are unbuckled

Shouto’s standing over there with the rest of the non-first-and-second-place characters, but what are the odds his results are actually within spitting distance of Deku’s same as always. anyway he doesn’t mind, though. also his outfit is by far the most sensible one here, but if you look closely he’s got some sort of fire extinguisher/jet pack thing strapped to his back that’s got a control switch on his belt. Shouto are you jetpacking or putting out fires

Kirishima out here all “I’m not sure what steampunk is so I’m just going to take off my shirt and pose”

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH SKLKSDLKFJLSKJLDFKJSLDFFJLDKSJFL:KS. SIR. SIR. also, lowkey furious that Horikoshi refuses to show us the automail leg that he is clearly sporting here but which we just can’t see, SHOUTO MOVE GODDAMMIT

Endeavor has TWO fire extinguisher-slash-jetpacks. THE BETTER TO... WHATEVER. look at you here in the top ten again. you really live for that controversy

HAWKS OUT HERE WITH HIS STEAMPUNK BEATS BY DRE AND HIS WEARING A RING ON EVERY FINGER. nice to see you’ve still got your wings there, kiddo. then again Deku still has both of his arms too so who even knows what is going on

BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH, IS THIS DABI OR SHINDOU. as if I don’t know the truth deep down in my heart. y’all I am gonna flip lmao. it’s not that I dislike Shindou, strictly speaking. but just... I can’t explain what it is, but if you put him and AFO next to each other and told me “you can only punch one”, I would be having a serious crisis. just, THIS FUCKING GUY, idek. STOP SMILING

Tomura looks like he just wandered onto the set here by mistake and has no idea where he is or what is going on. it’s because you’re wearing a bigass severed hand that’s blocking your entire view, Tomura. just take the hand off your face my sweet murder dumpling

anyway! so I managed to also find a link to the full poll results while somehow managing to avoid spoilers, and then I wanted to compare the results to last year’s poll, and so I made... this

hopefully you can all see this. if you’re on desktop you might be screwed, but on mobile you should be able to click and enlarge it. I mean, assuming you actually give a fuck about boring poll analysis spreadsheets lmao

anyway, so there were actually 13k fewer votes cast this year which is a bit of a surprise. is the series not still growing in popularity? do people apparently have better things to do during their quarantine lol

anyways but despite this, and despite getting 8k fewer votes overall, Kacchan still managed almost twice as many as his closest competitor. well fought, Deku. please put down that pipe

I somehow always underestimate the power of ship popularity to influence these things. but for example, it looks like Present Mic got that Vigilantes Trio bump. ride that wave for all it’s worth my man! hell, you got me on board

Iida fucking Tenya somehow got some sort of POWER BOOST out of NOWHERE which I can’t explain at all lmao, but I’m here for it. NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MAN

Sero managed to get the exact same number of votes in both 2019 and 2020. clearly the most loyal fans in the business

Mirko being all the way down at #20 is, of course, a travesty, and I hereby nominate her to be the one to punch Shindou in the face

ngl though, the lack of a single female character in the top ten hurts just a bit. it’s not overly surprising, but still. the worst part of it is that even if you kicked Shindou to the curb and moved everyone else up one slot, it would still be all dudes since Mic beat out Momo by a margin of a little more than a hundred votes. hard to stay mad at Mic for too long, though. ah well

Tomura actually lost a bunch of votes which is a genuine surprise to me. I know the villain standom isn’t as dominant in Japan as it is in Western fandom, but still. you can go ahead and punch Shindou too I guess

Tokoyami lowkey doubled his vote count over the past year while hiding down there at #18. he is slowly becoming more powerful. biding his time

anyway so I think that’s it! I mean not really, but I’m getting kind of tired lol. so just, you know, insert the usual gripes at Overhaul’s ranking here, although we can be happy about Magne making her way onto the list (r.i.p.), and Mineta and AFO taking a very satisfying slide down (all the way out, in AFO’s case; good riddance you bum). Hadou also got a huge boost which is awesome. Mustard’s persistent ownership of the #36 spot will forever remain a mystery to me, but oh well

anyways, this was fun. and I really do feel like everyone is looking away on purpose so that when Deku brains Kacchan with that pipe in about two seconds from now, there will be no witnesses, oh my fucking god

[lucy-268]

Hiiiii! I know you're still working on last week's but if you're up for it, here are some more picture questions for Ethan x Charley

Note: Once again, this week’s round focuses on photos! Dialogue is entirely optional, though for some of these, it’d be fun to know the story behind the pictures ;) Tumblr mobile only allows 10 picture uploads (there are 10 questions), so collages are highly encouraged! Otherwise, the non-beta version of Tumblr desktop will allow more than ten.

Have fun!

For MC

Favorite childhood photo of Ethan

What’s your phone wallpaper image?

Contact name and photo for Ethan

Top three photo results when you Google Ethan

First picture of or with him that you uploaded to social media

For Ethan

Favorite childhood photo of your spouse

What’s your phone wallpaper image?

Contact name and photo for your spouse

Top three photo results when you Google your spouse

First picture you ever took of or with your spouse

*Credit to the anon who sent me the first three questions!

When we last left off, Ethan went to make coffee for his guest.

Bree: Thank you for the coffee.

Charley: Not at all. Thank you for staying for us to answer the next set of questions.

B: These are a fun group! They are all photos.

Ethan: How many questions?

B: Ten total. The first four are the same and question five is just a little different. Why don’t we get started?

Favorite childhood photo of your spouse?

C: Look at those eyes. Eyes are the windows to the soul.

E: What picture- Okay.

C: I know you don’t like me showing that picture..

B: What picture is that?

E: Nevermind.

C: It’s a picture of him practicing CPR on a teddy bear.

B: Awww! That sounds adorable.

C: It is. It really is.

E: I actually have two favorites of her. This one, you can see the beautiful intelligent adult she grew up to be.

C: I sound like a boring child.

E: Maybe you’ll like this one better. You posted it on your Pictagram page for Father’s Day.

B: Baby Charley is adorable!

What’s your phone wallpaper image?

B: Why that picture?

C: Seriously? Wouldn’t you like to see that every time you open your phone?

B: Yeah.

E: Here is a picture of her that shows how beautiful she is, and she doesn’t even have to be half naked.

C: Ethan-

E: It’s also more professional since I am the chief.

Contact name and photo for your spouse?

C: I’m actually surprised it doesn’t say ‘Dr. Charley Valentine-Ramsey’ along with a picture of my official hospital photo.

Top three photo results when you Google your spouse?

C: This first one was taken at a party for the opera. Usually, they are held at night at the opera house, but they did a picnic last year. It took a while to convince him to go.

E: It’s for the opera, not Shakespeare in the Park!

C: The second picture was taken at a medical conference. He was annoyed because Declan Nash had decided to talk to him.

B: Nash? He was one of the pharmaceutical reps that is now in jail?

C: Yes! Which brings us to picture three. It was cold and windy when that picture was taken outside the courthouse. Ethan was trying not to gloat at Nash’s sentencing.

E: Not that I like to see anyone suffer, but it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. On a happier note, here are three pictures of my beautiful wife. This first one was taken when we were interviewed on TV to discuss the senator.

C: That was when you said you weren’t single.

E: -

C: Of course, you didn’t admit that it was me.

E: The second was taken at an actual Opera benefit.

C: That was our first date where you actually introduced me as your girlfriend to non-coworkers.

E: The last picture, it was taken during her intern year. Someone must have up uploaded it later.

C: That was at the conference in Miami. You kissed me for the first time that night. And then it was months before you kissed me again!

E: I’m never going to live that down, will I?

First picture of or with him that you uploaded to social media?

C: Speaking of Miami, the second morning we were there, I woke up and he had left the suite. I decided to walk to a coffee shop nearby, and I saw him resting before he had to deal with people like Nash again.

E: Did you really post that?

C: If course I did.

First picture you ever took of or with your spouse?

C: When did you… I haven’t taken the time to braid my hair like that for a long time. In fact I think the last time… You took that at Donahue’s the night you came home from the Amazon.

E: I did.

C: -

E: It wasn’t appropriate for me to be with you. But I hadn’t seen you for two months. I never wanted to go that long without seeing you and…

He breaks off as Charley throws her arms around his neck and kisses him.

Bree stands and quickly gathers her things. Charley breaks away from Ethan.

C: That was rude.

B: No. Thank you both for your time. I’ll be in touch later?

C: Of course! We enjoy the questions!

Tagging - I didn’t tag anyone for the first two groups of Bree’s asks. If you don’t want to be tagged in future posts, please let me know.

Permatag @jamespotterthefirst @txemrn @starrystarrytrouble @openheart12 @rigatonireid @genevievemd @eramsey28 @mvalentine @stargirl7856 @pixie88 @whimsicallywayward15 @shewillreadyou @kalinahonore @schnitzelbutterfingers @missmiimiie @lahelasaveiro @chemist-ana

All Open Heart @rookie-ramsey @thegreentwin @storyofmychoices @whatchique @utterlyinevitable @openheartfanfics @openheartchoices @kiara-36 @red-rookie @gryffindordaughterofathena @coffeeheartaddict @maurine07 @mercury84choices @panda9584 @uneravine @stateofgracious @jerzwriter @izzyourresidentlawyer

Open Heart

Ethan Ramsey x f!MC (Charley Valentine) only @ohchoices @fireycookie @yeonjunbb-main @queencarb @udishaman @mysticaurathings @lsvdw-blog @mia143

[halcyon-writings]

favored - ichigo/m!reader

requested: yes (anonymous)

note(s); An attempt on something other than a gender neutral reader, i also deleted the ask on accident so if this isn’t exactly to the prompt anon my apologies!! feel free to send something in my ask box if you want me to like re do it or smth, jealous berry manTM 

a continuation can be found here!

all my other links are in my pinned post for mobile users and linked on my sidebar for desktop users!

if you’d like to support me and my writing, please consider buying me a kofi!

Ichigo Kurosaki is aware of many things. Some more keenly than others. 

He knew that for a long time, the main thing occupying his mind was his duties as the Substitute Shinigami. Rarely time for any leisure out of it unless he was lucky. 

But then you came along. A boy in his grade who’s smile dazzled everyone, even him. It never occurred to him that you’d like him, since it always seemed like you had your own little crowd surrounding you outside of class. 

Popular as you were, admired by your peers and underclassman alike. Favored by and charming everyone you met. 

The meeting had been by chance after all. You had told him that you let your underclassmen leave early, cleaning up from practice before heading home. Only to be attacked by a hollow. 

Laying helplessly on the pavement out as you felt yourself bleeding out. Panic in your eyes but no, not for yourself, for him when he had parried and pushed the hollow back. 

You try to hold him back, but your grip already is faltering, you speak in half sentences.

“Please don’t- that thing- that thing-” You beg, eyes suddenly burning.

The look on his face is determined, as he holds you up, arm around your shoulders and close to his chest. Later he’ll never be able to live it down as Rukia teases him about it, burying his face into one of his pillows while he throws another at her, only for it to pass through the Shinigami anyway. 

“I got you,” He promises, “You’ll be okay.”

Ichigo was equally as panicked when you had lost consciousness. It took a lot for him to leave you as his friends would handle taking care of you, while he fought off the hollow easily enough. Only to return to your bedside as soon as he was done. It was a shallow wound but, the blood just continued to flow, it was a sight he never wanted to see again. 

With disappointment clenching around his heart, Ichigo lets himself believe it’d be the last time the two of you spoke to one another. 

Only for you of course to throw all his expectations out the window. Joining his friend group like you had been there since the beginning. Conversations flowing with ease as you talked and laugh among them. You still had your friends from the team and in general, but Ichigo always felt warm whenever you would join them all on the rooftop during lunch break. 

He pointedly ignores Orihime’s knowing smile, as his face involuntarily flushes whenever he sees you, as he admires you from afar rather than participating in the conversation, the usual broody look, as Keigo put it, on his face.

Then your powers had manifested. 

If Ichigo needed any more reason to like respect you, this only added onto the list. 

It’s Ichigo who introduces you to Urahara, a way to help you get used to the suddenly new developments your powers brought on. Yoruichi helping, but also ruffling Ichigo’s hair when she promised that neither she nor Kisuke would keep his beau for too long.

Ichigo’s face burns as Yoruichi cackles.

Only this time it feels like he’s on fire when the day comes that you confess about how you feel about him, the usual way you hold yourself, confident, ready,is gone, replaced by a boy who can’t meet his eyes without your own expression becoming flustered.

Scratch that, he feels like he’s on fire when you kiss him. Hands grasping his uniform jacket. And when he kisses you back, he feels only warmth.

Ichigo is aware of a few things. The way your personality has anyone gravitating towards you as soon as you meet, and the fact that his heart feels like it’ll burst the second you look at him with the same fond smile that’s especially meant for him and him alone. 

He didn’t mind, after all, your social battery seemed never ending. What he didn’t expect was for the first time you go to the Soul Society, is for many to gravitate towards you, much like in the World of the Living.

Jealousy curls around his heart, a feeling he tries to ignore, but when Rangiku or Renji end up tugging you away each time he brings you with him, or how you and Byakuya have tea sometimes, tea! When you ask whats wrong he gives a half hearted smile, assuring that things are fine. Things are not fine.

It’s the traitorous voice in his head remidning him that you’re much better at him at a lot of thing. You could have had anyone in the world.

“Ichigo?” Your voice breaks him out of his thoughts, your book in your lap as you scribbled away at some assignment he knew he wasn’t in the mood to do anytime soon.

He hums in response.

“You okay? And don’t say you’re fine, I know you aren’t,” You add immediately, and Ichigo’s shoulders slump. Well, he never could actually lie to you in the first place. 

Only for him to end up spilling everything about how he had been feeling about your popularity both in the living world and the Soul Society. How his own doubts made it no less helpful. 

You place your workbook down, carefully folding a corner of the page as you close it so you don’t lose your place. Before beckoning Ichigo over. He rises from the desk chair and plops unceremoniously on the bed, which you can’t help but laugh. He sends you an annoyed look, but it isn’t one with any real heat behind it.

Making a surprised sound as you all but pull him to lay down in your lap, your hand running through his surprisingly soft hair, you lean down, pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

Ichigo is currently aware of one thing. You may have been favored and vied for by many. But your gaze never left his. Not even for a second. He was at ease.

[crazy-loca-blog]

Hola preciosa! Here are this week's questions for Ethan and Casey!

Note: Once again, this week’s round focuses on photos! Dialogue is entirely optional, though for some of these, it’d be fun to know the story behind the pictures ;) Tumblr mobile only allows 10 picture uploads (there are 10 questions), so collages are highly encouraged! Otherwise, the non-beta version of Tumblr desktop will allow more than ten.

Have fun!

For MC

Favorite childhood photo of Ethan

What’s your phone wallpaper image?

Contact name and photo for Ethan

Top three photo results when you Google Ethan

First picture of or with him that you uploaded to social media

For Ethan

Favorite childhood photo of your spouse

What’s your phone wallpaper image?

Contact name and photo for your spouse

Top three photo results when you Google your spouse

First picture you ever took of or with your spouse

*Credit to the anon who sent me the first three questions!

Masterlist

Casey: Babe, Bree sent us some new questions! Hurry up, we've been so busy that it's now or never, now we have time to answer them all!

Ethan: Oh, it's that time of the week again... should I be prepared for you to embarrass me again?

Casey: Maaaaybe... let's see...

Ethan: Just remember to choose your words wisely, honey... I may always strike back...

For Casey:

Favorite childhood photo of Ethan

Ethan: Casey...

Casey: *with a mischievous smile* What?

Ethan: Don't you dare...

Casey: *with a mischievous smile* What?

Ethan: You know what...

Casey: Nah... don't worry... I won't embarrass you by showing our audience a picture where you're making out with a teddy bear...

Ethan: *blushing* 30 seconds and you did it... how embarrasing... for the record, I was playing doctors and decided to practice CPR on my teddy bear, I don't know why Casey and my dad insist on that making out thing...

Casey: Sure, sweetie... well, Alan sent me this one a while ago and it's definitely one of my favorites. It reminds me of that time when I heard Ethan talking to Mrs. Martinez about how he was "a lovable scoundrel who got away with everything"... that's exactly how I imagine his face after being caught making mischieves...

Ethan: *smiling* I won't even try to rebate you... you're so right this time...

Casey: What do you mean with "this time"? You should know by now that your wife is always right...

Ethan: That's debatable, but whatever you say, dear...

What’s your phone wallpaper image?

Casey: I could have a hundred different pictures of my hot husband... but then I remember that I work at a hospital and my phone can be seen by a lot of people... so I have no choice but to keep things PG...

Ethan: I'm also your boss... it would definitely be a problem...

Casey: Don't worry, I have my ways to show off my husband...

Ethan: Now I'm scared to ask... but tell me...

Casey: It's easy... every time a person sees my phone and they ask me if you're my boyfriend, I show them my ring and then tell them "he's actually my husband"... 💅

Ethan: *laughing* Why do I find this so embarrassing but at the same time I feel that have to see it?

Contact name and photo for Ethan

Casey: Again... we really have to keep things professional because of the job... but that doesn't mean that we can't play with our ringtones... *wink*

Ethan: I have to admit that it was a smart idea... when did you take that picture?

Casey: It was one of those days where you weren't on a "photo mood", which, for the record, is almost every day. For some reason, it worked and I liked it...

Top three photo results when you Google Ethan

Casey: OK, there's no way that I'm winning this round...

Ethan: Why?

Casey: Are you serious? Ethan, you have a picture with prince Charles! How am I supposed to top that? All of my pictures in Google are taken from the Edenbrook site!

Ethan: Wait... do you google yourself?

Casey: Of course I do! Don't you?

Ethan: No, why would I do that? You know I think the Internet is a scary place

Casey: I don't know... curiosity...

Ethan: Then why did you never google me before being accepted at Edenbrook or during medical school?

Casey: I already told you, I wanted the knowledge to do all the talking... and OMG you're just so handsome that I don't know if I could have been able to focus on the medicine... so apparently my original plan worked...

Ethan: *smiling* I think it did...

Casey: Anyway, what surprises me about the picture in black and white is not the fact that they wanted to use you as a model for the Edenbrook site because just look at yourself babe, but the fact that you actually agreed to do it!

Ethan: I had no choice... they said something about representing the hospital...

Casey: *smiling* That's what I thought... and the third one is from Harvard, you went there to talk to the students and you asked me to go with you "to represent the diagnostics team"... back then you had some funny ways to ask me to go on a date with you...

Ethan: But this wasn't a date, it was a professional activity... but I might have wanted you to be there with me because I wanted to spend time with you...

Casey: *feeling victorious* Yes! You finally admitted it! Is this being recorded?

First picture of or with him that you uploaded to social media

Casey: Let's say that this picture is... "complicated"... look at it, even the text is so awkward! I wish I had a better first picture...

Ethan: Agreed... we weren't at our best there...

Casey: Yeah... it was taken at the Harvard activity, during the time that someone *looks at Ethan* decided that we needed to "reset" our relationship because my professional developement was more important...

Ethan: I don't know what was I thinking...

Casey: Oh, I know... I'm in peace with that decision though, after seeing things in retrospective I think I was able to understand why you did it...

Ethan: *surprised* You did?

Casey: Yeah... you did it because you cared about me... the only problem is that it didn't work... *smiling*... I ended up falling more for you... no regrets, though...

Ethan: *kissing her cheek* No regrets from me either...

Casey: If you ask me, I prefer the one where I made our relationship Pictagram official, but I don't want to cheat... even though the fact that no one was actually surprised made me wonder how subtle we really were before making our relationship public...

Ethan: Agreed...

~~*~~*~~

For Ethan:

Favorite childhood photo of Casey

Ethan: Now I need you to explain me a few things here...

Casey: *surprised* OMG, how did you get this picture?

Ethan: I happen to have a very good relationship with your brother... he said he found it in one of your grandmother's photo albums, but he didn't tell me the story behind it... what were you doing here?

Casey: *smiling* It was some Halloween, I don't remember if we were 4 or 5 years old, but I remember we didn't have money to buy new customes, so we told mom and dad not to worry about it and dressed up with whatever we found at home...

Ethan: *smiling* And that included some panties in your head?

Casey: *smiling* Hey! I thought they were a cool hat!

Ethan: By the way, when were you going to tell me that your hair was curly... and... were you blonde?

Casey: My hair changed a lot over the years, and I just lost both, the curls and the lighter tone... why is that even important?

Ethan: *smiling* I don't want to think that they gave us the wrong baby at the hospital if they happen to be blonde...

Casey: *choking on her water* Wait, why are we talking about babies now? I thought they weren't in the cards for us...

Ethan: *smiling* We both have changed our minds so many times throughout our relationship... I might have changed my mind about this...

Casey: *surprised* Now we do need to have some serious talk after this...

What’s your phone wallpaper image?

Ethan: My gorgeous wife in our honeymoon...

Casey: You're a fan of my photos with little to no makeup...

Ethan: I am... I don't even know why you buy makeup, you don't need it...

Casey: The bags under my eyes say otherwise... I appreciate the compliments, though... *winks*

Contact name and photo for Casey

Ethan: She's the one who added the hearts... and the one who changed her name from "Casey" to "Wifey"...

Casey: Of course I did! Do you know that in case of an emergency these emojis are super useful, because they make your name to appear at the very beginning of your contact list?

Ethan: Of course I know it... but if that's your excuse for adding the hearts, then you should have kept your name, they won't know who they are calling to...

Casey: Of course they'll know! They'll be calling your wifey! 💅

Top three photo results when you Google Casey

Casey: See? Boring...

Ethan: What are you talking about? I remember each and every one of these pictures and they all make me feel incredibly proud, both as your mentor and as your husband...

Casey: *blushing* You're making me blush!

Ethan: It's the truth, they only show accomplishments... the first picture, the one where you're in black, is your official picture as an attending and head of the diagnostics team at the Edenbrook site... the second one, the one where you're wearing a blouse, is from your first day as head of the team... you look so happy and empowered, so ready to take the world by storm... and in the last one you are giving a speech to nurses in London as part of the collaboration between some American hospitals and the British NHS...

Casey: True, that trip explains your picture with the prince, too. Care to elaborate why there was only the two of us there? I don't want our audience to think that we were on some type of paid honeymoon before getting married...

Ethan: They won't think that...

Casey: Trust me, they will...

Ethan: *laughing* They didn't even know it was just the two of us there until you mentioned it!

First picture you ever took of or with Casey

Ethan: That's easy... this one...

Casey: *surprised* I remember this one! I can't believe you kept it!

Ethan: Why would I delete it? You look beautiful!

Casey: I don't know... maybe because I asked you to take me this picture as a favor... back then we didn't even know we had feelings for each other! I was just an intern and you were my mentor!

Ethan: I remember it... we were at Donahue's discussing some things on Naveen's case, and while we were waiting for Reggie to bring us our drinks, you said you liked the light and wanted me to take you a picture for your Pictagram... but your battery was dead...

Casey: Don't lie, babe... I wanted to have a picture with you for my Pictagram, but you refused because we were in the middle of the competition for the spot in the team... but you agreed to take me a picture... wait... did you have feelings for me back then?

Ethan: I don't know, I think I was developing some feelings but I was very confused...

Casey: Wow, I can relate because I most probably felt the same way about you, but I'm surprised!

Ethan: Well, that's it for this week... we had a very good time...

Casey: You've surprised me this time, Ramsey... especially with the first and the last pictures, I swear I had no idea that you had them... it was a rollercoster of emotions... thank you, Bree!!!

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Gracias guapísima!!! I have so much work this week that this was a very much needed break... loved it!!!