#this is very much a first draft

[eyes-of-nine]

truly what a guy

[brother-emperors]

so it’s. it’s like. man this is so hard without my laptop.

alright so Crassus is a weird guy, existentially. There’s a tendency to speculate, assign, and insert him into whatever places are conspiratorial and shadowy because he fits into those narrative places with ease. My personal favorite (aside from all of it) is the idea that he may have pulled strings wrt to Sulla and Caesar’s conflict to help get Caesar out of it.

The Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae and the Invasion of the East, Gareth C. Sampson

In the universe that exists in my head, he definitely had a hand in it, but he didn’t really intend for Caesar to figure out he played a part in it, but Caesar’s good at puzzles, and noticing someone goes both ways. Binding someone to yourself goes both ways.

Crassus: The First Tycoon, Peter Stothard

This scene takes place sometime relatively soon after Sulla’s death. Crassus has complicated feelings about it, Caesar less so. Veni, vidi, vici, baby!

Here’s a bonus thing that I keep thinking about with them.

The Roman Revolution, Ronald Syme

like, utang na loob. and it is DEEP between them.

[fearandhatred]

i was thinking about this line from my fic:

But the fall had hurt, too. Because the wind had cut into his useless wings like knives, his skin and grace peeling away under the friction, and he had been looking right up at the multicoloured and unreachable expanse of sky just to see it fade from his eyes into dull greys.

and i came up with this. i hope the vision came through

[liquidstar]

wait speaking of getting isekia'd via truck, a couple weeks back me and a friend on were talking abt portal fantasy/isekai tropes (mostly bc i was infodumping abt rz again), and it made me think abt a fun concept for an ocverse. tho its possible similar things have been done obvs with just how inflated the genre is, just hear me out OK

story starts in the normal world, with a typical Nerdy Guy going about his daily life, expositing about how he feels bored and longs for adventure and magic, just like in all of his favorite media. as he's crossing the street, distracted by his mobile game, he doesn't notice The Truck(tm) coming straight towards him. except he's not hit by it- he's pushed out of the way in the last second, saved by a passing girl who gets hit in his place. this is who the story is about now.

mc gets sent to that sort of intermediary dimension that some isekai have, where she meets the Goddess Lady or whatever that was in charge of the whole isekai situation. goddess lady proceeds to freak out, because she nabbed the wrong person, and she's going to be in SO MUCH TROUBLE. she starts questioning the mc, only to find out that this kid has a good social life, does well in school, is in sports, and has barely ever played a video game. basically the opposite of the socially introverted, underachieving, repressed, genre-aware guy she was supposed to have reincarnated. for the sake of fulfilling somekinda hero prophesy or whatever. and the mc kinda bargains to be sent to the fantasy world anyway bc, well, its that or death i guess. so the two of them kinda have to team up to course-correct this mix-up.

mc is kinda given a list of tasks to do that basically mirror how a typical story like this Would Go, expected to fall in line with the tropes in order to achieve the ultimate goal, but kinda ends up failing at all of them... or not? failing backwards, maybe. doing it in a way different from how its meant to go- using the wrong formula, but somehow getting the right solution. while sort of continuing to question the insanity of the whole situation, and the nature of this whole fantasy world. just fucking up all the tropes.

but a layer i'd wanna add on top of all that is the fact that the hero prophesy (or whatever) called for a man. so upon arriving to this new world, the mc is basically put into a "gender swapped" body and... doesnt seem to mind. this isnt an uncommon isekai trope either, but i hardly see it tackled with much care to really explore whole Gender Thing beyond gags about the "mismatch" (which can be in poor taste) or the conclusion that "well because their Body is now this gender, their gender identity changes to match" which i feel is a pretty shallow and binary take-away to draw abt bodies and identity.

but i think there can be more to explore w the prospect if you actually wanna get into gender stuff. in this case, i'd particularly wanna get into the idea of imposter syndrome. the main character was not MEANT to be... the main character. seen as a phony fighting tooth and nail to meet expectations, and constantly fumbling. not a real hero, or a real man. but its meant to be an act anyway, so why does that bother her? it was like that back on earth too, trying as hard as possible to be the perfect girl. a good social life, does well in school, is in sports.... but that good girl thing always felt fake too. or desperate. what was she trying to prove? how long as this BEEN bothering her, actually? why does it feel easier to breathe in this body, despite everything? the way this whole act makes her happy is scary, because its fake isn't it? but wait, which part was fake? the before or after? is it all fake? isn't this all just a mistake?

was it really a mistake? who is more heroic; a guy too focused on a mobile game to pay attention to those around him, or the person who risked their life to save a stranger? but the hero prophesy was for a "man," right? what does that even mean?

[b4kuch1n]

IT ARRIVED IT ARRIVED IT ARRIVED

DESPITE EVERYTHING DESPITE MY CHRONICALLY CURSED INTERNATIONAL MAIL PROBLEM I AM STILL THE ZONE RPG

[callmehere-iwillappear]

coming soon(...ish) to an ao3 account near you: the idiot's guide to blindfold chess

in the meantime, the full piece of this ^^ is on patreon!

[lacefuneral]

kim and harry are laying next to each other in bed. they are going to go to sleep soon. kim is trying to read a book, but finds he cannot concentrate.

kim: "you are thinking too loud."

harry: "sorry."

kim: "one of your mind projects?"

harry: "...something like that."

kim: "go ahead."

harry: ???

kim: "ask me whatever question is ricocheting around in your head like a bullet."

harry: "it's um... it's stupid."

kim: "that hardly stops you during witness interviews."

harry: "...right. have you ever... um... loved a woman?"

kim: "i have dated women before, when i was young. but i was not attracted to them, no."

harry: "...do you think you ever could be?"

kim: "no. why? did you want to open-"

harry: "no, no. i was just curious. that's all."

kim: "..."

harry: "..."

kim: "...oh."

harry: ????

kim: "mon coeur, you are the only woman i have ever loved."

harry: ??????????¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

kim: ?

harry: "...i was asking because i was wondering if you were bi-sexual like i am. i'm not a lady. to my knowledge anyway."

kim: "ah. khm. well, if you were, i would support you."

[thedawningofthehour]

I'm GOING TO BED NOW SOUP GEEZE.

[yujeong]

kpanniversary2024, prompt 4: Tension

"It's not your choice, Macau." The noise Macau makes with his mouth rings like a gunshot in Vegas' ears. His eyes widen as he stares at his brother's flustered face. His nostrils flare. Macau is wearing his anger like an armor made of rusty metal on his skin. He thinks it protects him, keeps him safe, when all it does is reveal all his weak spots to the enemy. Presumed enemy, in this case. Pete is not - could not - be an enemy of his in the first place. Not even when he was the main family's guard dog. He was a fool. In a way, he still is. Vegas is afraid to look at him. He does it, regardless. Saliva is trickling down Pete's forehead, down the path formed by the creases of his furrowed eyebrows, down the curve of his nose, almost but not quite missing his pursed lips. He is standing by the kitchen table completely still, statue-like. His eyes are closed. His body is tense. He looks like he's about to start crying, or screaming, or both. He does neither. He just opens his eyes, slowly, and stares at Macau with an unreadable expression; another kind of armor, equally rusty and ineffective. He doesn't wipe the spit off his face. "Who do you think you are to say that to me?" Macau yells, unperturbed by what he did. Vegas's breath hitches. He has to intervene, somehow. Say something to stop this madness from continuing, salvage any of the last, remaining pieces of his broken family. He has to- "You're not my brother, so stop acting like it!" "Macau!" He's too late. Pete's face crumbles. He lowers his head to hide it, but Vegas can still see it, can still see Pete's bottom lip quivering, his shoulders shaking. He wants to hit himself. It wouldn't solve anything, fuck, it'd make everything worse, but he can't help seeking the familiar sting a slap would provide. A punch, even more so. He gets pulled out of his thoughts by Pete whispering something he doesn't catch. It's an easy guess to make. For a moment, Vegas thinks the bullets that had pierced his torso all those months ago had hurt less. Macau says nothing and runs away to his room.

[mishy-mashy]

En was killed by being cut in half by AFO. It wasn't that he couldn't handle OFA, but that AFO just decided to nuke him

All Might says using One For All with an untrained body would make your limbs fly off. But

This isn't his limbs? Yes, that's his arm, but that's HALF OF HIS BODY

Yes, there's also the argument he could've used it on his whole body and that's the consequence but there is a small cut on his thumb. It matches the line in which he was cut in half, and blood spurts from his hand.

The translation hides it, but his thumb got cut too from the slice. His thumb wasn't the focus, but still got hit. It at least shows when En passes on OFA to Nana

Since Banjo's arms got wrecked by using OFA, maybe En used it in one leg and that's why his leg is differently-colored and looks more beat up. En probably couldn't handle the Quirk either.

This means that En was being logical and saw OFA as a tool, and only used it in a leg so he could run.

All Might specifically says an unprepared vessel's limbs will fly off. Even if En used it on his whole body, that means only his arms and legs; but that's his torso. His leg didn't go flying either; at least until they both went flying cuz he was severed.

[icewindandboringhorror]

boy in silly sitting positions compilation

[redspecialandclogsandcurls]

[the-bi-space-ace]

Oh hey how about another snippet of something I'm working on today:

It felt like the weight of the past year was falling onto Rex. He remembered losing Echo, holding Fives as they both lost control. Fives. Not long ago he was holding Fives as he died, begging the Force that he wouldn’t lose him. Not him too. Saving Echo felt like the first true success Rex had experienced in a long time. Those boys had trusted him, came to him for safety, and he had failed them. Both of them.

I promise this is much softer than the snippet suggests <3

[sunshinediaz]

tease tidbit tuesday 🫧

been having a few very bad brain days because i have a lot of things i want to do but there's more things i need to do and apparently i'm really, really good at ignoring my responsibilities and getting nothing accomplished, oopsie

have something from hoa eddie? we're 67% done and i had a small fit over it this morning at 2 am because i suddenly hated it but i'm over it! pls enjoy!

Eddie clears his throat and shakes a few stray thoughts out of his head. “Besides, he’s not the person I’m interested in,” he tells Buck and perhaps it’s not the smartest thing but he can’t help it. He’s in love and he wants to share that with his best friend.  Buck raises a brow and licks the food off his fingers again. “Oh?” he asks, attention piqued. His cheeks have a bright pink hue to them, highlighted by the neon signs all around. “You’re interested in somebody? Like, for real?”  “Mhm.” Eddie grins, reaches out to wipe a glob of chili and ketchup off the corner of Buck’s mouth, and licks it off his thumb. “I am.”  “Are you gonna tell me who it is?”  “Maybe,” Eddie replies, shrugging, and finishes off his fourth beer. “If you’re a good boy tonight.” 

tagged by @exhuastedpigeon, @jeeyuns, @puppyboybuckley, @devirnis, @actualalligator, @theotherbuckley, and @daffi-990 <3

tagging @spagheddiediaz, @evanbegins, @wikiangela, @watchyourbuck, @rogerzsteven, @honestlydarkprincess, and @monsterrae1 if any of you wanna!

[fruchtfleisch-art]

It's been a little quiet around here, but I promise I'm still writing! This fic is going to be a 20k monster at the very least (my final drafts are always longer than my first drafts), and I've been trying to make it to the finish line this month so I can start the long, long process of shaping it into something readable. Have some snippets of weird little boys, past and present!

[sysig]

DAX is just so expressive ♥ (Patreon)