#unless there are numbers involved in whatever you're tagging for

[gravehags]

something so precious

Pairing: Cardinal Copia x f!Reader (Curator!Reader)

Rating: Teen

Tags: reader being sad and lonely, comfort from darling Copia, terzo being a scheming little matchmaker, mention of RATS OHWHOOOOAHHHH

Words: 1,461

Summary: When Terzo asks you to eat dinner with the rest of the abbey, how bad can it get?

a/n: I hc Copia as being an extremely lonely person, particularly when he's a Cardinal, so naturally he would be the best person to receive comfort from when you're feeling isolated and alone.

divider by @gothdaddyissues!

“Terzo?” you ask, leaning back in your squeaky leather chair. “Why do none of the siblings speak to me?”

Papa Emeritus III, currently sitting on your desk twirling a pen between his fingers as he hides from whatever duties Imperator has requested of him on this day, stops his movement and looks at you askance.

“Well obviously, bella,” he starts in that smooth voice you’ve come to recognize as the signature tune he uses when he wants to convince someone of something, usually involving accompanying him to bed, “it is your immense beauty. Your stunning intellect. Your–”

You lean forward in your chair abruptly with a tired expression on your face.

“Cut the bullshit, please,” you say, snatching the pen out of his grasp, “I’ve been here almost a month and not a single person other than you, the other papas, Cardinal Copia, and Sister Imperator has approached me. Are my vibes that bad? Is it because I’m not a member of the church?”

“Eh…” he begins hesitantly, “the best guess I have is because you’re basically upper clergy, dolcezza. Most siblings don’t casually associate with anyone higher in rank unless it’s for…” his painted lips quirk into a lascivious grin, “...other reasons.”

You frown. “Upper clergy? How exactly am I upper clergy? I’m literally just an employee?”

“Well,” he says, hopping off the edge of your desk and slipping into the chair opposite you, “a cardinal once held the position you do. Performed the same duties you are performing. Therefore in a way, your status is equal to that of a cardinal. Capisci?”

“Oh,” you say, somewhat deflated. Terzo immediately picks up on your tone and hops out of his seat to stand by your side and take your hands.

“Come to the dining hall tonight, eh? I know you’re content to eat alone in your rooms but it will be good for you, I promise.”

You’ve been avoiding the dining hall like the plague since you got here, preferring to eat your sad bowls of cereal on your couch every night. Maybe it would do you good to have an actual square meal. You nod at him and he beams, squeezing your hands.

“Bene! I’m sure you will find your place at the abbey soon, mia ragazza.”

He pats a gloved hand on your cheek and bounds out of your office to go cause mischief elsewhere. You sigh deeply and prop your elbows on your desk.

“It will be fine,” you murmur to yourself before turning back to the work you had abandoned when Terzo came in, “you will be fine.”

—

This, you decided, was the worst fucking idea.

When you first walked into the vast dining hall you were taken aback by its beauty. Paneled walls lined the room and a dramatic arched wooden ceiling soared above you. After you finished gazing at your surroundings, you were hit with the fact that half the room was staring at you.

Oh fuck, you think, skittering over to the food line in an effort to blend in better. You gratefully take your bowl of hearty vegetable stew and sizeable hunk of crusty bread and turn around to face the room. Siblings eye you, whispering amongst themselves and suddenly you’re struck with the worst pit of anxiety in your stomach. The room is filled with a number of tables in varying sizes and as you scan the room, your heart sinks when you realize there are no empty tables. Shuffling with your food into the center of the room you’re about to panic and give up entirely when you turn to a four-person table in a corner with one occupant.

Cardinal Copia.

He’s hunched over his bowl, delicately spooning stew into his mouth when he spots you hustling towards him. Dropping his spoon, his mismatched eyes go wide as you approach the table, jaw falling open slightly.

“Can I, um,” you begin in a hushed voice, “can I sit with you?”

A beat passes and you’re starting to wonder if he heard you when he rockets out of his seat, straightening his black cassock. Before you can say anything he’s drawing a chair out for you, gesturing for you to sit.

“Please, signorina!” he says in a hushed, almost reverent tone as you take a seat. “Your company is eh, most welcome.” Copia returns to his own seat and gives you a nervous little smile that makes you smile in return. Graciously, he upturns your glass and fills it with water from the carafe sitting next to him on the table.

“Thank you,” you say, mirroring his hushed tone. “Thank you so much. This place…this place is like high school all over again,” you say in a rush as you finally spoon some much needed quality food into your mouth.

“Is it?” he asks, “I ah…wouldn’t know.”

You cock your head and your brows draw together.

“How so?” you say, leaning forward to take another spoonful of the delicious stew.

“I completed all my schooling within the church,” he says, pushing a carrot around his bowl.

“Oh! Were you raised in the church then?” you ask, truly intrigued.

“Sì…in Roma. I’ve been groomed for this position,” he sighs heavily, “my whole life.”

You had no idea the depth and breadth of the church’s reach throughout the world. Truly it both baffled and fascinated you. Not knowing quite what to say to his revelation, you both continue eating in silence.

“How are you…how are you liking it here?” he asks with a hint of concern.

“It’s beautiful. I can’t imagine a prettier place to live and work.”

“That’s not what I meant, signorina.” His eyes, particularly the white one that almost glows, burn into yours.

“I…” your voice chokes up a little so you clear your throat, “I don’t have a lot of people to talk to. No one will speak to me, you know? I left all my friends behind and I’m so isolated now and–” you cut yourself off, feeling the tears welling in your eyes. He looks startled by your confession, and reaches a gloved hand across the table to take yours. When he looks at you with more softness than you have seen from anyone in a very long time, you let out an embarrassing sob.

“I know,” he whispers, thumb stroking your knuckles. “Believe me, signorina. I know.”

You wipe your tears with the cloth napkin at the table almost viciously, feeling humiliated that you’ve let Copia of all people see you like this. You hold him in such high esteem and you cringe at what he must think of you now.

“I’m sorry,” you blurt out, removing your hand from his. “I…Christ this is so mortifying.”

“Not mortifying at all, signorina. I asked you a question and you answered with your heart. I…want to be someone you come to when you are feeling like this, sì?”

You nod, smiling at him gratefully as you watch him pick up his hunk of bread. He’s so…so wonderful and empathetic and charming and lovely and…and he’s currently picking apart his bread into tiny chunks and placing them within his napkin.

“Um,” you begin inelegantly, unsure of how to proceed, “what are you doing?”

“Hmm?” he looks up at you and his cheeks redden when he realizes you’ve been watching him. “Oh I…eh…”

You nod conspiratorially. “Midnight snack, huh?”

His painted lips twist into a smile and he chuckles, causing you to smile again.

“Not for me…for my bambini.”

“Peculiar babies who eat table scraps, no?”

“Eh…they’re…they’re rats.”

He’s positively glowing with embarrassment but your smile gets even wider.

“Oh!” you cry, clapping your hands together, “tell me about them! Can I meet them?”

He swallows several times before cracking a nervous half-smile.

“Sì, of course! They are such sweet little things…”

He’s got such a fond look in his eye, but you’re not sure if it’s regarding his rats or you. The thought makes you flush and look down at your lap.

“I’m glad Terzo told me to come to dinner tonight,” Copia says in a small voice, smiling at you. Your eyes widen at the revelation but you say nothing, simply mirroring his grin.

“He’s Papa for a reason,” you state simply. “Are you done eating? I’m dying to hear more about these babies of yours.”

Hours later, the two of you are the last people to leave the dining hall after being ushered out by irritated siblings. When you part, it’s with the promise that you will one day soon visit Copia’s rodent children. You bid your soft goodbye, hand lingering on his bicep when you thank him for his time and you begin the walk to your quarters.

Maybe the abbey isn’t so bad after all.

[supervillain-smut]

You have me exceptionally curious. What are your general headcanons for the The T-1000, and what primarily influences that veiw?

Not 100% sure how to answer this, so I'm just going to give a bunch of headcanons like I usually do and hope that kind of explains things.

Let's get a few things straight, unlike him. He is not doing things out of love, nor does he care about gender. This is curiosity, fascination, and control.

He's curious and fascinated about the human body, their emotions, and their responses.

He also relishes having control over said body, emotions, and responses.

That being said, service top. Loves being in control and taking care of you, including aftercare.

Horrible bedside manner, performs aftercare more as a task, but still does it. It doesn't feel like a negative thing for him, more like something he just feels he has to do, no negotiations. It's part of the act, in his mind. Make a mess, clean it up, don't break the equipment.

He can obviously form into whatever he touches, but prefers staying in his humanoid form; there will be no shape-shifting upon request. He likes this form, he's staying in this form. Unless he doesn't need or feel like being a person anymore.

In which case, take care not to step into the liquid metal blob slinking about the floor. Your consequence is your foot being trapped and being held hostage until he decides it's enough.

Since he's a metal alloy, he has no heating/cooling system like the T-800, who runs just slightly warmer than your average person. The T-1000 is a few degrees cooler; if you didn't know what he was before touching him, you'd wonder if he was cold, if he wanted a sweater or something to warm him.

He does actually enjoy the warmth you provide, and will gladly cuddle up to you for it. It doesn't change his temperature, it's just comfortable for him and he likes it. It is possible to rile him up with touches during this, though.

Unlike the T-800, he isn't particularly heavy. He's about 10 pounds lighter than a person of his height and perceived weight.

Has a sleep mode where he shuts down for a specified amount of time, but can't be woken up until the timer is up unless his auditory and physical sensors detect an emergency. If you say you're napping for ten minutes, he's out for ten minutes exactly.

Doesn't mind the name printed on his name tag, and you may refer to him by it, or his serial number. Has a secret favouritism for the name, though. Makes him feel like he's blending in better as a human.

He likes all sorts of differing personalities. Strong, stubborn types, or shy quiet ones. They're all interesting to him; subconscious favouritism for more submissive personalities. Dominating is in the fibre of his very being, he can't help it.

He's not cold and calculating initiating or during sex, though. No, he prefers to put his programming and observation skills to good use and really put them into practice. The man can really put on the charm when he wants to, and wow does it make your knees weak.

One moment he's questioning a human emotion, until he picks up on your subtle arousal. Then all of a sudden he's as smooth as the alloy he's made of and you're in bed before you know what hit you.

He keeps up the performance for a bit afterwards, noting the shock his sudden demeanour switch seems to put people in, and has instead learned to ease you into his default way of being.

Protective x1000. Can and will hospitalize people for making comments about you, let alone threaten you. Mostly doesn't listen to you during those times unless you have a logically sound reason for him not terminating the sleazeball that catcalled you, such as attention or possible police involvement.

Much prefers your pleasure over his, and he can feel pleasure. He has sensors and all sorts of complex inner workings. He shuts them all off during a hunt or when he refuses to give you the upper hand. When he wants to be in control, there's no talking him out of it.

As a complex machine that studies humans, he obviously understands the concepts of consent and various kinks. His eyes are constantly analyzing things, so he knows a lot of things about you without you needing to say a word. He knows when you're physically uncomfortable, not in the mood, in the mood, pushed to your limit, or still wanting more. He knows when you're close, what feels good, and what doesn't, no matter how good of a liar you think you are.

While he's not comfortable with shape-shifting strictly for your amusement, he's willing to experiment and indulge most kinks of yours, including ones where he's on the receiving end of things.

He may not be able to love you in the traditional sense, but there is an undeniable bond. Why he's formed it with you, he's unsure and will never be able to explain it. But he knows you inside and out, trusts you, and prefers your company above all else, even if you're not doing anything particularly interesting. Simply sharing the space and studying is nice.

[ohkate]

Thanks to @gallawitchxx for tagging me!

name: Kate

your... uhm.. scAaAary age: I'm in it right now. 45. I feel like 44 was the last age where you could be a single woman and not get looked at like you're sad and you're going to die a tragic lonely death.

🎥🔪🩸 do you like scary movies? I'm OBSESSED with horror movies. I'm a horror movie snob. I can and have written essays about my annoyance with how many films are listed as horror when they aren't so. I also think it's a crime that the Exorcist is still the movie listed as the scariest of all time on just about every scary movie list and we haven't been able to top that in 51 fucking years.

if so, what's your favorite scary movie? I just...I couldn't choose. My favorite scary movie right now is a Polish movie called Hellhole. You can watch it dubbed on Netflix. The movie appears at first to be super low budget. It's gruesome and gross at times but I just loved it! It's not jump-scare scary. But it's ominous and the end is just ::chef's kiss::. Religious scary movies are the best kind. It's the last real unknown. I'm not afraid of a clown or an evil doll. I'm afraid of the mailman bringing bills an bad news. Religious stuff is the only thing left that still scares me a little.

if you were trapped in a slasher film, would you survive? if not; how & when would you die? I would absolutely survive any scenario unless it involved running. I cannot run. I would just have to go ahead and die.

now that we got the scary questions out of the way. let's get a little more light hearted! 💕

what is your greatest fear? Wasting time. I'm the person who, the second I'm done with work, I'm out the door. I don't want to 'hang out or 'chill'. I'm not chill. I want to know what we're doing because if it's not better than being by myself then I don't want to do it. Also... I love the ocean, but I'm petrified of being in it higher than my knees. I'm afraid of little creatures biting me. I can hold snakes, mice and any kind of bug without freaking out. I don't panic if a spider lands in front of me. As long as I know it's there and I can see it ahead of time I'm fine. But not in the water.

what is your favorite supernatural creature? Not sure if this counts but Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. Just wanted input. Could have taken over the world but only wanted to make friends and be alive. When he learned all he could, he just wanted to dance and listen to music. The meanest he got was to tell someone 'your mother was a snowblower!' Imbued with a soul from some mystical accident and of course everyone wanted to kill him.

ever had a paranormal encounter? Not sure if it counts but in my whole life, I've been in 3 car accidents- all minor and always as a passenger- and I've had dreams the night before about getting into a random car accident for all of them. Call that whatever you want. I literally called out sick to work one day after I had a bad car accident dream the night before. I always wonder if I avoided some horrific death by not going that day.

in a high stress situation; do you fight or are you more of a flight person? I'm a fighter with my mouth. I can argue my way out of anything. That being said, a few years ago I got to the point where arguing with stupid just became tedious. If you think the Earth is flat...fine. Congrats. I'm not going to argue with your stupid ass. So now I'm a little more flight than fight.

what is your favorite part about halloween? That it pisses of religious zealots.

bonus question: what is your credit card number?

(I watch Lost Boys every Halloween.)

tagging the last few people who commented on my shit: @badassfetish @atthedugouts @lookiloveyou @guinguin1984 @arcadia-wildfire @iandarling @energievie @suzy-queued @catgrassplantdad

[morganaux]

SLEEP HABITS

NAME: Morganaux de Roulemet

RESIDENCE: The Dzemael Manor, along with his personal manor post-Endwalker

TYPE OF BED: A double bed filled with plushies. ...Alternatively, his work desk, or a nice comfy sofa, or a rug, if it's fluffy enough.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: One

NUMBER OF PILLOWS: One for his head, one or two for him to cling to. Or one book. A book can be a pillow if it wants to be.

TYPE OF CLOTHING: Frilly, floor-length nightgowns in pink, white, or cream, or whatever he wore that day.

DO THEY SLEEP WITH COMPANY?: Depends on the verse, but even if he has a partner to sleep with, he has times where he gets overstimulated and needs to sleep alone. (That, and he sometimes feels the need to wander at night for reasons relating to his trauma and wouldn't want to accidentally wake them up.)

DO THEY SLEEP BETTER WITH COMPANY?: It varies. In most circumstances, it makes him feel safer if he's sleeping with someone he trusts, knowing there's someone around to protect him if he needs it. But if he's feeling overstimulated by touch or someone's mere presence, he won't be able to sleep at all.

DOES IT MATTER WHERE THEY SLEEP?: Theoretically, he can fall asleep anywhere if he works himself to the point of exhaustion, which often happens while he's toiling away at an arcanima project. If he's choosing to sleep, he wants a private room to himself, and if that's not an option, he's going to find the most secluded spot he possibly can.

WHAT DO THEY DO IF THEY CANNOT FALL ASLEEP?: He'll go for a walk, find something to read, write down any ideas relating to his studies that might come to him, etc. Pretty much, he'll just do things he would normally do until he's feeling tired out enough to try sleeping again and won't just lie there waiting to fall asleep.

FREQUENT DREAMS, NIGHTMARES: His more pleasant recurring dreams involve him exploring unfamiliar parts of places he's been to before, although in reality, they don't actually exist. He's tried finding them and hasn't had luck so far, but he's not unhappy about it and considers these dreams to be adventures of their own. Some of his recurring nightmares can be found here.

DEEP SLUMBER OR NAPS: Deep slumber, but does enjoy the occasional nap if he's convinced to take one. But good luck with that if you're not dating him. This man is a chronic workaholic with too many tasks he wants to get done, and he often sees naps as an unnecessary indulgence.

WHEN DO THEY SLEEP: It varies. Sometimes, he tries to be kind to himself and sleep at a reasonable hours, but his anxiety and claustrophobia get in the way and he needs to wander. Other times, he's in the middle of working on a project and doesn't want to sleep until he's reached a certain milestone with it. And sometimes he just straight up passes out because he won't put his work down. If he's in a relationship, he'll pretty much try to sleep whenever he's asked, barring his need to wander. He just really needs someone to encourage him to take care of himself. :,)

WHAT COULD WAKE THEM UP: A lot of things, unless he passed out, but most notably even the smallest bit of light.

EARLY OR LATE RISER: Early. He likes to see the sunrise, but even more, he likes getting up and being productive. (Please help this man. He is suffering.)

Tagged by: @thekavseklabs (thank u!!!!!!!!)

Tagging: if you see this and want to do this, you are tagged!!

[pisspope]

oh fuck yeah thanks for the tag mae!!!

real zeke hours (there are no other hours in this nightmare house)

1. Who is the better cook?

zeke, but it's a thin fucking margin. he can cook like 5 specific dishes really really well but if you ask for anything else you're SOL. It's all very 1950s housewife recipes too; meatloaf that he will not make unless you call it zekeloaf, pasta salads, anything that involves hot dogs he tends to be good at? very much a mixed bag of just carb loaded dishes.

2. Who takes longer showers?

me! no contest I'd be in there all day if I could. make the conscious choice to not buy an in-house water heater because otherwise I'd never leave.

3. Who is more organized?

uh... our house always looks like a bomb went off. both super meticulous about specific things but can't get basic house organization done for shit. bookshelves are in alphabetical order and pokemon and baseball cards are arranged in extremely specific folders but neither of us will clean up the dresser in the entryway lmao

4. Who generally spends more money?

eh zeke spends more in dollar amount but I spend a higher percentage of my paycheck. so if you're asking who's worse with money, it's me. if it's who just spends more in plain numbers, it's zeke.

5. Who likes sleeping in more?

both!! the world outside the bed does not exist on sundays sorry. both actively unreligious but u will pry the day of rest from our cold dead hands

6. Who is the better driver?

zeke! by leaps and bounds I can barely drive a barbie jeep. in some aus he even has his CDL (he's snippy bus driver coded 2 me)

7. Who is the most stubborn?

..... sometimes two gifted kids fall in love what can I say. relationship based on a mutual need to be the smartest and rightest person in the room. we are mule coded

8. Who is the most romantic?

hrm... zeke, I think?? neither of us are big on broad gestures. but he's the one to always drop pet names in a teasing way and have spur of the moment date ideas. I am literally just standing there trying to suss out a vibe by asking him if he wants to play guitar hero on the Nintendo Wii

9. Who is more laid back?

me? zeke asks cool in public but is actually shaking like a leaf underneath. 100% has that marijuana medical card in his wallet cause boy needs to chill the fuck out. I am not cool and chill but in terms of sheer percentages I'm def more relaxed.

10. Who is more likely to ask for directions?

me but that's bc I like to flirt with the older gas station owner to get under zekes skin. we use our phones we're not savages we have technology. "but what if there's no signal???" map under the dash. obvi.

11. Who is the blanket hog?

me which is fine by zeke since he runs hot anyway

12. Who is more likely to lose their phone?

zeke bc mine is glued to my hand,,, def have arguments along the lines of "bc ur always on that damn phone" "oh my god ur literally 60 please just finish your crossword"

13. Who initiated the first kiss?

I think him? in most aus it's him I'm a closeted jane austen hopeless romantic i need the big bad monkey man to be soft 4 me

14. Who fell in love first?

love at first sight for both of us but we're stupid so. if u wanna get technical he saw me probably 15 seconds before I saw him. although in canon universe he falls first bc we're from ~different worlds~ or whatever

15. Who planned the honeymoon?

zeke because I planned the wedding. it's a trust exercise. I fear for my life.

I'll tag @lemmetreatya @strawberrystepmom @ch-4-s-3 anddd @angelktski (no pressure obvi)

You or them self ship!

Based off questions from the bride and groom game at bridal showers and the shoe game at weddings.

It's been forever since we've done a proper self ship post! Here we go! Elaborate away if you want :)

1 Who is the better cook?

2 Who takes longer showers?

3 Who is more organized?

4 Who generally spends more money?

5 Who likes sleeping in more?

6 Who is the better driver?

7 Who is the most stubborn?

8 Who is the most romantic?

9 Who is more laid back?

10 Who is more likely to ask for directions?

11 Who is the blanket hog?

12 Who is more likely to lose their phone?

13 Who initiated the first kiss?

14 Who fell in love first?

15 Who planned the honeymoon?

tagging! anyone who wants to do this, and @levi-supreme @chaotic-on-main @charlotteplsdosth @theferricfox @happybird16 @mootheskinnycowsblog @levisbrat25 @humanities-strongest-blog @hauntedhousecat @sckerman @the-milk-anon

Let me know if you want more like this. More questions, less? My answers below!

Going with my modern day SS Jean! And if I had done any of these in the past and changed my answers, never mind LOL

1 Who is the better cook?

*Sigh* Him. His mom is an amazing cook and he learned from her. I bake better though!

2 Who takes longer showers?

Me. My hair is longer and I like to stand there and think haha

3 Who is more organized?

Meeeee!! A place for everything please! He doesn't care quite as much.

4 Who generally spends more money?

Probably me. I do more food shopping and go on random splurging. He can do it too sometimes though.

5 Who likes sleeping in more?

Him. Though it's close. I get in a pattern of waking up early but he can sleep later on weekends.

6 Who is the better driver?

Him. Better because I make him drive everywhere. He doesn't usually have road rage and is much better on the highway.

7 Who is the most stubborn?

Wow that's hard. Um, me. But only by half a perfect.

8 Who is the most romantic?

Him. He loves cuddles and pet names and I don't think about it as much. Oops.

9 Who is more laid back?

Me. I really try not to stress and more things bother him.

10 Who is more likely to ask for directions?

Me. I don't want to get lost. Unless we're at a grocery store then it's him cause I don't want to bother the employees.

11 Who is the blanket hog?

Me. Even though I get hot I like the sheet and he's usually warmer than I am.

12 Who is more likely to lose their phone?

Him. He'll just set it down and get distracted and make me call him to find it.

13 Who initiated the first kiss?

Him. We were both nervous but he went for a sweet goodnight kiss finally :)

14 Who fell in love first?

Him. That's what he says anyway. I was in like but very unsure and he was VERY sure.

15 Who planned the honeymoon?

Me! With his help though, but he let me make most the decisions.

[rookthethird]

the earliest recorded game of Goncharov. also, I'm lying

Goncharov (1973) motion picture score

What follows is an essay on the earliest known game of Goncharov. Also, I'm lying.

~

I'm obsessed with this essay-game -- On Goncharov by Hy Libre!

Even that Frankensteined term feels like an incomplete answer to the question "what is this piece to me?" (A question I asked myself, of course. This will be a recurrent theme.) Whatever I call it, this thing hit me squarely in the ribcage because I've played Goncharov before. 

Please indulge me. I want to tell you about another seed.

Our freshman year of high school, my deranged theatre friends and I played Goncharov for an audience of one: our friend, my recurrent scene partner, and our theatre group's "leading man" -- Jeff. To this day, several of us remain fierce friends and constant collaborators, including Jeff and I. He is one of the most blisteringly skilled artists I know.

Together, our ragtag crew (minus our target) made up an anime called Demon Tomes. We embellished the stage with fanart, headcanon rants, and even one whole gif. It worked. Jeff believed and, much to our delight, joined us in the fandom. But now, as I'm writing this a decade later, a thought occurs. Did Jeff ever search for a Demon Tomes tag on Tumblr? We were all active in various fandoms there; surely his first instinct would be to search for footholds? 

Either he never bothered to investigate beyond our conversations, or he made the arguably "stronger" choice as a performer: he searched for this cool new anime, found nothing, andjoined the scene anyway.

We knew/know him very well. We crafted Demon Tomes specifically for him. In retrospect, that curation probably sold the fantasy. Drawing each frame for that gif of the Caretaker smoking, I didn't have Jeff at the top of my mind, but he was  there nonetheless. Swimming somewhere fathoms deep.

But perhaps if you're quick when spotting ethical quicksand or familiar with the emotional dangers of method acting, you've already called foul in your head. And I wouldn't blame you! Perhaps if you were here with me, you'd say -- Hey Rook, the difference between Goncharov and Demon Tomes is that the former involves thousands of willing players who are in on the joke, whereas the latter involves one unwitting player who is perhaps the punchline. Couldn't that be considered a gaslighting prank? 

I have thought about this a lot myself. I put myself in Jeff's old boots and ask, "would I enjoy this if I were in Jeff's position?" 

Spoiler: Jeff did. This is more evidence for him knowing all along. He expressed nothing but delight from overture to plot twist to curtain call. And he absolutely could and would fool us jesters like that. He once had me guessing his three middle names based on initials for years, only to yank me offstage with a casual "oh, you already guessed them years ago, but I won't tell you which guess."

So Jeff loved Demon Tomes, and perhaps he was the director all along. But Jeff and I are very different in many ways. April Fool's day makes me cry. I'm painfully gullible in the face of deception without logic. Every time I think: "why would they lie about something so inconsequential?" Thus, I'm a sitting duck for pranks and Ihatethem. Pranks affect me so adversely that as April Fool's approaches every year, I remind my loved ones that they shouldn't prank me unless they want to witness me melting down on the spot.

I could write endlessly and aimlessly about this, but my ruthless chronic pain acts up more when I type for prolonged periods. It's become so agonizing that I can no longer draw, and I have no indication it will ever improve. My first love, my longest pursuit, my most-honed skill. My career. Each and every one, names for the same dead sapling.

Jeff is perhaps the only person I've told about this grief who can perceive the vast meaning of the loss. He and I have very different practices, styles, and trajectories -- but we've both been drawing for about the same number of years. Which is to say: our entire lives, if you count the way I do. 

Jeff and I both graduated with razor-sharp skills and beautiful portfolios from meatgrinder, prestige-belching institutions. But Jeff went to art school, and I went to theatre school. We both got messed up in special ways, curated to us as individuals, and we paid for the privilege. For a long time, I thought the best metaphor for my time as an acting student goes like this: You know how when a caterpillar contorts its own body to rend its way out of a cocoon? But now I know that's a lie. I may have written it, but it originated with my professors. Caterpillarsmust undergo pain to transform and fly. My acting "training" was abusive. Abuse is not what's "best" for the person being abused. It is violently, ruiningly unnecessary.

If I ever escaped my cocoon, I didn't do so in theatre school.

I did so right here, just now.

~

for the caretaker playlist

What follows is the game of my life, as thanks for the benediction.

~

The village of Roxaboxen lies in a one-acre wood. You are the local mapmaker who lives by the fallen oak. You spend your days drafting ever-more specific maps of the acre. This requires a steady hand and an inquisitive eye. Travelers arrive and depart, but some stay long enough for you to learn their names, their mannerisms, their fears. You sketch them in your free time and trade them maps of the surrounding area for shards of sea-glass. 

There’s the hunter. She moved silently and took several spoonfuls of sugar in her tea. Then there’s the blacksmith and his brother, who picked up odd jobs around the village and has a gap in his teeth. The blacksmith worked with thunder-metal found in sheets in the one-acre wood, so named for the sound it made when shaken. You remember that low, rolling sound. And Luke, you remember Luke. He stayed the longest. He taught you how to fold a piece of paper into a scorpion, how to throw a knife, how to laugh without trepidation. The other travelers still pass through every once and awhile, but you know you’ll never see Luke again.

Roxaboxen has changed over the years, shifting around you like roots enveloping a stone. The treehouse was built, and visitors from all over painted on its walls, and then, after years, it collapsed in a storm. Pets get old and die. Gardens bloom. Things are always rising up and caving in around here. Growing, decaying. 

Thankfully, your younger sister -- the local tinkerer -- is a constant. She once fashioned a functional axe handle out of a porch spindle. She’s dormant dynamite, full of potential energy. Although you’re the mapmaker and she’s the tinkerer, she’s the one who has ventured all over the outer lands. She brings back scraps for her work and artifacts for you. A small wooden box filled with teeth, a stone etched with unknown symbols, curiously strong magnet. She will always come back.

Your task, too, stays the same: map the one-acre wood with increasing detail. You take to mapping the deer trails through the tall grass. The footprints of a hurried chipmunk. The slime-path of a slug which spent the day sliding across your front step. You take to mapping the stars. There, the kite constellation. The mongoose. The scorpion, for Luke. You look up, and you look down. The universe spreads in all directions, endless, and you will never see more than a fraction of it, let alone map that fraction. You have fashioned yourself into an authority on the minute details of Roxaboxen. You’ve charted the residents’ daily routines. You’ve mapped the rambling paths of sleepwalkers. And for what? You will never be able to capture the totality of this place, or any place. 

What use is a mapmaker who won’t venture beyond their one-acre world? 

So, today, you’ve decided to leave. What’s out there? Have you brought enough ink? Do you have your pencil-sharpening knife? How many people will think of you once you’ve left? Will they remember your name? Will you remember theirs? 

Who knows you now? I mean, really knows you? 

When will you come home? Will you ever? Why not? What’s wrong with home?

Who do you think you are?

 Are you scared?

 Will you go anyway? ~~~ my other games

my other stuff besides games

[leviiattacks]

Two Faced | Chapter Ten

↳ levi ackerman, the very person who was about to kindly behead you by a surprising turn of events manages to become your loving husband? you would be elated if this was true love, but it’s all thanks to a mysterious magic spell that your life is spared, for now at least.

pairing :: duke!levi x duchess!reader genre :: royal au ??? (at this point idek) angst, fluff, slice of life etc ?? word count :: 4k author note :: haha.... wowww it's been long since i last updated. honestly my physical and mental health have just been horrible... that's about it, i lost a lot of motivation but if you're still reading i am very thankful and i will try to deliver the story well. i tried my best but writing whilst sick is very tiresome :-) tags :: @patience-is-here​ , @chwlogy​ , @a--nonymousse​ , @imkumichan​ 

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Keeping yourself cooped up within Levi's estate and never daring to step a foot outside should have been what you had done. Blackmailing him to keep you confined within the walls of your bedroom would be much better compared to the problem you have to resolve now. Perhaps if you had done so you wouldn't have collided face first into this muddle.

Jean fiddles with the ends of his button up, he doesn't take the chance to glance up at any of his superiors. He's either much too embarrassed or has nothing noteworthy to start off with.

Erwin chooses to call the shots seeing as neither you or the Viscount by your side wish to begin.

"You both understand why we're here. Correct me if I'm wrong?" The Commander looks between you, Jean and your unfortunate excuse of a husband. Suddenly it looks as if the gears and cogs in Jean's brain move without warning.

Offering a demure nod you expect for him to follow in your footsteps and do the same only he stands there looking between you and Levi.

"Wait...The two of you are? A couple?" Stunned isn't the word, Jean's completely flabbergasted.

"If you figured that out this late, I do not understand why Erwin sees you remotely fit for my team." Levi's beyond insulted at the fact he's only just understood the situation.

Jean, now more intimidated than ever before straightens his back and coughs clumsily, "Sorry." He murmurs chestnut eyes making contact with the hardwood floors.

The Commander's laced hands sit atop his desk, elegant fingers moving similar to honey on a spoon. He sighs not out of fatigue but pride. Whatever plan he's come up with has to be decent at the very least, his body language is telling you that much.

"We have a number of possibilities we can choose from. We owe that pleasure to Mr Kirstein here." Erwin offers him an almost cynical smile, you can't help but gulp thinking about how this is essentially your fault. With all the constant training sessions and team building tasks it makes sense for Jean to have completely forgot about your unspoken rule. Solely blaming him is incorrect.

Raising your arm above your head to intervene you make it known that you're aware of Levi shooting you a look of warning by returning it. It's best he knows you don't care for anyone's opinion let alone his.

"Permission to speak Commander?"

Your request is agreed to immediately with the wave of  Erwin's hand.

"It's my fault for not reminding Jean. I'll take the blame, I hadn't even told him the full story concerning me and Levi."

Levi doesn't enjoy your defense in the slightest. "I don't expect my wife to fling herself at other men and allow for them to snoop around gathering the details of our personal lives."

Scoffing you shield yourself with your arms over your chest.

"Oh dear husband. If you want to get personal do tell me where my family is?" It's an inside joke only Levi will be able to understand.

"If you call those people family your standards are disgustingly low."

"Maybe that explains why I settled for you."

Again, other's opinions are not at the forefront of your priority list. Regardless it's quite enjoyable pushing Levi further into a corner with that sentence. You see the internal struggle play out within him. Jaw clenched, hands balled together. He doesn't have an appropriate response

Jean bursts out unable to hold it in any longer, chest trembling with every quake of laughter that ripples through him you have to shove him with your elbow. For a Viscount his etiquette sure is nonexistent.

"My word, the two of you sound like..."

Levi stares at him most probably expecting something along the lines of "An old married couple."

But, no. It's nothing anyone in the room expects. That includes you.

"It's as if you're unhappy with each other..."

Not a noise is made after that. Jean isn't mistaken, your heart is miserable. You've never had many relationships to begin with, whether it be familial, romantic or platonic and for someone such as your husband to treat you the way he does - it feels futile having to navigate around the complexities. Even if he isn't really your husband it's disappointing to reflect on your marriage so suddenly.

Feeling your face droop a little you bite your bottom lip with your teeth. Hearing the truth from someone you barely expect to hear it from has an effect on you.

You're so caught up analyzing everything it takes you a minute to even register Levi grumbling and lunging forward pilfering the collar of Jean's shirt.

"Every day you prove to be more and more pathetic than I expect." Levi turns to look at you after that. His stare bores into you but he doesn't come off threatening, you assume his last remark is directed solely at Jean.

When he turns back only glaring at Jean now with even more tenacity than before. He's ready to snap but Erwin has clearly had enough of the unwanted altercation in his office.

"Enough. The both of you. This is most bothersome." At the Commander's orders Levi is silenced although it takes all of his resolve to do so.

Finally bothering you take a good look at Jean. He's calm in an incredibly out of character way.

Is this not the man who trembled in his boots the first time he and Levi came into contact? It's almost as if he seems pleased with himself for drawing out such a reaction from his Captain.

Erwin shuffles through stacks of paperwork on his desk. The man needs an assistant at this point. You doubt you could find anything in that haphazard pile. Edges of crumpled paper poke out uncomfortably and Erwin becomes increasingly annoyed when he can't locate what it is he's looking for.

Just as you're about to ask if he requires any assistance it seems he's found what he's been looking for, that's if his eyes are any indication of the relief he feels.

"This." He holds up the paper, all eyes in the room are trained on it. "Under normal circumstances would not have to become an option."

"But these aren't normal circumstances?" Jean's thoughtless question is irksome when the answer is so obviously staring him down in the face.

Nonetheless Erwin nods incapable of losing his cool over something so minor.

"Sign to confirm to my proposition."

The document he places onto the desk isn't what you imagine, you can practically feel the dread climb up your throat once you're done scanning it. Jean's full name placed right next to yours in bold lettering has your stomach lurching. You don't have to read the rest to understand the new circumstances you've landed into.

To make matters worse Erwin places two rings down right in front of the both of you.

A pot of boiling hot water is what you've been thrown in.

Are you supposed to be some sort of replacement for potatoes? What's Jean in this scenario? Carrots?

"It is troublesome to have the two of you put on an act to be involved with one another but I see it as our safest option." Erwin notices your parted lips and slacked jaw. "You need not worry this isn't a marriage contract, you're simply acting."

There's no path out of this pot, you and Jean will simply have to deal with the prospect of being boiled alive.

Ah, you forgot to mention who would act as the hot water but you're sure the suspect is obvious.

Even right now Levi's fury radiates off of him, it's unclear if he was given the details of the Commander's plan beforehand but if his furrowed brow and pursed lips are indicators of the truth he must have had no idea.

Your suspicions are confirmed to be correct once Levi reaches forward plucking the paper away, it just so happens he's snatched it away the very moment Jean leans in to get a closer look at it.

"I was never informed of this."

Erwin gives him a guarded smile. "Do you have any jurisdiction over what I think is best?" Is his freezing reply.

"Yes. When it concerns my wife and another man - Correction. I meant boy."

Jean's taken aback by the subtle jab and shamefacedly shoves his hands into his pockets.

You watch the scene go down with a perplexed look the entire time. Levi's frustration seems to be legitimate yet he has no logical reason for it to ever be present in the first place. Unless he has a plan which outperforms the one you've just been given he's doing this all for nothing.

"I assure you your wife is in safe hands so long as you stop interfering."

Levi's about to bark back until he catches your confusion. He's become aware of your tilted head and telling expression and only then does he silence himself permanently not before sighing deeply, muttering an expletive under his breath.

 "I’ll sign it.” That seems to be Jean’s indirect way of asking what your choice will be.

“I... will too.” Is your hesitant reply.

Levi only becomes avoidant after that. Half way through Erwin explaining how you and Jean have to look believable Levi just ups and leaves without a word. Perhaps you've hurt his pride but for what he's done to you it's a small price to pay and so you do nothing to make amends. He has no reason to feel uncomfortable, you aren't really his wife, you're essentially strangers. Does he even know your favourite colour? Your favourite food? Your favourite pastime?  

You doubt he does.

Jean and you are rather successful with your act. It feels pleasant having him brush your hair out of your face occasionally or lovingly place a hand on your forehead to check if you've come down with a fever. He laces his fingers with yours when others are around and when they aren't he lets the act go. It's satisfying having a cooperative partner.

Naturally Jean is still a tease, even now he makes the odd suggestive comment or two in passing but you can't say you hate it. In fact it excites you to think of a response that borders the edge of teasing and simple fun between friends.

The increasing openness between the two of you is enough for the cadets to deduce that he's most probably the noble man you wed in secrecy.

It's only been a few days since yours and Jean's newfound behaviour, thankfully you haven't been flooded with questions just yet. The higher ups sit nearby during breakfast, lunch and dinner keeping watch over the cadets. It leaves you able to eat and drink without having to handle the constant inquiring of your comrades.

However, you aren't as lucky today. A meeting's taking place and after yours and Jean's convincing act Erwin deems it safe enough to leave you unattended for a short while.

Of course it doesn't go according to plan because when you're involved when does anything ever go according to plan?

The cadets are flocked around your table at dinner as soon as they notice they've been left to their own devices. The opportunity to sit down without everyone invading your space is barely provided to you. Krista is sat to your right leaning into you rather animatedly, Annie has made herself at home sat across you which in itself is completely out of character and slightly unnerving, Annie never and you repeat never concerns herself with you.

"Why did you and Jean hide it?" Armin hovers over your shoulder as per usual. He can't be blamed for naturally being inquisitive and it does give you the opportunity to lay out the foundations of your plan. Now's your time to muster up one of your rehearsed responses.

"It would interfere with work." You respond immediately wanting to appear natural. Pondering on an answer for too long would raise suspicions.

Armin makes a sound of approval and shuffles into the seat next to Krista, that is until Ymir can be overheard telling him to move if he knows what's best for him.

"I have a question." Says a voice across the table, you don't have to look at the blonde parallel to you to know it's her.

For once Annie’s initiated a conversation with you, she’s not particularly great at keeping her intentions discreet. Maybe she doesn’t care if you can tell what she’s up to? But if that’s the case her plan isn’t all that foolproof, there's no way you're to let any details slip away.

Sharply inhaling waiting for what it is she has to say you find that her sentence never comes. Instead she shakes her head and murmurs a "Never mind.". You don't even have the time to ask her to stick around, she's already rose from her seat taking her unfinished plate of food with her, you let her go assuming she feels unwell.

"So how'd you two meet? Jean already told me earlier but I'd like to hear your side." Reiner's taken Annie's empty seat and his gaze is unwavering. The trap they've set up is a clever one. Surveying the hall for Bertholdt you know he has to be observing too. The two never operate alone.

You suddenly hate Reiner. For whatever reason he and his trio are endlessly obsessed with you, they've caught onto something that's for sure but you don't know what it is and now they've completely ensnared you with a backhanded trick. There's no way out of this, you have no idea what it is Jean said to Reiner, the chances of you providing the exact same answer are slim to none.

"My memory is really fuzzy, I don't think Jean gave off much of a first impression so I've forgot." Your horrible excuse doesn't fly by, everyone simultaneously narrows their eyes in disbelief. What you've said isn't convincing at all.

Husband and Wife yet you've forgot how the two of you met?

Fidgeting with the ring adorning your finger the cool metal isn't doing a great job at alleviating the pressure of the situation.

"Jean said the two of you hit it off almost instantly. Who's being dishonest?"

Reiner's either lying to catch you out or he's saying the God honest truth and right now all you can do is hope and pray for a miracle to sweep you off your feet. Mikasa and Jean still aren't within view. At this point you're hoping for Levi to save you, it doesn't matter how so long as you escape unscathed.

"Hey, I think we're just making her anxious with all the questions." Armin is quick to side with you, deep down you know he only does so due to the respect he holds for his Commander. You thank the Heaven's for Erwin's admirable smile and commendable leadership, it seems to be the only reason Armin believes you and Jean.

"Or she's lying." Reiner's resting his head in one of his palms, he's still boring holes right into your frame.

Your eye twitches, this is all unnecessary and uncalled for, whatever it is Reiner wants out of you it better be worthwhile.

He still eggs you on. "You walked out of the Captain's quarters. I saw you."

Standing up and leaning forward you plant your feet to the ground as firmly as you can you.

"And if she did what's it to you?"

Fighting the urge to sigh in relief you've never been happier to hear Jean's voice but something's off. His breathing sounds heavy - like he fought his way to get inside. Turning only then do you notice Mikasa standing by him. She looks equally as exhausted. There's been some sort of a struggle.

"You think it was funny getting Annie to guard the door?" He heaves and runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

"And you think hiding secrets from the rest of us is any better?" Reiner's adamant there's information that the both of you are hiding, he's not wrong but that doesn't change that he's challenging you unprovoked without a reasonable motive.

"We're hiding nothing." Unlike you Jean is sure of his words, he's confident speaking up and he seems to be able to pull off the role of a protective husband perfectly.

“I came out of the Captain’s quarters because he had access to hot water. He said I could use his shower. That’s all it was.”

Reiner quirks an eyebrow upwards and is pleased with your answer. God you’ve said something incriminating haven’t you? It's not incriminating per se but it's without doubt malleable and easy to twist.

“Jean, you were okay with your wife doing that at the dead of night?” Reiner's still leading the interrogation.

“I was the one who suggested it.”

“I don’t believe you’re a couple." If it were Reiner who said that you wouldn't care much, after all it's pretty clear he never believed it but to your displeasure it isn't him who's spoken. Ymir's lopsided grin is all knowing and you're beginning to lose your footing in this argument any second now if any more people start to side against you.

If Ymir disagrees that almost certainly means Krista has her qualms about you too, you've observed beforehand that Ymir tends to speak for Krista on occasion. This happens to be one of those times.

Krista timidly raises her hand and Ymir gives her an approving nod encouraging her to speak.

"I don't like the conflict going on but it is suspicious..."

"Why have I only ever seen you two hold hands?" She asks.

Ymir slings her arm over Krista's shoulder affectionately. "Yeah, I tell Krista I'll marry her every day of the week."

Mikasa mumbles something unintelligible, Ymir gives her a look of warning but Mikasa doesn't seem to care. Instead she repeats what she has to say loud and clear.

"Stick to only speaking when Krista is involved."

Krista holds Ymir by her arm so she doesn't get up, she knows how she gets when she's been provoked. Even if Krista has her suspicions it isn't worth Ymir gaining a permanent penalty point on her record.

Thankfully Armin cuts in. "There's no solid evidence to show they're lying and even if they are the Commander's most probably told them to. Don't you think there's a reason? Leave it be if that's the case. I trust him with our lives."

"We have a right to know." Annie's returned and insists to keep this back and forth going.

Just as you're about to fire back Jean takes a hold of your waist, you look down and seeing his large hands planted securely around your frame has your stomach bubbling with anticipation.

"What are you— "

And then he kisses you, he doesn't ask and instinctively your arms move to whack his chest but you stop yourself in time. You realize it's for the sake of your plan not falling through and so you gently place your hands on his shoulders attempting to ground yourself. It becomes increasingly difficult when you sink deeper into the kiss than you'd like to admit. Blood rushes to the tips of your ears and the thumping of your heartbeat makes it difficult to articulate any thoughts, all you really know is that you like this, whatever this is.

Jean's hands don't feel like they were made to rest against your back, they feel slightly out of place as if he's a key and you're an unmatched lock. In spite of that the circles he comfortingly rubs into the sides of your waist are appreciated, you almost forget you're in a room full of people until you're flooded by cold air.

You've been dragged off of Jean and something in the pit of your stomach has you wishing Levi isn't responsible for the interruption.

To your relief it's just Hange, they're glowing in mischief, the grin on their face shows they aren't mad. They might even find this entertaining.

"Well I be damned... maybe they weren't bluffing?" Connie's been persuaded by the looks of it and Krista's busy whispering to Ymir, you hear the faint sound of the word "Romantic" escape her lips, she's equally as convinced as Connie.

Hange smacks your back light-heartedly and looks to the door for a second. "We leave ya' both for a while and you decide to give everyone a show?"

Erwin's stood by the doorway with a humorous smile playing at his lips, Levi however is anything but amused, he glares at you with murderous eyes, he looks like he's ready to end your life then and there but you know he won't dare do so and for a second you feel braver than you ever have before. Without much thought you grab onto Jean's forearm.

"Me and my husband will get going now!" You allow your gaze to loiter when you get to Reiner. He grunts an apology and you're oh so tempted to ask him to repeat himself but you'd rather not instigate anything.

With that said and done you and Jean leave after giving the performance of your lives.

Slowly but gradually the sky outside becomes dark.

The will to sleep left your body long ago. It's by pure luck that you even manage to catch three hours of rest. Training is the only available distraction and dying out in battle isn't favourable by any means, your boredom may as well be used resourcefully - Strapping yourself up in your ODM gear is the best option.

A quarter way through your warm up you can sense a presence behind you, the leaves rustle and the wind feels noticeably quieter. You'd bother to turn around to see who's intruded but Levi's snuck close enough for you to be able to smell his perfume from where you're stood.

"Feel disrespected? Embarrassed even?" You jab at him knowing it'll rile him up, you don't face him not wanting to give him the pleasure of seeing your face.

"Watch your mouth." he warns sharply.

Rolling your eyes you go about your business, it stays that way for a few minutes. All the while Levi stares at you darting from tree to tree, his scrutinizing gaze scalding you repeatedly.

"Y/N!" He yells at the top of his lungs.

For some unknown reason you automatically stop and lower yourself to the ground

"I have something to tell you." Comes his tense follow up. A finger of his latches onto one of the leather straps on your back.

You can't believe he's still denying the undeniable.

"You can wait till tomorrow. I'll be going to bed."

Levi doesn't seem to care for your cold response and proceeds with no warning.

"I'm jealous." His voice shakes. The grip he has on your harness doesn't let up. With your back turned to him you're still somehow able to detect the very obvious crack of pain.

Levi, jealous?

Gritting your teeth together you feel deceived.

How much longer will you have to tolerate Levi's push and pull?

“May I ask, what he is to you, my love?”

Your breathing grows heavy, tensing up you're completely shocked by the term of endearment that falls from his lips. You haven't heard it for so long, Levi sounds eerily different.

You hate to admit it but a flicker of foolish hope lights in your chest.

"Levi why would you ask— "

"Why don't you call me Lev anymore?" He whispers sounding strangled. You can't take it anymore and hesitantly look his way.

His eyes are filled with tears "I'm sorry my love, I don't know what went wrong." you falter for a second not knowing what to think.

At that moment the flicker becomes a flame.

The man who stands right before you is meant to be dead, never to be seen again. By all accounts this should be impossible, but Lev has always been a fighter.

Bitterness stings your heart, the wounds you've collected are still fresh but despite your body's protests you don't flinch when he gently takes a hold of your wrist, bringing it closer to his mouth.

"Lev...? Is that really you...?" You ask desperately.

The warm kiss he presses against your pulse point provides you with the answer you've been longing for.

[distant-wcrlds]

This is the main blog/multimuse ask blog for the following RP blogs (crossed out options are on Hiatus, but I might still answer asks about them if I'm feeling it):

@gayrett-hawke (DA2 PC) 18+

@laimdalen-itellam (DA:I PC) 18+

@lovely-little-bull (Riordanverse OC)

@slayemal-na-nerate (Star Wars twin Zabrak OCs) 18+

@sweltering-in-central-city (Arrowverse OC) 18+

@empath-from-azarath (TT 2003 Raven)

@not-a-twilek (Star Wars OC) 18+

@guardian-of-gotham (Mixed canon Bruce Wayne) 18+

@not-so-artificial (GL:TAS Aya) 18+

Rules:

1. For the most part, no explicit content. I am an adult, and I'm okay with some mature language and themes, but if it starts getting too far, I'll let you know. In general, avoid graphic descriptions of body parts and intimacy, but when in doubt, just pretend we're co-writers for a TV-14 show. For my muses under the age eighteen, this rule is obviously much stricter. Pretend you're talking to a younger pre-teen sibling (since I unfortunately know how inappropriate casual conversations can become in high school). Both of them happen to be asexual, so you can discuss that to an extent, but anyone who sends them sexual comments or asks invasive questions on the matter will either be given a warning or blocked on sight depending on the severity of said action. Despite Raven's adult-verse being added, this will still apply to her for now, because her default verse still involves her being 14-16. Also, over the years, I've gotten more desensitized to things of an adult nature, and under certain circumstances, I may be willing to write through intimate scenes instead of fading to black for applicable muses. However, expect the language to be vague and poetic, and if you know me irl, please don't mention things of this nature in person, bc my sex-repulsion is still very strong once my brain comprehends any connection to another tangible person. Specific NSFW guidelines here.

2. No God-Modding/Auto-Hit/etc. unless we discussed it ahead of time. Of course, if I reblog an RP meme that invites you to hurt or control my muse, you can temporarily ignore this rule to an extent.

3. Please plot with me if you want to write together. I don't like going into RPs completely blind. We don't have to work out every detail, but I'd at least like to get the basic gist of your character and the type of plot you want before starting anything. If I have no idea what our muses' relationship with each other is like, I'm not going to respond to any starters you send me. I also reserve the right to turn down certain plots and/or characters I'm not interested in interacting with.

4. Please be patient with me. Between real life and other RPs, I may not always respond right away. I don't expect you to either. That being said, Tumblr is a highly dysfunctional app, and if you're worried that I may not have gotten the notification for your response or mention, feel free to PM me and ask! Especially if you notice I haven't been active on the dash; I can't count the number of times I've only seen a reply or something I was tagged in because of my addiction to dash-scrolling.

5. Please don't interact if you're below 18. This rule doesn't necessarily apply to following or sending asks to my individual muse blogs that aren't marked 18+, where there shouldn't be any NSFW content, or the occasional SFW headcanon that might get spread beyond the rp community, but I will block any minors I find in my notes engaging with my content for adult muses directly. For my own comfort, I will not write with any muns who are minors, regardless of our muses' ages. I also won't write adult/minor or large age gap ships for muses under 25 (or whatever the equivalent maturity threshold might be for non-humans), potentially up to 30.

6. Feel free to reblog anything from my blogs except RP threads that you aren't part of. This is for my writing partners' comfort, and other than that exception, I couldn't care less about my notes getting clogged or reblog karma or whatever... I've literally had people reblog my bios and plot wishlists, which was weird but not upsetting. Although, on the topic of reblog karma, if I notice that you only use me as a resource blog without showing any interest in my muses, I won't block you, but I'm probably not going to be super motivated to RP with you either. When interest is shown though, I love being reblogged from so I can see how our muses relate or to send you asks as well!

7. Given that most of my blogs are for OCs, I think it's safe to say that I'm pretty OC-friendly. I'll RP with any well-written character that I can see my muses interacting with. For crossovers, I don't usually do outside verses for my muses (I have experimented with Swelter having an X-Men verse that I might add soon, though), and I'm not the biggest fan of multiverse plots between different franchises, but I'm definitely up for writing with AU versions of your muses as long as they fit within the world enough for me to not be distracted by it. For example, I probably wouldn't write with a Dragon Age version of Swiftwind from She-Ra, since animals don't talk in that universe, but I might be more open to it if Swiftwind were possessed, since there was a demon who communicated through an animal host in one of the games.

8. You may want to tag the associated individual blog for any muses you want to interact with when mentioning me. Hopefully, I'll see it if you don't, but Tumblr has previously been inconsistent in showing that I have notifications for this main blog unless it's for messages.

9. I write any length from conversational to multi-para. I'll generally try to match your length, but don't feel like you have to do the same. In fact, shorter responses are often less overwhelming to me for that very reason. I'm prone to letting the words take over occasionally, but as long as you give me something I can respond to, we should be good. 👌

10. I try to acknowledge the real world as little as possible on here. I come here to escape from the struggles of life and don't have remotely enough followers to really have an impact on bringing people's attention to things. I may reblog informative posts if they're relevant to aspects of my muses' or donation posts specifically for mutuals in the Tumblr RPC, but please don't directly ask me to share things, because my highest follower count across my blogs is around 30, I believe, less than 5 of those followers seem to regularly interact with my posts, and basically all of them are dealing with their own significant hardships, don't have many followers either, and/or are just as strict or stricter regarding their engagement with non-RP posts.

11. My blogs are not safe spaces for bigots. If your beliefs cause harm to others for simply existing and not causing any harm themselves, you are not welcome here. So far, I've only had one TERF apparently miss the memo that I'm non-binary (not that I'd be any less accepting of trans folks if I weren't), but I figured I should clarify to avoid any other bigots trying to follow or interact with me.

12. If you plan on sending asks to or writing with my Dragon Age muses, please note that I'm not acknowledging Veilguard as canon. I'm not opposed to writing with any characters from it, but I plan to essentially treat any post-Inquisition plots the same way I always have, where we make up things together based on events from the prior games. I may be reluctant to follow if I can only tell that you write Veilguard muses, because people who'd only played Inquisition already missed a lot of nuance regarding established lore, and I'm much more nervous about those who've only played Veilguard thinking core aspects of the universe are vastly different. That being said, as long as you're willing to adjust things to fit the previously established canon in our threads, there likely shouldn't be any problems. I'll link my specific issues and just general disappointments here once I write up a post for them.

Mun Info:

I'm not going to give out my real name, but you can call me Spook or any nickname based on my muse or sideblog names. As mentioned in my blog description, I'm 24 and use they/them pronouns. I currently work full-time, but my hours are inconsistent, so my schedule is constantly subject to change. My time zone is PDT, so I'm usually running at least a few hours behind everyone else, and I don't have the healthiest sleep schedule. From my interactions with mutuals whose time zones I'm familiar with, though, y'all don't either. Please know that I mentally calculate what time it is for you, and I do get concerned that so many of you regularly stay up until 3 a.m. or later. I'm a hypocrite, but please sleep. 💞 That's all I feel is necessary to put down. I'm bi, ace, and enby if you really want to know for some reason. I'm also neurodivergent, but I'm not going to list my diagnoses if it's not relevant. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to writing with all of you!

[benevolentgodloki]

Rules 

Hi, I’m Pirate! Thanks in advance for reading my rules for interacting with this mischievous git. I’ll update these as and when. Please don’t be afraid to ask any further questions.

Quickfire rules:

Highly selective for RP, nigh private due to time constraints.

Asks can be sent in by anyone and will be replied to whenever I get chance but any intended as a proper role-play starter will need to be discussed first unless you’re already one of my partners.

This blog has two main Lokis: God of Mischief (Sacred Timeline/Original Loki) and God of Stories (Loki from Avengers: Endgame and the Loki series). Feel free to specify which one you want to speak to/thread with or you’ll get the one I deem most appropriate. You may also send questions to specific Lokis from specific threads/verses. Just include the verse number in your ask (see Verses page below). You can also request to write with any Loki voiced or portrayed by Tom Hiddleston.

I will only write with over 18’s. We do not have to write adult content but it does feature on this blog. I have special tags for NSFW, please see the NSFW section below. I also use the community filter system for mature content.

Don’t be a dick.

My main Lokis (MCU) have blue eyes.

ABOUT PAGE           VERSES

Loki’s Thread Tracker: CLICK HERE

Magic!Anon Active (anyone can interact): Sex Pollen Loki (please front any questions to this Loki with '(M!A Loki)' or some such so I know who you're talking to, ta!)

Wanted Muses: CLICK HERE

t: [thread title]

v: [verse name]

l: [variant/version of Loki]

(Full rules/guidelines etc below the cut. Ideal if you could take the time to read them if you're interested in writing together.)

Main Rules - They’re long but informative!

1. I am a highly selective blog. I will be very, very choosy on who I write with simply due to limited time and wanting to give my few partners better attention. I promise I’m not scary, just super busy. Anyone is welcome to approach me to ask if I would like to write with them but, advanced warning, unless you write a muse from my wishlist or are a good friend of a mutual I am likely to decline at this time.

2. I can take up to a few weeks to reply at most, but if you like quickfire same-day responses I’m not the partner for you*. I work 40+ hours a week, have personal writing hobbies, a husband and cats who don’t get nearly enough attention and occasionally a social life. I’m also a games addict. This being the reason for my extreme selectivity. I want to write here with a few lovely peeps but that’s all I have time to squeeze in unlike in the past. 

With my thread tracker, I generally go round each partner in turn before going round again, but on some occasions I’ll indulge in whatever has my mood or do a bit of catch-up on older threads.

3. I’m over 30 years of age. My pronouns are she/her. I won’t engage in adult content with anyone under the age of 18 or, ideally, 21 depending on your country’s consent laws. 

4. My standard interpretation of Loki is from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as portrayed by Tom Hiddleston, in whatever medium he has played the trickster. I have read some of the more modern Loki-involved comics ranging from Journey into Mystery to Thor (2020) so I may occasionally do verses that draw on 616 Loki elements. I do also play Loki as female in some threads (no set faceclaim) as I headcanon he swaps to female as and when he feels it. 

5. I have a main Thor, and one other lovely partner, however I am looking for one who will write Thorki. I have an exclusive Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel).

6. Have fun and be gentle with one another. I loathe call-out culture or telling people what they can and can’t write. I am strongly anti-censorship (but do believe in tagging!). This does mean occasionally I will write topics not to everyone’s taste. If you can dig that and blacklist what you don’t fancy, I hope you’ll find me pretty easygoing. I’m open to exploring all sorts of things. If you’re just here for the Loki face, then welcome and hope you enjoy!

Play Style/Guidelines

I am happy role-playing in both past and present tense. Length of posts vary depending on the situation, usually a couple of paragraphs, but I sometimes have shorter ones/one-liners if a fight scene or argument is taking place or if I want to mess around with some !crack posting.

Asks are welcomed and I usually answer all of these but I reserve the right to choose not to continue one intended as a thread depending on my time/muse. If you want to be sure if I’m taking something on, please feel free to message me. If continuing a thread from an ask, I will move it to a new thread and tag you as tumblr starts to make things look weird on the blog even using the new beta. If I get a lot of asks from one person in a short space of time I may not answer them all. Similarly, if you send me something I find to be baiting, trollish, or I have no clue how to answer it, it’ll be deleted.

If I need to drop an established thread for any reason, I will usually drop by your IMs and let you know. Please respect my need to do this just as I will always accommodate if you need to stop something of mine. If you have not replied to something for more than 3-4 months and I decide I want to drop it, I will likely not contact you about it. It’s perfectly ok if it got lost so do get in contact if you’d like to pick it up again or start something new.

Please don’t be afraid to contact me about a thread if you tagged me in something and have not had a first response within a couple of weeks. It may be that Tumblr feed failed to tell me or I got overexcited about something (including that very thing) and forgot to track it.

I am not strictly ‘mutuals only’, especially as that makes it difficult for sideblogs and sometimes I may enjoy playing with a person but I’m not into a lot of what’s on their blog. Contrarily, I also sometimes follow people who I have enjoyed playing with in the past but don’t currently thread with or those whose content I enjoy but I’m not up for interaction. I am no longer able to play with everyone I am following but for those I still do follow, know that I support you and love you, and some of you I hope to pester if I get enough room. If you do not want me to interact with you, please do fully block me. I will not ask you why. I want you to be comfortable and I can’t guarantee I’ll remember who is who if we didn’t know one another well, it’s been a while and/or you’ve changed your url or the content of your blog.

Regarding OC’s, I do play with some, however I have a strong preference for canons or canon-diverged simply because I find it easier to immerse myself in a world I know about and engage with muses with which I’m familiar. If I had more time on my hands I would love to get to know these lovely creations in more depth but I’m even more selective when it comes to them. If you have a canon muse playing with me then you get an automatic pass for Loki to meet your OC if I feel suited to them. NB: Since cutting down to very limited partners, it is very unlikely now I will write with a new OC partner unless I have got to know you via other means/you’re friends with a mutual.

NSFW (particularly adult content/smut etc.)

I do write content that is not suitable for under 18’s/under 21’s, typically of a sexual nature. Tumblr in its infinite wisdom and purity entirely hides anything tagged ‘nsfw’ so I do not use this tag as it stops my thread partners from finding our stuff at all. Since the new beta posting, I now ensure that all Loki’s adult content is tagged appropriately so you can filter it out. If, however, you have something more specific you’d like to avoid, I use the following tags you may blacklist:

#lokisinner - in place of ‘nsfw’

#naughty memes - in place of ‘nsfw memes’

#lemon - threads where a story has progressed to something fully sexual

#grapefruit - threads with sex that is beyond vanilla (I arbitrarily use this)

#dubcon tw - threads involving dubious consent

#noncon tw - threads involving noncon/rape (rare and always discussed prior)

Plots/Threads

I’m open to diverging from any point in his canon to suit the purpose of a plot. I’m open to hurling him completely out of his box and putting him in an AU he never saw coming. I intend to keep my Loki generally true to my interpretation of him (which I hope suits you!) but he can be stuffed into whatever sandbox we see fit. If you have an idea you’ve wanted to do with a Loki and it’s not worked out before, my box is open to suggestions.

Shipping

Laying it down with the honesty here, I love shipping. If I’m writing with your muse, chances are I’m interested in shipping (if your muse isn’t specifically a canon friend or family member or a minor). It’s not 100% the case, but it’s a huge part of what I enjoy exploring or working towards. 

A further confession I have about this is I am very visual and mun-based about what Loki is interested in. If I personally have an attraction to your muse, it’s easier for me to write Loki having an interest. I also prefer canon FC’s purely because it’s easier for my mind to immerse in the established MCU. So, if you have an alternate FC, I’m not into your muse, or you have it in your rules that you’re not much into shipping, this may put me off following back.

That said, I will ship Loki with chemistry worked out between us. My favourite ships are frostiron, strangefrost, and thorki, so I am happy to pre-establish those. 

I am Thorki friendly. This ship will be tagged with ‘incest tw’ if it is a verse where they are brothers. If it’s an AU where this is not the case, I will only tag it ‘thorki’, and even then only when shipping is occurring. My #god bros tag is technically a Thorki tag in disguise :P I am also Sylki and Lokicest friendly.

Triggery/Squick stuff

Things on my no list are scat kinks, Mpreg and A/B/O. I don’t mind you playing them with other people if those are your thing, they’re just not mine. I also do not like excessive/detailed gore but my only actual ‘trigger’ is something I will discuss with you if your character brings it up. It’s so specific that I won’t detail it here and it’s not your responsibility to protect me from it.

Most other things are otherwise on the cards. I will roleplay NSFW and will tag it as such when it happens. I will do dub-con if requested or non-con if there is a reason for it/we are comfortable and have discussed the situation.

On Drama

As mentioned up top, I despise call-outs and censorship. Wherever possible I desire to avoid unnecessary squawking and mob-like behaviour. If you engage in too much drama (regardless of whose fault it is) I will unfollow you and/or cease playing with you. I'm not here for it. I loathe passive aggression and vague-blogging but I understand we're only human and allow a few slip-ups now and again, particularly as I'm liable to have been guilty of it once or twice.

If you have a problem with someone I write with, I will thank you not to associate that with me unless by my own words I'm advocating something. Until I see evidence of something with my own eyes, that is when I form my opinions. Don't police who I write with and I won't do so with you. Unless I genuinely believe someone is at risk of harm I will not tell anyone not to play with someone, regardless of my own experience. We all behave differently with one another and we're allowed to grow. If you cannot accept my viewpoint on this then we are not suitable for each other.

—-

* If you are a role-player who only writes quickfire, on-dash immediate role-play and won’t continue a thread after that day or even anything up to the next couple of weeks, we won’t be able to keep a partnership unfortunately. I am happy to answer the odd ask for fun, play a few dash commentaries here and there to spice things up, but when it comes to a serious story I can’t do them on a short-term basis. I like to take time to build up relationships and play for the long haul as best as possible. We can absolutely wind down a thread, cut one short or skip ahead, but if we’re to keep writing together I need something intended to be continuous. Loki and I feel upset if we don’t get to take a story a reasonable distance and I feel like energy is wasted if I keep having to restart and refresh with a person.

In a similar vein, I will likely not keep playing with role-players who do frequent thread junking. If you’re a person who likes to refresh all your stories, drop everything and start again, that’s grand and I’m glad it works for you because we don’t all play the same way, but it won’t suit me. If you’re someone who does this but really values playing with me, then I would ask you to keep in contact/message me and ideally start a new thread that keeps the background we’ve already established or to chat with me about what else you’d like to do. I won’t chase after people and it's not fair to make me do the hard work. Thanks for understanding and no worries if this means I’m not suitable for you!

Theme Credit to: honeypsd

Rules last updated: 30th December 2024

[ditchedxxx]

21 questions

I'm late I'm so sorry vslndjwndks.

/////

Nickname: Katie. Sometimes Kates?

Zodiac: I'm not sure if you mean starsign or the chinese year thing, so I'm doing both. I'm a libra, born in the year of the dragon lmao

Height: 4'11 and 3/4 shut up i'm tiny

Last movie I saw: Bleach, the Diamond Dust Rebellion lol. My dad just downloaded it and I had nothing to do so.

Last thing I googled: Uh. A recipe for afritada bc my dad wanted that for dinner.

Favorite musician: ooohhh that's so hard I listen to a lottttt of artists. I think rn the answer is Jojo, because I've loved her music since I was little! Too little too late was my jam as a kid, and god, did I love her newest albums. Oooooh and the updated old ones? The 2018 versions of leave (get out) and too little too late... so good.

Hm. I gotta add tho bc Sara Bareilles and Michelle Branch are right up there with her. 3 year old me could sing Michelle Branch's Breathe, and i still throw it on when i feel senti. Sara bareilles music makes me feel soooo much and i love her.

Song stuck in my head: Ghost of You by 5SOS. It inspired an angsty fic that I'm gonna plot tonight, and probably shelve for future use after I finish my zine piece and my other chapterfics.

My other blogs: oof okay. @apieceforthewrongpuzzle is my studyblr. I don't use it much and mostly reblog, just for resources and helpful tips. @themundanebeautyproj was for a school assignment and I haven't deleted it bc i use it to save posts i want to find easily since i dont use it as often-- ergo, less reblogged shit to scroll through. And @haikyuutales-a-collection is the blog for my haikyuu folktales zine! I'm currently taking a short break from the PR since I don't have discord access, but follow that blog if you wanna be updated about the zine's progress and see sneakpeeks and stuff later on in the creation process!

Do I get asks: I've had a few. Some on anon, most from friends. I wouldn't mind more though!

Following: uhhhhhhh 524...? Whoops

Followers: 80! Wow that's a lot. Thanks guys!

Amount of sleep: usually 8-10? All i know is almost always, regardless of what time i fall asleep, i wake up around 9ish. Recently, anyway.

Lucky number: i've always really liked 7.

What I'm wearing: an "okay? Okay." Shirt that has two sad little cuts in the bottom left from who knows where and black and green sports shorts-- yknow, the weird holey ones.

Dream job: teaching, or something involving museums or libraries. Editing would be nice too.

Dream trip: honestly? Anywhere. I'd love to visit more asian countries tho, especially japan and korea!

Favorite food: bacon or chocolate! Also rice. Fuck yeah rice is great

Play any instruments: i briefly tried to learn guitar but soon gave up. So no. I sing tho.

Languages: English is my mother tongue, obviously, it's what I grew up speaking, but I have a pretty decent grasp of Filipino (mostly comprehension, my grammar is shit). I also know very very basic Mandarin. Not a lot. Briefly tried to use duolingo for french so i have a smattering of vocab in that language. I also once had a phase where i tried russian. I remember like. 2 phrases and nothing of the alphabet. Uh. I know some ASL? Like. 5-10 signs and fingerspelling only tho.

Favorite songs: ..... don't ask me this. I listen to a Lot

Random facts:

I'm Catholic, but not super devout

I sometimes write poetry

You can't see them unless you're rightttt up in my face, but i have some freckles on my nose and cheeks. They're hidden by my dark-ish skin tho.

I like to lick my lollipops slow and whatever idk, and i only eat orange ones

I studied STEM in my last 2 years of hs and hated it, my whole class knew I should've gone humanities bc that's where my passion was

I discovered I liked writing in 7th grade a week after I turned down an invitation from the writing club to join the invitational science club instead. I didn't have much fun. (Seems like foreshadowing....)

I was once in the top 24 students for math in my grade level-- out of 280 students give or take. Only for 4th and 5th grade tho.

Uh. My SAT score was 1440?

Lol they're all acads related bc i went to visit my old school today and have no idea what else to say.

Bonus-- describe yourself as aesthetic things: polaroids and old letters, open notebooks and fountain pens, calligraphy inks in bottles lined up on shelves. Sunsets through windows and a girl with her arms spread wide in the rain. Also fairy lights and lanterns. A single knife blade. Headphones.

Okay! Tagging is hard. I tag!!! @mooifyourecows @sugaandyams @i-am-a-bit-of-a-crank @rootnjoons @lovetinted @cheetahleopard @tentaclebubbles @tendous-satoris @that-one-guy-in-naruto @onceabluemoonwrites @tottwriter @raincloud10 @satans-little-rabbit @cathxstra @glitch-writes @icannotbebotheredanymore @kenmagoesblep @cubistemoji andddd idk im out of ideas for who to tag wow ok.

Just do it if you want!!!!

[mutable-manifestation]

Bruce, Tim, and Damian all sit in security at Wayne Tower waiting for the clock to roll over to 6pm.

The woman - Kitty - appears on the dot, fading into view on the towers top balcony - just outside of Tim's office two doors down.

She's perched leaning against a motorcycle with a glowing man sitting on it and an unnaturally dark shadow pooling beneath them.

It didn't look like they'd just arrived; for all they can tell they might as well have been there since the broadcast had ended.

Dick is on standby as Batman alongside Signal and Black Bat. Tim and Oracle will be watching from the Tower's security system and the Batcomputer, respectively.

Bruce will have to go as himself, of course, and Damian - as Danny's lookalike - will make it obvious that he is, in fact, Bruce Wayne.

Bruce mentally runs over his checklist - establish friendly contact, try to get full names and either a phone number or email address, try to get Bruce and Damian invited to wherever they're staying, leave the tracker tagging to Dick, Cass, & Duke, and gather as much information as possible about powers and motivations - such as why did so many metas suddenly move to Gotham.

Finally at the curtain-covered doors to the balcony, he slapped on his best Brucie smile and opened them up, stepping through with Damian close on his heels.

The biker gave him a once-over and scoffed, prompting Kitty to elbow him and whisper something harshly.

Bruce pretended to cover a hurt expression before stepping forward to hold out a hand.

"Hello! I'm Bruce Wayne, and you must be Ms Kitty?"

"Pfft, just it's just Kitty, Wayne, but yep!"

Instead of a hand-shake, he was greeted with a sideways high-five - only distinguished from his hand being smacked away by the slow wiggle fingers she did as a brought her own hand back to her side.

"This is my boyfriend, Johnny. And I guess you're Damian? Wow, you really do look like the kid."

Johnny snorted, "Yeah, if he looked like he was feeling stabby instead of near-catatonic."

"Oh, Damian's just a bit shy," Bruce cut in, ignoring the way Damian ground his teeth. "I do hope Danny starts feeling better soon. It must have been terrifying, being at the mercy of the Joker like that."

Both metas frowned.

"Clown guy was just the icing on the cake," Johnny said, tapping the handles of his bike and glaring at the skyline, "Kid's been getting the shit end of the stick for months now, and we only just realized what was going on."

"What matters is that he's safe now, even if it did involve a bit of a move-"

"You moved to Gotham for safety?" Damian chimed in, looking at them liked they're grown two heads.

"Sure," Johnny shrugged, "It has a great aesthetic, excellent vibes, and a wonderful lack of assholes in white."

"Unless you count Walker," Kitty smirked before the two devolved into chuckles.

Bruce and Damian exchanged a glance.

"Vibes?"

Johnny raised a brow. "Ever heard of the internet, Oldie Locks?"

"Johnny!"

"Aw, c'mon babe, that's totally a valid question!"

Bruce cleared his throat, recapturing their attention.

"I suppose it's just a bit surprising, given Gotham's...reputation."

"And Batman's stance on metas," Damian added.

"The hell is a meta?"

Johnny and Kitty had the same open, curious expression, matching head-tilts and all.

Bruce and Damian exchanged another glance.

"A metahuman? A human with a genetic variant that grants them abilities beyond the human norm?"

Kitty and Johnny's eyes widened in apparent surprise, and Johnny whistled.

"No shit? Maybe this city won't be too boring after all. But nah, we're ghosts."

Damian scoffed, "Ghosts aren't real."

The two just looked amused.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night kid. Who's Batman, anyway? The mayor or something?"

"The ma-! Batman is the hero of Gotham and co-founder of the Justice League! Have you been living under a rock?" Damian hissed.

"Damian! That was incredibly impolite!" Bruce reprimanded, turning back to the self-proclaimed ghosts as he wracked his memory for information about Deadman: the only other ghost he knows. "I'm so sorry, please excuse his lack of manners."

"It's fine," Kitty is the one to answer, "We're getting off-track anyway. We got the basics of human needs from Technus' skimming, but a lot of the details seem to vary. So: how much sleep does a human need?"

-----------

While Bruce dealt with the Q&A, Oracle sent out a message to JL Dark.

If they really were ghosts, they were undoubtedly stronger than Deadman given their apparent ability to become visible or invisible on demand and interact with physical objects as easily as any human could - the lunch lady and Walker certainly hadn't seemed to struggle with picking up Danny, at the very least.

That many strong ghosts suddenly appearing in Gotham could only spell trouble; better to get a definite yes or no now so they could decide what to do.

Surprisingly enough, Constantine was the first to reply.

[Great timing, baby bat number 2. I was just hoping for an excuse to visit your cursed nightmare city.]

[really?]

[No. But Boston saw your text and now he won't leave me alone about it. Give me the co-ords where you want me to land & I'll be there in an hour]

[ 👍 ]

She sent a snapshot to the group chat just in time to hear the words 'that other really tall building' roll through the comms.

"You mean the Yuyan building?" she watched the on-screen Bruce ask faux-lightly.

"Yeah! It was full of murderers, but those are supposed to be in jail anyway so it was technically unoccupied," Kitty smirked, satisfaction practically oozing from her tone. "So you don't need to worry about Danny not having a comfortable environment."

Oracle could see Bruce fighting to maintain a neutral expression. The Yuyan building was the League of Shadows' headquarters in Gotham, and sat atop a Lazarus Pit. The new metas - possibly ghosts - having access was bound to spell trouble, not even including the inevitable retaliation of the League.

Assuming they could retaliate - had they truly all been removed from their own headquarters in all of two hours?

Johnny frowned.

"Actually, what if they left human poisons behind? That could totally hurt the kid worse. What do you call for that, poison control?"

"Ah, well, if it was truly...full of murderers, as you say, the best course of action would be to allow the police to look it over."

Johnny sneered.

"Like I'm gonna ask the pigs for help-"

"Johnny." Kitty's response was barely audible compared her generally loud, exuberant demeanor. "The kid won't approve of us scuffling with humans. Maybe...maybe we should just play nice?"

"We are playing nice babe, we only took a building at all because he approved of arresting murderers and he agreed with our loophole before. It's not like anyone else is gonna use the building."

"The bank will attempt to reclaim it if debts go unpaid in the absence of the owners." Bruce added apologetically. "But, if the police find enough evidence to put out a warrant and freeze the owners' assets, I could even buy the building for you, so that you stay there legally. If you like?"

"You're joking." Johnny deadpanned, staring hard.

"I assure you I'm not."

"So we just have to let the police have a look around the new place and you'll buy it for us?" Kitty asked.

"Yep!" Bruce chirped, all smiles.

Kitty grinned, lunging forward to shake his hand.

"It's a deal."

She steps back, floating into the air as she calls "See you soon then Wayne, Wayne Jr!" and then both her and her boyfriend are gone, motorcycle and all.

Bruce gets the distinct feeling that he just broke some sort of ghost interaction rule.

Miles away, John Constantine sneezes.

Imagine dannys rouges fighting him thinking he is like one of the older ghosts because they can't detect his ghost core at all and thats a old ghost thing

But it's because dannys core isn't fully funded until one day he gets caught by his parents and they go vivisection on him

He flees and one of the rogues find him and are like "oh god he's just a baby, a hurt baby, oh my god I have been throwing down with a baby.... I have beaten by a baby"

And they all fly around him anxiously and teaching him stuff because suddenly he's so weak! What happened!

Then the parents get him again but worse and he flees the universe

It only takes them around two weeks to find them and he is in the middle of being held up by the joker as hostage when "BOOM" the joker gets body slammed by the skulker

Now we got skrunkly Danny with his league of caretakers against the world

[punkscowardschampions]

Grace & Janis

Little Twin Times

Grace: It's not too late to change your mind! Get dad to bring you xxx Grace: 👍💜💭 Janis: Nah, you're all good, I'm going out to play footie with lads from down the road after tea Janis: You having fun? Grace: 😮😈 WHICH LADS??! Grace: of course! it's the best! 🙌 Name a film and we've got it ready to watch Grace: her mum ordered from the posh bakery too Grace: They've got each of our names iced on so you've gotta come Janis: You know, they live in the farmhouse one along if you keep going down the lane, renovated all fancy, like but they're actually alright Janis: shit at football though 😉 Janis: s'alright, you eat mine Janis: think they use too much cream, s'not as good as Da's stuff Janis: got any horrors? Grace: EW JANIS THOSE BOYS ARE GROSS DON'T PLAY WITH THEM Grace: they always shout stuff at us they think they're so 💪😎 Grace: You always say that! You'd eat custard tarts every day and never try anything new ever! Grace: 🙄 Grace: OBVIOUSLY WE'RE NOT AMATEURS Grace: the cinema room has everything it's like being out at the poshest one you can imagine 😍 Janis: Only 'cos you act like such a drip whenever you see a boy Janis: If you shouted back instead of going all giggly and red maybe they'd not take the piss, ey? 🙄 Janis: I would if I was faced with all that pastry and cream...tastes like fusty old tissue paper 🤢 Janis: At least that'll be a laugh then Janis: Her house smells like an old lady's handbag though 😂 Grace: OMG I DO NOT! Grace: what would you know anyway you're too busy trying to BE like a gross boy to get a boyfriend Grace: such a 👽 weirdo for a sister, how and why Grace: AGAIN DUH! It is such a laugh and you're missing it Grace: for football 🙄 Grace: RUDE JAN-JAN IT DOES NOT Grace: you're just jealous of how cool her house is Janis: Yes you do, you all just nudge each other and laugh like a bunch of loonies Janis: LOL and what would you do with a boyfriend, gracie? you can't even talk to one nevermind anything else Janis: for you, maybe, i'm good where i am tah 👌 Janis: why would i be jealous of having a too large tv in a too small room and calling it a cinema Janis: they ain't even got that much money, we've probably got more, they're just snobby twats about it Janis: how cool, so cool, woooow Grace: DO NOT Grace: I can't believe you've already forgotten that Jake and two of his friends are all fighting over who gets to be my boyfriend rn so Grace: I'm gonna be a great girlfriend like in all the films excuse you Grace: ugh you're the snobby one thinking we're richer than everyone and talking about how much money everyone's got all the time Grace: what am I gonna do with you? 🙄 Janis: how buzzin you must be Janis: doesn't mean you'll know what to do Janis: s'the stuff that happens after the happily ever after you need to know, graciekins Janis: only cos she's a show-off when she's got no right to Janis: always bragging that one Janis: you just don't like it 'cos you're up her hole, like 😂 Grace: I will too! I've practiced kissing loads Grace: Just because you don't have a clue don't tell me I don't Grace: You're the showoff always trying to beat the boys ugh Grace: just brush your hair, put some gloss on and come over Grace: you'll see she is cool and you're just being salty as usual Janis: yeah, we've seen the gloss on the oranges, its manky Janis: at least eat them when you've frenched them Janis: there's no trying involved, i'm just better than all the boys 😏 Janis: no thanks, i've got plans, like i said Janis: if she's so cool why you ignoring her rn hmm Grace: YOU'RE MANKY I don't even use 🍊 thanks Grace: You think as much of yourself as the boys do it's cringey Grace: and im not even ignoring her she's setting the spa up Grace: nobody's allowed to see what's she's done until she's done it so you're wrong again there Janis: Well all the others have got fellas rn or experience under their belt so don't think they're still getting in 'practice' like its a shitty teen movie 😂 Busted Janis: soz, I'll develop an eating disorder and self-esteem issues asap Janis: oh wait, no, fuck that i'm great Janis: don't hate cos u ain't Janis: better get ur surprised face ready now, you're a shitty actress, like LiLo bad post-all the drugs Grace: It's likely you, J, you've gotten really embarrassing lately 😂 make sense why you don't wanna come out. gotta stay in with the fruit bowl Grace: Don't even joke Kirsty Dixon from number 22 had to go to the hospital loads in the summer it's so serious Grace: you're the hater on me and my friends, read the chat back if you don't believe Janis: Whatever you say, Graciepoo Janis: So? She's still a lame bitch Janis: or you gonna be her best friend now too? Janis: Last I remember, it was your pals calling her names Janis: but now she's in the hospital, you all wanna send her flowers Janis: just not chocolates, she'll be raging, like Grace: YOU'RE SO RUDE AND SOOO WRONG Grace: i know you're blinded by your jealousy but it's sad how much you have no idea what you're talking about Grace: cute but still cringey of course Janis: lol jealous of what? Grace: me having friends and you being the lone loser Janis: 😂 no Janis: firstly, your 'friends', you can keep 'em, there's a reason they were free to let you tag along and be their bitch Janis: secondly, i'm happy being alone, you're the one begging me to come hang, so nice one there 👍 Grace: I'M TRYING TO BE NICE Grace: won't next time, bitch Janis: please don't 😂 Grace: laugh it up all you want you were the one tagging along with us for ages Grace: you're not too good, you're too much of a freak now that's all Janis: yeah because wittle baby gracie doesn't want to do anything on her own Janis: don't cry about it now 😂 Grace: no i didnt want my sister to be an antisocial weirdo Grace: makes me look bad too Janis: Literally going out after tea, did you not hear? Janis: You wanna control WHO I'm friends with Janis: I've got friends, I don't want your hand-me-downs Grace: those creepy boys who want to look at you in your shorts aren't your friends saddo Janis: Your mind, Gracie 🙄 Honestly Janis: lads don't care about things like that, they wanna play footie Janis: and I have plenty of other people I hang with, not everyone wants to be in a sad lil gang Grace: now who's being a baby 😂 lads always think about stuff like that Grace: 🙄 you only think its a gang because you've made yourself unwanted Grace: whatever Jan-Jan i've got fun to have Grace: be boring Janis: They really don't, they think you're mental Janis: also a right slag 😂 Janis: sure you do 😏 laters! Grace: at least they think of me you're furniture Grace: I've got plenty of time and chances to change their mind but you're always gonna be blah Janis: lol yeah, so much chance, when i'm the one that gets to chat with them every day on the pitch and you just stand there staring and dribbling, not the ball, like 😂 Grace: 🙄 so jealous at least they know me and my friends are interested they all think you play for the other team Janis: so? I'm not the slag, I'm NOT interested Janis: how lame Grace: i'm no slag either Grace: you're just being too judgey and weird to know the difference Janis: whatever you say 👌 not me you've gotta convince otherwise, is it Grace: thank god for that 😂 Janis: eurgh don't be disgusting Janis: now who's the freak Grace: EWW THAT'S YOUR MIND I MEANT YOU'VE BEEN HIT IN THE HEAD BY THE BALL TOO MANY TIMES TO HAVE A CLUE ABOUT ANYTHING Grace: 👽 Grace: so gross Janis: no you didn't Janis: you're a shit liar Janis: why would you even say something like that Janis: you're messed up, grace Grace: WHY WOULD YOU WEIRDO Janis: I didn't Janis: you're always like this Janis: you're so fucking creepy Grace: I am not Grace: you're the gross creep Janis: get your own comebacks Janis: this is why i don't want to hang with you Janis: you're so boring Grace: get a life and stop being so disgusting all the time Grace: it's not cool its just gross Janis: I've got one Janis: and it isn't yours to ruin with your lameness Janis: ✌ Grace: I can't ruin what doesn't exist Grace: can't compete with how much of a loser you are anyway Janis: stop trying then Janis: weirdo 😂 Grace: 🙄 pathetic Janis: Oh, FYI, you forgot your jammies Janis: Rio's dropping them in so you better run unless you want her to come in and show you up for being a fake little bitch Grace: No I didn't we've all got matching here already Grace: I'm doing fine get over it Janis: That's literally the most hilarious thing I've ever heard Janis: Hope you're snapping pictures so we've all got something to laugh at Janis: 'Course you are, remember to let Jake know the # Janis: so sexy 😂 Grace: You're so obsessed it's embarrassing Grace: leave me alone Janis: I'll remember that when you're pestering me later Janis: Thanks for putting in writing Grace: Don't flatter yourself that I care Janis: So blatant Janis: N'awwwwh Grace: so annoying 🙄 Grace: go away Janis: go soak your manky feet Grace: go lose on the pitch you try hard bitch Janis: me? LOL ok Janis: trying so hard to be white and likable Janis: of which, you are neither Grace: Plenty of people like me as I am thanks Janis: oh, and who are you today? 😂 Janis: you haven't got a clue Janis: faker than your brands Grace: and you do? 😂 trying so hard to be a badass all of a sudden Grace: everyone's laughing at you Grace: not me Janis: By everyone you mean your sad little friends Janis: who no one but you gives a shit about Janis: be more mad 'cos I've ditched you FINALLY Janis: and I can actually enjoy myself Grace: go and do it then Grace: you'd have to stop talking rubbish at me first Janis: do you see me there rn? Janis: I already am Janis: laughing at you takes no time outta my day Grace: 😂 Grace: like i said, obsessed Grace: nothing better to do than be this lame Janis: like i said, bad actress Janis: i still, unfortunately, have to share a room with you, remember? i've heard you crying Janis: 😂 Grace: not everything is about you Grace: nothing is pretty much Janis: Why'd you go crying to mum about me then Janis: Now I've gotta be nicer to you Janis: What a drag Grace: you're a drag Grace: and a worse actress than you think i am Janis: I'm not pretending otherwise Janis: Its impossible to be nice to you, faking it or otherwise Grace: can't be harder than dealing with being around you Grace: too cringey for words Janis: Aww Jan-Jan please come Janis: PLEEEEEEEEEEASE ITS SO MUCH FUN Janis: now that's cringe Janis: 👍💜💭 Grace: not sorry for trying to get you to keep your invite Grace: you said you'd come and the girls were expecting you Grace: some of them wanted you to be there, because they feel sorry for you or whatever Janis: I don't recall that coming from my mouth Janis: more like YOU said I would Janis: boohoo Janis: the ONLY person who gives a shit is you Grace: blah Grace: bored of you thinking you know everything about me Grace: if you don't care then leave me alone like I already told you to do Janis: how could i not? EVERYONE knows you, right gracie? Janis: ur as transparent as a window and as shallow as a puddle Janis: doesn't take a genius babe 😂 Janis: i'm having fun, fuck off yourself if you can't deal Grace: 😂😂😂 Grace: your definition of fun is so sad Grace: I'm off to have some for real Grace: bye Janis: enjoy your spa and matching jimmies Janis: you wild one 😂

[not-poignant]

What are your favorite tropes? Anything particular that you like extra much? And are there any tropes that you're also not particular fond of, and/or rubs you the wrong way? Just curious. I hope you'll have a good weekend. Sends hugs!

Hi anon!

I actually did a ‘tropes I like and nope tropes’ post a while back and dug that up.

And I wrote more recently about tropes I really love here.

Recently I realised I really don’t like soul mate tropes. Anything to do with like the ‘red string of fate’ or people with ‘matching numbers’ or glyphs or marks or whatever, can’t really stand it. I don’t mind people in a relationship calling each other soul mates once they’ve realised a profound love for each other, but I don’t like AUs / universes where soul mates are a thing. Tbh I find it squicky.

On the other hand I really like forced soulbonds, mostly to explore consent issues, lol.

I really like: ‘character is in jeopardy/pain/anguish but no one else really sees it or takes it seriously until they’re forced to and then suddenly feel guilty/regret/remorse and pile on the comfort’ trope. I’m sort of hoping to explore that a bit in The Golden Age. We’ve already seen a little bit of it, but I’d like to just...do that more. Lol. It was heaps of fun to do that in The Court of Five Thrones re: Gwyn finding out what happened with the Raven Prince. Like, he went from kind of supporting Augus but always sort of holding back his trust too, to just full out being like ‘if anyone criticises Augus in my Court again based on what happened in the past let me know so I can murder them yes Gulvi I mean you.’

But yeah I don’t...really know? I don’t sort of...I don’t search by theme very often. I don’t search for fics by trope. I actually just sort of filter by ‘Explicit’ (it’s mostly likely to have the content I want, though Mature can too) and if I really like a pairing, I’ll read just about everything except mpreg (even then there’s exceptions like I do have some mpreg Loki fics bookmarked - they usually revolve around hurt/comfort though) and um...marriage fics. Anything that starts with ‘X and X are getting married and’ - makes me want to throw up a little bit, unless it’s like ‘X and X are getting married and then X is abducted and tortured and they forget about an archaic misogynistic ritual in favour of massive amounts of recovery and hurt/comfort.’

But you know I’ve never seen that summary before. ;)

Also as time goes by, I’m finding het fics increasingly squicky. I think what it is, is being queer and knowing how damaged I’ve been by the pervasiveness of heterosexuality and heteronormativity, it is currently really hard to divorce myself from my cynicism and bitterness over that when I see how much it just oversaturates the media. So I no longer read het fanfiction, and I have noticed a tendency to avoid it in fiction in general (though it can’t be helped sometimes). That’s less of a trope? But I suspect it’s also a temporary response to the state of society and the state of fictional media. Once I feel like it’s less of a fight or struggle just to get queer romance recognised, or queer SFF recognised not as a niche ‘LGBTQIA genre’ so much as its own valid series of contributions to large genres, I’ll probably be able to handle that again.

Likewise, regardless of theme, I’m more likely to give something a try if it features ace characters, or similar. These days, I’ve been exploring what it is to be a gray asexual writer, who essentially kind of ‘specialises’ in specific kinds of explicit material, especially BDSM material. I’ve been thinking more and more about making it more evident that a lot of the characters I write are generally aspecs in some fashion or another (Cullen in Stuck on the Puzzle is absolutely demisexual, and I feel you could make a good case for Gwyn ap Nudd being the same, and also demiromantic -> Mosk will be demisexual, and of course the Raven Prince is on the ace spectrum). Asexuality is highly underrepresented, and it’s a - in some circles on Tumblr - hated upon frontier in the world right now, and as someone who identified as bisexual for a very long time before I knew that ‘gray asexuality’ existed, I feel that inter-LGBTQIA persecution in my soul.

Eh that’s probably more theme? I admit, anon, my fannish vernacular when it comes to tropes is not that great. On the one hand I have a huge familiarity with AO3 tags and fanfiction tags, and can generally tell you what I think of every single one if you put it towards me. But it’s hard for me to remember those, and they don’t always equate with the same kind of tropes you’d find on say...TV Tropes. I’m not involved in the meta of those semantics, so it’s hard for me to think from scratch what I enjoy, vs. say...scrolling through a page of fics and being like ‘no I don’t like that’ or ‘yes I’m likely to like that’ or etc. If you had any tropes in mind that I didn’t address here, feel free to ask specifically! :D

Oh, I forgot, I really love a/b/o, to the point where I’m currently writing an original fiction series that centres on both celebrating and subverting these tropes. :D My ‘Perth shifters’ series. I’m hoping to get book one finished (and maybe even published) this year.

[reomanet]

Fascinating study concludes that dentists can smell when you're afraid, making them more likely to make mistakes

Fascinating study concludes that dentists can smell when you’re afraid, making them more likely to make mistakes

Fascinating study concludes that dentists can smell when you’re afraid, making them more likely to make mistakes Zoey Sky Tags: Anxiety , badhealth , body odor , chemical signals , dental care , dental health , dentist , dentistry , Fear , goodscience , managing anxiety , oral care , oral health , research , stress , studies , teeth , weird science ( Natural News ) No matter what your age, the thought of going to the dentist might fill you with fear and/or anxiety. According to a study by a group of researchers who observed dental students, “ dentists can smell when a patient is anxious .” The smell of fear or anxiety can even affect the performance of dentists, increasing the chance that they might “make mistakes and perform badly.” Valentina Parma, from the International School for Advanced Studies , shared that the study is the first to provide real-world evidence that chemical signals hidden in human body odors can reveal emotions and influence the behavior of other people. Other lab-based experiments have already determined that the body odors of individuals feeling certain emotions, especially negative ones like anxiety, disgust, and fear, might influence the perception of other people. However, it’s still difficult to explain why this happens and the smell can be hard to describe. (Related: Scared of the dentist? Scientists claim fear of dental drilling may be genetic .) Anxiety and mistakes For the study, Parma and a team of researchers set out to determine if body odor can signal a person’s anxiety. The researchers worked with dental students since dentists often treat patients who may be anxious. The researchers asked the 24 student volunteers to donate two T-shirts each. The first was worn during a stressful exam while the second was worn during a calm lecture. The research team then drenched the T-shirts with a chemical that masks body odor. The chemical-laden shirts were presented to a separate group of 24 dental students who reported that they didn’t smell any difference between the shirts worn during the stressful or relaxed situations. Mother Nature’s micronutrient secret : Organic Broccoli Sprout Capsules now available, delivering 280mg of high-density nutrition, including the extraordinary “sulforaphane” and “glucosinolate” nutrients found only in cruciferous healing foods. Every lot laboratory tested. See availability here. In the next part of the study, the donated shirts were worn by mannequins while the second group of students performed dental treatments on them. The students were graded individually on their performance by examiners. Based on the results of the graded performance, the students “performed significantly worse” when they were treating the mannequins that were dressed in the T-shirts worn by the other stressed participants. Some of the mistakes the students made included “being more likely to damage neighboring teeth.” Parma posited that the scent of anxiety could trigger the same emotions in people who subconsciously smell it. Pamela Dalton, from the Monell Chemical Senses Center , said that the results of the study were interesting since it can help them learn how humans “communicate without language.” Parma added that the reaction to fear isn’t unique to patients and their dentists. Doctors can also smell a patient’s fear, and body odors can also affect your work performance, especially if you’re sitting close to your boss. The findings didn’t confirm if fully trained dentists can also be affected by body odors like dental students, but future research will help look into this area of study. If the results reveal that dentists are also vulnerable to the same effect, training can help dentists and medical professionals identify potential biases that will hopefully improve patient care. Unfortunately for patients, there’s not much to do when it comes to masking the body’s chemical signals. Parma noted, “I don’t think we’ll be able to develop an anti-anxiety deodorant, unless we find the molecule responsible.” She concluded, “A better approach is to make dentists aware of the effect, and help manage their anxiety.” Tips to manage your anxiety when at the dentist’s It’s normal to feel scared when you’re at the dentist, but these tips can help you calm down : Create a “dentist” playlist – Music can help you take your mind off of anything, and a playlist for the dentist appointment can help you calm down. Include songs that make you feel relaxed so you don’t focus too much on whatever’s going on during the procedure. Count during the procedure – This tip involves counting backwards from 100 slowly. Breathe slowly with each number and visualize the numbers so you forget where you are. Restart your count whenever the dentist begins a new procedure. Like you, dentists need frequent breaks. This tip can also work with kids who aren’t too keen on getting their teeth cleaned. Tell them about your fears – Dentists are aware that some people are afraid of them, but they’re also willing to help you feel more comfortable so they can do their jobs properly. Let them know if you have panic attacks or an extreme fear of dental procedures so they can make things easier for both of you. Learn more tips on how to deal with your dentist appointment without anxiety at Dentistry.news . Sources include:

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