#though to be absolutely fair to The Witness I think what I read was my Dad’s Beta Reader Copy just judging by the lack of a real cover

[writingforatwistedworld]

The order fits into self aware au. How would Malleus, Jade and Leona react to an extremely caring reader?

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, obsession, possessiveness, manipulation, violence, murder, injuries, family problems, unhealthy relationship

Leona Kingscholar/Jade Leech/Malleus Draconia-Player is extremely caring

Let's be honest, Leona is a sucker for attention even if he doesn't show it

I mean, house cat over there was deprived of affection throughout his entire childhood so what did you expect? A healthy headspace? Haha no

So when he was sitting there, daring at the student who just stepped on his tail when he felt it for the first time

And at first it was not a great sensation

He always felt someone looking at him, watching him, him never being able to escape...

But after he also watched the black haired annoyance he soon understood what was going on... or at least he thought he did

Malleus and his little fanclu-I mean his “friends” were known for having a rather “interesting” interest in the Overseer and since that started they were saying that they were watching them

Ok so he has his own little pair of eyes staring at him no. Great great. No way he likes tho-WHY IS HE PURRING??!

Now that things have been going like that for a longer while he does notice though that you treat him different than others

Whilst you would be like “may, I can wait with your spell material” you are with him “OUT OF THE WAY! I NEED TO TAKE CARE OF MY CAT!!!”

Whilst everyone is just trying to get a tiny bit of that attention and care he is just like “I have no idea what I did but I like it”

But I think I mentioned him being starved as a kid of attention and care from his family and his general surroundings, right?

Well it's going to show right here, right now

Whilst he basis in what you give him like sunbathing he is more or less just terrorizing others

If someone dares to try to get close to him so that they might get some of his cake he will create a new sand pit

Even though his family doesn't know Leona is aware that they would be at least thankful that his magic doesn't leave any trace to follow at the scene of the crime

Just keep that attention up! Otherwise he might just snap and make short process with everyone

Confusion. Just confusion (at first at least)

Here he is, hat stand extravagance, witnessing how an all-knowing entity starting down on them is especially caring towards him

I mean, it all started on the day that exchange student ran after their friends after they got entangled in a contract with Azul

At first he thought you hated him

You were known as someone who was for fair contracts

And danger noodle over here knows that Azul plays dirty

Like “dumping mineral oil into the sea” kind of dirty

Why else were you always sending him out there to “squeeze the fishies” (-Floyd Leech, the not-so-extravagant hat stand)?

Why else were you always staring at him when he was talking to Yuu?

You gushing about him and how much you liked and wanted to take care of him didn't even cross his mind

Well, until the team was defeated for the first time

Oh boy, you were angry

But you were even more concerned about him

S-so you were just caring for him? Ha...Haha... HAHAHA- (Don't forget to breathe, Jade)

Is he overjoyed about that? Yes

Does he play dirty to keep that care to himself? Absolutely

The next time you see an NPC they might be a bit silent and avoid you

Jade is good at collecting dirt on people, you know?

Aww how cute! We like the lighter!

Jokes aside, Malleus knew immediately that you were there even though he wasn't present in the prologue ceremony

So when Lilia came home that night he just bursted through the front door, doorknob in hand, yelling words about the Overseer

The general had to calm down so that the "young" fae could finally understand what the was saying

Ah, so you were here... WAIT WHAT??!

But then... *sad dragon fae noises*

Why? Well he thought he was either so boring that you left him alone or that you avoided him because you disliked him

I mean, imagine, the one being you always looked up to, thinking they understood you to some degree, is now staying far away from you

But then why were you always heading into battle with him? And why were you so angry the first time he had an elemental disadvantage?

When you finally had enough material you shoved that straight down his throat, saying something about “can't let him get hurt” and “not this pretty nifty little thing!”

So... you liked him? Why were you avoiding him then? ... You know what? He won't ask

That doesn't mean it's good for his ego though

Whenever he sees the house cat in the garden he just has that expression that literally screams smugness

But if someone dares to say that you don't care for him?

Roasted chicken my friend. Roasted chicken

His letters to his granny are now always filled with “how kind and caring the Overseer is” and “if there is a spell to get you here”

... You know what is waiting for you, right?

[arctophyllax]

*clears throat* why I think Larian should let us recruit Zevlor:

More people are desperate for Zevlor than I thought at first. We all want to see him happy. We all want him to get all that he deserves and more. He just has SO much potential, he’s such a well written character just for his story to get cut off so suddenly? Thinking about how badly his story was neglected by Larian after they made us so attached breaks my heart. Of all side characters we met along the acts he is undeniably one of the most important and memorable ones; we fought for him, we saved him, we helped him, hells we even get the option to reject his payment for us for helping him and his people.

We practically got nothing out of helping him, especially the ones who reject his payments and i find myself rejecting the payment every single playthrough because i can’t find it in my heart to take something away from people who have nothing left already. If you betray the tieflings you get Minthara- and yes that may cost you certain companions too, but wouldn’t it be fair to be able to have Zevlor at camp if we save his people? At least after we save him in act 2? That way it would still be optional but god I need him so badly, I need to see him happy, I need Larian to let me look after him and take care of him and make sure that he doesn’t drown in sorrow and I know everyone who reads this feels exactly the same.

He went through so much, and every time his hope returned it got shattered to bits again. And it just feels like we’re forced to “give up” on him after we let him wander away in act 2. It doesn’t feel right. It will never feel right. We saw how miserable he was in that pod, how distressed and in pain he was. Common sense would have told us to take him with us. Make sure he fucking survives the night without doing anything stupid. Clean him off the blood and clean him off his worries, all that self hatred.

God, do I so hate to see him in such distress. And while a tiny part of me believes that death might have actually been a small mercy for him I was and will never be ready to give up on him.

Every time I see him on that damned screen, every time he speaks and every time I witness him interact with someone I DON’T see an oathbreaker who failed his people and had to be saved from being consumed by the Absolute. All I see is a competent leader who carries a burden not meant to be carried by one person alone.

This has nothing to do with him being weak. This has nothing to to with him being incompetent or not careful enough. This has nothing to do with any lost faith or broken oath. This has to do with the fact that he is so selfless that he wouldn’t allow himself to share this burden with anyone.

Yes he has (had?) his fellow tieflings, he has Tilses right beside him all of the time. But did he ever open up to her? Does he ever accept any help from his own people while he knows that they are already suffering? Would he EVER allow ANY of these people to carry even a SLIVER of his burden?

No. He would not. He would NEVER let them bear any of those duties, he has seen them in way too much pain already, seen them suffer far too often.

He is the type who gives and gives and gives and he never takes. He doesn’t know how to take, take anything positive.

His past, his comrades, his Hellriders- yes he had them. They gave him as much as he gave them. But they got torn away from him, cruelly and mercilessly.

His people, the refugees, family- he had them. And they gave him the respect and admiration he deserved. But they got torn away from him. Cruelly. Mercilessly.

His saviour, us, Tav- he had us. But we left him. Because we had no choice. We watched him walk of as though it was nothing. Cruelly. Because we could do nothing else.

And yes, I will always see red at that. Because we SHOULD be able to do better. We shouldn’t be just another loss for him.

And I will personally fistfight Larian if it meant hope for just a single chance at giving Zevlor what he never allowed himself to have: stability, encouragement. Someone he can rely on and share his burden with. A rest. Peace.

(Larian do you hear me I am under your bed we are going to fight)

(Scratch would like him to stay at camp, too)

(And what Scratch wants, Scratch gets. Right?)

(No because when you talk to Scratch the second time at camp during the tiefling party he actually says that he wouldn’t mind if you kept the tieflings at camp… trust me, Scratch, i wouldn’t mind either)

…I’d honestly die for him who’s with me

[mtchacffinz]

Headcanon that Al-Haitham enjoys mutual masturbation. It's not Inut, it's WEnut.

ANON YOU MAKE ME SICCKKKK lots of bantering.. more friction. with gritted teeth reader proposes who could make each other cum faster... they'd start fair, you're all about technique, and he's all about strategy. but is there really a difference?

prompt!!! mutual masturbation with your fave Scribe 🤭🤭

content!!! mutual masturbation, gn!reader, teasing, implied exhibitionism, under the table agenda, lmk if there's more!

note!!! kaf here ♡ may or may not been proofread properly, so excuse my typos! i giggled when i read "it's not Inut, it's WEnut"

This is serious. He's holding onto you so tightly, you could see his muscles flex and relax under your hold. A smug smile paints your lips, a hearty chuckle forming at the pit of your stomach. "You really get off to this?" Your leg was laying onto of his thigh forcing both your legs open for each other. You spit on his cock, slapping it teasingly to your thigh.

Al Haitham does nothing but let you deal with your own agenda. While his hands trace over your own sex, he finds irony in your own amusement. After all, he barely touched you, but you fail to see that you're already so worked up?

He doesn't miss the way your breath hitches when his hand brushes over those bundle of sensitive nerves. The scribes eyes trail over your throat that gulps everytime he emits a groan. Al Haitham's gaze is like that of a hawk.. stalking.. preying. Waiting for even a drop of vulnerability in you. Though he's not gonna deny the fact that you drive him absolutely fucking crazy.

When your hands are gently pampering his shaft, lubing up and giving love to his tip, Al Haitham's way of giving attention to your sex is a little more rough. Actively contrasting both your pace, it quickly began a battle of wits.

Now that he's wrapped his hands around your bitch, fuck— the way he strokes and tightens around your sensitive areas really melts you so good you almost want to get up and sit on his dick already.

Almost. Just almost. After all, you didn't raise yourself to be a whining quitter. So as soon as you added your teeth to the equation, the scribe suddenly changed demeanor. His eyes showed unexpected surprised, followed by his well hidden groan.

"Nngh..! Fuck. That's cheating." He dragged a hiss, whilst you lick his bruised shoulder in attempt to subdue the stinging pain. "..What's this? Can't be fair? I thought we were only using hands."

"I have many limbs, scribe. And they all have their purpose."

"You're laughable.." he says in a low mumble. You only draw closer to him, grinning. "—finding excuses.." he continues, taking back his hand that was drenched in your juices. Sticky and wet. It was a lewd sight, but what made it even more dirtier is how he licks all of you off his own digits, all that but never taking that piercing eyes off you.

Ah, shit.. I think I just came a little.

"You twitched."

"I did? Did I? Hmm.." you reply coyly. Al Haitham lips curved into a subtle smirk. That face again.. nothing good happens when he makes that face. Al Haitham waves it off, his free hands suddenly on your waist— dragging your posture a little lower.

"It's obvious you aren't comfortable in this position.. here. I'll help you." His cold hands snake up the back of your clothes. "You can arch a little more. Don't be shy now."

This little—

Impulsively, you let your spit drop to his tip, twirling your thumb around. His expression— a little strained, never falters. He only starts playing around with your sensitive areas; tracing circles, leaving marks, hell even slapping it just to hear that cute voice of yours. At this point, you're full on jerking his cock off. His breaths became more ragged, eliciting small vibrations in your core that turns you on a little more than you initially thought.

The way your eyes draw close, half lidded, cloudy and euphoric really puts the Scribe on edge. Seeing both your sex be gingerly played with by one another really gives wild visualizations. Is this how you play with yourself? You tease yourself to the point of breaking, and eventually go all out desperate for that release?

The room gets hot, or maybe it was just the both of you?

God, right now his scent is so intoxicating. There's nothing more than you want but just to ravish his stupid face right now.

There's that familliar sensation surging through both of your lower stomach, pace getting more and more inconsistent. Chasing that high, that knot in your stomach finally snapped as you both release on each other. White streaks of cum followed by broken moans— you held onto his arms tightly while he felt you spasm in your place, back arched as he delved into you deeper.

Working your way through both your orgasm, you both collapse onto each other. Your arm was numb, his fingers were twitching and all you could hear right now was Al Haitham's muffled breathing through the sound of his own racing heartbeat.

Hmmm♡ It seems that this round was a tie.

this prompt is fun.

[boyfridged]

hello lovely, robin lives is out. any thoughts or comments? :) absolutely love your meta and writing especially ones about robin jason <33 there's so much heart you put into it, it is lovely. cheering you on.

thank you for this lovely message, i'm glad that how dear i hold his character does come across in my meta! and: i'm sorry, i said one business day, and yet i'm here four days later... however, i also reread in this time, to give a more detailed review, and here are my thoughts so far:

as i already complained: the ableist tirade about "fried circuits in the brain" and cruelty being "chemical," about the "morass of psychosis and sin" at the beginning of it all almost made me close it... it took so much space in this single issue, and was so unnecessary and grim, very out of place compared with the joker image from the 80s, which the story is supposed to relate to after all.

speaking of: the bits that were very clearly referring to aditf & the following issues i liked best (maybe besides dematteis trying to deal with the whole iranian diplomat plotline... there's nothing to salvage there so it was just pitiful). clark's cameo was a very clear throwback. but my favourite was the panel with sheila... that might be my particular weakness to sheila though.

the general framework of a shrink (sigh) brought to "deal" with jason makes me think of gotham knights #45 (derogatory.) also. hello ao3 called they say they want their classic outsider pov trope back-- i need to make it clear: i love outsider povs. but here-- this is just not it.

i have concerns about bruce's portrayal as a father too, and that's where she enters anyway. again, i love to see bruce failing; i love seeing his flaws; and post-crisis bruce is not the most competent parent, we know it... but... "moping" says batman about a child that witnessed (or at least was in presence of, since he was probably unconscious by then) his mother's demise? that is a bit... much you'd think? especially that jason doesn't do anything too offensive in that moment at all?

this is actually something that @iliadicjasontodd said but i have to agree: it is really funny how dick comes in and has one conversation with jason about a completely unrelated topic and acts like this fixed everything. it's not the worst we've seen of dick & jay but it does feel very much like dematteis was just checking a box "dick grayson" on the characters to include/references list and left it at that. and to be fair, the whole issue feels like that, but i do get that it's just the first one and he needs to set it all up...

now! to the reference that is actually interesting to me... the page on the right is imo a very clear reference to batman #414 (on the left). if you've seen this post of mine you know that later, in the same arc, there's a parallel scene in which jason does *exactly the same*, with the dialogue being a 1:1 too. which makes me curious: is the analogous scene here a set-up for jason to mirror bruce's violent actions again? if it is, we'd get the point that it is bruce who dooms jason by projecting on him brought home... and it does vaguely seem that they could do in that direction, no? while i am a fan on this reading, i'm just not sure how i feel about it in an instance of jay lives scenario, where that would be a perfect moment for the a divergence from what happens in his death and post-mortem.

the question at the end... about "why batman brought a child to batman at all" is a question that was already answered with much sensibility. but i won't lie, batman as a title certainly needs a refresher on this one --- so as long as we arrive at the same reply that *is* implied in aditf and many of older batman stories, we are fine. the answer in the 80s was that bruce can cmopartmentalise his identities, but he cannot compartmentalise his family and familiar love. but if instead we get what contemporary canon has been delighting in for decades now: the notion that it's the children who need it themselves, that it's the only way, that they would always end up in the same place otherwise, if not worse off-- i will be severely disappointed.

so far, i think the biggest weakness and what makes the whole thing underwritten is that we don't get to see jason directly after waking up from the coma...? why is bruce having these conversations with him now? why does jason still go out as robin and does so alone...? i'm not saying none of it is plausible, because it could be written as such, but we just don't get any of it. i def wish we get more insight into jay's mind next issue.

all in all, i do not want to condemn it preemptively-- all my concerns from before definitely hold. i just hope i will be proved wrong, though the whole framing of "i should have seen it coming" portending another huge tragedy... not a fan of it.

[thelittlepalmtree]

Hey y'all, expecting Jewish folks to speak out against Israeli occupation has the same energy as expecting Arab folks to condemn 9/11. Let me give you some examples of when it is and isn't appropriate:

Antony Blinken: US Secretary of state. Has Jewish ancestors. He is one of the main people in our government in charge of policy. Not only should he be asked about the conflict he is a person who can make change and has power. He is also expected to have a competent knowledge of the situation, history, and current data. He should be questioned and criticized. However, there should not be the underlying assumption of Zionism due to his heritage. He has actually been more supportive of Human rights in Gaza than Biden has.

Gal Gadot: Gal Gadot served in the IDF and currently lives in Israel. She has posted multiple times in support of Israeli occupation. Her Instagram is currently chock full of pro-Israel posts. It is completely fair to question her stance on the Palestinian lives lost because she is actively discussing this conflict. Again, though, her status as Jewish should not mean that she is evil or inhuman. She should be evaluated on her statements not her heritage.

Natalie Portman: Made the movie Freezone about the issues between Israel and Palestine in a way that was very humanizing to both groups. She has an Israeli father and has spoken to the UN about the need for a peaceful solution. She supported Israel after the October 7 attacks but has been noticably silent since them. It is appropriate to question this silence and even criticize it, but it's not fair to paint her as a zionist who has never cared for Palestinians when she has been critical of Israel in the past.

Sarah J Maas: Jewish. Visited Israel once. Literally has not spoken about her experience in years. Has never made any comments about the occupation or Israeli policy. To be honest, probably doesn't know anything about it. There's absolutely no reason why anyone should go to her for any political opinion she is deeply unqualified to make any kind of statement. You shouldn't be asking her for one.

Taylor Swift: Not Jewish. Knows nothing about this. Is just rich and famous. We have no reason to believe she has any understanding of this conflict. Not only should she not be asked for a statement, it would be deeply irresponsible for her to give one as she is neither a stakeholder in the area nor an expert in its history.

Now if you're full of rage because you read this and you think you're somehow saving Palestinian lives by commenting on all of Taylor Swift's Instagram posts, let me give you another ego hit. I'm Egyptian. I am not a direct stakeholder, but obviously, Egypt has a long history with this conflict and currently borders Gaza. Not only that, the US government essentially provides money to Egyptian dictators that they use to imprison public critics in exchange for Israeli security. My family members in Egypt run the risk of imprisonment if they speak ill of the government and the US government facilitates this in order to protect Israel's apartheid state. So I do not make this post because I believe Israel to be good. I think that when we resort to antisemitism, we delegitimize our cause.

I understand that you are angry. I understand that it feels like Israel gets away with so much. That doesn't mean antisemitism is okay. Racism is still bad when it's in service of what you think is a just cause. Dehumanization is still bad when it's being done against people who dehumanize others. It is easy to blame random people you know who actually have zero power here. It is hard to accept the people who have the most power (Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu) are unreachable because of their own horrible convictions. It is hard to accept we (Americans) have all accepted and contributed to a system in which the majority of us are powerless. It is hard to accept your own powerlessness. But that is what you must do.

You cannot do anything but bear witness.

[consumeroflemoans]

Hello, it's me, one of the anons that put Vilidia scenarios into your askbox, I'm here once again, I came up with a Vilidia AU today while thinking about my own OC lore as one does

This does go back a bit because we are once again involving merfolk

So to get to the gist of it Idia is the keeper of a lightly cursed lighthouse out on the sea in a somewhat ambigious time period, the backstory I came up with for that one is that he and his brother who had spent their entire lifes in a small coastal town, gazing over the ocean together, dreaming and talking about the magical creatures and beings they had been told of in fables and read about in stories, imagening what it would be like to see the sunlight gleam off a mermaids shimmering scales, heroically resist a sirens song to stir your boat to safety or witness a sea monster winding its big body around underneath the waves

So they went out at night and untied one of the boats and tried to sail away into unexplored waters to discover things they've only fantasized of, but two children are as they find out suprisingly not enough to properly man a boat and they veer off course fast, it didn't matter if Idia had spent hours each night studying the constellations so he could navigate the two or if Ortho dedicated his free time to practicing all kinds of boating knots, they were both children and simply weren't strong enough to actually man a whole real boat on their own so they just kept drifting further out until the horizon was out of sight and all they could see anywhere was water

The next few weeks are painful as food dwindles, it keeps on raining and both their deck and they themselves get progressively more soaked, the clouds seem to swallow the sky up and they can't even tell anymore in which direction the tide is carrying them or even how long it's really been as it seems that everyday the fog gets thicker and all seems to be coated in an everpresent darkness, they brought more books than they did supplies and the absolute absence of anyone but the two is starting to gnaw at them

Eventually they get to meet one of the very myths they originally set out for, for the first time in who knows how long their boat bumps into something solid or rather something solid bumps into their boat, the water isn't clear enough to see much of anything, but when they look down eventually something breaks the surface and they see the scales of a sea monster, bigger than their entire boat, barnacles over its body and coral branches stuck in its finsIts not even the monster that really gets them, it tries, rams its head against the deck and the side of the ship and manages to damage the wood, though they're screaming and trying desperately to dodge the incoming battering they see a light in the distance, grab the steering wheel and use all their little child strength to take course, they get a fair bit closer, but eventually the monster lands good hit and the ship and it all goes sideways, they fall overboard

Idia wakes up coughing up water with someone repeatedly pushing down on his chest, when he comes to there's a stranger standing over him in a lightkeeper uniform and when he sits up the monster is slithering back down to the depths and Ortho is floating on top of the water

The lighthouse is situated in the middle of a piece of ocean where it's perpetually night and the water is haunted by creatures so thoroughly disturbing they should never ever be allowed to invade any other seas, it's pourpose is to both be a deterrent for sailors everywhere and for the keeper to keep track of everything

The position can't be kept by one person forever, but who can you pass it onto really when you're stuck in one place all alone with no one, fortunately for everyone who isn't you this place does something to the people that stay in it too long, borderline Immortality, merging with the things around you all that, you are allowed to "quit" once you have a suitable succesor and by suitable I mean anyone who's there and alive, just take the first guy you can get kinda deal

So Idia is sitting there with the a stranger who doesn't look entirely human, gets a manual thrown at him because if the keepers had anything it was time to kill, might as well do that and spare themselves the explanation, and a uniform much too big for him before he watches them walk into the ocean until they entirely dissapear

So now he's stuck in a lighthouse, he bothered to fish some of the books out of the water and dry them, some of the previous keepers left diaries and other stuff there, he's got a few of those ship in a bottle building kits which is kinda fun

And to boot the ghosts of those who did actually die there do get to stay trapped too so he's not all alone, he's got a bunch of ghosts of which most like to try clawing their way back to the mortal realm while screaming to be let out and also Orthos ghost is there too

Idia gets older, eventually the uniform starts to fit and it seems to him he looks progressively weirder each time he happens to walk past a mirrorFor all that it is supposed to be the most dangerous place in the entire sea, it's kind of calm honestly

And then someone crashes on the little island, finally Vil arrives in the story

A merman who got just a little lost to say the least

He's still an actor, just underwater and if I could have a little fun and continue the with something more appropriate to the very vague time period than movies and also tie into the whole singing thing often associated with merfolk I'd like to put him into opera

He just got out of rehearsal and god was it bad, the orchestra kept fucking up and his co-actors didn't even bother memorizing their parts and he didn't even manage to secure the role he wanted

It's one of his very favourite operas, one near and dear to his hard with almost every line memorized and it needs to be a perfect performance, but it can't be if everyone else keeps fucking it up! He might as well just do it all on his own, let him sing every role in the play, it can only get better from whatever downright insulting performance these idiots are pulling out of their asses

Undecided, but I think it could be intresting to do a mirror thing in which said opera is the tale of the lighthouse keeper in comparison to Idias myths of merfolk, even if the story is presumably highly altered, but a tale of a man who trapped the beasts of the sea and dutifully guards them to bring safety to all residents of the deep blue, engaged in a constant battle with the true leviathans of the ocean in a seemingly sisyphean attempt to beat them and be free

Truly it is incredible how he sticks to a position he derives no joy from for the good of others, never moving from his post or despairing and Vil cannot help but admire the tenacity of never stopping his fight, never giving up on the possibility of success, that he might one day be able to do what he wants if he keeps doing what he must until he succeeds, no he's not projecting, he's just right

He goes on a swim to clear his thoughts and gets caught in a stream he's pulled towards a dark part of the ocean with seemingly no ground in sight

He tried his best to fend off whatever beast tried to get to him, trying to hit them away with the fins on his tail, but the only escape he found was at the light house and now he's beachedIs Idia mildly pissed that the first person who ever survived entering during his time in as the keeper is not someone he can push into the job? Maybe

Yes, it's a bad and mean and how it happened to him still haunts him sometimes, there's a nagging guilt when the thought of quitting crosses his mind, but it's been like eight years and he feels like he's done his time and really he just wants to be over with this, is that so wrong?

But also, oh god... It's a merman, it's one of the very things he wanted to see with Ortho way back then, whose little ghost is so excited by the way, one of the myths he's been reading on repeat for years, honestly probably his favourite one

Pages upon pages describing the colorful scales of merfolk, their beautiful voices and how their hair would flow along with their movements as they swam

He had though the books grew stale after a while, but looking at Vil before him he almost feels like he could write a new one all by himself just from looking at him, an entire series, maybe a whole library

But Vil gets put into some kind of big water container, maybe in a bathtub of olden times, the classic

Things happen now, Idia gets his first face to face talk in almost a decade to the pretty, pretty merman and he sooooo nails it (lie)Vil is ever so slightly horrified at Idias somewhat neglient treatment of the position and slowly also comes to realize that having to suffer through duty isn't really something to be strived for

Normally you cannot leave the lighthouse zone once you came in and Idia may have given up trying to get out through any other way than walking into the waves, but Vil hasn't and won't, Idia is just a tad bitter that he wants to leave him alone again, maybe drags his feet on the whole escape a little, but he's been here for so long and he knows how much it sucks and he just... He can't do that to Vil, he just can't

I'm honestly very tempted to say, Vil gets out and they never see each other again and they're both so sad and melancholic and the stories in which they found comfort and inspiration take on a whole new level of meaning, a yearning and a fondness and a memory and a way to pay respect, Idia draws Vil into the pictures of his book, Vil changes the costuming of the keeper to resemble Idia and makes just ever so slight changes to the script, no one knows why he wants them to have an odd passion for little boat puzzles

And at this point I don't really have an idea, but I'll keep talking anyway because I'm not sure if full tragedy is the thing and I want to give some semblance of an alternative conclusion

There's a few attempts and a lot of planning, but Idia manages to distract and fend off some of the monsters so Vil gets to swim out, guided by the lighthouse, what they came up with were a few smaller mechanical paddle boats, from Idia, that have a liquid scent attached to them, from Vil, to simulate people in the water because it's the best I can think of right now, but if Idia thinks that's where things end oooooh, he's sorely mistaken

Though another struggle might be actually convincing Idia that he should leave at all because yeah, he doesn't like it, but what else does he have? I mean, Ortho's there too kinda and he can't just leave him and even if he could he's been gone for so long, he doesn't know where he came from anymore and he missed so much that he doesn't feel he can make up for, but doesn't mean he can't have a future and all that, Vil is going to try his absolute hardest to get him out

Also maybe, there's a little radio in the lighthouse that was constant static because it never had any kind of connection, hard to get when you're where Idia is, but with a lot of fiddling around and an actual knowledge of its existence an outside connection is established and coincidentally Vil starts broadcasting his singing after he comes back from his brief stint of being missing

Well then, goodbye

ANON.

ANON WHEN I GET YOU ANON.

AUGH THIS JUST REMINDS ME OF THE MYTH OF CALYPSO.

Where as punishment she’s trapped on the island of Ogygia with no way to really escape. And also being cursed to fall in love with anyone that washed up on her shores. Raaaah tying Greek mythology into any story with Idia my beloved.

This whole AU is honestly fascinating I want to read a 500k word fic on it this very second.

ALSO OMG VIL GETTING OUT WITH IDIA’S ASSISTANCE AND THEN JUST NEVER SEEING HIM AGAIN IS SO ODYSSEUS AND CALYPSO CODED

Someone stop me I swear

Pull me away

Aaaaaaaaaa

Also I am so fascinated by the underwater world you’re building here too. Like??? The sea monsters?? Having creatures of the depths the even the merfolk fear?? Also Vil still having an amazing singing voice and performing underwater is so iconic of him. He should have his tail draped in black pearls methinks.

ANYWAY

Them being apprehensive of each other only to eventually have to get to know one another because they’re the only real company they have. Vil can hardly stay in the dangerous waters outside, so he has to rely on his lighthouse keeper.

Also mgmmfmd my mind is going so many places but the thought that they both had idealized versions of each other in their mind. Their ideals are shattered, but they realize that they can relate to each other and even get along. They crack jokes and talk, making a short of light in this dreary place.

OMG

Idia letting Vil go and wanting him leave because he doesn’t want the new light in his life to be consumed by the darkness like he was long ago. He’s been the caretaker of this lighthouse for years. He’s faced grief and regret since he was a young child. But Vil isn’t like that. He’s a star, even underwater. He shines brightly in his performances and lights up a room with his song.

I like to think that Vil sometimes performs for Idia because he knows the lighthouse keeper truly appreciates it. Also his performances aren’t bogged down by worse performers around him.

And then Idia send him away, even though Vil doesn’t really want to leave him. He helps Vil escape so he can continue shining in the watery depths. He lets go of his only source of happiness because he feels like he doesn’t deserve it anymore. He can’t be selfish. Not when it comes to Vil.

AAAAA MY THOUGHTS ARE SUCH A MESS BUT I AM DYING

[can-of-w0rmz]

Why do you hate Oscar Wilde?

HAHAHAHAHahhAh I’m sorry I despise that man and I’m going to take any opportunity I can to rant about it so absolutely NO harm to anyone who likes his books or his work in general, if you do, completely fair enough and by absolutely all means enjoy reading them

The AUTHOR though, so, yes, the obvious first, the man’s just a nonce through and through. I have done a lot of research into his trial, (sources being The Trial of Oscar Wilde: From the Shorthand Reports (1906), and famous-trials.com, compiled by Professor Douglas O’Linder from UMKC School of Law, mostly aligning with the shorthand translations of the testimonies from the prior source referenced, yet with a few details not included in the 1906 publication to my knowledge.) and no, the guy wasn’t just thrown in prison for being a “homosexual didn’t you know old chap?✨” but because he slept with a very large amount of young boys while he was in his 30s, some as young as sixteen or eighteen. Noncery! Who knew thatd get you thrown into prison for two years!

20 year age gap not convincing enough? Have some quotes directly from Mr. Wilde himself!

C—A man never corrupts a youth?

Wilde—I think not.

C—Nothing could corrupt him?

Wilde—If you are talking of separate ages.

C—No, sir, I am talking common sense.

W—I do not think one person influences another.

C—You don't think that flattering a young man, making love to him, in fact, would be likely to corrupt him?

W—No.

WILDE.

"I think the writer's meaning is quite unambiguous. The love he alluded to was that between an elder and younger man, as between David and Jonathan; such love as Plato made the basis of his philosophy; such as was sung in the sonnets of Shakespeare and Michael Angelo; that deep spiritual affection that was as pure as it was perfect. It pervaded great works of art like those of Michael Angelo and Shakespeare. Such as "passeth the love of woman.' It was beautiful, it was pure, it was noble, it was intellectual-this love of an elder man with his experience of life, and the younger with all the joy and hope of life before him.'

Ah, Ancient Greek comparisons. We all know how non-noncey the Ancient Greeks were.

Wilde—Yes. I would become friendly with any human being I liked.

C—How old was he?

Wilde—Really, I do not keep a census.

C—Never mind about a census. Tell me how old he was?

W—I should say he was about twenty. He was young, and that was one of his attractions.

There’s more where that came from, but feel free to do more research into the sources I referenced if you want to read more. And if hearing from Wilde himself wasn’t enough, let’s hear from some of the hotel staff from when he was staying over.

“I found it necessary to call the attention of the housekeeper to the condition of Mr. Wilde's bed. The sheets were stained in a peculiar way. On the third morning of his stay, about eleven o'clock, Mr. Wilde rang the bell for the housemaid. On answering the bell I met Mr. Wilde in the doorway of No. 361, and he told me he wanted a fire in his own room, No. 362. There I saw a boy of eighteen or nineteen years of age with dark close-cropped hair and a sallow complexion.”

“One morning on going into the room-| entered after knocking-| saw someone in bed. At first I thought it was a young lady, as I saw only the head, but afterwards I saw that it was a young man. It was someone about sixteen to eighteen years of age. Mr. Wilde was in the same room dressing himself. He told me he felt so much better that morning and that, as he was very busy, he could not stay to have the treatment. I never attended Mr. Wilde again.”

And quickly, a testimony of one of the witnesses, Edward Shelley:

Mr. Wilde's conversation was principally about books and myself. Mr. Wilde said, "Will you come into my bedroom?" I did not know what he meant. As I went into the room Mr. Wilde kissed me. He also put his arms round me. I had been taking a lot of wine. I felt insulted, degraded, and objected vigorously. Mr. Wilde said he was sorry and that he had drunk too much wine. I stayed the night and shared his bed. Mr. Wilde saw me next day and again kissed me and there was a repetition of the previous night's performance. Mr. Wilde said he could get me on, and he invited me to go with him to Brighton, Cromer and Paris, but I did not go.

As well as all that, I generally find him to be an insufferable prick who is completely submerged in his own self righteousness that every odd quote I hear from him is another case of him proclaiming his own wit and genius, and every bloody character he writes is just an excuse to project his ideas in the most up-his-own-ass way he possibly can. He’s a narcissist and a prick who uses a veil of moral superiority to get away with ranting about his own beliefs through the eyes of the antagonist. He said something alone the lines of “I wrote Lord Henry to be who the world thinks I am ;)” No, Lord Henry is WHO you are, because when you were in that bloody courtroom YOU were the one ranting about the beauty of youth in young boys and the non-existence of immorality. Painting him as the antagonist was only a half assed attempt to throw the reader off or, frankly, probably even just for shits and giggles or so he could lean back in his smoking jacket, opium-tainted cigar in hand and think about how clever he is.

So yeah, I fucking despise Oscar Wilde. Narcissistic, self righteous dickhead and nonce. And apparently anti-Semitic, although I haven’t looked into that one to confirm if it’s true, but I wouldn’t be remotely surprised. And the nerve the Irish government has to pardon him for his crimes a hundred years later 💀 “oh his pardon stood for all gay men persecuted in that time and for how far we’ve come in progress today!” Then pardon an innocent gay man who wasn’t a fucking self centred nonce, my bisexual ass was raised in a very homophobic household and I’d rather go back to listening to a hundred “homosexuality is a vile distortion of purity and virtue in the eyes of God” rants than be associated with a man like Oscar Wilde as my symbol of fucking “progress”. Frankly, I’m glad he’s dead and I hope he rots

[thekrows-nest]

🤔

Did Gabby almost get taken by supernatural creatures, or someone, hence now she's super cautious of her safety? Krow is giving similar vibes so she hates him and may correctly suspect questionable intentions with Dove. (Or does she dabble in divination and is only right some of the time? Is she more aware of danger due to cultural reasons?) She absolutely knows on a gut level that there's something off about Krow.

LT totally knows what's up and how to deal with Krow, having dealt with similar before, hence why Krow is so uncharacteristically nervous of LT. I think they both know what Krow is now. Maybe that's how he even finds out. They maybe tell him either accidentally or to make him leave Dove alone.

Or maybe LT is like Tam Lin in that Gabby rescued him. Or he chose to leave to be with her.

The reason I asked about LT's physical characteristics being a clue is that I thought they hinted at him previously being aquatic.

But LT's aesthetic really says fae, elf or nymph to me.

His winged boots though look like those of Mercury the messenger. Is he mediating between the mortal world and the gods??

Also you said that Gabby may take Dove to her family or to LT's parent, and that Krow would try to follow... obviously that implies that LT would stop Krow himself, but also perhaps where Dove goes is somewhere Krow can't follow. Perhaps it's a special place.

Is it Under The Hills to the fae court? A remote place in the woods?

Or the underworld?

I'm also wondering if LT is something entirely different that's the natural enemy of Krow's people. Or - in a very specific case - is so similar to/familiar with certain stuff that he can recognise another one.

I'm wondering if LT is a type of bird known to attack [Krow's kind] and win.

LT is also giving some Persephone aesthetics so I'm wondering if he's similar to Zagreus. Who was reborn as Dionysus, associated with Pan and Gaia... and fauns/satyr who are known to abduct women.

I'm also thinking on the folklore of the hulda.

Man fucking nothing beats waking up and seeing a Krowspiracy novel ask in my ask box. Bless. Fucking bless. Thank you for the food.

*cracks knuckles* I'll put under a read more cause this will get long.

You more or less nailed it, so I'll go ahead and clarify a couple things. Starting with Gabby.

I forgot if I mentioned it or not, but Gabby is terrified of ghosts and monsters. She does a much better job at keeping her shit together than her Gabe counterpart though. This in part due to an experience in her childhood. She had witnessed... something, as a small child. Even she is not entirely familiar with what it was, but she was put in actual danger due to it. What had saved her was her guardian.

Gabby is a part of the Quileute tribe. Part of their beliefs is that each person has their own guardian that they look to and pray to for guidance, protection, that sort of thing. This guardian had protected Gabby that fateful day. But on the flip side, she's become... much more aware of things, mostly at a subconscious level, than the typical person. Even so, she just knows things that she cannot wholly explain as to why.

LT totally knew on sight something WAS UP with Krow, but he may not have known immediately what that deal was. A bit of research, a little digging and LT would figure it out. And even if he can't, he... has sources of which he can go to to get hints.

And you got it. LT is... something fae. But in a twist of things (mainly my own spin) he's not... what most may consider "fae". He's not fae like the Victorian's thinking of cute, whimsical creatures. He's a bit closer to being like the old stories of the Fair Folk; other worldly beings that live lives so differently than mortals.

No LT is more... fae as in... an eldritch abomination. Fae as in no mere mortal can possibly comprehend the true grasp of what LT's deal really is. Fae in that there are just some things about the universe humankind can't and won't ever know and understand.

If there were a hierarchy mmm... LT would be on the "prince" level.

If Krow had more access to his... uhh, dealings, then things could get REAL interesting between him and LT

But yeah. LT is actually a fae flavored horror cosplaying as human. He doesn't have malicious intentions with Earth or anything. It's general, genuine, honest... curiosity. And of course meeting and loving Gabby gives him reason to stick around.

LT has explained this more or less to Gabby. She wasn't really. Shocked. Probably said something like "No shit. No human being has your fashion sense." but on a more serious matter, she was given time to process this and LT let her come to a decision to continue being with him or not. Obviously she chose to stay with him. He would earnestly respect her decision regardless.

But the other theories you mentioned are super cool too. I always love getting your asks cause you make me think and have to rub my two lone brain cells together fjddk;fvgb

[lightup0nlight]

🌺 ❛…And to give glad tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they shall have a fair reward (i.e. Jannah). They shall abide therein forever.❜ 【Surah al-Kahf 18:2-3】

I remember my very first mobile phone. It was just a hand-me-down from my eldest sibling, but I was so excited to finally have one.

Now imagine you've just managed to buy a beautiful house, which is on top of a beautiful hill, overlooking the blue ocean. Isn’t that going to be your most amazing, most precious property ever?

But you know what happens after several years have passed by? It’s not that beautiful anymore. Whatever possessions or achievements we have right now, we will eventually get bored of them. And that mobile phone I got? I got disinterested in it fairly quickly as well.

In this aayah, Allah says for the believers who do righteous deeds, their compensation is that they will remain in Jannah forever.

Now when we read this aayah, and we compare it with our worldly experiences, we may think that if everything goes exactly as we want all the time in Jannah, then the excitement is going to fizzle out sooner or later, that we will eventually get bored.

But look what Allah says about the people in Jannah in another aayah:

🌺 ❛They will reside in it [forever], never desiring any transfer out of it.❜ 【Surah al-Kahf 18:108】

Imam Ibn Kathir rahimahullah wrote in his tafseer that this aayah tells us how much the people of Jannah love Jannah. Absolutely smitten. For all eternity. Even though one might imagine that a person who stays in one place forever would get tired and bored out of his wits, Allah tells us that despite this eternal stay, they will never want to change or move from where they are. They will never choose anything else other than Jannah.

And some scholars even said that there is no better praise of Jannah more than Allah's statement: ❛They will reside in it (forever), never desiring any transfer out of it.❜

There will never be a dull moment in Jannah. There will always be anticipation and excitement, and its inhabitants are constantly looking forward to the next amazing blessings and the next incredible adventure. May Allah make us one of them.

Your sister in Deen, Aida Msr ©

[my-wishful-purpose]

You may not want communication or to confront the ugly truth, but its corpse is practically rotting in whatever room we're both in at the same time. You want me to be honest? Fine. So be it.

I'm tired—exhausted, even—of you. It's always been you and your willingness to turn a blind eye to our festering problems, to get defensive and pissed when I so much as bring anything up anymore. You're tired of me and everything I don't talk about, and I the same. You're tired of my self destructive behavior and how I'm quick to wish to kill myself when I feel as though things are out of my control. I understand that.

You don't get any choices anymore—not that you wanted them to begin with, and I've given you too many to count at this point. If you want me making decisions on your behalf, then I will. Gladly, if I'm being honest with myself here. Therefore, I believe it's best if we take a little break for awhile. Just as a refresher.

There's no real care in your end of the relationship, isn't it? No matter how much I try, you bare your fangs. Such an aggressive stance to take, really. Not that you can help it, given your nature.

I should've known better. I should've known we'd never truly last—I mean, since when has it ever worked out in any other universes?—I should've known that a marriage built on the remains of beer bottles and glasses of wine would end up going absolutely nowhere. Alcohol messed with my mind back then. I don't even know what I was thinking.

Nonetheless, there's no love lost. Well. Not for me, at least. I imagine by the time you read up to this point, you'll either want to snap my neck yourself or you'll be numb while staring at these words. Oh, yes, I know you well. A mix of anger and despair, most likely. I don't hate you. Never have. Not sure if you'll believe me by now, but I've never been quite able to bring myself to hate you, no matter how frustrated I've gotten with you as of late.

Oh well.

I do care, I do love you still. Nothing's been signed, if you're worried about that. I'll leave you to hash out those details if you so wish—Ah, a contradiction to what I mentioned earlier, isn't it? You should know by now that I'm contradictory—but nothing has been set into motion to officially separate us. Furthermore, I've still kept my ring—altough I admit it's hidden from mine and everyone else's view now, since it remains on my person in my pocket nowadays. On a different note, I'm not sure about this whole 'having kids' thing. We're definitely not suited for it, and given how I feel already,,I probably need something to get rid of just to feel something, anything. A void that can be filled with other things—more ungodly alcohol, I presume, since I've been considering it anyways. Wouldn't do any good with children, would it?

You won't like this next one—Oh, but since when have you liked anything I've done?—but when you're in my office, keep your distance. Assumimg I'm still alive after all of this, any area not immediately around me is fair game. You'll still be able to protect me and act as my right hand, even from there. Although... do you even want to protect me at this point? God, I'd rather just have you strangle me to death with your bare hands and take my seat as the boss. Or you could ravage the place to the damn ground. I'm indifferent on what you personally choose. Don't assume my apathy is a constant, though. I'm at my wit's end here.

Lastly, I'd like to apologize. Just in general for everything.

In any case, I hope this... whatever it is... finds you well.

Farewell, Chuuya.

(@yearningfortheend)

. . .

[stubborndooter]

The Call-Out of Alm (cont., Part 3/3)

This is a continuation of a previous post that will be linked here upon each upload.

Only click Read More if you're absolutely sure you want to start/continue reading this.

The Snap

Something about that especially sparked something in me, and I ultimately ended up sending a fairly long message to both Cotton and Alm.

^ [EXH-16: Screenshot 1 of the message I sent to Cotton]

^ [EXH-17: Screenshot 2 of the message I sent to Cotton]

Above is the message I sent to Cotton, below will be the one I sent to Alm.

^ [EXH-18: Screenshot 1 of the message I sent to Alm]

^ [EXH-19: Screenshot 2 of the message sent to Alm]

I'll admit, my phrasing could've been better in each of these messages, though I wasn't really thinking straight due to the stress of the whole situation. I just had to make sure they knew I was done.

Things were noticeably a bit less stressful for me after I blocked Alm, not having to bear witness to the bad things constantly. However, Cotton still remained under Alm's control, and going ahead to the present is where this will all end off.

The Crucial Mistake

So in the past week, Cotton, Alm, and I were talking about timeout punishments, so any rule-breaking would be...well, punished. Cotton accidentally asked me in DMs instead of the group chat, but I still submitted my answer. Upon moving it to the group chat?...Alm was not pleased.

^ [EXH-20: Alm gets mad over an accident]

Despite the fact Cotton and I proved it was an accident, he was still mad, so he insisted I go into a timeout. I said my last words in the server, thinking it'd be 5-10 minutes like we agreed, and...

^ [EXH-21: I've been timed out for 24 hours]

...a full day. I was thrown off by this, but when I saw the group chat, Alm had been verbally abusing Cotton and pressuring them to give me a full day. If I recall correctly, he said...

"SHE SHOULD BE IN TIME OUT FOR A DAY!!!"

...or at least something along those lines. I unfortunately was too dumbfounded to take a screenshot at the time since he deleted them, BUT I did snag Cotton's reaction to being verbally abused and pressured.

^ [EXH-22: Cotton's reaction to being actively abused into giving me a day-long timeout, groupchat screenshot]

^ [EXH-23: Cotton's reaction to being actively abused into giving me a day-long timeout, DMs screenshot]

Fair to say they weren't too happy about having to do what they did. Though, surprisingly, Alm un-timeoutted me. I woke up to that, and...

On My Side

...an argument happening. Scraps was PISSED about Alm trying to make me look bad for helping him get therapy, and Dani (@soulofsolaris) was talking about how a day-long timeout was completely unjustified, so more people should be added to monitor the server. Cotton had ended up nuking the chat due to the stress, though I do wonder if there was also pressuring from Alm behind the scenes.

Sometime around this though, I did ask Cotton for a 10 minute timeout, and claimed it was to serve my sentence truly. Though...it was a setup. Just so I can do what I predicted what I'd be able to do.

^ [EXH-24: Alm takes the bait and gets mad at Cotton despite the fact I asked them to do something specifically]

Alm, as I suspected, got mad at Cotton. In front of other people. Before the chat got nuked. Alm tried to release me 4 minutes and 1 second early, but I immediately shut him down when saying...

"Put that shit back I still got 4 minutes and 1 second left."

He did. He didn't say anything screenshot-worthy after that though. I think I got more than enough evidence though. For now, anyway.

I would add more proof if I had it, but it's still yet to be collected. Doubt he'll be on to incriminate himself more though.

Hopeful End Of The Toxic Tyranny

Recap Summary

I've (hopefully successfully) proved to everyone Alm isn't who he initially presents himself as. I encourage anyone and everyone to add what they can, and I do apologize to dragging all the tagged people in this into this, but your part was crucial in cleansing the online social world, and for that, I thank you deeply.

Last Words To Say

It's funny. Alm kept claiming that I was trying to ruin his reputation. I've never gone out of my way to deliberately do it, and even now when I am, I didn't have to try.

You did all the work for me, Alm. Please continue with your therapy and improve yourself. I will miss any good times we did happen to have, as few and far between as they were.

[acacia-may]

Hi Acacia! 💕

For your 100 writer's ask game what about 2, 16, 31 and 78?

Thank you so much for the ask, Lola and for playing the ask game for fic writers! I'd love to answer these for you. Sorry my responses got so rambly 😅🙈 I've gone ahead and put them under the cut.

2. Talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “f*** your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

So in my very first big fanfiction project ever (which thankfully was never posted to the internet & we can all just forget about...or we could if I just never brought it up lol), I had an OC completely change his personality from what was in my head in the minute I started writing him. He was supposed to be serious, principled, driven, and intense, but when I put him in the scene, he just kept cracking jokes and was charismatic, outgoing, and kind of goofy. I was stunned but kept going with the draft not really knowing what to do and thinking I'd just fix it later, and when I gave the draft of the chapter to my friend (irl) who was Beta-reading for me, I shared my frustrations with how this character wasn't anything like I imagined in my head and she said, "Acacia, he is my new favorite character, and if you change his personality from what it is now, I will stop reading this and never talk to you again" so he stayed lol 😂 (And eventually became one of my favorites too!)

That's probably the most dramatic example I can think of, but as an extensive plotter, I have definitely had my fair share of scenarios where my stories take a turn during the actual writing process that I wasn't expecting and I have to readjust (which is never fun but I think is often for the best). For instance, in my role-reversal/magic-swap Astelle fic "Broken Angel" Liebe just randomly showed up towards the end when Noelle tapped into her Anti-Magic and that was nowhere in any draft, outline, or even a thought I had had about the story before he just appeared there, but I think getting to explore the connection between him and Noelle was an important addition to that story in the end. It can be good to deviate from our original plans sometimes, even though I do struggle to stay flexible & tend to get frustrated when it happens. 😅

16. Where is your favorite place to write?

I write in my room more often than not [or sometimes I'll write while I'm undergoing medical treatment because there's nothing else to do 😅], BUT my favorite place to plot & walk through scenes in my head is outside in my yard or on my porch swing. Not sure why but I just always feel really creative there, especially when I listen to music.

31. Tell us about one of your characters who’s an absolute joy to write

One of my characters...like an OC? 😳 I mean I'm pretty biased but I have an absolute blast writing Zoey. She's so dry and quick-witted (at least I hope she comes off that way) and writing her bantering with the other characters is just so much fun for me to write, especially when she's such a foil to the POV character (Hero) who is so reserved and sincere. That said, we get to see in the canon that he likes to tease to show affection to his friends & family too--he's just shy about it so I like to think the two of them can play off each other really well, especially when they become closer friends and feel more comfortable teasing each other, like in "Under the Weather" which is the self-indulgent story I wrote for my birthday.

Apologies but I'll allow myself an excerpt here just to show you what I'm talking about. I had way too much fun writing all these jokes about Hero's "grandpa pajamas" (which he actually wears for a big portion of the actual game/canon 😂) and having the two of them banter about it. (A/N: this story is a sick fic & he has the flu which is why he is in pajamas in the first place):

"It’s just…that’s not what I meant. I was just…embarrassed. I mean you’ve already had to see me in my pajamas.” Hero stared down at his pajama shirt and pulled on the collar as his face burned and not just from the fever. “Your grandpa pajamas?” Zoey teased dryly. His face flushed, but he nodded. Chuckling lightly, Zoey shook her head. “You do realize I’ve seen Kyle in his underwear more times than I’d care to admit, right? This is nothing. And besides, I’ve already seen them before.” “You’ve”—Hero’s voice cracked—“seen my pajamas?” “Well not in person, but Sunny drew me a picture of you in them.” “Sunny drew you a picture of me in my pajamas?” Hero repeated incredulously in a disbelieving, hoarse voice. Zoey shrugged but answered matter-of-factly. “He only draws you in your pajamas. He draws everybody in pajamas. You know, the last time I saw him he asked me about my pajamas so he could draw me in pajamas too.” “Why—?” Hero’s voice hitched—cut off by an awkward laugh and wheezy coughing. “Why would he do that?” “No idea. You tell me.” She paused, but Hero could only shrug his shoulders. Sunny was a talented artist, but Hero would be lying if he said he understood a lot of his abstract pieces or the reasoning behind them. Zoey’s guess as to why Sunny wanted to draw everyone in pajamas was as good as his, he supposed. “But I’m pretty sure he always draws you in these exact pajamas—long sleeves, button down shirt, stripes. I remember thinking ‘why does Sunny think Hero wears grandpa pajamas?’ but clearly it’s because you do.” Hero chuckled lightly but tilted his head at her. “What’s wrong with my pajamas?” “Nothing—if you’re over the age of 70,” bantered Zoey.

78. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

I'll admit I struggle a lot with endings, especially in the chapters of a multi-chapter fic. I usually know how the story or chapter will end in a general, vague sense, but it's always a struggle to decide what exact sentence or sentiment to end with. Sometimes I'll accidentally stumble into writing the perfect ending sentence which is always such a relief or I will have those "last words" in mind from the time I start writing. But most of the time it's more of a struggle to determine that cut-off point and I'll just start rambling until I find something I like. More so than anything else, endings are probably what I rewrite the most between drafts before posting. Some stories will have the ending written 4 or 5 times before I finally find something I like.

I hope I manage to write some poignant endings. I think the ending of "Tell Me Where It Hurts" is probably the one I'm most proud of, but that was a one shot. I think ending chapters of an ongoing story is a lot harder because you have to wrap up the main ideas of the chapter while also setting up the next one. I'll admit I get a little overwhelming by how daunting that is sometimes. I don't have a lot of multi-chapter works to choose examples from, but I think my favorite ending to any chapter in "When Sun Shines Again" so far was this one from Chapter 6 because it got really deep & philosophical (A/N: I don't think there are any big/specific OMORI spoilers in here, but uh...if you know, you know I guess...):

His chest ached—hollow and panging with a pain that would never really go away. He almost wanted to say that all of his experiences with the butterfly effect had been negative, painful…but then he thought about Kel…thought about him knocking on Sunny’s door three days before he was supposed to move away. He thought about Sunny opening it for him and venturing outside for the first time in four years. He thought about Aubrey suggesting they all stay at Basil’s house on Sunny’s last night in Faraway Town. And venturing deep into his memories of that long, distant past that often felt like nothing but a dream now, Hero thought about Mari again—her insistence that they help Aubrey when she was just a crying little girl who lost her shoe or that they take care of Basil and his garden. Or long, long before that…he thought about his dad buying a potted cactus and suggesting they take it over to their new neighbors. People never seemed to think of the impact of their smallest decisions. Hero certainly hadn’t before, and even now, he wasn’t really thinking of it, wasn’t really expecting Kyle’s assertions to be anything more than impassioned attempts to get him out of the house and to play ‘designated driver.’ But as it turned out, years later, whenever Hero would mentally list those seemingly insignificant but life-altering decisions, he would always throw in this moment when his mouth twitched into a conceding smile and he sighed, “Alright, Kyle. Just let me go change my clothes first; then we’ll head out.”

[aeternallis]

KM Discord Server

As a POC (SE Asian) who was also dogpiled on a much a smaller scale in another discord server, and as one who'd witnessed in real time the events that unfolded in December 2023 in the KM discord server, I think the one thing that's been lost in all this chaos and drama is the human decency of giving people the benefit of the doubt.

Feel free to skip this section!

And for a little background, here's my experience: I reblogged a post on my blog and ranted about a few headcanons that I don't agree with in the tags. Some people read my tags, and concluded from that one post that I'm an outright ableist. Mind you, it was one day, and one post when I had absolutely no filter. Yet still, in which case, the conclusion drawn about me was fair, since in retrospect, I see where I went wrong. Again, I was frustrated for one day in that post and did not think of my tone whatsoever. I face the repercussions of that misjudgment today. For the record, just because I'm a POC, it doesn't mean that I'm immune to hurting other people, no matter the fact that that was never my intention. I did hurt certain individuals with that one damn post and the tags I wrote, and I'll be apologetic and remorseful about it for a long time. But having said that, I'd honestly expected certain people in this fandom to be mature enough to reach out in private first and ask for some clarifications, not to be immediately gossiped about in the discord server we were a part of. On top of that, besides that one incident, I hadn't even realized there was already growing resentment towards the metas I've written for KP/Kimchay, besides one of the few times I brought up personal frustrations I experienced as a POC. Lol

From what I've noticed with this incident in the KM server as well as the small discord server I was a part of, when POC share their own cultural context and understanding of something, not just the piece of media for which is the reason why we were all there in the first place, the knee-jerk reaction for most westerners are almost always to think of those things as "fandom policing."

In fact, in a separate conversation from my experience, one of them even said, "it's not so much about culture!" LOLOL To have that sentiment hurled towards me, while I was speaking of my frustrations of when culture erasure takes place in conversations of certain topics, while the conversation took place in a discord server meant to celebrate an Asian piece of queer media…was quite an experience. XD Goodness, I can only wonder what it's like to be able to have the privilege to say that so easily. That's all I'll say. Ha~

Yet still, from my own point of view, do I call the people who hurt me “individuals with a colonizer mindset” and that other word that’s hanging around right now and unsaid, just because of these few incidents? My knee-jerk reaction is to say yes, considering I wasn't even given a chance to explain myself, but I'll clamp that knee-jerk reaction down as much as I can, because despite everything, I still personally think the KM discord server and that other discord server still did more good than bad (not by much though), in the grand scheme of things. Those servers allowed for some instances of astounding cross-cultural communication (even if it also allowed rampant western ignorance to thrive), and for what it's worth, there are still good people in this community, despite everything.

And at the end of the day, who am I to hurl hurtful labels towards those who'd hurt me, when I hardly even knew them in the first place (two of them I never even talked to, LOL), and I know to myself that they meant no harm at the end of the day. Even if they certainly didn’t hesitate to throw the label “ableist” at me without a second thought.

It's a serious thing to throw a label like that at someone, even if my own experience as a POC who was dogpiled on by a number of westerners...hmm, let's stop that train of thought.

Getting back on track. Even still, these opinions I hold won't erase the experiences of other POC members in this fandom and in the KM discord server, the hurt they've experienced, nor can I speak for any one of them.

I think the bad habit of knee-jerk reactions—specifically the knee-jerk reaction of those wanting to protect the KM discord server in the way that's perceived to result in the least amount of drama, the gut instinct to not want to be caught in the crossfire, the conscious choice to tolerate such things, for the sake of preserving the safe space that one has left—is pretty much what's dominating the behaviors of people responsible right now.

The mods who run such servers like the KM server and others like it—they're not perfect, but I would have at least expected from them to be more open and proactive to the concerns of its POC members. Perhaps it's too much to expect that they would be equipped to handle very sensitive issues as the ones its POC members experienced, but damn...the bar is quite low, even just to meet the minimum.

And that's the most frustrating thing, to be honest. All this time, in all these various situations for those who’ve spoken out, it's the POC members of the community who are ALWAYS the ones who are pressured to having to give people the benefit of the doubt, to have to be careful of what they say, but NOWHERE in these situations is that sentiment even remotely returned to POC.

It was the POC members affected by the incident in December who had to remain patient with the mods, it was the POC members who had to face the backlash of negativity that happened, it’s the POC members of the community who’ve had to face the accusations of fandom policing, it’s the POC members of the community who have to face daily micro aggressions in this fandom, when all we’ve done is express opinions and our viewpoints.

At the end of the day, it’s POC members of the community who face the repercussions of having spoken out, yet the rest of the westerners in this community have the damn luxury to walk away, unscathed, to think to themselves that they did nothing wrong.

So I’ll be blunt this one time: yes, for the most part, there are good people in this fandom, there are. But even so, not a single one of us here is perfect, we’re all human.

And if I do say so myself, there is indeed quite a desperate need for fandom spaces, not just the KP fandom, to decolonize their ways of operating, starting with: giving POC the benefit of the doubt and actually trying to handle our concerns with some effort.

[roobylavender]

Ok now I don’t remember what I was saying but I guess as an older sibling I felt more for Jeremiah like a lot of the things he felt like to me felt a lot more like the older sibling burden in season 2. The finances and having to take care of mom and being with her everyday while she had cancer. I feel like that’s huge thing in that Jeremiah had to see her everyday and lost her a little more everyday. Like he lost a lot in a matter of moments. Belly’s friendship once she started dating Conrad, his mother who he was losing a little more everyday (and who he he felt like he had while Conrad had their dad), and even a brother who he had been losing for sometime.

I do think that the sibling brother dynamic and how each handles things differently is the most compelling thing about the show. I kind of think none of them should end up with each other. It not fair to any of them and like Conrad doesn’t deserve Belly but Belly doesn’t deserve Jeremiah. Idk just my thoughts.

the interesting thing about the brothers' individual burdens is that they're emblematic of double-edged swords. on one hand jeremy had to be the one witness to his mother dying a little at a time all the while growing further apart from belly and conrad. but on the other hand he was the one who got to actually be with his mother until her dying days in a way no one else was allowed. on one hand conrad was miserable in trying to focus on school or things that pertained to his own life because they felt unimportant in the face of susannah's cancer and his inability to do anything to keep her from dying. but on the other hand he had belly and he was the one who got to be away from home and not watch susannah wither away in front of his eyes. ultimately you have this dynamic wherein jeremy is under the impression that conrad doesn't care enough and is absorbed in the miseries of his own world because he doesn't realize that susannah is the one who asked conrad to make himself a priority; and conrad is constantly hyperaware of his own failings and the impact that it has on others for it to look like he's self-absorbed even though the only thing on his mind is how everything is falling apart. it's those barriers to understanding each other that really create this conflict between the brothers. and it's why i tend to sympathize with conrad a little more because i think his perspective on things is a lot.. wider. jeremy sort of has the liberty of confronting what he's directly faced with because conrad shields him from a lot as an older brother. i do think we can talk about whether jeremy perceives that as entirely fair to himself (and he obv doesn't). but at least on the face of things conrad tends to deal with situations in a more holistic manner because he convinces himself it's okay if he's the one who has to bear the weight of everything. he doesn't mind suffering for the sake of others and he doesn't mind bearing their anger because the way he's worked it out in his head is that at least they can be happy without him if he suffers for them. it's a totally unhealthy mindset. he absolutely needs therapy. but i find it very fascinating and emblematic of an older sibling's approach to life!

as to whether any of them deserve each other i don't think one can really say. at the end of the day they're kids. even conrad is barely a college freshman. each of them has to work out their individual emotional issues and failings and considering how much the show has diverged from the books already (at least to my understanding. i haven't read them but i did watch a detailed review video comparing the two) i do think the end goal is for all of them to mature into healthier people who can actually handle the baggage they share among themselves. i don't know that it's intentional per se and obv the promotion focuses mostly on the love triangle but i do think the show is unironically great as an exploration of teenage immaturity and its repercussions among people who consider themselves family. you have this group of kids clearly unequipped to handle really big daunting life events and you get to see them work through the ugliness of all of it. i really enjoy that

[juminies]

I finished V's route! knocked out both the normal and good endings in one, of course. I was going to make notes as I was playing so I could somewhat concisely talk about him & his route when I was finished but I ended up not really doing that aside from a few random things like this

so we're just going from the heart.

while I was playing I was actually fairly certain I was going to end up with at least one bad story ending accidentally because well, he's very confusing isn't he..? you really have to find a sort of balance, which I found hard to do particularly when it came to talking to rika. I never had any idea what I was meant to be saying to her and it was also difficult to hold myself back from being hostile sometimes. the woman talks some utter nonsense. I went with the strategy "hear her out but don't agree with her" and it seemed to work. though I have to admit that I flirted with her in texts and calls just to see what she'd say, and I (unfortunately?) do not I regret doing so... being praised by pretty women (even insane ones) is my kryptonite 😔 the voice acting from both rika and ray when it came to specifically emotional scenes was soooo immersive and enjoyable. I sometimes find rika's voice in normal conversation to be a little grating, honestly, but when she's screaming? crying? shouting? panicking? her VA did SUCH a good job.

now, V... I mean this in the most affectionate way possible, you guys weren't joking about him being pathetic. mind you I love a pathetic character who consistently makes awful choices, but calling this man frustrating is an understatement. I quite often found myself realllly struggling to understand what he was thinking, or what he wanted. his lack of willingness to accept help even when he knew he was about to do something quite frankly ludicrous was the least admirable bravery(?) I've ever witnessed, and he is PERSISTENT. it made me feel relatively distant from him for a fair amount the route, mainly because the events unfolding just meant I felt horrible for the members of the RFA and he absolutely was not doing anyone any favours (though he thought differently). I was somewhat concerned I wasn't going to recover from my perpetual state of "?????" but thankfully I actually did in the end. maybe it's my inner "I can fix them" coming out (isn't that the premise of mysme really?), but him being so frustrating sometimes sort of made it feel more rewarding when he really starts to trust and believe you, lol. there were definitely moments that got me in my feelings within the last few days, his heartfelt spiels about learning to love at the forefront. it was nice to see him not only believing in you but actually starting to have faith in himself too – after how self sacrificing he's been he deserves to put himself first. that said, while sweet, I found the good ending to be a little underwhelming. I know a bulk of potentially more fulfilling content is in VAE, but I absolutely do not have enough hourglasses to play for myself so reading the wikipedia summary will have to suffice for me for now.

tl;dr I really enjoyed the route! for me it was a level of dramatic and angsty that made it consistently entertaining and surprising without feeling like it was too much. it was an absolute rollercoaster both plot wise and emotionally, and I had fun experiencing that with so little knowledge of what was to come next. it definitely boosted my affection for V, given how little I legitimately knew about him before :)

[salty-seaz]

Internet Tales and little rants - Mini Story #1 [May contain topics of politics]

[TRAGIC BLUE]

Damien: the one wearing the red cap

Hades: The one with the beads in his locks

_____________ _____________ __________

Damien: “okay so we got the Chris chan documentary, the sharpie pen incident, pretty interesting video essays that I haven’t watched yet… but if you know one yourself then feel free to show me!”

[Hades snickers a little, he hadn’t been this drunk before. Especially with Damien… but he felt weirdly comfortable with him? Typically Damien starts chanting weird shit and acting like Tarzan when he’s drunk but this time he’s chill. But that didn’t matter, what mattered now is that they are both having them together. Even if they probably won’t remember it the next day]

Hades: “Eheh, Ain’t it really funny how there is so much videos of people doing dumb shit?”

Damien: “Yeah, that’s the joy of it. Watching people witness the consequences of their own actions, like don’t act victim if you kept doing it”

Hades: “nah, but imagine their digital footprint?”

[Damien began laughing a little, he knew Hades had a point. But he had another comment to add]

Damien: “Yep, Chris chan for example. For the amount of stuff they done… But yet again, I don’t think it really matters as much people make it out to be.”

Hades: “how come?”

Damien: “because there is actors, celebrities and just people who would say the most racist thing in the book. But yet they’d still have their job. And not only that, they still get their arses wiped for them.”

[Hades nodded, he then suddenly snapped back into remembering that does happen unfortunately]

Hades: “You have a point, this may be off context but Johnny depp for example… During the court case a good majority of it was him being childish as fuck. Like eating candy and doodling in a case about domestic violence?? My guy, if I did that in a court case I would’ve been fucked. But yet people saw it comedic! And what really boiled my blood was when people kept making it about Jack sparrow as if it were a meet and greet.”

Damien: “You absolutely nailed that. When I saw clips of the trial I thought the exact same, though I never really cared. But I don’t think both Heard and Depp are good, like Heard deserves better but she’s a fucking Zionist. So I don’t care about either of them.”

Hades: “Yeah, that’s a fair point. Anyways enough about the whole trial that happened 2 years ago, If we should worry about digital footprint. Bigger names should too.”

Damien: “Exactly.”

[Damien was now just searching for a good tale to read or listen to with Hades…]

Hades: “Damien, I have a video essay I think we’d both like.”

Hey to whoever read this! Thank you for reading. And if you want you can comment what you think and what I should improve! It may not be pirate related in this one or in a lot of the comics but this is only because it’s mainly just comics of the 4 main characters interacting! And you may have noticed but I put a song from Spotify there so you can listen to it while reading so it sets the vibe more!

What is this series?: This is Tragic Blue! A Series I want to keep working on until I can turn it into a big Series one day! And hopefully it going on Adult Swim! But for now I am making little mini-stories and comic type things for now. :-)

The main characters for those who are wondering!:

Damien

Hades

Mei Xiao

Miranda

See you soon!!