#prior tags are from the creator and the following are the ones i’m posting for the sakeof organization lol

[solomonssock]

You Will Go Nowhere Else

I never planned for this to be so long, but I love Asmodeus sm...expect nothing less from me.

Pairing: gn!reader x Asmodeus; Leviathan makes an active appearance, but isn't the focus of this fic (romantic feelings are heavily implied, but a relationship has not been established...yet)

TW: Cyberbullying, Slutshaming, Cursing, Alcohol use (Asmodeus is an emotional drinker), Suggestive (Its Asmodeus), unspecific yet hinted spoiler for those who haven’t reached level 20, Asmodeus (and all demons) can be possessive, and I’m trying to figure out demon mannerisms I’d like to establish so bear with me on this awkward journey

Word Count: ~4,700

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

So-called "weak" human subduing the Devildom's demon lords? It's more likely thank you think! WATCH OUT... YOU COULD BE NEXT!

Scoffing to yourself, you click off the Dreaddit thread to scroll through whatever else you could find under the "d/human" tag. You expected to make up some of the content, given that you and Solomon were quite literally the only two human exchange students in all nine circles. Yet, it wasn't any less unnerving that most of the top posts seemed to circulate around your "mysterious relationship" with the brothers.

At some level, you understood their fascination and hesitation with you. Your lone quest to free Belphegor during your first year was essentially the equivalent of what would happen if a lone demon managed to ensnare some of the Earth's top leaders under their command. You just wished they didn't have to be so mean about it.

This budding Dreaddit addiction of yours had started the evening prior, courtesy of Leviathan.

"ROFL, what an idiot!"

You two spent a good chunk of the night lounging on his extra-large beanbag chair, surfing Dreaddit posts under "d/R.A.D. memes" on his premium account. Leviathan had excitedly showed you his avatar's exclusive Ruri-chan t-shirt, emphasizing that 9.99 grimm a month was a necessary sacrifice for otakus everywhere, or at least those truly passionate about their fandoms. As his loyal Henry, you'd been privy to sensitive information regarding his identity as both creator and moderator of both the "d/TSLMerch" and "d/RuriChanUpd8s" forums.

"Levi," you chastise, “leave Mammon alone. This is already embarrassing enough."

A user by the name xXLuciferz_LegionzXx had uploaded footage of the second eldest being chased through the school halls by Cerberus.

"I-it's his own fault!" Levi defended. "He shouldn't have tried running off with the Council's debit card."

And try he did.

You watched as the video replayed from the beginning. The shaky scene followed Mammon as he rounded the corner in front of Potions Lab 3 with Cerberus hot on his tail. Looking backwards as he sprinted through the crowd of students, he failed to notice Lucifer already blocking the doors at end of the hall.

You cringed as the familiar "MAAAAAMOOONN" blew through the speakers.

Realizing his fuck up, Mammon skidded to a near-stop to pivot into the hall just before Lucifer. But it was too late. Cerberus, determined to catch the focus of his master's ire, latched onto his pantleg, and quickly pulled him back.

Except, only Mammon's pants went with him.

The video ended with the poor demon being pantsed as Lucifer menacingly appeared before the videographer.

After viewing it for the fifth time, you made a silent promise to treat Mammon to some lunch and TLC time this upcoming weekend.

"Levi. Please?" You sighed and pouted your lip a bit for good measure.

"F-fine, if it's that important to you." Flustered, he clicked off the video and flagged it for inappropriate content before he selected the home page.

"Thank you," you leaned your head on his shoulder, "I appreciate it."

A small squeak left Leviathan as he ducked his head further into his hoodie and kept scrolling.

"Oh? Levi, what's that one say?"

On the screen was a picture of you and Satan sitting together in the library. The time stamp confirmed it must have been taken this past Tuesday when Satan helped you review basic Enochian phrases. He'd recommended taking the language for your free elective this semester and offered to serve as your tutor.

Your brows furrowed as you looked at the post's heading.

"...who do they think they are?" You murmured. "What do they mean by that?"

You hadn't gotten any further as Leviathan quickly shut his laptop.

"Hey, I forgot I bought a new co-op farming-dungeon crawler game I thought you would like. Let's check it out!"

Without warning, he had popped up from the beanbag and headed straight towards his console to set up the controllers.

You gasp sharply as you finally reach the exact post Leviathan had hidden from you last night. Visibly uncomfortable with discussing how you ended up on the top page of Dreaddit, you didn't push him for more details. His diversion occupied you for some time as you kicked slime monster ass and planted dewdrop berries, but the curiosity lingered in the back of your mind throughout the school day.

After dinner and watching an episode of "One Day I Woke Up Reborn as An Oven: One Piping Hot Pie of Existentialism Coming Up!" with Leviathan, you'd returned to your room and set up a basic Dreaddit account. He wasn't kidding, the ads were no joke. Every two to three posts you clicked on led to an ad-break or brand deal, sometimes featuring even Asmodeus or Mammon as a model.

"Ok yea, maybe I'll look into getting premium."

You chuckle to yourself as an ad for DevilGlam Lip Balm in the shade RedRose pops up for the third time and wonder if Asmodeus got to take samples home from the shoot. Because if so-

"I'm definitely gonna ask to borrow it." It was pretty cute.

Exiting out of the ad, you save the picture of you and Satan. Despite the fact that it definitely wasn't meant to be seen by you, the intimacy layered within the shot warmed your heart. Focused on the heading, you had missed the adoring smile curled on his lips as you fumbled through past and present conjugation.

However, you don't miss that this was posted under the "d/Sa10Stans" tag. A peek at the authors username, SatansS0ulmate, is warning enough that you are entering dangerous territory. But the temptation is too great.

You scroll through the comments.

HellsKitchenette: There the human goes again, running through the boys each week like a common whore. I've caught them just begging for attention, it’s pathetic.

RADRum: UGH, I have them in seductive speechcraft, and they're just so annoying!! If you can manage a pact with nearly all of the fucking student council, you can figure classwork out for yourself, slut.

You click on the thread you see forming with over 300 replies and at least 150 upvotes.

DearDeerLights: Wait, what do you mean nearly all the student council?!?!?!

HellsKitchenette: Oh, you poor thing. You didn't know? They've managed to trap our boys, all seven of them.

GroundGossamberry: ACK! You guys scared me, I thought they had gotten to Barbatos or something! But seriously, how pathetic can they be... like having to be coddled in public? Not me, I'd rather drop dead <3

Solomonssock: I see I'm outnumbered, but isn't this a good thing? The whole point of the program is that the human is supposed to study with us. And the lords are their host-family. I don't see anyone in the comments giving Solomon such harsh treatment.

RADRum: At least Solomon carries his weight around. Like come on, after a fucking year of being here if you can't go out by yourself then don't come out at all is all I'm saying.

GroundGossamberry: Yeah...I wouldn't fuck with Solomon; I've seen him in potions. He's brewing liquid death.

HellsKitchenette: Solomon's strength and wit makes him increasingly more bearable, and I admit, dashing. This one...well, there's simply nothing special about them. Anyone who witnessed Lord Leviathan's TSL Quiz last year can attest to the fact that they were all coerced into these contracts. Honestly, the human should be ashamed.

You stop there, your throat constricting in response to your rising panic.

"...oh fuck." Hearing the wobble in your own voice, you swallow thickly and sit up from your bed. Exiting out of Dreaddit, you hurriedly delete the app and set your DDD face down on your bed, tripping over your fallen sheets as you scurry out of your room. You need water, or anything really, to stop you before you start spiraling.

You make the short trip to the kitchen and pour yourself a glass with shaky hands.

It doesn't take a genius to infer that you wouldn't be the most popular person in all the Devildom, but the pure vitriol of the subdreaddit had been a higher dose than you anticipated. Truthfully, the focus on you was the least of your worries.

You shotgun the glass, the cool liquid gliding down your throat and easing the tension that had started to build.

You admit you and the brothers still hadn't fully sorted through the emotional muck that releasing Belphegor had unleashed. You felt assured that your pact with Lucifer was mutual, but Leviathan, Mammon, and the others took precedence in your mind. Did they really feel that way?

Trapped?

The pit in your stomach, persistent and pernicious, prevents you from returning to your room to wallow in your worries. Instead, you pass through the now empty dining hall and open the door to the music room.

The grandiosity of the room isn't lost on you. The gold detailing, polished to perfection, reflects your shaken image. You take up so little of the room, and yet you are suffocated by it.

Shuffling over to the piano, you drag your hands softly over the keys, each muffled note bouncing around the room in short bursts. For a minute or two, you loom over the instrument, dragging out each note, trying to sort a melody from the emotional medley consuming you.

For the outcomes that had transpired the year prior, you were certain you had no regrets. The hatchets had long been buried - at least that's what you led yourself to believe, wrapped up in the arms, and roped into the plans, of your lords once more. The sacrifices and secrets of the past were all to mend a family in danger of falling apart. And yet...

You crash your fist onto the keys, rolling your knuckles into a harsh trill.

The nagging guilt you had thought to have laid to rest creeps up again, coiling tightly around your heart. Its weight drags you forward until your forehead presses against the dark wood. It cools your skin, flushed from the few tears you'd allowed to fall.

You had been reckless. Dived into matters that long existed before you ever did, took the mantle of master of the seven lords, and yes, deceived them to do so. The many times they have attempted to wrong you in the past is not lost on you. But, in the end they are demons, and you are no devil.

You strain to lift your head from the wood and turn to face the mirror beside you. You scoff at your own pitiful appearance. Surely, Dreaddit would have a field day if they could pick you apart now, crying over the grief of your own guilt. Without your lords, you know, you are weak. What good is unbridled power without belief in oneself? You stand proud in a world you were not born to wander because of their faith in you, your dear seven pillars. The thought that you have wronged them wounds you deeply. If they ever came to ha-

Abruptly, you slap your cheeks against your cheeks and stand up from the piano bench. It would be unfair, in the face of your regrets to be so bold as to assume their feelings. Regardless of the past, they have taken you in with open arms, adopting you as part of their family. You are here now, with room and board because of their desire for your return and continued stay.

After a deep breath, you pad over to the large windows stretched across the back of the room. You take in the foliage that surrounds the manor, and chuckle to yourself when your gaze happens upon Cerberus taking Belphegor for a walk. You are so happy, that he is here and whole, that their family is here and whole. You are so happy, yet feel so terribly guilty that you sob deeply into your hands.

You startle as the door to the music room is thrust open.

"Darling, are you in h-", Asmodeus stands in the doorway. Even with his hair in slight disarray, he is gorgeous. The panic in his voice, in his eyes, tapers off as he takes you in. In its stead, bleeds in worry.

"Oh, dear." Softly, he shuts the door behind himself.

Desperately, you wipe at your eyes. It's no use, the puffiness and ragged breath would quickly reveal your miserable state to any being. But you try, and try, and try.

He emerges before you, but still, you hide your face in your hands. Asmodeus's own hands reach for your arms first, but only his fingertips graze you as they test how you respond to his touch. You freeze, but don't step back. The thought of rejecting his touch, even when you feel so unworthy, is agonizing.

"I had wondered where you'd wandered off to." His hands move downward, fingers coming to dance across the expanse of your waist.

Knowing you cannot hide forever; you sniffle and rub at your eyes one last time. You're not ready to meet his eyes, so you don't. You occupy yourself with his hair, hands coming up to push back the soft strands that had fallen out of their usual place. You two stand like that for a moment: the moon casting an ethereal glow on his champagne hair as your fingers coil into its thickness to ground yourself.

The moment cannot last forever.

Fingertips press against your jaw, gently guiding you to face him. You want to run and hide, not bare to him this weakness. Not in the music room, and especially not on a Friday night. Or was it Saturday morning by now? You haven't a clue how much time has passed. Yet, you stay, drowning in pools of light orange that plead for your attention.

"I called, several times might I add, but you didn't answer!" With the dramatic flourish you've come to adore, he sighs and blows away the fringe that has fallen into his face from your ministrations. You try to bow your head, avoid his disappointed gaze, but he holds you firmly in place. His face inches closer, you two nose to nose as he whispers against your lips, "I was soooo worried."

The faint whiff of demonus on his breath lets you know Asmodeus had gone drinking after dinner tonight.

"I went to your room as soon as I got home, but you weren't there." You reach up and press your hand against the one he leaves curled around your jaw.

"Mo," Your heart clenches as tears begin prickling at his eyes. An uneasy and desperate expression you haven't seen since that time overcomes him.

"You left your door open", his cheek presses into your other palm as it moves to cup his cheek, "your sheets were on the floor and your DDD was just there on the bed. Levi said he hadn't seen you since after dinner-" His own sniffle interrupts him, and although you feel you haven't the right, you unfurl his hand from your jaw to press a grinning kiss into his palm.

Your Asmodeus, such an emotional drunk.

"I'm ok."  you whisper against his skin. The pout he forms cues you in on the fact that he heavily doubts that statement. His free hand trails up from your waist to trace the tear stains covering your cheeks. You can feel yourself tremble and will yourself to remain strong for the both of you right now.

You are not the only one laid bare tonight.

"Please, don't leave us,” his head lolls forward to rest on your shoulder with ease. You sigh, threading your fingers through his hair in soothing motions.

"MC," he whines into the junction of your neck and shoulder, "I can't lose you again."

"Mo," you gather him into your arms as much as you can, hushing him tenderly as another whine escapes him, "Asmodeus, I'm here."

His arms wrap tight around your waist, pulling you flush against him as he mumbles, "MC, promise...no. Pinky promise me you won't go! That you'll stay here forever with me." He rocks against you, swaying you both side-to-side.

Forever?

"A-are you sure-," he attempts to pull back from you, a noise of protest escaping him at your lack of immediate reassurance, but he quiets as your hold on him tightens, "are you really sure that's fine? Could you bear me forever, despite everything?"

You realize as his hands smooth themselves up and down your sides, that you were already shaking.

You know these worries have no place here. This should be a conversation when emotion has not fully overcome the both of you. But nothing is perfect, and nothing is planned when it comes to him or any of his brothers.

 "...bear you? You think you're a burden upon me?" Asmodeus's wounded tone affects you more than you care to admit. It strips you of the willpower to stop him as he pulls back from you a second time.

You try to stutter out a response, but you can't deny it. Asmodeus cocks a hip, expecting a response, but you look away from him. How selfish you are, you think, to have once again made the matter about you. That train of thought doesn't last for long, however. You quickly whip your head back up to face him as an unmistakable oppressive force creeps over the music room and caresses your spine. All at once, discord strikes as random notes are ripped from each instrument. 

"Sweetheart~" 

Asmodeus is smiling, but dread washes over you as his glamour begins to shimmer and shift.

"Come on, don't ignore me! Who put such a silly thought in your pretty little head?"

His true form pulsates beneath, ready to burst in response to his building annoyance. Glimpses of his wings, wound tight as they flicker back and forth reveals his worry. This display isn't to intimidate you and now would be a good time to say something to appease the demon. But it's embarrassing to admit to the fifth born that complete and utter strangers, demons whose opinions shouldn't matter when you have his attention, have turned your thoughts to the worst.

"Hmm, should I go have a chat with Levi?"

"N-no! It has nothing to do with him."

"No?" Asmodeus's form seems to settle as you finally respond. Only brief flickers occur as he moves past you, sitting on one of the chairs placed in front of the window.

"Then, why is my precious little human in tears?" 

You take in a deep breath. He will not let this go, and you are too tired to form a believable excuse.

"I'm just overthinking, Mo. Really, I'm going to be ok."

"Ah," Asmodeus's eyes crinkle softly as he catches the weakness in your statement, "but you aren't ok now." He motions for you to join him on his lap, but instead you take the seat beside him, leaving the table as a barrier between you two.

He hums to himself, and before you can register it, he sits himself on your lap and threads his fingers through your hair. Replicating, you realize after a long stretch of silence, the pattern you had used on him just minutes before.

"Don't hide your lovely face from me," he whispers against your ear, fingers curling around your jaw again, encouraging you to face him. When your eyes meet, his soften.

"What is it?"

"I.." You begin, but he stops you, clicking his tongue as your gaze starts to trail away from him.

"Mm-mm," when your eyes are firmly focused on him and him alone, he lets out a light purr that rumbles against your shoulder, "there we go, eyes on me."

"Mo, are you really ok with things as they are?"

"Well," he grins at you, shimmying in your lap, "this view is fine for now. But later I'd rather admire you from my bed."

You scoff at his attempt to lighten the mood when he knows you are being serious, but feel your cheeks flush, nonetheless.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean, darling?" You gulp as his pupils begin to constrict into sharp slits.

"You aren't implying that I'm unsatisfied with you or our current standing, right?" To any untrained ear, his playful lilt suggests a question. However, Asmodeus's tightening grip on you solidifies it as an accusation.

"No, no," he lets out a sickeningly sweet coo, "certainly you understand that your place is beside, over, or under me."

As you sit stunned by the possessiveness that floods his tone, he presses a kiss on the corner of your mouth.

"And you will go nowhere else."

"I-I-" Of all the brothers, Asmodeus had teased you the most with being something more than whatever this situationship was. But how does anyone respond to such a forward declaration - from the Avatar of Lust, no less?

"Oh, sweetheart," Asmodeus adjusts his grip to delicately cup your face with two hands, cooing at you as you tremble more under his touch, "my favorite human is never a burden. Hmm, if you keep having such ugly thoughts, I can't be held responsible for what I'll have to do to distract you. I'll fill your head aaalll with me and me alone, ok?"

"Asmodeus, I'm serious."

His eyes flash, and your heart flutters as a low growl reverberates from deep within his chest, "As am I."

Deciding to change tactics, you wind your arms around his waist.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mo. I don't want to be anywhere else." You rub his back gently in an attempt to reassure him and assuage his fears. You wait until his pupils dilate some before you continue.

"I'm happy here with you, with all of you. I just want to make sure you're happy too."

"Aww, of course I'm happy!" Asmodeus wraps his arms across your shoulders and rests his head atop yours, "I have our sweet MC all to myself tonight."

You sigh heavily, feeling the way he shivers slightly at the drag of your palm over his spine. He's backing you into a corner.

"I feel like you deserve better than me." His breath hitches, but he says nothing.

"I was...thinking of the past. I thought I had no regrets coming here, studying here, becoming Solomon's apprentice, making pacts with you all..."  You halt, feeling Asmodeus's nails dig into the fabric covering your shoulder.

"Yet, you regret them. Your pacts with us?" He hisses.

"Never!" You're shocked with the strength of your denial. With the way he jolts, you guess the finality in your tone surprises Asmodeus too. His head lifts from yours, gaze locking onto your own.

"I don't regret our pact, just the way it came to be." You expect disappointment, anger, even annoyance. But all there is, is Asmodeus's amused expression in response to the confession you'd fretted over the past who-knows-how-long.

"How so?" His knowing little smirk irks you just a tad.

"What do you mean, "how so?"!? I deceived you, all of you, to free Belphegor."

Asmodeus's shoulders begin to shake with laughter. Flabbergasted, you try to find words, but all evade you.

"Deceived the deceivers! Our little human, so powerful and persuasive." Asmodeus mocks, swooning in your lap.

As he finally quiets down, he swipes a manicured thumb over your bottom lip.

“Mm, was I not clear enough then? No one, not even Solomon, has ever made me feel as powerful as you do." His thumb presses down, parting your lips.

"I can't speak for my adorable brothers, but you wanted a pact, and I desired your power. We both got what we wanted and," a hand returns to pet your hair, "maybe even more than we bargained for?"

You snort in disbelief. Your demons, always keeping you on your toes.

"Yeah, something like that."

Asmodeus giggles, pressing a kiss onto your cheek this time.

"No need to get so worked up. Should I go to Lucifer to arrange a family meeting? If you're that concerned, we can take turns," his fingers glide down from your hair to cup the back of your neck as he whispers, "reciting the vows of our arrangement."

"T-that's not necessary, Mo! I get it!"  You squirm in his hold and pout. Always such a tease!

"You're SO cute when you're all pouty. But I've suffered enough tonight by your hand, don't you think?" He hauls himself off your lap and takes a moment to stretch in a manner that is all too slow and all too intentional.

You melt at the mirth swimming in his eyes and wonder why you were ever worried to begin with. Forever, was it? Forever has a nice ring to it.

"Oh, forgive me, dearest. However, can I make it up to you?" Theatrics, your shared love language.

"Well," he begins, giddy when you get up to follow him out of the music room, "a nice long bath together should be enough to soothe my aching heart."

"Not too long," you chide, "your breath reeks of demonus. You need to rest."

"Reeks?!" He squeals and you laugh.

"Aww, I get it. You're worried about me! Oh, I always knew we'd be a perfect match." Asmodeus links his arm with your own and tugs you towards the stairs. You resign yourself to your fate, you don't want to sleep alone tonight anyway.

"Mo." You tsk.

"Fine, fine. We both need our beauty sleep, but I'm keeping you to myself aaalll day tomorrow." You take the time to make sure he doesn't stumble over any of the steps.

"And what will we do then?" The scent of roses floods your senses as you both enter his room. It seizes you whole, fills your lungs, and leaves you entranced. It smells like Asmodeus's signature perfume.

It smells like home.

Asmodeus reaches into his dresser and pulls out a matching set of pajamas. "I believe movies and massages are in order." To your surprise, he also pulls out a matching set in your size.

 "Romantic comedies?"  You can't stop the grin that splits across your lips.

Some time ago, as Mammon and Leviathan argued over whether to watch action movies or a live action rendition of TSL, Asmodeus had curled himself into your arms. Hidden beneath the covers of your bed and in between a stolen kiss or two, he'd confided that drama had once been his favorite genre. But in your absence, romantic comedies had occupied his time. The loveable leads reminded him of you both and the endless joy your unique and unexpected relationship brought him.

"You know me so well~" Asmodeus purrs.

"That does sound nice." You walk over, taking the pajamas from him to set them side-by-side onto his bed.

"Of course it does," Asmodeus tugs your arm and you move to join him in his bathroom, "I always know what you like!"

You move his hands away as he tries to undress you. He pouts but acquiesces, turning away from you to undress himself and slip into the bath.

When you finish undressing, you turn to find him with his head tilted back on the tile and at peace. You admire him for a moment, thankful that such a stunning creature had opened his fragile heart to you.

He doesn't move until you sit beside him, bubbly water sloshing side-to-side.

"So, you'll stay?" His head finds purchase on your shoulder, fingers tangled with yours beneath the water. You lay your head atop his own, pressing a kiss to his locks.

"For as long as you'll have me."

"So," he kisses your shoulder in return, "forever?"

"Forever is fine."

A soft trill escapes him. "I'll be sure to take good care of you."

You sink deeper into the bubbles with a hum.

 "I love you." He murmurs into your skin. 

The warmth sinks into your bones and pulls you deeper into relaxation. You could fall asleep here.

"Hey!" You yelp at the little nip he gives your shoulder. “Tell me you love me too."

You laugh, picking up his head to push your foreheads together. The adoration in his eyes makes your belly all warm and fuzzy. You feel safe here. This is where you want to belong.

"Love you too, Mo."

#I've never called him Asmo 'cause Mo is cuter #also why tf doesn't he have a tail? #please a heart-tipped tail or scorpion even i just- #Solmare work with me here #y'all i'm so dramatic i'm sorry i was in my feelings for that second half #also this is my formal apology to mammon #i love him and he does not deserve this disreapect #canonically (read: in my head) he is the funniest brother and i'm claiming my bestie #maybe my next drabble will be mammon centered as penitencr for my crime #there are demons out there in your corner #somewhere #probably #just not represented in this fic #ok bye #obey me #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me satan #obey me leviathan #obey me mc #obey me x reader #obey me asmodeus #reader x asmodeus #asmodeus x reader #asmodeus x mc #obey me lucifer #asmodeus x you #asmodeus x y/n #obey me belphegor #obey me cerberus #omomtrta

[thecardinalsims]

A Fool’s Journey in Self-Taught Modding / Pt 1

Coming up on a thousand posts between MTS and NRaas in the space of a year, I sometimes figure my lack of uploads weighs negatively upon whether it seems like I know what I’m talking about.

So, it's time to start a devlog. If you were tagged, don't feel obliged to read it- just wanted to credit the names and faces behind this rabbithole I've gone down.

Tiny blips of my work are floating about out there- I made the geostates for @twinsimming's default replacement tree, cracked some of the mysteries of decrypting TS3 Store worlds, and I’ve shot a number of small CC items and tuning packages from the hip as needed for individuals in both forums.

Over a couple of days, I learned geostates from scratch to make the sprout and sapling.

I’ve also ended up with the shiny orange username at MTS thanks to contributing a few tutorials, which did wonders for my confidence. Said tutorials are quickly decaying as I outgrow my own methods, but I promise to revisit them when time and health allows.

Making GIF examples was a highlight of working on the tutorials, so far.

In truth, I’m always working on bigger things. Much bigger things. Half of the answers I give are ones I work out on the spot for the purpose of answering- and then I squirrel away what I learned into my growing reference pile. I’m happy to chip away at a hundred little problems, because I come away with a hundred little skills.

I’m just too stubborn to let my first public release be one of those small successes. It simply has to be the most ambitious project on my plate- the one made of months of work and half a dozen restarts from scratch. 

What started as a simple 'find hairs to use as default replacements' project has turned into a 'repurpose mesh pieces into new hairs from scratch' project.

The truth about learning to mod any game is that a fair bit of it will (or rather, should) have nothing to do with the game itself. Being competent with Blender and XML in general- and familiarising myself with S3PE so thoroughly I could manually do anything that usually is automated by other tools- was the greatest favour I could have done for myself. 

I started wanting to write a devlog- or whatever is appropriate to call this when it won’t involve programming for quite some time- to try and encourage this sentiment in others. Learning to make a specific creation vs learning to create is very similar to the proverb of being given a fish vs being taught to fish. The sooner you unlearn relying on for-purpose knowledge and dive into all-purpose knowledge, the better.

If you want to be a prolific creator of hair CC, I wouldn’t even recommend starting with my tutorials on making them for TS3. I’d encourage you to learn to create and edit meshes, work with morphs and bone assignments, so on- all concepts that neither The Sims nor EA invented, but if you are introduced to them for the first time through modding you may fall into the trap of believing a modder is the best person to teach you. The remaining jump to then get that work into the game is smaller than you think.

Manual bone assignments are the most recent trick I've put up my sleeve, and one of the reasons for another soft-restart of my project.

EA didn’t provide a single modding resource outside of CaW for The Sims 3, so I empathise with the DIY nature of the tutorials that exist. The familiar names of the 2009-2010 modding scene pulled the game apart themselves, wrote their own programs, and carried the community on their back with the effort of sharing what they learned. 

Over a decade later, creators are less often programmers, computer engineers, and 3D artists and more often hobbyists following in their footsteps with no prior knowledge of these fields. You will lose sanity if you have big CC plans and try to learn all of it from a video tutorial recorded on an overheating laptop that didn’t edit out any of the times TSRW crashed or the person making the tutorial coughed directly into their mic- I can tell you that much. 

The first thing I made was actually a skill for TS4, which I crunched through with Sims4Studio and a lot of squinting at @icemunmun-spicy-scalpel's Candle Making skill, and is where I first spat out the name CardinalSims for the sake of filling in the creator name box. Which, for the record, is supposed to be a pun on Cardinal Sins and not that I consider myself the cardinal of sims.

I'll come back around to release this one day if someone doesn't beat me to it, hopefully with compatibility for BrazenLotus' mods.

For that reason, a lot of TS4 creators are my largest inspiration even if I see myself focusing on TS3. Icemunmun and @brazenlotus are my meshing and modding role models- custom food is my passion despite my current workload, so when I finally get some of these projects out that is where I’d like to settle most. Preferably churning out hundreds of recipes and harvestables for the rest of my days.

After messing around with hair recolours, eye textures, and asymmetrical dog ears, I flipped back to TS3 (the far more intimidating of the two to work with) and haven’t stopped piling projects onto that plate ever since. Hair became the somewhat dominant topic of my expertise, but believe it or not it all started with a plate of scrambled eggs.

3D scrambled eggs, intended as a replacer for @echoweaver's recipe. All it's missing is a half-eaten state, but I got a tiny bit distracted: read, it has been ten months.

It’s not really a devlog until I go over what I’m working on, though, is it?

No matter how many things I try to juggle, I can promise that the first release will be a large something called BGHR. Which involves somewhere in the range of 45 hairs, give or take.

The first 'BGH' Redux I made + the most recent one- have fun puzzling over that acronym until release. I blame it on the fact I modded Skyrim for a long time before this.

Which is not including the dozens of variants and age/gender conversions I end up with along the way, which I export to a mesh dump that I’ll come back to later:

Once that floodgate is open, I will be prioritising releasing the smaller projects quite quickly- likely the 3D scrambled eggs and the default harvestable plant + vine to match the tree that have been sitting 99% complete in my project folder.

Thank you for reading, if you made it this far. I'm out of breath and I didn't even have to say all of this outloud.

Next devlog should be more focused on a singular topic.

#did i write a devlog or a journalistic article on the nature of modding itself #who can tell #ts3 #ts3cc #a fools journey devlog #the tarot references will only get worse from here on #simblr #the sims 3

[rocksinmuffin]

Sin Queen, I loved your work for years but was to nervous to ever ask or submit any art or stories but that changes tonight.

Meet my TFA oc, Chain Angel. Given life by the allspark fragment like Wreck-gar later on in the series, she's made a place next to the orange junkion along with the other autobots.

Just like Wreck-gar her intro was sudden and chaotic, but unlike the sweet trashbot she much more self aware albeit confused of the world around her. Angel didn't start out as a fembot. Nope she started in her alt mode a junkyard dog. Great right? After the autobots heard about a giant metal dog chasing cars in the streets of Detroit, the first meeting was... a bit confrontational.

Her manner of fighting is close and personal. This includes the chains wrapped around her waist occasionally swinging and striking her intended victim or pulling them close in hopes of strangling with the pretty pieces of gold. At other times the head on her back can give energy blasts to blow anybot away. She's brutal to put it short.

Personality, accompanied with a New Yorker accent, Angel is brash, abrasive, and will not hesitate to say what's on her processor. She's the brain between the herself and Wreck-gar, acting as the voice of reason for the older junkion when the situation turns sour. So she's basically your hot tempered take no shit boston robo lady.

Her words consist of slang such as " what a schmuck", " ya mook," and "quit yer grillin." Everyone is stumped of how she obtained such a humanlike personality in such a short time frame, especially old bot Ratchet who has no honest to god idea of what she's saying. He thinks it has something to do from the trash pile she came from. But before Angel could lunge for any throats she saw little Sari staring up at her in curiosity her. Angel completely melted. cooing and nuzzling the little girl.

Upon seeing such a familiar design Ratchet somehow tracks down Wreck-gar all the while Sari puppy talks Angel into following her, chained tail wagging all the way. The medic is yelling and shaking him demanding what he did. Locking optics with the trash hound there's an instant pull. Shifting into her fembot alt surprising everyone, Angel steps closer and both emit a white glow the closer they get. Angel's demeanor softens finding someone that feels so... familiar. Wreck-gar feels the same way. It kind of feels like... home. After the meeting, the two trash bots become inseparable. Wreck-gar gives the name Angel saying she was his guardian Angel (most likely repeating it from human propaganda). They start using the terms "big bro" and "little sis" as Sari explains how they came from the same place in a similar way dubbing them family.

After that she becomes fiercely protective of anyone she deems a friend. This junkion will either treasure you or flat out despise you. (There's no in between.) And we're talking full guard dog mode. Her main favorites of the cast are Wreck-gar, Sari, and Ratchet much to everyone's shock. You so much as look at her family or friends funny she's out for blood. An example of this is when Sentinel made a snide comment about Sari being an organic in front of Angel, ending with her chasing him up a tree with Optimus snickering at his screaming ex friend.

Chain Angel has a temper that puts hothead to shame along with a sharp tounge. You insult her she comes back full force. Not only that but she has the strength to back it up. If your familiar with the tfa series than you know Wreck-gar has some serious power thanks to the allspark fragment. The only difference is Chain Angel knows how to use it. Which is good because she finds herself going head to head with bots three times her size (cuz this girl short, a whole head shorter than bumblebee) whether decepticon or neutral.

Lockdown heard about Wreck-gar housing a fragment and found the opportunity too good to pass up figuring Megatron would pay handsomely for it. But upon meeting loyal protector Angel, the bounty hunter is more than surprised to find a smol angry fem threatening to choke him to death with a gold chain. He then has an inner conflict from wanting to take her spark as well to wanting to date her. Another instance is Megatron himself humored Angel referring to her as a "mutt" patting her on the helm mockingly. Angel just stood there, silent, static cracking from her metallic hair. Let's just say the warlord didn't find it so funny when he only pulled away with a few wires sticking out of the slot where his arm should have been.

But rough tough psychobot aside, Angel is super sweet towards humans finding them adorable. She'll refer to her friends as "boo," "sweetspark," and "Hon." She even calls oppy "Hot lips" or Bulkhead as "Dreamboat" flustering them immensely. She basically gives nicknames to anyone who she considers a friend, though it does get confused with flirtation often.

Despite being from Earth it doesn't stop her from help the autobots whenever she can with Wreck-gar by her side often cleaning up the city after decepticon attacks and coming to the rescue when there's an injured friend. The trash siblings even have an intro when making it to the scene. "I am Wreck-gar." "And I am Angel." "And we are your heroes!"

__________________________________________

Submitted by @purple-striped-shirt​

Oh!!!!!!!! I love your Transformers character, she’s so cute!!!! What a fun character!

I’m so glad you decided to share her!

#subbmission #tf art #tfa ratchet #tfa ocs #tfa wreck-gar #love your blog #hope you like <3 #submission #rocksinmuffin #prior tags are from the creator and the following are the ones i’m posting for the sakeof organization lol #purple-striped-shirt #art #sfw art #transformers art #wreck-gar #lockdown #ratchet #bumblebee #sari #sari sumdac #transformers fan character #long post #transformers animated #tfa

[harbingers-appointed]

Your Demon King Master post

Ask status:

Open

"characters" open to receiving asks:

[Me only. I'll get to character asks eventually again]

[As a foreword on this, I want to add more information to this post! I just wanted to get what I have up since the blog desperately needed a new information post. Please bear with me as I continue to work on this post]

What Is the DemonKing Yb AU?

The Demon king Au is a Your Boyfriend Alternate universe (AU) That features the same familiar cast along with a few new faces in the setting of HELL. I (VEE) The creator- and god of this AU- am working on a fan game for it. It is being built using Ren’py and I am mainly a one-person team. I am doing all the character creation, all the art (character talk sprites, backgrounds, etc), writing, and the bulk of the coding (I will be getting help from someone for the complex things later down the road). The music will be done by someone else as well and I would love to get voice actors eventually too.

Beyond this post, I recommend reading through old asks since there is a lot of hidden information in them! I do have a tendency to put hints in the tags as well. Some information has changed, but for the most part, a lot of the information is still accurate.

Premise

You, a human, lived an ordinary life on earth until one day as fate will have it you get into an accident, falling into a coma of sorts. You awake in a mysterious place, surrounded by other lost souls unsure of how you got there or why you ended up there. Soon after you are whisked off to a grand palace and are told you were one of the lucky souls selected to work right in the center of Hell for the Devil himself. Hell, you were in Hell and you were to become the devil's new house worker.

From here on out you meet the main cast of demons, The king himself, Don, Lucy, Tk, and Flauros. They all play their own unique part in this Au and it will be up to you what story you get to hear.

Meet The Characters

Click the name of the character below to be taken to the corresponding post with their information

Your Demon King

"Darling, you want to learn more about me? I want to learn more about you!"

Tk

"I suppose if we're going to be working together from now on I should tell you more about myself"

Don

"..."

Lucy

"Oh~? Well if I tell you all about me, I want to know all about you."

Flauros

"You'll find out more about me if you look through the blog, but d;"

Important in World Things and Abilities

¹The Blue Flames

Commonly referred to as true hellfire

These flames can only be controlled by one being at a time(it could be inherited by any being but the prior user would have to pass the ability off to them and they would lose access to it) the Blue Flames can consume any Demon or entity and completely absorb their soul/flame.

The only way to completely kill a demon is to use Dk's Blue Flames, Supposedly. His fire will consume a demon's inner flame and they will forever become a part of the Blue Flames- unable to reform as they get merged into them for all eternity. Getting "extinguished" is like a final death for demons. They become a part of The Blue Flames forever, their original fire converted into this greater energy. The mystery of how The Blue Flames work is only held by the King.

So maybe he is withholding important information on them.

He can also control the heat of the Blue Flames. For example, he could cover you with them and they'd feel like nothing more than a warm tingle, maybe more if you catch my drift.

²K̵̨͓̲̖̽̏̒̀̈́̈́̃͐̄̚͘͠n̸̰̺̱͍͌̈́̆͌̉ͅi̵̡̲̫̙͉̤̙͉̪̞̬͉̜̔̀̃̒̔f̶̨̠͉̝̟͉͉̻͓̠̖̘̥̟̎̑͛̆̃̈́̎̽̉̀͌͒͗e̷̛̪̺̠̜̰̙͛͆̈́̑̑̏̈́̐̇̍̕̕͠͝

A knife belonging to Flauros. The reflection that shines from the blade doesn’t match up the surroundings it currently is in. It doesn’t look like it belongs in this realm of existence. He calls it very special to him, mentioning how

“nobody but me can wield this weapon properly. So, don't get any funny ideas~”.

Dk has commented on the knife saying that,

“When I was cut by it… It did...SOMETHING to me. Stay away from him, please darling I’m begging you”

The 9 Circles of Hell

The 9 circles, or rings, of Hell, consists of the following(and the corresponding inner flame associated with each) from the outer rim to the center;

limbo(white-black)

Lust (pink-magenta)

Gluttony (Green)

Avarice (Yellow-gold)

Sloth (orange)

Heresy (purple)

Wrath ( red)

Pride (dark blue)

Treachery ( cyan )

Each circle has a prince and their higher-ranking demons just beneath them. There is one exception to this rule, however. The Limbo ring is not quite fully a part of Hell. It is the place between Heaven and Hell, empty- save for the souls trapped there and the prince Of Limbo. They are an unsettling being, neither demon nor angel. They once were an Angel, but due to not choosing a side were cast to Limbo for the rest of eternity. Their body is always shifting and changing. When spoken to they will take on the form of your face and speak back to you in your voice as well.

All the princes, including DK find Limbo an extremely unpleasant place to visit. The prince of Limbo cannot leave Limbo either, trapped there just like all the other lost souls.

[more info on the princes+abilities related to the different circles to come soon!]

Inner Flames

All demons possess an inner flame that corresponds to the circle of hell they were created in. Inner flames are the equivalent to a human's soul, as in if a demon's inner flame were to be snuffed out they would ‘die’. Unlike humans, however, when a demon is killed their physical body will decay and crumble, yet their inner flame will still remain. The severity of the way they were killed determines how long it takes for the demon to reform. Sometimes the inner flame will be so small and scattered, taking many centuries to reform.

The hands of a demon reflect the flame colour they possess. Demons can't have two different colours of inner flame. Just one.

Demon Reproduction

Demon reproduction can happen in a typical sexual manner. Though there's more to it than simple mixing of DNA and more so mixing of two demons' inner "flames". Reproducing in other manners Is a possibility though. As for demons reproducing with humans, it depends on the human and if their soul can handle taking on a demon's energy.

Importance on demon horns+tails

[click above for the original post]

Demon horns aren't exactly fragile, but it depends on the Demon. I like to think you'd need to really try to break them. In fights, demons try to cover their horns and tails in armour to protect themselves. Horns are made of the demon's inner flames condensed essence. It can take on different forms and materials, so some being more like keratin growth while others may seem like glass or crystals even.

horns can break- as seen in the art of Dk with missing horns and the one where he's impaled on one of his own snapped-off horns. It would be INTENSELY painful- agonizing...(Flauros is built differently, however) break a demon's horn/’s and they're essentially crippled, can't control their innate magic and the regulation of their inner flame. Cutting demon's tail will also result similarly to breaking their horns.

So if a demon's horn or tail is cut/broken said demon will suffer a lot of pain and lose control over their inner flame- which is like a soul and what keeps them alive. They can be regenerated over time and this can be sped up through healing magic. But if left unattended they'll likely "die" and return to being a little flame/ loose energy that can't take a form. They are immortal so eventually, they will reform fully. It depends on how they were killed to determine how long it takes. Damaging the horns could lead to it taking years to reform for example. Stronger demons can regenerate quicker, but getting their full strength back takes time. So I wouldn't recommend damaging the horns or tail of a demon!

About Aggressive demon forms

[click above for the original post]

All demons have "Aggro" forms [aggressive] they use mainly When they are in battle. While in this form they have heightened reflexes, better hearing added strength[in general more aware and ideal for a fight] but it burns through their energy faster(doesn't exactly apply to the king). Their inner flame is burning extremely brightly during the time this form is active.

The king would also have his blue flames likely crawling up his body/around him. This would also provide more offensive and defensive capabilities for him. Of course, if he wanted to he could be in this more monstrous form indefinitely- but he wouldn't want to scare you... He is the King so his power is huge.

A demon who is almost always in half-aggro is Don, as his scleras are always darkened. He has his reasons why for this, but you can imagine why.

FAQ

When is the fan game slated for release?

As of right now, I’m working solely alone for most of the game. I have hopes I can get a beta test out for day one by December-January. I do have a life outside of all this, so sometimes things come up and things get pushed back. I try to work on it a little bit every day, but there’s a lot to do (finish the rest of the visual assets, writing the dialogue, programming… but also running this blog and answering asks). Make sure to keep checking on the blog- I try to update with something every few days- and while you are here you can read through all the past updates +and asks! There are a ton of hints and foreshadowing of what’s to come- and be aware the tags have information in them oftentimes!

How can I support you?

Sadly as of right now since this is a fangame I cannot accept any money for this. Ideally, someday I can get some merch made- but until the rules on fan merch of YB content loosens there isn’t much I can do. (Unless people want Flauros merch? haha) The best thing you can do to show your support is to interact with my posts, follow, comment, like, and reblogging really helps get the word out! I also hope someday to work on my own fully original game as well- and maybe by extension, you would all love to support that too!

Is this blog a trans and other minority-friendly space?

Yes! Very much so! As a chubby trans person who is also half Chinese, I like to try my best to be inclusive on all fronts. I do not tolerate racism, sexism and in general bigotry.

[More FAQ To be added later!]

#DemonKingYbAu #DkMasterPost #y0urb0yfriend #yourboyfriendgame #yourboyfriend #yb au #ybfg

[a-froger-epic]

Get out your glitter leotards and pour some champagne in your cat mugs! 🥂 🍾 It’s time to celebrate Freddie! 🎉😸

🎊 Freddie Mercury Weekend 2021 🎊

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

ABOUT THE EVENT

This weekend is a content creation event in honour of the man himself, the legend we all love, Freddie Mercury! Once more, everyone who is inspired by Freddie is invited to share their creativity with the fandom. You can write, draw, edit, record, even cross-stitch 😉 content for absolutely anything related to Freddie, any ship, any genre, any way you like. This is an indiscriminately inclusive, positive event. Everyone is welcome, there is no wrong way to be a fan of Freddie! (Except convincing yourself you're dating his ghost maybe. That's pretty wrong. And weird. Don't do that.)

WHEN? On the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of May.

HOW? On the above dates (or after!), post your contributions to the AO3 collection or alternatively on Tumblr, tagged ‘#fmw2021’ or/and ‘#freddie mercury weekend 2021’. If you post on Tumblr, please also tag @a-froger-epic to make sure you get a reblog from me!

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

THE PROMPTS

You can be as free with the prompts as you like. They are here to inspire, there is no wrong way to write them! Change them around, mix them up, make them fem!Freddie, A/B/O, add your favourite ship. Anything goes! 😊

21st of May - 500-1000 word challenge!

We’re kicking off the event with ficlets and drabbles. First time writer just testing the waters? No need for an epic, just write a scene! No time to write but you want to participate? Surely you’ll find time for 500 words! 😉 Interpret these mini-prompts however you like (every one is a separate prompt, but you can combine them!):

Make-Up 💄   |   Pain/Pleasure 👀

Strip 👕   |   Ring 💍

Forbidden 🤫   |   Delilah 🐈

Piano 🎹   |   Dormitory 🛏 

Outrageous 🎉   |   Contentment 😌

Come Together 🎇   |   Ballet 🩰

Piece of Art 🎨   |   Leather 🧥

Cockring 🐔   |   Kimono 👘

Petals 🌸   |   Leotard 🕺🏻

Mustache 🧔   |   Last Time 😔

22nd of May - Is This The Real Life? 

A list of real event/canon timeline prompts from Freddie’s life. How real you want to keep them, however, is entirely up to you!

Down in flames

Freddie is 16 years old when he leaves boarding school. Does it have something to do with the school gardener, Sanjay? Did he flunk his exams or did he not even sit them? Is one thing connected to the other? Does he really find a boyfriend when he goes to stay with his aunt in Mumbai (then Bombay)? Either way, there’s the small matter of his parents finding out about all of it... (Sources: x x )

When Freddie met Kenny

Freddie is a guest on Kenny Everett's radio show in spring 1974. Freddie is living with Mary, Kenny is married. Two gay men, deep in the closet. To no one's surprise, they hit it off immediately. (Source: x )

But when did he? 

At some point during his relationship with Mary, prior to his relationship with David, Freddie had already begun sleeping with men. But how and when did that first happen? Cottaging in London? On tour somewhere in the world? Your guess is as good as ours… 

Flying High

Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll. Like all rock bands of their time, Queen doesn’t escape the copious amounts of cocaine in the entertainment industry for long. Somewhere on tour in America, perhaps, Freddie is first introduced to it. Where? How? 

Hide your tears

Jim said that he tried to be strong for Freddie and only cried in private, so as not to burden Freddie with his feelings. But this time, he is found. 

One-liners:

In 1969, Freddie doesn’t know how to cook an egg and neither does Roger (Source: x )

In 1977, Freddie meets Joe while on tour in Boston and starts dating him behind David's back

In 1990, Brian and Freddie work on 'The Show Must Go On' (Source: x )

In a year of your choice, Jim reminisces about his fondest moment(s) with Freddie

In 1976, Freddie and Mary end their relationship 

In 1984, Winnie gives Freddie a wedding ring (middle of the post: x )

In the late 60s, Freddie agrees to model for an Ealing Art School fashion show, but panics and flees the runway (Source: x )

In 1974, Freddie is strip-searched upon arrival in Australia (Source: x )

In 1982, Freddie and Roger go shopping in Amsterdam (Source: x )

In 1978, Freddie swings from a chandelier - naked (Source: x )

23rd of May - Is It Just Fantasy?

A list of AU prompts to spark your imagination. Take them and run with them or change them up, just have fun!

Make your dreams come true

Freddie hasn't been very fortunate in his life, until he finds a very special oil lamp, and rubs it just the right way. 

Beautiful stranger

Freddie meets an alluring stranger at a masquerade ball, who has more secrets than he can hide behind a mask. But Freddie has some of his own. 

Thicker than water 

Freddie agrees to a dreadful fate in order to save his little sister from the very same. Fortunately, he has friends who are more than willing to help him, but can they? Or are they, too, in danger?

Diamonds are a boy's best friend

Freddie is the prized jewel of the court, a skilled belly-dancer and entertainer, but he may also be plotting murder and getting away with it. 

Almost Real

In a distant future, humans have all but done away with face to face interaction. Humanity largely lives online. Children grow up isolated and live with only their families well into young adulthood. Cybersex is the new normal, although some families take a puritanical approach for fear of addiction. One day, impossibly, a real life young man falls through the containment field in Freddie’s back garden. 

One-liners:

This plane is going to crash (Freddie knew there was a reason he hated flying) 

Shipwrecked on an island (Freddie could never bear to be alone, but luckily/unfortunately for him…) 

Hunger Games AU (Freddie is so dead) 

A terrible road accident (Everyone is so dead, or are they?) 

Blind Date AU (Freddie's best friend is so dead for setting him up with this person… or are they…) 

Bank robbery (but who are the robbers and who are the hostages?) 

Magic AU ("Yer a wizard, Freddie!")

Film Noir AU (Secrets and cigarette holders) 

Interior Design AU (Does the carpet match the drapes?)

The Bodyguard AU (“And I will always love yooouuuu…”)

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

RULES & FAQ

⛔ Strictly No Hate ⛔

This is the NUMBER ONE RULE of the event, to ensure that everybody feels safe. No rudeness, provocations or hate aimed at creators or other commenters will be permitted, not on AO3 nor Tumblr.

Follow these steps if you receive a comment or ask that distresses you:

Do not engage. (You can take a screenshot as proof.)

Delete it. No ifs, no buts. Just delete it. (Don’t hesitate to block anon hate on Tumblr.)

Alert me ( @a-froger-epic ) or @aboutnothingness, who is lending me a hand to make sure all needs are attended, all questions are answered and everything runs smoothly. We are here to actively support you. We’ve got your back, and we will gladly talk to you and help you feel better.

If you choose to ignore this rule, your work may be removed from the event. We would hate to resort to that.

But what if one of the works has upset me?

Can the thing that upset you be tagged, but it wasn’t? Then please inform @a-froger-epic or @aboutnothingness, and we will bring it to the creator’s attention. (Remember to use the appropriate tags, everybody!)

Was the thing that upset you already tagged? Or is it perhaps simply the characterisation you find disagreeable? Then we suggest you click on the ‘back’ button, take a deep breath and remind yourself it's just fanfic.

Who can participate?

Anyone who is inspired by Freddie Mercury in any way shape or form. This event is open to all.

Can I combine prompts from different days?

By all means! We look forward to your futuristic Freddie-gets-kicked-out-of-boarding-school Maycury Film Noir AU. With leotards. Go crazy.

I'm not sure where my creation fits in, what day do I post it? 

The days, like the prompts, are only suggestions. We don't mind when you post it, as long as you post it! Even if it's two weeks late! 

Help, I've never posted fic before! 

Don't worry, we've got you! (And more importantly, we've got AO3 invites!) @aboutnothingness is more than happy to walk you through the process of setting up an account and is also offering her services as a beta.

I’m still too nervous to participate!

You can post anonymously to the collection. You can disable anon comments on your work. You can disable comments entirely and just collect the kudos. You can close anon asks on Tumblr temporarily. But most importantly, we are here for you and we want you here!

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

“I love the fact that I make people happy, in any form. Even if it’s just half an hour of their lives, in any way that I can make them feel lucky or make them feel good, or bring a smile to a sour face, that to me is worthwhile.”

- Freddie Mercury

#Freddie Mercury Weekend 2021 #FMW2021 #freddiemercuryweekend2021 #fandom event #Queen fandom #Freddie Mercury #it's here! #REBLOG REBLOG REBLO-

[you-cant-spell-subtext-without]

so get this. I was gonna roll around in Tombstone related fluff today - but no, no - this post came across my dash so Now We Are Gonna Discuss the Carnal Consumption of Meat as it appears on That Show Supernatural.  YEAH BUDDIES!

(also my sincere apologies to OP of the inspiration post who innocently tagged it with “lunch date!”  because I am about to go Elsewhere, cursedly).

Let’s all go meat man, after the cut!

This analysis centers primarily on 5x14 Bloody Valentine.  The title of course is a semi-homage to a 3D Slasher Film Jensen starred in circa 2009. 

Which I will be renting soon I guess.  ,[<- parasocial panda GET BACK IN YOUR ENCLOSURE]

Also Its Really Fun that the trailer for Said Cinema ends with “nothing says date movie like a 3-D ride to hell” [are you also thinking of Cas pulling Dean out of hell, or are you normal?]  ***unironically the teaser for 5x14 is -

EXT. SIDEWALK - IN FRONT OF ALICE'S APARTMENT BUILDING

RUSSEL 

First date.

They then eat each other.  Literally they eat each others flesh.  They also do it while dirty talking about it.  SPN IS A SHOW 

ALICE Ugh! I've been so alone. So empty...

RUSSEL I know. Me too.

ALICE I want you, Russel---All of you... inside me...

[they both take bites out of each other, Alice chewing on a piece of Russel's flesh]

****Remember this detail, as it is important.

ANYWAY, it’s truly Cursed that not only are we doing an homage to this 3-D Jensen Horror Date Flick but also this episode is specifically centered on Valentine’s Day.  The day honoring romance and love Now Coopted by Hallmark, everyone, that is the day spn writers chose to introduce us to 

Sir Horseman of THE Biblical Apocalypse Famine. 

Canonically, we are aware that the show is drawing from the book of Revelations in its depiction of the Four Horsemen.  Here’s what it says about Famine -

"When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.”

-Revelations 6:5

Famine holds scales (used to weigh out grain in times of food scarcity).  Spn’s depiction is represented as hunger, a bottomless pit of need.  It consumes souls (demon and human alike).  

Cas describes Famine a little more poetically:

CASTIEL 

"And then will come Famine riding on a black steed. He will ride into the land of plenty... "

"... and great will be the Horseman's hunger, for he is hunger. "

"His hunger will seep out and poison the air. "

***Consider a prior season in which we are introduced to the Seven Deadly Sins.  Which are the sins associated with hunger?

Gluttony

and Lust.

***this is also important

Back to the episode.  Case cold open, and we find out that Alice was a Nice Girl.  In that she didnt drink, smoke or

have premarital sex.

***So Alice’s hunger for the sin of Lust caused her to succumb to it; and her demise was presented as Gluttony (literally eating her partner’s flesh). HMM

Famine’s presence is affecting the town, and Cas is not immune.

DEAN 

And when did you start eating?

CASTIEL 

Exactly. My hunger-- it's a clue, actually.

***They lay it out a little more in case you missed it ->

SAM 

I thought famine meant starvation, like as in, you know, food.

CASTIEL 

Yes. Absolutely. But not just food. I mean, everyone seems to be starving for something--Sex, attention, drugs, love...

***this is so important.  but of course because its spn and our textual narrators are generally unreliable (even in a Ben Edlund episode, yes I know)

we get a red herring

CASTIEL 

Right. The cherub made them crave love, and then Famine came, and made them rabid for it.

***but that’s not accurate.  they didn’t get married or become obsessed with each other (remember the cursed coin in 4x08 Wishful Thinking and the unconditional love wish? not what happened here). they had premarital sex.  they did the thing Alice considers wrong, and dark, and sinful.  and then they ate each others’ flesh.

DEAN 

Okay, but what about you? I mean, since when do angels secretly hunger for White Castle?

CASTIEL 

It's my vessel-- Jimmy. His, uh, appetite for red meat has been touched by Famine's effect

***mad lad Jimmy Novak’s hunger is for...red meat?  He is starving for red meat?  You are telling me that the Novaks, red blooded conservative religious midwestern Novaks, ate RED MEAT SO SPARINGLY that Jimmy Novak was LITERALLY starving for it?!?!  No way.  Absolutely no way.  This is a man who was such a religious zealot he STUCK HIS HAND IN BOILING WATER and accepted an angel of the lord into his own body but his secret hunger was for fucking ground beef?

give me a damn break.

to me this is an absolute coverup.  Because Cas’s burger consumption is not related one iota to his vessel Jimmy Novak.

it is a representation of Cas falling.  Cas’s cravings for meat represent his growing (and very much prohibited) feelings for...humanity (Dean Winchester), and they are presenting as Gluttony in the form of his downing more and more copious amounts of red meat.  

SERIOUSLY, consider this - at one point the depiction is so desperately carnal that he is eating raw ground beef with his bare hands. It is fucking uncomfortable.  and it is SUPPOSED to be.  Famine stirs up hunger for the prohibited.  For the sinful. That which we are starving for but do not believe we can ever have, so we lust and we lust and we LUST after it, but should we allow ourselves even just a taste of what we have been ravenously craving, we binge it until we ourselves disappear into the oblivion of our own sinful, dark desires.

Since You Want More Examples of why this cant possibly be hunger for Cheeseburgers and Cheeseburgers alone, Consider Famine’s effect on Dean.  Remember his doctor kink?

**when its revealed that Doctor Corman has succumbed to Famine’s poison by drinking himself to death, Dean - very uncharacteristically by the way - reacts by saying out loud

DEAN Thanks. Crap! I really kind of liked this guy.

***please note that Doctor Corman says the following to Dean in the prior scene they have together -

DR. CORMAN [to Dean]

Agent Marley, you just can't stay away.

****was that a flirtation?

***Also, Dean doesn’t want to go out and chase tail for Valentines Day.   

SAM

I mean, what do you always call it-- Uh, unattached drifter Christmas?

DEAN 

Oh, yeah. Well... be that as it may...I don't know. Guess I'm not feeling it this year.

SAM 

So you're not into bars full of lonely women?

DEAN 

Nah, I guess not. [takes a sip of his beer] Ahh. What?

SAM 

That's when a dog doesn't eat-- That's when you know something's really wrong.

***oh look we are relating things to eating again.  sex/lust to gluttony.  hmmm hmmm hmmm

ANYHOW -  *takes deep breath*

 this is also the Episode Where This Scene Lives

****JACKTING JOICES

oh and speaking of jacting joices, this is also the Dean Notices Cupids Crotch Episode.

frAckles, I am once again asking why you only permit celestial beings to hug you from behi-[gunshots]

but Dean isn’t hungry.  Why? Famine has the explanation, and we get it after Dean immediately runs inside after Cas heads in to complete his portion of their plan barely giving him any time to do so because he misses him that much.

FAMINE 

I disagree. [Famine moves closer to Dean and touches him] Yes. I see. That's one deep, dark nothing you got there, Dean. Can't fill it, can you? Not with food or drink. Not even with sex.

DEAN 

Oh, you're so full of crap.

FAMINE 

Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your brother, lie to yourself, but not to me! 

***not Dean making all of those homophobic/homoerotic jokes every time he’s in danger or feeing uncomfortable; not that, that can’t possibly be what Famine is referencing, right?

I can see inside you, Dean. I can see how broken you are, how defeated. 

***not THIS parallel:

AMARA:

You're a mystery. I can see inside your heart. Feel the love you feel, except… It's cloaked in shame

You can't win, and you know it. But you just keep fighting. Just... keep going through the motions. 

***not the motions of performative heterosexuality!!

***Dean’s not hungry because in his heart he truly believes that he can’t actually have what he hungers for.  That Thing Which This Episode Overtly but Also Very Clearly Made Obvious.  It’s an angel riding shotgun [I did Do That and I am Not Sorry], eating a burger in the front seat of the impala.  But, I’ve deviated from the meat of this essay [gunshots] [this time just for the bad joke].

BONUS

there’s Exists another episode in which a man ravenously consumes red meat; eventually succumbing to eating raw beef with his bare hands in the season prior to this one.  

Yes Supernatural the Show That Brought Us Not One But Two Scenes of Persons Carnally Consuming Red Meat With Their Bare Hands.  

This episode is a MOTW - the man in question is a rougaru - a monster that starts out as human but due to some specific genetic disorder (hmmm hmmm hmm crack in THE chassis hmmm hmmm) soon begins to be extremely hungry - “for everything, but eventually long pig.” AKA human flesh. 

Wanna know the kicker?  

Episode’s called Metamorphosis.

(GIF by jackttwist)

I’ll see myself out.

[DOUBLE BONUS for extra credit:

if you really wanna wild out, go watch the scene of Jack the rougaru looking at himself in the mirror in 4x04 - and then meander on over to 7x01 and check out God!stiel looking in the mirror as the leviathans writhe inside him over there. It’s worth the walk.]

***oh and @lilac-void​ im tagging you in this one because in exchange for your KIND creator content nomination I guess I will respond by cursing you with an Honorary tag in this, a Meat Meta.  you’re welcome slash I'm sorry XO [but seriously thank you again for your kindness and appreciation; it really motivated me to sit down and get moving on making more content <3]

#yes I did do a meat meta #and what of it #destiel #spn #spn fandom #supernatural #spn family #myspnmeta #my spn meta #hellerism #deancas #longpost #spn analysis #spn 5x14 #spn bloody valentine #meat meta #<- I do not even want to know or see what else that tag would lead to

[hopeshoodie]

Ok so in light of the Independent article (see my tag #fusebox layoffs for more info), I’ve been trying to piece together the sequence of events that lead to FB Going to Shit™. 

All of the below is based on articles, tweets from the staff, and dates from screenshots. Especially with the Matchmaker stuff, I’m using the dates I personally accessed the stories- that might not be accurate to when they were actually released to an international audience, just when my phone updated the app. In hindsight, I’m not a great person to do this because I have a shit memory and don’t keep receipts, so if you have any corrections PLEASE lmk either in the dms or replies. 

In sum, the timeline appears to be:

1. Key players left Fusebox in early 2020. 

The one that people are probably most familiar with is David Gallopim, one of the artists who helped define the S2’s distinct style, leaving sometime before March 2020. He seemed to indicate that there was conflict over the new art style of S3, and released assets he’d designed of Harry in his own style (notably way prettier than Harry looks in-game). 

But probably more important to the direction of the company, Michael Othen, one of the co-founders and former CEO, left in July of 2020 (I had thought it was earlier in the year but according to LinkedIn it was July). It’s much more unclear why he left, but it’s notable because he was a huge force in making the game inclusive of LGBTQ characters. 

So all in all, not a great sign when employees who had a huge hand in creating the content and direction of a game that defined its success jump ship. Especially after the game was seemingly hitting its stride, with the host of Love Island (the TV show) doing a sponsored Let’s Play of S3 and projects in the works like Boat Party and CMM.

2. It seems like Fusebox‘s CEO/executives hired new management, either in 2020 or early 2021. Employees complain that the executives don’t understand what it takes to make a game and are pulling the studio in the wrong direction. It’s unclear if the newly hired execs had experience. 

Wil Stephens, the CEO/founder, has been with FB since its inception but also appears to have only founded game distribution ventures and not worked in any development or employment capacity. If that’s the case, maybe the complaints about lack of experience/knowledge about the mechanics of making games work are about him. If not, then some of the newly hired execs would likely be to blame. 

Paul Virapen, COO, was brought on in November of 2020. He’s worked with Disney’s gaming division, Big Pixel studios, Wooga. The quality of that experience is dubious since he headed up the ‘let’s make apps for Apple watches, it’ll be the next big thing’ department… Lol. Notably also, all of his roles had been in the executive/managerial realm, not the development teams, so the complains might have been about him. THIS IS SPECULATION, but I’m willing to bet that Virapen was a if not THE driving force in switching Fusebox’s focus entirely to matchmaker. All the studios he’s worked with have primarily produced and promoted Match 3 games, and he has a background working with big studios that produce games for large international audiences, not small studios making narrative games for limited audiences.

A new Manager of Finances, Ruth Erskine, was brought on in December of 2020

Rob Goddard, a new producer, was brought in January of 2021

Several key operations positions were filled by existing employees being promoted to management- 2 as far as I can tell. But as a whole it seems like December 2020 was a huge shift in leadership for the upper management while a lot of the other teams expanded but kept their old players as well.

3. At some point in late 2020- mid 2021, the executive team made the decision to switch LITG’s focus from a narrative pass-based game to a Match 3 incorporating romance narrative cut scenes. In early 2021, Fusebox teased more content to come while releasing S3 (seemingly referring to Matchmaker and not S4). In the interim between S3 endings and Boat Party’s release they put out an interview confirming the new game will be Match 3 but did seem to indicate that the plan at that time was for Matchmaker to be a side project with a different development team and not replace the main game. Notably, the LITG writers and artists were reassured that their roles will continue to exist (according to the independent article) as they’re working on S4.

3. In September of 2020, Matchmaker became briefly available in the US. That’s when I first downloaded it, at least. It would be added/removed from the google play store multiple times before having a unilateral release in July of 2021. 

Throughout 2020, Matchmaker is available to Asian audiences solely with LITG S1 getting rolled out in incremental updates. 

Eventually, Beanie Quinn is released (March 2021)

LA Noir is released (May 2021)

Seduction Games is released (late May or June 2021- I got the update and played it June 3rd, but hadn’t opened the app for a month or so. It might have come out before then, which is unfortunate for this timeline since it’s so inextricably linked to the open letter and layoff dates)

LITG S2 is released (only like 20 levels of it) the same month- June 19th for me. Notably, all of these stories are only released to an international audience, with the UK and USA still not having access to the app.

4. At the same time, Fusebox’s internal affairs are pretty quiet from 2020-2021, at least on social media. 

S3 comes out in 2020, Boat Party comes out later in the year and finishes in 2021. Post S3 in October of 2021, a survey goes out gauging player interest in new art styles and representation, which was pretty in keeping with past actions and seemed promising for S4. 

Boat Party features a promising cross promotion implementing irl brands into the game. It’s unclear if enough money was made from this on FB or the sponsor’s end to make that strategy viable, but that might’ve impacted management’s outlook for the profitability of LITG.  

Fusebox teases more content for the summer on Instagram, and then follows up and confirms it’ll be a proper season.

5. More key players leave in early 2021

Ed Sibley is still listed as Narrative Direction on LinkedIn, but he’s not credited as a writer on Season 4 (he was on 3,2,and 1) and started work with NetSpeak games in May of 2021, so we can assume he left around then or at least transitioned away from Fusebox then.

Fred Francis, another writer who had been on the team since S1, turns in his resignation ‘weeks’ before the layoffs were announced in late June. So we can assume he made his exit sometime early June or late May.

6. Prior to the release of Seduction games in May/June, staff expressed concern about the biphobia in Seduction Games. No sources have given a specific time when this took place. They were reassured that the problem would be corrected prior to release, but then the story was released as is to an international audience in June. The article released by the Independent is unclear- there might have been discussion prior to the open letter where staff expressed concerns and then were reassured before the game going live. OR the open letter might have been the first expression of concern by the staff. I tend to think the former, and the open letter was a response to Matchmaker going live with Seduction Games anyways, but I have no proof for that. On May 24th, 31 employees sent an open letter of concern regarding the problematic content in Matchmaker. This letter isn’t public, so we don’t know the scope of the employees' concerns or who the employees were.

7. To resolve the situation, a meeting between the staff and at least the COO (likely more than just him though) was held sometime after May 24th. Allegedly, Virapen was disrespectful to the employees who had questions, refused to answer, and ended the meeting early before any resolution was had by closing his laptop and leaving the room. At least 4 HR complaints were made in the wake of that meeting, we do not know the nature of those complaints. 

8. Some time mid-July (maybe July 26th? A writer tweeted about their job ending soon on that date), employees were made aware that the LITG app would move into ‘sunset mode’. It’s unclear what was communicated, but it seems as though S4 will be heavily delayed or cancelled altogether and no future seasons would be made. Writers begin to post about looking for work on Twitter

9. June 30th- The majority of Fusebox writing staff announce on twitter they’re out of work. In addition to the entire writing staff, unity engineers and producers are also let go.

10. July 5th - Fusebox executives respond to an article by MCVUK with a statement asserting they were “consulting with [their] employees on a proposed change to its business model” that would focus on producing Matchmaker content. They also expounded that the move was to secure “cash injections and and continued support from respected investors across the media and gaming industry”

11. July 6th- Fusebox announces that S4 will be delayed from the summer release date and that there is no fixed release date. 

12. August 2nd- three jobs are posted to Fusebox’s careers page on their website, one being Head of Narrative Content. In the job listing, it specifies that they’ll be maintaining existing properties as well as new ones, and that because of the co-development model (re:fusebox outsourcing Matchmaker to another studio) the new Narrative Lead must collaborate with external content creators.

Hopefully posting this timeline gives players a better understanding of how radically Fusebox has changed in the course of 2021 (and how royally they screwed over the people who made LITG what it is). Again, please let me know if you have receipts showing dates are different or things to add. 

#fusebox layoffs #fusebox games

[wherevermyway]

why can’t we drink forever? (1/2) // minsung // 18+

one: i will only complicate you series navigation: [desktop] [mobile]

⚠ POTENTIAL TW: READ WITH CAUTION! ⚠ pairing: lee minho x han jisung rating: explicit! 18+ warnings/tags: creator chose not to use archive warnings, explicit sexual content past character death, alcohol abuse/alcoholism, depression, edgy cynical depressed jisung, ambiguous/open ending. word count: 5,883 also on AO3

originally posted: 20 january 2021

After being arrested for driving under the influence, Jisung learns that money can buy his way out of jail time, but it can’t buy his way out of his feelings.

disclaimer: this is a work of fiction! any reference to persons in this work of fiction are purely coincidental. the characters referenced from Stray Kids are  interpretations loosely based on their personalities in the group and do  not represent the real people behind the personas. if this, or any of  the content included in the warnings above make you uncomfortable,  please stop reading now.

“I don’t know how things got this way, Sungie, baby. I’m worried about you.”

A sarcastic huff leaves the lips of the young man seated in the passenger seat of a sleek, new all-white Audi. He kicks his feet up on the dash, earning a frown from the middle-aged woman driving the vehicle. The young blonde stares out the window as he fumbles around his hoodie pocket. Out comes a white pack of Marlboro Gold cigarettes and an engraved silver lighter.

“You and me both, ma,” he tuts as he pops a white cigarette up from the pack into his mouth, flicking the dial of his lighter as he takes in a deep breath. He jams a finger down on the window button, the crisp winter air blowing the grey cloud around, the acrid scent of burnt tobacco filling the car. “Guess if we knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be in the car now, huh?”

“Maybe you’d have gotten into a better university,” his mother sighs as she shakes her head.

A devious smirk curls up on the young man’s mouth as he brings the cigarette up to his lips again, taking a long drag. He knows better than to verbally respond with a cynical quip.

Maybe I’d be fuckin’ dead.

Alcoholics Anonymous sounded like a cult following: a twelve-step programme where all of its members had to follow a strict code, be mentored by a sponsor, and thank some bullshit deity to be given a new chance every day. “Every day is a new chance,” the cult leader would say at the beginning of every meeting. “May God grant us the serenity…”

“I’m Jisung, and the courts told me I’m an alcoholic, so I guess I’m an alcoholic,” the artificial blonde shrugged his shoulders, the ghost of burnt coffee still dancing on his tongue as he spoke.

The mindless cult drones spouted off a casual “hi, Jisung,” in monotonous, unenthusiastic unity as the young man sat down.

“How did you get here?” The meeting’s leader was relentless in prodding the young man. “You’re not obligated to tell us, of course,” which was a boldfaced lie, “but acknowledging your problems might help your recovery.”

Jisung brought the styrofoam cup full of lukewarm, acrid coffee to his lips and took a long sip. He winced at the taste and pursed his lips as he made eye contact with the leader. “I was abducted by aliens, man, now I’m here. Shit was crazy.”

The leader frowned, ready to interrupt Jisung.

“Nah,” the young man kicked his feet out from under the metal fold-up chair, flipping his hood over his head with his free hand. “I got drunk, went out to get more booze, then hit a tree on the way back and the cops pulled me over since my headlight was out. The internet wasn’t lying when they said all cops are fuckin’ bastards.” His quip earned a laugh from a few younger members, whereas several of the older people shook their heads in frustration.

“Please,” the leader sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “let’s refrain from political commentary. Thank you for your,” there’s a pause as the leader clears his throat, “for your candor, Jisung. Now that we’ve introduced all of our new attendees, why don’t we move along with the next step in the meeting?”

The meeting was pointless, all of the same shit that Jisung had read about in the fliers that were handed to him with his sentencing. He had to endure twelve months of this, but it wasn’t like he was doing much else with his life, anyways. Jisung poured the last of the disgusting coffee from the cardboard takeaway box into his cup, then tossed the box into the large rubbish bin at the end of the table. One last cup of free shitty coffee before he left; it would pair nicely with the cigarette he so desperately craved.

“Hey!” A bright voice came up behind him and Jisung rolled his eyes at the way optimism dripped from the trill. He slowly turned around, taking a sip of the cold coffee in his cup. A young man with neon pink hair, probably the same age as Jisung, smiled widely as he stuck his hand out. “I’m Felix, nice to see someone here that’s about my age.”

Jisung gingerly accepted the hand and shook it twice before quickly sticking his hand back into his pocket. “Charmed. How long are you stuck here for?”

“Oh!” Felix shook his head, smile still wide on his face as he pensively looked down to his shoes. “I’m not here for… well, I’m a psychology major.”

Of course he was.

Felix tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and tapped his foot twice as he continued to smile at Jisung. “I’m also new here and was hoping I could make friends.”

Jisung shook his head, reaching into his hoodie pocket for his pack of cigarettes and familiar silver lighter. “I’m not a good influence. Don’t think I’d make good friends with someone so… nice.” He meandered a white cigarette out of the packet with a single hand, then tucked it behind his ear, lighter still tucked into his palm. “No offence, dude.”

The smile finally fell from the pink-haired man, who quickly pulled his hands from his pockets, “wait, wait!”

Jisung cocked an eyebrow at the man, biting his tongue as he felt the clawing at the back of his head, his synapses screaming a plea for him to get a hit of more nicotine.

“I don’t wanna sound desperate,” Felix ran his bottom lip under his teeth as he looked around nervously, “I just really wanna talk with someone that’s so different than me. I’ll even buy you dinner or something from the diner down the street.”

As insulting as the words ‘so different than me’ came off to Jisung, desperation was a bad look for anyone. “You got a car?” Felix nodded twice, biting his lip as he stared at Jisung. “Lead the way, psycho student Felix.”

Felix’s eyes went wide and his bright smile came back, beaming brighter than before. “It’s psychology, not psycho.”

The blonde rolled his eyes as he plucked the cigarette from behind his ear and tucked it in between his teeth. “I know what I said.”

The food at the diner was mediocre at best: rubbery scrambled eggs and burgers made from frozen patties that were likely a concoction of rejected organ meat slurry and textured vegetable protein. It was cheap, but it was always good. Rich in comfort, lacking in quality: the antithesis to Jisung’s life.

Jisung hadn’t been here in two years, not since his friend turned on-again, off-again boyfriend Changbin left for university, halfway across the country. This was the place they’d come to at three in the morning after hitting up a house party, where they would drunkenly curl up with each other and swap kisses that tasted like stale beer and watery coffee.

This was the place where Changbin broke up with Jisung for the final time, Changbin citing that they wouldn’t be able to stay in contact much anymore. However, he hadn’t told Jisung that he was sleeping with someone that graduated a couple years prior and was conveniently attending the same university as him.

That night tasted like vodka and strawberry soda, the latter of which Jisung never let grace his tastebuds again.

The blonde scowled down at his orange juice, watching the ring light above their table shimmer and ripple in the liquid. He hadn’t heard from Changbin in two years, and he was as bitter about it as the black, burnt edges of the hashbrowns that stuck to his plate.

“You okay?” Felix poked his fries with a fork, bringing one to his lips as he scanned Jisung’s expression.

“Are any of us okay, psycho student?”

Felix furrowed his brows and set his fork down against his plate, chewing on the crinkled french fry a bit before he swallowed. He folded his hands together and rested his chin against the interlaced fingers. “No, like,” he shrugged, eyes shifting around a bit, “I mean it. You seem kinda distant.”

Jisung rolled his eyes up to meet Felix’s and he cocked his eyebrow. He was starting to regret tagging along with this kid he barely knew, feeling like this was less of a potential friendship and more like a therapy session. “You don’t know me, man.”

“No, but I know people.”

“You’re a sophomore psychology student, dude. You don’t know shit.”

The pink-haired man sighed, back thudding against the plasticky booth. “I guess you’re right about that. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to know, though.”

“Your funeral, then.” Jisung followed suit, leaning up against the booth with a bit more tact, swinging his arm around the wood frame. “I had my first sip of alcohol when I was thirteen. Got bored when my parents fucked off to Italy on some shitty trip without me.”

Felix tilted his head up like a dog, suddenly alive with renewed interest.

“They’re only parents in blood and title.” Jisung looked down at the table, scratching inanely at a chip in the pale green linoleum. “I was raised by nannies and tutors until I was fifteen. Most parents would probably panic when they leave the house, coming back to an empty liquor cabinet. My parents? Nah, they just restocked it and told me not to drink too much at once.”

“That’s,” Felix’s voice trailed off as he looked away, milling over the new information.

“It’s fucked,” Jisung finished the sentence, then brought the plastic cup of orange juice to his mouth and took a long sip. He set the cup back down and pulled up the sleeve covering his left arm, presenting the flesh over the table. Felix visibly recoiled as he eyed dozens of scarred lines littered across the skin, some marks still relatively fresh. “Their response to this? ‘We’ll get you into therapy and you won’t do this again.’ It was always the best money could buy, but their money didn’t do shit to my brain.” He shuffled the cloth over his arm again, ignoring the look of pity Felix offered him.

“If money could buy them a better son, they would’ve traded me out, like upgrading a car on a lease.”

Felix stumbled over his words a bit as Jisung rifled through his pockets, pulling out his phone and his wallet. “You still wanna make friends with someone like me?”

It took a moment, but Felix tentatively nodded his head. “Doesn’t sound like you have many friends to begin with,” he nervously sputtered out.

Jisung cocked his head to the side and licked his teeth as he smiled. “I don’t do friends. But life’s full of surprises. Anyway, gimme your phone so we can swap contact info.”

They exchanged phone numbers and Jisung dropped a couple of bills on the table. “Don’t worry about it,” he said as soon as Felix opened his mouth to protest, “you’re a university student and I’ve got my shitty parents’ cash to burn.”

“I’ll see you next week?” Felix questioned as Jisung stepped out of his shoddy 2003 Toyota Camry.

Jisung nodded once, tipping his index and middle fingers off of his forehead. “You got it. Thanks for the ride, mate.” He slammed the door with a fake smile that faded as soon as he turned around. Sure, Felix was the antithesis of everything Jisung was, but he could prove to be a source of entertainment over the next year.

Despite being cynical and vehemently anti-religion, Jisung always said a quiet prayer to himself as he opened the door, hoping his parents weren��t home when he arrived. Today, it seemed like luck was on his side: his mother’s keys weren’t on the key rack, and his father had yet to return from some bullshit ‘business trip’ off in China. Perhaps it was Morocco or Norway; they all blurred together in a haze of indifference. All Jisung was sure of was the fact that his father had probably taken one of his mistresses away to some foreign country he was pretending to secure a business deal in.

“Everyone’s favourite fuck-up is home!” Jisung shouted in the empty vestibule, his voice echoing against the cold walls. He didn’t expect a response, so when he was greeted with a comfortable silence, he smiled to himself. He kicked his shoes off and unceremoniously tossed them into the corner by the key rack.

His heavy, heel-first footsteps echoed as he made his way towards the kitchen, pulling a bottle of wine out of a glass display cooler as he padded towards the main refrigerator. He pulled out a box of takeaway Indian curry from the night prior, setting both the box and the bottle on the marble kitchen island, shuffling his feet towards a drawer. He retrieved a fork and a wine key, tossing them onto the countertop as he pulled out his phone, pack of cigarettes, and his lighter.

Jisung opened the bottle of wine as he sat down on a stool next to the counter, tossing the cork towards the rubbish bin, shrugging as he missed. That was a problem for later, and he didn’t feel like dealing with it now. Completely ignoring the takeaway carton, Jisung grabbed the wine bottle, then took a long guzzle directly from it. He winced a bit as the flavour of fermented floral grapes perfumed his mouth with a sharp, sickly rotten scent. The bottle clattered loudly against the marble, the echoing reminding Jisung of just how alone he was in such a large house.

“Fuck it,” he muttered, bringing his phone up in front of his face, scrolling through one of his playlists until he found the right song. With a few taps, some Drake came through the kitchen speakers. Jisung turned up the volume to near max, his head subconsciously moving to the beat of “In My Feelings”. He took a cigarette from the pack on the table and lit it, the tip turning from paper and plant to a red, ashy ember as he inhaled.

Was he allowed to smoke in the house? Of course not.

Did Jisung give a shit? Absolutely not.

A text message popped up as Jisung aimlessly scrolled through his various notifications. He opened it, barely scanning through the entire message from his mother until his eyes stopped on a blue phone number. His eyes narrowed, poring over the entire message. “A coworker of mine offered to be a sponsor for you: Lee Minho. He’s a few years older than you, but he’s nice. Here’s his number, please reach out to him.”

Jisung sarcastically scoffed, locking his phone as he placed it back on the countertop, swapping it for the bottle of wine. He took a drag off of his cigarette, then took another long swig from the bottle. “We admit we’re powerless to alcohol,” he mutters the first step under his breath as he slams the bottle down on the counter.

“Maybe I don’t fucking care.”

Jisung woke up on the couch to the sound of heels clacking against the hardwood floor just before eight in the morning, his fingers jostling an empty bottle of scotch on the floor as he brought his hands to his face.

“Get cleaned up, please.” His mother’s voice was accompanied by bright spotlights suddenly shining directly on his face. “I’ve invited Minho over to meet with you.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Jisung’s voice was low and gravelly, groaning as he sat upright. The world spun, his body carried by the false inertia his mind had created.

His mother trotted off to the kitchen, shouting over her shoulder. “I know you didn’t. I did it because I care about you, Sungie.”

The blonde rubbed his clammy hands against his face again, attempting to wipe the sleepiness from his eyes. He grabbed his phone off of the floor, then wobbled his way upright, the living room spinning around him in a familiar sense of uneasiness.

“You don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself,” he muttered under his breath.

Somehow, Jisung managed to make his way upstairs to his room, stripping an article of clothing off with each lazy step from his bedroom door towards his personal washroom. By the time he got to the glass enclosure of the shower, he was totally stripped bare. Jisung distantly stared at his reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, a gaunt and ashy doppelganger staring back at him with a pained, empty look on his face.

Instead of stepping into the shower, Jisung approached the mirror, subconsciously bringing his hands to touch his flushed face. His cheekbones were more prominent now than they were earlier in the year, dark circles painted in broad strokes under his eyes. His gaze trailed down the scars he had inflicted on his arms and on his thighs, reminders of the failed attempts to take his own life that he was now forced to carry with him, wearing each line and mark as a badge of shame.

A warm tear rolled down his face as it contorted into an expression of terror and hurt, before he took his fist and crashed it into the mirror in front of him, a spiderweb of the impact left behind in the cracked glass as he pulled his bloodied knuckles away. Some glass shattered to the floor, some still wedged in the gaps between his fingers, and Jisung stared at the crack that split his reflection into several fragments.

How he was still alive was beyond him.

“Mrs. Han, please,” a lilted, unfamiliar laugh travelled up the staircase as Jisung slowly made his way down towards the first floor. He squinted at the noise that caused his head to throb, realizing that someone unknown speaking to his mother, likely the Minho she had mentioned earlier. With each step he took towards the drawing room, the voice got louder, each staccatoed laugh more pronounced.

“Jisung, come sit,” his mother said, replacing the genuine smile on her face with a fake, ‘Vaseline-on-the-teeth’ smile. She motioned towards the empty space on the couch, opposite from the young brunette that turned around.

Jisung met his eyes and it suddenly felt like his surroundings cracked and shattered around him, like the mirror upstairs. Rich brown eyes glistened behind the black and gold browline glasses that rested against the bridge of his nose. Rose-tinted lips curled upwards in a shy smile, revealing large, rabbit-like front teeth that rested softly against his bottom lip.

“Hi,” the stranger said with a gentle wave, “I’m Minho. Resident biochemist at the pharmaceutical company your mother works for.”

As Jisung made his way over to the open spot on the couch, he squinted, refusing to break eye contact with the strange invader. It felt like he was a wild animal on display, about to be poked and prodded by zookeeper staff or by scientists in some sort of underground, off-the-books laboratory. It would fit, after all, since the man was some sort of scientist.

“I’ll let you be,” Jisung’s mother says, rising to her feet. “Maybe you should tell Minho about your little misstep last night, hmm?”

Jisung rolled his tongue over his bottom lip and shook his head sarcastically. “Go enjoy your overfilled glass of wine at nine-fucking-thirty, ma. I’ll be here spilling my guts to a stranger that gives more of a shit about me than you.” Minho winced and his expression fell from cheerful to shocked.

The men stared at each other, Jisung’s gaze layered with arrogance, and Minho’s heavy with awkward discomfort. “So,” the younger man kicked his feet up onto the coffee table, pulling a pack of cigarettes and his trusted lighter from his sweatshirt pocket, hoping to wrap up the conversation as soon as possible. “I know you work with my mother, you’re an alcoholic, and your name’s Minho.” As quickly as Jisung could take in a breath, the cigarette between his teeth was lit, and he was glaring at the intruder through the grey haze that came between them. Their eyes met again, Jisung growing more and more wary by the second. “Why should I pick you as my sponsor, when I feel like you’re just gonna snitch to my mother?”

Minho’s jaw looked like it was clenched too tight, his bottom eyelids squinted upwards as he studied the younger man in front of him. They watched each other, eyeing each micromovement the other’s face made. About halfway through Jisung’s cigarette, Minho finally broke the uncomfortable eye contact, and took a deep breath. “I’m not asking for you to trust me, or to spill your life story,” he shifted, sitting upright, “but for you to see me as a mentor when things get hard and you want to dampen your feelings with alcohol. I’ve been there, Jisung.”

Indignation washed over the younger man’s face, quickly replaced by a familiar wave of arrogance. Jisung shook his head, ashing his cigarette directly onto the floor. “Doubt it,” he tutted, licking his teeth as he nodded his head, staring at the ring on Minho’s finger. He smirked to himself, then turned his head away and up towards the ceiling. “Looks like you’ve got someone that loves you. I don’t know what that feels like; never have, never will.”

The elder chewed on his bottom lip, clenching his fist as his eyes subconsciously scanned the ring on his finger. “Had.”

“What?” Jisung turned his head back towards Minho with a look of disgust on his face, ashes falling from his cigarette.

The brunette sighed, leaning further into the couch, nervously running his thumb over his balled up fingers. “He’s the reason I turned to drinking, to fill the void he left in my heart when he died.”

Shit.

For the first time in ages, Jisung felt a slight pang of regret twinge in his abdomen.

Minho swallowed hard, almost as if he were holding back his emotions. “We were married for five years, together since high school. You’d think I would’ve known the signs, but Chan was so good at hiding things, hiding his pain from everyone.”

The ember in Jisung’s cigarette died out as he found himself enraptured in Minho’s story.

Chan was Minho’s high school sweetheart. They started dating their sophomore year of high school, both attended the same university, and they got married when they were twenty. To Minho, Chan was everything. They supported each other, making the other man stronger and gave them a reason to go on.

Minho had no idea that Chan was severely depressed, holding his true feelings to his heart. Not long after Minho’s twenty-fifth birthday, Chan disappeared, only leaving a journal behind. It had started off with an apology, that if Minho found his journal, that it was too late to save him and that Chan had simply given up. On nearly every page, Chan reiterated that it wasn’t Minho’s fault, that Chan was just too far gone beyond repair, that Minho had given him a new lease on life, but it wasn’t enough.

Exactly three weeks after Chan had gone missing, police were on the doorstep of their shared home.

“Dental records,” Minho whispered, his eyes distant and glazed over as he lost himself in the memory. “That’s how they knew it was Chan. I don’t remember much after that, but I thought that I could find the answer to why Chan took his own life at the bottom of a bottle.”

Jisung’s grip on the arm of the couch was so tight, his knuckles had turned white and they were starting to ache.

“Several bottles,” Minho continued, “several bottles and several near-death experiences waking up in the hospital later, and I still hadn’t figured out the answer. I figured that maybe I’d see him again if I drank enough. Now,” he folded his arms, tucking his chin into his chest, “I’ve accepted that I’ll never know the answer to that question, that I need to live on for him. If there’s an afterlife, maybe I’ll get to ask him myself. Until then, though,” Minho rolled his teary eyes up to meet Jisung’s uncomfortable gaze, “I just want to atone for not doing enough before. I want to help others that are hurting, you know?”

They continued to stare at each other for what felt like hours, until Jisung finally shook his head. His voice cracked as he tried to speak. “Sorry,” his apology was shockingly sincere, “I guess I spoke before I thought.”

Minho awkwardly smirked, dismissively waving his hand in between them. “Don’t worry about it. I just wanted you to know that I’ve been at rock bottom and that there’s a way up and out, as long as you’re willing to put in the effort.”

Maybe Jisung was willing to give Minho a try.

At first, Jisung agreed to meet with Minho once a week after the mandatory AA meeting he attended. It took seven visits spanning seven weeks before Jisung eventually opened up about the neglect he faced from both of his parents, the emptiness he felt from being raised by nannies, feeling like money was more important than his own life.

Ten weeks in, they started hanging out on the weekends. Their relationship shifted from mentorship to friendship, and it was somewhat a relief that Jisung finally had someone he could trust enough to call his friend.

Week fourteen was when things started to shift further. Jisung hadn’t consumed alcohol in eight weeks, and things were clearing up, slowly but surely. He had been meeting with Felix more and more, too — maybe they weren’t quite friends yet, but Jisung was at least trying.

Things were looking up for the first time in Jisung’s life.

At week sixteen, Jisung stayed over at Minho’s apartment, convincing him that he needed to watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The blonde had vehemently pressed that it was, quite possibly, one of the best series of all time, animated or otherwise. After some gentle pressure, Minho finally caved, and they sat on his couch, diving into the show and into some mediocre takeaways.

They had gotten through the first three episodes and Minho finally relented that, yes, it was a good show and that, yes, Jisung was right.

“I knew you’d like it, dude,” Jisung snickered, playfully poking at Minho’s chest. The corner of his lips tugged upward into a crooked smile, and he wore Minho’s seal of approval as some sort of badge of honour.

The brunette turned away, softly smiling into his shoulder as a rush of crimson started to tint his face. “You’ve got me trying all sorts of new things, Ji,” Minho rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before he flashed his teeth at the younger man. “So much for me being the mentor here, huh?”

Jisung sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth at the nickname, trying to ignore the warmth blossoming up his face. He tried to stumble out some sort of response, but he caught himself getting lost in the way that the overhead lights shimmered in Minho’s eyes, highlighting the soft amber and warm bursts of hazelnut that erupted around his pupils. His expression started to falter, and he felt a familiar rush of excitement bloom in his chest, causing his nerves to come to life all around his body.

He remembered that this was how it felt right before he shared his first drunken kiss with Changbin, but something about this felt different. Perhaps it was the fact that Jisung was completely sober, but he desperately wanted Minho to kiss him, to want him back. However, Jisung wasn’t sure if it would have been a good idea, pondering over if Minho was really ready to start a new relationship, especially with someone he was supposed to be mentoring.

“Something on your mind?” Minho’s voice was soft as it gently guided Jisung back to the moment. “You’re kinda spacing out on me.”

“No, no,” Jisung stumbled around the words he wasn’t sure he could say, suddenly distracted by the television in the background. “I guess I was just thinking about the show.”

Minho’s head tilted to the side, concurrently lifting his brow in confusion. “You guess?”

Jisung waved his hand in between them and readjusted his posture so he was further away from Minho. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve seen it so many times, but it’s one of those shows that you watch and you see something new each time and—”

Warm fingers were suddenly on the side of Jisung’s face, pulling him back into Minho’s space. “You’re a terrible liar.” The voice was soft, yet assertive; low, but so loud. Jisung’s eyes went wide as Minho’s apartment blurred around him, his vision suddenly taken over by the sight of the brunette’s face right up next to his. In front of him.

Before Jisung could process what was happening, he was subconsciously pressing his lips into Minho’s, trying to remember exactly how kissing worked. It was years since the last time he had any practice, but it all came back to him as Minho helped guide Jisung’s face with his hands.

Minho’s tongue was soft, warm, and damp as it gently pressed up against Jisung’s lips, wordlessly pleading for entrance. Without letting his mind mill over the fine details and concerns he possibly had, Jisung parted his lips. Timidly, he rolled his tongue around Minho’s, his hands quivering as his fingers scrambled for purchase in Minho’s hair.

Unlike anyone Jisung had kissed before, this felt right, even if there were some uncomfortable grinding of teeth and awkward nose bumping. Within a reasonable amount of time, they slowly became experts at training the way the other wanted to be kissed. As if Minho could read Jisung’s mind, he would interrupt his soft kisses with gentle nips and grazes at Jisung’s bottom lip.

“Please,” Jisung’s voice cracked as Minho pulled his teeth down his bottom lip, “my neck, I…”

Minho swiftly moved his lips from Jisung’s, peppering tiny pecks against his jawline to his ear, stopping to take the blonde’s earlobe into his mouth with his tongue, grazing the tender flesh between his teeth. Jisung’s back involuntarily arched as the grooves of Minho’s teeth pulled at his sensitive skin, the sensation causing his nerves to come to life with an electrical jolt from head to toe.

The brunette chuckled, his warm breath brushing up against the tiny hairs on Jisung’s ear. He said nothing, simply moving down to press a few soft kisses to the skin just below the younger man’s earlobe. Minho’s lips were soft, gentle, only to be quickly replaced by a sudden, harsh bite into the tender flesh.

A yelp, accompanied by uncontrollable twitching, came from Jisung, who was simultaneously melting into Minho, but also pulling away. The elder’s fingers dug into the blonde’s waist, keeping him in the same position, not allowing him to escape. Jisung’s yelp had faded into a whimper, which evolved into a moan as Minho sucked the flesh between his teeth, quickly repeating the process several times in various spots along Jisung’s neck.

The moans were increasing in volume and breathiness, Jisung subconsciously, frantically rutting his pelvis into the couch. Minho must have caught on to this, letting go of Jisung’s waist to ease him down onto the couch. He pressed his lips to Jisung’s again, dancing his fingertips down to the waistband of the younger man, who was completely blissed out.

“Can I help you with this?” Minho’s voice was somehow both soft yet assertive as his palm pressed against Jisung's clothed erection.

Words eluded Jisung, verbal language suddenly turning into complex algebraic equations that didn’t translate from his head to his tongue. Instead, he groaned in affirmation as he hopelessly rolled his hips upward, finding himself pitiful that he was so desperately craving for Minho to just keep fucking touching him.

Things started to blur in a haze of wanton desire. Minho’s hand gently stroked Jisung’s cock, paying special attention to the way that his fingers and palm brushed against the head. Involuntary twitches took over Jisung as he whimpered and mewled, his shoulder blades grinding into the couch. Minho continued to nibble and bite at Jisung’s neck, occasionally whispering words of assurance and praise into his ear.

“You’re doing so well,” as he slowly dragged his hand from the base of Jisung’s cock up to his head.

“I can’t imagine how incredible you would feel around me,” as he gently thumbed the slit, rubbing precum around the sensitive head and causing Jisung to bite the back of his hand as he failed to stifle a cracked moan.

Jisung’s breaths turned erratic and he was nearly convulsing as his body started to twitch. Minho shifted his weight to his knees, slowing his strokes just enough so that he could awkwardly shift one leg off of the couch to position his head in a way he could take Jisung into his mouth.

“What are you—” Jisung started to question, until he found himself losing control of his body as Minho rolled his tongue around his cock. “Fuck, Minho!” He clamped his eyes shut, arching his back upward, hitting the back of Minho’s throat as he convulsed, his orgasm suddenly completely taking over him. “Minho,” he whined and unclenched his fists; “Minho,” he panted and opened his eyes; “Minho.” With one last breath, he was back to reality.

This had to have been the closest thing to heaven that Jisung thought he would ever experience.

Jisung had stayed over at Minho’s that night, too tired to function like a normal human. They slept on the couch together, necks crooned in uncomfortable positions all night long, bodies stiff from the unnatural firmness that Minho’s couch held. The next morning, they chose not to discuss the night prior, but they did exchange some soft kisses, until Jisung protested, mentioning that their morning breath was distracting him from actually enjoying the kiss.

Their weekends continued on like this: spending time watching a couple of episodes of their chosen programme until they got distracted and lost within each other. Nothing progressed further than handjobs, the occasional blowjob, and the one time that they rolled around naked, making out for so long and so intensely that the way they pressed their bodies together caused Jisung to come without any additional stimulation — and, hey, they liked it.

The budding relationship between them was confusing. During the week, Minho acted like the appropriate, wise mentor, with Jisung as his eager pupil. When the weekend came around, however, all bets were off. In everything but title, they were boyfriends for all intents and purposes. Every time Jisung tried to bring it up, Minho would shut down, saying that he wasn’t ready to really think seriously about it yet.

So, Jisung didn’t press. He was sure that their intimate interactions were causing conflicting emotions to arise within Minho, emotions he probably had been ignoring since Chan’s death, trying to shove them down as time went on. Even though he wanted to navigate the full spectrum of sexual experiences with Minho, Jisung remained silent until Minho was ready.

#why can't we drink forever? #skz fics #skz smut #minsung #lee minho x han jisung #han jisung x lee minho #minho x jisung #jisung x minho #wherevermyway

[riverdale-events]

The 6th Installation of the BRRR — Alternate Universe Edition —

When our fanfic authors could use some extra love and we could use some extra fic recs to read… It’s time for another round of Bughead Review Round Robin! We are focusing on non-canon related AU’s this round, coffee shops, offices, photographers, and anything else under the sun that’s totally removed from Riverdale canon. It’s time to read some fics that are 100% fanon!

A Short Version of How it’s Going to Work:

The BRRR is a read and review fest that welcomes all fans of Bughead fanfic. Each person who signs up will submit two Bughead-centric non-canon AUs that they would like to recommend for some extra comment love. For this round, recommended fics must not be written by the person submitting them. You will be placed in a group of 4-5 members, including a group leader, to read and review fics together ‘round robin’ style. Your group will be assigned a fic once a week on Tuesday to read and leave a thoughtful, kind, and detailed comment on that designated fic by the following Monday. Rinse and repeat for 4-5 weeks.

Everything you need to know about this round, including guidelines, requirements, and the sign up form are below the cut! Sign ups are open now and close on February 12th. The round will begin on February 16th.

We hope you all decide to join the fanfic love-athon! Tell your friends and as always, signal boosts are super appreciated.

Find the sign up link with the FAQ and Requirements under the cut!

WHAT WILL BE EXPECTED OF PARTICIPANTS?

Provide two recs (keeping with the ALTERNATE UNIVERSE theme) and your reading preferences at sign up

Have Ao3 and Discord accounts

Commit to read and review one fic a week for the full 4-5 week duration of the round

Follow all submission and review guidelines (listed below)

One of your two fic recs will be selected to best place you into a small group based on fics of similar lengths, rating preferences, and triggers pulled from the google form which needs to be filled out carefully

Be responsive to the group leader on updates, reminders, and important information provided throughout the reading weeks

Reading weeks will begin on Tuesdays and end at 11:59 PM PST on Mondays, which will be the deadline to submit reviews. All reviews must be posted on AO3 and links to each review must be linked in your groups “review links” channel.

Notify us if you change your tumblr or Ao3 username during the round

Follow @bughead-review-round-robin and reblog this post.

Check in on the Discord server regularly throughout the round for updates.

WHAT ARE THE FIC REC SUBMISSION GUIDELINES?

Must be Bughead centric NON-CANON AU (no canon divergent, this is all fanon) fic, and posted to Ao3.

Must be written by someone other than yourself.

Aim for a fic length of 10,000 words or less. You may use one of your recs on a fic over 10k and we will create a high word count group if there is enough interest. (Check the option on the survey to opt in for a high word count reading group if you are down for reading a 10k+ fic even if your designated fic rec is under 10k)

All sensitive content MUST be tagged appropriately on the form and Ao3.

You must be willing to read any rating/trigger that the fics you submit as your recs contain. (i.e. If on your form you fill out that you are not willing to read a fic with abuse, the fic you rec cannot contain abuse. Similarly, if you are unwilling to read an M rated fic, you cannot rec an M rated fic)

WHAT ARE THE FIC REVIEW GUIDELINES?

Leave a kind, thoughtful, and detailed comment on the designated fic of the week

Comments must reach a minimum of 200 words

Include your commentary and at least one quote from the fic.

If the review heavily features quotes, the amount of original commentary must be greater than or equal to direct quotes.

Do not leave criticism of any kind on the work.

Use kind, positive, and encouraging language when referencing the weekly fic, be it in your comment or discussion with your group.

COULD YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT GROUP LEADERS?

Small group leaders will work in tandem with the admins to ensure that rules are being followed, reviews are being submitted, and everyone is having a swell time.

Group leaders will be responsible for regular check-ins/reminders for their group, encouragement of open and active dialogue in the group’s chat channel, and verification that group members have completed and placed their reviews in the review links channel at the end of each week.

Those with the role will be placed in a Discord channel, along with admins, to better communicate and help one another.

If you are interested in being a group leader, please indicate so on the google form.

I’M IN! WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO SIGN UP?

Prior to signing up, please ensure you’re able to fully commit to your group for the 4-5 week duration of the challenge and that you’ve read this post, including the FAQ, carefully.

Pick out your two AU fic recs and take note of the title, author, rating, triggers/warnings, word count, and Ao3 link, as you will need the information to fill out your form.

You will need an account on both AO3 and Discord. If you need an AO3 invite feel free to send an off-anon ask to our blog.

It’s time to sign up! Carefully complete the google form found: HERE  **It is very important that you complete this form accurately and in its entirety as it will be used to form reading groups

Shortly after you’ve signed up, you will be invited to the BRRR Discord server via a link provided by an admin. You must join in order to participate.

Get ready to spread some love and positivity to our content creators!

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to send a message to our ASK box or DM one of the admins - @bettycooper @theheavycrown % @bluevelvetvideo

#bughead #bughead fanfiction #bughead fic #bughead fanfic #bughead fic rec #betty x jughead #betty cooper #jughead jones #bughead review round robin #*admin

[draiochteve]

Why would you join a fandom that overwhelmingly lifts up and supports OCs just to trash talk them all the time?

Alright people who follow me here know what fandom I mainly write for FFXIV. And yes, you can consider this needless gossip hence the wank in the tags, but it needs to be said because I’m going to burst. Dear fic author who is well known in our fandom for a certain npc/npc pairing and reader/Ascian, you are not better than others because you don’t write OC fic (which is arguable to begin with as your reader fill in is very much your OC). I see you all the time on the fanfiction subreddit always denouncing your distaste of OCs and falsely claiming that even though they are common in our fandom that they garner little attention. My dear, look at the top fics for the fandom. Most have an OC in stand for the WoL. Yes, my vague, easily self insertable fics still hold true for being my topped clicked and kudos, but my Japhinne fics have quite the handful that have surpassed 2k and are know around the fandom for those in my corner of it. Friends I know have them well over 6k with OCs as the focus. All OCs aren’t self inserts like you like to religiously claim over and over again in your comments, though I suppose yours might be with how much you seem to be projecting onto others. Which is not an issue really because there are those that self insert and those that don’t and both are perfectly fine please enjoy yourself! However, you are not the standard by all others need to be judged. And with your recent posts, you have made it clear jealousy is a drive of yours never to touch OC work and look down on it all the time. Next, your constant claims that the fic side of the fandom was dead until your lord and savior Emet was introduced and “single-handedly,” as you so aptly put it, caused a fic boom. I and many others can all easily vouch that neither are the case. There were plenty of fics prior (well over 4k from my memory) to shadowbringers. And if you are so daft as to believe Emet is the sole reason for the sheer quantity of fics to come following shadowbringers then you are laughably mistaken and the Ao3 stats agree with me. I will not deny he is popular, but so are several other NPCs that have added quite the volume above Emet to the fandom’s total fic count. (Excuse me from the on the other side of the pond, but I’ve been tracking Exarch/G’raha fics from the start as I was there from the beginning and I can assure you that Emet was not the only one garnering attention and fics and it blows me away you would be so bold to claim). Unless I suppose you refuse to count any fic featuring NPC/OC which I suppose means you don’t count most G’raha fics out there. So many of your takes about the fandom’s support of OCs is often misogynistic and so petty I’m shocked you bothered joining. There are only a handful of fandoms out there that give this kind up uplifting support to fellow creators and encourages OC making and you’re here doing this? And I’m not saying you can’t focus on NPC/NPC or Reader/NPC, but ffs have a heart and be kind to your fellow creators in fandom. Some of which you have buddied up to and talked to only to possibly be vaguing and trash talking them elsewhere for not being in your brands of writing. It’s slimy. And yes, you have a right to dislike OC fics. No one is saying you can’t or that you don’t have to read them! Far from that! But your repeated parading around tearing others down and also portraying the fandom as you are to a large sub is shitty. Why are you even here?

#personal #draiocht rambles #fandom wank #rant? #idk i just need to get it out lmao #I do get a bit salty here

[bandsanitizer]

end of the year thing: 5sos edition

hi! hey! (hehe) I’ve seen a lot of these going around and wanted to make one, too. being a multifandom blog, there’s too many to list in one post, so this one is solely for the 5sos blogs I’ve come to follow, interact with, and just sort of know over the year (or years) ((and if you’re not a 5sos blog and I tagged you here, sorry! this post might be more fitting))

being a 5sos fan this year has been a bit wild this year and I’m incredibly grateful for all of you! to everyone who put up with my multifandomness and provide essential information of the date of the purple pants concert (and stuck around as I reblogged every picture I could find on here)!!!! to those creators with amazing gif, edit, and/or writing capabilities!! those who provide peace and escape, humor and memes, criticism and grounding!!! those I’ve personally interacted with and those I admire from afar!!!! all of you have made this year and being in this fandom such an amazing experience!!

I know I haven’t tagged every 5sos blog I follow nor every mutual, so if you aren’t here, I apologize, but please know this message is still for you!!! (y’all from 2018 and prior this is especially @ you) additionally, if we’ve never interacted pls don’t be concerned! I’m not always the most comfortable about online interactions (and if you wished to be untagged just let me know)

I am so grateful for you and I love you all!!! I’m thankful for the art you share and the positivity you bring! being part of the 5sos fandom (family? did we stop using that? idk) is special to me (along with 5sos but lol this post aint for them) and y’all have made it amazing and enjoyable and just a real highlight of this year!!! like I can’t find everything to say but there’s just A LOT of feelings here and I’m so grateful for y’all!

wishing you all a safe, joyful, and wonderful new year! may 2021 be full of health, stability, happiness, and greatness for you!

ps: as a 4k and new year’s celebration, I’m making playlists! if you’d like one, please see this post!

tags below!

@noshamenion @httpsgfg @kaleidoscopeminds @karajaynetoday @redrattlers @glitterblazercalum @ironic-cal @bodejacketharry @asshat-productions @devilatmydoor @tekweela @mukeaf @2fangirl4u @mikeycliffords @calmfolklore @lukeysdimples @yodaeatsoreos @loverofmines @cakelftv @calumsthood @5sosofficial @clumsyclifford @notinthesameguey @twilightmomentswithyou @pixiegrl @himbocalum @mashlums @ashtcnirwin @wildflowermv @lifewasradical @malumsmermaid @calumrose @pxrxmoore @rebelwith0utacause @loveroflrh @sunshinelukee @cherrylukes @kittenclifford @h0twasabi @aussisos @bodaciouswildflower @starshinehemmo @hummingluke @glitterlukey @golden-luke @ashtonsunshine @wildflowersmalum @otpmalum @afterlows

#alison speaks? #I LOVE YOU AND IM SORRY IF YOU WERENT TAGGED!!! #I SWEAR Y’ALL ARE THE WORLD AND I APPRECIATE EACH OF YOU!!! #BIG SHOUT OUT TO Y’ALL WHO CAME THROUGH WITH THE PURPLE PANTS DATES! #LIKE SERIOUSLY!!! I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME! #<3 big love to everyone

[edge-lorde]

the religion of the galactic horde

“You seem reluctant to help me. But I only wish to use your weapon to bring peace to the darkest corners of the universe. (Glimmer: Peace? If you activate the Heart of Etheria, there will be no one left.) Yes. No war, no pain. Old worlds swept aside, a new beginning for the universe.” --Horde Prime explaining his motivations to Glimmer

the horde in shera was definitely inspired by Christianity and uses a lot of its imagery, the most iconic being the baptism scene. it certainly gives off the vibes of a christian or christian adjacent cult, but what is its actual doctrine? i have some thoughts about that. 

first here are what i consider to be the 3 main differences between real christianity and the horde: 

Their jesus didn't ascend to heaven. He's still with them.

They don't have a larger creator god. They worship horde prime like he is a living god but they don't believe that he created the universe.

They have no focus on the afterlife

this is going to be long.

before i begin heres the sparknotes version of christianity for anyone not familiar. I am not evangelizing this, just think of it as LORE. 

Once upon a time there was a guy named Jesus. He was the son of the one true god, who both created everything in the universe, is everywhere and knows everything, and controls the afterlife. Jesus is god born as a mortal person, sent by god to teach all of humanity the errors of their evil ways so they can repent and go to the good afterlife when they die. There're two afterlives, a good one and a bad one, heaven is the good one and its run by god and his army of angels, which are divine beings that god can send to earth to do things. The bad one is called hell. 

Anyway, in his time on earth jesus was the only person ever to never do anything bad ever (called sin). He tried to teach people how to be good but was Too Good for this Cruel World and was killed. 3 days later he came back from the dead, proving his divinity. Some time after that however, he ascended into heaven without dying, telling his followers to spread the word because hes going to be coming back. Christians today are still awaiting his return. In the meantime, christians follow his teachings left behind in holy texts. 

The crux of christianity is to get to heaven when you die, and this can only be done by following the teachings of jesus christ, believing in god, and believing that jesus was the son of god. Its a given that everyone will do bad things at some point in their lives so you're supposed to pray to god and ask for forgiveness regularly and if you really mean it then god will forgive you. 

thats the basics. 

to my first main point from above, if we posit that horde prime is the jesus equivalent of the horde religion, because hes treated as a living god, his goal is to spread his philosophy throughout the universe, then in the horde religions jesus never ascended into heaven. this would be like if jesus in our world rose from the dead and just picked up where he left off, and never died after that and was alive today. that would be pretty good proof of divinity. 

to my 2nd point, theres nothing in the show that suggests that horde prime thinks that he created the universe. this means that he did not get his divinity from anywhere but inside himself, hes not claiming that hes the rightful ruler of the known universe for any other reason besides his ideas are the best. 

the 3rd point is that the show does show horde prime or the horde caring one bit about the afterlife, save for one line from wrong hordak.

"Brother, I hope you, too, are full of only love for Horde Prime and have no crippling doubt eating at your soul."

meaning that they have the concept of the soul. which is very interesting and ill get to it, but on the whole the hordes focus seems to be on the here and now. this is a huge departure from christianity because chrisitanity is all about getting to the afterlife. that is the reason that christians are supposed to follow christ and recruit as many people as possible to do the same, because if they dont, they or other people will supposedly go to hell when they die. i say supposedly because at funerals, even if the person who died wasnt a believer, in my experience no christian would ever ever ever insinuate that someone went to hell. 

but the difference still stands. following real christian ideology is supposed to have benefits for the individual in the afterlife, while in the horde religion salvation seems to only be found by submitting to prime in this life and being either a tool that he can use to further his goal of purifying the universe or by letting him remove you from it. 

on top of all that, horde prime has the hive mind, which he uses to control the thoughts of all his followers. this means that theres no room for a bible study, no need of a holy text at all in fact, and no room for interpretation. horde prime delivers orders to your brain directly and can tell if you think anything out of line. real Christianity does have the idea that a sin that you just think about doing is as bad as actually doing it, but in the horde these thoughts can be easily discovered and punished. 

the horde religion seems to me to be a strangely secular version of christianity with only the bad parts remaining; the control, the blind faith, the certainty that you are right and everyone else is wrong, the not questioning authority. with none of the good aspects like community, and good deeds. it is a cult in the truest sense of the word, a religion that begins and ends with one person only, that person being horde prime.

so, if you take horde prime out of the equation, what, if anything, would be left? 

i find the plight of the horde clones here to be the most interesting. we know that they do have thoughts about their religion, as it was hordaks belief that he could earn his way back into horde primes god graces that kept him going all those years in despondos, and wrong hordak is distraught when he discovers that horde prime lied about krytis. 

unlike both the chipped people we see in the show and real religious converts, the clones were born into this cult that values blind obedience only, and have no prior ideology or cultural identity to fall back on when they are taken out of it. 

so to answer this question, i must add some conjecture to horde primes backstory and how the clones see themselves in horde primes universe. I already wrote up a brief backstory idea for horde prime/the clones and have it posted on here somewhere. I'm not going to dig it up but you could probably find it in the #horde prime tag on my blog if you dig hard enough. 

To summarize it though, I have it as horde prime was once a regular (bad) dude who became a cult leader under the premise of preaching peace --> he becomes disillusioned with people and even his own followers because he doesn't actually like people, he likes manipulating them. --> this and the power of being a cult leader go to his head and he starts to think that he is the only person in existence capable of living a moral life and everyone else needs to be saved from themselves, the world would be a better place if he could just make everyone's decisions for them. --> he somehow gets a hold of the technology needed to set up the hive mind, be it by inventing it himself, stealing it, finding it, or being gifted it. 

I'll pause here to address the theory that horde prime was originally an eldritch being that simply possessed a dude who would become the template for the clones. I think there's enough stuff in the show that this is a valid read and might even be canon but i don't really care for it. For me, what makes horde prime a compelling villain is that he's a very human evil, so having him actually be an evil demon thing instead of a really bad but believable dude who got near ultimate power weakens his character. BUT, i’m not going to address it in my comic so i'll leave it open as to whether he's got that going on or not. If he is, the clones don’t know about it and neither they nor the other characters have any way of discovering it. IF he is though, it would happen here. I could see it being a cool idea for him to get the hive mind from the eldritch being that would then possess him and haunt his lineage for time immemorial as a deal with the devil sort of thing, but he has to be a bad person before that.

Anyway he gets the hive mind--> he gets all of his followers to chip themselves --> gets those people to chip everyone else on his home planet --> use his planet wide army to harvest all resources on the planet and build his first space fleet and take to the skies and start his conquest--> realize that if he is to succeed hes going to need to both become immortal and find a steady source of new followers because chipped people die eventually and he doesnt care about people enough to figure out a way to keep a self sufficient population of followers alive, he just wants people around to adore him and do his bidding--> invents his cloning system-->

and heres the big one,

his original body has to die so he can upload his consciousness into a new clone.  

and THAT, to the clones, would be the moment that horde prime becomes a god.

his reliance on the hive mind and vast network of followers are what give him his godly abilities, but just as the horde clones could not exist without being cloned from horde prime, so too could horde prime not exist as he does in the show without them. 

i see it as both a christlike sacrifice and a cyclical system of debt and sacrifice. horde prime dies for our sins, so that he might continue to purify the universe so that there will be no more death and more clones will be born, while the clone hes possessing has to essentially die by giving himself up entirely to become the new prime so all this can happen too, and to repay primes death. not all clones can become the next prime however, but all must be ready to die for him, hence horde prime having clone infantries despite also having robots he could send instead. 

i dont have clear thoughts about what the green goo is, but horde primes words about his brothers lending him their life force go along with this idea. the clones give him theyre life force, so he can give it back to them.

another interesting aspect of this is that prime always portrays himself as a brother to his followers, never a father as christ is portrayed as in christianity. i know this is from hordak and horde prime being actual brothers in the 80s show but ive seen this trope come up a few times in media before, where a man raises a kid but has them call him their brother instead of dad. it seems so deliberate. because a parents job is to take care of you, but a sibling, might take care of you sure, but thats not their job. its like hes deliberately trying to place himself on the same level as his ‘sibling’ so he can demand the same amount of respect you would give to a parent without taking on the responsibility to not... ya know... screw them over in the head? idk it seems very slimy to me. but that says more about prime as a character than how the clones see him.

and we still have the concept of the soul to fit in here somehow, and do they have an afterlife? im going to say no to the afterlife. theres just not enough in the show to go off of and everything that we do know about horde prime points to him only caring about himself in life. HOWEVER, there is nothing more quintessentially christian than the concept of hell and i think that will be of use here. 

since the creation of the clones is tied with the creation of their religion, this would put the clones themselves less as allegories of people who need to be saved and more as the horde version of angels. in my telling here, horde prime views all people who do not submit to his will as net negatives to the universe who have to be removed for peace to exist, so by this view the chipped people are the saved, the people that horde prime kills are the sinners, and his military campaign is one long apocalypse slowly working its way through the universe, with the clones carrying out his righteous judgement. but the afterlife isnt involved in this, so even if some chipped people are left alive, eventually they will all die out, and then it will be just horde prime and is clones in a perfect, peaceful starless sky, and thats what heaven is. 

getting to heaven is the main goal of real christianity and it is the same in horde religion, but heaven isnt a place in the horde cosmology, its a physical goal that has to be created. not all clones will make it to heaven of course, because most will die before they reach total destruction of the universe but the clones arent supposed to think of themselves as individuals anyway. they have to be willing to die for horde prime and die for the cause or be cast out and thats hell. 

i dont see prime as someone who would kill his own followers outright too often even though he could. plus they arent supposed to value their individual lives the same way normal people do anyway it doesnt seem like a real punishment, they need something worse than simple death to fear. so by my view hell for the clones is separation from prime. it can be in life or death. no matter how bad it is in the horde being on the outside of it has to seem worse, and thats where the concept of the soul comes in. when one is a part of the hive mine, their soul is with prime. they are not supposed to have a will or any thoughts beyond love for prime, its essentially the same as not having a soul but they think of it as being at peace. being cast out is to be never at peace and would be told to them as being the worst possible thing that could ever happen to someone because it corrupts the soul. 

“a lot of unpleasant things happen in the horde so just imagine how terrible it must be outside of it! you cant because i protect you from that. now get in the goo, this is for your own good” - horde prime probably 

this is why outsiders are so resistant to submitting to primes light and also why its ok to kill them, in the hordes view. 

so, to start wrapping thigs up, there is no horde without horde prime. the religion starts and ends with him. because he is supposed to be the only person ever to be able to make true moral and just decisions, without him is followers cant take any actions without worrying that they are going against primes will. since they have no holy text they cant extrapolate and try to figure it out either. its up in the air whether or not they are going to find a way to get the horde to make the jump from cult to regular religion.

its late i got to go to bed now

#shera #spop #the horde #the galactic horde #horde prime #horde clones #horde #rambling #Thoughts #this is really long and rambly but i think most of my thoughts got in there #im falling asleep as i type this #might redo this if i can think of a more concise way to say it

[albionparty]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who can join?

What is discord and do I need to join it in order to participate in the event?

Can my friend(s) and I be in the same team?

Are there any tagging guidelines to be followed?

Are there any minimum requirements?

What are the themes and how do I know if what I created fits the theme?

Any restrictions on content?

Are collabs okay?

Do you have an AO3 collection?

I’m a writer, does my WIP count?

Can I post more than one contribution for a theme?

Can I cross-post works for other events?

Where can I find other people’s contributions?

What if I don’t want you to reblog my posts?

Why am I getting déjà vu reading this FAQ?

Answers under the cut!

1. Who can join?

Anyone and everyone can sign up using this form, which we’ll use to allocate you to your group. The allocation announcement and the discord link where you can meet your fellow group members will be released 2 weeks before the event.

2. What is discord and do I need to join it in order to participate in the event?

Discord is a messaging and digital distribution platform that’s perfect from conducting events like this. We’ll be posting the themes on tumblr, but in discord you’ll be able to talk to people in your group and come up with secret plans to beat the other groups! Plus it’s a fun way to make friends in the fandom.

3. Can my friend(s) and I be in the same team?

We take many things into account when splitting people into teams (e.g. author-media creator ratios), but you can message us prior to 19th of July (when sign-ups close) and we’ll do our best to put you in the same team when we do team allocation, if the situation allows for it.

4. Are there any tagging guidelines to be followed?

We know tag space is precious for all the gifmakers and tag-ranters out there, so as long as your tags include the things below, you should be all good!

1. Event name -  #albionparty21

2. Rating - #nsfw if applicable

3. Trigger warnings - #[trigger] tw if applicable

Fics/Poetry/Drabble: 100 words

5. Are there any minimum requirements?

Video: 20 seconds

Art/Gifs/Playlist/Meta: As long as you think it’s a finished work and fits your interpretation of the prompt, any submission is fine!

6. What are the themes and how do I know if what I created fits the theme?

You can find a list of the themes here. You’re free to interpret the themes in any way you like. If you think it fits, then we most likely do too!

7. Any restrictions on content?

As long as you tag everything appropriately, there is no restriction on submissions other than those containing any type of discrimination (this does not include works that are a commentary to said discrimination and portray them in a negative light). We reserve the right to not reblog certain types of content on the blog.

However, no leniency will be given for people that steal content. Please do not use content you have not created in your entries unless you have the creator's permission.

8. Can we do collabs?

Feel free! But make sure that you’ve agreed to work together before you post something that is partially based on someone else’s idea. Collabs go both ways!

9. Do you have an AO3 collection?

Yep! You can find the link to it here. The event is still Tumblr-based, though, so you will need to post your work on tumblr with our tag for us to reblog it.

10. I’m a writer, does my WIP count?

Your submissions must be new and created for the event. A WIP counts if add a chapter to your WIP especially for the event with that day’s theme.

11. Can I post more than one contribution for a theme?

Of course! If one or more themes particularly inspires you, feel free to share them with us.

12. Can I cross-post works for other events?

As long as the other event(s) are also okay with cross-posting, and your submission fits the requirements for both events, you’re free to use the prompts to inspire your fills for other events.

13. Where can I find other people’s contributions?

You can find other people’s contributions under the #albionparty21 tag.

14. What if I don’t want you to reblog my posts?

That’s totally fine! We won’t be reblogging any posts that don’t have the #albionparty21 tag, so if you’d prefer to keep your submissions in your own circle, you’re more than welcome, but if you’re ever ready to share your work, we’d love to help you spread it to the rest of the fandom too!

15. Who will lead the teams and what will they do?

The mods of the fest ( @arthurpendragonns , @camelotsheart , @merlinsprat and @ughmerlin ) will be the ones leading each team. Our job as team leaders is pretty much just to oversee our group, make sure everyone is comfortable and answer any questions. Other than that, we're just like any group member except in our capacity as server admins and fest mods.

16. Why am I getting déjà vu reading this FAQ?

Probably because we took inspiration from the very comprehensive @camelove2021 FAQ written by @shut-up-merlin! 💖

#faq #albionparty21

[weeksofratchetandclank]

The Weeks are back up and running!

Hey, y’all! It’s kind of general knowledge that after General Ratchet Ship Week in July, I fell off the face of the Earth. There were two reasons for that. 1) The sudden shoutout from Insomniac and boost in community submissions was something I was unprepared for and had a hard time keeping up with. It also didn’t help that I stacked two events a week apart from each other. 2) There were months after Rift Apart’s release where people were harassing each other and I didn’t want to promote positivity-based community events in a place where there was a lot of fighting. 

Now that Rift Apart has been out for months now, and with some quiet in the community, I feel like it’s time for some community events to help lift spirits and let people gush about the characters they love! 

First up........... Talwyn Apogee Appreciation Week! :D

The current upcoming Appreciation Weeks: 

Talwyn Apogee Appreciation Week 2022 - January 2nd through 8th, 2022

Kit Appreciation Week 2022 - February 13th through 19th, 2022

General Women of RaC Appreciation Week 2022 - March 6th through 12th, 2022

Clatchet Ship Week 2022 - April 10th through 16th, 2022 

Before I release Tal’s Week sheet, there are some reminders and rules that I need to reiterate. [Below Cut to save on length]

1) Do not tag this account in any post that is not specifically made for this event. 

I’m very lax with how much your post matches up with a prompt. For the most part, if there’s even the slightest match-up with anything in your post, I’ll have it reblogged/retweeted. The issue is that I am not just reblogging random things that are of the character or ship that is there. For the people that want to have their submission reblogged, please tag this account. If OP has forgotten, but clearly stated that they made something for the week, then it’s fine for someone to tag this account in the comments. Other than that, the OP is the one who is meant to make the tag. I do not reblog content that isn’t made for the community events, because if I reblogged everything made for that character at the same time as the community event, it would sort of defeat the purpose of making prompt lists and squish out those who made specific content for the event. 

Like I said before, I’m pretty relaxed with how much your content matches with the prompt. If the prompt is “Warmth” and there’s a candle in the background, I’d count it. But if the content was not made for the community event and the OP isn’t tagging me or stating that they made it for the event, then I won’t be reblogging it

2) I’ve relaxed the rule about reblogging reposted art.

For art reposters, this rule is not for you. This rule is for artists that made something of a character or ship, but just missed getting it into the community event. Example - if you draw a Rivet piece, but are a few days short of a Rivet Appreciation week starting, then I’m okay with the artist making a separate post with that same art that tags me. I won’t be reblogging stuff from years prior, but if you as a content creator have something you made within the past three-to-four months of the event and want it to be counted, then I will reblog your reposted art. This is a rule for only the people that make the content. If you repost art with or without credit and try to tag me, your post will be made known to the original artist and will not be reblogged during the week. 

3) Insomniac is not going to notice every event I make. 

I do not work for Insomniac, nor am I someone that is associated with the company. I am just a long-time fan of their games putting together community events in my free time and managing them as best I can. So, Insomniac isn’t going to look over everything I reblog. They only looked at this account because of Rivet week, and how people’s content could be used as free advertising for their shiny new game. They’re not going to reblog a ton of ship art, as they never have to my knowledge of following their accounts, and their attention is going to be selective. 

I’m not here to get attention from them, nor am I a conduit for letting them see your pieces. I’m here to make comunity events that people within the community will enjoy and will make events that Insomnaic won’t look at. I’m here for y’all. You do what you want when it comes to gushing about the characters and ships you love. What they choose to reblog or share is up to them, and it’s something I have zero control over. Don’t come into the community events thinking that you can use the event to get Insomniac to notice you, because their attention is difficult to get and they won’t be looking at every event I hold. Even I have no idea what they’ll be looking for, so I make what I think will be fun for the fandom to do.

4) What kind of content I reblog for the events

Fanart

Fanfic

Video edits

Screenshot edits (more than putting a filter on)

Screenshot stories

Artists reposting old art (stuff made up to four months prior the start of the event)

Original music

Screenshot spreads (three to four pics that showcase more than just the character posing)

What content I don’t reblog:

Singular screenshots

Stolen fanart or content

Long ago made fanart 

Works that were not made for the event

Works that were not tagged by OP (works that state but forget to tag are okay to have someone tag me

5) Do not make inappropriate comments towards creators on their works. 

I am not the fandom’s referee. I’m not going to go onto a random post and demand that you be nicer to someone. HOWEVER, if you make an explicitly sexual/rude/character or ship bashing comment on a post that was tagged for the community event, I will issue you a warning and an ask to stop. For the explicitly sexual comments (such as “Oh, this character is mad bc they aren’t getting [Explicit sexual act]”) are completely unacceptable. If the content creator is a minor, you could get into serious trouble for making a comment like that on their work, let alone making them exceptionally uncomfortable. The community events are SFW. If you make inappropriate comments on the event works, you will be asked to stop and be issued a warning. Continue making innpropriate comments, and you will automatically be banned from the events. 

And finally, the most important rule in this fandom where a lot of people have gone after each other because of which characters they like, IF YOU CHARACTER OR SHIP BASH ON A WORK MEANT FOR THE EVENTS, YOU WILL BE ISSUED A WARNING. CONTINUE BASHING, AND YOU WILL BE BANNED FROM PARTICIPATING IN EVENTS. The events are based in providing a positive, inclusive (as inclusive as can be; this account does not accept hate speech as inclusivity) environment for people to share content for their favorite characters and ships. You will most likely see events for characters or ships you do not like. If you leave rude comments on event pieces and try to shame a creator for liking a ship or a character on that post, you will be issued a warning or banned from participating in future events. 

That’s all the rule updates I have. I know this was long, but I’ll be implementing these for when the next event comes up and linking this post to those that ask questions. Twitter doesn’t have an option to make a FAQ page, but I’ll try to make a FAQ page for this blog (I have minimal knowledge in coding so I’ll be doing my best). Thank you all for reading and your patience in me, and the Talwyn Week prompts will be coming shortly! :D 

#ratchet and clank #update post #update on the Weeks

[bughead-review-round-robin]

The 5th Installation of the BRRR — It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year —

When our fanfic authors could use some extra love and we could use some extra fic recs to read… It’s time for another round of Bughead Review Round Robin! Times are tough and what better way to escape your troubles than with fanfic. Right now, more than ever, readers need fic recs and authors need comment fuel. Like the last round, this round is putting a focus on being a fan of fanfics and recing your favorites but this time the theme is... WINTER HOLIDAY FICS!

A Short Version of How it’s Going to Work:

The BRRR is a read and review fest that welcomes all fans of Bughead fanfic. Each person who signs up will submit two Bughead-centric WINTER HOLIDAY FICS that they would like to recommend for some extra comment love. For this round, recommended fics must not be written by the person submitting them. You will be placed in a group of 4-5 members, including a group leader, to read and review fics together ‘round robin’ style. Your group will be assigned a fic once a week on Tuesday to read and leave a thoughtful, kind, and detailed comment on that designated fic by the following Monday. Rinse and repeat for 4-5 weeks.

Everything you need to know about this round, including guidelines, requirements, and the sign up form are below the cut! Sign ups are open now and close on July 28th August 7th. The round will begin on August 11th.

We hope you all decide to join the fanfic love-athon! Tell your friends and as always, signal boosts are super appreciated.

Extra special thanks to @arsenicpanda​ ​ for the gorgeous gif header!

WHAT WILL BE EXPECTED OF PARTICIPANTS?

Provide two recs (keeping with the WINTER HOLIDAY theme) and your reading preferences at sign up

Have Ao3 and Discord accounts

Commit to read and review one fic a week for the full 4-5 week duration of the round

Follow all submission and review guidelines (listed below)

One of your two fic recs will be selected to best place you into a small group based on fics of similar lengths, rating preferences, and triggers pulled from the google form which needs to be filled out carefully

Be responsive to the group leader on updates, reminders, and important information provided throughout the reading weeks

Reading weeks will begin on Tuesdays and end at 11:59 PM PST on Mondays, which will be the deadline to submit reviews. All reviews must be posted on AO3 and links to each review must be linked in your groups “review links” channel.

Notify us if you change your tumblr or Ao3 username during the round

Follow @bughead-review-round-robin​ and reblog this post.

Check in on the Discord server regularly throughout the round for updates.

WHAT ARE THE FIC REC SUBMISSION GUIDELINES?

Must be Bughead centric WINTER HOLIDAY fic, and posted to Ao3.

Must be written by someone other than yourself.

Aim for a fic length of 10,000 words or less. You may use one of your recs on a fic over 10k and we will create a high word count group if there is enough interest. (Check the option on the survey to opt in for a high word count reading group if you are down for reading a 10k+ fic even if your designated fic rec is under 10k)

All sensitive content MUST be tagged appropriately on the form and Ao3.

You must be willing to read any rating/trigger that the fics you submit as your recs contain. (i.e. If on your form you fill out that you are not willing to read a fic with abuse, the fic you rec cannot contain abuse. Similarly, if you are unwilling to read an M rated fic, you cannot rec an M rated fic)

WHAT ARE THE FIC REVIEW GUIDELINES?

Leave a kind, thoughtful, and detailed comment on the designated fic of the week

Comments must reach a minimum of 200 words

Include your commentary and at least one quote from the fic.

If the review heavily features quotes, the amount of original commentary must be greater than or equal to direct quotes.

Do not leave criticism of any kind on the work.

Use kind, positive, and encouraging language when referencing the weekly fic, be it in your comment or discussion with your group.

COULD YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT GROUP LEADERS?

Small group leaders will work in tandem with the admins to ensure that rules are being followed, reviews are being submitted, and everyone is having a swell time.

Group leaders will be responsible for regular check-ins/reminders for their group, encouragement of open and active dialogue in the group’s chat channel, and verification that group members have completed and placed their reviews in the review links channel at the end of each week.

Those with the role will be placed in a Discord channel, along with admins, to better communicate and help one another.

If you are interested in being a group leader, please indicate so on the google form.

I’M IN! WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO SIGN UP?

Prior to signing up, please ensure you’re able to fully commit to your group for the 4-5 week duration of the challenge and that you’ve read this post, including the FAQ, carefully.

Pick out your two WINTER HOLIDAY fic recs and take note of the title, author, rating, triggers/warnings, word count, and Ao3 link, as you will need the information to fill out your form.

You will need an account on both AO3 and Discord. If you need an AO3 invite feel free to send an off-anon ask to our blog.

It’s time to sign up! Carefully complete the google form found: HERE  **It is very important that you complete this form accurately and in its entirety as it will be used to form reading groups

Shortly after you’ve signed up, you will be invited to the BRRR Discord server via a link provided by an admin. You must join in order to participate.

Get ready to spread some love and positivity to our content creators!

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to send a message to our ASK box or DM one of the admins - @bugggghead​ ​, @miss-eee​ ​, @smugheadjonesthethird​ ​, or @theheavycrown​ ​. We look forward to reading with you!

#Bughead #bughead fanfic #bughead fanfiction #betty x jughead #bughead review round robin #*admin

[love-bokumono-fics]

WIP Wednesday - Friends of Mineral Town Part 1

I'm going to make 2 WIP Wednesday posts today for the FoMT WIP Wednesday feature. When I sorted by Date Updated, I realized that the most recent 10 fics have all received a feature on the blog over the last couple months. Which is great!

But I also want to take time to feature some of the WIPs that haven't been updated in a little bit, but still deserve some time in the spotlight.

Part 1 of WIP Wednesday is going to be the first 10 fics showing up on AO3, and Part 2 will be the next 10 fics!

Happy reading!

Do you have a FoMT WIP that didn't get featured today? Drop the link to it in a Submission box! We're always happy to feature submissions!

Pot-Puri - by Sakrovishte; WIP, 5/?, 14k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, A Wonderful Life

Relationships: Pete | Jack/Popuri, Muffy | Muumuu/Pete | Jack; Characters: Popuri, Pete | Jack, Muffy

Additional Tags: First Love, Love Triangles, Jealousy, farm struggling

Summary: Chickens and chicken eggs were all Popuri knew. She knew a simple way of life. A good life but there was always that little voice that cried out inside of her.

Doug's Inn - by FriendOfBats; WIP, 3/?, 10k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Cliff, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Doug | Dudley, Cliff, Rick, Popuri, Kai, Gray

Additional Tags: POV Multiple, Drama & Romance, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Sexual Content, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Eventual Romance, Bittersweet, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change, Bad Decisions, Slice of Life, Angst, Character Development, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Secrets

Summary: Claire "Shelly" McPherson decides, once and for all, to leave the big city and her past behind her. On a whim, she buys a one-way ticket to Mineral Town and books a reservation at Doug's Inn. It's there that she meets new friends and discovers, in the idyllic little town, the secrets that everyone is harboring... secrets not even the town bartender has heard about.

Sakura Sisters - by LuluRuru; WIP, 4/?, 12k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationship: Ships will be revealed soon!; Characters: Claire, Naomi, Brandon, Cliff, Doctor | Trent, Gray, Kai, Rick, Elli | Elly, Jennifer, Karen, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Popuri, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Mineral Town Residents

Additional Tags: Family, Slow Burn, POV Alternating, Updating tags as I go

Summary: Mineral Town is the destination for these two sisters. Claire appears dainty and sweet but really is childish and a loudmouth. Naomi appears shy and uncaring but is perceptive and a go-getter. The two of them are here for different reasons, but both of them have to manage Sakura Farm together. Will Claire be able to find her childhood friend and the boy who saved her? And will Naomi be able to find her true calling in life? The road ahead will be tough, but these two can do anything if they put their minds together. After all, that's what sisters are for, right?

Wildflower - by EmeraldHaze15; WIP, 7/?, 14k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationship: To Be Decided; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Harris, More to come, Basically the whole of Mineral Town, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Popuri, Rick, Mary the Librarian | Marie

Additional Tags: Tags Contain Spoilers, Abusive Relationships, Running Away, Bruises, Hurt/Comfort, mentions of prior abuse, Emotional Scarring, Trespassing, Domestic Violence, Pseudonyms, Tags Are Hard, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Mineral Town, Peril, No Smut, Panic Attacks

Summary: The world is a scary place, especially when Claire is all alone. But maybe she can begin to heal in a little place called Mineral Town... Rated 'M' for heavy, dark themes and emotional trauma

Barriers - by krose13; WIP, 23/?, 165k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, Harvest Moon DS Cute

Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Gray, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran/Cliff; Characters: Claire, Gray, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Cliff, Kai, Karen, Popuri, Mary the Librarian, Rick, Basically the whole Mineral Town cast, plus Forget-Me-Not Valley

Additional Tags: Drama & Romance, Complicated Relationships, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Not for the kiddos, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Unplanned Pregnancy, trying to fit a realistic pregnancy in hm time is a challenge but we doin it, POV First Person, Mutual Pining, Drug Use, Dreams and Nightmares, Drowning, I’ll probably have to add more tags as we go along but

Summary: Unlike everyone else in town, Gray wants nothing to do with the new farmer. He can't stand Claire, despite all her attempts to befriend him. But when one small mistake leads to an even bigger problem, he might be seeing a lot more of her than they both had planned.

A Blacksmith's Guide to Happiness - by Practicado; WIP, 42/?, 242k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Gray, Claire the Farmer/Doctor Trent

Additional Tags: Love Triangles, Sexual Content, Virginity, Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Angst and Humor, Healing, Romantic Friendship, Sarcasm, Love, Friendzone, Jealousy, Falling In Love, Religion, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Complicated Relationships, Trying to make these relationships as realistic as possible LOL, dry humour, like a lot of it, Really don't know where I'm going with all of these tags lmao, Age Difference, But the main character thinks it's okay bc she's naive, but everyone else knows better smh

Summary: Rough city boy meets innocent farm girl. Disagreements, conflicts, and trials that threaten to come between them ensue. Gray is a cynical blacksmith apprentice who's been around the block a couple of times. Claire is a naïve farmer who doesn't even know where that block might be located. Both have suffered from a pain-filled past, yet they learn to heal with the help of each other. Despite their continuous fighting and inability to see eye to eye, something beautiful still manages to blossom between them. That is, until a certain doctor enters the picture. Slow-burn romance containing explicit language, sexual content, serious character development, and an overuse of sarcasm. Takes place in the aughts: Mineral Town, 2004

The Wayfarer's Way. - by callieicos; WIP, 12/?, 52k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationship: Claire the Farmer/Cliff; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Cliff, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Carter the Pastor, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Doug | Dudley, Stu | Yu, May | Mei, Elli | Elly, Brandon, Gotz | Gotts, Gray, Duke, Manna, Kai, Will

Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Coming of Age, Friends to Lovers, I'll add more tags the more I write, Slice of Life, Eventual Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pining, Hurt/Comfort, Reunions, Character Development, Neurodiversity

Summary: Traveling to Mineral town was a huge change for Cliff. Whether that's a positive change or negative one is beyond him. Still, he makes the most of his stay and along the way, learns to open himself up to others again. Claire, Mineral Town's newest resident and farmer, is learning how to become more independent, while also finding people who accept her. Together, Claire and Cliff learn to become friends and get a feel for their vastly new lifestyles together.

The Shy Newcomer - by durotos; WIP, 122/?, 565k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Categories: F/M, Multi

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationship: Claire the Farmer/Cliff; Characters: Claire, Cliff, Gray, Karen

Additional Tags: Slice of Life, Romance, Coming of Age, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, very slow burn, PROBABLY THE SLOWEST BURN EVER, Multiple Pairings, Mental Illness, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism

Summary: Claire, aching for something new in life, moves to Mineral Town and realizes at once that she has left everything she has ever known. At heart, a story about a young woman discovering that there is more to life if she just looks around her. A story of true love, friendship, hard work, and being part of something bigger than yourself.

Summer Days - by fieldberry; WIP, 9/?, 20k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M

Fandom: Friends of Mineral Town

Relationships: Claire the Farmer/Kai, Claire the Farmer & Kai; Characters: Kai, Claire

Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Eventual Romance, Drama & Romance, Drama, Romance, Slow Romance

Summary: Claire isn't sure what to expect when she risks it all and moves to the countryside--certainly not a handsome, charming young man watching stars on the beach one lonely night. A spark ignites between the two ex-city folk, and through the ups and downs of the following summers, grows into something much more.

Seedlings and Sprouts - by TheBeckster; WIP, 10/?, 8k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Categories: Gen, Multi

Fandoms: Friends of Mineral Town, Story of Seasons (2014), Star Wars, Trio of Towns, The Tale of Two Towns

Relationships: Carter/Doctor | Trent, Claire the Farmer/Cliff, Fritz/Raeger, Gotz/Vesta

Characters: Cliff, Claire, Doctor | Trent, Carter the Pastor, Fritz, Raeger, Gotz | Gotts, Anakin Skywalker, Beru Whitesun, Owen Lars, Georgia, Iluka

Additional Tags: yes this collection includes a star wars crossover, Tumblr Prompt, prompt collection, I'll figure out tags later

Summary: A collection of tumblr prompts I've filled over the last couple years based on Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games. Every chapter is a different prompt. Should be posted in chronological order from oldest to newest. Prompt themes and ships will be included in the chapter titles.

#wip wednesday #harvest moon #story of seasons #friends of mineral town #sos fomt #fomt #story of seasons friends of mineral town