#this definitely needs some work and more description but I am under A Lot Of Stress Right Now.

[vvindication]

WIP FUCKING WEDNESDAY: IM NOT MISSING IT THIS TIME EVEN FOR SURGERY

I dont remember who tagged me uhhhhhh @henbased probably <3 tagging @necro-hamster @nuclearstorms show me your wips when/if you post them >:] mutuals let me know if I should tag you, or even feel free to tag me for writing/art wips, Id love to see them !!

"Well, I wouldn't expect much different." Mr. Petersen claps him on the back, reaching over to one of the tarnished bundles to diligently comb out the damaged stems. "You've been a great help as it is, so thank you officer." He then resettles the bouquet of small white flowers and herbs into place and holds it out to him. "Here - for a loved one of yours. The least I could do." It's placed in his hands before he can even protest.

Joakim's arms are crossed when he's ushered out of the shop, shaking his head at the sight of the gift he'd received. With no hesitation, he turns on his heel and climbs up into the saddle of his patiently awaiting mare. "Seriously, Travart? Can we go one case without you flirting?"

Vincent disregards him with a roll of his eyes, petting his own horse's muzzle before he too is mounted, with the flowers carefully tucked against his chest. "He's not my type."

Their horses fall into place alongside one another as they head back toward the precinct, hooves clicking loudly against the pavement. "Who're you giving them to then, Antonin?" He heckles him, smirking as he looks for his reaction - only for his expression to quickly fall back into a critical squint at his partner's flinch.

"No, of course not." He laughs out, hollow and forced.

[artificial-transmutations]

Two sides of the same coin - Buddies

"Yoooo Pete!", Tom shouted across the whole gym floor. He had just spotted his workout partner and waved.

"Hey! What's up?", Peter called back from where he was working out.

Tom walked towards him, wearing only his red gym shorts, showing off his toned body. Both of them would qualify for the dictionary entry of "jock": Both were young men in their twenties who met over their obsession with working out, drinking and picking up girls. Tom was the larger one of them both and had medium length blonde dyed hair, while Peter was half a head shorter and not quite as bulky as Tom. Still, both of them had definitely bodies that turned a lot of heads - and they knew that well.

"Are you doing anything later?", Tom asked the other jock after they had said hello with a short hug. Emphasis was on short, of course, since neither of them wanted to come across as gay.

"I don't think so," replied Peter. "Why?"

"Care for a post-workout beer?" suggested Tom.

"Sure." Peter responded, "But we will have to earn that first!"

"Yeah, let's go work out some more then," agreed Tom enthusiastically.

The workout was long and intense, with Tom and Peter spotting for each other in tandem. Back in the locker room, as Peter was waiting for Tom to finish his shower - the gym showers were pretty small and there was a mutual understanding between them that they would absolutely not shower together, that was gay shit - he spotted something on the floor under a bench. Curious, he bent down and picked it up: It was an old coin that looked like a silver dollar or maybe even a quarter.

"Nice", he said to himself and pocketed the coin, not realizing it vanished once he put it in his pocket. Tom finished his shower quickly afterwards and they both headed for Tom's apartment. It was close to the gym and a good place to enjoy a beer.

As usual, when they entered the apartment, it was sparkly clean. Both buddies were neat-freaks, and it was way easier to bring home girls that way. Peter flopped down on the designer couch and looked expectantly at Tom. "You mentioned beer?"

"Yeah, sure," Tom answered, going into the kitchen and opening the fridge door. He pulled out two bottles of cold beer and handed one bottle to Peter. "Cheers!" They clinked their bottles and took a sip.

Peter liked this kind of beer very much: It wasn't too bitter but still full of flavor. "So how are things with your new neighbor?", he made casual conversation. "The hot one", he added for not-needed clarification.

Tom smiled. "She's nice," he said, taking another swig of his beer. "Aaand really hot. Did I mention she left her door open while changing last week when I came home? She didn't seem to care if anyone saw..."

"Wow!", exclaimed Peter in disbelief. "And you're telling me you haven't fucked her yet?"

"Well, no... But I'm planning to." He took another sip of his beer before going on: "I mean, have you looked at her boobs? Just the right size!"

Peter had felt horny since they exited the gym, and his buddies graphic description didn't make things better. He tried to casually readjust himself to hide his boner. "They're nice, yeah. But what about the ass?" He asked curiously.

Tom nodded, thinking about her tight little bubble butt. "Yeah, she has a great booty. And she's got a killer rack, too."

God, Peters cock was throbbing. What was wrong? A little dirty talk didn't usually excite him so much. He reached down to his groin to readjust himself again, shivering slightly as he touched his cock through his shorts. His friends' comments made him feel strangely aroused, almost as if he would get a hardon just from looking at her.

"What is it with you today?", Tom finally asked, noticing the change in his friend's demeanor before suddenly laughing. "Are you having a boner, dude?"

"Yeah," admitted Peter, feeling embarrassed by the sudden realization of his erection. "It's your fault, talking about that hot babe."

"So, you're saying", continued Tom, laughing, "I am giving you a stiff one? No homo, man!"

Peter laughed nervously and looked away, trying to hide his hard-on. "Shut up, dude!"

But it was no use. His cock was harder than it ever was, and it was aching to be touched. He looked at Tom. They didn't have that kind of relationship, but he *needed* to touch himself now. Excusing himself to the bathroom would be even more embarrassing. So, he just fished out his leaking rod out of his shorts and mumbled "God, sorry, I hope you don't mind." as he slowly began to stroke himself.

"Dude! What the fuck!? Are you jerking off?! Do that at home!" Tom shouted, shocked by what he saw. He couldn't believe his best friend was doing that in front of him. He wanted to say more, but there was something else catching his eye: On the right arm that Peter was using to jerk his cock, he could see some hair growing in. Just a light coating, but clearly visible. Usually, Peter was well groomed, just like himself. His left arm followed suit.

"Dude! You're getting hairy!" Tom exclaimed, even though that adjective was really far from true yet. Peter looked down on the arm Tom pointed at, without stopping his slow jerking. Tom was right, this coating of hair hadn't been there before. As he looked to his legs, he could see the same thing happening there. For some perverse reason, this only served to make him even more horny. He moaned, as another spurt of precum wetted his hand.

"Dude, are you okay? Why are you fucking jerking yourself off in front of me?" Tom asked concernedly. He felt bad for his friend who seemed to be getting turned on by his own body changes. A small diamond patch of dark hair had now appeared on his friends chest and he could see small bushes of hair growing in under his armpits. That was when Tom smelled it. The manly smell of musk and sweat, coming from Peter. His armpits were damp from sweat, as this new smell only turned him on even more.

"Oh God Tom, I'm so sorry, but... I... You...", With a defeated grunt, Peter grabbed his buddies head with his right hand and forced it between his legs, and over his cock.

At first, Tom was surprised, before he tried to resist. It was no use, however. Even though Tom was supposed the stronger one of them both, Peter had his hand firmly at the back of Toms head and pressed him into his groin. Peters cock, which was slick with pre rubbed against his mouth which he kept closed at all costs.

"Come on!" Peter whined, increasing the force even more. "I need someone to suck me off here."

"I'm not..." Tom began to answer, only to recognize his mistake right after. As he opened his mouth to answer, Peters cock was pushed inside. He could taste the salty flavor of Peter's precum on it and almost gagged. He wanted to byte, but somehow didn't find the strength for it. He let out a soft involuntary moan instead as Peter's cock slipped deeper into his throat until it hit his tonsils.

Meanwhile, Peter noticed a visible trail of black hair running across his previously hairless cobblestone abs. He felt really bad basically face-fucking his workout buddy, but he just couldn't restrain himself. He *needed* to bob his bros head up and down his cock with his strong paw. As more and more hair grew in on his belly, he felt his body filling up more and more. His muscles were joined by a substantial layer of fat, giving him a burlier look by the second. At the same time, his smell intensified further, filling up Toms apartment.

Meanwhile, Tom was undergoing a change of his own. Every passing second, he felt weaker and weaker, his body visibly shrinking in on itself. It didn't help that his nostrils were simultaneously attacked by the increasingly intense stink of Peter and his large pubic bush that was growing in either. He was being used, and he hated every second of it, but found himself powerless to do anything about it.

Where Peters stink reached the apartment, it began to change, subtly at first, then increasingly fast: The designer couch became a cheap red leather sofa. In the kitchen, dirty pans and plates were piling up, a patina of dust and grime covered the surfaces. It looked like a wardrobe exploded over the room, as dirty laundry scattered over the floor, adding to the stale and stinky air with the same aroma that Peter was emitting full force now. If anything, this only served to excite him more. While his left hand went through his beard and his dense pelt of body hair, he grabbed more and more of Toms shrinking body with his right hand and pressed it into his groin, not caring that it changed into a wooly cloth like material that had seen much, much better days already. It was ripped and ragged, stained by numerous stains of various sources. Mainly, of course, cum, but also pre, sweat and even the occasional bit of piss that had leaked into Toms fabric body.

The cum rag that was once Tom was fully aware of everything happening to it. It could still taste and smell, all across its filthy fabric body, and was forced to absorb another huge load of cum that Peter shot into it, even though it was still damp from the previous one.

Panting, Peter threw the used cum rag onto a pile of clothing on the floor. He didn't care that his hairy body was crusty with dried up cum or that he stank like a cave man. Taking a shower was not a concept the new Peter needed, he was a real man after all.

If you're a fan of the theme, check out my other two sides of the same coin stories!

[dronebiscuitbat]

Give me a Reason: Chapter 2- "Teacher's Aid"

“Uh, I guess.” She replied to N's question tentatively, causing him to light up again, he brought his schedule closer to her, and she held out her own.

“We have lunch together!” He exclaimed happily after a moment, Uzi could swear if he had a tail it would be wagging, he sounded so happy about it too, like he actually wanted to spend time with her.

The hell was this guy's deal?

“Looks like it.” She replied, her tone remaining the same despite the fact N's personality was somewhat weirding her out. Though now she was almost curious, what would it take for his friendliness to drop?

“We also have an english class and a computer literacy class together! Kinda looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other!”

Triple Fuck

His smile was so beaming though that she turned to him to give him a wobbly, wary smile of her own and nodded, it looked more as though she was in pain then anything, but N didn't seem to mind or even notice.

Then, blessedly the bell rang, sending them off to thier first class of the day. N gave her a freindly wave as he got up to go off to his first class, but left his backpack sitting under his desk.

She stared at it, then back at his fleeing figure before deciding that yes, she did want to say something.

“H-Hey!” Oh fuck, that was way louder then she had intended, stupid fucking volume control. Still it did get his attention, as well as several other students, she did her best to ignore them despite their stares making her skin itch.

“You forgot your backpack…” She finished, volume much lower as she pointed to the boys simple black backpack still sitting at it's place underneath the desk, N looked at it for a moment, before he turned sheepish.

“Aww biscuits! Thank you, I'd loose my head if it wasn't attached!” He pulled it over his shoulder, gave her a very silly salute and then he was off again, Uzi felt herself fighting back an genuine amused smile, what a weirdo.

Her first class was math, witch for most students would be a living nightmare, for Uzi it was a dream, she really liked math, she was really good at math, she could pull equations out of her brain with ease, unlike most other things. It just made sense, math didn't change or have weird exceptions she had to remember, it was just fact, logic. And it was pleasing to her brain which liked routine.

Her height was both a blessing and a curse when it came to navigating the school halls, on one hand she was small enough to squeeze between the gaps between the sea of students, on the other, she was very easy to miss while walking, meaning she was bumped into often, making her more irritated even before she got to class.

Her irritation skyrocketed when she entered her class only to see the very last person she wanted to today, or any day honestly.

Lizzy was sitting where the the teacher normally would, looking down at her phone, a pink ribbon was tied in her hair, and she was wearing a black and pink dress that only barely adhered to the school dress code.

Why the hell was she here? She didn't need to be back here, who would willingly subject themselves to more school?

Her Math Teacher, Mr. Reese, was on the younger side, being in his late twenties, his fit the description of tall, dark, and handsome, being of Latino decent and having a well kept beard, paired with warm, brown eyes. And he came in behind the bulk of the rest of his students, looking slightly worried.

Lizzy looked up at him and smiled, getting up out of his seat and handing off some papers to him, his worry seemed to dissipate, and he smilled back down at her in thanks.

So, chances Lizzy was banging her Math Teacher? Definitely above fifty percent.

“Welcome everyone! I am Mr. Reese, I will be your Advanced Algebra teacher for this year. This lovely young lady here-” He gestured to Lizzy, who for now hadn't seemed to notice her number one victim in the class, and she smiled, Uzi thought she looked a bit like a shark. “Will be my aid and your's if you struggle, she's shadowing me to become a teacher herself one day, so I want you to be nice to her, alright?”

Nodding heads responded back, Uzi was not one of them.

Oh great, how great. The one subject she was good at and it was going to be ruined by this bitch, did she have to choose this class? Couldn't she choose a class she wasn't in?

On the other hand, the chances they were banging rose a little bit more, and Uzi couldn't help but snicker a little bit in response to that thought.

She did her best to avoid being seen, even though Mr. Reese had started to take attendance and was spouting off names, so it wouldn't last very long. Couldn't the universe give her a break? Hadn't she suffered enough at this stupid place?

“Uzi Doorman.” He sounded off, and the girl in question winced as Lizzy suddenly looked around, likely looking for her.

“Here.” She raised her hand lazily, no point in trying to hide anymore she figured, she looked to the side to avoid eye contact with both her teacher and Lizzy, but when she looked back in their direction, Lizzy was still looking at her, a shark toothed smile etched on her face.

This was shaping up to be a wonderful school year…

Even so, Lizzy didn't actually do or say anything to her for the duration of the class, and since it was just orientation, there was very little actual work to do. So she counted that small win as the bell rang an hour later to go to her next class. English.

She'd almost entirely forgotten about that strange boy in her homeroom, too busy in her own head trying to find some way to somehow transfer out of that class, even if she knew that was neigh impossible with her reputation. At least, until she heard her name.

“Hey! Uzi!” A bright happy voice came from behind her and she jumped, not used to hearing her name in any other context except with disdain or anger.

N came bounding up to her side, a bit like a dog who wanted head pats, and smiled at her, so large it stretched to his eyes, Uzi gave him a half-hearted wave in response, feeling unable to just ignore him.

“How was your first class? Mine was kinda weird… there was like… a deer head floating in a jar and it was kinda creepy.” Uzi snorted, managing a light chuckle that seemed to make N's smile a little brighter, so he must have Biology first, Mrs, Spark's classroom always was Uzi's favorite, with all the preserved animals in formaldehyde sitting on her shelves.

“She has a pig fetus too. Have you seen it yet?” She asked, the first peice of actual conversation she'd had with him. He looked at her, horrified in every way.

“What?! No! Oh no that poor piggy…” He scrunched up his fingers next to his face, looking sad, she couldn't help but laugh lightly at his reaction, he was so animated. Like a cartoon.

“Also it was, fine. I guess, there was someone I knew in it…” She answered, after the ice had broken she felt…a little more comfortable speaking around him, maybe it was just his attitude, it was a little hard to be moody when someone was constantly giving you thier sunniest smile.

“Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?” His face fell a little, passing friendly into something that almost looked concerned, but that couldn't be right, no one was concerned about Uzi Doorman, not even her old man.

“They don't… like me very much.” She answered, voice becoming wary again, she didn't need to give too much away, it's not like he'd stick around for too much longer, she gave it about a week, tops.

“Oh… well why not? You're hair’s pretty and you seem pretty cool!”

She squeaked, a pink filling her cheeks as she processed what he said. Her hair was pretty? And she was cool? This boy was delusional! But… for someone who didn't often get compliments, it did feel nice.

“You've only just met me.” She found herself saying, almost in warning, like she was telling him to stay away before he got hurt, or dissapointed.

“What's that matter? You haven't been mean, if anything you've been really nice!” He responded, clearly not taking it for the warning it was, she sighed, feeling a weight in her chest tighten even if she didn't know precisely why.

“You… have a weird standard for niceness.” She replied, and all he did was giggle, of course he giggled, he seemed the type.

“Maybe!”

They reached their class together, and when Uzi found her seat near the back he sat right next to her, before he looked around at the floor.

“Biscuits! I forgot my backpack again!” Uzi looked over at him, feeling a pang of sympathy for him. This boy was kinda forgetfull wasn't he?

“Is there anything important in it?” She asked quietly, and he seemed to dissolve into his chair in quiet frustration.

“No, not really, but now I don't have a pencil or anything to put the syllabus in.” He said sadly, holding his head in one of his hands, he tapped his fingers on the desk, clearly upset.

Uzi paused for a moment before digging in her backpack to find her pencil case, she picked out a purple mechanical pencil, one of the fancy ones with a grip and handed it off to him. He stared at it for a moment before another huge grin broke his face.

“Thank you, I'll give it back, I promise!”

Somehow Uzi doubted that, if he forgot his backpack twice already, he was probably going to forget to give it back, but that was okay, she wasn't particularly attached to that pencil anyway. And with his words, at least his intention was to give it back.

Sure enough, when the class ended at it was time for them to go their separate ways. He forgot to give it back.

Next->

[alberichfanpage]

Okay, this is kind of out-there theory but I am going to suggest it anyway.

Nanaya has some sketchy stuff about her. In the portrait with Midra, her eyes are obscured and she is giving an ominous smirk. I even think her black hair poking out under the gold garments could be a visual cue that she is hiding something. When we find her, she is holding the frenzied spine of "a man who failed to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame." I definitely think she is meant to be a Hyetta-like figure. But that smirk reminds me a lot of Shabriri's Woe talisman, so for the sake of this theory, lets say she is a Shabriri surrogate (literally or figuratively).

It is highly speculated that Shabriri summoned the Three Fingers (probably intentionally?) by accusing the Nomads of worshipping frenzy. This caused their clan to be entombed and their subsequent suffering is what summoned the three fingers. We can infer this by the Nomad outfit description and the Shabriri's Woe talisman.

What if that was history repeating itself? This is already a theme with the DLC that we see with Miquella repeating Marika's mistakes. I also think that Marika could have just as likely repeated the hornsent's mistakes, too.

We know that the Hornsent were the ones who in power, before Messmer's crucade, when Midra's Manse was invaded because we can find horned warriors and inquisitors within the manor and the sword within Midra is a hornsent spear. And we know the servants, who are also hornsent, are blindsided by this punishment given the dialogue on the image above. The hornsent are acting as disciplinarians to deliver punishment for a crime.

What was the crime? Well, probably something to do with frenzied flame. Frenzied flame is a known within hornsent culture to not be messed with via the Surging Frenzied Flame item description. If it was obvious that Midra was messing with it, I don't think the servants would be shocked. Unless Midra wasn't and was, instead, falsely accused like the nomads.

What if Nanaya is the one who made the accusation? I mean, her body doesn't have a single mark on it while Midra got such a heavy punishment by comparison. We know she was alive enough to tell Midra to "Endure" after he is punished. Why would the hornsent spare her? I think it might be because she was an informant. Her goal might've been that she wants Midra to suffer enough to summon the three fingers and become the Lord of Frenzy.

Why would she want that? Well, clearly she is pregnant in that portrait at the top of this post and Elden Ring has a lot of themes on motherhood. Perhaps she miscarried and the flame of frenzy gave her comfort? We do see her cradling the frenzy torch like a child, it might be, but the description is vague. Maybe losing her child made her wish to burn everything away and frenzy flame called to her? This would actually parallel with Marika losing her own child and shattering the Elden Ring.

Unfortunately, whatever the plan was did not seem to work out and, instead, created another person unfit to become lord.

Still with me? Okay big theory time, @katyspersonal pointed out that the flowers in the pre-frenzy picture of Midra's Manse look like the flowers in the Shaman Village, pictured below. This could mean that Midra and Nanaya (or just one idk) is a Shaman. What if the hunting of the shamans by the hornsent, and by extension their need for more "saints" through jarring people, is a direct result of this Inquisition? What if the shamans, just like the nomads, were all punished because of this accusation? I think this could create a connection between the fact that jarring people is a punishment and why they started using shaman in their pots.

There is a lot of leaps of logic here but I thought I would throw it out there! Does not really mend well with a lot of other theories... But hey, if its all up to speculation anyway, why not throw in a mad idea?

[thatmooncake]

I am genuinely confused on what Moon is supposed to be. The cookbook basically says he sucks. However in the security breach DLC Cassie says she slept better in the daycare so that's gotta mean Moon was good at being the nighttime attendant. So like why would the cookbook portray them as sucky if they were good at their job as nighttime attendant?

But then there are the complaints you can read about in security breach where Moon is scaring kids (but that's when the virus started right? Or no? I am not familiar with the new fnaf lore).

But then there's also the fact where Moon played the villain when they used to be in the theatre (I say fact but I am not actually sure if this is cannon or just a popular headcanon that I am confusing for cannon)

I haven't even read the books yet so I am not sure how they characterize Moon there. I figured I would ask you since you seem to like Moon a lot and know way more about them than I do. Sorry for bugging ye

No bugging done here :) my take on this is that it’s all a matter of the perspective - so for characters like Moon you’ll get some things painting them in a bad light and others more favourable.

(More explanation under the cut as I tend to get carried away when it comes to character analysis)

So generally speaking the FNAF games and books heavily play into the “creepy” “uncanny” aspects of the characters - it’s a horror franchise, it’s gonna play up any spoopy vibes it can and in Moon’s case sadly he gets the short end of the stick because he’s depicted as the darker half of Sun, so a lot of general descriptions will point out how Sun is the good one and Moon is the evil one and leave it at that. However, that doesn’t mean that’s as far as Moon’s characterisation goes or that that’s all he’s intended to be.

The FNAF guidebooks and cookbooks and stuff are written for a broad general audience who aren’t necessarily hardcore FNAF fans but maybe just like the vibes of FNAF, so when those books mention the characters in passing they’re like cameos playing up to what you see if you casually play the game (like “you better watch out, Moon’s gonna get you” “Sun turns evil when the lights go out” - that kind of thing).

The Ruin descriptions are from Cassie’s perspective, and Cassie likes the animatronics and clearly isn’t all that creeped out by them. Could be something to do with her dad working on them making her more curious and less frightened of the way they work and all the “uncanny” vibes other people are getting from them. Either way, it definitely adds more nuance and tells us Moon wasn’t written just to be the evil side of Sun, even if a lot of descriptions and cameos play to that.

In the Tales of the Pizzaplex book, The Bobbiedots (spoilers ahead) Moon is written to be the darker side of Sun that staff in that pizzaplex tried to erase when Sun was updated from being a theatre bot. Even in the theatre, Bobbiedots Moon was the stricter side telling people they’ve been naughty and need to go to bed. This was all a theatre gimmick using the lights and would likely use Sun as kind of a playmate but then he turns into Moon, and suddenly he’s chasing you telling you you’ve been naughty. The thing is, I think some kids would have kind of loved villain Moon. I mean, kids (and adults) generally like booing pantomime villains, they love when they come onstage and tell them they’re all naughty and need to do what they say. I don’t think Moon’s theatre persona necessarily took away from his being liked or made him a bad guy offstage, it just made him inconvenient to staff as a daycare attendant because of power outages they were too cheap to fix. Honestly, I think that characterisation says a lot more about how cheap Fazco were than how evil Moon was destined to be.

Then in another tale, Somniphobia, we have (spoilers ahead) Moondrop and his dream sphere. So two things about this one: Moondrop, the little Moon inside the dream sphere that seems to look a bit like a snowglobe and supposedly “helps you study” (toootally not a ploy for some soul stealing) …he is never strict, he is never harsh, he never tells you what to do. Getting sucked inside the dream sphere is entirely a matter of getting in too deep on our protagonist’s side. He’s given several opportunities to put the thing down and gets called out for overdoing it by basically most of his friends and family yet he never stops because the dreams are too enticing. Moondrop just takes him with him for the ride. It should be said that the dream sphere in the book is wildly popular as a prize and teens love it as a study aid because it literally takes you (in your head) to historical places like ancient Egypt and to the bottom of the ocean etc. it’s just very addictive. So basically Moondrop in this story is neither good nor bad, he’s just a lure. He even takes the guy by the hand at the end - if anything, he’s a quiet and gentle and reassuring presence, for better or worse.

Moon in Security Breach absolutely scares some of the kids - and chances are, so does Sun.

Here’s the Fazwatch message about the daycare attendant:

“Night Terrors CUSTOMER COMPLAINT -

My son never had sleeping problems. But after spending an evening in the daycare, he refuses to sleep with the lights out anymore! He just cries. And then when I do let him keep the lights on, he wets the bed!”

Poor kid can’t win either way. (This message absolutely could mean that the kid can only sleep with the lights on but still has nightmares about Moon - or it could mean neither of them provided a reassuring presence for the kid. Maybe Moon hunted them for sport. Maybe both Sun and Moon’s mannerisms creeped the kid out. For all we know Sun insisting on the lights being on in a dark tone and forcing the kid to remain in his sight might have terrified the kid. There’s really no clear cut way of telling but we do know from this message that the daycare isn’t going great for some kids.)

And then in contrast to this is Cassie’s message about the daycare - sounds like she loved it there both at playtime and naptime. So this is definitely a point against Moon just being pure evil. I really think the guy got a bad rap in Security Breach due to the virus - he has a ton of merch and a whole line of candies. Would you eat a candy based around a guy who’s always trying to kill you? Would you hug a plush of a guy who’s just pure evil?

I think Moon was very convenient for Afton and Vanny since he’s pretty strong, fairly graceful, operates great at night and he basically has a retrieval protocol to get naughty kids to go to bed. Tell him everything is a naughty kid who needs to go to bed and he’ll round up anyone who’s acting out of line because the virus insists he has to. Make him hurt whenever the lights are on (and we know it hurts him intensely, he says as much in Ruin) and he’ll fight ferociously against Sun for his freedom to stop the pain, and won’t listen when Sun tells him something is wrong. Sun kind of confirms Moon isn’t evil in Ruin by insisting they need to be whole. And Moon isn’t trying to be evil in Ruin, he’s in pain and can’t stop himself. Once Eclipse is activated, Moon (as well as Sun) can start healing.

So in summary I think that basically if Moon makes a cameo appearance, it will usually be as “the dark side of Sun”, but that isn’t all he’s supposed to be and the writing shows there is supposed to be reasoning behind his actions and contradictions to the idea that he’s just a bad guy.

[octuscle]

Business trip (Day one)

I am a counsellor. I analyse customer processes and try to optimise them. Optimising this planet is my goal in life. Some people think I'm a nerd. But I also have another side… Is it wrong that it's 11 o'clock in the morning and I'm feeling horny…? While I'm sitting at a client's desk in a suit and tie, analysing work instructions…? That's actually not that sexy. Maybe it's just hunger. Maybe I should go to lunch earlier today.

The place where I'm currently working is a medium-sized town with maybe 100,000 inhabitants. Could be a few more. Could be a few less. My customer is on the edge of the city centre, and the choice of restaurants in the immediate vicinity is rather limited. My customer recommended a snack bar for my lunch break. Better than nothing.

At 11.30 a.m., the snack bar is still very quiet. The guy who works there is really hot. He's wearing a black T-shirt under his black shooter that shows off his well-defined upper arms. He seems to have noticed you checking him out. He looks at you with a grin. You swear that he's taken a good look at your bum.

We start chatting… I'm a stranger here. Far away from home. Apart from the customer I'm visiting, I don't know anyone here. I ask if there are any good bars in the neighbourhood. He recommends one and says he's going there later….. "Maybe you could meet me there," he says. I have to tell him I don't have any casual clothes with me. Maybe he can help me out…. Yes, he says, he's about the same size as me. But he's only wearing skinny jeans and trainers. I wonder if that's my style. I laugh. Definitely for going to a bar. I reckon we're both 32 in the waist… My thighs are probably a bit more muscular than his. But it's worth a try.

He reckons if they're a bit too tight, squeezing into them would help me. Do I need underwear too? I suspect I won't be able to fit much in a really tight pair of jeans other than a jockstrap. In that case, I'd really have to hope for his help. Sure thing, he replies. That's all he wears!!! He has a black one and a white one. Which would I prefer, unless of course I want a dirty one from his hamper….. The thought makes me lick even more precum. Seriously, it's for a night out in a bar. I'll also happily take a worn jockstrap. Gladly in white. What kind of bar is this, I ask. I mean, can I keep the white button-down shirt on? For the start of the evening, yes, he replies. A lot of the guys there take strip off when the evening gets warmer. And about the pants: he has a white jockstrap in his hamper, but he admits it might be a little stained with his cum from last night. I wonder if that bothers me?

I don't think it's any worse than the precum soaked white boxer shorts I'm wearing now. And I add that it's because of him. I grab my crotch. He does too. About the shirt, I ask him if he has a plain white T-shirt or something. Then I would certainly feel more comfortable in it with jeans and trainers… He has a plain white T-shirt that I'm happily invited to wear.

I arrange to meet him at his house at 20:00. I go straight there. No diversions via the hotel. The afternoon is extremely unproductive. All I can think about is the hot guy and the evening with him. I try to remember the name of the bar. But I can't find it. And everything I find on Google Maps doesn't match the description the guy in the café gave me at all… Maybe I misunderstood him too. And it's not really a bar at all.

Damn, I can't wait to be in this guy's jeans tonight. I'm so annoyed that I travelled to my business meeting this time without sportswear. Otherwise I could have worked out at the gym beforehand.

It's almost eight o'clock in the evening. I'm standing in front of the house of the hunk from the snack bar. It doesn't look like a house at all. More like a warehouse. But there is actually an entrance door to the right of the large garage door. Just a single doorbell. No name… But the address and the house number seem to be correct… I press the doorbell. There is no sound, but obviously there are visual signals. I can see flashes of light through a window. And shortly afterwards I hear footsteps.

I have to take a deep breath when the door opens. The hunk is wearing jeans, probably the same ones he was wearing in the snack bar. But he's taken off his T-shirt. Above the belt, he's only wearing a flashy gold chain. In between, a slim, well-trained upper body covered with well-trimmed body hair. He greets me with a fist bump. "Sick that you actually came. I wasn't sure if I hadn't been too pushy." I swallow briefly. And then I smile "We haven't even introduced ourselves yet. My name is Marcus." He's grinning. Perfect teeth. Bright blue eyes. "Call me Liam. Everyone calls me Liam." He gestures for me to follow him and we enter the building.

It looks as if the offices of the warehouse have been converted into a makeshift flat. Some of the furniture is clearly from an office. Moving boxes are standing around. Not untidy, but not cosy either.

Liam opens a door and we enter a warehouse. Empty except for a food truck, an old Ford Mustang and a Ducati racing bike. I look at him questioningly. "You'll have to excuse me. The whole property was a bargain. But a lot of it is still very improvised." He strokes the motorbike. "My great love," he says with a grin. He asks if I ride a motorbike too. I shake my head. "Big mistake, mate! You should change that!" Liam strides briskly through the hall, opening a steel door at the end opposite the gate. Behind it is obviously his laundry room. Liam points to a laundry basket and says with a grin that I should help myself. He doesn't even pretend to be discreet as I undress. He stops in the doorway and kneads his bump. Naked except for my boxer shorts, I rummage through his dirty underwear. Shit, my boner is building such an obvious tent in my shorts that I might as well not bother. I reach for the first available jockstrap, take off my boxer shorts and put on the urine-yellow, cum-encrusted jockstrap. An unmistakable wet spot forms. Liam has pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his trouser pocket, takes a fag, lights a cigarette and hands it to me. I gave up smoking three years ago. Never mind.

The jeans are stained. The white T-shirt smells as if Liam had worn it several days in a row on hot summer days while cooking in the snack bar. It takes me a while to find two socks that match. Liam goes to a cupboard, takes a pair of worn-out trainers and throws them to me. I can't help but press a shoe to my face and take a deep breath. It smells of many kilometres walked. Liam scrutinises me. He nods appreciatively. And asks me to throw him a vest. "Let's go," he says and stubs out his fag on the concrete floor. He walks towards the garage door. I follow him.

I've had this job as a management consultant for a year and a half. After graduating, I started at a bank, but that was boring. I like travelling around, I like the variety. And I actually like the anonymity. At home, I would never have dared to leave the house in this lift. Here it just doesn't matter. Nobody knows me here. And looking like a redneck makes me horny. With the hot redneck next to me, even more so. It's one of the first warm evenings of the year. We walk through the streets in silence. Liam gives me a second cigarette. Shit, why did I ever stop?

No wonder Google couldn't find the pub. The pub to which the door we're standing in front of belongs seems to have been closed for a long time. The windows are boarded up. The old door has been replaced by a metal building door. Nevertheless, there is a doorbell. Liam presses it. It doesn't take long for a muscular guy with a naked, heavily tattooed torso to open the door. He first greets Liam with a firm handshake. And then he scrutinises me. "Mack, a friend," says Liam. The guy shakes my hand too. God knows I'm no pushover. But he almost crushes my hand. And then he waves me in.

Despite the fact that the building looks completely deserted from the outside, there's a lot going on inside. A good dozen men are hanging around a bar, smoking and drinking beer. Most of them around Liam's and my age. Late 20s, early 30s, sporty types. Jeans, T-shirt. We fit in perfectly. Liam takes off his vest and tucks it into his trousers. Without warning, his right hand goes under my shirt and pinches my nipple. "Bit of a prude, mate?" he asks. Grinning, I take my shirt off. A bloke arrives with three bottles of beer. He scrutinises Liam's chest first, then mine. He hands us each a bottle and says to Liam that it wouldn't be clever of him to bring his own competition. I'm not a bodybuilder… But I am indeed a bit more muscular than Liam. I grin at the guy "Mack, nice to meet you. Always nice to meet Liam's friends." "Mason. Nice to meet you. And I didn't realise Liam had friends." I don't see the icy stare Liam gives Mason. I just laugh and take a sip of beer.

The place is getting fuller and fuller. Liam knows God and the world. He introduces me to a dozen horny blokes. Everyone invites me for a beer. Thank God, because I have my mobile phone and wallet in my suit in Liam's laundry room. I'm practically at the mercy of the guys here. And they take advantage of it. I remember pissing in my trousers at some point. I vaguely remember throwing up in a totally filthy toilet at some point. And then I don't remember anything else…

[anistarrose]

Hello, TOH fandom, I am here once again to talk about accessibility!

[Image description: a screenshot of Lilith Clawthorne excitedly holding up a sign, which has been edited to read: "Image Descriptions for The Owl House (and why they matter)" in all caps. End description.]

Image descriptions, like the one I just used above, are exactly what it says on the tin: descriptions of the content of an image included to make the image maximally accessible.

Blind and low-vision people who use screen readers, people who rely on increased font size in-app or in-browser to read text, and neurodivergent people who have trouble interpreting elements of an image (for example, expression) all benefit from image descriptions.

And all images on the internet should be accessible regardless of topic, of course, but I've recently been trying to spread awareness in the context of The Owl House specifically because it's a show with multiple disabled and/or neurodivergent characters! In fact, Principal Bump is canonically low-vision with a service animal to help him in that regard — and I'd argue that making content about disabled characters accessible is extra, extra important!

[Image description: a screenshot of Principal Bump with his palisman Frewin removed from his head, revealing the scars over Bump's eyes. Frewin is in staff form, smiling, and Eda looks on from the side. End description.]

I know it's within this fandom's ability to make our posts about the finale as accessible as possible — and I know that because I've already seen a decent increase in described posts over the course of Season 3! I've seen more artist-described posts especially, which means a lot to me, and even more to a lot of other people, too <3

So, on that note, how to write an image description? It may seem intimidating, especially if describing someone else's post or fanart, but honestly, there's no definitive "rubric" to follow, just a list of general guidelines:

Indicate where the description starts and ends, with "end description" or "end ID".

Place the description immediately under the image, not under a read-more (this allows people who rely on IDs to experience the post the same way anyone else would, whereas read-mores are inconvenient, especially if OP changes their URL)

Minimize caps lock, italics, bold, and strikethrough, which can be hard to read and/or troublesome for screen readers. Generally, it's just best to transcribe in lowercase without particular effects, then indicate in the transcription if something is emphasized.

Likewise, don't put descriptions in Tumblr's special small text. It's difficult to read and inaccessible to many.

Don't make jokes or add commentary in IDs. If an image is meant to be humorous, obviously it's fine to phrase things in a way that tries to capture that, but it's not the place to add your own jokes, nor is it the place to declare subjective qualities like "this art is beautiful".

Descriptions can vary in length, but if one is getting long (if you're describing a comic, for example), then be sure to break it up with paragraph breaks.

Specifically, while I've heard that too many breaks (ie, every sentence) are annoying for some screen readers, long walls of text are conversely difficult for people with visual processing problems to parse. So, it's good to strike a balance.

With regards to length and amount of detail, it varies by personal preference! Most images don't need a whole small essay, but there's also value in describing certain small and symbolic details, subjective as it is.

Speaking of which, if you're the original artist, then you are automatically the expert on what you wanted the image to convey — the nuances of expression and body language, which details are important and which details are not — and for that reason, I love seeing artist-described works!

Below the cut: more on describing Owl House images specifically, on IDs versus alt text, and other possible questions!

When I transcribe TOH related posts, there's a few other guidelines I use, though these rules aren't as immediately important as the ones above. I generally start by indicating the type of image we're dealing with (a screenshot? fanart? a photo of a cosplay?), then mention what characters are depicted.

Unless I'm describing something long, like a comic, and relying on summarization, I usually mention which character designs we're dealing with (is Lilith in her dramatic black dress from Season 1? or is she in her low-battery shirt?). If it's fanart and the artist has come up with original outfits to put the characters in, I'll summarize those too.

(This is the other reason I love seeing artist-described works: because I, personally, am just kinda bad at describing fashion lol.)

Now, I'd like to go over some other questions that I've either encountered before, or anticipate:

What about alt text? Doesn't that accomplish the same purpose as image descriptions?

In a lot of senses, yes, so alt text is certainly much, much better than no description! However, remember that not every person relying on descriptions is necessarily someone who uses a screen reader every day, or uses a screen reader period. Some people do in fact read the descriptions themselves.

[Image description, identical to alt text: a screenshot of Luz Noceda from Season 2, smiling and blushing. End description.]

As you can see above, alt text takes an extra click (or tap) to access. In general, it's also prone to displaying walls of text, and — as far as I know — sometimes just doesn't show up if the Tumblr app isn't updated enough. (Not to mention that, in my opinion, making image descriptions visible to people who don't use them is an important part of spreading accessibility awareness in the first place!)

On the other hand, I've heard some people who benefit from descriptions say they actually prefer alt text, so I'm not going to come out and take a hard "absolutely no alt text ever under any circumstances" stance by any means. But, long story short, this is the reason that in my own posts, I almost always defer to in-post descriptions — the only exception might be if I'm writing a meta post, and functionally describing the images in the text anyway.

I've seen that sometimes you use [ ] brackets and sometimes you don't. Is there a reason?

Basically personal preference. I use brackets in posts like this when I have a lot of non-description writing, and want to make it extra clear where the description ends and the non-description begins. If I'm just captioning some fanart in a reblog and not adding any commentary, on the other hand, I leave off brackets because they're pretty redundant.

I'm nervous about describing images, but I still want to help make the fandom more accessible. Is there anything I can do?

Well, my first piece of advice would be to start small! Hell, start with just making sure you include a description whenever you post an image with just text, like a screenshot of a reply or someone's prev tags. You can build up little-by-little from there!

(My personal accessibility journey went from describing only tweet screenshots whose text I could just copy, to describing simple memes like cat pics, to deciding it was important to at least describe fanart of disabled characters like Eda, to finally describing almost every post I reblog. Trying to make that jump without any of the intermediate steps would've been overwhelming, but at this point, it all feels natural to me.)

But secondly, I would encourage showing some love to artists who describe their pieces! Queue up some described fanart, especially artist-described stuff, and help normalize it!

Get into the habit of checking the notes for descriptions (go to reblogs and filter by comments only) before you share! If someone describes your art, copy it into the original post, so the version of the thread reblogged directly from you will be accessible too! (And if you want to make some little tweaks, no one will be offended.)

You can also look into making your blog theme accessible, such as making sure the font size is large enough (and ideally sans serif, for readability). And if you feel more confident with describing audio, then writing transcripts of audio is always incredible as well, to help out those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have auditory processing disorders!

I've heard that AI is able to describe images for screen readers pretty well these days. Are descriptions still important/going to remain important as the technology advances?

Well, let me say first that I'm very glad this technology exists, for sure! But I'm of the opinion that human described (and especially artist described) captions are, at least generally speaking, still going to be the gold standard for the foreseeable future — AI doesn't have the context we do for our art and our fandoms; it's much less likely than a fan of the show to pick up on what's an important or symbolic detail.

Are there actually people who need image descriptions in cartoon fandoms? I mean, the source material has such a visual component!

First off, blind and low vision people do in fact watch things like TV, movies, and plays — ever notice the "audio description" option to add narration to a given show in a streaming service? That's there to provide basically the real-time equivalent of image descriptions.

And, second, I'll leave you with this — don't you think a lot more disabled people would participate in fandom if fandom were more accessible and accommodating to disabled people in the first place?

[riveracheron]

how to stage “the tragedy of francis” (MAG 172), but like. in a normal theatre

hi this’ll have to do today @a-mag-a-day

im a theatre technician who, upon listening to the Spooky Play Statement of “Strung Out” got really into the idea of how one would Actually create the technical elements. it seems like an interesting challenge! this was the only theatre related episode with indepth description of the Spooky Stuff but if yall are interested id be happy to talk about Other Episodes and ways you can practical effects your way through the fearpocalypse :)

spoilers for mag 172 and fake blood below the cut!

rules of this:

- i am a technician, not a director. i am assuming that the play as described by jon is the script and that we need a giant spider and hooks and blood. i am not making any choices, simply describing how these effects can be done in a professional theater sense. to that end, i am also only a student; and not an expert.

- we are going as hard as possible. no substitutions, no artistic choices to pare it down, no nothing. this is the magnus archives we’re getting meta enough. alongside that, im not worrying about budget. this is broadway level shit.

- i am not putting a stage on a stage. this is just looking at the Tragedy itself and jon can go sit in the audience for all i care.

cool? lezzgo.

i. the hooks

this is a fly system! it’s mostly used for lowering and raising set pieces. oftentimes, its also used with actors to raise them into the air when flying. shows like wicked, mary poppins and peter pan use this to pull actors into the air to make it seem like they’re flying.

it’s done with wires connected to hooks connected to the actors’ bodies via straps. sound familiar?

they are often hidden with lights, but they don’t have to be- for a play that draws attention to these wires, the designer would probably draw attention to them - at least for when they start to dance around and stuff.

the hooks that attach to francis’ joints throughout the show could be flown in as well, and their costume and more strategic lighting could make it seem like they were attached to them. you can get pretty grotesque with high budget theater and special effects makeup.

ii. the spider

characters that are puppets is not a new thing in theater! one of the most famous examples is Audrey 2 in little shop of horrors- a puppet that has an actor off stage saying their lines into a microphone. the spider would also probably be the same.

there are some motorized puppets like the sandworm in beetlejuice the musical, but most are person-controlled, which works best for speaking puppets as show to show, peoples way of speaking can change from show to show, and the puppet needs to be able to keep up, and motorized puppets can be out of sync.

this video is a good making-of process for a giant speaking monster puppet, and i assume the spider would be the same, just much higher. there would probably be a false ceiling like the false wall above, and the puppeteers would sit above to operate the legs as if they were dangling.

it would probably be also attached to a fly system for easy lowering as the scene goes on.

iii. minor things

- the blood would come from “strawberries”, little packs of blood hidden under actors’ costumes that they can burst when needed. theres also a capsule version that one can put in the mouth and bite down on.

this is an example from the 2019 production of oklahoma, and a good look at blood strawberries and what they do

- the spider-drink would probably be done with. fake edible spiders, lots of scuttling noises from the soundboard and lights that hide the fact that they are not moving, perhaps with strobe or something crazy. the spider rain would probably be the same, but with stagehands pouring spiders down from the catwalks.

- other characters would also be off stage with mics.

- good actors will sell a Lot of this. even if the new hooks and stuff don’t touch them, they can definitely make it seem like they do.

sooooo um yeah! as much as this episode made me sick - i love technical theatre and this was a fun infodump !! take this um. as you will ig. please stage safely !! blood packs can stain and fly systems can be unsafe so please. don’t try this at home. or at least get a professional to help

[trans-cuchulainn]

so i’ve been drawing ulster cycle/tain bo cuailnge characters for a while now and a problem that i have repeatedly run into is that i have no idea how these people dress. their clothes always end up looking wrong and i don’t know where to look to find good info about it or references to work from, and it can be difficult to differentiate the more faithful depictions from the stereotypical “ancient celtic warrior” stuff, especially since i’m not well versed in most of the texts they’re based on. do you have any advice/resources/tips/anything to help? thanks :)

i am not particularly an expert on historic clothing and i have to admit it's not an area i have a great deal of knowledge about in the context of the ulster cycle specifically but here are some thoughts!

a good starting point would be the descriptions of clothes within the texts themselves. so you can just go to the online edition of o'rahilly's translations (recension 1 / book of leinster) and search a word like "cloak" or "tunic" and get all the descriptions of cloaks and tunics that show up in the story itself. e.g:

this is a good starting point bc what you'll be representing is at least clothing as it's presented in these stories even if it doesn't necessarily 100% represent historical fact, because it's often stylised, idealised, uses colours for symbolic value rather than practicalities of dyeing etc

(here's a link to the index of translated texts on this part of the CELT site if you wanna have a browse for others)

but that can be tricky without visual references which is where you start needing other sources

and that's where it's worth noting that the ulster cycle texts are set a long time before they're written, but the material culture in the stories is generally neither a historically accurate representation of the distant past, or a totally contemporary and up-to-date depiction of what people were wearing at the time (bc there's a degree of archaising and trying to make stuff sound old and also drawing on earlier sources). so you end up with multiple options for what period you might be trying to represent -- ~1st cent BCE when they're set? ~8th cent when our earliest surviving stories show up? ~11th-12th cent when TBC was written in its surviving form?

the good news is that you can probably learn a lot from reenactors and experimental archaeologists and living history types -- from vikings in ireland through to normans in ireland is pretty well covered in that regard, but there's some earlier bronze-iron age stuff as well, and that should give you some visual references to draw on. i'm sure some more reenactment and living history minded followers of mine will have specific recs for resources there, but you could try looking at the UCD experimental arch folks, craggaunowen living history centre in the west of ireland (they have a video on weaving and clothing), the dublinia museum for viking-age stuff, etc

and the big advantage of the texts not being "historically accurate" themselves is that you don't have to stick too closely to a specific century or whatever if you don't want to! not that the basic design of a tunic would change a huge amount but if you wanna mix and match the vibes somewhat, nobody could really call you out on it

the HARDEST part is probably representing armour, which shows up fairly rarely, but you've got things like cu chulainn's 27 'waxed shirts' and i've seen various theories about what that's supposed to entail but i don't think there's a definite answer. having said that, most of the time he's not wearing that so you can just... ignore it, if you want to and don't want to conform to any specific theory about it lol

finally you can't go wrong with tunics. just layers of tunics. long tunics under short tunics. tunics with cloaks. fancy tunics. simple tunics. people loved a tunic

[cup1dt3a]

Hello, I saw that you were writing for Welcome home and was wondering (If you took requests for it) if you could possibly do a possessive/obsessive (if you want to do Yonder you can!) Wally Darling x reader where the reader has a bird, when weird things start to turn up and objects start to disappear- the comfort of their home grows sour- they end up questioning themselves on what is happening and that they may have a squatter or even a stalker/ intruder who enters the home when the are either away, at work or asleep till the bird starts screeching out "Darling" in the middle of the night and would freak the hell out when ever the reader has Wally or he gets anywhere close to the doll/ puppet?

(Browny points if Reader sees Wally as a comfort object/stuffy)

I thought it would be a cool lill thingy.

If not that is A OK! I only wish for you to be comfortable!

I LOVE THIE IDEA And birds <33 Tysm for the request! And don’t worry I am comfortable with this request tysm for asking either way. Also the bird is a parakeet but I just like the word budgie more! It sounds just sooo cute and fun to say! Hope you and everyone are having an amazing day/night

Warning ⚠️ angst, bad home life, panic attack description

( I might have gone a little overboard with this one so there are some warnings. I’m sorry but the angst gods told me to make ppl cry a river and I had to please them)

“ Aren’t you just sweet?” You cooed out to your little budgie Bean as they nuzzled your face.

“Sweet bird! Sweet bird!” She squawked in agreement.

She was a little green budgie you had recently gotten from the pet store after months of saving. Bean was your dream pet. As a child you would always beg your parents for a budgie and constantly tell them everything you knew about them. But finally after moving out you had finally gotten your dream bird. And they were most definitely worth the wait from how sweet they were. Just a little cuddle bug and sometimes a mischievous little thing. For they had made it a habit of stealing some of your things to make a nest. It was cute but you needed your things back for your work.

After a month of having bean things started to feel odd. Not odd as in pigs flying but as if you were being watched. You knew it wasn’t bean because you would leave her beside one of your windows to have some sunlight in your kitchen. You would move her little “ house” to your room during the day. But at night you would move it to the kitchen due to her squawking a lot. At first it confused you why she would constantly squawk at night, but you thought it was maybe because of some of your room decor scaring her. Once you moved her out of your room to the kitchen she had finally stopped. Poor baby scared of something in your room. You just wished you knew what it was.

You cuddled your Wally plush sighing as you stretched to go see what Bean was screeching about. Your budgie had been constantly almost every night yelling for you. It was concerning. At first you brushed it off as then just having separation anxiety but you were wrong. You needed sleep for work but your small bean came before that. As you went to the kitchen you hurriedly gently got them out of their cadge to comfort them. This wasn’t good. It’s a well known fact that birds could be scared to death. You might have to sadly get rid of Bean if this kept happening. You loved her but you didn’t want her to die because you couldn’t bear to part with her. You gently scratched the top of their head to soothe them.

You had brought them back in your room where Wally sat on top of your bed still. As soon as you got in there with Bean they started to freak out squawking “ Darling! Darling!”

Oh shit! They were scared of Wally. You placed them into their cadge before gently putting Wally away under your bed. They soon stopped calming down finally.

“ Poor baby. I’m sorry I didn’t notice.” You said to the bird.

You felt horrible for not noticing Beans distress over the puppet. How could you not have noticed for so long? Poor Bean.But you still wondered why they would freak out even when in the kitchen. Must be cats or something you thought as you cradled the tiny bird. Seeing them finally ok. Your tired brain had time to wonder what was bothering them in the kitchen later since it was late and you had a shift at 5 in the morning you needed the sleep. Yawning as you pet their fluffy green feathers for the last time before putting them to bed. You went to your own plopping face first onto the bed before snoring the night away. While a certain pair of eyes glared at the finally peaceful bird.

This isn’t going to well at all

“Yeah you know that Wally plush I have? Yeah turns out Bean was just very scared of it.” You told one of your friends as you gave in another order of food to the back.

“ I wouldn’t blame them! That thing is creepy and how long have you had it for again…oh yeah 12 years!” They announced while you rolled your eyes before walking off to your next table.

It’s only been 12 years plus Wally is in very good condition because you may or may not have studied a lot about how to keep plushes in good shape for years. But that doesn’t matter! Wally was just a toy you always had. It felt as if he was always there for you. Listening to your frustrations, rants, bottled up feelings, and even helped you go through the worst year of your life.

Wally was given to you when a friend of yours had noticed you’ve been on the brink of harming yourself for a while. Your home situation wasn’t that good. And they had become worried, so on they gave you Wally. And you just felt a bit of a connection with the doll. It could maybe be that his eyes always looked like they were at attention every time you needed just somebody and Wally turned into your somebody. Sure plushies didn’t work for everyone but Wally did for you so whatever.

As you brought another ticket to the kitchen you had noticed a familiar color of blue poking out of your bag. You rushed to it flipping the top over to see Wally still staring at you with his smile and wide eyes at full attention as always.

“ How did-“ you muttered before being caught off by your boss yelling “_____ keep it moving!”

You hurriedly nodded as put the plus as gently as you fastly could back into your bag. This was the second time you accidentally brought him to work with you. It might have been from habit of always carrying him around but you don’t know you your anxious brain would bring him. You were now scared of being him anywhere except around the comfort of your home. For the fear of losing him, getting him dirty, one of his stitches coming loose, or even one of the cute buttons on his blouse popping off.

You must have just been so rushed today from your lack of sleep and accidentally put him in your bag as you were moving it out from under your bed.

You failed to once again notice the hateful glare threatening your boss as they still had their little yellow head poked out the bag.

Finally after finishing your shift you were called to your bosses office. You dreaded being fired is he going to fire you? Is he sick of you bringing your plush to work by accident. You don’t get that distracted by Wally right? Right?

“ Do you know why I called you here?” She asked while her arms were crossed.

“ No ma’am…am I going to get fired?” You hesitantly asked.

“No _____ but. You need to stop bringing that thing to work! It’s been a distraction to you everytime! This is the second time I’ve had to give you a warning the next time I have to I’ll be letting you go. Do you understand?” She sneered clearly once again upset with your performance at work.

“Yes…Yes ma’am I promise next time to be sure they’re not in my bag before leaving for work.” You promised.

“Thank you _____. But don’t forget that I will fire you if you also continue to daze off during your shifts too.” She remarked as you nodded before turning your back to get out of there.

All the while this time the doll sent a silent threat to your boss. Mortifying her.

Finally home you started to feel as if something was off about it. As you went to see where Bean was they were fast asleep behind their little toy. Yu stared in awe at how cute they were before silently putting some food I. Their cadge when they wake up. Their water was still full and you cleaned it yesterday so they’ll be fine.

You headed off to your room know Bean will alert you when they awake. As you got to your room to try and find some of your pens you noticed they weren’t there anymore. It was odd because you hadn’t had a break to use them in a while so how are they suddenly gone? You then looked for your headphones nowhere to be seen. Even looking for just a hair brush no where to be seen. That’s odd very odd. You used your headphones and hairbrush this morning. How could they not be there. This was creepy. You then looked for one of your oversized shirts once again no where to be seen. All of them except your blue and rainbow one could be seen. You then headed to your bathroom. Toothbrush, perfume, and even retainers gone. What the fuck. What the actual fuck this doesn’t just happen no. Bean couldn’t have done this because they were in their bird house all day. And you knew how to unlock it so… Is there someone in your apartment?

No there can’t be the window is shut, every door still shut, your front door locked, and everything was still as neat as you left it. Do you have some kind of creepy stalker in your house? No no! This can’t be happening you might have just misplaced them? Right you are just forgetful! No one can be in here you live alone with Bean. What if that’s what’s been causing her to squeak out every night. Were they trying to alert you? No, if someone was in here they would have still be screaming out.

You felt too hesitant to go to bed. The lingering question if some stranger being in your house scare you to the bone. You cuddled your Wally plush close to you. Scared. Being full of all the dreadful thing someone could do while you slept. Or even the horrific idea of what they could do to you. Were you just paranoid? Is everything off and you misplaced them all. You didn’t know you were just scared. Tomorrow was your off day and you for once wished it wasn’t just not wanting to be in here right now but at the moment you had no where else to go. You couldn’t sell your house and clean it out because that would take months of work you didn’t have time for. You just wanted to sleep for one night with bean not disturbing you. Why must the world be so cruel with its ridiculous powerful anxiety prone ways of giving you a panic attack? Why does everything go wrong for you? You just wanted to live a good rest of whatever life you had once free from the old place you called home not worried about some stalker.

You held your breath trying to hear if anyone was there. Even as your eye’s watered you still tried to keep it in. But eventually after 5 hours of keeping your eyes open they eventually closed drained from work and too many all nighters.

You woke up with Wally’s head now onto oof yours in almost a hugging position. And a few loud squawks coming from the kitchen. It was 2 pm now. Geez you slept for that long. You hesitantly got up looking around to see anything misplaced. Thankfully nothing was gone or placed somewhere else. You went to the kitchen the atmosphere of your home still as sour as it was when you came in you had seen Bean happily fluttering around wanting you to hug him. Even going as far as to demand them.

“ Hug and Kiss! Pretty bird! Hug and kiss pretty bird!” They chanted making you chuckle.

This is what you needed just this little distraction. Maybe you were just paranoid now seeing your two shirts on the laundry machine. As you turned around with Bean placed o toy our finger to get some food your hopes once again came crashing down. After they seemed to look up a heart gaped apple now laid on your counter white a yellow note beside the now sticky knife.

“ A sweet for my sweet <3”

No no no no no! No! This isn’t happening! No this wasn’t! Why does everything just go wrong for you? You needed to get out of here now. As you hurriedly for yours and beans things you tried to open the door only for it to not budge. How could it lock from the outside the only way to unlock it was in here. You set Bean aside as they tilted their head in confusion. You then started to aggressively try to pry the door open. Even going as far as to beat on it. After an hour of doing this till your throat was sore you stopped.

You were now trapped with some sociopath. You started to hyperventilate sinking down to the floor crying. You didn’t know what to do! Your phone is gone. Because as you hurriedly got everything you noticed it wasn’t on your nightstand.

You felt helpless and trapped. Bean was event running low on food. You don’t want to be here. You just wanted some peace. You’re scared and overly anxious. You’re pretty sure you might have a panic strake from the rapid beating of your heart, the ache in your chest making it too tight to breathe and the endless flow of tears. As you shake out Bean worriedly plops on top of your head while you shaking figure tries to calm down.

“ Pretty bird! Wanna kiss? Mwah!” They squawked placing a gentle constant mwah with every kissing peck of theirs.

“ Oh pretty birds so sweet.” You cooed slightly calming down as the ache in your chest still left you gasping for air.

Just as you were starting to calm down a loud potter patter started to be heard across the floor.

“ Darling! Darling!” They panicked.

You went pale now knowing who your captor was as the familiar wide eyes and wide smile peered down onto you.

Tysm for reading! Hope you enjoyed! I’m almost done with some of my requests so hope you enjoyed this one. And whoever requested this hope it lived up to your standards! Anyways hope you all have a good day or it gets better!

Sincerely -Cup1dT3a 💌

[cloud-somersault]

Your fic "The constellations within us" was so perfect, and exactly what I wanted and needed for since I joined the fandom. I wish I had eloquent words but english is not my native language, and I'm struggling with the translator now, but this fic is probably one of the most high quality ones I’ve ever read so i've finally worked up the energy to leave a solid comment.

I love your prose, the descriptions and internal monologues are so immersive and emotional that I need to reread over and over again. The worldbuilding scratches my brain real nice, all contribute to make a really cohesive image that canon still doesn't quite achieve in my opinion. And you did a good job capturing the mood and humor of the show with every little detail but at the same time you’ve added a whole new dimension to the plot and characters. Keep cooking, I beg you but also have mercy on me. I imagine you saying something like: I am going to create an situation that is so emotionally fucked up before writing any chapter.

I really love the way shadowpeach interact in this story. From trying to kill each other to sharing the food. It's kinda crazy that people genuinely thought shadowpeach was a one sided crush until s4.

To be honest, I'm not a fan how the fandom treats shadowpeach but you have successfully kept the characterization of mystical monkeys to perfection while setting up a realistic shadowpeach plotline. I read this quote in another fic but it applies very well to them: "They really embody the pain/comfort thing, except that comfort is understanding and trust."

Sun Wukong is canonically a latent danger that not even the most powerful entities in celestial realm or underworld could subdue him, but he has no self preservation skills whatsoever. He's a bleeding heart. He's the one who sacrifices everything possible to protect the few he loves because, god, he has lost so much. The immortality he achieved with peaches, wine, pills, among many other things, may have made him indestructible on the outside, but inside they made him emotionally vulnerable, lonely and afraid of attachment. This monkey can fit so much trauma and he's holding a lot close to his chest even from the audience. The fandom villainizes him unfairly, but sometimes they also put him on some kind of pedestal, which is also incorrect.

The same happens with Macaque. He's the walking mystery who may or may not realize how much of a prickly capricious hypocrite he is in some things. For example, he feels an apparent resentment at being relegated to being a mere shadow of someone much brighter, but at the same time he seems unwilling to step out of that role. In s1 and s3, he clings so much to the past that he pushes Wukong, the only constant of him in a modern world after his resurrection, to be the version he remembered. Where Wukong advanced, Macaque retreated.

Nonetheless, the motives behind every action of his are more nuanced than him just being evil. He did once he was free from LBD's control was immediately start helping everyone even until s4, as if it were a tacit way of apologizing because he was just trapped under incredibly shitty circumstances, let's remember the part where LBD said she'd kill him if he didn't do what she wanted. Although I don't think he didn’t have fun knocking everyone around a bit (to his ex-husband especially).

It's little funny because I consider that before the perigranation trip, Wukong is a self-proclaimed hero with destructive or villainous tendencies (depending on which side you look at, celestial Realm definitely sees it that way still) while in the current timeline, Macaque is a self-proclaimed villain with heroic tendencies.

I wont keep rambling, but thank you again for pouring your time and talent into this beautifully painful read. I can't wait to chew on the next chapter like a hungry dog ​​with a good steak and also I'll be keeping an eye out for your future works, in case you continue writing about queer monkeys with emotional constipation, but if not, it's such a treat to read what you've already gifted us. Have a good week! and sorry for any translation errors again.

AAAAAH i'm sorry i've taken so long to respond to this. this ask is SO SWEET and i loved just rereading it over and over to suck all the serotonin out of it. Filled me with gleee!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to translate and write out this message! There weren't any errors, it's okay! I'm so glad you liked my story sm and read it and ENJOYED IT YAAAAAY!!!

honestly, I only cackle evilly before posting chapters sometimes. Only sometimes, when I remember. I usually cackle while writing, but then, by the time I've posted it, I've read it so much, it doesn't have that emotional impact on me anymore LOL

I think that's a great way to sum up shadowpeach! It's about understanding and trust. No matter what, that trust has to be rebuilt, and that process is so painful and hard and time-consuming that...it takes such a great amount of effort on both their parts. It's the choice to persevere in spite of that amount of hardship that makes them beautiful, even if what they create together isn't inherently beautiful. What's beautiful is that, in spite of tragedy, these two monkeys want to be together in whatever way they can.

I think with any fandom, people are going to misinterpret characters. I've kind of gotten used to it, but there's definitely a lot of missed nuance and character depth that the fandom chooses to not see or doesn't except. Maybe they like to keep it surface level, but i think critically thinking about the plot and characters is where you can find depth or make depth of your own that's not present in the show.

Wukong is either a trickster villain or a precious soul who has done no wrong and needs to be protected. Macaque is usually a mustache-twirling villain or a sweet, bashful monkey who was just pretending all that time! and has never done anything bad.

A lot of the fandom sees things in a clear black and white way, which is dangerous for several reasons, but it means that their interpretations lack that depth or understanding that people crave. Because no one is black and white. The world doesn't work that way, so it's kind of worrying that they think that's...normal. It's not normal. I see it as a lack of life experience and maturity, but I also don't know these people. Maybe they like their fictional worlds to be black and white, I dunno.

Aaaanyway, you're not the first person to speak about this topic with shadowpeach and how, through constellations, they found some understanding or were pleased with how shadowpeach interacted. and to that I say, thanks! I just like some realism and three dimensional...ness to my characters, please and thanks. Don't even get me started on MK.

But wow! Yes! I'm so honored you'll keep reading whatever I write next. I have no fucking clue what I'm doing, and I'm just smashing my dolls together, but I'm happy to have you here in Constellations AU land! Welcome! Enjoy your stay 💕

[angie-long-legs-moved]

Rules

Age Restricted

This blog is 18+, absolutely no exceptions! Mun is in their 20s and will not rp with minors. If you are under 18, please do not follow or interact. You will be blocked.

Semi-Selective

At the moment, I am happy to rp/interact with the majority of those who want to write with me! However, I can be choosy if I feel our writing styles don't match or we don't click in the way we portray our muses.

I may drop threads if I lose motivation or I feel as though I'm carrying it. If you're concerned I've dropped our thread and wish to continue it, please just let me know! I may be open to continuing with some additional plotting, or at the very least I will offer an explanation as to why it was dropped.

I don't do exclusives! I love to see writers portray their own take on their muses, so doubles are welcome here.

Hard blocking is reserved for minors and weirdos - I won't hard block you if I no longer want to interact, I will probably just unfollow.

Dark Themes

This is Angel Dust - dark topics and are going to be a common occurance. Please be mindful of your own wellbeing and/or triggers. Sexual violence, physical violence, abuse, trauma, sex work, substance abuse and addiction are all big parts of Angel's story, and while I will do my best to tag things accordingly, if this is likely to trigger you, I would advise not to follow.

Mun =/= Muse

Angel can be a prize dickhead at times. He might not be kind to your muse, even if your muse is kind to him. He has a short temper and zero impulse control, and is prone to flying off the handle. I will most likely ask if I feel like anything I write would cross a line, but I don't see this as ever being more than Angel throwing around hurtful words.

Triggers

I tag obvious triggers such as abuse and violence, but if you need anything more specific tagged, just let me know! I may fuck up from time to time and forget to tag something, in which case just shoot me a message and I'll fix it.

NSFW

NSFW content is fine and to be expected with this muse! However, I won't write smut unless we've been writing together for a while. All NSFW content will be tagged, and anything explicit will be under a cut.

Shipping

Head over heels for Huskerdust, not massively interested in shipping Angel with other characters from the show. However, I ship based on chemistry, so if our muses develop a connection, I'm open to exploring this. I prefer this to be discussed ooc if it starts heading that direction. Open to OC ships, but again, chemistry is key. And, obviously, Angel is gay - I'll be writing him as such. If your muse is female/fem-leaning, sorry, but he ain't into it!

(I also feel the need to stress that while I enjoy exploring the dynamic between Angel and Valentino, please do not misinterpret this as shipping. To be clear, writing interactions between characters who have a toxic and abusive relationship while also acknowledging love, sex and trauma bonding as a realistic part of that relationship does not constitute shipping, to my own definition. I am more than happy to explore the dark themes within their dynamic as long as we are on the same page about this.)

Requires Discussion

I am pretty lax, and will rp a lot without requiring prior discussion. If your muse is becoming violent towards mine, you don't need to worry about asking permission, especially when it is context relevant (eg. a thread between Angel and Valentino). I only ask that the following are discussed beforehand: any form of sexual assault (I will not write anything graphic), discussion of csa, a character causing massive injury to another or a character killing another.

Off Limits

Graphic descriptions of sexual violence; sexual or romantic interactions with a character who is a minor; incest; paraphilias

Format

I have a preference for long-form RP, but I also do IC asks. Multi para is preferred.

Asks

I will answer most asks - just please don't spam my inbox!

Literacy

I don't expect anyone to match my length with replies - this is largely because I have a tendency to go overboard and write more than my partner! I prefer to write multi para because of this, but I'm open to all lengths.

Although I don't expect partners to match my length, I do like them to match my effort. As much as this is a fun and silly hobby, it's time-consuming and laborious, and I very much pour my heart into my writing. I want to write with people who value my contributions as much as I value theirs!

Personally, I am not massively bothered about literacy skill. However, if your language or grammar make it so I struggle to understand your response, I will not be able to write with you.

Activity Status

Currently very active! With my current number of threads, my average reply time is around 3-4 days. But if for some reason I haven't replied, don't panic! I'm a naturally slow writer and a perfectionist, it can take me a while to finish a response, especially if our thread responses are long. And, obviously, I do have a life outside of tumblr. However, if you're worried I've forgotten our thread, just shoot me a message!

OOC

I am more than happy to talk ooc, and welcome yall to message me! Whether it's for plotting reasons, ideas, headcanons, or just to shoot the shit, I love getting to know the people I write with!

[mthofferings]

Spagbol99

See Spagbol99’s existing works here.

Preferred contact methods: Discord: Spagbol99 Email: marvelspagbol99@gmail.com Tumblr: spagbol99

Preferred organizations: - Anything from the list of approved organizations

Will create works that contain: I am honestly open to writing most things (besides the items in the 'do not' list below), but I specialise in hurt/comfort with a large side of angst. My favourite tropes to write are found family, Avengers fam, misunderstandings, secrets, identity reveal, whump (nothing too gory, lean towards emotional whump). Also happy to write smut.

Will not create works that contain: Kidfics (but Teenager is more than ok) No Powers AUs (unless a temporary loss in the plot!) Original Characters Reader insert Soulmate Ghosts Zombies Magic – well, some is okay, but I'm not down for a full-on fantasy plot a/b/o – I read it, but I'm not sure on writing it.

  -- Fic or Other Writing --

Auction ID: 1133

Will create works for the following relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark - MCU Bucky Barnes & Peter Parker - MCU Peter Parker & Steve Rogers - MCU Tony Stark-centric - MCU Peter Parker-centric - MCU Bucky Barnes-centric - MCU Tony Stark & Avengers Team - MCU Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers - MCU Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson - MCU Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - MCU

Work Description: I am offering a fic of a minimum of 3K words. There is a chance that I will write more than that (and if you know my other works you'll know I'm long-winded), but I didn't want to under-deliver. Similarly, if a shorter one-shot is what you are after, I can also do that. Please do drop me a line if you want to clarify if I will write something specific. I'm fairly open and it's important that the winner gets what they want, but equally, I need to be inspired to write it! I most definitely offer more pairings than what I have been able to put forth, so please do ask if you have a pairing and/or prompt in mind. I am working on other projects at the same time including ending my long fic (fingers crossed!), so you should know that I am realistically unlikely to complete this before Easter '24.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

-- Beta Service --

Auction ID: 2067

Will create works for the following relationships: Tony Stark-centric - MCU Peter Parker-centric - MCU Bucky Barnes-centric - MCU Clint Barton-centric - MCU Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers - MCU Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - MCU Natasha Romanov-centric - MCU Pepper Potts/Tony Stark - MCU Sam Wilson-centric - MCU Avengers fandom any gen - MCU

Work Description: I am offering alpha or beta services for up to 20K words. I adore talking fic with people - discussing characterisation, plot, word building and character development. If you want someone to bounce your ideas off or help outline a plot, then I am your gal. Additionally, I often beta read for fandom friends - am sure I could get references from them if wanted! With beta reading, I can look at overall flow as well as dialogue. I also can of course check on basic spelling and grammar at the same time. I am pretty open with pairings (Gen and slash is fine by me) and have put down on the list those I have the most experience writing or reading. I am most up on MCU but open to comics though obviously I won't know the characterisation as well! I don't have a lot of things that I won't read, but please contact me if you want to check before you bid.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

The auction runs from October 22 (12 AM ET) to October 28 (11:59:59 PM ET). Visit marveltrumpshate.com during Auction Week to view all of our auctions and to place your bids!

[mariana-oconnor]

The Three Students pt 2

We are in (probably) Oxbridge and have a potential cheating scandal (quelle horreur!), three suspects and a "forgetful" servant who left the room to the papers unlocked.

Our suspects are: the hardworking 'manly' scholarship student (who needs the money), the Indian student (who knew the papers were there and may need the grade, but didn't get a lot of description so I think we're mostly supposed to suspect him because racism and opportunity??) and the rich lazy kid (who needs the grade because he hasn't done the work).

Place your bets, please.

“I should like to have a peep at each of them,” said Holmes. “Is it possible?” “No difficulty in the world,” Soames answered. “This set of rooms is quite the oldest in the college, and it is not unusual for visitors to go over them. Come along, and I will personally conduct you.”

You just let random strangers into your students' rooms?

There were some really curious pieces of mediaeval domestic architecture within. Holmes was so charmed with one of them that he insisted on drawing it on his note-book, broke his pencil, had to borrow one from our host, and finally borrowed a knife to sharpen his own.

I love how even in his later accounts, Watson pretends not to know that Holmes is putting on an act. Yes, he was taken with the architecture, this had no ulterior motive and absolutely wasn't to scope out the pencils and knife of the student. It was purely architecture-based enthusiasm that led to this.

The same curious accident happened to him in the rooms of the Indian...

Really? The same thing happened in that room!?

Also, I'm not going to bother comparing the descriptions of the two students because that way lies racism and I think we can all see it.

Only at the third did our visit prove abortive. The outer door would not open to our knock, and nothing more substantial than a torrent of bad language came from behind it. “I don't care who you are. You can go to blazes!” roared the angry voice. “To-morrow's the exam, and I won't be drawn by anyone.”

Honestly, good for you. They've got no business coming into your room anyway. And also, good for you for studying (if you're telling the truth) I don't remember your name random rich student, but so far as actually meeting you goes, I fully support you. Keep that door closed. Fuck the lot of them.

“A rude fellow,” said our guide, flushing with anger as we withdrew down the stair. “Of course, he did not realize that it was I who was knocking, but none the less his conduct was very uncourteous, and, indeed, under the circumstances rather suspicious.”

Or... not suspicious because he's the only one actually studying when there's an exam tomorrow that seems to be vitally important. (Sure, he might not be studying, maybe he has someone in there with him... in which case, also good for him, I guess).

“Can you tell me his exact height?” he asked. “Really, Mr. Holmes, I cannot undertake to say. He is taller than the Indian, not so tall as Gilchrist. I suppose five foot six would be about it.”

You what now?

He has a name! I don't remember it right now because you haven't mentioned it yet this section (I also don't remember the rich kid's name), but he has a name. You literally teach him. You know his name! Seriously? Seriously?

(His name is Daulat Ras, I checked the first part of the story. If it turns out to be him (which it won't because it's Gilchrist who doesn't appear to be studying even though he clearly has the most riding on this exam) then I am hereby pre-emptively pardoning him on grounds of his teacher being shit because he cannot be bothered to remember his name.)

Our guide cried aloud in his astonishment and dismay. “Good gracious, Mr. Holmes, you are surely not going to leave me in this abrupt fashion! You don't seem to realize the position. To-morrow is the examination. I must take some definite action to-night. I cannot allow the examination to be held if one of the papers has been tampered with. The situation must be faced.”

Calm down, my dude. It's really not the end of the world. Have a sit down, get a glass of brandy. Keep the brain fever at bay.

“The foul-mouthed fellow at the top. He is the one with the worst record. And yet that Indian was a sly fellow also. Why should he be pacing his room all the time?”

Thank you, Watson, for validating my suspicions by disagreeing with them. I always feel better about my ideas when they don't match yours. No thanks for the racism, but at least you didn't just choose Ras, and you're also giving a secondary reason for suspecting him.

“He looked at us in a queer way.”

... ahem.

“So would you if a flock of strangers came in on you when you were preparing for an examination next day, and every moment was of value."

Also that.

“Why, Bannister, the servant. What's his game in the matter?”

IKR, Holmes, you get me. You understand. Clearly the guy is overly worried and who walks all the way across the room to sit down when they're feeling faint.

But Bannister would have to be working with someone. Either one of the three, or a hypothetical fourth student he is related to. He could be related to Gilchrist, I guess. (What is rich boy's name? I still can't remember, luckily I am not his tutor, so I don't have to feel bad about it.)

“He impressed me as being a perfectly honest man.”

Watson, my sweet summer child. Apart from all your many faults, biases and prejudices, you are so naive and trusting.

All were agreed that one could be ordered, but that it was not a usual size of pencil and that it was seldom kept in stock.

Does Bannister have, like, some illness that means he can't hold standard-sized pencils? Arthritis of some kind? But everyone seems pretty sure that he's not directly lying about anything. Unless he is cunning and running a whole business of copying translations then selling them to students.

"By Jove! my dear fellow, it is nearly nine, and the landlady babbled of green peas at seven-thirty. What with your eternal tobacco, Watson, and your irregularity at meals, I expect that you will get notice to quit and that I shall share your downfall"

Yeah, Watson. This is clearly your fault. How dare you! The poor landlady making you peas when you're dragging Holmes out to stationers at all hours. You should be ashamed of yourself.

At eight in the morning he came into my room just as I finished my toilet.

Yet again, I know toilet had a different meaning, but picturing Holmes walking into the bathroom while Watson's literally sitting on the toilet and the two of them carrying out a perfectly normal conversation is hilarious to me.

"I have put in two hours' hard work and covered at least five miles, with something to show for it. Look at that!” He held out his hand. On the palm were three little pyramids of black, doughy clay.

Ah yes, the random clay, which all I can think of is putty eraser or some sort of carbon copy thing.

“You will kindly close the door,” said Holmes. “Now, Bannister, will you please tell us the truth about yesterday's incident?”

Yeah, Bannister. Are you secretly the head of a cheating ring?

“Well, then, I must make some suggestions to you. When you sat down on that chair yesterday, did you do so in order to conceal some object which would have shown who had been in the room?”

Ah, yeah, that makes sense. Whoever did do it was kind of rubbish at covering their tracks clearly this is not something they do often.

“There was no man, sir.”

So it's either a girl, or Odysseus...?

He was a fine figure of a man, tall, lithe, and agile, with a springy step and a pleasant, open face.

Seriously, Watson, we get it, you think he's hot. You've been very lonely since your wife died. You don't need to describe how hot he is every time we see him.

Wait, it was the tutor who had that weird use of 'manly' the first time around, wasn't it?

If Gilchrist turns out to be a girl in disguise that line is going to be so funny.

"We want to know, Mr. Gilchrist, how you, an honourable man, ever came to commit such an action as that of yesterday?” The unfortunate young man staggered back and cast a look full of horror and reproach at Bannister. “No, no, Mr. Gilchrist, sir; I never said a word—never one word!” cried the servant.

Well now you have. People really need to get better at committing crimes. After it's happened, you know nothing about anything. No matter how much people ask or how much they claim to know, you know nothing. You are blissfully ignorant of the whole affair. What affair? Oh, someone's cheating? How terrible!

“No, but you have now,” said Holmes.

Is this the first documented use of this trope? Because it can't have happened much before now.

The Indian I also thought nothing of.

His name.

Is.

DAULAT RAS!

"Such an idea was absurd. I was measuring how tall a man would need to be in order to see as he passed what papers were on the central table. I am six feet high, and I could do it with an effort."

So all Watson's descriptions were just to point out how tall Gilchrist is? That's all?

"He put his shoes on the table. What was it you put on that chair near the window?” “Gloves,” said the young man.

Dude. My dude. You wear the gloves. I know this story was published a year before the first use of fingerprints in a criminal case in England, but my dude. You do not leave your gloves on a chair.

“Yes, sir, I have, but the shock of this disgraceful exposure has bewildered me. I have a letter here, Mr. Soames, which I wrote to you early this morning in the middle of a restless night. It was before I knew that my sin had found me out. Here it is, sir. You will see that I have said, ‘I have determined not to go in for the examination. I have been offered a commission in the Rhodesian Police, and I am going out to South Africa at once.’”

...well that's a twist.

You're seriously going to leave the country and go be a colonialist police officer in Africa. Because... you cheated on a test. Leaving the country seems a bit extreme.

"Time was, sir, when I was butler to old Sir Jabez Gilchrist, this young gentleman's father. When he was ruined I came to the college as servant, but I never forgot my old employer because he was down in the world. I watched his son all I could for the sake of the old days."

So not related to him, but associated with him. Yeah, that tracks. Servants are so loyal in these stories (apart from when they aren't, I suppose).

Another person called Jabez.

"As to you, sir, I trust that a bright future awaits you in Rhodesia. For once you have fallen low. Let us see in the future how high you can rise.”

I mean... I'm not entirely comfortable with this turn of events. I feel like 'police officer in the colonial British Empire' is pretty low, in the grand scheme of things.

And I never was reminded what the rich kid's name was, and I think I'm going to leave it that way. ACD needs to stop forgetting character's names, it makes it far too easy to guess who the culprit is. Also, it makes all your characters more racist.

Is it that guy, that guy, or Mr Diddit?

Next time, The Solitary Cyclist, which is one of my favourites, so I probably won't be speculating as I've read it a lot.

[spacemagicandlaserswords]

The Clone Wars 4x9 ‘Plan of Dissent’ Reaction

Hardcase NO

I was tearing up at that. “Live to fight another day.” *sobs*

Fuck Krell. Absolute heartless bastard.

Really not impressed with Dogma at this stage so I’m guessing a lot happens in the final episode of this arc.

Poor Tup. He really reminds me of the friend that is pressured into doing things that they really don’t want to do. And the poor thing is so anxious and worried. I’m relating to him far too much.

Fives with his legs splayed open on his back under a ship doing mechanical work? HELLO?!?! First Tech, now this?! Though I guess technically (heh) it was Fives first then Tech. Either way, most excellent crotch and thigh shot. 

Speaking of thighs, this is where those gifs of Rex’s thigh plates come from! 

Help me why am I having thots when everything that’s happening is so awful

That was some look from Rex when he saw Fives, Jesse and Hardcase flying off in the Umbaran fighters. Long suffering “why are those idiots doing this” combined with admiration and respect that they actually went and did it.

Omg the chaos in the hanger with Hardcase trying to fly the fighter and destroying everything and Fives doing his best Han Solo impression of trying and failing to definitely not sound sus.

“That’s gonna leave a mark” CACKLING

Hardcase actually did a fairly decent job of coming up with a fairly believable story and making it believable enough. Not wholly believable but better than I expected. Fives though, baby, you really need to get better at acting. 

Speaking of, the shot of the clones at the start and Fives leaning on the wall looking down with his ankles crossed definitely looks like the start to some 90s boy band music video. I know I’ve seen this mentioned before but it’s hilarious how accurate that description is.

Rex trying to take the blame for Fives and Jesse and then Fives refusing to let him and Rex looking at him and saying “Fives!” all anguished and just ugh ALL OF MY EMOTIONS

Is Appo the one with the downward pointing white arrow surrounded by blue paint on the forehead of his bucket? Just checked Wookieepedia and yup, he is. Also, he's a CC. So why is he a Sergeant?

Hardcase with his little sneaky wiggly fingers. I love him so much.

I’ve noticed this with a few clones but they have these 3 lines of utterly adorable crows feet when they grimace or scrunch up their faces in certain ways and I just want to kiss them they’re so precious.

How is Rex keeping it all together? Poor man. I didn’t think it would be possible to want the walking disaster that is Anakin back but here we are. Do we ever find out why he was so suddenly and conveniently called back to Coruscant immediately? I’m assuming it’s Palps meddling.

Still loving Jesse and his little nose scrunch every time he turns up. There’s a heart and gentleness to him and that’s really evident in his little moment at the start about valuing the lives of the clones. I’m still not sure if I should be referring to them as clones or men so it’s just sort of bouncing between the two at the moment.

You can see why Jesse ends up becoming an ARC. I did have the heartbreaking thought the other day that seeing as Jesse becomes an ARC after Echo dies, does that mean Jesse replaces Echo as Fives’ ARC partner? *gross sobbing*

This is also the episode where that gif of Rex glaring over his shoulder comes from!

Tup gesturing with his space screwdriver thingy and waving it around. Bless.

The clones' voices are also starting to sound noticeably more distinct. Jesse’s is softer. Rex’s more gruff, no nonsense and laced with authority, which makes sense. Hardcase is utterly chaotic, rambling and slightly higher? You can hear the nervousness and worry in Tup’s voice. Dogma’s voice is also higher and much more tightly wound. I’m not sure how I’d describe Fives’ voice but it’s noticeably different to Rex’s and everyone else’s. I’m so glad they’re finally building out their characters and it’s not just generic clone voice for all of them.

Also, Rex running interference for Fives, Jesse and Hardcase and intercepting Dogma and Tup. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” UGH 

What’s Fives’ role in the 501st and Torrent? He seems like Rex’s second in command and right hand man but he doesn’t have a rank. Wookieepedia just lists him as an ARC Trooper. Are ARC Troopers just in their own special little box of bonkers BAMFness?

I keep adding to this reaction because I’m putting off watching the final episode of this arc. Ugh, MY EMOTIONS.

[chromee23]

UPPER GARESSA Entering the mine complex itself may yield treasure, but a band of thieves has broken in first. While many have entered into the mines, none have left... what awaits inside? What caused the rioting amongst the residents, and why would they have abandoned the safety of the first floor for the lower levels?

While I am still going strong creatively for dungeon23, I definitely feel that my first drafts are in dire need of proofreading. I also am definitely going to abandon the current way I am typing up room descriptions- I am finding my plans too wordy to legibly fit in an image, and formatting the text on Dungeon Scrawl is not as easy as I had thought. I will instead be putting the descriptions solely on Tumblr under a read-more; hopefully this works better!

8. SECURITY CENTER 8a. Pit Trap The entry hallway has a 20 foot pit trap spanning its entirety. One of the looters left their familiar here to pull a lever to drop anyone following into the pit trap. The familiar will retreat after fulfilling its mission. 8b. Guard Post The guard post has a number of controls for the entry hallway- at the northern window a large crank to open the entrance door and a lever to activate the pit trap; at the southern window a large crank to open the door to the great hall and a smaller lever that opens the secret door on the southeast wall for access. The lever to the pit trap can also twist to swing a scythe trap when lowered. There is also a rune on the ceiling that, if a group of people without a security badge enters the post, will warn that they lack the requisite badge, and then will summon constructs to attack. This warning gives enough time for the intruders to leave if approaching from the hall, but not if they are entering from the pit. The summoning trap can activate once per hour, 3 times per day. The weapon racks have been mostly looted but they have crossbows, bolts, and various reach weapons. 8c. Barracks These bunk beds once housed twenty guards. The residents had to retreat further into the mines without returning for belongings, which a good investigation will reveal; a thorough search of the trunks reveals personal belongings; the guards were paid in scrip so there are no coins, but one of the trunks  a golden locket worth 10 gold.

9. GRAND ENTRANCE HALL This large 60 foot tall hallway has always had a few stalls for bartering between residents and visitors and vice versa. When refugees arrived many more stalls and even larger semi-permanent buildings for valuables to be traded for necessities. Most stalls have been looted of valuables but 4 of them still have some valuables on them-  each requires either a thorough investigation (which has a 25% chance of alerting the enemies in room 11 or 12) or a very good check. The stalls with valuables have 10d4 gold, or an equivalent amount of gems.  9a. Tailor This structure was recently made when a tailor capitalized on the new demand for new or repaired clothing after many displaced people arrived with only the clothes on their back. The owner trapped it when the residents retreated further into the mine, then the looters tripped said trap when they entered. all that remains is an exploded door and an opened safe. 9b. General Supplies Another recent structure, this building was a stall that expanded to accommodate the influx of visitors. This building was also trapped- the roof has a number of large stone blocks that will collapse loudly in when the building is entered (75% chance of alerting the enemies in room 11 or 12. There is at least 1 or more of any common supply, including 19 dried rations. The safe under the counter has not been opened, but it requires a very good check to open. Inside is 190 gold, 5 random valuables, and a magical ring. 9c. Smithy This building is one of the more permanent structures in the hall- one of the residents was a smith who could craft magical tools, weapons, and armor using the metals and gems acquired in the mine, and it drew in a lot of trade when the mine still ran. There is a rune carved above the doorway that will radiate a blast of energy when the mantle is crossed without the owner's keys within 30 feet. This rune can activate every 12 hours. Inside the shop is a number of usable pieces of armor weapons, and mining tools. There is also an enchanted pick that cannot be damaged, as well as a magically enhanced shield. The owner hid a large lock box inside the counter- it can only be found with a good check, and can only be opened with the owner's keys or with a good lock-picking check. inside is 220 gold and a few pieces of valuable metals.

10. MEETING HUB This room was where residents could socialize. There are benches lining the walls, which are intricately carved with motivational designs of miners, and there is a large statue of the individual who founded Garessa. 10a. Trap The short corridor connecting the Entrance Hall to the Meeting Hub is trapped with a magical tripwire- when triggered, an alarm sounds in the lower levels and a weak jolt of electricity hits everyone in the hall. This can trigger once an hour. 10b. Barricade The western corridor was once blocked by tables and beds, but it has since been pulled apart. There are blood smears where bodies were dragged from beyond the barricade down to the stairs to the lower levels.

11. ASSEMBLY HALL While this room was once used for entertainment, addresses, and speeches. Now it is filled with tents to house refugees. The tents have the clothing and bed rolls for roughly 150 people in cramped quarters. There are signs of mass panic throughout. One of the looters was chased in here by the spectre from room 12, slain, then reanimated as a weakened spectre. She now haunts the hall and will attack whoever enters. There is nothing of value amongst the refugee's belongings aside from some trinkets. The looter has a magical staff and a pack with 3 random scrolls and 5d6 gold.

12. DINING HALL This long room was the mine worker's cafeteria. It has a vaulted ceiling that raises up 30 feet at its highest point and at the southeast corner there is a window to the kitchen (12a) for cooks to distribute food to diners. 2 of the hall's 6 tables were used for the barricade in room 11 and the remaining tables have been used to make a secondary barricade, which has broken. Throughout the hall are signs of violence, and there are a few bodies that have been left to rot. When the mine was taken over by force many of the occupants resisted and were struck down but one of them, the head guard of the mine, rose as a spectre to haunt the hall. He regards anyone passing through as those who killed them and will attack. Any humanoid killed by the spectre will rise as a weakened spectre like the looter in room 11. The head guard's corpse has a badge to pass to the lower levels, and his corpse still clutches his enchanted flaming blade. He also has a  coin pouch of 8d4 gold. 12a. Kitchen This kitchen has been completely emptied of anything edible; all that remains has already spoiled. The insurrection among the occupants took everything down to the lower levels. Only tools for cooking remain.

13, LIVING QUARTERS These quarters housed the miners, janitors, and cooks. Each of the rooms has bunk beds to house 28 workers, though some of the bunks were dragged out to make the barricade. All the workers were paid in scrip, so the only valuables are trinkets worth 10 gold each. There are 5 trinkets in the western quarters and 3 in the eastern. It would take an hour to search each room, but a good check may yield a trinket quickly. 13a. Restroom Piping redirects water to this room from the river above the mine. The showers on the north wall have a guards corpse in it, but the looters already took the badge and other belongings. The privies on the south wall have a constant stream of water flowing below them to flush waste, but it has backed up and begun to flood. The blockage is actually a sentient slime that will emerge and try to digest anything that enters a privy.

14. STAIRWELL The stairs are carved into the stone and revolve around an elevator. They descend 200 feet. There are controls on the elevator and a lever that will call the elevator up. 14a. Door The door is magically locked and above the doorway is a rune that functions near identically to the one in 8b, but summons more powerful constructs. Both the lock and the rune can be bypassed with a guard's badge.