#seriously; I thank you for being human and reminding me the world can be kind

[jimingyue]

Cat Tumblr Dashboard Simulator

🖋️ meowful-musings Follow

🕊️ birdwatching Follow

what's wrong with dry food??? my humans feed me it all the time and i think it's fine

💀 elusivehider-deactivated948204

op wheres the natural feeding option

🌲 outdoorsy Follow

you guys are getting fed?

#im a barn cat so maybe im missing something here #meowtthew don't look

7,192 notes

☀️ pawsitive-affurmations Follow

ITS OKAY TO BE A MOGGIE

ITS OKAY TO BE A MOGGIE

YOU ARE NOT LESS VALID IF YOU ARE NOT A SPECIFIC PEDIGREE!!!!!

☀️ pawsitive-affurmations Follow

extra special shout out to cats who have "common" coat colors. grey tabbies and black cats i am rubbing against your head affectionately <3

🪤 m0usetrap01 Follow

as a grey tabby i really needed to hear this :"3

#i feel like i never see positivity posts for moggies even tho we're the most common type of cat....

154,688 notes

🎵 rage-against-the-meowchine Follow

i cant believe there are cats ACTUALLY advocating for kittens to be separated from their mothers before 12 weeks??? kittens still need to learn how to interact with other cats before being placed into their furever home omg you guys know you're advocating for undersocialized and aggressive cats right

❤️ loving-paws284 Follow

um op some of us??? matured early??????? i was separated from my mother at 7 weeks and i turned out fine... interesting how you assume that kittens being separated from their mothers at a younger age will lead to the degeneracy of the next generation...hmm i wonder where i've heard that before...

🐈 fluffy-the-cat Follow

OP got bit too hard during a play-fight as a kitten and it shows XD

🐟 tunafeesh Follow

also op have you ever considered that just because somecat is kind of scared and unable to deal with strange cats or humans, it doesn't mean they don't deserve to be adopted?? you sound like a vet psyop honestly

🎵 rage-against-the-meowchine Follow

oh meow god saying that kittens should be fully weaned before leaving their mother is NOT veterinarian rhetoric and i never said that they deserve to be euthanized!!! my mother literally died when i was 3 weeks old and it seriously messed up my development so stop putting words in my mouth, thanks

anyway friendly reminder that underweaned kittens are prone to illness and often struggle with basic cat behaviors like litterbox usage, and in some nyavinces it's even considered kitten abuse

#discourse #cant believe "kitten abuse is bad" is controversial now

32,456 notes

🍃 naturalliving Follow

BORN TO DIE

WORLD IS A FUCK

猫神 Kill Em All 1989

I am trash cat

410,757,864,530 DEAD BIRDS

#outdoorliving #outdoorcats please interact #outdoorcat friendly

48,971 notes

🎣 salmonpurina Follow

can't believe cats are uncritically reblogging that born to die world is a fuck post. i know it's funny but op is literally an outdoor cat truther

#like cmon now you just have to go to their blog #lulu speaks

34 notes

💀 tabbystripes-deactivated098712

gentle reminder that pushing cups off the table is not cute and can cause a lot of distress in your human!!!! gentle reminder that our teeth and claws can easily hurt them more than they can hurt us!!!!

🐰 evil-tabbystripes Follow

evil reminder that the cup should always be pushed off the table. evil reminder that you should always bite and claw at your human no matter what. you can do whatever you want forever

💀 tabbystripes-deactivated098712

make your own pawst

💀 laser-point-deactivated8574721

umm i know a tomcat who did that and his human ended up putting him down so...

👬🏻 nyasunaruenjoyer Follow

Nyaverage shelter cat behavior

#not nyaruto #re-nyab #pickles shut up

545,460 notes

🌈 nyaoi-warrior Follow

saw two male cats sleeping together on the porch today. homeow behavior imo

💡 discourse-meows Follow

hey um what the fuck??? it's really not okay of you to go assuming other cat's sexualities, especially cats you don't even know???? as a queer cat i'm VERYY uncomfortable. real-ass cats didn't consent to your nyaoi fetish, thanks

🌈 nyaoi-warrior Follow

1. i was making. a joak

2. i'm literally gay???

#literally what's your pawblem

7 notes

🎩 amazingcatshow12 Follow

reblog if you've ever caught the laser pointer

🎩 amazingcatshow12 Follow

i know you fuckers are lying

🍭 gaykittens Follow

this tom hasn't caught the laser pointer

🎩 amazingcatshow12 Follow

shut the heull up

988,653 notes

🐾 b-e-a-n-t-o-e-s Follow

grey toebeans >>>>>>>>> pink toebeans and don't let the haters make you believe otherwise

🐁 ladymouser Follow

op shut the fuck up ALL toebeans are beautiful!!! just bc you're miserable and insecure doesn't mean you can bring others down based on things they can't control

🐾 b-e-a-n-t-o-e-s Follow

oh so the cat-human separationist wants to preach to us

#long post #cat #fake dashboard #unreality #dashboard simulator

[tadc-ragatha]

Hello I saw you were taking request! If you want may you please write a x Virus! Reader who always hacks into the code for the character’s favor during missions or simple things like wanting something

I thought it would be a interesting idea and I hope everything is going well for you, remember to eat/ rest if needed!

-⚜️Anon

Circus Crew with a Virus Reader

TW: Mentions of their unstable minds. Lmk if there are any more.

Type: Headcanons

A/N: "Reader's code got messed up during their transition to the digital world, leaving them with the ability to somewhat hack into the digital circus' code in real time." Hi! You were so polite I'm going to do your request first! Thank you for your manners! This one includes Caine, too! As of writing, only the pilot episode has come out. Spoilers. You're the first request I'm answering! Requests open as of posting.

Caine

He treats you like Bubble sometimes to be honest ("you PARASITE!"). Like, he doesn't hate the humans, but nor does he understand them. And you'd be pretty upset if your worked-on projects and activities were wiped from the code without a care. You're probably his least favourite human for this alone.

Legit, he may just consider finding an exit for you. Again, no real "hatred" per se, but he does find your antics extremely annoying. You probably have to make up some lie about the group just working real hard to fix it so he doesn't abstract himself--if that's even possible. But Jax will always ruin it anyway.

Pomni

She's just like "what?" the whole time. I mean, it's bad enough being the newbie in the digital circus, but then being reminded it's really reality for her and it can become unstable? No thank you. She doesn't quite avoid you or anything, but she isn't super keen on the idea that the world could fall apart.

Still, she tries to get you to help her find the exit. Maybe if you interacted with the computer you'd be able to hack into the whole game and get everyone out of the world. Or, maybe there's something you could do in the void that would help. Anything, really.

Otherwise, you're there to get the games finished so she can go and look for a way out herself. Don't get me wrong, she's nice to you and doesn't intend to just use you, but sometimes it might come off that way. Just give her time; she's desperate.

Ragatha

To be honest, I don't think Ragatha would be very keen on having you around. For your abilities, of course, not your personality. I mean, she's nice to Jax of all people, so she's not going to hate you. She just doesn't like it when you end the activities so quickly.

She holds onto the activities like a lifeline. Without them, she'd be left alone with her thoughts and would pretty quickly start to decline. They're also just kind of fun sometimes, too. There's not much to do in the digital world after years of being there.

She is still a little bit envious, though. I mean, Jax gets to almost teleport (seriously was that him running he was so fast), and you get to hack the freaking system. If only she could have those abilities and maybe she's be able to find an exit. Though, that would probably drive her to abstraction.

Jax

Jax is half annoyed, half ecstatic with your abilities. On one hand, having you mess things up for everyone's convenience is a pain. It stops him from being able to complete his pranks when things suddenly change. And if you do things to stop him from being a jerk, he'll be even more annoyed and will probably make it a challenge for himself to see how many times he can successfully target you.

On the other hand, if you're his ally and will help him in his bullying, he's very happy. I hate to say it, but you'd probably mess things up around Kinger at first so he has a bit of a reality crisis and doesn't know what's real. Though, he'd get used to it after a while and it may not work since he's already seen so much.

Still, you two are partners in crime. Since you're able to do almost whatever, it's easy to get away with what you want. Caine is able to stop you, but he still can't control your mind where you're abilities come from. So, he can't shut them off. And this just leads to more and more torment for Caine and the others.

Kinger

To be honest I don't know how Kinger would react. I think he might just be too out of it to even care too much. That, or he's used to it because something similar has happened before. I mean, he's been there the longest; he would've seen some weird things. Maybe someone else with similar abilities came through only to abstract.

If so, he'd warn you a lot about it. Don't get too wrapped up in your "superpowers" of sorts, or else you might start thinking of yourself too highly. And don't become power-hungry, either, lest you want to go insane. He does care about his friends, guys.

Gangle

Gangle is a bit scared, I imagine. When she's lost her comedy mask, anyway. She just wants a sense of stability and comfort in the uncertain and uncharted territory of the digital world. She's also really shy around you, as with anyone. She doesn't talk to you much out of a mixture of social anxiety and also general fear.

She does feel bad for you, though, and tries to check up on you. Her and Ragatha are the most caring out of the group, and knowing that your code has been corrupted must be very stressful. The trade-off of getting cool glitch powers comes at the cost of your protection and memory. You're much more prone to headaches (which you shouldn't have) and other ailments, and Gangle's always there to try and make you feel better.

Otherwise, it'd be very nice for her if you could get Jax to stop being a jerk somehow. Maybe prank him with some weird happenings so he's too scared to do anything? Or just mess with him (whether it be making him super small and punt-able, or making him super slow). She'd feel guilty about it, but she deserves a break.

Zooble

Zooble's so relieved. They hate the activities and being able to get out of them is such a relief. She has more time to do whatever the hell he wants. If you're their friend, you'll walk off and hang out together doing whatever. Honestly, around them you probably just use your powers for convenience like dragging items towards you and whatnot. Nothing like what Jax does.

Zooble will literally be like "where are they" when you're not there to fix things up. In fact, he'll take it as an excuse to leave the activity and go look for you. Though, it'll probably turn into Ragatha coming with her and inviting Gangle to come along too. Jax will follow, then Kinger probably will, and soon the whole group is going anyway. Not exactly what they wanted; they'll probably tell them to leave and take care of whatever's at hand.

#amy's writing #⚜️ anon #the amazing digital circus #tadc #the amazing digital circus spoilers #tadc spoilers #tadc x reader #x reader #tadc caine #tadc caine x reader #tadc pomni #tadc pomi x reader #tadc ragatha #tadc ragatha x reader #tadc jax #tadc jax x reader #tadc kinger #tadc kinger x reader #tadc gangle #tadc gangle x reader #tadc zooble #tadc zooble x reader #tadc headcanon

[aka-indulgence]

Illithid Kiss

So I caved. Immediately. Mind flayers are hot, bite me

Thanks to @llamagoddessofficial for showing me 1 (one) image of bg3 mind flayer and immediately going AWOOGA

Yes I made an ao3 link, I ‘ve been taken over help

(Mind flayer x Female!Reader

Mind flayer goes by he/him)

Vaussur took you in as his thrall for what feels like a long time ago. Despite being a mind flayer, for his kind, he had surprise you at every turn, acting unlike how you expected an illithid to act- like how the rest of the mind flayers in his hive acts. Lenient and forgiving with you, letting you roam with your mind free (for the most part), you find yourself unexpectedly getting attached to him.

What do you do, when all of a sudden your mind flayer ‘master’ asks you to tell him about human love? When he asks you to show him more directly? And most importantly…

Would you kiss a mind flayer?

Content warning: Mind control involved (consensual), suggestive themes, master/servant romantic relationship

—————

“Tell me, pet. What does it mean to love like a human?”

You’re snapped out of your musings at the voice, echoing both through the room and chambers in your mind. You look away from the window, from the alien society outside. Vaussur was looming behind you, a curious glow in his eyes that looked soft, somehow.

In the shadows of the room he looked ominous, almost spine-chilling. Illithid armour glinting in the faint light, while the rest of his body was merely a silhouette save for his glowing, golden irises. It reminded you of stories people back home used to tell you when you were young: to close and lock the doors at night and close the windows lest a monster sneak into the room. You didn’t know what a mind flayer was, back then, but seeing him now, he fits the stories perfectly.

Yet, he keeps surprising you with his curious mannerisms- his strange questions. You turn to face your ‘master’.

“Why do you ask?”

“As you might guess, it’s not something I can speak of amongst other illithids,” he says matter-of-factly, with a bit of humor in his eyes. “But its still something I’m personally interested in, nonetheless.”

You giggle. “What do you mean? Do you study humans?”

Mind flayers don’t have mouths. But from the way his tentacles moved, it almost looks like Vaussur was smiling at the sound of your giggle. But he answers seriously.

“I have been, as of late.” He gives you a meaningful glance. “Of course, illithids are the superior race and our ways of living are equally superior. … But I find myself becoming curious. We don’t have such customs in our society, and what I’m about to say is unbecoming for a mind flayer, but…”

You look at him curiously as he struggles to speak his words.

“I… envy you.” He whispers. “You have no idea how exquisite your mind tastes, my dear thrall. … How tender, the sweetness in every drop of thought in that delectable mind of yours, the warmth and comfort your memories radiate… You come from a world where a small, innocent, kind thing like yourself could flourish and bloom- thrive, even. How can such a world exist?”

The way he describes your mind in frightening and alien detail, reminds you of what he is- an illithid, a being that literally has a taste for brains. But even so, the way he described yours, though a little unsettling, almost sounds like a poem, words woven carefully just for you. Try as you might, it sounds like a compliment to you.

“W-well,” you stutter, staggered by his flowery words- coming from a being that has never seen much of life in the sun. “I think humans are more social than mind flayers. You communicate out of necessity, working together like a hivemind for the elder brain… right?”

“Right. You remembered what I told you? Smart pet, you prove me again and again why you’re my favorite thrall.”

“Um!” Being called a thrall wasn’t flattering, but still you feel your mind spin from the praise. “Thank- thank you. As I was saying, humans communicate and cooperate too, but we don’t do it just out of necessity. We find joy in the comfort of other humans- and other beings too, if they’ve formed a bond. We do it because we like it. We make bonds with people in our families and our communities, for companionship and… sometimes more. We can work alone, but most suffer from being solitary.”

You don’t know what kind of love Vaussur was asking you for, but you thought keeping it general was a good start at least. And the safest option, considering the other possibility.

“Interesting… not unlike illithids.” He comments.

“Really? How so?”

“As a non mind-flayer, you would not know this, but… it’s very unhealthy for a mind flayer to be completely alone.” You raise your eyebrows in surprise while Vaussur continues. “No elder brain, no other illithids, no thralls. Mind flayers are surrounded and connected by thoughts. To strip the familiar away from them… I’ve heard stories where they’ve gone mad.”

“Wait- mind flayers can go mad?”

“Of course. We are superior but not perfect- even I can admit that. Mind flayers can’t thrive in isolation, we must rely on another living being. It’s a disgrace for a mind flayer to accept it, let alone admit it- especially to admit they rely on thralls so heavily beyond labor.”

“I didn’t know that.” You remarked, seeing the illithids in a new light. Most of what you’ve heard from when mind flayers were merely myths and legends, and from what you’ve seen directly from their society indicates that they’re a self-sufficient, self-aggrandizing people. To know they could be attached to anything other than themselves, or at least to their elder brain… and Vaussur had so easily conceded this information to you.

“Wait, if it was a disgrace, why are you admitting this to me right now?”

“Because I’m no different. And it is no disgrace to say that I need you to stay with me.”

Your mouth hangs open at his honest confession, like it was factual. You try to ignore the little flips your stomach is doing, and whether or not it was a good feeling.

“I’ve also heard that there are different types of love. Platonic and romantic, I think they’re called.”

“Yes, yes there is, it’s-” you stop yourself, even as you quieten the excitement in your chest at the mention of the other type of love (to your puzzlement). “How do you know about that?”

“During my time on a ​​reconnaissance mission. I was looking for possibles hosts to implant with tadpole.”

You fail to hide the distaste on your face at the mention of ceremorphosis. If Vaussur saw it, he doesn’t react.

“I heard them talking about it. I think they were discussing whether what they felt for each other was one form or the other. Their discussion about the romantic one became particularly charged.”

He refocuses on you, and eagerly asks, “What is… romantic love?”

He was trying to sound calm and analytical but you could hear it: excitement. But why would a mind flayer be so interested in romance, of all things?

“It’s… like I said earlier,” you swallowed. You don’t know why you felt so bashful about it, like you were in a group of children talking about your parents kissing like it was a scandal. “It’s when people have more… intimate relationships with another. It’s not very different from platonic love, but different nonetheless. It’s…”

How do you explain romantic love to someone who doesn’t know what it is? How is it different from platonic love? Just having to explain what love is to him proved itself quite confusing to you, as the more you tried to grasp the definition of love to you, the more it slipped away.

“It’s like…” you grasp again, “romantic love is when you meet another person, and you feel a, a… a spark. It’s more intense than platonic love, where you just feel this… attraction to the other person, where you want to be as close to them as possible, and just their presence can make you really happy. You do things with them things you wouldn’t do with any other people you have in your life, intimate things. Someone you want to share your life with.”

You feel a little helpless as you clasp your hands together, trying to convey what you think love looks like to someone who’s never experienced it. Even with your loose explanation, Vaussur is rapt with fascination, his luminous glare unblinking. 

“I’m sorry if this is confusing to you…”

He shakes his head. “That’s more knowledge than any mind flayer knows. And… if it proves hard for you, pet, maybe you should show it to me.”

“I… show it?”

You were about to ask how, but as soon as you thought that, a word echoes in your mind.

With a kiss.

Your eyes widen, and unfortunately, it looks like your mind was loud enough for Vaussur to notice.

Without skipping a beat, he asks you, “Can you… show that to me? Kissing?”

Added with his forwardness, you fluster, but you try to calm yourself. Vaussur is a mind flayer. He’s never experienced any kind of love, let alone romantic. He really is just curious, he’s not trying to charm you… right?

You try to explain it to him.

“I c-could, but… kissing you would be more… romantic. One of the intimate things people do together to be romantic.” You said that twice. Your mind is tripping over itself. “You have to- no, you should do it with someone you care about deeply, the one you want to keep in your life. At least, that’s how you make it more meaningful.”

Vaussur doesn’t speak, not immediately. A strange look washes over his face, his brows furrowing. Subconsciously, he brings his hand to a tentacle, stroking it thoughtfully.

“I don’t see the problem. That describes how I feel about you perfectly.”

Everything goes quiet for you.

… “What?”

Vaussur doesn’t skip a beat.

“That’s how I’ve felt about you since I took you as my thrall. That is not a strange concept. I’m intimately familiar with that feeling.” He pauses. “Unless this is hesitation because I’m a mind flayer.”

“I- no that’s not it,” you say, the ice freezing your tongue melting. “It’s, I just- do you… love… me?”

“Perhaps. If that really what love is, then yes. But illithids don’t have ‘romance’ or ‘love’. So I need you to show me what it is.”

You shake your head, you can’t believe the situation you’re in, looking at the floor. The mind flayer that’s called you his thrall might very well love you- even be in love for you. People have described mind flayers as soulless, one of the defining characteristics they were often associated with, something you’d accepted as fact, until you were captured by one. Despite his illithid tendencies, the air of superiority, lack of care for non illithid lives, and strange fascination with brains; for what he is, Vaussur’s acted with more humanity than what you imagined a mind flayer was capable of.

You’ve noticed that most of your favorite qualities in him come out when you have his attention.

Though he’s always been imposing and quite frightening, you can’t believe that you’ve… thought what it’d be like to kiss him. At times when he seems to go against his natural instincts, like keeping you away from the feedings, how he praises you when he defends you from other mind flayers, how you were precious to him, and the way he held you protectively whenever you needed to cross their domain.

You’re amazed at yourself when you answer him with “... Alright.”

When you pick your head up from your musings, you startle from how close he was to you. You could see the patterns in his illithid armor, the intricate swirls and spirals, turning to complicated geometries as they reach the edge of the armor, extending from what looks like a mind flayer skull in the middle of the collar area. Long, dark purple robes extend from underneath, covering most of Vaussur’s skin. You withhold the urge to trace your fingers over the shapes.

You look up, way up. You were no stranger to this- even among mind flayers, Vaussur was particularly tall. He loomed over you, your head only reaching somewhere in the middle of his chest, and you’d have to crane your neck whenever he commanded you. But now, with the prospect of… kissing him, he seems all the more imposing. The closes thing you could to kissing him properly would probably be on one of tentacle.

“Um…”

Vaussur makes a strange sound, a sound that tickles your brain. A laugh…?

Before you could worry about what you were about to do, you feel a magic presence all around you, like someone was holding you. Your feet lift off the floor as you’re picked up by his psionic energy, bringing you face to face with him. There’s expectance in his burning gaze, something that makes you feel small and defenseless. You feel his thoughts seeping into your mind, mixing with yours: the want to be closer, of warm affection… and something possessive. You’re not sure if he’s trying to make you feel the same things for him, or if he’s simply communicating with you the way a mind flayer would with each other. It scares you a little, especially feeling his more foreign emotions- but whatever it is, you know he’s being genuine. You don’t sense a hint of malice in all the rush of feelings he’s emanating.

Despite your timidity, you can’t say those feelings were wholly unpleasant. You find you’re actually leaning into it, closing your eyes to try to feel it coursing through you. When you open them, you find the courage to brace your hands on his plated shoulders. Brilliant citrine eyes glance down at them, and you realize how small they must look to him.

Your brows furrow a little as you look for a good place to… kiss an illithid. Your fingers curl, and you try to position your head a bit to the side. You could feel him watching your every move, and you swallow.

You lean in. You could smell him, somewhat like vanilla and something else, and you’re surprised that you like it. Your lips press to the side of his face, above two of his tentacles, and kiss him. Vaussur closes his eyes and hums- you could feel him physically and mentally relax. His skin was strange, smooth and slick with a thin film of something; but you didn’t dislike it.

You pull back, parting with a little cup! as you did. Vaussur looks a little more… floaty, like he was dreaming.

“... Can you do that again?” He murmurs

You purse your lips together, hands letting go to twiddle your fingers, not quite knowing where to look.

Apparently Vaussur takes your hesitation negatively.

“I feel your nervousness, puppet. What’s the matter? … Did you not like it?”

You didn’t know mind flayers could even sound hurt, but he did, though he tried to hide it from you.

“No, no!” you stressed, “I’m just! It’s! … I’m just… shy.”

His eyes widen. You know what he must be reading from your mind right now: curiosity, interest, maybe even… fondness.

When you look at his mouth you feel a mix of emotions. Were you afraid? Were you excited…?  … No you don’t want ot think of what that meant, it’s too much. You stare for his mouth a moment longer while you try to gain the courage to kiss him.

You decided to work up to it.

Your hand reaches for a tentacle tentatively.

“Can I…? Touch your..?”

The tentacle flexes. Vaussur seems clueless as to what you want to do with it, but he lets you have it.

You give it a feather light touch, tracing a finger down its length. You realize how… sensual this feels, and you wonder if mind flayers ever enjoyed the pleasures of the body…? If they could? Vaussus gasps quietly, the tentacle reacting to your touch, twitching closer to you.

You’ve found yourself imagining what it was like to stroke his tentacles, of what would happen. Vaussur closes his eyes, letting you run your hand down. It’s smooth and slick with illithid mucous, cool to the touch, almost slippery. You think you like it. The other tentacles start to curl and sway closer around you, as if looking for your attention. You feel a sudden sense of pride fill you, at the effect you had on this mind flayer, just by touching him lightly.

His tentacles start their own exploration of you; timidly at first, but they quickly gain confidence and start to lavish you with tender caresses. One prods and brushes your cheek. Another traces along your collarbone curiously. The third free tentacle slides behind your back and holds you steady. The one you’re holding- clearly enjoying what you’re doing to it, curls around your arm.

You tittered. It’s like they had minds of their own. You wondered… what would happen if you kissed him on the tentacle?

You lift it up to you and give it a gentle peck.

Apparently, they were sensitive because as soon as you did, claws closed around your back and hips and pulled you flush against Vaussur’s chest, squeaking as he did. He lets out a deep, pleasurable sigh that turns your cheeks red while he grips you tightly, wantingly. You’d always assumed that a mind flayer’s body would feel cold, but even though his skin was covered in fluid, he was warm. Very warm.

So were you.

His golden eyes were glowing brighter than ever, his tentacles caressing you and start to float and curl languidly around you. His mouth is open before you, and your breath mixes with his.

You don’t feel fear.

“Please, my human,” he implores, “teach me. Teach me how you love.”

You didn’t hesitate this time. You felt naturally drawn to him. Willingly, you lean into him, his body, his feelings. You wrap your arms around his neck and somehow, your lips found his mouth and you started to kiss him.

As you expected, kissing Vaussur was nothing like the kisses you’ve experienced with other humans, or even other humanoids. You aren’t sure how to describe it, it felt you were kissing all around you rather than on one single spot, he surrounded you. His tentacles start to wrap you more tightly- around your head and neck. Though the thought of how vulnerable you were in this position with a mind flayer- that he could eat you so easily- did cross your mind, it only did so briefly. You were worried earlier that kissing a mind flayer with their mouths that opened four ways accompanied by lamprey teeth, meant to suction and grind into skulls might feel horrible but… you’re delighted that that wasn’t the case. The sensation of having him surround you and hold you so lovingly tightly was quite pleasant.

He hums, the sound vibrating around you. He starts floating backwards with you, slowly settling into his bed, his hands wandering, feeling you. You could feel him in your mind again, but he wasn’t intruding. It felt more like he was asking for your permission. You happily let him in, and you feel yourself cradled by his thoughts: soft, warm adoration for you.

Despite what the natural order tells you, you felt safe with him.

Vaussur had seemed confused earlier, not knowing what to do with himself while you spoiled him with your kisses, but he’d started becoming more confident, evident from the way he holds you and the tentacles’ affectionate touches. He starts taking control, sitting up a little and folding you backwards, reciprocating your kiss with new fervor, deepening it. His claws start to dig into you possessively, and you squeak, his power overwhelming you.

A flood of satisfaction floods your brain, and it isn’t yours.

I like those sounds. Vaussur’s voice purrs in your mind. Give me more.

You gasp and mewl, squirming in his hold, which only excites the illithid more, tentacles winding around your head tighter. One hand manages to stray from the tangle of limbs, only to quickly get reclaimed by his slender fingers, entwining with yours.

Don’t be scared, sweet human. He teases diabolically, I promise I won’t eat that delicious mind of yours. You’re safe with me.

You don’t know how long he kept you like that, hungrily taking your mouth while his hands and tentacles wander. When he was finally sated, Vaussur gently pries his tendrils off your face, and lets you go. You take a gasp of air, the blood in your head slowly draining away, and you cool down. You could feel warm imprints on your face where his tentacles and mouth were. Already, you find yourself missing the closeness you shared, his warm mouth on yours.

It felt like he was sucking your face in the best ways.

… You feel scandalized by your own thoughts, and you cover your mouth bashfully.

“I felt that.”

Damn it!

Vaussur chuckles, his eyes flickering with smugness. His gaze wanders over your face, like he was admiring his ‘work’.

He looks happy, eyes crinkling at you.

“Just like I promised. Your mind is still yours, untouched, undigested. Though… there are marks on your face. I rather like it.”

You don’t know how red your face is right now, fingers scrambling on it as if you could see it better that way.

“W-what?”

He chuckles again, and your frantic thoughts stop when a finger brushes your cheek.

“Thank you. For showing me that, puppet.”

Slowly, you smile, small and demure. “Your… welcome. Thank you for keeping my mind safe. I…” you swallowed, laughing nervously, “I liked it.”

Oh. Oh, he liked that.

“I did too. Immensely. You’re… incredible.” He praises you. “I would not be opposed to it if we did it again.”

You’re suddenly intimately aware of the fact that you were on his lap, practically straddling him, his arms keeping you close. He’s just invited you to another kiss, and you… like that idea. Sheepishly, you say the same.

“I… I wouldn’t either.”

You’re hoping you’ll get to kiss him again soon. Maybe more.

He lays you down beside him, and as he presses the top of his tentacles to your head, you realize it was his attempt at giving you a peck. You smile, and you instinctively curl into him, tentacles floating around you protectively.

Rest, human. He urges. You’ve done a lot today. Sleep.

You let him mentally compel you. It was nice, being able to sleep whenever you wanted without having to toss and turn before hand. You feel sleep quickly take you and your eyes fall close.

…

Vaussur stays up a bit longer after you, admiring his pretty ‘thrall’ that he feels lucky to have found. His fingers comb through your hair and behind your ear.

You’re… extraordinary.

You smile in your sleep as response. He thinks that might be the prettiest thing he’s seen in his illithid life: you being happy while you were with him.

He doesn’t think these soft, tender feelings are natural for a mind flayer. He wonders if he inhabits a human body.

You curl a little, trying to escape the chill, and Vaussur pulls a blanket up to you, and covers you. He needs to rest soon too, to shed his armor and sink into bed with you by his side.

His small… cute… vulnerable little human.

Whatever he may be in his previous life before the ceremorphosis, one thing is clear to him now.

He loves you.

And no one else can have you.

#aka writing #mind flayer #i imagined them in an established relationship #you’ve been his ‘thrall’ for a while #but basically only in name #he pampers you and keeps you close #hehe #mind flayer hot #unfortunately i dont play a lot of dnd and my dnd knowledge is limited #But of what I do know #some information #He’s “He” because he found it easier for thralls to refer to him as such #and he speaks with his mouth because reader finds it comforting :> #mindflayer x reader

[jpitha]

Same as it ever was

"Ugh, this coffee is awful!" Daniel makes a face after he takes a sip. "What is this, hazelnut? Did the person who signed off on this flavor ever try a hazelnut in their life?"

"Come on Dan, it can't be that bad." M'erian rolled her eyes and flicked her ears.

Dan sipped it again and winced. "No, seriously Mer, if you could drink coffee I'd have you try this. It's impressively bad."

"Is that why you keep drinking it? Out of some sense of admiration for someone who could make coffee that bad?"

Dan shrugged. "It's still caffeine. There isn't anything else onboard until we reach a Starbase and resupply. Maybe some creamer will help." Dan gets up and bustles in the kitchenette. A moment later, his coffee noticeably more buff colored, Dan returns to the seat. He sips again and frowns, but is no longer wincing. "That will have to do."

M'erian sipped her tea and enjoyed her time listening to Dan complain. He did it often enough that she was thankful she found it charming instead of annoying.

While they were chatting, Uumer walked in. They were a Sefigan, from this universe, and Daniel was still surprised when he saw them. He could only describe them as looking kind of like teddy bears.

Teddy bears with retractable ten centimeter claws. They were lacquered a deep blue and highly polished.

“You are making a gesture Daniel, I recognize it from the humans in our world. What is wrong?”

“It’s his coffee” M’erian gestures “It tastes terrible.”

Uumer’s ears twitched. “Oh? You can consume caffeine? It is highly toxic for us.”

M’erian shakes her head, a human gesture. “No, but Daniel was telling me about it. It’s ‘hazelnut’ and he doesn’t like it.”

“No, it’s called hazelnut. It tastes nothing like actual hazelnuts. I think you can consume them M’erian, I’ll see if I can get some next time we’re at a station.”

"Daniel, I apologize for the quality of the coffee, it was ordered by Captain Reynolds." Universal Solvent sounded apologetic. Captain Reynolds was the previous captain on Solvent. For this trip, it was just Daniel ,M’erian, Uumer, a few more Coalition races and Solvent themselves.

Daniel made another face. “Did he like this? Or was he just trying to punish his crew?”

“I seem to recall him saying it was his favorite. I also seem to recall that most of the other human crew members brought their own coffee with them.” A tone sounded throughout the ship. “Daniel, M’erian, Uumer. I must ask you to retire to your acceleration couches on the Command Deck. I am alerting the rest of the crew as well. Maneuvers will being in one hour.”

Sighing, Daniel finished his terrible coffee, and takes the time to rinse out the cup and secure it in the cabinet. They make their way through the empty ship.

Universal Solvent is a Starjumper, one of the largest human built ships in space. Only the dozen or so colony ships built for humanity to spread out in space were larger. One of the reasons it’s so large is that their design predates the development of wormhole generators. They were originally designed to ‘jump’ between the stars at half the speed of light with passengers in hibernation and enough cargo to make the trip worthwhile. These days they all have wormhole generators installed and can link from location to location like any other craft, but they’re still seen as high status spacecraft.

And sometimes they’re the only ones that can do the job.

Like, for example, if one wanted to demonstrate a relativistic impactor to the Gren. Daniel was surprised to learn that the humans in this universe developed their version of the wormhole generator - called a Flip Drive - before they ever needed to develop relativistic flight. They don’t have Starjumpers and never needed to accelerate towards the speed of light.

After the Gren came through the Gate, they fought the humans and K’laxi on that side to a standstill. The truce was tenuous and it was decided that a demonstration was needed to remind the Gren - and the Coalition - what the humans from Daniel’s dimension could do.

Daniel thought it was all a little bit dramatic and overblown, but at least they were just going to strike a planetoid in the Gren’s system. Long range scans had indicated that it was dark and cold and wasn’t a secret base or anything. Just a large rock.

As Daniel was secured in his acceleration couch, he connected to Solvent and made sure everyone else was secure. Solvent had inertial compensators, but at the speeds they were going, even a slight error in compensation would cause damage or death to anyone outside the safety of the couch. It was a bit of work to get the Sefigans and other Coalition species to interface with the couches, but humanity’s experience with the K’laxi helped.

“Daniel, everyone is in their chairs and secure. We can begin when ready.”

Connected to Solvent, Daniel was able to look through their sensors. They were currently boosting at 2gee and running at around 75% C. “Okay Solvent. We’re going to do to links back to back, so we’ll need War Emergency Power. Do you want me to say the phrase?”

“Only if you want to Daniel. I know how to work my own reactors.”

Daniel chuckled. In the old days, Captains would order the ship AI to release War Emergency Power, which would disable all fuses and limiters to the reactors. This would give the ships a tremendous amount of power for a short amount of time. It also increased the risks of the reactors destroying themselves. These days, relations with AIs are better, and most commanders know that the ships know themselves better than the commanders do. Ordering the release of War Emergency Power is seen as a bit old fashioned. “I’m good Universal Solvent. Please use your own discretion vis a vis power.”

“Aye Daniel. I will be releasing War Emergency Power for the duration of the exercise.”

At that, Daniel could feel, rather than hear the reactors. There was this noise or feeling that set his teeth on edge. It rose in tone and intensity until it almost sounded like a whistle at the edge of hearing. Uumer reached out over the ship’s comm channel “What is that noise? Is something broken?”

“Nothing to worry about Uumer, I have removed the fuses and limiters from my reactors. I need the additional power for our maneuvers.”

“You can do that?”

“Oh yes, but the risk of critical catastrophic failure is much higher now. Once we’re done, I’ll take things back to normal.”

Uumer didn’t say anything, but Daniel could feel how impressed he was.

“Daniel, we will link in 10 seconds.”

“Thanks Solvent. Once we’re back in real space, release our impactors and drop camera beacons. We’ll then link back and begin braking.”

“Aye. 5 seconds.”

They Linked.

One of the things that humans of this dimension don’t like to mention is that while their wormhole generator is considered to be much more accurate and robust than a Flip drive, it does require quite a bit more power and also has this… side effect.

About one in one thousand people who use the drive experience something like death while they’re in between points of reality.

Humanity on this side has been dealing with it for nearly a millennium and by now is mostly used to it. Sure, it frightens folks when it first happens, but like they say, you’d be surprised what you can get used to.

In fact, it’s so commonplace that they often forget to tell people that it happens.

Uumer is on his back. He feels the warm grass and bright sun. Blinking he sits up. It looks like… home. More than that, it looks like his homeworld, or at least the descriptions of it that he’s read. He’s never been there. He’s on a wide savanna. In all directions is a sea of golden grass. As he stands, a breeze picks up and the grass undulates and moves like water. Someone approaches. Another Sefigan. “You made it!” They throw their arms forward and tumble towards him in greeting. Bewildered, but happy to see someone like him, he reciprocates the gesture, a traditional greeting. “Thank you brother, but where am i?”

The other Sefigan’s ears waggle. “Brother, you are dead.”

Uumer comes back, strapped into his acceleration couch. He blinks back tears. In the moment he’s struck by a thought. The humans keep their eyes clean this way too, they also cry. “D-Daniel.” Uumer’s voice is unsteady. “What happened?”

“Uh, we linked into Gren space Uumer. We just released the camera beacons and the impactors. We’re going to link away in a second. Can your question wait?”

“Yes.”

They link away.

When they’re back in human controlled space, Solvent begins the long deceleration process. It’ll take another month to slow back down relative to their departure and be able to link to another starbase. The camera beacons caught the demonstration perfectly. The three impactors struck the planetoid at 75% C and completely obliterated it. Supposedly the flash was seen with unaided eyes by the Green Fleet Command themselves. Publicly, they declared it an unwarranted provocation. Daniel will have to wait until they’ve come to a halt and linked home to learn what - if anything - they said privately about it.

After all the excitement calms down, Uumer goes to find Daniel. He’s back with M’erian in the lounge and they’re snuggled together watching something on his pad. “Uh, Daniel?”

Daniel looks up with a start. “Oh! Hi Uumer, what did you think of the run?”

“I uh, had a question about that actually. You know that was my first link ever?”

“Oh that’s right, you would have Flipped or FlashWarped over to the starbase.” His eyes go wide. “Oh no, did you…”

“I did Daniel. Did I actually die?” Uumer’s claws are sliding in and out of their sheaths.

“Uh well, nobody really knows. It happens to us too, and the K’laxi-“ He starts idly stroking M’erian. “-but our philosophers can’t come to an agreement about whether it’s real or not.”

“Does it happen to you?”

“No, fortunately. It’s only about one in one thousand that it happens to.”

Uumer is shaking slightly, “and you’re okay with that? With a small percentage of people dying when you use the wormhole generator?”

“Uumer. For one, they all come back. For two, most report that other than the surprise, it was a pleasant experience. And for three, we’re not about to give up on a way to shrink the distance between the stars over something like that. It’s fine.”

“Uumer, it’s a scary thing. Some people in my familiar group experience it too. But really, it’s normal here. Everyone gets used to it, and if they don’t then…” M’erian’s ears flick. “They make other arrangements. They either stick to worlds they can reach via Gate, or stay in one system, or hibernate for the trip. There are options. Especially now that you and the Coalition is here. We can see if we can work out FlashWarp technology, or build our own Flip drives.”

Uumer looks at both of them. How comfortable they look. How much they enjoy being together. He’s overcome with a flash of jealousy and disgust. His ears droop. “I thought I understood humans and that over here they’d be the same as over there. I’m beginning to wonder about that.” He turns and leaves the lounge.

M’erian and Daniel share a look. He shrugs and smiles and flicks her ears and they go back to their video.

#humans are deathworlders #writing #humans and aliens #jpitha #humans are space oddities #humans and ai #sci fi writing #the k'laxiverse #the grenverse #humans are space orcs #humanity fuck yeah #hfy

[chdarling]

I've been meaning to write this to you since the first time I found your fic almost two years ago but nothing could come up to me that could put into words what a wonderful creator you are.

But the thing is, I found it when I was going through an awful time mentally, and nothing would satisfy me. Life, working, eating... whatever you can think of. It was an amazing read and the characters, their relationships, the plot. Everything was insanely wonderful and I just kept reading but I couldn't conjure the words to say to you, because in my head, writers like you deserve more than the usual “love this story, you are amazing” (not that it's bad to remind you this), until now when I started to feel again like the time I found it and I realised that, even when yourself was dealing with a lot, you had updated a new chapter and damn, what a chapter. I will talk about it obviously but I just want you to know how amazing, talented, wonderful you are. Thanks for this story, for the love to it because it's obvious how much heart you put into every single detail. Thanks, thanks, thanks. For allowing us to read it, to fall in love with your characters, for letting us meet them. Seriously you deserve everything good coming into your life and I hope you are doing good and go to your own peace, we will always wait for you.

About the chapter: I don't know if I'm seeing things but slowly it's showing why Sirius could suggest Peter to be the secret keeper, with all the things he has been doing that have worked wonderfully for them. Damn, it will hurt a lot to read the betrayal. Love to see Marlene with the marauders and Lily, what a wonderful group they make and now with James back, I'm dying to see more of all of them together, because going from what Marlene used to be to her now it was amazing, I know she's going to kill it (lol) in the OotP.

Even if they couldn't raise Harry properly, I'm so glad we can see parts of his parents on him. What wonderful human beings they are, I'm so proud of the people they grow up into and that's why everyone loved them so much. Impossible to not do so.

I felt so bad for Graham, truly and I'm afraid of what will happen to him, because at this point he has nothing to lose and I can't blame him. The system is against people like him and he can't just go away because it's his world too. He's not supposed to fight for his place but if they want him to do it, then they should suffer for it.

Your Snape makes me want to punch a wall and throw you a party. One of the best Snape's out there. The way he talks about Lily, to her, the way he just couldn't keep denying it was him because she told him he drugged her and that would mean he hurt her and that was not good at all. My skin itched so bad when he called her hysterical, when he told her she should be grateful. I loathe him so bad, he truly deserves the agony he lived with.

That's all, I think. I'll try to write to you more, both on ao3 and here. Once again, you are amazing and I'm so thankful you let us in this wonderful story.

Oh, this made me a wee bit emotional on the train. 🥺 (in a nice way!) Thank you so much for these kind words and for taking the time to send such a lovely note. I hope that things are getting better for you. Life can be real rough sometimes. Thank goodness we have fictional characters to play with 😅❤️❤️❤️❤️

Much love ❤️

#ch answers #tle2 #tle2 spoilers

[mirrorhoppingdays]

not me and portrayal of twinship

Be forewarned, this is long as hell.

Normally when I think about writing about media depictions of twins (as a highly opinionated twin), two things stop me. One, nobody cares. Seriously, most people actively want to avoid understanding twins' point of view. It's my overwhelming experience. Two, it's just too much to delve into and I have thoughts about every little thing. I would digress until I became overwhelmed. But I think it might actually work to discuss this one facet. It might connect with a few people because fandom types are often actually interested in novel points of view and the emotional landscapes of others. And if I only talk about this one show that narrows things for me in a helpful way. So here goes.

As soon as Not Me starts with episode 1, there is an item on the balance sheet. We begin with the idea that twins can feel each others' feelings and feel when the other is seriously injured. We see this in Black & White's childhood and then again when White returns to Thailand after many years away. So, psychic twin connections. I'm both highly militant and oddly patient when it comes to twin depiction stuff. I don't love the psychic thing, but that's the variety of twinship media nonsense I'm willing to take on board *if* it's done well and it's worthwhile. When you begin a story about twins with a psychic connection and make it a central feature of your plot, you've essentially borrowed goodwill from me. If you squander it, then your balance will come due and you'll be left owing. If you use it well, I'll forgive the loan. So we start not on a bad note, but with higher stakes.

Pretending-to-be-one's-twin plots work okay for me. Why? Because as much as they might rely on twin resemblance, they can't work without the twins being different, whole people. That shouldn't be considered a positive because all characters should begin as whole people, but we know that doesn't always happen in general and it certainly doesn't always happen with twins.

We begin a whole big chunk of the story where the crux may be that White is sort of undercover as his own brother, but twinship isn't actually at issue much at all. It's about deception and risk, not twin connection or twinship. We do get constant reminders that White and Black are very different, and we get a lot of White trying and only kind of succeeding at pretending.

One thing that rings true to me is that he doesn't actually have to do all that great a job of pretending. If you don't know somebody has a twin, and to some extent even if you do, as a human being you'll default very hard to this-is-the-same-person. It's just necessary in every moment of our lives that we're not dealing with identical twins, so it's necessary to lean that way. Also, as a twin I know very well that the majority of people are highly unobservant about a great many things. And it's not like these guys have any reason to think this is some other guy, though it would have been a note of realism if at some point at least one of them had gone wait, is Black reporting on us to the cops or something because he's acting sketchy. They do point out that he's being weird, so that base is partially covered.

I did some Tumblr poking around before I was done watching, so I saw a few spoilery things. Thanks partly to that, I couldn't help but hope that Sean figured out comparatively early that White was not Black. That would have been kind of thrilling to see, honestly, as a twin. But I certainly understand how that might not happen, and I also see the efficacy (to the plot) of having him not figure it out too quickly. It's more interesting if he doesn't know right away.

Clearly Tumblr world loves memeing about how Black woke up from his coma when, possibly because, White hooked up with Sean (I'll be more coy in my wording than some). Twin-rep-wise, that's a wash to me, neither better or worse than the psychic connection trope. I'm already tolerating the psychic stuff, and I can't say it's not an interesting plot point. If you need Black to wake up, when else would it be? It probably borrows a little more goodwill, but again that's stakes rather than a deficit.

As someone who remains skeptical of the psychic twin connection trope, I will say this. The particular way Black wakes up kind of shows the absurdity of the whole conceit. I'm cool with it because this is melodrama and it *should* be bonkers, but it goes to show what you're playing with when you invoke that trope.

This is when stuff gets interesting, to me but I assume to everybody. White and Black are both running around in the world of the show, and crucially they're also interacting with each other. And some of what happens is honestly pretty great twin-rep-wise. I really have to hand it to writer/director Nuchy Anucha Boonyawatana—she must be a pretty empathetic, intuitive person. (Along with her cowriters.) She seems to have made an effort to put herself in both Black and White's shoes in a real human way. Like, well beyond what the story would require.

I wanted to avoid digressing too much, but I want to go back to the very first moment in the entire show. In that brief scene, White looks in a dark, foggy mirror and says these words in voiceover: “When you see somebody who looks precisely like you, every part of his body resembles yours, you must feel really strange. But for me, it’s special. I call that specialness ‘twins.’”

When I saw this scene, I won’t say I knew this would be a thoughtful treatment of twins. But I did find it promising. Part of what annoys me about being a twin is how non-twins, aka singletons, think that being a twin is great because on some level they think of their hypothetical twin as an extension of themselves. Your twin is not you, and your twin is not part of you. Your twin is a human being, and like any other human being in the world there are some moments and some ways when they can seem utterly unknowable, foreign, unfathomable.

Back to the point in the story where I left off.

There’s a big twin moment near the end of episode 9: White is confronted in Black's apartment by an unknown figure, only to find that it's his brother. White’s voiceover tells us what he's thinking, and he calls back to that brief beginning scene. Now that I’ve gone back to look at both moments, I can say that they’re very similar in length and rhythm. So I suspect our writer/director was not only deliberate about the echo but also exacting in how both moments play out.

White’s voiceover says: “I’d always imagined the day I’d see my brother again. It’s supposed to be a heartwarming moment. But now it’s happening. It’s surprisingly frightening. It’s as though I’m meeting my doppelgänger.” Of course this is a translation, but it’s worth noting that you can hear actor Gun Atthaphan saying “doppelgänger,” so you know there isn’t a ton of poetic license on the part of the translator here.

White and Black exchange some awkward pleasantries, and then Black echoes White, saying "You look so much like me, it’s creepy.”

If I hadn’t seen my twin in ten years (especially at that age), it would have been very surreal even if that person weren’t as menacing as Black seems to be. It’s just that there are dimensions to twinship that fade in your mind when you’re not actively engaged with them. I assume that regular degular siblings can experience this in partial ways or in flashes, but I don’t have any of those so I can only guess. Seeing your twin after a long time apart isn’t somehow magical in a good or a bad way. But your twin carries all the powerful associations of any close family member along with a similarly large number of associations to your own identity.

I chase catharsis in media, but I don’t usually experience it strongly. But there can be a catharsis in recognition of self, and that’s what I get from these moments. To be clear, I don’t feel some profound otherness when I interact with my sister. She’s a sweetheart and I feel very close to her. But the twin experience, for me at least, connects strongly and meaningfully to some very basic aspects of my human existence. The fact that one is a little bit alone even in the closest togetherness. The fact that other people are never fully knowable. The fact of my own identity and how its boundaries aren’t quite as firm and distinct as I might pretend they are. How much I need connection. The way so much about my perceptions and actions can be strongly influenced by others in ways I’m totally unconscious of. Some of this may sound hokey! But it’s difficult to express it any other way.

Moving on. White goes to meet their mother as Black, and just as their conversation is ending she makes it clear she knows who he really is. You might think that bit is meaningful to me, but it doesn’t strike a stong chord. Parents can tell their twin children apart, yes. Would it be harder after ten years? Assumably. What is it supposed to mean about her that she can? I don’t know; I’m not a huge fan of hers.

Black encounters Sean and is incredibly cruel to him, beats him, and it sucks. It annoys me to heap praise on actors for playing twins—actors play different roles all the time and that’s just doing two of them in the same project—but I have to admit that Gun Atthaphan not only does a great job playing dual roles, but a good job playing twins specifically. In a way it’s hard to understand now, having seen what we have as the audience, how Sean could fail to see that this isn’t “his” Black. But he doesn’t, because there’s no way anything else is possible according to what he knows about his world.

Sean sees White-as-Black again as White saves him from sketchy mercenary types, and then tries repeatedly to confront him. White doesn’t really explain and Sean doesn’t come to an obvious epiphany. But when Sean sees Black again, something has clicked. He attempts the trust fall White showed him and Black just stares on contemptuously. Black is smoking “again.” And we get to another big twin moment. This is episode 12.

Sean gets it. He says “You’re not the Black that I love.” He handcuffs himself to Black. They have an oddly realistic fight that involves various uncomfortable wrestling positions. And he says “You have a twin brother?” Black denies it, Sean insists repeatedly. And you see Black’s face change from contempt to anger as he says “Don’t you get close to my little brother again.”

This is a fun, climactic moment. It is, of course, adorable that Sean insists he won’t stay away from White, and honestly pretty adorable in an extremely grumpy way that Black is being protective. (Here again Gun is very convincing. For such a small, baby-faced guy he is genuinely menacing as Black.)

The moment is also true to my experience, though the only direct connections I can make aren’t exactly similar in circumstances. If your social world intersects heavily with that of your twin, there really are particular moments in many romantic relationships and even in many close friendships where the other person will sort of take a twin inventory with you. They don’t go on a spiel about how you’re cooler than your twin (unless maybe they suck as a person), they probably don’t even compare you exactly. But each person has to come to their own realization because (often at least) while they knew you and your twin are different people, they had to learn it all over again on another level. And they want you to know they perceive it.

There are smaller iterations of this phenomenon where people will emphatically tell you that while they have been able to tell you apart in the past, *now* they don’t even think of you as looking the same, now they can’t imagine how anybody *ever* confuses you. It’s not like this happens every single time I get to know every single person, but it’s so common in its broad strokes that I feel confident saying that the people around me and my sister share some common experiences in how they perceive us. And a change comes at a certain point that’s compelling enough that people are motivated to talk about it, try to make you understand.

Anyway, while this is a phenomenon that happens around me rather than to me, Sean’s insistence strikes a chord.

Sean finds White. White does a totally accidental trust fall, and it’s pretty cute.

White... decides to halfway drown himself to “remind [Black] of [their] connection”? Which makes some intuitive sense in the moment even if it sounds a bit silly. And is a little. Black finds him, they talk, Black concludes that he can’t stop White from staying with the group, going on their mission, and being with Sean. White stops Sean from going to the drug warehouse alone, at which point he says something that rings true for me as well. He explains why he hesitated to stay part of things, and says “I thought it wasn’t my place.”

When Black returned and demanded his phone, demanded White go away and not see the gang anymore, White went along with that because in a real way that was valid. White had genuine reasons for essentially stealing Black’s life, but that is what he did. White is an empathetic sweetheart so while he did get used to Black’s world he does feel guilty and out of place suddenly. But now he sees that things have changed, and he can’t go back to before all this happened. And of course he’s in loooove, so there’s that as well.

Then White tells the other dudes who he is (except for Gumpa, who knew the whole time) and it takes them a while to believe him. But when they do, they immediately do the twin inventory with him, saying how did I not see this earlier, etc.

They do their attempted heist, loads of shit goes wrong, they fall from various frying pans into various fires for a good while. They get away, things settle down. Sean does the twin inventory with White again and insists he’s completely able to tell White and Black apart now.

Then we have my final twin moment. White says he knows Black won’t be returning to the group. “Nobody wants to live in someone else’s shadow,” he says. “My brother sacrificed this role for me.”

This rings true for me. As a twin, you never want to think of yourself as interchangeable with your sibling. But at the same time many relationships and groups don’t have room for each of a pair of twins to feel comfortable. It’s not like you have to come up with some legalistic scheme for who “owns” a social group or anything like that. But at least in my sort of twin relationship, you’re never going to have a symmetrical relationship with a third person or a social circle. Even if you each have the same degree of connection to the same person, it’s different. And I can’t say it’s ever really been the same. One has always been closer, or more comfortable, or something.

Well, if you can believe it that’s not everything I could have said. But it’s a lot, and if you made it to the end I thank you. In case it doesn’t go without saying, I did find it worthwhile to indulge the psychic twin trope. What I got out of Not Me was worth the latitude.

#not me #not me the series #gun atthaphan #off jumpol #avoiding twin tags like the plague until i figure out which are not sketchy

[guardian5tiger3]

Alright. That's it.

What's their karma?

Tarot + intuitive messages.

*I'm definitely doing more of these later so if none resonated dw .

Groups

1 2

3 4 5

Group one

Their karma is slow but steady and it's funny cause they've been scared of getting karma for a while. True assholes. Some of you it's possible you could have been pointing something out about this person and everyone was like oh but this and that and just somehow missing the point one way or another. If that's the case then also they just like seemed to get away with it somehow in the past. I'm really getting someone being like, "bruh." Like it's so obvious in a way. This person feels like a f*cking child I'm ngl. Like they're dumb ASF. They don't get it. I don't know if that just reminded me of the song but I just thought of a song called get it where you fit in by too short. Haha. You guys more or less depending on the person have some level of spiritual authority. I literally I kind of hope this is a metaphor but I got like a person being inside of a burning building. Also like to be asleep ina. Building that's falling apart. Like I'm honestly getting some eery vibes so holy shit that's only if this person is straight evil ok if that's real. For a lot of you I'm not gonna lie I'm picking up on like someone who does bad things when no one's looking to as a lot of you can probably imagine and I initially was brought me to say this was I picked up on animal abuse. Someone here this person pretends like their a good person and you must be intuitive because this person is coming out as someone who literally for an example like is involved in one of those dog fighting things like in Beverly hills Chihuahua like something like that. I'm not gonna lie this could be indicating cult involvement and I'm talking about child sex trafficking and the real system connected to the government ,underground tunnels, Hollywood, etc. So some of the people receiving karma are apart of this here ok so good job guys on fucking with them . At the least I'm picking up that your souls are trapping them and getting them caught up and or the rest of you you guys have authority to kind of say okay fuck them up now and they get fucked up. Seriously. I'm almost getting that things will make more sense in the future yes for some of you where these are the worse people they're just gonna straight up die, for some of them it's severe illness. Overall I see them getting caught which somehow is karma enough for them all. I'm seeing a lawsuit for a few people. I'm getting a lot of panic from a good amount of these people in the future. So for this pile it's definitely different depending on who and honestly I immediately picked up on that but base minimum punishment it seems for all of you guys is these people get caught and reprimanded I believe is the word I'm looking for. For those of you where it's possible the worse things apply I'm seeing this ties into a bigger picture in the world so for those of you thank you for your service to humanity because you fighting against evil tells me you're a spiritual warrior here for these reasons and you're doing your jobs well. ☮️

Group two

Right off the bat you guys have some intensely good energy and you are meant to thrive socially. For the persons being asked about it seems like they're cold and lonely and if anyone is in their lives that person or maybe people are also that way too. The best they can get out of life is money and honestly they don't even spend it in cool ways so like the actual possessing of currency. So what I'm getting from this is these people are losers. Uhmm but for a lot of you alot of their money is being taken away and then it sort of seems like they're gonna try to fake a good heart or something like that.. they're gonna try to blend in somehow. Seems like they're trying to climb a ladder and they really think they're gonna get rich. Or just be even better off than before ☠️ so this is turning into a grilling session. Cause wtf. This is spirits prediction and they know what their talking about but oh my fuck you guys like whoever has to deal with this person or people whatever , like their poor guides I don't even feel like their guides I feel like these are spirits or something trying their best to make shit around them happen hoping for any results less than negative. They're really trying to do what they gon and have done did to these mfs to try to open their minds and show them that's there's like parts of life that require you not to be dumb and low vibing ASF . Overall the karma is mainly to be outcasts and alone and overshadowed for some.

Group three

Ok for a lot of you first of all of these people are who they say they are and doing as well as they say then why do they feel the need to defend that so hard. Honestly a lot of these people seem like the type to have a huge ego where as they don't want to admit to themselves that they're the problem so their lives just suck and they're like damn why is life like this everyone is screwing stuff up and life is being suck ass but I am clearly great so how could this happen to me. Ok. I'm not gonna hide anything from you guys somebody is going to get an injury of some sort to their private parts I am so sorry. Either they did magic and it's going back on them or someone did this to them and it's going to effect them because they deserve it or both ☠️they also a lot of them manifest shit for themselves because of how they talk or what they say right and or think too. Dear God you guys I'm seeing a lot lot of private part issues so you guys know why you're here you probably know that these people deserve this I guess, I'm assuming, maybe. Some of you don't. Now you do. Someone's dad might disown them or something about their dad right and this person already has issues with their dad so they're probably gonna snap at that point that's for someone in particular ok. I'm definitely seeing for a good few of you this person getting herpes or some type of disease like that's gross as hell. I'll leave it at that. Ok peace.

Group four

You guys are sweet, some of you know this some of you don't but the people I'm reading on most of them are apart of chaotic groups getting karma for all being bad people. This person played with you somehow ok I'm getting like whoever picked this pile yall are all so sweet I'm glad to be in your energies especially after ⬆️⬆️⬆️ haha. I digress. They're never going to find love really and that's sad. You all will so don't worry. The best these people will get is being hopeful for their futures and being incorrect. So delusion almost. You guys are powerful and somehow you having crossed paths with this person has led them down a certain path. They're going to have to deal with their inner issues and everything on the inside and you guys this is this person's greatest fears . Within themselves. A lot of them are not gonna be ok. Don't feel bad cause this is positive anyway technically ok either they're there and you suffer internally even if you try to ignore it . Or you deal with it. But these people like there is a good reason they were ignoring this madness before. Not anymore. They're not gonna let their inner demons have them running around being idiots anymore. And if they do some of them will genuinely end up in jail down that road but I don't see that for most of you. It's kind of like they thought something was funny then all of a sudden cause their demons are brought up it's like oh.... It's so not funny anymore .(to them ok) you also might be taking some form of energy from them that is like somehow coming off like a token or like ,, I'm not really sure but it's reminding me of the stars somehow. Like, in the sky at night stars. Super strange. You guys are cool.

#psychic messages #pac reading #pick a card reading #free tarot readings #pac tarot #pac #pick a card #pick a picture #pick a pile #tarot pac #tarot reading #free intuitive readings #intuitive messages #channeled message

[marciabrady]

Perhaps you give us your thoughts about Snow White? (I'm not quite sure if you ever gave your full thoughts on her at length)

Hi there- thank you for the question! I've answered it here before and touched on her in my appreciation/defense (so sad you have to defend the original princesses if you like them lol) posts here, here, here, and here.

Ultimately, I think she's the most dynamic, fascinating, and important female character of all time. The original four, generally, are my favorites and I never choose between them because there's something that I connect to about each of them- but facts are facts. Without Snow White, none of the other Princesses would exist, the genre of animation wouldn't exist as we know it, the Disney parks would never exist- Disney itself probably wouldn't exist. Pop culture probably wouldn't, we'd go a completely different way about merchandising and publishing soundtracks, about the princess archetype and there wouldn't even be a basis through which to satirize the fairytales, as has become so common (Shrek, Frozen, Enchanted, Disenchanted, Moana, etc). But enough about her inestimable impact on so many industries- how do I feel about her?

Simply put, I love her. She reminds me of my Grandmother in the most beautiful way. My Grandmother loves to cook and clean, yes, and they're from the same era so there are parallels that seem obvious and they were both viewed as the most beautiful women...but they're the most vibrant and enchanting people. They're so funny and good natured that it's hard for anyone to be cross or have a long face about them. They're such a bright light that you almost assume they're simple minded, because surely no one who's ever lived with all their senses about them would be able to be so...kind and unhardened? But they are far from being simple-minded- they're so sharp and mix beautifully with others and have had such heartbreaking pasts, survivors through and through, but they've been so resilient in surviving their pasts and not allowing it to shape them or the way they see others, that people frequently forget their journey and view them as shallow. You know how the Genie says, "you'll never find another girl like that in a million years" about Jasmine? That's the way I feel about them- that rarity of spirit and joy and voice and beauty. The best friend you'll ever have, being selfless and overly empathetic, yes to a fault, but in a way that puts into perspective once more what living is all about and awakens you to how jaded and cynical everyone around you is and how numb you, yourself, might even be to human suffering? It reinstates the importance of a simple act of kindness and how much of a difference that can make to someone. In a world where women need to be superheros to be taken seriously or have to know martial arts or have to be violent or possess magical powers, I love how human Snow White is allowed to be. Her personality and fullness of life is enough to ensure her place in the stable of Hollywood's stars. It also makes me laugh because it's shown me how insincere people are? I grew up with seeing people say Snow White's short hair is unattractive or that she is unattractive, body shaming her and saying she has a double chin or full arms, or hating her voice. And it's so funny now that everyone seems to want different design types for the princesses, more body inclusivity, that they're touting to not be so harsh about female appearances. But everything people are asking for now are qualities Snow White has always possessed in spades! "Girl boss" Snow White literally bartered her marketable skills she learned as a slave in order to get room and board "no push over" she literally shoved back on the Dwarfs when they tried to disregard her instructions. Even all of the "why didn't Cinderella just leave her household!" people are blind the to the fact that Snow White did run away from home and had to start all over again from scratch, essentially a homeless person in the woods without any resources. No, Snow White is the most unique- the most different in every way possible and the strongest because she is a complete and total individual. To quote Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, she is the earth mother and we're all flops lol there will never be another Snow White.

#ask #thej13579 #snow white #so was adriana <3

[elliepassmore]

The Tainted Cup review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, sci-fi, greenpunk, murder mysteries, powers, disability rep

Big thanks to Netgalley, Del Rey, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To start, I'll say I'm not sure whether to classify this book as fantasy or sci-fi since I feel it has elements of both. The world the book is set in is 'greenpunk,' with buildings grown from plants and things like AC from mushrooms, and the characters have powers augmented through some kind of medical procedure. At the same time though, there are leviathans that rise from the ocean depths and threaten the empire. The genre isn't really important, but I will say it isn't super clear-cut and think it could fit easily into both sci-fi and fantasy.

The world in the book is super interesting. As mentioned, the buildings are largely grown from plants, with some more plant-like than others. A lot of the buildings have fernpaper walls, which serve well to keep out the humidity and don't mold, while also being sturdy enough to stand and not too heavy in the case of an earthquake. A couple of buildings are made from a different plant that can be grown in any shape, allowing for a more personalized architecture. Plants are pretty central to life in the book, and are used for additional things like AC, vaccination, medical treatments, and human augmentation. I love all the plant stuff and think the focus on 'green' things is a really interesting worldbuilding piece that isn't used nearly often enough. We get a good background on how the greenery works without going too in-depth, though I honestly could read an encyclopedia on this world and be happy.

In terms of the augmentation, there's a breakdown of the different augments people can have, with grafts being temporary and more for things like increased immunity in humans or faster growing in plants, while suffusions are permanent and change a lot more about a person/plant. If someone is employed by the empire and has a suffusion they're called a Sublime, with Sublimes categorized into how their suffusion works (axioms are good w/ numbers, linguas are good w/ languages, spatiasts are good w/ spatial relations, engravers who memorize everything, cracklers who are superhumanly strong, etc.). It was really interesting to read about the suffusions and the different Sublimes, and I really enjoyed the background info we get on the augmentations. I also thought it was pretty cool how the augmentations seem to be everywhere, including to help plants do different things and to help medications and vaccines be produced against the wide range of issues people might come across.

While this is a SFF story, the bulk of it is the murder mystery. It's twisty and deliberate, but at the same time has moments when it's very fun. Ana reminds me at times of Benoit Blanc from Knives Out and I really enjoyed her method to solving mysteries. There's a good mix of humor and seriousness here, and I think Bennett struck a good balance between the two.

Din is a Sublime engraver recently assigned to be Ana's investigative assistant. He's a rule follower and so his and Ana's approaches clash at times, though never majorly. Din is very clearly dyslexic, which gave him trouble in training, and at times he runs up against needing to read things during the investigation, but he's figured out a work around using his engraving skills which I found to be a really smart way of going about it. He's clever and a good observer, and is able to put the pieces of things together quickly even though he's new to investigating. I liked seeing things through his eyes and and way he would meticulously go through a scene to find evidence. It was particularly interesting how he interviewed people because Din seems to have a knack for knowing how to circle a conversation around to what he really wants to know without being too obvious about it, thus putting the interviewee at ease and getting them to open up. It was wonderfully subtle the way he got people to open up.

Ana is the main investigator on the case and is not the sort of investigator you'd expect. She prefers to stay in her house (or later on, in her borrowed rooms) rather than going outside to investigate on her own, and when she does leave the comfort of her accommodations, it's with a blindfold on. I suspected she was autistic throughout the book, and then toward the end she basically comes out and says it (without saying it since...you know...this is a SFF novel not set in our world with our terminology). She's quick to make deductive leaps and is often several steps ahead of everyone else involved. It was fun to read as she snapped through deduction after deduction, using the evidence Din collected, and coming to a conclusion that made sense but you didn't always see coming. Ana is also pretty funny and I enjoyed the humor she brought to the book.

There are a bunch of side characters who come in and out of the story as needed, and I found them to be pretty well fleshed out. It definitely felt like each character had their own lives and concerns and didn't just cease to exist once they left Din's presence. Miljin is the side character who's probably around the most, he's one of the investigators working the case with Ana and Din. At first his demeanor was pretty gruff and unwelcoming, so I didn't think I'd like him much, but over the course of the book his character grew on me and I actually ended up liking him a lot. He's just the kind of person that doesn't immediately warm up to people, but once he does he's got quite the quick brain and lots of humor and advice to go around.

As mentioned, the main point of this book is the mystery. At the beginning, Ana was making all sorts of leaps that I just took her word for, but as the story continued, I began being able to make guesses of my own. Some of the stuff I was able to guess correctly, sometimes in a surprising way, but other times I was still puzzling it out when Ana and the others came to their conclusions. There are so many moving pieces and different elements to the mystery going on in this book, I enjoyed trying to figure out the solution myself as well as seeing what the actual solution was.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series. This is the kind of book that makes me want more SFF backgrounds for mystery books, it added a really interesting layer to things that I enjoyed.

#book #book review #books #book recommendations #fantasy #bookstagram #booklr #bookblr #bookaholic #bookish #the tainted cup #murder mystery book #mystery #murder mystery #scifi books #scifi #advanced readers copy #netgalley #netgalley reads #lgbtq characters #eco horror #disability representation

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

For the character ask game: Osferth + 22, Finan + 12, Sihtric + 10, Uhtred + 25 ⚔️❤️‍🔥 Love hearing your opinions on TLK, they are always so well thought-out 😊

Thank you for the ask! It made me realize that I actually miss the boys already, and not just them:)

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like? - for Osferth

*slowly realizing that I actually haven`t read a single TLK fanfic🙈* However, I think I can say what I would and wouldn`t like about baby monk`s characterization.

Firstly, oversexualization is a no for me. The temptation is understandable (well, he`s played by Ewan, and there is a pretty much formed trope of the shyest one of the group turning out to be a sex giant) but it`s definitely not something I`d like to see turned into a trend.

Secondly, I`d like Osferth to be respected as a character (as in not to be treated like a piece of furniture). While techically he could seem to be 100% replaceable, it doesn`t feel that way from an emotional point of view. For his friends Osferth is an oasis of gentleness and calmness in the troubled and tumultuous world; a great reminder that even a man with a sword in hand could still be pure and warm; a reminder that they don`t have to kill the kindness inside them to survive. Not to mention that loyalty is a remarkable quality for a human being, and Osferth had enough of it for a few men.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character? - for Finan

Finan is a great storyteller! He`s created a million tales in his head, and a great many of them have his friends as protagonists. Sometimes the tales are about Uhtred, Sihtric and Osferth as themselves, sometimes he turns them into animals or some magical creatures. The endings to quite a few of his stories may change depending on his mood; but either way boredom is not something his children should feel threatened by:)

10. Could you be best friends with this character? - for Sihtric

I`m not sure about the "best" part, but friends - I think yes! I like his caring and protective nature, combined with fierceness and a quick mind - and I hope he could appreciate my seriousness, especially if we are talking about older Sihtric. Young one could probably find me lame😂 (too indecisive or cautious for his liking, probably). Although I had a school friend who used to nag me a lot about overthinking things, and we still got along just fine:)

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now? - for Uhtred

Damn, you definitely knew who to assign this question to, didn`t you?:) Uhtred's character development in the show was freakin` exemplary. In early episodes (first five or so) he was royally pissing me off, in an "I want to hit him over the head with something heavy" and "What a dumbass" kind of way. His recklessness and impulsiveness were driving me up the wall. But even then I had a feeling that it was how it was supposed to be, so I tried to contain my irritation and not judge him too harshly. And did it pay off! By the end I was totally ready to join Uhtred on pretty much any quest he could choose to take on - and not because I started to see him as a some kind of ideal, flawless man. It was the way one could see and feel every loss, every gain, every person that touched him leaving a mark in his soul, teaching him a lesson, driving him forward, for better or for worse.

#asks #ask game #mutuals❤ #finan #osferth #sihtric #uhtred

[autisticandroids]

@pingnova replied to this post:

One of the things I like the most about your interpretations of spn and destiel is that they're both "bad people" and that's interesting. I was explaining to a friend how I loved some comedies bc all of the characters are "bad people" so when the slapstick and pettiness happens back and forth I can just laugh at all of them. it goes further for me (all humans are flawed and probably seem irredeemable and disgusting to someone else, no matter what). but I have never…

…been into interpretation that relies on characters being "right" or essentially perfect and sinless. I find drama between sinless characters utterly boring and contrived. I like characters that are messy and human. its a good reminder for me about myself and makes entertaining stories. sometimes when i talk about a character friends mistake me for criticizing them because I talk about their flaws. nah, I think it's great they're assholes. they're fictional, the only..

...place I want to deal w assholes in my life. stories are just complex bad people getting tangled with other complex bad people. my fave spn character outside cas is Meg, to the shock of many. I have given up explaining it to most people lol. "but she's bad!" yeah ok I thought it was hot? and kind of funny. I don't feel like explaining rn. 😅

oh thank you! this is something i always put a lot of thought into. like, one of the things that frustrates me about fandoms generally is i think the rough edges tend to get sanded off characters. like, some characters are vilified, yes, but that happens as a result of other characters getting herofied. like, if characters we're meant to like and root for can't be mean and self-serving and destructive, then to create conflict, one must invent flat, cartoonish villains to pit them against.

actually, as a sidenote, i was talking to @spriteofmushrooms on the phone the other day and trying to come up with a working definition of "darkfic" and we ended up deciding that it seems to mean "fic where characters are allowed to have unacceptable desires and motivations." and that's not exactly what it is, darkfic is hard to pin down, and it has some stylistic and genre conventions that are its own. for example, the first church at the end of the world by @withbloodstainedclothingon is a fic i love, and a really vicious and uncomfortable and vicious character study on both dean and cas (but especially dean). it is also unabashedly darkfic, and the reason it expresses the things it wants to express about cas through cas running like a misogynistic cannibalism sex cult is because one of the conventions of darkfic is a kind of aggressive edginess. that isn't a criticism, it's just saying that had the fic been working in a different genre, the author might have chosen a different method. or another example, my fic i fold in half so easily and @twoheadedcas' fic samson went back to bed are both kind of similar in various ways. they're both attempts to take late seasons canon seriously, attempts to reconcile with the position cas is in re: dean and jack in the late seasons, and attempts to put cas through a meat grinder. and they're both, i would say, darkfic. i know for a fact i didn't really start out with ifihse intending to write darkfic, and while melanie (hiiiii) might correct me here, there's a good chance they didn't either while writing swbtb. these are just the places one is naturally led to when engaging with the late seasons seriously. but there's a big difference between ifihse and swbtb in terms of: i am, on the balance, a darkfic writer. a lot of my fic is out and out darkfic, and even when it's not it tends to contain darkfic stylistic habits. @twoheadedcas has written a bit of darkfic in their tenure, but on the balance, they mostly write non-darkfic. so if you compare ifihse to swbtb, despite their tonal similarities, and despite the fact that both were written (in my opinion) primarily as pure reactions to canon, ifihse has some of the hallmarks of being a darkfic (in particular the emphasis on cas' erotic pleasure and his discomfort/ambivalence about it; darkfic tends to be even smuttier than normal fanfics and that smut tends to be both kinkier and more inclined to play with the lines of emotional comfort and consent), while swbtb has some of the hallmarks of being a non-darkfic (the best example is dean and cas sharing a sweet almost kiss in the middle, which is absolutely a classic destiel fic thing). this is actually one of my favorite things about samson went back to bed: in darkfic that is written to be darkfic, no matter how seriously and genuinely it engages with canon and the characters, there will always be the feeling that there is a finger on the scale, tilting characters to be just a little nastier, grosser, more evil. but non-darkfic is usually skewed the other way: the characters are skewed to be more comfortable and palatable. by aligning itself with non-darkfic, samson went back to bed legitimizes the dark interpretation of canon it presents by saying "i am not skewing things to be worse. i might even be skewing things to be better. and yet we're still here." which i think is cool.

but that's kind of the crux of the thing, isn't it? most darkfic is just a twisted mirror of most non-darkfic. instead of flattening characters to be better than they are, making them paragons of virtue, it flattens them to be worse than they are, making them cartoon villains. obviously, this isn't true of all darkfic, i am a great enjoyer of darkfic and frequently write it myself. there's plenty of good darkfic out there. but if sturgeon's law applies double to fanfic, it applies triple to darkfic. and i think it's because there is this inability, in fandom, to imagine that these beloved characters could be bad people. which means that non-darkfic tends to portray them as flat heroic figures. but it also means that darkfic tends to start from the premise "haha what if (character) was EVIL" rather than recognizing the ways they already kind of are (and the ways in which they are good, as well). both non-darkfic and darkfic frequently hold this black and white mindset, it's just a lot clearer in darkfic because darkfic always sets out to engage with darkness, whereas a lot of non-darkfic is just about things other than whether characters are "good" or "bad," and even when it's about characters' morality, it's usually less contrary to the canon, so there isn't as much emphasis on it or time spent contemplating it. so it's less in your face.

but yeah. i put a lot of work into taking the characters of supernatural seriously as complex and morally suspect people. that's what's fun to me. i find the other way kinda boring. i'm glad you enjoy what i'm selling :3.

(for some supplemental reading check out this post by @astermacguffin)

#spn #pingnova

[cogbreath]

ngl even tho i had faith in both you and allah that whatever you had done would not be the end of you i WAS worried still so yeah like everyone else is saying i'm also rly glad that you're recovering. congrats on surviving life's bullshit yet again my friend. may the next one maybe be less painful tho bc that did/does not sound like a fun time

jazakallah khair ❤️

and i do wanna apologise for worrying you guys. we all do know that i didnt mean to but i do understand how even when we r aware of that, it can still hurt and be scary to see someone u care about end up in a situation like that and it can be confusing and frustrating cuz of the fact its so clearly not a good thing to do to oneself. but im rlly rlly thankful that despite all that you guys have it in your hearts to be so so gentle and kind to me which seriously means the world to me

im not entirely sure how bad my situation really was, because it's honestly difficult for me to remember how much i actually ended up drinking, my memory is rlly blurry about it but i do know that i did pass out for a while. i wasn't exactly worried at first that i felt that i needed to puke and legit was shocked when i started seeinf it turning red n shit. i wanfed to believe that somehow it was just something i ate that was also red but when i started tasting the taste of iron i Knew. because it seemed to be becoming more and more bloody i was like. "o fuck." i was still aware of ans believing in the resilience of the human body, reminding myself that people have literally survived getting hit with a particle beam in the head, but nonetheless it doesnt change the fact that vomiting blood is something associated with fatal outcomes. i guess honestly it really doesn't matter either way what the true severity of it was and i shouldn't trouble myself too much about trying to figure it out because no matter what, it was a dangerous and bad situation to be in. also im not detailing more now about what happened so as to be shocking or graphic but like i just want to be honest about it so i can help process it and help u guys have more clarity on what happened now that im not as delirious and panicked as i was when it all went down

i wasnt scared to die and honestly no matter what never will be because of the way my brain is wired about the concept of death, but what i was most scared of was that ppl i care about and that allah would be mad at me. so it helps a lot to have that affirmed that nobodys mad at me and nobody thinks that i'm stupid or had it coming

sorry if this is more than u expected as a response, but you guys are some of the only people i can feel comfortable being truly deeply honest with. i dont ever intend to trouble you with things that arent your job to manage and i dont intend to freak people out. but maybe thats not nice to assume thats what anyone is thinking. ily

[reidsaurora]

You Are Invited To:

OfWilliamAndWalter's 1K Cocktail Party ☆

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬:

🍸 Spencer's Sauvignon Blanc - send me a character + prompt from this list and i'll write you a small blurb!

🍸 Penelope's Pink Whitney - send me a character + a scenario and i'll make a moodboard for it!

🍸 Ale for Aaron Hotchner - send me a character + a scenario/au and i'll tell you some headcanons i have!

🍸 Prentiss' Planter's Punch - send me a character and/or scenario and i will make you a short playlist for it!

🍸 Agent Rossi's Rum on the Rocks - send me a couple of your favorite things and i'll tell you who I'd pair you with! (please specify your gender preference if you have one!)

🍸 Greenaway's Grey Goose - send me a couple things about you and i'll tell you what character you remind me of! (one CM character and one non-CM character)

🍸 Morgan's Modern Gin - send me a character and i'll send you a fanfiction recommendation!

🍸 Jennifer 'Jack and Coke' Jareau - send me a series of things and i'll cast my mutuals as those things!

🍸 Aperol Spritz for SSA Alvez - send me an ask game! FMK, Would You Rather, Top Fives, anything you'd like!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬:

🍸 This will be open to anyone! - despite being alcohol themed, you do not have to be 18+ to send a request! However, since this blog is generally 16+, I would appreciate no overly NSFW requests. Requests are always open on @hornyhornyhimbos if you do have any NSFW requests!!!

🍸 Please be respectful to the blogger and to others! - use your noggin when requesting things. if it sounds offensive, it probably is so just keep it to yourself. treat people with kindness!!!

🍸 Please be understanding when putting in requests! - writing blurbs and headcanons and such can be time-consuming so please be gracious when leaving requests! i will try to answer everyone's asks in as timely of a manner as possible!

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡:

🍸 As I always say in these types of posts, thank you. Whether you were my first follower or my latest follower, this wouldn't be possible without you. Whether you just arrived, or whether you stayed through my big mental breakdown during the summer, you are so very loved and I am so very grateful for you.

🍸 Of course this wouldn't be possible without my mutuals, who also function as my promo team!!!

🍸 @theghouligan You are my absolute favorite person on this earth, and that's saying a lot because you're a gemini 🤪 no but seriously, you are one of my people and I could never thank you enough for it. You help me through LITERALLY everything. In fact, you were the one who told me to start this blog and release my babies (fics) into the world to help me through a very hard time in my life. I could never thank you enough. I love you with every inch of my being. ❤️

🍸 @dungeons-are-too-cold GG. Georgia Georgia. Oh, the things I could thank you for. thank you for being my best friend, like ever. You fuel me with new writing ideas every day and you beta read things I send you at 3 am and you literally have pulled all nighters with me before, even from over 2,000 miles and a time zone away. Words could never express how happy I am that you've been a part of my tumblr journey and just this journey through life. I love you so damn much.

🍸 @reidsbookclub MY SWEET GRECY GIRL, MY CHICA, MY DEAR, AND EVERY OTHER TERM OF ENDEARMENT I COULD EVER POSSIBLY THINK OF!!! You are one of my favorite humans ever. You were one of the original inspirations for my blog actually!! Anyway, a huge shoutout to you for beta reading everything, no matter how big of an inconvenience I am ik i'm annoying ajsgsshshs and also just for being you!! You put up with me every day and you're just the sweetest person ever and I could never express how thankful I am for you.

🍸 @rupsmorge Rups, my darling!!! You were one of my first friends on tumblr and I will forever be grateful for it. You inspired me to start writing about mental illness and physical disabilities and I am so glad you did. Plus you're just really fucking cool yes, a hot air ref and i think that's enough of a reason to shout you out 😉

🍸 @writer-in-theory JAY!!! You. Oh, you. You are one of my favorite humans ever. You will scream with me about Steve Harrington or Spencer Reid or literally whatever at any given time of the day and I am so thankful for it. You have helped me out of writing slumps before and you have listened to me complain about being a bad writer and you're just... ugh, I love you. You were also one of the original inspirations for my blog and i think that's so cool! So thank you!! 🫶🏻

🍸 there are of course so many other people who have helped me through this and made this possible! @nomajdetective @reidselle @lunar-affection @lcvingprentjss @lukeclvez @writingquillsandpainpills @sadgirlml @will-on-the-internet @spookydrreid @gold-onthe-inside @ssahotchnerr @gay-prentiss @clarawatson @samuel-de-champagne-problems @foxy-eva and literally so many more!! you all mean the absolute world to me and i am so thankful for all of you!!!! ❤️

↳ icon in collage is by @lilacprentiss

↳ other pictures featured in the collage are from pinterest.

↳ dividers are by @anlian-aishang.

#celebration #follower celebration #1k followers #1k celebration #1000 followers #ask game #ask games #inbox game #inbox games #spam my inbox #flood my inbox #my inbox is open #inbox open #request #requests #send requests #spencer reid #penelope garcia #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #david rossi #elle greenaway #derek morgan #jennifer jareau #luke alvez #criminal minds #blog milestone #tumblr milestone #ofwilliamandwalter's 1K cocktail party

[historia-vitae-magistras]

I remember in your lovely fic 'When the heart is full, the tongue will speak' with little Matthew, first being picked up by Alasdair to officially join the empire; you mention he makes noises more of Canada then human. I was wondering if you had any more thought into the weird mechanics of nations and the noises of their land they make?

Like can they sing in nation noises as a charming spell, or do it intentionally to creep people out.

I'm think older nations like Bridget would have sung/spoke with the noises of her land as a sort of powerful spell or to charm/scare her people as a goddess.

I think it's a fun concept. I also need to thank you because the story made me cry.

The lad’s face changes and it’s almost unnatural to watch, like ice has to break at his jaw and eyes to move, to make the sounds of language. At this age, still less than two centuries old, he shouldn’t struggle with humanity. But the sounds he makes are more Canada than Matthew, groaning ice and shaking trees. Matthew clears his throat and it sounds like the first thaw on the River Clyde as the water begins to flow and cleave Glasgow in two once more for the summer, creaking and not unnatural because it is the most natural sound in the world but not one that should be made by a human body. Alasdair stares at the horror of it. He licks his ruined lips, sets his narrow shoulders under the moldering coat, and speaks.

So with that I was kind of foreshadowing the seriously fucked up feral Matt of later years because he'd been living feral for so long he was losing pieces of himself. I think any nation could do it but it'd be kind of the opposite of how they slide into any accent that is being used around them. It's a major sign of dysfunction and alienation. I do think in the bardic and poetry sort of way their ordinary human sounds might remind people of their land and culture. Brighid's laugh sounding like her harp. Her accent jumping like her craggy rivers and greenery.

And thank you! It's one of my prides.

#the ask box || probis pateo #meatsack mechanics || the sociology and biology of nations #why i write

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #78

I woke up today, determined to go to the grocery store to prepare a recipe that someone from the internet sent to me.

…Today seems to have had other plans, though. Hahaha…

At least for today things feel somewhat settled, so I went and caught up with the messages from other people that I didn't have the bandwidth for in previous days. Tomorrow, I am hoping to go to my friend R's house; he is probably one of the best bakers on my planet, and he is going to make us some gluten-free peanut-butter-banana bars, and we will do some catching up. I also made it a point to message another friend of mine. I made him a tree AGES ago, but he's been caught up in the complexities of his life, and we haven't spoken in months. Thank goodness we're both neurodivergent and therefore don't have "friendship decay mechanics"! Hahaha!

Then I began making preparations for weaving trees outside, since the weather will be warmer soon. I spent a lot of today trying to put together the perfect playlist for it - one to inspire determination, and to remind me of how much I've grown and how much I've been helped along the way. It tells a story. Perhaps I'll reproduce this playlist on YouTube so you can hear it sometime, if you want to. It's made entirely of songs that are special to me for reasons I won't define here. But I don't have the energy right now to build it in a place where others can see it. Maybe tomorrow.

Today is the birthday of J's departed brother. I told you a while ago that I might tell you the story of why J wants to get an airplane to begin with; suppose today is as good a day as any; my brain is still kinda soup, and I don't have much else to write about.

J is the youngest of four siblings - two brothers, B and Daniel, and a sister, S.

Daniel was passionate about the outdoors, about photography, about motorcycles, and about a wide variety of other stuff. But most importantly, he was thoughtful, kind, intelligent, introspective, and very gentle. He also had a bit of a wanderlust about him. He spent a lot of his time walking, hiking, doing mechanical work, teaching about motorcycle safety, riding his motorcycle (always in full gear, and never doing anything reckless) and taking beautiful photographs whenever he could. You can find many of the pictures he took here. Please look at them:

I only knew him briefly. But even in that short span of time, and even with so few interactions, it was clear to me, with the way he behaved, how he spoke to others, the kinds of things he loved, and the integrity with which he carried himself, that he was one of the finest examples of a human being that my planet had to offer.

Daniel had dreams of moving to Oregon to become a professional photographer - of nature, of motorcycle races, of whatever suited his fancy. He had an amazing eye for it. So he packed up all his stuff, mailed some of it ahead, and then rode his motorcycle - in his full body gear and helmet, and with all his defensive driving skills, and all the seriousness with which he took motorcycle safety - from where we live in New York State, all the way to Portland, Oregon. He made it! And he took an amazing variety of stunning photographs along the way.

In July of 2020, while Daniel was still getting his living space situated, he decided to go out on a routine drive on his motorcycle, most likely to familiarize himself with the area. Naturally, he was dressed in full gear. But he didn't make it home; he was collided into by an elderly gentleman who was returning home from a hike. The elderly gentleman made an illegal left turn without warning at a speed so high that it wouldn't have helped Daniel even if he was in a car. He died instantly due to the physics involved with inertia of soft things being encased in hard bone; not even a helmet helps with those kinds of physics.

…And just like that, 33 years of growth, of change, of learning, of loving, of becoming, of creating… all of it was undone in an instant. A single moment of negligence caused by a person who claimed he "didn't see him". And now he's gone. I'll never see another one of his photographs. I'll never get to feed him another bowl of venison curry. I'll never get to see him smile or hear him laugh. He'll never see any of his photographs published in any magazine. J has a hole in his soul now in the shape of his brother that can never be filled; the best that J can do is become strong enough to carry the immense weight of that emptiness.

…Funny, you know. Emptiness isn't supposed to weigh anything. And yet… writing this to you, my eyes are already overflowing with photographs of his that I'll never get to see. My lips tremble with words I'll never be able to say to him. My diaphragm quakes with the pain of the laughter that I won't be able to experience with him. At least… not until my turn to exit my own meat-mech comes around. J was extremely close to him and looked up to him as a hero. I can't even begin to imagine the weight of the emptiness he must carry, or the strength it took for him to rise up again after I saw how the weight of that emptiness drove him to his knees.

Because of the safety gear that Daniel was extremely conscientious about wearing, there wasn't a scratch or even so much as a bruise on his body; at the wake, he looked like he was asleep. Due to the nuances of Oregon law, the gentleman who killed Daniel faced no consequences whatsoever. All the same, I hope that the knowledge that his negligence stole a life prompts him to never again be irresponsible with his vehicle.

In honor of Daniel's memory, J wanted to make the same trip across the country, but in his own way. Daniel was passionate about motorcycles. J was always interested in airplanes, but for a variety of reasons (mostly having to do with the conditioning he received as a child about what sorts of things are "practical" and "realistic"), he didn't pursue that interest until recently.

J worked hard to overcome a lot of his previous conditioning in order to obtain a pilot's license. Like Daniel, J is very conscientious about safety, so he has done his utmost to become someone who can pilot a small airplane safely and confidently. He has memorized all of the standard procedures regarding visual flight rules. He is still working towards obtaining his instrument flight rating. He is doing the work needed to make sure the plane he bought recently is safe to operate. He has deconstructed a lot of the conditioning he received that tells him he is "unworthy" and "incapable" in order to make this work, and I could not be more proud of him.

We're still a ways off from making the trip, but when we do, I will be with J, most likely taking pictures, making sure he eats, sleeps, and hydrates, and generally trying to be a source of support. By that point, given that M and Br do not like heights, they will be okay with holding the fort back at home.

…So that is the story about why I was able to take pictures for you from an airplane in one of my letters. Suppose I might as well end today's letter here.

Hey, Sephiroth? I already have enough loss. I have even more in my past. And I know I'm going to have more in my future (M and Br are older than me; this is the other side of being polyamorous, I'm afraid…). There are already missing pieces in my soul in the shape of other human souls. Turn yourself around and keep yourself safe so that you don't add to my collection, yeah? And… make sure you're very generous with the phrase "I love you". Because you don't know when you're going to run out of opportunities to say it out loud.

I love you. And I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

#sephiroth #ThankYouFFVIIDevs #ThankYouFF7Devs #ThankYouSephiroth #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy vii crisis core #final fantasy 7 crisis core #final fantasy crisis core #ffvii crisis core #ff7 crisis core #crisis core #ff7r #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy 7 remake #ffvii remake #ff7 remake #final fantasy vii rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth #ffvii rebirth #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 ever crisis #ffvii ever crisis #ff7 ever crisis #ffvii first soldier #sibling grief #grieving and loss #wholesome

[unknownentry404]

So, I didn’t so much discover but rather confirm an hypothesis today, and that’s the simple fact that the snakes that Luz has are NOT venomous, or frankly dangerous in any real way.

Honestly? It’s crazy how much demonisation (heh, pun unintended. . .by me! 👀) snakes get. It reminds me of the original Unfortunate Events movie in a lot of ways. And even after that, I didn’t realise for the longest time that most snakes aren’t venomous at all.

The venomous snakes are ones you’ve heard about a lot: rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, etc. But snakes aren’t inherently venomous.

And through a simple google search, I can guess that the snake Luz has in episode one is a Smooth Green Snake. Again, non-venomous snake found in the North American Continent, and one that doesn’t even like to bite. Any of the people bitten by it would prolly experience more “the trauma of being bit by a perceived dangerous animal,” than anything else. Like, we don’t see anyone getting carted off to hospital right? Plus Camila, vet on the scene, doesn’t seem particularly stressed out. And they could have easily added either as a comedic gag if they wanted.

Basically, Luz is a veterinarian’s kid who gets on with animals more than people. In the brief opening we see her playing with two species that are famously feared for unjust reasons: spiders and snakes. Neither of which are automatically dangerous. Like sure, venomous ones of both species certainly DO exist, but the spiders here aren’t black widows or anything.

Now, I will admit I might have acted similarly as a dumb kid (and today with the spiders let’s be real; but at least I know it’s an irrational fear, and I would, rather, move to the corner of class and continue talking with Luz, than run away screaming). But I’ve watched enough creators with snakes like Snake Discovery on YouTube, that I’d be more likely to ask the kid what kind of snake it is, and once I knew the species and verified it’s non-lethality, even ask to hold it with her. (As a teacher, if I discovered it WAS lethal, my first priority would be getting the snake away from the kid asap, lbr).

Honestly, this would have been a great opportunity for the staff and faculty to teach kids about how such animals aren’t always dangerous, preventing a few phobias from developing, but also showing students pictures of the species that are, at the same time, so they can identify the difference in the wild. (But school is rarely so kind, lol).

Luz with spiders also really reminds me of Japanese kids. I worked in an elementary school in Japan for four years, and let me say: bugs are such a big thing there. Every class has at least a few tanks in the back of ones kids recently caught. And I’ve been with kindergarteners who’d let ants and the like crawl all over them without a care in the world.

Like, I have severe arachnophobia and hate creepy crawlies myself, and I doubt I’ll ever be able to overcome it at this stage, but it is not a fun way to live in any means. If such exposure in schools can stop at least some people from developing such fears, it would be well worth it.

TLDR: The snake Luz has is most likely a Smooth Green Snake and is both non-venomous and doesn’t like to bite. Both the snakes and spiders in the first few scenes represent unplaced fear, as they are some of the most feared animals, but only a certain number of either species are dangerous in any way to humans. No one would have gotten seriously hurt from Luz’ animal antics. But as a vet’s kid, Luz obviously gets on with animals more than people in the Human Realm. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Addendums and other snakey notes:

The Smooth Greensnake is a very small snake, that is also found in the wild of Connecticut. Hence why I’ve settled on it for the main candidate of being Luz’ snakes. It is very small, and quite docile. Not a very common pet, though, so only found a few videos in it. Still very interesting. There are honestly not that many green coloured snake species, despite it being the default emoji/look for snakes. Isn’t it odd? 🐍

Rough Greensnakes: The only real difference between it and its extremely similar smooth cousin is, well, it’s rough scales. :P I believe they are the same size and look very similar.

Green Tree Pythons: These green beauties have spots, kind of like Luz’ snake. They also have fierce bite, when they do, but are still quite tame once they’ve gotten used to humans. But again, they are non venomous and don’t leave any lasting damage if they bite you. On the surface they look like they might fit as being Luz’ snake species, but they are also a bit larger of a species, and if they are Green Tree Pythons that Luz has, they they are not babies, as I believe most babies start out as red or yellow before turning green in adulthood. They are also not native to America, coming from places like New Guinea. However, there are some in America, but as people’s pets and not in the wild.

Timber Rattlesnakes: so I’m adding this because it is native to Connecticut and because this is a venomous snake. (Though also endangered and not likely to strike out if unprovoked. Admire from a distance and do not kill seems to be the memo here). It’s also, you know, a rattle snake, that makes a very distinct sound, like what can be heard in the opening of the first episode of the owl house. However I believe this to be an oversight at best, by the sound design crew, as true rattlesnakes are both quite big as adults and have very distinctive rattles on the tips of their tails, which Luz’ snakes don’t have. Generally, snakes don’t really make noise, hence why I think the default snake sound tends to be a rattlesnake’s sound.

#luz noceda #toh #the owl house #images of cute snakes #discussion of spiders and creepy crawlies