do i go to sleep bc it's christmas and i know my family will be up in the morning. or do i watch doctor who / read more go fanfiction bc i want to

Henry Cavill // Mature Thoughts ⚠️

Henry fucking Cavill one of Hollywood's dilfs many people wondered about Henry's life but he liked to keep to himself. Little did they know he was a massive slut for his husband's cock.

Henry was currently on all fours his hairy legs spread out taking every inch of his husband cock. It was funny to imagine such a big man turn nothing but a cock loving slut. Who would have guessed the man of steel like it up his ass.

"Look at yourself, Henry," you said, grabbing a fist full of his hair and pulling it back, making him watch himself in the mirror. "This ass is mine, right babe? Only I can make you feel good like this," his hairy ass juggled with every trust you gave."Say something for me, please baby, let me hear your beautiful sounds."

"Ah~ please, I c-cant no more" he looked fucked out with how hard you were thrusting inside him your tip constantly abusing his prostate. He couldn't even focus on himself due to the feeling of you big cock stretching him the sounds made with every thrust sounded so pornografic but fuck was it hot.

Henry could feel your balls slap against his hairy ass the lube mix with cum make its way to his hair balls and dripping onto the sheets causing a small wet stain to form underneath you both as you fucked him doggy style. "C'mon babe cum for me one more time, so close please."

You rested your chest against Henry back, trying to put yourself deeper into him. He was the best thing you've ever had, his tight entrance wrapped around you so perfectly while his walls pulsed around you. You knew he was close to cumming you he just need more motivation.

"C'mon Henry cum for me be a good boy for me."

"S-shit I can't, I can't cum anymore please," his voice sounded so out of breath so desperate. "F~fuck."

"That's right babe your so close. Look at yourself taking my cock so well," you said putting him in a headlock while making eye contact through the mirror. "Look at yourself pathetic cock maybe we should cage it up huh- you want that, want me to cage your useless cock, fuck~," you grunted out his walls were clenching tightly on you trying to milk you for everything you had.

Small moans left Henry his dick hasn't been stimulated, only relying on you to make him cum his cock swing up and down occasionally hit his his stomach and happy trail. You could feel Henry grip your arm tightly as small drops of cum came out from his tip seeing his head pulse with every drop his foreskin rolling back occasionally just a bit.

As you gave one final thrust, he could feel you emptying yourself inside him. He felt full and complete and sticky most of his cum from his previous orgams ended up stuck in his chest and stomach hair and small amounts on his pubes whiel all yours ended up deep inside him.

"I'll make us a bath," you said, kissing the back of his neck with lightly massaging his hips.

Calling the plumber

One bad thing about Scott's and Cody’s relationship was that they both were almost stereotypically gay in a lot of senses. Both were thin and lithe, had a somewhat androgynous appearance. They were stylish and well-groomed and even their professions were a little bit gay: Scott was the bartender at a gay club and Cody was a hair stylist.

All of that wasn't much of a problem of course. What *was* problematic however, at least at the moment, was, that neither of them had any proficiency in handicraft. So, it didn't come as a surprise that the two of them stood rather clueless in front of the clearly leaking sink in their kitchen.

Scott was the first one to speak. "It looks bad."

Cody sighed and nodded in agreement. "Yep. Looks like we need to call a plumber."

"Oof. It's Sunday, that's gonna cost us! Are you sure there's no other way?" Scott was the one managing their finances and he wasn't too happy about having to pay out for repairs.

Cody shrugged. "Well, we can't very well fix it ourselves, right? Or do you know anything about fixing water pipes?"

Scott frowned and scratched his head. "Not exactly. But..."

Cody looked at Scott expectantly. "You're gonna try it?"

Scott shrugged his shoulders. "I can at least try. It's not going to get leakier, right?"

"Well..." Cody was about to point out that, indeed, Scott could very much make it worse than the current leak, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he pointed out: "You know, this is one of the times where a stereotypical straight guy would be useful. You know the type, Mr. fix-it-all-by-yourself."

"Sadly, we don't have that, honey. Now, let's get my dad's tools."

Shortly after, Scott was with his head under the sink.

"Now, let's see. Perhaps, I can just use one of those clampy thingies... to make it tighter?"

"I think they are called wrenches?" Cody tried to be helpful.

"Isn't that a slur for women?" Scott asked, while trying his best with the tool.

"No, that's a wench!" Cody laughed. "Are you alright down there?"

"Yeah, I just need to..." Suddenly, the resistance vanished, and the dripping of water became a small jet.

"Oh, for fucks sake!" Scott cried out, completely atypical for him.

"Everything alright?" Cody asked and cleared his throat. His voice sounded coarser than before.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess, Sir." Scott mumbled. Sir? Where did that come from? He did have other things to think about, though. He felt uncomfortable and shifted his position under the sink. His body was expanding in every direction: His frame became wider, and his arms and legs exploded with muscles.

There was an audible ripping sound from his shirt as it got stretched to the breaking point by his growing pecs.

Hair grew in quickly, both on his chest and his chin, giving him a rugged and somewhat older look.

"Shit", he cursed under his breath and quickly selected a more suitable tool from his toolbox. With a flex of his incredible biceps, he made short process of the jet of water he caused, allowing him to get to the root cause of the problem. The pipes were old and grimy, and the leak would surely not be the last. "That's a fine mess you got down here, Sir. You should replace the pipes as soon as possible."

Cody was distracted by his own observations. At first, he quite enjoyed the show as his boyfriends lower body that was sticking out under the sink elongated and became beefier by the second - including, especially, the large package in the dirty pants-turned-workpants of Scott and the hairy abdomen.

But soon, his focus shifted to his own body. His jeans and shirt quickly dissolved, leaving him standing in just his underwear. Instead of his usual meek body, however, an equally fit body that was sculpted in the gym formed: big arms, a massive chest and trunks of legs grew on him, giving him a magnificent appearance.

However, as his body grew, his intellect diminished: His square face looked at the plumber under his sink with less and less intelligence in his eyes. His sight didn't stick to the other man's groin anymore, of course: He wasn't gay and just didn't see that kind of thing on a man. Instead, he scratched his ass through his dirty white underwear and answered in a dull voice:

"Uh, don't worry about the mess, dude. I'm not a neat-freak. Can you replace the pipes for me, bro?"

Cody earned enough money as a fitness trainer, but the truth was, even though he certainly was a real man, he wasn't very good with stuff around the house, mainly because he was too dumb for it. So, he just called a specialist for everything he needed done to his bachelor pad.

Scott crawled out from under the sink. "Sure thing, Sir." he said. "But not on a Sunday, I'm afraid. I won't get the parts I need. Besides, my wife and kids are waiting for me at home with dinner. I suggest you call my office tomorrow."

"Awesome, bro", Cody beamed a happy, yet dim smile at Scott. "Thanks for coming over on such short notice."

He handed the plumber his money and brought him to the door, watching the mid-thirties man drive away in his dirty van. Now that this was taken care of, what now? Ah, probably what he had planned before the sink accident interrupted him. He plopped down on the couch, fished out his half-hard cock and unpaused the porn video that had been on the big screen the whole time.

I know gay-to-straight is a sensitive topic and I do get that we all encounter enough homophobia in our everyday's lifes that we don't need to encourage it in fantasy. So, while I will occasionally continue to write gay-to-straight TFs, I will try to not hit the "lib to con", "MAGA" or homophobia track but express it as another sexuality and the tropes that come with it.

ANYWAY. If you like what I do and want to read more stories and experience new stories as soon as they are written AND reap awesome exclusive rewards, consider subscribing to my riot page!

Can't Help It

Minors DNI

Summary: Your boyfriend, Eunchan, loves every ounce of you. So much that when he looks at you his entire world stops and he can't help but lose himself in looking at you. Then his mind starts to wander about all the things you could do to him...

Warnings: Male reader, Eunchan w/ huge cock, multiple orgasms, public sex, caught having sex, soft dom Eunchan, Eunchan is unbelievably horny

Wordcount: 1.2k

Eunchan has always been your number one support in everything you do. No matter what you did, what you wore, or how you looked; Eunchan would tell you that you were the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. Sometimes to the point, it would cause problems… Eunchan is a tall man, very athletic, and very healthy. So, it's understandable he’s got more of a drive than some people. But Eunchan would get hot and bothered with almost anything involving you. It would make it impossible for him to focus on doing anything else other than satisfying himself. To the point that Eunchan wouldn’t care about the situation at hand, even in public, he’d whip it and beg for you to help him.

Recently you went to the mall with him to buy new clothes for the two of you. Eunchan wasn’t completely fashion blind, but he still couldn’t dress himself enough to satisfy you. He always trusts your judgment, so he’d wear anything you gave him. 

You held up a few shirts to his body. “Hold these, please,” you said as you went to find more clothes. You brought over a few pairs of pants and shoes too, “Dressing room. Now.”

Eunchan followed you to the dressing room and changed into different outfits as you requested, never complaining. Your tall Ken doll was so cute in a white sweatshirt with blue denim overalls. You’d finally found something that worked, now to find something for yourself to match with him.

You stepped into your dressing room and started changing. You just took off your pants when you heard a knock on the door and saw a pair of shoes outside.

“Yes?” You called.

“Baby… I wanna see,” Eunchan responded.

“I’m not wearing the outfit yet.”

There was a small pause. “I know…” Eunchan’s feet were poking under the door as he lifted himself to look over it, peeking in at you. “I just want to see you. It’s a bit of an emergency.”

You groaned, “now, babe? You can’t be serious.” You opened the door a crack and Eunchan squeezed into the small space.

“I’m sorry, I know you said not to but I couldn’t help but think about you getting undressed in here, and one thing led to another,” Eunchan explained as he shifted awkwardly in his overalls with a massive bulge that fought against the fabric.

“Eunchan, this is really not a good time! Can’t you hold it?” 

He shook his head, his eyes were distant. He wasn’t even really listening anymore. He chose to sit on the bench in the room and slip the overalls low enough to free himself, rubbing himself as he stared at you.

“Eunchan! Please!” You begged.

“Y/n, I need you. I can’t go walking around the mall like this– people will think I’m sort of a freak.”

You knew Eunchan was going to start getting more desperate the longer you forced him to wait. Rolling your eyes, you lock the dressing room and give your boyfriend the attention he needs. Touching his bulge earns a guttural moan from his pink lips.

“Quiet place. No one can know what we’re doing, so keep it in,” you commanded.

Eunchan whined and squirmed as you freed his cock from its fabric prison, already dripping with pre-cum. He was sensitive to your touch, flinching and breathing sharply every time you even grazed him. 

You needed two hands to handle him. Eunchan’s cock was a disgusting ten inches, which according to him wasn’t very big in his hands. You know all his weak spots, and since time is of the essence you abuse every single one. Squeezing the shaft as you stroke him and licking his massive tip to make him crack.

He begged for release, “Please, I need to cum. I wanna cum so bad.”

He was getting more into it as you gave him the pleasure he wanted; bucking into your hand and started covering his mouth with his hand to try not to make more noise, but one particularly loud groan slipped out. 

“Fuck, fuck, you’re so amazing. I love you. It’s good, so great! Please, I–” He suddenly started cumming and gave no warning to you as he shot ropes onto your face.

“Eunnie, you’re making a mess!” You cried as you wiped off any cum on your face.

“S-Sorry…” He moaned breathlessly, his head leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. The way his body moved and squirmed, you could tell that simple handjob you gave him wasn’t enough. Without directly saying it, he was begging for more from you.

You slid your underwear down, looking over at the door to make sure it was locked before climbing onto Eunchan’s lap. His hands automatically affixed themselves to your hips and lifted you. You lined his dick with your hole and Eunchan took care of moving you down slowly onto him. 

Even though he was drinking in lust, he still made sure he wasn’t hurting you and giving you as much time as he could for you to accept him.

You were about halfway when you felt his legs start shaking, a sign that he was starting to lose the strength to hold it in. “Eunnie, please–” you placed your hands on his chest to stabilize yourself, “kiss me when you do it.”

His lips melted into yours as he happily pushed you further down, with more strength, trying to kiss you through the pain. As soon as you envelope him completely, you feel him shooting a load into you. His blissed-out expression and full-body convulsions confirmed the feeling. He was teary-eyed and his lips were more red than pink from kissing you.

“You’re so tight– I’m sorry– I wanted to hold it in…” He sobbed.

You lifted yourself but your legs gave out halfway, slamming you back down onto him. You felt the light behind your eyes light up as your body enjoyed the sensation of his cock pushing your guts. You could feel his cock was still hard, and twitching in you. Eunchan’s hands gripped your hips and lifted you again.

“You’ve already cum twice. How much more?” You asked.

He shook his head, “More, more, I need it more.” Eunchan slammed you down onto him again and started fucking you like a sex toy, lifting you to then slam you back down onto his cock. He was using you purely for his enjoyment and squeezed your curves wherever his hands found purchase. 

The sound of skin slapping was rhythmic and loud, but you couldn’t hear it over the sound of your own moans. You’d tried to hold them in but lost control when Eunchan started moving you and fucked his cum back into you. Eunchan bit at your neck, giving you love bites, and sucked on your nipples. 

By the end of it, you were a drooling and twitching mess. Eunchan seemed refreshed, full of smiles and nuzzles as he helped you off of him. He’d cum a total of 6 times, five of them being in you… It wasn’t long before you two were kicked not only from the store but from the mall entirely. Luckily no one called the police to arrest you for public indecency… And you didn’t get to buy Eunchan his outfit.

10 actual ADHD study tips

from a student with ADHD

(or if you just have trouble concentrating)

1. put your phone in different room.

no, really. there can be any number of excuses not to (i use it as an alarm/timer, what if there's an emergency, but i use it during breaks) but i guarantee that you will focus better without the ability to check your social media. if you're genuinely worried about missing a phone call, don't put it on silent, and leave it across the room so you can hear it, but make sure it's out of reach.

2. invest in some noise-cancelling or muffling headphones.

they're a life-saver. i use them to help with sensory overloads, but now i wear them pretty much every time i study. regular headphones with some kind of neutral backing noise also work pretty well.

3. don't listen to music.

maybe somewhere, somehow, there exists a person who can actually listen to music and focus, but i've never met one. my adhd means i get distracted by anything. i'm a good multitasker, but not when the task requires lots of thought, like my science or math homework, or that english essay i've been putting off. if science is distracting for you as well, put on a neutral background noise (no, not lo-fi hiphop beats - unless that works for you). i usually put rain sounds or white or brown noise (the latter is my favourite).

4. break big tasks into small chunks.

you've probably heard this one before, but adhd makes tackling big tasks seem really daunting. like, where do you even start? before beginning a massive project, make a list of every little thing you need to do. it might seem stupid or excessive, but i can't stress how much it helps. it also gives you a sense of accomplishment whenever you knock a task off the list.

5. if you know you're gonna procrastinate, try and do it productively.

this one is one i'm still getting used to. i realised, after hours of sitting at my desk, not wanting to start on my essay but not wanting to actively NOT write my essay, and just generally feeling like shit, that it would have been better to spend those hours doing that thing i wanted to do (learn that song on my guitar, finally finish the painting sitting on my desk, write the poem that i had scribbled in my notebook a week ago). if you know you're not going to get started on your work, you might as well do something else that isn't as pressing but you still need to get done. it's okay not to be 100% productive al the time.

6. have a clear workspace.

this is a big one. i found that having a lot of stuff on or around my desk just makes me feel fenced in. i like to have 1 lamp, 1 cup of pens/pencils/highlighters, a cup of tea, tissues, and whatever i'm working on. when you're done with a task, PUT IT AWAY ASAP. that way, it doesn't build up, and you can feel ready to start on the next thing.

6.5. eliminate distractions.

i feel like this relates to the point above, but don't have lots of visible posters/lights/tempting tasks. maybe close your blinds or your door, or study in a library instead of your room if it is too bright and colourful.

7. the pomodoro method (organising your breaks).

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS. the pomodoro method involves working for a consistent slot of time (usually 25 minutes, but whatever works for you) and then having a short break (5-10 minutes), and then a long break every 2-5 "slots" (15-20 minutes). if you don't trust yourself to stick to a timer, get a cute app on your laptop - there are heaps of different themes, and it will help you organise your time and tasks. instead of thinking about a task like "it will take me 2 hours", think about it like "it will take me 4 slots of time", and it will be much less daunting.

(note: for your breaks, try not to reach for your phone/social media. this is a rabbit hole. maybe draw for a minute, or read a few pages of a book. do something you can easily and quickly put away.)

8. organise yourself, but try not to hyperfixate on it.

apps like notion can be really helpful when organising tasks/your workspace, but they can also suck hours of your time away if you're not careful. not everything has to be perfect/meticulously planned, and you're not working on your homework by planning your weekly schedule. speaking from experience, it's really easy to get caught up in something that may feel productive, but really isn't.

9. this is really niche, but... for my reading-glasses wearers:

WEAR THEM WHEN YOU STUDY. i'm very mildly farsighted, which means wearing glasses when i read for long periods of time helps me prevent headaches. technically, i can go without them, and for a few years i usually did, but i've noticed that wearing them when i study has the benefit of getting me in the right headspace, and also stops me from looking up or around my room too often, as the prescription makes me dizzy when looking at things far away.

10. just get started.

i know you hate hearing this, but usually, knocking one or two things off your list can help you get motivated. often, things that seem really difficult or time consuming aren't as bad once you've gotten started.

good luck!

One Piece - Relationship HC’s (ft. Zoro & Ace)

warnings: small NSFW sections/18+ under the cut. oops 😏 

Zoro:

1000% loyal as fuck. Zoro’s ability to be unbothered by practically everything comes into play here as he’d find one girl he actually gives a shit about and decides he can't be bothered with the rest. After all, his primary focus is training to get stronger and becoming the World’s Greatest Swordsman, not getting distracted and thrown into a frenzy by every woman he see’s like that dumb cook, Sanji. 

He isn't the grand gesture type of man and not exactly a romance expert but he’d hone in on the little things that make you smile as his way to reassure you and make you feel loved.

Speaking of reassurance, the man is terrible at vocalizing how he feels about you so it's safe to say he’s a “I can show you better than I can tell you” type of boyfriend - making his love language Acts of service and Quality time. He will fight till the death for you, sail across harsh seas for you but ask him to spill his guts and he’ll freeze, becoming a grumpy, flustered mess. 

He loves to simply exist in your presence. You don’t have to be doing much of anything and the swordsman is just… at peace. Whether you’re napping together, tucked into his big muscular arm or if you’re caressing his minty hair while he’s passed out in between your legs, Zoro is one happy man. 

(NSFW)

Sex with the swordsman is usually intense, sweaty and filthy. Zoro isn’t really the love making type. However, on occasions, like your anniversary or if he’s feeling particularly needy and missing you more than usual, he’ll slow it down by rewarding you with deep, slow strokes letting you savor every inch of him. 

With that said, Zoro typically likes it fast and rough when milking his cock with your pussy. He loves to fuck by either holding you tightly against a wall and or free standing since his muscles are as big as your head and he thoroughly enjoys gripping the soft meat of your plushy ass while he slam you down onto his fat cock over and over, ramming it deep inside your wet hole making you drool and blabber nonsense.

Basically, he loves to fuck you dumb. 

God Bless, Roronoa Zoro.

Ace:

Best boi Ace is the boyfriend you’d love to have. He’s a good balance of all the best things. He’s passionate, goofy, charming, a protector,  big golden retriever energy but he knows how to be serious when necessary. 

Can be hot headed but rarely ever directs his anger towards you. If he does, he’ll feel like shit afterwards. He won’t wanna go to bed still angry and while he’s quite stubborn, he’ll realize he needs to apologize when he fucks up.

Like Zoro, Ace isn’t the best verbal communicator when you both speak about your feelings but he doesn’t necessarily shy away from these conversations either, especially because Ace loves reassurance. As a man who carries many insecurities, he really appreciates when you tell him how much you love him, need him, how much he means to you and he’ll do his best to do the same.

He eats that shit up, ok? Lives for it. 

Ace’s love language is definitely Words of Affirmation and Touch. Ace loves to be all over you. He can be a bit clingy and doesn’t shy away from PDA (even in public). If you were with your crew mates, he wouldn’t tongue you down in front of the group but planting a gentle kiss on your lips or even giving your ass a small, playful squeeze is not out of the question. 

The boy is definitely loyal despite being a bit of a flirt before you got together. He knows how to appreciate exactly what he has because he knows how precious time spent with loved ones is. 

(NSFW) 

Is 100% into lovemaking. Even when Ace was single, it was rare he’d fuck randoms just simply trying to get his dick wet as he really prefers sex to be full of passion and mean something to him. Souls intertwining as your bodies do.

Ace is a wildcard though. Some nights he may want to fuck you roughly, watching you lose yourself on his massive length but most nights he likes to take it slow and steady, planting gentle kisses on your lips while his cock kisses your cervix. 

Ace will whisper sweet nothings in your ear while fucking you, telling you that he didn’t know how much he needed you, that you’re his everything or just how pretty you look full of his cock.

He will definitely hold your hand while having sex (intercourse or oral) and depending on how clingy and emotional he’s feeling - may end up crying and saying how much he loves you in the afterglow of the steamy session.

Loves when you cum together. It’s like, the ultimate high for him. 

Acey boy is simply a 10/10 - no questions asked. 

Tags: @titanialev 💗

I deal with ADHD on a daily basis, meaning I struggle with multiple (frustrating) things. There's one in particular that's been on my mind the most as of late: it's difficult for me to complete large tasks easily. For me, motivation, mental energy, and time are limited, and those rare moments where it all lines up so I can get shit done are often few and far between. This applies to both things I don't want to do, and things I do want to do. Even writing or cosplay construction or editing videos can become daunting tasks even though they're all fun and enjoyable hobbies of mine.

Recently, I've been trying to clean my room.

As anyone in my immediate family can tell you, this has been a big problem since I was young. My room starts clean, but then I put a few pairs of shoes by my bed, then don't have the energy to deal with the growing laundry pile, then can't find a place for the new mic stand I got for my birthday, then I start dumping jewelry on my bedside table at the end of the day when I'm tired, then - then - then. And then it builds to a disastrous tipping point and it has become this massive, incomprehensible task I have to tackle, and because my brain hates me, it's a frustrating and grueling process to even figure out where to begin.

But deadlines help (pressure helps) and I have found that working on it in the wee hours of the morning (from midnight to like 5am) is somehow a way to get my brain to focus on it. For some reason I work better then. Arguably, this isn't logical or useful every day because I need sleep and I have work, but I made MASSIVE progress two days ago by staying up way too late on a night when I finally found the drive to get shit done.

That's not really the point of this post though.

The point is that I've found that a majority of society (or maybe just the NT community in general) have a hard time seeing progress as worthwhile when completion is better.

"Did you finish your room?" "Not yet, but I dealt with that massive pile of crap on my couch! It's SO much better, and I can actually see the floor in front of my dresser now, and-" "That's not what I asked. Did you finish?" "Not yet." "The answer is no, then."

It doesn't matter how much I've done. It doesn't matter how proud I am of my partial progress. It doesn't matter that I fought tooth and nail to get to the point I'm at, because unfortunately, I haven't finished it all yet, so it's not good enough.

(And I know I have a deadline, and I know we have family coming over soon, and I know that being done is the goal, but the deadline isn't here yet. Give me time. I need time.)

I think we as a society need to award and praise ourselves more for the efforts we put in, whether we reached a finish line or not. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for completion, because at the end of the day that's often the goal of any task. But we should also let ourselves be proud of how far we have come as long as we're doing our best. I don't see that often enough. I continuously struggle to reach that finish line, but hey, I came this far today! I didn't reach Toad so he could tell me my princess was in another castle (because god knows there's always another task), but I did hit that checkpoint, and since I've been struggling through this level for as long as I have, that's still worth celebrating in some small way. It's still worth all the coins I collected and the goons I defeated to get to this point.

Don't reprimand your kids because their hard work thus far doesn't quite live up to your standards. Applaud what they've done and then help them find the right next step so they're motivated to keep going.

It takes a lot of work to save a princess. The journey has a lot more monsters than just the dragon.

Ghost x City Girl Reader

No pair of people hated each other more than you and Ghost. To him, you were just another loud-mouthed, obnoxious, and immature little princess needing to be humbled. To you, he was just a boring, broody asshole hellbent on not liking you. Things between you two couldn't be any worse. And then, tonight happens…

Tags: Hatemance, Teasing, Flirting, Banter, Sexual Tension, Messy Reader, Ghost is mean

A/N: So I've never actually written a hatemance before and it's actually hard af. I just finished the Ghost x City Girl Smut hatemance I was writing, however, I decided to split it into two parts and it's been a bitch to edit. So I wanted to post a snippet to tide over the wait and also get feedback if you've any on how to write hatemances. Please enjoy this snippet! (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)

Full Story Here!

NOTE: This is roughly proofread and subjected to slight changes in the final draft (but this is most definitely what it's probably gonna be).

The presence of another human at Ghost's side brings his eyes drearily over, until they've begrudgingly fallen onto you. It seems you grew bored of dancing, and now decided it was time to take your teasing to the source itself.

"Enjoy the show?" you ask him teasingly, knowing you'll most likely not receive a reply, which you don't. Ghost doesn't even fully face you, keeping his eyes pointed ahead of himself at the bar. He hadn't been looking to talk, and it's not like his reply would change anything you had to say. You did invite yourself over.

"You know, Manchester," You lean against the bar, looking up at the man, just close enough to hear him over the club music and smell the cologne and cigarette smoke on him. "Instead of starin' like a creep, why don't you actually take that stick out your ass and come dance."

Now you're just taking the piss. Ghost finally gives you a look, though he wishes he hadn't. Up close, he's seeing this skimpy little, lowcut tight dress you've got on, with your fishnet stockings and heels. The black choker around your neck was simple, and just begging for someone to tug it off you, and the lipgloss you wore looked like it tasted sweet on your tongue.

Years of training and experience are everything it takes to keep his eyes from dropping any lower than your collarbone. Just in his peripherals, Ghost can see how bouncy and voluptuous they sat in your dress.

You got this cocky look on your face now. "I'll dance with you."

Ghost scoffs. "Not a chance."

"Aw, I get it," you say sarcastically. "I wouldn't want to embarrass myself out there either."

"This place can only handle so much of that with you already out there."

This conversation felt as old as time between you two. If it wasn't you being catty and mean, then it was Ghost being aloof and guarded. While you knew he had been implying your little performance on the dance floor earlier, you were as quick with your tongue as your lieutenant.

And you can't lie, you'd been itching for some good banter all night. You'll take it from anyone, even from the likes of Ghost.

"Please," you laugh. "As if your big ass could actually move out there. I bet you can't even do the two-step."

"I'm sure you'd wanna know," Ghost says.

You reach over, and by your own boundless curiosity, take his drink, inviting yourself to a sip. The bourbon burns your throat as you swallow, your nose scrunching. You smile as you see Ghost's gaze razor focus on your lips pressing to the cool glass of his drink, taking a small sip and letting your tongue chase its remnants over your bottom lip. It's just the way he does so, so unabashedly, that you can't help but giggle at.

"I already know everything I need to, honey."

Ghost turns his body to fully face you now, his massive height over you only now becoming apparent by the shadow it casts. It's intimidated most of the women at the club tonight, whenever Ghost wouldn't just do it himself. No such thing went on with you, however.

He's been sitting here by himself all night, and as much as he could list a plethora of others he'd prefer to be standing here with at the moment, he had you. If you'd use him for your own uncaring amusement, then he'll do the same, since you want to bring that side out of him so badly.

"And what's that?" he asks.

"That you're boring as fuck and have a stick up your ass," you say bluntly. Of course, Ghost didn't expect any less from you. You do this sober, just with less pep to your speech, unlike now. "Though I'm sure you're already aware of that."

"How original," Ghost says dryly. "It take you long to think that one up?"

"I only tell it like I see it."

"Wha' then," Ghost's gaze turns stone cold, doing all it can not to give you a way in. "Gaz wasn't enough? Now you've come to make yourself easy pickin's for the next sorry lad lookin' for an easy lay?"

"Ooo, feisty." You lean in now, resting your hand on the bar counter so you could prop yourself up, giving yourself what little height you can against your unmoving opponent.

"I wouldn't fuck you if you paid me," you say.

"I wouldn't fuck you for charity."

"I wouldn't fuck you if my life depended on it," you shoot back. "As if you could even handle me, Manchester."

"What's there to handle?" he taunts. "You're nothin' but talk. You bark like a bitch and puff your chest, but it's all show. Just a way to make yourself feel big. No surprise you make yourself the local slag; any lad with some sense surely wouldn't bother."

Oh, that comment strikes a nerve; you feel your eyebrow twitch and your blood begin to simmer the second he closes his stupid, British mouth.

"Who're you callin' a bitch and a slag?" You step up now like there's a problem now. "How about you come back with some new material when you can actually talk to me without that little safety blanket on your face, Manchester. It's easy to talk shit when you've got something to hide behind. And you call me unoriginal."

You take his drink and pour it out on the counter now, watching it spill over the surface and drip onto the floor. When you meet his gaze again, if looks could kill, you'd both be dead. You just wasted a good cup of fucking bourbon.

"Do somethin' about it," you taunt him.

He steps forward, and for a small second, you think the man might actually do something. However, it had merely been an intimidation tactic, a warning. He stops just a few inches shy of you, keeping his strong arms crossed over his chest.

Ghost would love to, oh, believe him. It's taking all of him not to say something really foul to you and truly ruin the whole night for everyone. And you don't stop at the drink either.

You step even closer now, keeping your head cocked back and your eyes on him. You're close enough now to feel the body heat bouncing off from him, vibrating the more irritated he grew.

"Do something," you say again. "You just gonna let some slag pour your drink out like that?"

You raise your hand up as though you're about to smack him, and that's what finally gets him to move. Ghost catches your tiny wrist in his hand, his grip tight as he holds you there.

"What the fuck-" You grimace at first, your fight-or-flight instincts telling you to try and tug your hand out of his grip and use your other to sock him straight. However, something differently entirely occurs in you suddenly.

You take a moment to really feel his hand on your wrist, how the slightest adjustment of his thumb made a chill trickle up your arm, and that he was the closest he's ever stood next to you outside of work. The man might irritate you, and he was an asshole, but Goddamn did he have an inviting pair of hands and some magnetic eyes on him. Eyes that seemed just as curious to outline all the makings of your figure.

You kind of like this.

You ever notice how quirklessness shouldn't exist in My Hero Academia. It doesnt add anything to the story. if you gave izuku a quirk that allowed him to change the colour of his hair or alter the number of freckles he has on his face, nothing in the story would chang.

Him being ostracised wasn't because of him being quirkless but because he was seen as a creepy otaku who kept personal notes on other people's biology.

People telling him he can't be a hero despite his dreams could just as easily stem from him having an extremely mundane quirk.

Other than Izuku no other characters seemingly faced any problems from being quirkless. Mirio was still extremely capable when he lost his quirk and was still able to continue on at UA without losing his status as one of the big 3. Melissa Shield didn't face any issues because of her quirklessness.

the worst thing to happen was to Pixie-Bob and that was the Wild Wild Pussy Cats decline in the rankings because they, objectively speaking, couldn't perform to the same standard as before.

The MLF aren't anti qurikless so much as they are anti weakness, wanting to be able to freely use their quirks with some kind of Might makes Right mentality.

Quirklessness only serves the purpose of making Izuku an underdog and that could be easily replicated with a mundane quirk. There is the whole only quirkless people can weird OFA thing now but that has been retroactively added to explain why the quirk isn't being given to someone else.

In a world that values quirks above all else being Quirkless should be a massive deal. Quirklessness should have a huge focus in my hero academia just from implication alone that 20% of the population is "biologically inferior" to 80% even if that inferiority in most cases is extremely negligible, but preceived biological superiority over meaningless differences has caused devastating wars in real life.

Melissa Sheild, despite who her father is, despite the quality of her work, she should face issues for being quirkless in a field that doesn't require a quirk at all, her work seen as somehow inferior with her needing to put in twice the effort for half the exposure.

Mirio and pixie-bob should have been blindsided by their newfound treatment for being quirkless.

But quirklessness doesn't really matter in canon MHA it's only there to showcase a Zero to Hero story with the main character.

20% of the entire world's population is quirkless, if its the same number as our own (low-balling cause its 200 years in the future not the present) at 8 billion then there is roughly 1.6 billion naturally quirkless people in the world. An absolutely massive demographic of people.

Yet there is only 4 quirkless people in the show, with 2 being made quirkless via special bullet or had their quirk stoled by AFO.

I genuinely believe that the concept of people being quirkless is so meaningless that it actually hurts the story and that the show, as it is presented in canon would be better if 100% of the population has quirks.

TLDR: Nothing is done with quirklessness. It's redundant, underutilised and meaningless. Anything quirklessness truly does for the story can be replicated by mundane quirks. I have no idea why the concept of quirklessness isn't explored and wonder why the author wrote about it at all.

Hmm. Beyond wanting to defend early Izuku, there's two ways to look at this: Quirklessness form a lore perspective, and as a story element.

The thing is that, lore-wise? Quirkless makes sense as a thing. Quirks are, what, only a couple hundred years old? Not only that, but the way that they escalated both in power, and commonality? If I had to guess, Quirks probably became 'common' maybe... a hundred years ago, and then things escalated to now, where Quirks are the standard. There's a place within the foundation of the setting itself for there to be a small population of people who are 'normal' in a world of abnormals.

Beyond that, I saw this in a fanfic somewhere and I haven't forgotten this concept: 20% is for the population as a whole. But, if you were to break it down by ages? Quirkless, in all likelihood, is an 'affliction' of the old, because Quirks are always more plentiful and powerful in each newer generation. The reason why we see all of three Quirkless people in story (beyond Hori laziness) is that, in all honesty? Izuku, Aoyama and Melissa are probably the last of a dying breed; within a generation or two, max, I'd expect will be no more Quirkless people born (you know, if the Quirk SIngularity, as in one or two stupidly powerful beings, don't accidently the human race, or people broadly become so powerful to the point where they become ungovernable and society collapses (or if, as some people theorize, Hori just doesn't axe Quirks somehow at the end of the story)).

Tying this back into Izuku? Well, first off, 'Izuku the creepy otaku' fanon really isn't a thing. The, at times infamous, notebook? It's called 'For My Future, Hero Analysis'. Bakugou is offended by it, and burns it, because their a sign of Izuku's ambition to be a hero, which he hates because he loathes Izuku. There's nothing there about... like, his classmates, as far as we can tell, there's just the idea of Izuku even vaguely possibly going near heroics, which would besmirching Bakugou's 'origin story', and thus it must be put down. That's what offended him, and no one else even cared about it.

(And, while I'm on the topic of this kind of fanon, even if you didn't actually bring it up: Izuku the stalker, or Izuku following around Bakugou is also bullshit. When they were little, little kids they were kind of sort of friends, and Izuku followed him then, as part of a group, but after the Quirks came in Bakugou turned on Izuku. Every time we've seen them since he was, what, five? Izuku is avoiding Bakugou, to the best of his abilities, which is complicated by them being in the same class. When they were in the same area he was always cringing, ducking, curling up, all defensive behaviors, because Izuku doesn't want to follow Bakugou, he's afraid of him, and for good reason.

Until well into their time in UA, Bakugou is the only one to initiate any sort of interact with Izuku, and Izuku only responses to him.)

Like, I'm looking at Chapter One right now: the reason all the kids are bullying him? Beyond Bakugou, the most popular kid in school with the same energy as the game winning quarterback the faculty panders to, actively bullying him and everyone following the leader? Izuku is weak, helpless to resist Bakugou's words (which are backed by technically illegal force, as they all know), and is basiclly getting above himself by daring to dream of being a hero when he has no Quirk. Explicitly, the bullying is focused around his Quirklessness.

I mean, hell, there's at least one mediocre Quirk in the room with that kid with the long fingers; while it's more useful than your freckles example, he's really not going to be a hero off a Quirk like that. Yet, the teacher says that everyone wants to be a hero, and everyone cheers... except Izuku, who is trying not to get noticed. I doubt anyone thinks Long Fingers Kid can ever be a hero, but he can dream that apparently universal dream, the same way most kids dream of being rich and famous, even if the know that they'll probably never be any such thing. Izuku, though? He's not allowed that dream.

Meanwhile, there's Aoyama, who we don't get much information on because Post War, but apparently his life was so miserable that his parents basiclly sold their souls to AFO just to get him a Quirk and thus societal acceptance.

Melissa Shield is an outlier on that dynamic of 'Quirklessness is something that society mocks and beats down on', because she's happy and apparently well adjusted, but there's some things about her which throws that metric off; most fundamentally, she's not from Japan. We don't know what it's like in the U.S., but we know that MHA Japan seems unchanged (bizarrely so, you'd really expect all these upheavals and advanced technology to cause more major changes), beyond Quirks and Heros, from our Japan, and from my understanding (though I'll admit I'm hardly an expert) Japan is generally less accepting of those who fall outside of societal norms, and more tolerant of things like bullying. Whatever it's like to be Quirkless in the U.S. could just be... nicer, than what it's like in Japan, which is canonly shit by all accounts.

And, while we don't see much of her life, the fact that her father's first instinct is to comfort her is telling that it is seen negatively there, at least to some extent. So, with all that in mind, I don't see Melissa as disproving the 'Quirklessness is bad' concept, she's just specifically lucky in not being around a Bakugou, along with being in what is likely to be a more welcoming environment in America and I-Island, along with the fact that we literally don't know her life. For all we know she was bullied for it to some extent, and it just wasn't as bad as Izuku had it.

The fact her work is more accepted than it should be... again, we don't actually know what American/I-Island society is like; maybe she did have to jump through more hoops, and we don't see it. Maybe she 'earned' her place a while ago, and was accept despite her Quirklessness because she's that good. Maybe her scientist father lends her legitimacy/protection from such things. There's a lot of ways to explain that off, but if I'm being honest I don't think that's something Hori actually put thought into, so I'm not surprised her backstory and what shaped her is unknown/more or less non-existent.

On the other hand, Mirio is in a completely different situation than someone born Quirkless, because he had a Quirk. He was a hero, he has a history of success, and had that taken away from him. Of course he's going to be treated differently!

He was normal, is the thing, and so from that lense the natural thing people would think of him isn't contempt for a lesser, but pity. If you look at Quirklessness as a disability, than while Izuku has, what, a birth defect(? Not really sure there's a good example to use, here), Mirio is a veteran with a missing leg.... though, again, after he loses his Quirk he's put on a bus until he gets it back, and even then he's barely there, so... we don't actually know how he was treated.

And all of that brings us to the other way to look at Quirklessness: as a story element. This is the end where so many complaints come from, and it's clear it's an element Hori dropped, and wanted to be forgotten, a long time ago. I've said it before, but MHA is a story with the bones of a completely different story in it; so much of early MHA is built around a lower key, lower power leveled dynamic, in the same vein as the one shot with the older Izuku who never gets a Quirk, one that was rapidly phased out for the newer flashier story... but it was never removed properly, and it suffers from that incomplete separation.

It's the same reason that Izuku gets through the Sports Festival largely with his wits, but not too long after he goes on the field trip and the only way he can deal with Muscular is with raw power, even though (as pointed out by @kingvamps a while ago in a comment) he has, like, a designated weak spot in his eye, literally a, 'hit here to beat him' area, which could have been used as the way a much weaker (Quirkless) Izuku could have beaten his much stronger opponent (if, admittedly, a version that is maybe less overwhelmingly powerful than what we see in canon), perhaps with some help from Kota: because the Sports Festival still has those bones from the original story, planned around that dynamic, where Izuku was presumably Quirkless, and so has to solve his problems with his mind, where by the time we meet Muscular we've completely moved past that into the new story, where, if it was possible, Izuku was never really Quirkless at all, and even if he was it never really mattered to him. Now let's watch him punch good!

(For the record, I'll point out that around that time period is where we transition from Bakugou having some (not enough) consequences to his actions/attitude, to his attitude suddenly being great and awesome, and isn't it funny how that works out?

You can see the bones, again, where Bakugou being a bad person was actually relevant in some earlier draft of MHA, until we reached the point where he was either written out of the story all together, and thus Hori was writing him without that guideline, or his role just became much more important and had to be altered accordingly, and so he, and how people reacted to him, changed out of nowhere to the new standard that has continued from then onwards.

The fact that Izuku's Quirklessness and how it affected him, and his traumatic backstory as a whole, would reflect negatively on Bakugou if it was focused on at all, who at that point seemed to be promoted in the manga's storyline is probably connected on some level to the fact that those factors also stopped being relevant. Though, admittedly, I doubt that that's the only reason why Quirklessness was phased out of the plot, I don't think it's an insignificant reason for it either. While this is technically correct and relevant, it's also something I think is a bit too off topic, so I'll leave it at this for now.)

You're right that, in this final product we've been given, outside of one or two chapters that could have been edited, there's no actual relevance with Izuku originally being Quirkless. It is, for all intents and purposes, a useless story element... but it shouldn't be. There is so much potential to exploring it, so much that could have been done to develop Izuku, Bakugou, and just the setting as a whole, that could have made everything deeper, and more interesting, and one of the biggest problems with the story is this, that a fundamental part of the main character was deemed inconvenient and abandoned.

I feel like I need to start talking more about how one of the big things that Duck Prints Press does is open the door to people who could never even get a foot in with traditional publishing or even most medium/"small" presses (we're a small press, but we're really more of a micro-press, I see places calling themselves small presses that are fucktons bigger than we are).

I've got some anecdotal evidence that people avoid the publications of Presses like this one because they think our writing and editing standards are lower - that we're the people who failed to make it in bigger presses because we weren't good enough - and that, consciously and unconsciously, gatekeeping biases on who is and isn't qualified to write lead people to support small presses less than they might support a more established organization.

So...y'all realize that there are a lot of reasons people wouldn't pursue working with trad pub, right? and I don't even mean ethical doubts, and I don't even mean "trad pub doesn't want to publish certain kinds of stories," though those are definitely factors - we're able to give more space to play with themes and genres because we don't focus solely on "is this marketable" as a sales rubric.

But that's not what I consider the biggest difference.

Hi, I'm Claire, and I own Duck Prints Press, and I have a massive history of clinical depression, including being suicidal in the past. I'm a great writer, and I'm not just tooting my own horn, I've got almost 150,000 kudos on AO3 that suggest that just maybe, I know wtf I'm doing stringing words into sentences. I don't need a big press to tell me I'm competent, I already know that. What I do need is to not end up suicidal again. If I face the gauntlet of rejections that's supposedly "required" as part of gatekeeping trad pub, it will do severe damage to my mental health, and probably destroy my ability to write as depression-induced self-deception eats through what I know to be true.

THAT'S what's different about a micropress like ours. Yes, our founding vision was to work with fans, but the vast majority of the people who work with us have mental illnesses, physical disabilities, neurodivergence issues, and/or other "meatsuits are terrible actually" issues that strict publishing environments can't or, really, won't accommodate. We say "fuck that noise" and go out of our way to accommodate people, granting extensions and ensuring everyone can work on their own schedule. We're able to be very flexible, which means we bring in a lot of people whose incredible skills are overlooked, ignored, looked down on, kept out of, more mainstream publishing options.

If someone has trouble with deadlines? We still work with them.

If someone has an illness that flares irregularly and unpredictably? We still work with them.

If someone needs frequent reminders? We still work with them.

If someone works slowly because they can only do a little at a time? We still work with them.

If someone needs extra time, additional support, special software...we have thus far been able to accommodate literally everyone who has come to us.

As long as the creators who work with us keep communicating and keep showing at least a little progress, we will find a way to make things work, because we want to be as inclusive as possible, and because we know that most people with these challenges, no matter how good they are at writing or art or whatever it is they do with us, would face many more hardships to have these opportunities with a larger, more strict organization.

Just, every time I see indications that people think we're "less" because we're not HarperCollins or Penguin or Tor or something, I get so angry, because it shows so little understanding of how gatekeepy and especially how ableist trad pub is, and I wish more of the people who are thinking things like that would recognize that their behavior is, essentially, snobbery.

And to be clear I'm not saying "people with these challenges never get trad pubbed," that's clearly ridiculous and untrue, but I am saying, people with these challenges shouldn't have to be The Most Exceptional just to have a chance, and we deserve to have a place that will accommodate us instead of having to perform health, perform neurotypicalness, etc. just to succeed. We deserve to not have one flare-up potentially ruin our careers, and we deserve the same opportunities and respect as people who choose other directions.

Between trad pub, small press, and self-publishing, no one route is inherently "superior." Backing one over another doesn't guarantee you're only going to get good stories, or good editing. Trad pub publishes utter schlock sometimes, and self-publishing is fantastic sometimes, and some small presses do have lax standards, and some small presses are exceptional, and I feel like maybe people just really don't understand why places like Duck Prints Press try to exist - it's because we're trying to create spaces that meet us where we are, instead of focusing on rigid conformity, marketability, hard rules, etc.

The only way we'll get a diversity of voices in publishing is by supporting a diversity of publishers. The only way we'll be able to make space for everyone is by supporting the places that carve out new spaces to fit those who didn't fit elsewhere.

I wish more people would understand what we do and why we're here, and that folks would at least try our publications before assuming that we're "like big press but worse at writing/arting/editing."

Idk. I'm just tired, and sick, and still working even tho I'm sick, and frustrated with how hard it is to get anywhere, so here, have a rant I probably shouldn't post.

(this post brought to you by me seeing Chuck Tingle - entirely reasonably, to be clear, Chuck Tingle is awesome and I support him entirely! - celebrating the Camp Damascus release to thousands of notes, and Tor posting a poll about some Locked Tomb short story and getting 1300+ votes, and how I have to claw our way out of the background tumblr noise to get 100+ notes even on our biggest releases)

Dean-in-progress Part 2

More adventures in the continuing development of my latest Dean portrait!

In this stage, I did a little bit more work on his mouth and chin, which I wasn't happy with at all.

And then, enough's enough with the dark purple. I need to work on the light, which will give me a better idea of the form. I know if I put light in, I'll somehow see it differently. And maybe some brown mid-tones. Both of these ideas might be a mistake, of course! It might be more effective with just the dark purple on the purple paper. But I'm doing it anyway! Yay!

Oh. Okay. Well, I think that was the right thing to do. Especially the hint of brown on his lower lip. It think the brown might be good for kind of reflected light? For softening edges maybe and for bringing life to the colour scheme. Or it could, of course, go horribly wrong. But that's half the fun.

Let's do some more. And, for the next progress shot, I'll edit so that it looks more like what I actually see.

Well, I think this is making good progress. Am I satisfied with it as a finished portrait? Not remotely! And now (rubs hands together), now comes the stage that always reminds me of that bit in Amadeus, where Mozart's dictating the Confutatis of his Requiem to Salieri. No, I'm not comparing my artistic skill to Mozart's musical genius (snort, chortle), but as a teen I had a massive crush on Mozart (yes, really) and I loved that movie, even though a lot of it is dramatic licence. Anyway, I get to a stage in many of my drawings where the big chunkies and finger smudges aren't quite cutting it. And so I bring in the pencils! And it always makes me think of Salieri asking, 'That's it?" And Mozart replies, with a smirk, 'No. Now for the real fire." The pencils!

All these options... I think the Payne's grey, which is actually a dark purple, like the chunky pastel I've been using. And for something pretty bright and luminous, actually that pale pink one is usually effective.

But don't be thinking I'm going to be holding the pencils in a writing grip and getting all tiny and delicate and detailed. Oh no! That's just not me!

Mostly, I like to grab hold and scrub using an overhand grip with lots of pressure. The only time I really need to use a writing grip is when I want a really strong highlight in a very specific small area and if I stuck with the overhand grip, I'd probably either miss my mark, or more likely break the tip off. I do that all the time! There's lots of vague, light softening too, though, and that needs a looser grip, getting as much of the side of the pastel in contact with the paper as possible.

And here's my third main strategy, which sometimes ties me down too much to a photographic representation, but often is the way I spot errors, because after a while your eye just can't see them. I bring up my progress shot and the original reference alongside, like this:

My poor phone gets very confused, but look how easy it is to spot the glaring, obvious discrepancies! I mean, wtaf? For heaven's sake - what have I been doing? So, yeah, there are thing that look pretty okay, but that mouth! And that chin! Still not right, are they? And there's still not anywhere near enough Deanishness! I'm going to focus in on the eye, though, and see what I can do. And the reference won't enlarge, but if you do it in photo editor it will! Neat little trick! Aha!

And now some more work on his mouth and a general run-around with a soft skin-toned pastel to soften the edges. Or soften them in some places, because now I really need to think about which edges are hard and which are soft and how. It's a crucial stage and can make a massive difference. And I'm playing with his hair too, because playing with Dean's hair is so much fun.

So this is what I've got so far. Am I satisfied? No! I most certainly am not. It's getting there. But there are loads of things to improve on yet. And it's still not Deanish enough! It just isn't. Look back at the reference. His mouth and his eye in particular are expressing very familiar Deanisms, aren't they? Sadness, resignation, probably lots of internal negative thoughts - almost certainly in John Winchester's voice. And I haven't captured that. I'm not saying that in any 'oh no, I'm so bad!' way. I'm saying it with relish, because I'm going to keep plugging away until I can see that emotion and make it as real as possible. And I'm going to enjoy that process and disappear into it completely and get into an almost meditative state, where the world and my problems melt away.

But not tomorrow. Because tomorrow is chemo day and the one really big positive of chemo day is that there's so much hanging around that it's possible to get loads of fanfic written, which is another really great way (actually even more effective that drawing) of disappearing from this world entirely and living, for a while, with Sam and Dean and a tiny-Jack, and tomorrow I'll get to the bit where Cas pops up. Nice.

(why is this image so small and crusty) OKAY. okay. the next arc of horizons has been announced and it's called terastal debut and i'm still sorting out my feelings. literally all we have is this image and the name of the arc as far as i'm aware

so i'm both extremely nervous and very excited. because like ok. the gym leaders being in the background and also the e4 implies to me that MAYBE the gym challenge will actually start getting involved with the plot? which, one of the big things i actually like about horizons is that it DOESN'T have a focus on the standard 8 gyms e4 champion formula, and while i don't think the rest of the plot would just Disappear (we still got so many lucius pokemon to find!!) it makes me a tad nervous, i don't want to be in a situation where it feels like horizons starts morphing into the stuff i didn't like about anipoke before. BUT that is probably me being paranoid, i really like horizons and i have faith that if they do implement that it should be good/enjoyable

on the other hand i'm super excited about potentially seeing the main trio going to school or just in an alternate environment in general which this seems to imply?? i am SO bad at change so the idea of them maybe leaving the brave asagi for a while (the RVT other than cap aren't even in this image, can't tell if that's because there's already so many characters and they wanted to focus on the new stuff or if they might actually separate for a bit) makes me nervous but excited too. like okay yeah we're over 40 episodes in i'd be down for a massive change like this and some Fresh Situations

of course i'm super excited to see the game characters animated more (MORE NEMONA?? PLEASEEEE?? SHES IN THE IMAGE... I WANT TO SEE MORE OF HER) and holy shit rika i want to see rika...

i've been assuming for a while that sprigatito is going to evolve into floragato soon but this is nice confirmation of that i guess. i'm gonna miss my little baby sprigatito but i'm super hyped for that. i'm also excited for in the future when floragato evolves i hope liko's meowscarada ends up taller than she is LOOOL

side note i'm confused by liko being in her old school uniform...?? they aren't separating her from roy and dot right??? there's no way. it's just a promotional image there has to be an explanation. i'm not even going to consider that as a possibility (edit: i have since realized liko might just continue attending her classes remotely while roy and dot go to school or smth)

AND LASTLY. IN SPEAKING OF DOT

THIS IMAGE IS SO SMALL. AND SO CRUSTY. BUT THEY MADE THE FANON ART STYLE THING OF DRAWING HER WITH ONE EYE SHOWING REAL. IDK WHY THIS IS TICKLING ME SO MUCH. fanartists were right dot with one eye showing supremacy. is she going to survive school by thew ay she might explode and die idk

Tips for my artist friends drawing melee weapons/A gigantic rant about medieval weapons

Dunno how much this'll help you, but I have so much about weapons and I can't not expound upon it, so, I'm putting it into something that you can hopefully use for art refs!

So, melee weapons, with a focus on medieval stuff for my more fantasy inclined friends!

The first thing to remember about a weapon is leverage.

Physics plays are very large part in how a weapon is used and how effective they are.

Take a straight sword for example.

The power and force behind the sword is all going to be in the hilt and the tip.

Because the hilt is heavier than the blade and that's where it's held, that's where all the driving force behind it is going to be. The sides of the blade are going to carry little of that energy, but the tip is going to be carrying a lot of it, which makes it really damn good at THRUSTING attacks, big ol' forward pokes. Cutting through something with the long side takes a lot of brute force, and it can't do crap against armor, but with the tip it's easy to slash at something rather than cutting through with the long side of the blade.

Basically, they poke real well but can't smash worth a damn!

Now compare that to something like, say, a mace!

See, unlike what most video games and such would have you believe, polearms like these are actually incredibly light compared to a sword.

Unlike the sword, which can change directions very fluidly because the blade is much lighter than the handle, something like a mace cannot do that as well because the head is much heavier than the handle.

A mace's power comes from the head being heavy, and when it's in motion, the weight is what adds so much force to it, because very little of the weight is in the handle, which acts as a lever when it's in motion, giving it devastating swinging power.

Unlike a sword, you can't block a mace, at least not without great difficulty. A sword can easily be deflected away by another sword, but a mace will just straight up bat it out of the way, and if it doesn't, it definitely will damage your wrists, if not straight up break them. Even then, the metal might just buckle because of the sheer smashing force.

Maces were created as anti-armor weapons, and that's why they're designed this way, a big ol' heavy head of metal that swings and hits really fuck off hard, and it can dent and go through metal because of the sheer brute force behind it.

You can't outright block the mace without risking serious damage, so you have to sidestep it or dodge it, which is what it's weak to, because it can't change directions as easily with the heavier head and lighter hilt, which means each swing has to be a commitment.

If they miss, they have to quickly get out of the gutting range, but if they're too slow, there is a small window to shank the bastard for the mistake.

Still, they are by no means slow, and there are definitely means to mitigate it. Especially on horseback, when weapons like these are twice as dangerous.

Basically, trade some agility for raw strength and anti-armour abilities/clobbering the fuck out of somebody.

Now, polearms! Or, as I belovedly refer to them, the Long Bois! Featuring, the Poleaxe! (Not the halberd)

You can do so much fucken shit with these things.

You have the axe head, which, because the haft is very long and very light, hits like a truck and has massive cleaving/bludgeoning power power behind it.

You have the BIG poke, which has a lot of piercing power and is excellent for going through armor or chinks in it.

And the Smol poke, which you can use to also go right through armor and hook into things to trip them up!

They have massive utility, and are excellent specialised anti-armor weapons. On horseback or on foot, it's a force to be reckoned with.

It has all the parts of a thrusting and a stabbing weapon, just on a much, much longer platform, and a heavy head of steel that is great for bashing in armored skulls. You can also trip people up with it using the edges!

The smol poke on the back is also great for acting as a miniature hammer, like a Horseman's Pick, which can be used to go through chainmail and armor with sheer piercing power.

Polearms are also typically very tall, and it gives them a reach advantage. They can block more effectively with the long haft, and if it breaks, you still have the other half with the metal bits on it to hit things with.

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So, what you have to remember about weapons, is where the lever is, how it'll swing, and how to connect it to a pose. A sword thrusts, a mace swings, some can do both, others cannot, etc, etc.

I heavily encourage you to do research into different types of polearms, swords and the like, because all of them have a purpose and many act differently than their kin.

I hope this helps you depict weapons more accurately or just helps in general.

Ciao, folks!

This might be kinda a random request but in an KHR AU where everyone one is a celebrity what kind of celebrity do you think everyone would be? Or just the characters that interest you most. For example who would be an actor, model, singer, or YouTuber/tiktoker. Maybe even Instagram model or blogger

I love random requests so don't even worry about that! This was an interesting AU to think about, especially as I'm not really a big part of celebrity culture as a whole. I hope you'll enjoy what I came up with and thanks for sending in the request!

Getting the important out of the way first, setting up kind of this post really: this AU is obviously very much set in modern-day, with all the various forms of media and content available to us. Now, KHR has an absolutely astounding amount of characters and I really tried to consider where each and every one of them would fit. By doing so, I need ya'll to suspend your disbelief and put aside actual canon for a moment, because you will see things like Giotto and Tsuna existing together at the same time despite the fact that canonically, that wouldn't be able to happen. Now, because, as mentioned, KHR does have such a huge cast of characters, I admit fully to being a little lazy in how I set up this post. You'll find the major categories of different celebrity types below with characters kind of sorted into the categories. If I had actual thoughts and headcanons on their 'brand' or celebrity status in any way for the characters, I kind of included them alongside the character's name. I'm so sorry if that disappoints anyone but when the box does reopen, if you want more particular headcanons on any character within this AU, I'll be more than happy to really focus in on figuring out things for that character.

MOVIE & SMALL SCREEN ACTORS & ACTRESSES

⦁ Reborn - all I have to say on this one is he's been in some amazingly huge pictures, largely is an action star, and is known for doing all his own stunt work. I'm thinking like Jackie Chan type celebrity. ⦁ Giotto and G. are both famous actors who often co-star together with Giotto as the leading man and G. as his brooding sidekick. ⦁ Akiko Irie ⦁ Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Lambo are all, in this world and in my headcanons, new actors who really hit it big with a massively popular television series. Both Yamamoto and Ryohei had careers in sports before being talked into doing the show. ⦁ Basil plays a secondary character in the television series Tsuna stars in. ⦁ Xanxus was a hugely famous child star turned action hero. He was one of the biggest stars around, followed by paparazzi and such, until the show Tsuna and the rest of the cast came along, when they became the hottest thing going. ⦁ Dino Cavallone ⦁ Byakuran ⦁ Dendro Chilum, well known for playing villanous roles in action films.

STAGE ACTORS & ACTRESSES

⦁ Reborn ⦁ Vongola Quarto ⦁ Hanako Tsuruta is a famous mime and silent performance artist.

REALITY SHOW ACTORS & ACTRESSES

⦁ I can't fully explain why but I see Jaeger as being on some sort of competitive show, something along the lines of Fear Factor or Survivor or even something like Ultimate Beastmaster or American Gladiators. ⦁ Both Nana Sawada and Tsuyoshi Yamamoto have cooking shows they host. ⦁ Osamu Abe probably got super famous for like 15 minutes when he was on one of those Big Brother type reality shows. He was the first one out of the show, which is why his fame never grew beyond that. ⦁ Levi A. Than, Uno, Tre, and Due all become famous off a reality show about, I like to think, the gang life. ⦁ Tazaru and Nosaru are both part of a popular reality show about the skateboarding scene. ⦁ Romeo

MUSICAL ARTISTS

⦁ It's probably just bias because of her name, but I love imagining Aria as being musically inclined even in canon. I think she's had formal voice training and could become a really well-known and respected opera singer. ⦁ Another thing I love imagining? A cute girl-power pop band comprised of Kyoko, Haru, Hana, Chrome, and Yuni. The girls are all so different in terms of personality, looks, and appeal so there's a girl in the group for everyone and every single one of the girls have their own groups of fans entirely devoted to their fave. I really kind of envision this as a Spice Girls type huge cultural touchstone style girl band. ⦁ Vongola Terzo ⦁ Lavina ⦁ Ugetsu Asari ⦁ Eiji Kuroda, Yukio Kisanuki, and Takuya Ookura all have a rap group together that does fairly well. Enough so, at least, that they definitely have fans. ⦁ Enrico Fermi, Massimo Ranieri, and Federico Ferrino are all part of a boy band together. ⦁ Shoichi Irie ⦁ Large Ooyama ⦁ Lunga

MODELS

⦁ Jack ⦁ Vongola Quinto ⦁ Sakura Kikumomo ⦁ Shizue Murota ⦁ M.M. ⦁ Ivan Draco ⦁ Kikyo ⦁ Julie Kato ⦁ Adelheid Suzuki ⦁ Pantera ⦁ Cervello

ARTISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, DESIGNERS, ETC.

⦁ Alejandro ⦁ Fabio ⦁ Sawako Narita ⦁ Makoto Kozato ⦁ Totem Ross - Famous jewelry designer and fashionista ⦁ Lussuria is a famous fashion designer with his own line of shoes, handbags, and makeup as well as a signature perfume. ⦁ Cappuccino is a famous hair stylist for the stars, probably has even had his own shows and social media presence about his work. ⦁ Shitt P! is a designer who is also a social media darling. ⦁ Talbot

WRITERS

⦁ Reborn has a best selling biography, if that counts. ⦁ Verde is famous within scientific circles, both for the amount of scientific breakthroughs he's acheived and for his always intriguing, if really heavy, research papers. However, what I think he becomes most famous for is a series of sort of Science for Dummies style books he publishes that really break down a lot of heavier scientific concepts, ideas, inventions, breakthroughs and such. Written with his acerbic wit, the books are not only really informative and easy for the layman to understand, but are written well enough and with enough charm and wit to keep the average person amused while they learn. ⦁ Simora - I see him writing spy novels, things along the lines of James Bond and such. ⦁ Mako Yuide writes love poetry. ⦁ Christine Hattori is a pretty big name crime reporter. ⦁ Oregano is a screenwriter. ⦁ Innocenti

YOUTUBERS

⦁ Lampo ⦁ Sadaharu Uchida ⦁ Daigoro Ooyama and his brother Ushio make a lot of YouTube videos not only showing off their karate skills but teaching others easy karate-based workout routines and breaking down the basics of the sport. ⦁ Teppei Oda and Koji Sato have a YouTube channel together where they play games or really break apart fandom in some way together, bouncing a lot of ideas off each other and bantering and they get strangely popular because a lot of people find their friendship and conversation pleasant and relaxing. ⦁ Hajime Azuma, Jiro Chinada, and Yozo Kannazuki all have a channel together that features some prank-style stuff but to be honest, a lot of their content is just really roasting other people and a lot of their videos are really mean. However, they do seem to attract a rather large audience and do get really popular for some reason. ⦁ I-Pin has a channel of her showing off the various martials arts, gymnastics, and other skills she's learning as she moves towards her grand goal of becoming a stunt person in the film industry. ⦁ Ottavio is a former film actor whose bad reputation made it impossible for him to gain more roles. He became YouTube famous for his channel where he dishes about celebrity culture, working on film sets, and spills secrets about actors and such he has worked with. ⦁ Ape ⦁ Paolo Aldina has a YouTube channel teaching self-defense and Krav Maga techiniques. ⦁ Naito Longchamp - fun fact, Mangusta is always his camera man.

TIKTOKERS

⦁ Colonello really becomes a hit on TikTok. Not only do a lot of his fans believe he's a real thirst trap, but he gains a following for his training and fitness videos. He makes a bunch of military-style boot-camp training TikToks, plus he teaches people about his various weapons and basic self-defense moves are incorporated into some of his workouts. ⦁ Lal Mirch will sometimes co-star in some of Colonello's Tiktoks. There are at least a couple little 'series' of his Tiktoks where she's very much shown on camera a lot, but I believe that's the closest she's willing to come to any sort of celebrity and only does it because she also really enjoys teaching people things and if the internet allows her to teach someone who she might never have been able to help otherwise, she isn't going to sneer at it. ⦁ Chikusa Kakimoto ⦁ The Delivery Man becomes a TikTok thirst trap. ⦁ Toshiko Sano ⦁ Kaori Furuta though a lot of her Tiktoks focus on her work in the customer service field, she gains a really large following. ⦁ Bianchi ⦁ Moretti, whose TikTok is full of magic tricks and such. ⦁ Baishana ⦁ Iris Hepburn, not only a TikTok thirst trap but someone whose TikTok is used to spread correct information and wisdom about the BDSM community. ⦁ Kouyou Aoba

TWITCH STREAMERS

⦁ Ken Joshima ⦁ Terumi Gomi ⦁ Yaginuma ⦁ Bono Hughson ⦁ Giaggiolo ⦁ Enzo Maccarinelli, who is also big in the competitive gaming scene. ⦁ Wonomichi

PODCASTERS

⦁ Daniela - I can see her hosting a podcast where she really digs into and gives her opinions on a variety of topics, mostly things about society, justice, politics, and just important issues happening in the world. The podcast definitely leans more towards pro-feminism, pro-equal rights for all, and social reform. ⦁ Masato Hitsuji ⦁ Turmeric ⦁ Simon Cozzato ⦁ Rossi Valentia has an educational podcast. ⦁ Lenny and Manny have a podcast on the subject of mechanics and robotics. ⦁ Koenig

MAGICIANS

⦁ Mukuro - you remember that huge craze where guys like Criss Angel and such became huge celebrities? Where illusionists and mentalists had television shows? Hell, even just the fact that Penn & Teller are still household names should be a reminder of how big magicians can get in popular culture and I think Mukuro would definitely fall into that same kind of category as a magician whose act and tricks became famous. ⦁ Fran sometimes assists Mukuro or accompanies him, the two of them doing tricks in tandem and Fran normally at least opens for him and has a pretty solid following of his own. ⦁ Viper/Mammon also has a pretty solid magic show of his own that was the initial beginnings of his fame. However, he really took off and became super popular with a series where he showed how magic tricks work, step by step, and debunked any actual 'magic' existing. He's also a best-selling author of branded magician kits and tools because Viper knows how to hustle and market things really well to earn that money. He also does paid advertisements and really monetized his social media presence. ⦁ Mitsuru Fujimori ⦁ Torikabuto ⦁ Genkishi, who combines magic and athletic feats in a hugely popular magic show. He even gets his own solid run in Vegas because of it. ⦁ Ginger Bread ⦁ Ichiro, Jiro, and Saburo Shibaki all have an act together. ⦁ Kawahira has straight out achieved the same level of fame as a magician as Harry Houdini.

THIS ACTUALLY GOT SO LONG I NEED A PART TWO HAHA.

chloe do you have any tips on 'forcing' oneself to shower? at the moment it's extremely hard for me not only bc of my depression but my foot is also in a cast bc it's broken which makes showering even more physically taxing.... just i need to shower but can't bring myself to do it 😭

hey honestly ive been thereeeeee and am often still there it's a fucking nightmare and im so sorry you're going through it as well - i know there's a lot of weird stigma and shame around these lesser discussed aspects of depression, but it is truly a massive part of the illness and not smth to internalise or shame yourself for. i've used a few different approaches when i haven't had the motivation to shower in the past - the 1st is just breaking it down into smaller chunks. wash my face, brush my teeth the first day. then slowly build up to either stepping in the shower and letting the water stream over you for 5 minutes, or even giving yourself a sponge bath/washing ur hair over the sink so you dont have to get fully undressed and exert a ton of effort and feel overwhelmed. i think this might be the best option for u with ur foot the way it is. a little is always better than nothing. i live by that TBH. sitting down in the shower also helps me massively, makes it a quite a bit less draining TBH. i also do this thing where i set an alarm for 10 minutes and just tell myself im going to clean myself as much as possible in that time, and that i can manage it because it's only 10 minutes and then i can lay back down and breathe, and that it's not this big deal my brain is building it up to be, and even if it is and even if i cry or panic or feel like shit, it's just 10 minutes. it's also super important to have the self awareness to realise this cycle you're in where neglecting your needs makes you depressed and you're depressed because you neglect your needs (at least that's part of the reason), and learning how to stop that perpetuating by doing one small task for yourself per day is one of the only ways to break out of it. i have to say every time i shower after being in a depression pit i don't regret it, and i know it's very hard to conceptualise that right now, but it's true. another thing i often try is just counting to ten and then forcing my body to move, i literally scream at myself in my own head to ignore my thoughts and just keep moving and just get the fuck in and out of the shower without making it more than what it is, i try to focus purely on my body and being in it and not on my mind - i understand that prob wont work for everyone lol. incentivising yourself is also always a good idea - tell yourself if i manage to take a shower i can watch a show i like or go to sleep or have a nice snack or practice a hobby you enjoy or whatever you like to do. i think training ur brain to see self care as a positive / neutral thing is a vital part of trying to move beyond this. anyway sorry to ramble i think that's a summary of what i usually do but if you ever want to chat more ab this or if you need a friend just give me a message! i hope you feel better soon x

do you have like, a summary of your oc shipgirls? as in how many there are and how they're related? (maybe even how they look? 👀)

ohhh boi there's a lot of them and for the vast majority i only have small lore bluffs about them (which is intentional as i dont wanna focus on, like. 60 or so OCs. i just wanna have a few be protagonistic). i'm just gonna list some of the OC shipgirls i have below, in no particular order

for the ones who are from completely made-up factions or nations we've got a few interesting ones.

the Pax Tenora-class super-heavy battleships are the epitome of Tenoran shipbuilding. The nation isn't very big nor very populated, so to compensate for that they aim for high-tech. Developed late into the 60s (i just didnt want battleships dying out even if carriers are a thing), Pax Tenora and Oransje Harold are the only members of this class. They are equipped with three quadruple 510mm gun turrets that fire super-heavy shells, have a speed of 31 knots, and a very thick armor belt. This translates into both of them being rather big shipgirls with very noticeable musculature.

the Thule-class battleships are similar in design to the Pax Tenora-class, but overall smaller. Instead of 510mm guns, they have 430mm guns; their armor is weaker and their overall size is much smaller. Despite this, their speed is also 31 knots due to being more antiquated post Great War designs (which ended in 1940). Thule is, usually, the de-facto admiral of the Tenora Basmu fleet; while Mittilagart enjoys being a lone wolf.

DFNV Ulysses is a nuclear-powered super-aircraft carrier, a Priority Research of the Dämmerung Foundation. She is an expert among experts at dealing with the Sirens.

DFNV Irkalla is a heavy cruiser of the Suffragan-class. Despite her hellish appearance - pale skin, deep red eyes, four massive horns sprouting from her head - she is a rather lively and bubbly shipgirl. However, for some reason, the Sirens fear her presence and try to avoid her. Neither Irkalla nor the Foundation knows why.

of the nations every AL player is familiar with (in no particular order)

The Preussen-class is a pair of PR sisters belonging to the Ironblood. Preusen herself is a military genius, single-handledly dealing with all the armed forces of the Ironblood. Großer Kurfürst, however, is not as gifted as her sister; instead prefering to deal with the enemy one-on-one. This is because of the two (in WoWs), Preussen is a decisively better battleship overall, while GK is a brawler first and foremost.

Admiral Nakhimov started as a proposal for converting a Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleship into an aircraft carrier. Like the rest of the Parliament CVs, Nakhimov uses single-attack squadrons that deliver devastating blows; but she's the biggest of the 5 CVs they have (Admiral Serov, Chkalov, Pobeda, Volga and Nakhimov). Nakhimov is an arrogant woman hiding deep self-hatred issues, as she believes herself to be unnecessary among the Parliament fleet.

Kremlin and her sister Slava are a pair of PR battleships. Kremlin utilizes much bigger 457mm guns, while Slava enjoys much more accurate 406mm guns. Kremlin is the right hand of Soyuz, the leader of the fleet when Soyuz can't deploy herself; a bit of a workaholic, she is extremely loyal to the Soyuz-class. Slava is a bit more of an outcast.

Satsuma is part of the larger Yamato-class family. They are all divine kitsunes - Musashi, Yamato, Shinano and Shikishima have massive flooffy tails and all that; however, Satsuma is an oni. A very stupid oni. You can imagine her as female Itto, because that's the main inspiration for her design (yes, with muscles)

CEFV Patrie and CEFV Empereur (you may know her in WoWs as République) are the biggest battleships ever produced by Sarthale, even if they are only PRs. Both are equipped with quadruple 431mm gun turrets, although Patrie is considerably bigger, slower, and more well armored. Empereur is the right hand of the Emperor in many regards, acting as the leader of his anti-anomalous organization. Patrie, however, is a reclusive woman, highly devout to the Church and close to Richelieu.