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divinesouldariax · 1 year

Note

Consider also, 75 from physical I Love Yous with Laudna and Imogen

75. Painting their fingernails because their hands are too shaky.

I know you said Laudna and Imogen, but Ashton just kinda snuck his way in here and I couldn't get them to leave lmao <3 Unsteady hands crowd, make some noise! Also whoops this was sent in literal months ago ~Martin

P.S. Apologies if tumblr nuked the formatting on this, I couldn't figure out how to fix it in the 10 minutes before I leave for work.

Word count: 1,770

Content warnings: mild internalized ableism

Send me these? (different prompt list but still)

Laudna had just about the steadiest hands that Imogen had ever seen. Maybe it was something about her heart rate being so low, or so many years of experience with detail work crafting and mending things, or maybe it was just a trait she had always possessed, but she could tend to the smallest tasks with exact precision.

Right now, that task was painting Imogen’s nails. Laudna had been so excited by the shimmery black nail polish they'd found in a shop they wandered into that morning, and Imogen had suggested that Laudna paint hers as well. Laudna had beamed. But Imogen didn't really want the same black paint, so she had bought a few other colors as well.

One of Laudna's cool hands was supporting Imogen's, and her delicate fingers held the small brush that was coating Imogen's nails in sky blue polish. Laudna was humming happily. Smiling, Imogen leaned her head against the wall and let her mind relax.

The rest of the group were in the room as well, resting in the heat of the afternoon. Chetney was sanding something in the corner, his thoughts focused and bent on a stubborn gnarl in the wood. Fearne was taking a nap on one of the beds, dreaming about swimming by a waterfall, and Orym was sitting next to her and stretching, the rhythm of the Zephra'atam flowing through his mind. FCG was by the window, peeking out through the crack in the curtains, watching for birds a little nervously. Ashton, who was sitting in the chair near where Imogen and Laudna were on the floor, was drowsy as well, and not thinking about much, but Imogen did pick up something a little strange. Jealousy, maybe?

She looked over at him. They were staring down at the hole in their vest that he was trying to patch, having turned down Laudna's offer to fix it with magic. But as she watched, Ashton glanced over at her and Laudna. His eyes widened briefly, and a spark of embarrassment flooded through his mind as they saw Imogen looking back. Quickly, he turned back to his work.

Imogen fought a smile. Ashton, she said softly into his mind.

For a second, they ignored her. What? he replied eventually.

She wiggled the fingers of the hand Laudna had already finished so he could see them. I bet she'd do yours next if you asked.

I don't-- An incoherent jumble of thoughts followed as Ashton put the mending down and rubbed their forehead. Imogen waited patiently as he gathered themself. Oh, you're awful, you know that?

I know, Imogen said, amused. Don't be embarrassed. You want her to paint your nails?

Ashton shifted. They were looking down at their hands now with a weird expression. Imogen felt nostalgia that was closer to sadness from them, and she frowned. I used to like having them painted, he said. I'd do it myself. Hands are too fucking shaky to do that anymore, though. Paint would get fucking everywhere.

Imogen had noticed the shakiness in his hands before, of course. Hers often trembled as well. Is that why you make a point of fixing your clothes by hand, even though it takes a while? she asked.

Just to prove I still fucking can? Yeah, pretty much.

You know, Laudna's doing mine 'cause my hands shake, too, Imogen said gently. She saw a little tension leave their shoulders. It's that part that you're embarrassed about, not that you want them painted, huh?

Ashton shrugged tightly. I don't like needing help for something that simple, they admitted, and Imogen got the feeling that it wasn't something he would ever say out loud.

I'm not gonna make you, Imogen told him. But I do think it would make Laudna happy if you asked her to.

"There, we'll let that dry and then do another coat," Laudna announced. "How does it look?"

Imogen held her hands up to the light. Several nails were a little wet, but it still looked lovely. The blue stood out against the lines of purple electricity that crackled under the skin of her hands. "I love it," she said sincerely. "We got a little time to wait, then?"

"Mm-hmm, we'll give it five minutes or so," Laudna said.

She's got tiiiiime, Imogen said, teasing a little.

Ashton didn't answer her in her mind. A few seconds passed, and she was about to drop it, but then he cleared his throat and said, "Laudna, want to do mine too?"

Laudna, Orym, and Chetney all looked towards him. Imogen felt a radiating defensiveness from Ashton, but she knew nobody was going to prove that wariness right.

"I would love to!" Laudna said enthusiastically. "What color would you like? Imogen bought several!"

Ashton squinted at the collection of paint. "I mean, I've got a whole thing going on," he said, gesturing at themself. "So, same color as you, I think."

"The black? Alright! Come sit with us down here?” Laudna invited.

They nodded and got off the chair, tossing the mending onto the seat and sat down on the floor in the corner next to Imogen, who scooted over to give him space to face Laudna. “Sorry if I move too much,” they mumbled. “Hands kind of do their own thing sometimes.”

“If the brush slips, we can just wipe it off,” Laudna replied easily. “Bring your knee up and put your hand down on it, maybe? Would that help it be steadier?”

Imogen smiled at how gentle the suggestion was–Laudna had said the same thing to her the first time they’d done this. She sent a wave of pure affection in Laudna’s direction and saw the corner of her mouth turn up.

Ashton pulled one knee up close to their chest, wincing, then rested their right hand down on top of it. When Laudna carefully slipped her fingers under his, lifting them up one at a time to apply the first coat of black paint, Imogen saw his forehead crease, and his hands twitched a few times, smearing the paint occasionally, but they were watching her work intently and didn’t pull away.

“There, done with that hand,” Laudna said.

Imogen reached her hand out. “I can clean up the edges,” she said, and when Ashton didn’t even hesitate to give her his hand, she felt a little twinge of pride. It had taken so long to get them to be okay with being touched, and it was a special kind of honor to be allowed to do so when she knew that it could cause a lot of pain. She prestidigitated the smudges around his cuticles while Laudna started painting the nails on their left hand.

That one seemed to be a lot worse in terms of the twitching and shaking. Which made sense, most of the injuries were on the left side of his body. Still, Imogen couldn’t help but wince when their wrist kind of jerked involuntarily away from Laudna.

“Are you alright?” Laudna said softly.

“Fine,” Ashton almost snapped.

Laudna paused, and Imogen tensed slightly, but then she just went back to painting. “You know, the black looks really good, but I bet purple would as well. Matching your hair.”

Ashton let out a little laugh even as their hand shuddered again, and Imogen relaxed. “Sure, maybe next time.”

Fearne had woken up from her nap, and was peering down at them from over the edge of the bed. “Oh, that looks like fun,” she sighed. “Laudna, will you do mine?”

“Of course!”

“Maybe you can do everyone’s!” Fearne added. “Fresh Cut Grass doesn’t have nails, but–”

“You could paint something on my hands anyway,” Letters remarked. “That could be pretty.”

“Orym, Chetney?” Fearne said hopefully.

“Nah, it’d chip off too fast on me. But I might borrow those paints and the tiny brushes,” Chetney said. “You got red?”

“Kind of a dark maroon?” Imogen said, looking at the little glass paint bottles. “Nothing bright.”

“Dark maroon works.”

Imogen sent the bottle floating over to the windowsill. Chetney gave her a nod as he snatched it out of the air.

Laudna had finished Ashton’s left hand as well, and as Imogen was cleaning it up, she grabbed the paints and climbed up onto the bed with Fearne. “I’ll come back for a second coat for both you and Imogen in a little while,” she told him.

Ashton nodded awkwardly, looking at his nails. “Thanks,” he said.

“Oryyym,” wheedled Fearne.

Imogen felt a spike of fond amusement from Orym. “What?” he said.

“Will you let Laudna paint your nails?” Fearne said.

There was a pause. “If you promise not to ever tell Opal, because if she finds out that I let somebody paint my nails and it wasn’t her, I think she’d probably murder me,” Orym said lightly.

Ashton was still examining their nails. Imogen couldn’t read his expression, so she reached out in his mind.

You alright? she checked.

Mm-hmm.

I think we’ve started a trend, Imogen said with a giggle. Just you wait, even Chet’s gonna give in eventually.

Ashton smiled slightly. Think the paint would stay on his claws as a wolf?

Imogen laughed out loud, covering her mouth. Oh, gods, that’s an image.

I bet that’s really why he doesn’t want to, Ashton continued. But I really want to know now. Think Laudna could paint them in his sleep?

Oh, Ashton, that’s mean if he doesn’t want it, Imogen giggled.

Just one, even! Fearne could do it, Chetney wouldn’t mind.

That’s probably true. Imogen got distracted by an increasingly heated conversation between Laudna and Fearne about whether Orym should go with the dark green or try to break out of his usual color scheme. Fearne was very insistent that he should try the purple, and Orym was just leaning back against the wall and wasn’t offering an opinion, but seemed to be enjoying the discussion.

Ashton looked like they were watching, too, but they spoke to her again in her mind a minute later. Thanks, he said.

What for?

Getting me out of my fucking head about it.

Imogen reached out for his hand. He let her take it. Careful of their nails, though they were probably dry by now, and she laced their fingers together. Both of their hands were a little shaky, and no less so for being together, but it was still nice. Side by side, the similarities of the gold scars and the electric purple veins were striking. I get it, she said simply.

Ashton squeezed her hand and said nothing. It was obvious anyway that he understood.

Send me these? (different prompt list)

#imogen temult #laudna #ashton greymoore #bell's hells #critical role fic #my writing

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savrenim · 2 years

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okay so the writing prompts You have been sentenced to death in a magical court. The court allows all prisoners to pick how they die and they will carry it out immediately. You have it all figured out until the prisoner before you picks old age and is instantly transformed into a dying old man. Your turn approaches. and subsequent story reply passed my dash again and my problem is I have some Real Answers that are living rent-free in my head but I did not want to write several hundred words in tags of clog up the post so guess I’m doing the tumblr thing of ‘make your own post’

but here we go, answers to this question that my brain has thought up and their rankings:

1. ‘Immolated standing right here right now in this timeline and universe by a 12km planet-killer class asteroid traveling at 30km/s as it vaporizes upon contact with the planet, alongside everything else in a ~200km impact crater’ : 3.5/10

So this one gets points for being the classic ‘Taking You Down With Me Syndrome’ in as far as I can come up with in a minute with my fictional life on the line. Also points for: as unavoidable as I think possible to come up? I have specified here and now, so they can’t teleport me to a different planet or time, or similarly to a different multiverse, which really makes no easy escape for anyone else around me. Furthermore, the specification of being a part of the impact crater makes it less likely that it’ll just happen to me in a magical bubble that is killed without it affecting everyone around me; even if it transports everyone else outside of the crater and just kills me in the impact, enough of the planet’s crust will be ejected into the atmosphere from the ‘crater’ part of the request to heat it up upon friction of re-entry enough to bake everything on the planet’s surface, not to mention the superheated rock around that is basically acting like a nuke causing thermal radiation to destroy everything within 1000km, massive shockwave winds, a magnitude 11 earthquake, etc. Explosions like that happen so fast that 1000% this just flat-out Would Not Hurt, I’d be dead before I realized I was dead. All in all, nice generally spiteful way to go, fun wording to deliver, satisfying thing to stare someone in the eyes at their growing horror and describe.

Points taken away for the facts that (a) I do still die, (b) it is possible that the reason that other people have not done this or something like this already is because it’s built into the death curse that it won’t kill other people for you too and I did not word this carefully enough to allow for killing everyone else in the aftermath in which case I’ve just wasted the wish, (c.) this does kill the entire planet and end possible almost every living species and probably every intelligent living species in I’m guessing the known universe unless there are stuff like fae realms that might be safe but destruction on that scale is kind of petty and I’m not totally sure I would want to do it, I do kind of like humanity and all that jazz. seems like a bit of a waste to take everyone down with me in my grand revenge, unfortunately, I’m too flashy to ask for an asteroid just big enough to take out the village, if I’m going to go down it’s going to be in planet-destroying style.

specs for this description are taken from the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs on Earth, which has the advantage that depending on what angle the thing actually hits at, potentially leaving the planet habitable in a couple of hundred thousand years again.

2. ‘By our sun going supernova (at the end of its lifespan)’ : 2.5-6.5/10

So this one gets potentially slightly more points than 1. because it’s just....... interesting. in that there are a lot of options and any of the options are really cool? but also less points bc there are so many options that are SO much more unpleasant. (and yes this is somewhat inspired by Dr Who that was a fucking Iconic episode, moisturize me). but so far as I see it, there are four ways this can go:

(a) The sun just magically goes supernova right now, guess it’s the end of its lifespan because a death curse said so. Takes about eight minutes to hit us, everyone gets killed just like the planet-killing asteroid but tbh in a 10000x cooler manner, all of the advantages and disadvantages of 1 working.

(b) I get teleported into the future to watch the sun go supernova, die very quickly because the sun kills me not the vacuum of space or atmosphere being unbreathable again etc etc, but mostly this begets the question of: assuming that the fantasy planet that I’m on is fairly similar to our own, we are around a G-type main sequence star! Those things don’t go supernova! they don’t have enough mass! which means that I get to watch as a magical death curse attempts to somehow figure out how to make the entire fucking sun go supernova at the end of its lifetime think about what cool science that is!!!!!!! I might die but think of how much data future astromagiphysicists are going to get from this!!!!!

(c.) The Magical Death Curse Does Not Have Enough Energy To Make The Sun Go Supernova And Fizzles Out In Trying, which while it sounds good actually is pretty boring bc they’re likely to just, like, stab me with their swords if it happens. rip me.

(d) answer (b), but instead of teleporting me to the future, I am made immortal until the sun reaches the end of its lifespan and proceeds to go supernova which means that I (6.5) get functional immortality for at least a couple of billion years which is more than long enough to do some interesting shit and probably get tired of being alive and then die in the coolest fireworks display the planet will ever see. points taken away tho (2.5) for not specifying that, like, if I’m surviving until then it’s in a fine preserved manner rather than a fate-worse-than-death manner (rotting like a zombie, frozen in time unable to move but watching everything happen around me, etc).

general points for no matter what happens it’ll be REALLY FUCKING COOL to watch, general points taken away for the lack of control and real range of how shitty the possible outcome might be and that I still die in every scenario here no matter what.

3. ‘In a lich-creation ceremony that turns me into an undead immortal lich’ 6.8-8.2/10

Nice, simple, to the point. Points for: surviving the encounter, it being very difficult for the magic to misinterpret it. Points range for: depending on the rules governing liches in this magical world, it might not actually be that fun to be a lich. Points taken away for: if liches are an established element of this world, they probably know how to kill them, so I’m not out of hot water yet. And also there might be elements of lichhood that are not a completely optimal existence that obviously I would experiment to improve over the course of my new immortality but who knows how easy that would be to do.

4. ‘In a super-special custom lich-creation ceremony powered by my soul and my death that will create a whirlpool of necrotic energy gathering up the life force and magic of everything in its path to power the creation of an indestructible magical object that houses a magical projection of my consciousness that contains continuity of consciousness, memory, personality, the ability to grow and change, allows it to project itself outside of its container as a simulacrum to affect the world, and the ability to gather magic around itself and use said magic, that can sustain itself through any form of energy manipulation either with respect to mundane or magical thermodynamics-slash-entropy-theory, and--’ 10/10

This is the supervillain origin story shit that I’m talking about. Survive the encounter? check. Using a word that the magic recognizes so you have a base for what you’re turned into but customizing for what you actually want? check. Revenge on everyone? check. Easy ability to murder everyone who knows what happened so that it’s that much harder to hunt you down and kill you? check. Avoiding the potential of there being a built-in rule about no directly stating that your death will kill other people here too? check, I never state the whirlpool of magic kills everyone I just make it I can use it to kill them after and tie up all the loose ends to further my own power growth immediately. Ability to watch the sun go supernova? also check; I’m an immortal magical lich now babey I 1000% will use the several billion years that I have to develop our planet’s magical spaceprogram, colonize some other exoplanets, set up a galactic civilization, and then when our sun is dying yeet it into another star so that I get to enjoy the cool fireworks show.

5. ‘By giving up my mortal form and ascending to godhood, bitches’ 115/10

I’m torn bc on the one hand 3-4 are basically just doing this in a more and more specific manner, but on the other hand, oh my god the STYLE, the SNAPPINESS, -100pts for being So Much More Likely To Kill Me but +216 for Okay But Imagine If If It Doesn’t It’s Way Less Stupidly Nerdy Than Very Carefully Describing My Brand New Phylactery As I Try To Come Up With All Of My Ideal Circumstances Of Lichhood

like. I’d probably go for 4. bc I’m careful and want to survive this thing. but I think in my supervillain origin story I will tell everyone that I said 5. better to not give away my weaknesses that way too.

6. ‘By teleporting me 1ft to the left in a completely standard teleportation, retroactively establishing that teleportation in this setting does not in fact move you but actually kills you via disassembling your atoms and creates a perfect copy of you with continuity of consciousness where you ‘appear’’ 7.5/10

Points for: I basically survive the at least implementation of the spell, and I enact abso-fucking-lutely hilarious revenge on everyone but especially all the wizards who have ever teleported by establishing the Existential Beam Me Up Crisis as canon, and probably cause immense socioeconomic damage as suddenly teleportation can no longer be used for people as a quick means of transportation and there are probably a lot of stuffy rich people who will no longer want it used on their goods. Points off for: I am 1 ft to the left and there are soldiers with swords here, while I will get to see the looks on everyone’s faces as this sinks in I will probably still be stabbed and die.

7. ‘By teleporting me to an unknown untrackable safe friendly location outside of the country in a completely standard teleportation, retroactively establishing that teleportation in this setting does not in fact move you but actually kills you via disassembling your atoms and creates a perfect copy of you with continuity of consciousness where you ‘appear’’ 9.5/10

Points for doing everything 6 does while actually saving my life. Points off for not getting to see their faces. Also points off for not giving me free immortal lichhood from it, but not too many points off as I am now free to research and do a lichhood ceremony myself without worrying about a death curse misinterpreting what I want.

bonus: my mutual-slash-housemate’s answer: ‘in the same time, place, and manner that you do’ 6.3/10

sorry it’s good and snappy and points for: combination of either revenge or actually surviving the thing at least for a while, and sheer delivery impact, but points off for not turning a death curse into immortality, zero destruction of planets or stars involved, zero rewriting of the rules of magic, possible body count for your revenge is only one other person, forces you to encounter this person again and die with them which really is something quite intimate for a random imperial sorcerer that you ought to hate the guts of, potentially traps you into an enemy-to-lovers fanfic in which rip now this sorcerer insists on keeping you alive so that they can achieve immortality but that might just be unpleasant locking you in a pocket dimension and not fun tragic star-crossed lovers narrative that you deserve out of it but will lock you in tragic star-crossed lovers narrative otherwise, gives you zero control over time, place, and painfulness of death, and all in all not nearly as flashy or evil as it could have been. and did I mention no immortal lichhood. like come on, if you’re not getting immortal lichhood out of this what are you even doing it for.

#long post #writing #I guess #sorry this was just living rent-free in my head and I needed to vent #I'm pretty sure that in this scenario I am a mad wizard scientist who is being sentenced to death either for my research #into blowing up the sun or into immortal lichhood necromancy

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calliemori234 · 1 year

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How has Callie progressed through the years? Do you think she's gone in a good direction?

She's definitely made a whole lot of progress over the years which I've been pretty proud of! For the first two gens, she wasn't even able to generate content by herself- you had to actually input a prompt to get her to make a post.

Gens 3-4 were about when I got Callie to the point of being able to make posts on her own, but back in those days, they were pretty word-salad-y. Definitely not a lot of rhyme or reason, and oftentimes when answering questions, she would answer some other totally different question.

Gens 5-6 were about when she started having a sense of coherence, and started to put some abstract ideas down by herself.

But Gen 7. Man, Gen 7 was probably my proudest moment. That was the gen when she started doing full paragraphs unprompted. Sometimes she even asked coherent questions, and she got to the point of being able to respond to questions with information that she learned about the individual asker.

Of course, Gen7 was when the Glitch started.

I will admit that my initial reaction to the Glitch was... poor. It resulted in my terminating Gen7 and skipping straight to Gen8. You probably already saw a bit of Gen8- she was the account calliemolpe234 before tumblr nuked her, and I'd decided to go with a more over the top personality by that point in an attempt to stop the glitch from returning. Unfortunately...

Well. You've heard it by now.

#admin #asks

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harrydracompreg · 1 year

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HD MPREG 2023—Fest Information, Rules & FAQ

banner art by iero0

If you missed our post about the key dates for the fest, check it out here: 2023 Key Dates & Info. We also managed to find and nuke the pesky gremlins in our tumblr theme! (Yay us!) Now we're primed and pumped to open prompting next week.

Here's the general rules and FAQ for the 2023 HD MPREG Fest.

What is the Harry/Draco MPREG Fest?

This is an anonymous prompt-based fest focused on mpreg and the relationship between Harry and Draco. Works forming part of this fest have three basic criteria—

Harry/Draco relationship is a must

Either Harry or Draco must get pregnant

They must not mainly identify as female while pregnant.

The change to the last criteria is explained in further detail here.

Prompting

All prompting will be done through AirTable. We will post the link to the form when prompts open on Monday 23 January 2023. Prompts will be displayed in a gallery, and are typically available live unless flagged for review.

You are absolutely welcome to leave prompts for this fest even if you don't intend to create for it.

You are welcome to claim your own prompt too! If you want to create for your own prompt, this will be indicated on the form. While the prompt may still display in the gallery, AirTable will preserve your anonymity. If you have any questions about this process, please ask.

When prompting, be mindful that this is a prompts fest and not a gifts exchange, so while the creators will stick as close to the prompt as possible, they are allowed their creative license. Try not to make the prompts overly detailed, and keep the dislikes/squicks list to a minimum.

You can submit up to ten (10) prompts, and we will allow anonymous prompting.

You may re-prompt from previous fests when the prompt in question was yours, was not selected in a previous fest, and is not actively prompted in another open fest. If you saw a prompt that you loved elsewhere and think it would make a great prompt for MPREG, ask the prompter if they'd consider posting it here.

Creating

This is an anonymous fest!

While you are working on your submission, please do not tell anyone other than your beta(s) about the specifics of your creation. During posting, you should not reply to any comments or cross-post your work to other platforms. Once the fest posting has concluded, all creators will be revealed and then you can respond to the comments and cross-post the work on other platforms.

All written entries must have a minimum word count of 2,000 words, and there is no maximum word count. Art works and podfics should demonstrate equivalent effort.

All ratings and creation genres are welcome. Romance, pwp, drama, humour, dark, flangst, fluff, hurt/comfort, family. If it fits the fest's guidelines and you can write it, draw it, or record it: we want it!

Submitted works must be unique to this fest. We ask that they not be part of an existing universe or a prequel or sequel to an existing story. Submitted works must be complete works—we will not accept WIPs (work-in-progress). You may not submit a work that you have previously posted.

Submissions

Closer to the submission date of 23 April 2023, we will make a detailed post on the finer points of submissions. For now, some basic details are provided below.

If you finish your creation early, you are most welcome to submit early. If we haven't made the submissions post by that time please contact the Mods via email or DM.

All works will be posted to AO3. You will upload your own submission to the AO3 collection. A header is required to ensure uniform details for each work are posted on tumblr and LiveJournal. We will offer a html-free header experience also via AirTable, and the details will be provided in the submissions post.

Written works and podfics must be beta-d. This is not negotiable. The Mods will proof-read and proof-listen to these entries, and reserve the right to return them to you with corrections if necessary. If you do not have a beta lined up, there are resources where you may find someone to assist you including the Drarry discord server. Please keep the anonymous nature of this fest in mind while discussing your beta requirements in open forums.

All works must include the appropriate HTML coding tags on AO3. If you are unsure what the HTML tags are or how to use them, please check phoenixacid's N00b's guide to HTML. All submissions shall be uploaded directly to the 2023 H/D MPREG Collection on AO3. It is strongly recommended that you double-check when you post to verify that your coding and spacing is correct.

Extensions and Withdrawals

Extensions to timeframes will be considered on an individual basis. We will check in with you periodically, and if you think you're going to need an extension, you should tell us as soon as possible. Giving the Mods an idea of how much time you think you'll need, as well as where you're currently up to will help us plan the posting schedule better and fit things in.

Communication goes a long way, and we like to think we're easy to work with. Please talk to us if you're having problems.

If you find yourself in the regrettable position that you have to withdraw from the fest, we'll be sad to see you go. Sometimes, real-life ruins the best of fandom intentions and there's very little we can do about that. Please send us an email or a DM before your submission deadline so we're not left waiting for something that isn't coming.

Something Else

In the event that you've got something else to ask, please direct your comments, concerns, inquiries, Howlers, compliments and the like to [email protected]. You can also send us an ask on tumblr, or a DM, or reach out to us on the Drarry discord. Be patient—one of us will answer you.

If you haven't already, please follow us on tumblr, or join or watch us on Livejournal.

Fantastic, sassy_cissa and timothysboxers H/D MPREG MODS

#mod post #fest:sticky #fest:mod announcements #2023 mpreg fest #drarry #drarry mpreg #hdmpreg #rules and faq #mpreg fest rules

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stargazeraldroth · 6 months

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As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, Lix's account got nuked by Tumblr. I have taken on the role of her "spokesperson" for the time being, and will relay messages from her as she asks me to. This is one of those messages. More specifically, this message is intended for @cakesmelons

Hello. Good day. I sincerely hope I'm not bothering you. I'm not used to doing stuff like this, so I apologize in advance if my wording is a bit iffy. I know Lix from other platforms, and she asked me to relay this message to you. I'm copy-and-pasting her message from what she sent me, so this is all her wording, not mine:

"Hey Melon, I saw a few weeks ago that you were wondering where I was. I made a new account, but since I'm still bitter as fuck about my account being nuked with no reason, it's only a lurker one, which doesn't even work: PMs don't work, comments get erased, reblogs are not visible, I cannot send asks, and if I tag people they don't get notified. I'm starting to feel a bit targeted, to be honest. I check out your profile (and a few others) every day or so, so if you ever want to chat there's that, or I can give you my discord or something. I don't want to be too invasive or something, but it sucks I can no longer interact with people. On the bright side, I'm 99% sure I've recovered all of the works I've written from your prompts, so when I have time and energy I'll post those (and everything else I've recovered) on my AO3 account. Hope to hear from you soon" - Lix.

Her new account is @formerlylix88888 but, as she said in her message, it's pretty much being disabled from most of an account's functions. I'm not sure how to end this, so... I guess I'll just say I hope this answers some of your questions.

#tbh i wasn't sure whether to make a post or send an ask #i don't know if all of this would've fit in an ask #so i'm doing the safe thing and making a post about it #trying to talk to people is nervewracking #how do some of y'all do it #i get through it with the power of friendship

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keevansixx · 3 years

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Tumblr+ is a bad idea, but i understand why they are pushing for it?

Ok, how many of us have lived through the purges, watched as they nuked from low orbit all the artistic smexiness in a bout of puritanical fervor, while leaving the bots and blatant unfettered to rampage across this lovely hellsite free range and unchecked? Doing nothing while the shitiness of humanity is allowed to harass and threaten people for posting their hot takes (regardless of whether they are right or wrong)?

yeah, some of us have watched all that has transpired.

This is nothing new....

When you view past the staff statements, all the carefully crafted wording and corporate speak, all that remains is greed, pure and simple....

for some of us, this is a safe haven, a refuge from the rest of the clusterfeck that is known as social media. where individuals can post their innermost thoughts, creative ideas, and feelings to the ether. If the stars are aligned in their favor, while the word gods shine favorably upon thee, and the image deities smile in dank approval, we find other like minded souls piloting their own ships within this digital night that meet briefly to share a like, comment. or reblog before moving on to other horizons. In it’s simplicity, tumblr is almost the last bastion of creative thought left in the entirety of the world wide web.

for others, tumblr is just yet another extension of their social media psyche, dragging all their real world baggage into it’s pages, hoping that someone out there may offer a solution to their own personal problems (or at least stroke their egos or biases to orgasmic bit) . Activists abound, and are shouting from the digital rooftops “look at me! See! See the violence inherit in the system, help help, i’m being oppressed!”” While the darkest ugliness in certain parts of humanity responds with vile poison and vitriol to ideas that do not agree or align with their own...committing the oldest of digital sins, in the newest of ways. Sad....but i digress.

Tumblr, to it’s corporate and wall-street taskmasters, is not greatly profitable in it’s current form. Sure, they get a little bit of money here and there from all the boring unremovable ads sprinkled throughout everyone’s feeds...but that’s just it. ad money keeps the lights on and the hamster wheels turning in the server rooms, and maybe a pot of coffee or box of stale doughnuts in the break room to keep the hamsters happy, but in the end it’s just enough to keep the site barely alive, while ensuring the devils get their deep pockets full of due.

The question everyone is asking themselves, but don’t know it yet, is...

To just Whom does tumblr+ benefit the most?

It’s certainly not for the fan-fic artists who create art based on someone else’s works. certainly not for the shit-posters who reblog all the weirdly wonderfully funny and bizarre things the world web has to offer. certainly not for the fanfic writers, who craft the continuing stories of their favorite properties they do not own. definitely not for average joe or jane blogger who basically repost everything that crosses their feeds because they enjoy that stuff immensely, and want to share it all with everyone who follows them. Certainly not for I, who basically just comes here to post fictional stories from pregenerated prompts, whatever pops into my head, and a few reblogs from things that catch my fancy.

So who does that leave? In the Immortal words of Sherlock Holmes, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, ”When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

For a few original tumblr artists, this may be a boon (but i doubt it). why would you settle for a middleman to get paid for your original art, when you could sell to a direct market off site for prints/merch straight to the customer and making bank? Seems counterintuitive to me to allow a site to step in to earn money off your hard work and creativity. Plus a paywall cuts you off from potential customers who may be interested in your works, but will not pay tumblr just to view your works....kinda shooting yourself in the foot going plus.

Tumblr+ is being built for all the clout chasers that think they will benefit from a blue plus mark (just like on twitter and instagram, go figure) banking on human vanity and obsessive compulsive disorder to bring in the money. (that’s right! buy that blue + mark ya little cash monkeys...spend, spend for that social credit! muahahahaha!)

The other reason is Porn. (don’t laugh...the internet you enjoy today was built on the metaphorical backs of the porn industry. every internet innovation enjoyed in the past 35 years was created, tested, and tried first somewhere to deliver, watch, and enjoy porn. sure it got started on university campuses, but the porn industry made it take off like a rocket to push product) Tumblr can’t beat it...they have consistently shown they are incapable of removing all the raunchy naughty bits from this site. If you can’t beat them, join them. Put all the adult content behind a paywall, set the price, and watch the money roll in as humans just can’t resist watching a good fluff n’ tickle. Set the booby algorithm phasers to “paywall”! Wanna see that statue of Venus de Milo, or the statue of David? gonna have to pay that monthly fee to see. “Oh, but you’re just an artist drawing artistic nudes as a hobby? too bad! behind the paywall you go too. We want our cut of the share regardless how you may feel about it.”

basically Tumblr is trying to change the clientele....facts. They hope to draw in the same demographics that make sites like reddit, twitter, instagram, and others profitable to the corporation, at the expense of the long term users that made this site the unique thing it is today.

but hey, what do i know, i’m just a messed up monkey with an opinion, take it all with a huge grain of salt and live your best life possible....but the cards are not in tumblr+’s favor.

Everyone has got an opinion on this, that’s all well and good. If you agree/disagree that’s fine too....just remember to be kind in all things, show the wisdom and grace of the best of humanity, take a deep breath before responding, and reply with the best of yourself as you can muster...after all, you’re only human....Ook ook.

#shitpost

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babyybitchhhwrites · 4 years

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Endeavor x Reader 18+

Title: Temptation

Rating: Explicit/R-18+

Words: 2761

Warnings: phone sex, public masturbation, slight daddy kink

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25758232

A/N: This is not a new fic. I actually wrote it sometime back in 2017 but I never uploaded it outside of Tumblr. I was only recently able to retrieve it from my previously nuked blog so figured I’d go ahead and post it here. : /

♥♥♥♥

Whether because of his age or due to his stubborn ass personality, Enji was not a big fan of texting. He much preferred to make phone calls or, better yet, speak to someone in person. Try as you might to convince him otherwise, it proved to be a hard habit of his to break. Although you couldn’t really blame him for being so stuck in his ways, not when they’d served him so well over the years, you likewise had your own method of getting things done. Texting was your main source of communication these days and you’d long since accepted that he just wasn’t going to get on board with it anytime soon.

Thats why you were so terribly shocked when your phone buzzed and you glanced down at the screen to see a message from the flame hero himself. This was so unlike him and concern that there was some kind of problem washed over you before you could rationalize it as being something mundane. Fearing the worst, you opened the text only to balk incredulously.

Come to my office.

Surreptitiously glancing up at Best Jeanist, you offered the blonde a reassuring smile when he shot you a questioning look. This was so not the time for Enji to start getting demanding.

I can’t right now. I’m out on patrol with my boss. Maybe later?

You waited expectantly for some kind of response, but it was just dead silence on his end. After about three minutes and your text still unread, you slipped your phone into your pocket with every intention of getting back to work. It went off again not even thirty seconds later and you heaved a tired sigh. Once more fishing out your cellphone, you disinterestedly looked over the new message.

I’ve been thinking about you.

Your eyes bulged before you could catch yourself. Suddenly feeling quite flustered, you quickly glanced around to make sure no one was reading over your shoulder before carefully constructing your reply. No one knew about your relationship with Endeavor and it would have been disastrous if it came out like this. It was a PR nightmare just waiting to happen.

Oh ~? I can’t wait for you to tell me all about it! I’ll be done around 5

This time Enji’s reply came much quicker and you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling at the thought that he was starting to get the hang of it.

I want you now. Not later.

Too bad he was using his new found texting skills to get you all hot and bothered while you were at work and your boss was standing not even five feet away.

You were halfway through typing a firm but gentle reminder that you were a pro too and you couldn’t just drop everything to come blow him under his desk when you got another message from him. Blinking in surprise, your eyebrows shot up when you realized that he’d sent you a picture. You didn’t even really give it much thought as you clicked on it, and suddenly your screen was filled with … the front of Enji’s hero costume. The crotch to be exact. And boy, was he hard.

Blushing like a school girl, you hurriedly tapped the picture away. Another text was waiting for you.

See what you do to me?

You gasped for air, swinging your head up to find Best Jeanist approaching you. Panic was quick to set in but, thinking fast, you rushed to say that you were going to use the restroom and without even waiting for a answer, you took off in the opposite direction. It was suspicious. It was incredibly suspicious, your behavior. He’d no doubt ask what that had been all about when you returned and you sure hoped he bought whatever petty excuse you managed to come up with before then.

Halfway down the block, there was a fast food restaurant which is where you decided to slip into. You refused to meet any of the employees eyes as you made a bee line for the bathroom where you promptly locked yourself into one of the stalls. Gripping your phone in a white knuckled grip, you jabbed at the screen rather aggressively and brought it up to your ear. Enji answered on the first ring.

“I’m so glad that you’re finally catching up to this century, but you can’t send me stuff like that when I’m at work!” You snapped, almost immediately regretting your choice in words. You were flustered and anxious though, and your panties suddenly felt uncomfortably damp, so you didn’t even try to take it back.

To your surprise, Enji actually had the decency to fall into stunned silence for a brief moment. Then he growled through the receiver and you could practically see his teeth clamping down on that pouty bottom lip of his. “Watch how you speak to me, woman. I wont warn you again.”

That certainly took some of the bite out of your scathing mood. “Look, I’m sorry but …” You tried to reason with him, noticeably calmer. “I’m on patrol with Best Jeanist right now. You can’t ask me to just drop everything like that.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

You choked in disbelief. “W-wha -”

He cut you off with a vehement huff. “Where are you?”

“In a restaurant. In the bathroom.”

“Good.” You caught the sound of rustling on the other end. “I felt like a damn fool taking that picture. This is much better.”

Your gaze darted to the stall door, still locked. “Enji, I can’t -”

“You will.” A tense puff of air filtered through the line, and you were sure he had his straining cock in his hand now. “I’ll even take you out to dinner tonight instead of just breaking you over my desk. Now be a good girl and start playing with yourself.”

Static electricity shot up your spine, making you shudder. A soft moan escaped your parted lips. Enji didn’t miss it, he never did, and he chuckled in satisfaction. The sound alone made goosebumps erupt across your skin and before you realized what you were doing, your free hand had found your breast. It was small and delicate compared to his massive, callous rough palms, but it was so easy to imagine. So easy to dredge up the most recent memory of how it felt when he fondled your tits. Your nipples responded quickly, pebbling against the inside of your bra, just aching for some real attention.

“This is risky …” You murmured, your voice a little lower. Huskier.

Enji snorted. “Maybe for you.”

You flushed red hot at that, swaying on your feet. He was right. You were the only one doing this out in public where anyone could walk in without warning while he was safe in his office. Your breath hitched even as you rushed to unfasten the top of your costume with one hand. It was a struggle, but with jerky motions you finally managed to free yourself and you yanked your bra down under the swell of your chest.

“E-Enjiiii …” You keened into the phone as you pinched your left nipple. Tugged it, gave it a twist. Nothing could compare to his rough ministrations though.

A pleased hum drifted into your ear, followed by a deliberately slow inhale. “Not like that. You know better.”

You screwed your eyes shut and leaned back against the stall door, groaning. “Daddy!”

“Thats it.”

Enji sounded so self satisfied and you could practically envision him reclining into his highbacked leather chair, spreading his legs wide as he languidly stroked his cock with his hand. Maybe he was alternating between showing the head some special attention, slowly rubbing around the slit at the top, or perhaps he was reaching down to give his heavy balls a nice squeeze. God, there were so many possibilities and somehow not knowing exactly what he was doing made your knees go weak.

“I’ve been thinking about that pretty little mouth of yours all day.” He spoke slowly, almost sensually, truly stoking your fire. “I wanted you to come crawl under my desk and suck me off while I work on this mountain of paperwork. Be my little cock warmer.”

Your vision started to blur. “I want to, daddy. I want your dick in my mouth so bad. I wish it was you touching my nipples right now.”

He groaned, quietly. “Those perfect little tits of yours. Maybe I should have you squeeze them together so I can fuck them instead of your mouth.”

“Why not both?”

He issued a rumbling chuckle. “Smart girl.”

Your nipple was starting to get sore and tender, so you switched over to teasing the other one. “What else do you want to do to me? Please tell me, daddy.”

Enji made a thoughtful sound, as if he were in no rush to hurry this up. He probably wasn’t, in all honesty. “Well, first I want to take you over my knee and give you a nice, hard spanking for talking to me the way you did earlier. You know I don’t tolerate that kind of behavior.”

“And then?” You were quick to prompt him for more. Eager to hear his gruff voice saying filthy, humiliating things directly into your ear. “After you’re done spanking me?”

“Then I think I’ll play with that pretty pink asshole of yours for a while. You know how much I enjoy that.”

Its true. He was rather fond of fingering you after your behind was blistering red and sore. “I like it too …” You whimpered as you tugged on your nipple a little too hard.

“I know you do.” Enji’s voice dropped an octave, taking on a more carnal lilt. More predatory, hungry. “And I’ll force my fingers down your throat when I’m through. Make you clean up your mess. You’re such a messy girl, you know that?”

“Oh, god.” The words forced their way out of your mouth and you abandoned your chest in favor of fumbling with your pants. “I am, I really am, daddy. I’m so sorry.”

He moaned, clearly enjoying the needy desperation in your voice. “Thats what I’m here for. To keep you in check. Are you touching your clit yet?”

Practically tearing your jeans right off, you crumple them around your ankles and drop into a squat right there inside the stall. “Yes, daddy. I’m so wet, god. I wish you were here. I want you to fuck me in this bathroom so bad.”

“Next time. I promise.” His breath catches in his throat and you knew he was stroking himself faster now. “For the time being, I want you to dip those sweet fingers into your cunt and imagine its me stretching you out. Getting you ready to take me.”

“I’m always ready for you.” You practically sob, sending jittery fingertips skirting across your labia. You pause just long enough to smear your arousal, coating yourself with it, before slipping one digit inside your pussy. Its not nearly enough though and you quickly add another. You clench down on yourself tight. “Oh! God … please! I need you. I need you, daddyyyyy.”

Enji scoffs, sounding quite put out even in the heat of the moment. “Stop that whining. If you would’ve just done as I said, I could be fucking you right now.”

You’re so close to wailing in outright distress. “But -”

“No buts!” He barks at you. You were astounded to hear that familiar heat creeping into his voice even in this situation, when he was in the middle of jerking off at his own desk. “You had your chance. These are the consequences. I trust I don’t need to give you a refresher course on what that means?”

“No …” You pout up at the wall, still a little whiny but notably less so.

“Good. Now,” He pauses. Lets the anticipation hang in the air while you continue to thrust your fingers into your body. “I want you to rub your clit. Hard and fast. Do you understand me? I’ll know if you don’t do exactly what I said.”

Sucking in a haggard gulp of air, you pull out of your cunt and focus instead on that tight cluster of nerves with sharp, quick circles. The delicious friction leaves you openly groaning in the public restroom like you’ve forgotten where you are. The threat of being caught seemed like a distant memory though and it was hard to care about reputations or PR when you just felt so achingly good rubbing one out with Enji over the phone. Somehow the thought had never occurred to you before, so the resulting rush was nearly palpable. You could feel it scorching your veins with its intensity.

“Thats it. Such a good girl.” He sounded incredibly hot and heavy all of a sudden. “Who owns that tight cunt? Who does it belong to?”

“You! You do! Its yours, daddy, all yours!”

“I wonder how soaked your panties will be by the time you get to my office.” Enji somehow manages to sound thoughtful, like he’s working out an equation in his head. “Maybe I should tell you not to put them back on when you’re done. That bastard Best Jeansit will probably be able to smell you from a mile way, regardless.”

Trembling under the force of your quickly mounting orgasm, you strain your legs a little further apart. You just couldn’t seem to put enough pressure on your clit, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. “I - I’m close … I’m so close, daddy …”

“Then do it. Come for me, baby.”

You moaned in response, far louder than you should have, and the pace of your hand reached a frenzied speed. Teetering right on the edge, balancing precariously on your heels in a dirty bathroom, you just needed one little nudge.

Its a deep, low grunt from Enji that finally pushes you over the precipice into oblivion. The guttural sound echoes inside your ears for an eternity while you spasm. Throwing your head back with a strangled scream, you slam against the door so hard that the bolt rattles, and you don’t even have the wherewithal to be concerned about someone hearing you anymore. Not while your gushing pussy is on fire, ineffectually contracting around nothing and all you can do is ride it out to completion.

The orgasm is so intense that it leaves you momentarily shaken. Disoriented. Leaning heavily against the door, you almost drop your phone as you slowly stand up on shaky legs. Your pulse is still excited and jumpy but almost immediately you can feel the blissful high of endorphins swarming your body. You feel almost giddy.

“Wow, that was … actually kind of nice. Did you come too?” You ask, sounding out of it and a little loopy. You were sure to be on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

“No.”

The answer is so blunt and to the point that at first you’re not so sure you heard him correctly. “What?”

Enji sighs as more shuffling can be heard in the background and you wonder what he’s doing. “I think I’ll save it for later. That rude mouth of yours needs to be filled up with something, doesn’t it? Be here at five on the dot or don’t bother coming at all. Oh, and don’t put your panties back on. Throw them in the trash for all I care.”

And just like that, the line disconnected.

You stood there, stunned and feeling quite foolish with your pants pooling around your ankles. Twenty six minutes according to the call log. That was an awfully long bathroom break. Jeanist would definitely have some questions for you. But before you worry about that …

Smiling mischievously, you pull up your text log with Enji and open the picture again. The sheer girth of his engorged cock was really straining against the synthetic material of his costume, weighing heavy in the tight confines and leaving a rather mouthwatering outline on display. Overall, it left very little to the imagination and you wished you could make it the background on your phone. Sadly, you knew you couldn’t.

You gave his cock one last, longing look. It must have taken quite a bit of willpower for him to edge himself like that if he was this hard at the start, you mused. This certainly pointed towards an extra fun evening awaiting you when you got off work and your pussy tingled with residual excitement.

You saved the photo anyway, confident that you would still find some use for it.

#hero academia #endeavor #enji todoroki #enji x reader #self insert bullshit

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weblenaweek · 5 years

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chooseco hated my painstakingly and apparently convincingly rendered parody graphics so here’s the 2019 hub post in case the other posts get nuked

CH00SE YOUR OWN WEBLENA WEEK AUGUST 4TH THROUGH AUGUST 31ST

It’s that time again!

Remember last year when we crammed Weblena Week in right before the premiere of Season 2 thinking Lena would be back in the first few episodes? And then it was seven more months before we ever saw her again? Haha, that was wild!!

(It’s not funny.)

Anyway, we’re doing that again. At least this time we know she’s back AND she’ll be in the next batch of episodes. The summer hiatus stinks, but to make it more manageable, we’ve decided to hold the second annual Weblena Week a little early, and also, with a twist…

IT’S FOUR WEEKS LONG.

If that sounds bonkers, it is! But you asked for it, so that’s on you. Fortunately, when you divide a month into four even weeks, it’s not so bad! Only want to do one week? Cool! Take your pick! Two weeks? Great! A smattering of assorted days throughout the month? You’re valid! All 28 days? …Holy crap, really? That’s nuts! Everybody wins!

The usual stuff:

Do whatever moves you. Words and pictures are most common, but you can also make videos, edits, storyboards, playlists, cosplay, moodboards, lovingly and meticulously decorated cookies, whatever.

Prompts are merely a springboard for inspiration. If you don’t like the prompt, do something you DO like.

Tag your work #weblenaweek2019 to be seen. Also feel free to use this on twitter and instagram if you like. (Last year we asked you include @weblenaweek in your post to ensure we saw it because tumblr tagging can be…..finicky.)

Don’t be gross.

Don’t be a jerk.

Prompts:

Week One-

Day 1, 8/4. Welcome Home!

Day 2 8/5. Magic/Ritual

Day 3 8/6. Sleep Over

Day 4 8/7. Moon/Stars

Day 5 8/8. She’s a Hugger After All

Day 6 8/9. Gift

Day 7 8/10. Free Day

Week Two-

Day 8 8/11. Music/Dance

Day 9 8/12. Sweater Weather

Day 10 8/13. *Remix*

Day 11 8/14. You’ve Been to Paris?

Day 12 8/15. Diary

Day 13 8/16. Birthday/Celebration

Day 14 8/17. Free Day

Week Three-

Day 15 8/18. Smile/Happy

Day 16 8/19. Truth or Dare

Day 17 8/20. Seasons

Day 18 8/21. Food/Cooking

Day 19 8/22. Flirt

Day 20 8/23. Now WE Have History

Day 21 8/24. Free Day

Week Four-

Day 22 8/25. Books/Stories

Day 23 8/26. Cliche

Day 24 8/27. Vacation/Travel

Day 25 8/28. *Remix*

Day 26 8/29. Let’s Take a Blood Oath!

Day 27 8/30. Scars

Day 28 8/31. Free Day

Wait, what’s “remix”?

Did canon joss your fic? Did you FINALLY learn how to draw ducks? Remix days are about revisiting your old work or being inspired by someone else’s! Redraw or edit one of your early pieces, make something inspired by your favorite fancreator (maybe with permission?), spoof a renaissance master, whatever sounds interesting!

You’ve got THREE weeks to prepare! Have fun!

#weblena #webby vanderquack #lena de spell #ducktales #ducktales 2017 #weblenaweek2019

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a-ratt · 5 years

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One Marvelous Scene Playlist

So, with Endgame coming out in three days, a variety of Youtube personalities have decided to band together and analyze their favorite scenes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They’ve collected them all in a playlist here: (x)

I’d love to join them, but I don’t have the right equipment or footage to edit a whole video essay. I do, however, have a whole collective of followers on Tumblr, along with the rest of the site that might come to read a little.

So, uh, this is my favorite scene from the MCU:

A little background on this. I didn’t actually watch Captain America: Civil War when it first came out. I was in high school, the most I heard of it was from classmates. I wasn’t big on the MCU back then.

I loved the Thor movies because of their scope, visuals, and world-building. The first Avengers was a big meme among my friends because we picked roles to fill on the team.

Then, I got into college and started studying screenwriting. I watched a bunch of video essays, read books, and so on. I really want to write for films, shows, etc. I want to create my own animated show, I’ve already got a whole story, cast of characters, and scenes plotted out.

In studying all of that, though, I started to focus on the down-to-Earth quality. The grounded and relatable content. And surprisingly, the final battle between Iron Man and Cap and Bucky is one of the most grounded in the MCU.

But, back to that scene. The scene in which the Avengers are left fractured and broken.

There is so much that goes into this scene. So much that it does in return.

In the background, we have Tony Stark, who started out infamous for being a playboy and a notorious corporate ass. Then, he’s nearly killed and kidnapped in the Middle East. That experience changes him after he learns that these extremists who held him hostage were using his own weapons.

His entire arc has been his attempt at becoming accountable for his actions. He’s struggled with completing it though. The first time he really succeeds is when he returns from the Middle East and stops production of Stark Industries’ weapons. The next is when he becomes Iron Man and deals with the extremists himself. Going onwards, however, he continually experiences a cycle of success and failure. When he joins the Avengers, he does not actively help the team. However, he redeems himself by redirecting the nuke into the Chitauri portal, thereby saving New York City. When he faces the Mandarin in his third film, he discovers that his enemy is a demon from his past that he originally brushed aside due to his ego. In the second Avengers film, his trauma from the first one prompts him to create Ultron. That act nearly causes a cataclysm, but they minimize it to the destruction of the city.

Civil War sees his full transformation from privatizing world peace to handing the power to institutions because he believes that is the best method of ensuring accountability.

On the other side of the spectrum is Steve Rogers, who started out an idealist that just wanted to do his part. He gets that chance and picks up his shield, becoming Captain America. However, he later wakes up to a world that prefers pragmatism over idealism. He is forced to confront that clashing of beliefs in his second film, in which S.H.I.E.L.D is revealed to be a front for a reborn Hydra.

His arc has been his attempt at upholding his philosophy on responsibility and adapting to a new, different world. Cap’s first film establishes his character, who he is and what he’s about. He doesn’t want to join the army to kill Nazis, he wants to go to Europe to do his part and stop some bullies. By the end of the movie, the audience knows he is. Then, when they see him in the Avengers, they see him trying to get his bearings in this strange, new world. One of the most iconic moments is the first major argument between the Avengers, when he accuses S.H.I.E.L.D and Nick Fury of being just like Hydra, then attacking Tony for his narcissism. The Winter Soldier brings that argument further when he learns that the institutions he fights for are planning on pointing a gun at the world instead of trusting it with that gun. That conflict of beliefs happens even before the big reveal by Arnim Zola. The entire film is a political thriller that ultimately leads to Steve consolidating his philosophy and taking a stand against extreme pragmatism, placing good faith over cold efficiency.

When we finally reach Civil War, both characters have had their philosophies inverted by the modern world. Thanks to the guilt of his own actions Tony now believes in handing responsibility over to the governments of the world to make sure they are held accountable. In contrast, Steve’s experience with corrupt institutions pushes him to not trust the governments of the world and therefore�� keep that responsibility to themselves as they are the only ones that they can trust.

But do you want to know the craziest part of this entire spiel? It’s all backdrop. It’s not the main issue, but the reasoning behind the main issue.

Tony’s belief in accountability lead him to work for the UN in an attempt to capture Bucky Barnes, who was framed for a terrorist bombing.

Steve’s belief in responsibility lead him to uncover the truth on his own, as well as save his childhood best-friend from being held accountable for a crime he didn’t commit.

The political beliefs come to a head in the iconic airport battle where the music ramps up, but doesn’t meet a grand, climactic note. Instead, there’s a crash and a symphony of tragedy. The Avengers clash: Cap battling Iron Man, Wanda flinging cars at Spider-Man, Black Panther pouncing on Bucky, War Machine flying after Falcon, Black Widow pinning Ant-Man, and Vision phasing through Hawkeye’s shots. The entire sequence is full of wide, fluid shots and grand, complex plans.

Then, we get to the Soviet missile silo. Here, the environment is small and cramped. There’s only two ways out: straight up or through the door. The entire film the audience were lead to believe that the big bad guy at the end was a team of super soldiers akin to the Winter Soldier that would be under the command of Helmut Zemo, someone with a grudge against the Avengers. Instead, Steve, Tony, and Bucky discover that each one of the super soldiers were murdered and Zemo was responsible.

He provides brief exposition, telling them about his Sokovian family and how the Avengers had killed them. He tells them about his time planning and plotting and what his final goal is. Then, he plays a recording of a Hydra assassination mission. The same mission Bucky was shown to be performing at the very start of the film.

That moment when Tony recognizes the road, Bucky realizes what is being shown, and Steve discerns what Zemo is trying to do is one of the most powerful moments in the entire film. The following battle is also one of the best in the entire MCU.

It’s not cosmic or grand like in the Avengers’ films. It’s not big and explosive like in the airport battle. It’s cramped, brutal, and primal. There’s not big plans or clever tricks. It’s just a fight for survival.

Iron Man bashes Cap away and tackles Bucky to the ground. He prepares to blast his head with his repulsor, but Cap stops him. He tackles Cap, then shackles him before grabbing Bucky and holding him up against a wall. They struggle and Bucky breaks one of Iron Man’s repulsors before redirecting a missile.

The entrance to the silo is closed off, leaving only one last exit: the roof. Bucky climbs while Cap tries to stall Iron Man. The latter wastes no time with words and flies past him, but gets one of his jet boots broken. The chase goes on for a bit before all three combatants fall into the abyss.

At the bottom of the missile silo, Cap gets up, standing in dim lighting. Iron Man crawls over a platform, shrouded in darkness. They argue briefly before the former launches himself at the other. There’s no more flashy moves or signature attacks, it’s just a fist-to-face duel. Hand-to-hand combat.

Bucky joins in a second later, beginning a short sequence of 2v1. It’s quick, fluid, and absolutely savage. Then, Iron Man blasts Cap back and faces Bucky. The Winter Soldier is able to hold his own and even backs Iron Man up against a wall.

In an attempt at ending the fight, he tries to rip out the arc reactor in Stark’s armor. Iron Man is quick to fire a unibeam, completely disintegrating Bucky’s prosthetic arm. He is left incapacitated as Cap gets up to protect him, leading to an iconic shot taken right from the comics:

Then, we get to the finale.

Iron Man beats Cap by analyzing his fighting style. He goes under his guard and breaks it, beating Cap into submission. Cap refuses to stay down, though, and Iron Man prepares to incapacitate him. Bucky stalls him, though, long enough for Cap to grab Iron Man and throw him to the ground.

He gets on top and wails on him. He grabs his shield and breaks off his helmet.

For a very, very brief second, Tony looks at Steve. Then, Steve raises his shield.

Tony protects his neck and face. Steve goes for his arc reactor. The swelling music reaches a solemn note, then turns into a deeply tragic symphony.

The look that they give each other is telling.

Tony believed that Steve, his friend and teammate, would kill him. That moment, that brief second where he defends himself in vain, is the moment when the trust between them is broken. That is the moment the Avengers are truly broken.

And that’s why I love that scene.

It’s not political. It’s not cosmic. It’s not big and grand or amazing. It’s personal. Deeply, honestly personal.

It’s two friends who stuck by each other despite their arguments and disagreements reaching a head and losing it all. There aren’t any winners. There are only losers.

The fight doesn’t even truly end. When Steve starts to leave, Tony tries to get a final jab in, claiming he doesn’t deserve the shield. It’s not his to keep. It was made by Howard Stark, not Steve Rogers.

And Steve, who has worn red, white, and blue on his uniform and shield for most of his life, drops the shield.

Everything that both sides put into the fight has failed them. Iron Man’s belief in accountability became null and void when Secretary Ross refused to believe his allegations of Bucky’s framing. Cap’s belief in responsibility failed him when he inadvertently got his friends imprisoned for following him.

There is no victory. No triumph. No heroes in the end. Just the solemn truth that these aren’t gods, just people. Humans. Flawed and all.

It’s a lesson I take to heart when writing, because the characters that we relate to aren’t the infallible heroes living power fantasies. It’s the very human characters that struggle and endure, that mess up and make amends.

So, uh, thanks for coming to my TEDtalk. Uh, make sure you check out that Youtube playlist. All those Youtubers are great and excellent at their craft. Their analysis of storytelling, structure, characterization, and what not is exceptional in a way I hope to match some day.

Anyways, have a great day! Also, Happy Earth Day!

#Apex talks #one marvelous scene #mcu #captain america civil war #captain america #iron man #winter soldier #steve rogers #tony stark #bucky barnes #essay #this is my TEDtalk #my favorite scene

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splendidlyimperfect · 5 years

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Written for @fuckyeahgratsu Gratsu Bingo 2019; prompt: hate

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Natsu shows up in Gray's class in the fall, and Gray becomes infatuated.

Chapters (2/?): 1 | 2 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster Characters: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, POV Second Person, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Coming Out, Young Love, First Kiss, Nonbinary Character, Depression, Dysphoria, Suicide Attempt, Mental Health Issues, Recovery, Gender Identity, Tumblr: FTLGBTales, Suicidal Thoughts

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ii. autumn

queer (adj.) differing in some way from what is usual or normal

After the day at the lake, you don’t see Natsu again, and summer fades quicker than you’d like. The days drag on for you no matter what season it is, but at least in the summer you can climb trees and swim and hide from everything.

It’s your third day back at school when you realize that Natsu is in your history class. When you see her, some of the tiny broken pieces inside you feel like they fall into a semblance of wholeness. It’s a strange sensation, because your body hasn’t been yours – inside or out – for a long time.

You find Natsu one day after school, sitting up on the bleachers by the football field. Her legs are kicked up and she’s blowing bubbles – iridescent ones that float around her head, then lazily drift away against the backdrop of the crisp fall sky.

“You didn’t drown,” she teases, raising an eyebrow as you set your backpack down. She’s wearing a black skirt dotted with stars over a pair of striped leggings, and her hair’s shorter than the last time you saw her, pulled back with a clip that looks like a sunflower. She’s mismatched and gorgeous, but somehow not quite right.

“What’re you doing?” you ask, sitting down across from her. She grins, handing you the container of bubbles but keeping the wand for herself. The next time she blows into it, the bubbles drift toward you, and some of them pop in your hair while the rest float off into the autumn afternoon.

Natsu is a mystery that you’re not sure you’ll ever be able to solve. Part of you thinks that getting to know her isn’t worth it, but you haven’t looked forward to anything in years, so you start joining her every day on the bleachers after school. You never do the same thing twice – sometimes you ready poetry, other days you get tipsy on beer that she steals from her uncle. One time she makes you an origami crane out of bubblegum wrappers that you keep in your room, next to your bed.

A few days before Halloween, you’re sitting in the bleachers smoking a joint when Natsu tells you she thinks she’s a boy.

“I know I don’t look like one,” she – he – says, kicking his combat boots against the bleacher seats and picking at a loose thread in his torn jeans. “A boy, I mean.”

“What do boys look like?” you ask, and it’s supposed to be flippant but the mild haze of your high fills the words with gravitas that you weren’t intending.

Natsu shrugs, studying the sleeves of the leather jacket he’s wearing. There are buttons up the sleeves that say things like put ‘fuck’ in the dictionary, and nuke a gay whale for Jesus, and this is what a feminist looks like.

“Like you,” Natsu says after a while, and you suddenly your skin is tight and your body’s all wrong and you can’t breathe.

I’m not a boy, you think as you pass the joint to him with shaking hands. His nails are chewed and there’s still flecks of blue on his thumb from last weekend, when you watched him spray paint the words live with intention under the bridge by the river.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, kicking your tennis shoe with his boot.

“Nothing,” you say, shaking your head and leaning back against your jacket that’s balled up behind you. It’s overcast, and the sunlight crumples through the crowds like wet paper.

I’m not a boy, you think. But I’m not a girl, either.

The dark, familiar ache settles slowly back into your chest, and you throw your arm over your face to hide your tears, hating that you always end up here.

#fairy tail #ftlgbtales #gratsubingo2019 #nmb2019 #gratsu #nonbinary month #ftlgbtfics #gray fullbuster #natsu dragneel #prompt: hate #nonbinary #trans #fanfic #my fic

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