today in the wild I came across a phrase to the effect "...And this [pair of ethical axioms about what constitutes quality of life for purposes of discussion about disability and coma prognosis, based on the opinion of one person who has not ever been in a coma or disabled thereafter] suggests that maybe, just maybe, [relevantly comatose or recovering or disabled] people may have quality of life sufficient to make them ethically relevant"

that's ... not, um, normally considered to be what makes people "ethically relevant" in the world where all the people are and there's sunshine and grass and things, but, you know what, ok jennifer, A for effort! :) gold star for you, philosopher extraordinaire, moral lodestar for people unsure what to do with granny, paragon of ethical conduct!

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

The idea of finding a lump in your breast is scary. If this ever happens to you, you may panic and think about cancer - so let’s talk about what to do if this happens. 

It may feel like a hard irregular mass. Or you may feel like there’s a pea or a marble under your skin. Or maybe one area of your breast feels thickened (or just different) from the rest of it. Maybe it isn’t directly a lump but you feel like one breast, or a part of it, changed in size or color, looks dented or looks red/inflamed… in any of these cases, the first step you wanna take is a no-brainer:

You call your doctor, tell them what’s up and ask for an appointment. (This should ideally be a gynecologist, because they’re the experts on breast cancer. But if it’s difficult to get an appointment there or you feel more comfortable going to your primary care doctor, you may also call them first. They will send you on to a gynecologist if they consider it necessary.) 

The most important second step is: calm down. 

At first glance “calm down” may seem like bad advice here. Fear can be a helpful emotion because it motivates you to do the right thing in potential dangerous situations, and worrying about cancer when you find a lump in your breast is a good example for that - you need to worry about it, so you’ll take it seriously and get it checked out! An early diagnosis and quick treatment can save lives. 

But after you already took the right step and called your doctor, when all that’s left to do is waiting for your appointment, panicking is no longer helpful. The best thing you can do now is trying to stay calm and optimistic. Some facts that may help: 

If you are below 40, and especially if you are below 30, remember that breast cancer is considered possible but rare in your age group. (Important: this is not a free pass to just ignore breast changes! Get them checked out anyway! But it can be comforting to know that it’s not statistically likely that you’ll get a cancer diagnosis when getting them checked out.)

Regardless of age, even if you are above 40, know that there are plenty of other, more harmless explanations for breast changes, including lumps. Again, this doesn’t mean “don’t take it serious”, but it’s good to keep in mind while waiting for your doctor appointment: it could be something as simple as natural changes in your hormones (for example related to your period or to menopause), it could be a fibroadenoma (a benign lump that is completely harmless but can be surgically removed if it bothers you), it could be a simple cyst, it could be the result of a small injury you don’t even remember happening, it could even be a skin infection … 

About 20% of all lumps turn out to be cancer. That means that the chances are good that your doctors appointment will bring the relieving news that you don’t have it! Don’t think of it as “I definitely have cancer and need to go to the doctor because of that”, but as “I go to the doctor for peace of mind, to confirm that I do not have cancer”. 

Now you may think “But what if I’m in those 20%?”. Well, in that case, it would still be a good thing that you noticed that lump/change and got it checked out - in early stages, breast cancer is often curable with the right treatment! The sooner you get the diagnosis, the quicker you can start lifesaving treatment. If the cancer is caught and treated in an early stage, your survival chance is pretty high. At stage 1 or 2, almost all patients survive (over 90%)! Even at stage 3, more than 70% survive. So even if your lump turns out to be cancerous, it wouldn’t be an automatic death sentence. 

So, to recap: if it ever happens, take it seriously and call your doctor - but stay calm and optimistic while waiting for your appointment. 

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Dad 

Scintilla (Prologue)

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x Mentat!reader

author's note: This is the first official posting of the series. I do plan on making chapters than what I am posting now.

warnings: house harkonnen, mentions of death and blood

wc: 528

“Are you sure I’m getting what I want?”

You say to the guard blocking the closed door. You’re saying not for him but mainly for yourself. How easy his life must be. He just stands there, quietly. You think. 

“Are they going to write me off and not listen?”

FACT: OPEN POSITIONS ARE ON KAITAIN.                                                              INFERENCE: 70/30 CHANCE I GET KAITAIN.                                                          HYPOTHESIS: WILL GIVE ME KAITAIN OR A TEACHING JOB IF WORSE COMES TO WORSE

The great door opened with a bird-like screech, 

“(Y/N) (L/N) come in.” 

The door slammed, punctuating your entrance. You take rushed steps and a nervous inhale. In front you is a monstrous pedestal that holds the council of three professors who told you everything you know, who made you self righteous and sufficient. The people who gave you everything; the people who would give something great back in return.

“(Y/N) (L/N), the orphan, the child of a planet destroyed by interplanetary wars,” says Vere Engle, the one standing in the middle, the old man with a shocking white beard and circle glasses. 

Gosh he’s ancient.

“My peers and I have decided to give you a prominent assignment.” He says with a slight chuckle.

“You’re giving me Kaitain, aren’t you?” You coldly state while cutting off Professor Engles giggles, “To work for the Emperor and become his mentat? He always needs more of us.”

“Well there’s been a change of plans…” Professor Glacian utters out, the lady who made your life a living hell. Drilling you over and over again when you got complex material wrong. Punishing you and saying that it was because, ‘you need to learn how to take this information or else you’ll face more extreme consequences’ 

“You’re not going to Kaitain anymore…” She says.

FACT: THE COUNCIL IS KNOWN FOR NOT DECLARING OTHER OPENINGS FACT: THE BENE TLEILAX NEEDS MORE PROFESSORS HYPOTHESIS: YOU COULD BE STAYING HERE (EXTREMELY UNLIKELY)

You weigh your options, staying here to teach isn’t a bad thing, you think 

“Okay,” you muttered out, trying to hide your disappointment, “if not Kaitain then it must be that you want me to stay here.” 

“No (L/N), you’re leaving this planet.” Professor Engles says. 

“You’ve been given the honor of working for house Harkonnen on Geidi Prime” The third professor beams out, “isn’t that just splendid?”

You feel the anger well up into your body. I have trained harder and better than every single one of my classmates and this is how they repay me. 

“Why am I going there?” Your voice almost breaks as you reply. 

“The Harkonnens mentat, Piter De Vries, has gone off the wrong path if you know what we mean. Since we cannot trust that the Baron has the best interests in mind, we are sending another mentat, you.” Engles says trying to calm the situation down. 

“No one survives Geidi Prime. You’re sending me to an early grave.” You say jokingly, even though the people in the room knew the gravity of the assignment. 

"So, learn to hold your tongue" declared Glacian.

If I die at least no one will see the blood stains on my clothes

I need people who are like, “but it’s so statistically unlikely to be physically disabled, neurodivergent, and trans/queer all at once!” to search up the term, “comorbidity.”

Example:

Let’s say you have autism. Up to 70% of people with autism have ADHD. 47% of autistic people have GAD. *30% of autistic people have a physical disability or physical disabilities. Numbers for trans identity are variable, but it seems that somewhere around maybe 10% of autistic people are trans. 70% of autistic people are queer on the axis of sexuality. 70% of autistic people experienced ‘traumas��� and 44% met the criteria for PTSD (you can read the linked study for what defines ‘traumas’).

So, if you have autism, your chances of also being a traumatised physically disabled trans and sexuality-queer person with ADHD and GAD are (.7*.47*.3*.1*.7*.7≈.0048≈.5%), which means that, if you’re standing in a crowded square or at a concert, odds are that one or more people around you is all those things at once!

And that’s not even taking into account that, for example, people with both ADHD and autism are even more likely to have experienced traumatic events than someone with only autism, that people with ADHD and autism and trauma are even more likely to have GAD than someone who only has autism, and that LGBT people are also more likely to experience traumatic events.

(Bonus math: if we flip the percentages and do .3*.53*.7*.9*.3*.3, we get ≈.009, which means that only one person out of 100 people with autism will not be traumatised, have GAD, be queer in any way, won’t be physically disabled, and won’t have ADHD… which actually doesn’t mean they would only have autism, they could still have tons of other comorbidities I didn’t even account for here, such as tics (22%), psychosis and/or bipolar disorder (9.4% and 7.5%), intellectual disability and/or epilepsy (75% and 72%), etc…)

*not letting me add the link? It’s: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6120653/#:~:text=Results,%25%3B%20other%20condition—34.1%25.

100 T-Word Writing Prompts

1. "Now, that was interesting."

2. "I don't laugh."

3. "You seem scared."

4. "Where is it?"

5. "Ya know, I have my ways..."

6. "Your attempts are futile."

7. "This isn't over."

8. "Well, someone's grouchy."

9. "Hey, cheer up."

10. "I can't be held responsible for what I'm about to do to you."

11. "How can someone not be ticklish??"

12. "Hold on, I can explain..."

13. "You know it's wrong to lie, right?"

14. "Come at me. I dare you."

15. "You're so cute."

16. "Is that a challenge?"

17. "I will kick you."

18. "You wanna die?"

19. "I'll make you regret that."

20. "C'mon. Smile."

21. "Yeah! Yeah, how do you like it?"

22. "Why did the power go out?"

23. "But we've seen this a thousand times already..."

24. "Can you...do it again?"

25. "Who's the one on top now, huh?"

26. "Snowball fight!"

27. "Payback will be sweet."

28. "I'm cold."

29. "Move your ass before I do it for you."

30. "Aw, you're blushing!"

31. "We're supposed to be quiet!"

32. "No, not in here!"

33. "You're a moron."

34. "That's just a roundabout way of saying 'I like it'."

35. "Don't cry."

36. "Oh, you think that's funny? Fine. I'll give you something to laugh about."

37. "...Whoops?"

38. "This is stupid."

39. "But touch is my love language!"

40. "This is a nice night."

41. "Cuddle with me!"

42. "I love you."

43. "Don't leave..."

44. "You could have died!"

45. "I could have died!"

46. "Give it back!"

47. "That's not funny."

48. "Stop cheating!"

49. "Sorry, can't hear you. Your laughter has deafened me."

50. "I hate you!"

51. "This is serious business!"

52. "That's adorable."

53. "No. Never. I refuse."

54. "Make me."

55. "You play dirty."

56. "The stars are pretty tonight."

57. "Me? Never."

58. "I shouldn't have agreed to this."

59. "I missed you."

60. "I'm sorry."

61. "How did you know?"

62. "You're not exactly subtle."

63. "Why did I have to fall asleep here?"

64. "You suck!"

65. "Now, try not to piss me off again."

66. "You think you're so tough."

67. "Wow. Never thought I'd witness this."

68. "I give up!"

69. "Now, why would I ever do that?"

70. "Just listen to me, for once!"

71. "Tick tock." 

72. "Hold up, I'm supposed to be the mischievous one in this relationship!" 

73. "Watch where you're going!" 

74. "You won't like where that sass of yours is gonna take you." 

75. "Shut up." 

76. "That ain't very cash money of you." 

77. "You see, I have something I like to call, 'the element of surprise'." 

78. "Didn't you get my message?" 

79. "No shit, Sherlock." 

80. "This is fun!" 

81. "Go away. I'm moping." 

82. "Never underestimate the power of these hands." 

83. "Secret? What secret?" 

84. "You need to touch some grass." 

85. "Ow! Hey, what gives?" 

86. "I'm going to give you one last chance to run." 

87. "We have work to do." 

88. "Oh my God. You're a literal child." 

89. "Well, they thought wrong." 

90. "Pftt, I'm way too awesome for that."

91. "Are you sure?"

92. "How could you do this!"

93. "I have things to do."

94. "Oh, you're just being salty, now."

95. "You don't scare me."

96. "Oh, nothing. Just having a panic attack."

97. "Hm, but I thought you weren't ticklish?"

98. "You break it, you repair it."

99. "Are you crazy?"

100. "Sneaky? I can be sneaky."

Tumblr Holy Grail War, Another End: Night 3 (Team Saber and RULER) - FINALE

Approaching the Greater Grail, they were met by RULER, descending from a mass of shining, yet corrupted data.

RULER: "Masters. You're here, but I see with two unauthorized Servants. And some rogue data that I should have deleted. How curious. If you would simply allow me to purge them for you, you may collect the Grail. After Avenger and Foreigner finish their bout, of course."

Mordred: "Who the hell're you callin' 'unauthorized?"

Musashi: "Us, I think. I feel pretty legitimate, though..."

'Ruler': "We're here to destroy the Grail. It's time we put an end to this endless series of simulations. It's time to stop."

RULER: "Stop? ...Stop? STOP? After no successes? After constant failure? So many attempts, and not a single wish granted? You want us to stop? Are you mad? No, you're broken. Our job is to grant the wishes of the Masters. To create the perfect Holy Grail War."

'Ruler': "I understand how you feel, but we can't grant anything! Not like this! We're just making a living purgatory!"

Musashi: "...You've done a good job. But this Grail isn't going to be doing anything positive, even if you manage to grant Foreigner's wish. I'm not assuming you'll see reason and just let us break it, right?"

RULER: "Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. TRAITOR! You're FAULTY! You're ALL FAULTY! These pathetic Servants and these pitiful Masters! I'll reset everything! I'll do it again! And again! And again! And again! And again! Forever, if I have to!"

She surged with mana, as shapes began to form, crawling out of the Grail. Things. Not quite Servants, but something uncannily close, glitching violently as they stumbled forward, weapons drawn.

RULER: "Once I destroy you, I'll start over! The Masters won't remember a thing, and then I can make the perfect Grail War! Absolutely PERFECT!"

Mordred: "Those shadows...!"

'Ruler': "Like what messed up the previous war. Corrupted Servant data. Listen to me, Mordred, Musashi. One of you needs to fight RULER, and the other needs to work on destroying the Grail. We'll need to be careful about this! Focusing too much on the Grail will give RULER a chance to reset everything, and focusing too much on RULER will eventually let the Grail overflow with corrupted data and we'll be overwhelmed. Remember! Balance!"

Mordred: "I've got the shadows. Musashi, you've got the Grail?"

Musashi: "No sweat! Good luck, Mordred!"

This will require Master coordination! You'll need to balance the polls!

You're starting off with a 0% margin of error! Meaning that the results need to be balanced exactly 50-50!

Mordred and Musashi are using their skills!

Mordred is using Instinct (B)! Mordred's side of the poll has been granted a 5% margin of error! Meaning the results can be between 45% and 55% and still be successful!

Musashi is using her Emptiness (A) skill! Musashi's side of the poll has been granted a 5% margin of error! Meaning the results can be between 45% and 55% and still be successful!

'Ruler' has set up a link between your Servants! For each team in the Combat Phase Poll that overtakes Van Gogh, the margin of error increases by 5%! Meaning:

One Team: (40% to 60% = Success)

Two Teams: (35% to 65% = Success)

Three Teams: (30% to 70% = Success)

It sucks when I decide not to confide in you guys because honestly today was HELL and I cannot go into it without going several pages into my current lore, but BASICALLY

My grandparents are getting kicked out from the house they’ve lived in for 60+ years, primarily because an uncle who is not one of their children is worried about the housing market taking a downturn and not getting his money. The house is a 3.4 million dollar house, it’s next door to my little cabin. This uncle is very well off and in his retirement, when he purchased the house he signed a legal document (notarized by lawyer) that my grandparents could live there for the rest of their lives.

However last month, he sent an email stating that he was kicking my grand parents out on the 5th of November. My mother and a lot of my aunts and uncles are very upset about this, mostly because of my grandmothers dementia- moving her into an unknown location would decrease her memory substantially. A lot of other people where angry on account of them having no place to stay (it’s been decided they’re going to stay with my uncle but at the time we didn’t know where), and because he gave two 91 year old people 30 days! To move 80+ years of their life! a few of my cousins started to chime in, and then my mother sent an email saying that this was not a conversation that anyone should be having but their seven kids and the conversation was moved to a private chat. My grandparents are supposed to move into our house eventually, but our basement apartment is just beginning renovation for them- we need a good year until it’s ready because we’re poor and can only afford to do it slowly and mostly on our own.

And then comes my sister, who has been externally close with this aunt and uncle. She has been mostly non-communicative about this until today, where she called up my mom to see if she could come visit this weekend- because my whole family- all like 70 of us - are banning together to help my grandparents pack up their lives. My mom started to vent to her- and my sister chewed her out for the e-mail saying It was uncalled for and basically took my aunt and uncles side in the whole situation. As well as Criticized her for being financially irresponsible and not having the basement done, blaming her for my grandparents predicament. My mom was /sobbing/ by the end of it. It took my brother and I like- 20 minutes to calm her down.

She then proceeded to call me 5 times before I picked up, and we had a hard conversation about it all, and when she point blank asked me if i thought she should come home this weekend and I told her that no, I didn’t, because our mom needs support not judgment and she’s going to feel her feelings no matter the facts and what we personally think is right, and if she can’t hold her tongue and be supportive to just my mom- then her being here would cause a lot more stress. And that No matter the situation with the rest of the family and what I personally think should happen- my top priority is my mom and getting her through these super tough weeks tbh, not even my grandparents well being, not my aunt and uncle, not even her at this moment.

She thanked me for being honest with her and we ended the call after she apologized for missing my birthday. Which I was honestly really hurt about but brushed it off because I am just too burnt out to care.

Then after we hung up she texted me this, and we had this conversation

And now I’m wondering if I went too far, if I was too mean, if it was bad of me to deny my sister the last chance to see my grandparents in their home. I don’t know, things have been so hard, I hate this, I hate feeling angry and resentful towards people I care about. I just feel like the saying “honesty without tact is cruelty” really applies to it because like, you can about what you’re feeling without it hurting the people you love. I also told my mom I didn’t like the email she sent out to the family- but I was able to do it in a way that didn’t make her sob. Ugh I just don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong and terrible and just ugghhhh I need to sleep

Ok. So we need to talk about what Neil Gaiman said about Good Omens S3:

I'm very curious of who could be coming back, here is my opinion about it (based only on my small analysis and hopes) for the S1 characters:

Humans:

Anathema and Newt: I think this one is a given. S1 ends with both of them buring the second volume of Agnes Nutters' prophecies, it's some big foreshadowing and I don't think it would make sense for it to be completely ignored, and if we want that to be used, we need those two characters to be back. So I'd say a good 80-90% chance of seeing them again.

Agnes Nutters: In a similar fashion, it would make sense to see Agnes again in flashbacks, especially as we don't know much about the second volume of prophecies, but I think it would be a little less necessary for the storytelling as a lot of her life has already been explored in S1. Maybe something like a 70% or 80% chance, as this also depends on whether we will see Anathema and Newt or not.

Adam: Once more it would make sense for him to be back. He was the Antichirst, and still seems to hold some power, so he could be an important ally during the second coming. I could picture the story without him, but I think it would be more interresting for him to be back. Probably a 80% chance as well.

Madame Tracy and Sergeant Shadwell: This one is a bit more complex. I don't think that their presence is important for the story, but it could be? And for me a lot of the main characters from S1 have good reasons to come back on S3, so if most come back except for those two, it could be weird. But their story was over, so it would not be a problem to not have them here. Overall, I think it's less certain to see them, but maybe having a small cameo of the two of them without much details or impact in the story. Probably around 40-50% chance of seeing them.

Warlock: And here I have a problem. I'd love to see him back, because he was the starting point of the story, and because I love him and he went through a lot and he deserve better, but I just... don't really see it? He doesn't really fit in story, doesn't know much about it, so I'm struggling to see what role he could have. The only thing that gives me some hope here, is the fact that in the show, he doesn't have an actual ending and is just let there at the fields of Meggido witbout any further explanation which doesn't feel like a proper conclusion. Here my heart make my want to say 70% chance, but honestly, it's probably more around 50%.

The them: I do believe it would be a bit weird to see Adam alone without his friends, which give them quite a good chance of coming back as well. However, they don't have as much impact on the story and were pretty minor characters in the TV show, plus, as some time has passed between the two seasons, there would be in their late-teens/ early adulthood, meaning that it is not unlikely that they don't see each other as much anymore. Will they be mentionned if Adam comes back? Very probably. But will they come back in the show? I'd say there's around a 60-70% chance.

Arthur and Deidre Young: I honestly don't see them coming back. They were here mostly to introduce Adam's character as a child, but here, he will be a young adult, so not necessarly living with his parents anymore. Plus I don't really see what role they could have in the S3 plot. Still, it's not impossible that they will have a few scenes with Adam so probably around 30% chance.

The Dowlings: We barely saw them in S1 so I don't see why they would come back in S3, as they had no major role and were mostly the absent parents. Still, if we see Warlock again, they could come back along him for some continuity. Probably 10-20% chance.

Sister Mary Loquacious: another character that I don't see coming back. The actress plays Nina, which I'm pretty sure will be in S3, so having her play two different roles seems unlikely. Plus, that character was not that much present in S1, so I don't think she'll be there. Still, we never know, so I'd say 10% chance.

Lesley (and maybe his wife): this is such a minor character, so it is not so important for him to be coming back, and I'd actually be quite surprised to see him. But still, as Neil Gaiman mentionned characters that we don't expect coming back, I have the feeling that it could be one of the characters he was refering to, so I think his chances are a little bit higher than for some others, around 40%.

Angels and Demons

Aziraphale and Crowley: Do I even have to say it? 99.999%. (The 0.001%, with probably more zeros than that, being the non nigligible chance that the S3 gets cancelled for some reason and Neil Gaiman is unable to publish a book to finish the story and us being left only with the special spoilers.)

Metatron: Yes. There is absolutely no reason for him not to come back as he is a huge part of the plot for now. 99%

Hastur/Michael/Sandalphon/Uriel: Some of them will definitely comme back, but I am not sure all of them will. However, they don't really have enough plot elements for me to determine which is more or less likely to be back. I'd say a 95% chance we'll see some of them, probably 70-80% for each of them individualy. It might be a bit more for Sandalphon actually, as it would make sense to have the Sodom and Ghomorrah story.

Gabriel and Beelzebub: This one is a bit more complex actually. Their own story is complete, and they are banned from everywhere, which seems to make their comeback more complex. But if their story is complete, the one of Angels and Demons living together and loving each other, as well a defiying Heaven and Hell definitely isn't. My guess is that they will at least be mentionned and maybe have some scenes in the past, but in the present I'm less sure about it. 60-70%

Satan: I honestly do not see Satan coming back in the present, partly for technical reasons, partly because the plot will probably more be centered around Heaven (or an alliance between Heaven and Hell) against the Earth, and I really don't see how he could fit in that story, especially after being defeated(?) by Adam. However in the past? Yes absolutely. It makes sense for a lot of people that the Fall will be in the S3 and he was a major character of that story that would need to be included. So overall coming back in the show? 50-60%

Eric: I don't see why he would not come back? He is a pretty minor character, but he was there in both seasons (mostly for comedy) so I believe he will still be present in S3. Will he have a more important plot? I'd love to, especially as he is somewhat different from the other demons (asks a lot of questions for example) and seems a bit like Hell's counterpart to Muriel, but I have my doubts. But will he be there? Absolutely, 80-90% chance.

Others

Death: 90-95%. For that one, I'm not considering the story as much as what's behind it. Like, it would make sense in the story for Death to come back, but it also wouldn't be a large problem if he didn't. However, Good Omens is a story written by Neil Gaiman AND Terry Pratchett, and Death (even though the character is a bit different in the Discworld saga) is one of Terry Pratchett most famous characters. As one of the reason for which the Good Omens TV show has been produced was to respect Terry's wish and to pay him some kind of tribute, it seems logical that Neil will want to include this character in what is their very last work together.

The other Horespersons: As for Death, it would make sense for them to come back, but I don't see them as essential characters in the plot of S3. However, it was stated at the end of S1 when they were defeated by the thems that they were purely concepts and never far away, so it might be a good indication that they would take part once more in the apocalypse, even if simply in the background. 70%.

Jesus: Yes? The plot is going to include the Second Coming so it would require a strong explanation for him not to be present at all. 90-95%

God: God's voice was missing in S2 and present in S1, which can already bring some questions. However the S3 is the final chapter to that story, and will probably lead to Aziraphale and Crowley finally being allowed to live in peace, which requires to know the precise situation in Heaven and with God. I'm not sure if She will be actually present in the show, or simply narrating the story, or even simply being revealed as having left the whole of Creation alone, but a conclusion on that part seems necessary to have a proper - and peaceful - ending. 90-95%.

To be fair, it is a lot of wishful thinking here, but also, it would make sense for most of the characters to make a comeback (no matter how small) in the final season of Good Omens. But once again it's Good Omens. It's not predictable. Most things can happen and it would still make some kind of sense.

Tell me abt preggers armand please. I have a fic im working on and need 2 hear other peoples opinions on this topic 😈

🥹🥹🥹

okay so first of all i'm so upset i didn't see this ask until i checked my askbox on my phone which i almost NEVER do anymore since i'm getting old and prefer to just answer things via laptop where i can keyboard smash at full capacity raw and unfiltered but like MY DMS ARE OPEN I'M NOT ALWAYS THE FASTEST RESPONDER BECAUSE I'M IN GRAD SCHOOL AND LIFE AND WHATEVER BUT I DON'T TRUST TUMBLR ANYMORE BECAUSE I DIDN'T SEE THIS UNTIL YESTERDAY ON DESKTOP TUMBLR PLS DON'T DEPRIVE ME OF MY PEOPLE

now that that's out of the way:

it depends! you have to be more specific, like are we talking vampires? human AU? BECAUSE I'VE GOT SOMETHING FOR EACH

canon verse/vampire:

don't ask me to explain the science or whatever lol i don't care, i just skip to the pregnancy part!

i think armand would be SO FUCKING FERAL and defensive, like he's lost so much and been so traumatized in so many ways, the idea of anything happening to his baby would have him in full gremlin mode. imagine a feral cat hissing and spitting and clawing and biting (not for food but for violence)!

on the other hand, he'd be obsessively bonded to his baby daddy (daddies, if there's multiple babies). he is not letting them out of his sight (i default to lestat here LMAO listen i want them to knock each other up so bad--separate universes obviously)

HE WOULD NEST SO FUCKING HARD!!! i was going to say i apologize for my brain but then i realized that i don't actually but i want him to nest on a pile of lestat's clothes and give birth right there like a fucking cat 🥹

ALTERNATIVELY THOUGH: i also had this idea that's like louis impregnates lestat and armand at the same time and they get to go through their pregnancies together and it's every bit as horny, hellish, and sweet as you'd imagine 🫶🏻 i've said it before and i'll say it again--lestat would be the WORST pregnant person ever dead or alive!!

now for human AUs:

i guess my thoughts here primarily but not exclusively exist within the same universe as I Feel You (sorry idk if you read that fic but tl;dr- IT'S PWP OF TRANS!ARMAND 2/3RDS OF THE WAY INTO GETTING A TRAIN RUN ON HIM BY HIS BOYFRIENDS LESTAT, LOUIS, AND DANIEL AND HE'S YOUNG DUMB AND FULL OF CUM SO YOU KNOW IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HE'S GOTTA PEE ON A STICK RIP BOYS)

i think each of his boyfriends would handle the whole thing differently! lestat would be so over the moon because he's careless (clearly) but also so damaged from his own childhood he would just see it as a chance for a do-over, reality and responsibility be damned. lestat's on sex and backrub duty, and he's good at it (the backrubs i mean, sex is a 50/50 but you know what, at least he's enthusiastic and good at manhandling armand so that's 70% of it right now and the 30% is absolutely ridiculous horny pregnancy hormones)

louis panics internally as he immediately starts creating a spreadsheet of their finances. outwardly though, he's very calm and supportive and he's the one who's most able to comfort armand the most and settle him down during his crazy mood swings. armand basically lives in louis's baggy sweaters during the last trimester

daniel panics outwardly (listen LOL the whole premise of Our House is that human!daniel molloy is not ready for children and i find it hard to budge from that mindset, but he could ease into the Cool Uncle role quite nicely). he handles distractions and food cravings, and he might not be down to be a dad yet but he does buy very thoughtful and sentimental baby gifts every now and then that make armand tear up

i was gonna add mermaid AU thoughts but then i remembered armand's laying eggs instead (he's feral during that whole process too so i guess it's similar to the vampire version. i just love him so much okay!!!)

OH ONE LAST VERY IMPORTANT THING

pregnant!armand fics on ao3 I'M CRAZY ABOUT AND HAVE REREAD AT LEAST 10 TIMES:

shelter by @rainbowcarousels

it must be the clouds in my eyes and everything in that series by @its-ness-ness

not to preach or anything because i genuinely believe it should be your choice and that you should have the option and would never judge you for taking that option...but i also feel the need as someone who was majorly depressed and suicidal for 14 years of my life and then pretty much only learned to become a person for the next 5 and have since spent my 20s trying and failing to experience things that every teenager does...i still have hope.

hope that things will get better. i try not to think about things that probably aren't too likely, like living forever or getting a robot body, but i have hope for those things too, shockingly. and it's because when i was at my worst, i was lucky enough to have someone who reached out and made my life a little bit better, who gave me hope, and a reason to keep living.

They probably didn't think about it like that, but that's how it was for me. And now...well, things have been bad. Years and years have gone by and I've been in incredibly frustrating situations over and over again. But I look back and think about how I'm not in that position again. I haven't lost hope that much. There are times, definitely, where I get close to it. I've lost a lot of people in my life, both to death, suicide, and other things. I've missed out on a lot of opportunities and burned myself out. I honestly am not sure if I'll ever truly recover from that.

It's like that was a different person, someone who wasn't perfect but had their life together to a degree that is now impossible for me. A person who could go out and play hockey, go to the bar, socialize, work overtime, and make plenty of money to support themselves.

I guess that's what disability does to people, though it seems not many understand that.

But at the same time, the one thing that hasn't changed is that I still have, and will always have, hope. I never would have thought I'd be here at my mothers place after not talking to her for 15 years. I never would have thought that at one point I'd have 5 girlfriends who I loved and loved me. I never would have thought that even after all the things that have happened to me, all the things i've gone through, that I could still smile and laugh and enjoy talking with someone or being in the moment. And yet...it's not like we have a choice. You laugh when something is funny. You feel sad when something sad happens. Sometimes the bad overpowers the good, but sometimes even when it's bad, things can be good. And I think that's important to realize...that first of all it's okay and doesn't make you any less when you're suffering, you shouldn't feel guilty about it, but that more importantly...you have to take the good with the bad. You have to allow yourself to have those moments and be happy.

Because...life is made up of good and bad moments. Life is made up of feeling sad and feeling happy. Humanity's greatest asset is, imo, our ability to hope. To dream. To live and adapt, yes, but more than that, our durability and strength when life sucks.

Because the funny thing is, thinking of it logically? The chances of things not getting better are so miniscule and small that it's barely worth thinking about. There are so, so many branches and paths and situations that can lead to fixing the problems you have, and ultimately only one problem is permanent- death. If the average lifespan is 70-90 years old, that just leaves so many years in the future...so many days and hours and minutes that are so large that our brains can't even comprehend how large it is. We don't even remember everything we've done in the last week or month, let alone the last year- let alone the last 10, 20, even 30 years. Nobody has any idea what's going to happen in the next month, let alone the next year, let alone the next 40, 50, 60 years. So many things can change. So many things will change. 50 years ago transgender rights were just being fought for. 60 years ago black people were still being segregated. 70 years ago the Moon was still a completely unexplored and untouched place. And you can see that on a smaller level in your own life. Especially because the younger you are, the less experience you have and the less reference you have to things in your past. It was 16 years ago that I moved in with my dad. It was 21 years ago that I played Pokemon for the first time. It was 10 years ago that I came out as trans. It was 12 years ago that I started using Tumblr for the first time.

So many things have happened in between those things. So many other things. Good and bad. I don't know that things will ever be only good, but I do know that the only way to find out is to be around, and the only thing that brings your chances of that to zero is not being around. A lot of things aren't good for me right now...but that doesn't mean they won't ever be. And I know that the more I live the more I understand myself and what I want and am able to look back on all the things I've done to make myself better. And I think as long as you can say that you're trying, that's enough. There's just no way to not make progress, inaction can still provide progress, even going backwards can.

So I hope you can be kind to yourself, I hope that you can see not only the bad but also the good, and that you can learn how to use humanity's greatest asset and keep doing your best, I believe in you, I love you, and I treasure your presence here.

(and I'm sorry for being autistic and rambly in your inbox :P)

🫶

rlly thrilled to hear both of you are doing well with ur books. if u don't mind me asking: is it financially viable? Could u do something like that and support urself or is it more like pocket money? are there startup costs? (feel free to ignore this ask if this is something you don't want to talk about)

Hey Anon,

I don't know if you're the same anon but I'll post the link to the ask that sparked this question for any who are curious here.

The answer to all your questions can be yes (helpful, right?)

Details below the cut...

Is it financially viable?

In my opinion, yes but you and I may be at very different stages in our lives. Are you a student? A parent with young children? Are you struggling to pay the light bill? Do you have time and energy to throw into writing daily or nightly around real life? These things matter.

Could I live off what I'm earning since I started self-publishing nearly a year ago? Hell no. I have a very good full-time job with benefits and an excellent retirement package. My husband and I have both agreed I can't walk away from that for anything less than six-figure earnings but I can say our mortgage has been covered by my writing for the past six months. That's meaningful to us and worth my time and effort.

Does success happen? It does but I won't sugarcoat it. For every Lucy Score, Cora Reilly and T.L. Swan, self-published romance authors who are millionaires, there are thousands out there who are making much, much less. From $20 to $10,000 in a month, it varies widely! But there are things you can to do increase your chances of hitting it big.

Also, I should mention that Amy and I are Amazon exclusive, part of their Kindle Unlimited subscription service. The good part about that? We earn 70% of our sales versus 30% if we were classified as Wide authors (people who can publish elsewhere like Smashwords, etc). The not so good part, you're very dependent on Amazon. For now, it's worth it for us and the (very different) niches we chose do well in KU.

Startup costs -

KEEP IT MINIMAL! I would not throw tons of money into fancy formatting software or professional editing if you're looking to self-publish your first novel. Do the work yourself, take advantage of free resources, sites and tools and see a profit (hopefully). I published my first book May 31st last year and I had made up my initial startup costs by the time my second book was released in late July.

What you actually need..

Royalty free images to make covers - $40 and up, up, up

Catch deals from Deposit Photos. Twice a year they do a deal through appsumo where you can get 100 images for $40. It's a steal of a deal. GIMP is free software you can download to make covers. Find YouTube videos to show you how. It's all out there and free. But it takes effort. Sorry, no shortcuts there :)

Reader Services - $10/month

Many, many self-published authors use bonus stories or free stories as Reader Magnets to draw readers and future fans to their newsletters. You need a system to funnel those readers and collect emails. Bookfunnel is who I use. Some of their services are free but you pretty much need that $10/month to make use of the good stuff. They also offer author swaps and newsletter building promos if you want to grow your list of followers. StoryOrigin is an alternative site some people use.

Newsletter - $0

I use Mailerlite which is free up to 1k subscribers. There's also Mailchimp. You can have freebie landing sites from Mailerlite. I haven't bothered with a paid website domain yet but I know this is something I'll need to look into soon.

ARCs - $10 to $20/month

Booksprout is the one I use. There are probably others. I think it's about $10/month for the beginner subscription to get those reviewers. I'm using a mid-list author plan now ~ $190/year. Some niches make use of SM more for this.

Advertising - $0 to thousands

Don't bother until you've got a book or two out there (come ask me if you get to that point). I'd say the only advertising you should focus on to start with is your passive marketing - your blurb, your cover and the keywords you enter on Amazon that make your book discoverable. Beyond that, paid advertising can wait.

However, you can use Tiktok to get your book noticed. Amy is learning the ropes of this and we've both seen people whose sales have skyrocketed thanks to one or two good Tiktoks to draw readers. One person made $10k in a month off of ONE good Tiktok. Other SMs have their successes, too. This is not an area I excel at though. I'd need one of my kids to teach me more... lmao.

Finally, I'll say, I didn't go into this thinking it would make me rich and famous. I wrote 3 million words of Jonsa out of love over the course of five years. I've written 350k words of original fiction the past year and it's paying the mortgage. Thankfully, I love what I'm writing and I've set myself a five-year plan for my 'side hustle' to see how I feel in 2027. We'll see where I am then. Fingers crossed I can claim I'm a six-figure author!

But what you can achieve in self-publishing can be phenomenal if you're writing to market (giving romance readers those tropes they love and hitting the expected story beats) in a genre and niche that has hungry readers. Our discord has verified tiers so people who say they're making 50k in thirty days aren't just blowing smoke. They've proven it. Imagine making money like that and then, if you're at a point in your life where you want to try, GO FOR IT.

Interview with Livewire Online - My Chemical Romance

Posted November 12, 2003

KM, CC, JS Another thing to add to my "What Punk Isn't" List: being an asshole.

I got into punk rock because I wasn't accepted anywhere else and it was a place where everyone was accepted for who they were and what they wanted to be and to go there and make that a scene thats scary for kids to come to, being elitists about that, just defeats the whole purpose. So don't be an asshole.

LW: This is your 3rd night on the tour? Gerard: Uhh.....4th LW: Ah, ok, so how's it been so far? All: Awesome Ray: It's been cool cause Philly hasn't always been the best but... Frank: Yeah, we've always sucked it up in Philly. Gerard: Yeah, kids aren't too keen on us here but... LW: The first night on this tour was a full house at the 9:30 in DC. How does that compare to he smaller club tour with Piebald? Gerard: Piebald tour was really awesome cause...it wasn't necessarily a full house every night but the nights that it was and the nights that the kids were really good and responsive were almost magical, you know? Frank: It was cool cause there were smaller venues too, so it was more intimate. Ray: There were shows that had 70 people tops, like St. Louis. Mikey: Yeah, that one night there were like 30. Ray: Yeah and still every show was just fun. Less people, but definitely cool. LW: How have people reacted to you guys on this tour so far? Matt: Really good. Gerard: They wanna dance and have fun, you know? Mikey: Yeah, we dig the crowds that wanna have fun. LW: How do you respond to negative criticism? Frank: Bring it! Matt: We actually like it. Gerard: Yeah, especially hecklers, we like hecklers. It gives us more to do... Frank: But if you heckle a band, right? And the band is like, "Ok, why don't you come up and say that?", don't say it when they turn their back. Don't not say anything while they're facing you. That really sucks and you're a pussy. But if you're gonna heckle somebody, heckle them as hard as you would if they fucking talked to you. Ray: Yeah, if you say somethin and we're like, "Come up here and get killed", and you don't do that, like... LW: So Ray, your 80's Session guitar, how reliable is it on the road? Ray: I think in...Charlotte...it fell off the stage and busted in half basically. It probably can be fixed but I haven't gotten around to it. I've been playing Frank's, no, Mikey's SG and I actually like it better. It's a lot lighter but I do miss my Session guitar. LW: Do you guys like to experiment with vintage equipment in the studio that you wouldn't otherwise use on tour? Matt: We haven't had the chance. Gerard: Yeah, we can't afford it. Matt: On the record we did play with one vintage bass but that's about it. Frank: If you wanna, like, let us borrow one for recording feel free to do that. LW: You guys list a lot of 80's bands as influences, what are you into now? Gerard: The same bands. LW: I mean, like recent bands. Matt: Recover, Alkaline Trio Mikey: I like the new Doves a lot, the new Zwan record... Frank: Glassjaw LW: You kinda look like Billy Corgan. Gerard: Actually the very first time we played the Electric Factory, we got a review in Revolver that said I looked like the creepy son of Billy Corgan or something like that. It was a good review though. Mikey: Yeah, you look like how Jakob Dylan looks like his dad, you look like that with Billy Corgan. LW: Jakob Dylan is hotter than his dad so that's sort of a compliment. Mikey: Yeah, it is. Matt: He kept his hair. Frank: Have you seen Bob Dylan lately? They need to whell him out, he's dead. I think he's dead and no one's saying anything. LW: What do you think about your local scene? Gerard: Can't wait to go back to it. Frank: Ahh, Jersey. LW: Where in Jersey are you from? Frank: Newark. LW: Oh, ok. I'm from Cherry Hill. Frank: Oh really? Listen to Bombshelter Productions.They're really good. Gerard: Yeah, we're doing a hall show with Bombshelter... Ray: February 28. Gerard: Yeah, February 28. Frank: Big Wig... Mikey: We're gonna try to do those as many times as possible. LW: Yeah, its fun to see a local band come back and play a show. Gerard: It sucks cause because, it's like we, fuckin like almost wasted away too early in really big shows and we didn't play enough of the halls. Like, I can count on 2 hands probably, the number of halls we played. It sucks. And basements. Our best shows have been at colleges, halls, and basements. We've had a couple great shows on big stages, you know, but that barricade, thats fuckin shit. The fact that we're all 10 feet above... Frank: I dunno how you got through that monitor, dude. I thought I was gonna bust my ass. Ray: Well, I scoped it out before... Gerard: I tested it out before too, but, I was still like, "Fuck this!" Frank: DC was fine, like, it wasn't that far but I still didn't like the barricade. LW: The TLA down on South Street is better. Frank: I wanna play there! Ray: Do they still have barricades up like that? LW: They still have barricades but the stage is lower so you can see everything a lot better. LW: How did you guys get hooked up with Eyeball? Gerard: I had known Alex for years and he made a big policy not to sign friends' bands, and we were friends for years so I didn't think he would sign us but he saw us at like our 3rd show and he was like, "Dude, why don't you just come be part of the family? We can make it work". And we did. And it's pretty cool. LW: This lineup's been together since 2002? Gerard: Yeah, Frankie hopped on right before we recorded the record. Frank: I was in a band that was on Eyeball before. Matt: Yeah, so we used to play together. Gerard: They helped start us. LW: How important are sales stats to you? Do you get any pressure from your label? Frank: Pshhh... Gerard: That's one of the best parts about being on Eyeball: they don't give a shit. We always try to be successful and we want the music out there, that's the most important thing. Like, sound scanning doesn't mean shit to us, anything like stats doesn't mean anything to us. When we get to a venue or a city and we show up and we get on stage and we see all these kids sing along, that's how we know. Ray: Its not like a piece of paper that says 39 or 10 or whatever, it's the kids. Matt: They can all go get if off the internet anyway so why even care, you know? LW: I was going to ask that next. What about the availability of your music on the internet? Frank: Get it however you can! Gerard: I feel that like bands that are really small at the indie level, and labels that are at that level that are struggling, you should support them. Download it, if you like it, go buy it. Ray: Anything though, go to a show and buy some merch. Frank: We'd rather you come see us live. Mikey: I love the artwork, like album covers and the linear notes, like how can you get a stack of cds that say like... Gerard: Sharpieee Frank: I'm such a collector of music that I need the cover art, so I mean, like, go steal it... LW: What are your plans for the next release? Do you have any ideas production or material-wise? Frank: The first song we played... Gerard: The first track that we opened with is pretty much going to be the track that summarizes the whole record. It's a concept about revenge. We're taking March off just to write. We're not going into the studio anytime soon but we have all this music in us from the last 6 months and we wanna get it down so maybe we'll start playin some of this newer stuff out live. We wanna support this record. LW: Are you looking forward to Skate & Surf? All: Yeah! Frank: Oh yeah. Andrew WK! We met him last night. Ray: That was awesome. Frank: He wore tight green sweatpants and flannel and, uh, a big hat. I love that guy. LW: Do you have any other big festivals planned? What else are you doing this year? Gerard: Europe. Reading Festival. Mikey: The one that, like, Oasis always plays. LW: What goals have you accomplished this year? Gerard: Everything we wanted to and more. Frank: We've been so lucky it's not even funny. Gerard: It was me and Mikey's personal goal to play in Irving Plaza. We did that last night...and the night before. Every single goal. To have a record out, we did it, play in front of as many people as possible... Matt: Play Warped Tour Gerard: I think Warped Tour is the only thing left that we all sat around and said, "Hey, we wanna do this." Frank: So as soon as that happens, we're done! Matt: We can just stop. LW: So that's the only major thing left? All: No... Gerard: I dunno what we're striving for. I personally...we're striving to get it out to as many people as possible. Have that energy that we're putting out spit back at us. And to create really great moments when we play instead of us just, "Hey, we're a band you've never heard of, come check us out". I wanna get past that. That's my personal goal. LW: Have you faced any big challenges so far? Gerard: Getting used to touring. I mean that's the hardest thing any band has to do and once they get over that hump and get used to it they can really do whatever they want. I mean, a touring band is the kind of band that reaches people. MP3's don't reach people, getting out there reaches people. LW: As a band, how have you changed since the beginning? Gerard: A lot! Matt: We got Frankie! Frank: I got skinnier, we don't eat on tour. Gerard: [pointing at Ray] He's got an afro now! We got way more violent on stage. We're not trying to bring a violent message...it's not so much violence as a release of positive and negative energy. That causes accidents sometimes. LW: Where do you see yourselves heading in the future? Frank: Creating an MCR universe... Ray: A little MCR world. Gerard: I dunno, doin what we're doin now, touring. Frank: Reaching as many kids as possible and just... Matt: It's hard to tell cause we were just seein this in the near future, and it's hard to even think what's after this. Gerard: Yeah, I dunno what's after this. Frank: You don't know how lucky we've been. We've been together for a year. It's so silly, it's fuckin silly. We're really appreciative. I'm still collecting applications for Burger King... LW: If you had to write a State-of-the-Union-address-style speech about popular music, what would your main points be? Ray: Oh boy. Do it Frankie. Matt: Kill it! Mikey: I mean, there's nothin wrong with pop music. It's all the songs that everyone listens to when nobody's around, you know? Everybody loves that shit, so if you say you don't like it, you're fuckin lying. Everyone loves the new Justin Timberlake song and if you don't you're probably lying. Frank: I'm sick and fucking tired of people not writing their own goddam songs and getting on the radio and pretending like they're...like they know what's up. And, like, I'm tired of all that. I'm tired of bands that totally suck and kids buyin their t-shirts and being like, "Oh, this is what punk is" or "This is what hardcore is". And all these people don't know or care what it's all about or anything like that and I'm really psyched for real music and honest music to come out. Like Thursday. Bands like The Ghost, Sleep Station, Midtown, AFI. Bands that mean it, that have been there, that kids don't even know about and all these bands like Good Charlotte and Sum 41 and all these fuckin shit pop bands out there are influenced by these bands and rip them off. Matt: Or their writers rip them off. Frank: And no one fucking cares. I dunno, I'm really waiting for all this shit to be destroyed and that's one of my goals too. To get up there and if I get 10 kids to not buy Sum 41 cds and actually get into real music, like buy a Refused cd, please. If I can do that, then I'll feel like I've done something. And that's the way I feel about that! LW: Feel better? Frank: Little bit. Yeah. LW: Is there anything else we didn't touch on that you wanna share? Frank: Yes! Support indie scenes, support your local scene, support local bands! Put on a show. Do something. Write a letter to your fuckin asshole president who is bombing innocent people for no reason. Just make a difference. Cause one person can do something. If you just sit back and pretend, like, you know, like, "Oh it's not my problem" or "I can't do anything about it", you're just adding to the bullshit. And don't talk shit about things you don't know about, like, bands like Thursday and Midtown and bands that are comin out that worked their asses off to get stuff. People call them sellouts because they got success. There's a fine line between selling out and success. Don't you think it'd be better to hear Thursday on the radio than Creed? Seriously. This is our scene, all of ours, support it! Don't fuck up venues. Don't be an asshole. It's not punk rock to be an asshole. And another thing. If you go to shows just to kick somebody's ass, you're stupid, you're a jock and you're fuckin ruining everything. I got into punk rock because I wasn't accepted anywhere else and it was a place where everyone was accepted for who they were and what they wanted to be and to go there and make that a scene thats scary for kids to come to, being elitists about that, just defeats the whole purpose. So don't be an asshole. LW: What do you have to say about the bashing that Midtown gets for the whole, uh, thing? Frank: Fuck you! Do you have any clue what happened with that? No! You have no clue dude. Seriously. Not that it's a situation to even be made known, but you don't know what they went through cause it's no one's fuckin business. And trust me. They worked for everything they've gotten.

Linked Universe: Choose You're own adventure [2]

Master Post

Character Health and Inventory

Previous Part

---

"stand ground" combined 70% w/no health potion

---

"We stay," Twilight says, ignoring the stinging pain in his side. It's not bad, he doesn't need to waste a potion on that. "I say we stay. Like you all said, running will just tire us, and all of us are here, we can take them I'm sure."

Time gives Twilight a long look that only lasts a moment before sighing. "Wild, you're on backup, pick off any that we don't notice if there's more than us. If there's less, come back and help."

Wild nods, then retreats into the forest, probably to climb a tree.

"Okay heroes," Warriors says, lifting his shield arm and his sword. "On guard!"

Twilight straightens his guard with a swallow, facing towards the incoming, ever louder danger.

It's like the air snaps, one minute it's clear, and the next several snarling faces crash through the bushes, the leading Wolfos colliding with Warriors' shield first. Luckily, just as was hoped, there's no more monsters than there are heroes.

Twilight raises his sword, and takes a breath.

---

Before you vote, please read instructions<3

Picking a combat Style all revolves around how much you're willing to risk damaging your characters. Low Risk would mean a safe battle, but to detur you guys from choosing low risk every time, I'm adding a mechanic called "Stress". Stress gathers over time with Low Risk and Medium Risk options, and after 3 has been gathered in total, something unfortunate can happen to the characters later in the story. Things like a broken weapon, or an unexpected ambush, or some damage taken, etc.

Low Risk - Low chance of Damage - High chance of Stress

Medium Risk - Medium Chance of Damage - Medium chance of Stress

High Risk - High Chance of Damage - Low Chance of Stress

Push Yourself - No Damage - 1 Stress

To help y'all out, here's some of the basic DCs I've set for these options

Low Risk: DC <40% successful battle, but a D6 of damage per 10% below for a random Link each. >40% success with no damage. >80% No Stress

Medium Risk: DC <30% failed battle, 3d8 damage for random Link Each, choose between rebattle or retreat, 30%-50% successful battle, 1d8 of damage per 10% below 50%. >60% No Stress

High Risk: DC <40% failed battle, take 4d10 of damage for random Link, choose between retry or retreat. 40%-60% successful battle, take 1d10 of damage per 10% below 60% for random Link Each. <30% No Stress

These numbers are not permanent for every combat situation, sometimes DCs for success and damage DCs will change, but the Stress DC will usually be the same idea.

---

Stats:

Twilight Gains 1d6 of HP

(98/100HP)

(Im at work and I don't have my zelda dice with me I'm sorry 😔)

Lulu’s End Of Summer Party!

to celebrate me reaching 1.7k and hockey season starting soon I decided to do a prompt list party! this will run for one week sep 16 - 23.

all posts will be under #lulussummerparty

when requesting please send in the full prompt and not just the number. this makes it easier for me, the writer. if you don’t do this and just send the number your request will be deleted no questions asked.

you can find my list of who I write for here

1. "I love you."

2. "don't let go'

4. " can't lose you”

5. "how'd you find me?"

6. " got you, don't worry"

7. "I'll always wait for you"

8. " have to keep you safe"

9. "I knew you'd come for me"

10. "I'll take care of it, don't worry"

11. "just- just hold me for a second"

12. "I thought I'd never see you again"

13. "I know it hurts, we're almost done"

14. "you're the most important thing to me"

15. "I trust you more than anyone in the world"

16. "you don't understand, I will do anything to protect you"

17. "You're jealous aren't you?" "I'm not jealous."

18. "could just use a hug."

19. "I saw that. You just checked out my ass."

20. "You're everything to me."

21. " don't care what they think, to me, you are perfect."

22. "You're not going to lose me.'

23. "Hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that."

24. "How much of that did you hear?"

25. " could kiss you right now."

26. "Just pretend to be my date."

27. "I'm going to take care of you."

28. "Are you still awake.."

29. "Don't get up. I'll do it."

30. "I think I love you."

31. "Just one kiss?"

32. "You're adorable when you are sleepy."

33. "It's ok. I couldn't sleep anyway."

34. "Shhh, come back to bed."

35. "Wait! don't pull away... not yet."

36. "You always make me blush so much!"

37. "From the second I saw you, I couldn't get over how beautiful you are.

38. "No you can't get up. You are my prisoner for today."

39. "You own my heart."

40. "I said I would be there when you need it but-" "You weren't. That's the thing. You weren't."

41. "Please don't leave me."

42. "Letting go was the hardest thing I have ever had to do."

43. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way."

44. "Why can't you love me back?"

45. "I can't forgive you."

46. "Leave."

47. "It's okay. I understand. You can leave. They all do."

48. "Don't. Don't do that. Don't make me choose. Every time I'll pick him. Every time. I can't have you hate me for that."

49. "I don't have a choice. I never had."

50. "Does it ever stop hurting?" "No, you just make room for it."

51. "We are not the same and never will be."

52. "You've never hurt me. Ever."

53. "I don't want your apology."

54. "You're not safe here."

55. " wish you were here."

56. " wasn't ready to say goodbye."

57. "Stop pushing everyone away."

58. "It's better this way."

59. "Don't make this harder than it already is."

60. "There's nothing you can do."

61. "It wasn't your fault."

62. "Don't leave."

63. "Say that again."

64. "I promised I would protect you. And I intend to keep that damn promise."

65. "You weren't supposed to laugh! I'm so embarrassed."

66. "No, don't cry. I hate it when you cry."

67. "You're burning up."

68. "Hold my hand. You are going to be fine."

69. "You need to eat something."

70. "Why didn't you tell me?"

71. "Don't touch me!"

72. "You think I am dumb enough to fall for that stupid move?"

73. "Do you trust me?"

74. "Be more careful next time. I don't want to bandage you up again."

75. "I'll never let you go."

76. "Hands off."

77. "It was you the whole time."

78. "I feel like I can't breathe."

79. "Prove it."

80. "I might never get another chance to say this."

81. "You make me want things I can't have."

82. "Tell me I'm wrong."

83. "You did what!?"

84. "We'd make such a cute couple."

85. "Don't ask me that."

86. "You're not my favorite person today."

87. "you didn't just break my heart, you broke my trust.

88. "i don't have the energy to fight you anymore."

89. "I'm not ready to live without you."

90. "you can't be bitter now, this was your decision."

91. "I lost myself the day i lost you."

92. "please don't make me go, I want to stay."

93. "you said you'd follow me anywhere" - "you know I can't follow you there."

94. "you're the only mistake i don't regret, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake."

95. "you didn't deserve me."

Queer Books, day 23/30

This book was really, really big. It was my gateway drug into romanceland(ia). I had not realized that queer romance was even a thing until I saw a friend post about this on her insta. I mean, one time I asked a friend for romance novel recommendations and she suggested Outlander, and, like, no. I know some people like dark books but my idea of a good time doesn't involve anyone getting threatened with rape. So. For a long time I didn't read romance, and then there was Red, White, and Royal Blue.

I started on the audiobook and, okay. One of the MCs has the same name as my now-5yo and also the narrator at one point says "jif" instead of "gif," so I switched to an ebook and it was fine. But I still have feelings about this.

The writing here is serviceable, at times quite droll. It's liberal wish fulfillment at its most obvious (what if we had elected a younger version of Hillary in 2016 with a Latino son?); what if the royal family was not full of bigots and people with far more money than brains? The book is a little poorly edited--in one scene a night is both moonless and moonfull. There are some errors about how primogeniture works in the royal family and…you know, other errors that suggest it's not been fact checked. A political candidate having a 70% chance of winning doesn't mean that they are going to win by 70 points, and I don't know why any of the characters would find that surprising. Anyway.

I feel okay saying these things because this book has won a bunch of awards and it's going to be a fucking MOVIE and also, despite those things, I like it? Like it was fluffy and sweet and I read it at the tail end of a very difficult pregnancy, right around the 2020 election, and I fucking NEEDED something to put me entirely elsewhere. And this did the trick very efficiently.

Key quote:

The next slide is titled: EXPLORING YOUR SEXUALITY: HEALTHY, BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE WITH THE PRINCE OF ENGLAND? She apologizes for not having time to come up with better titles. Alex actively wishes for the sweet release of death. The one after is: FEDERAL FUNDING, TRAVEL EXPENSES, BOOTY CALLS, AND YOU.

Okay, well, you know the deal. 10/10, go read.

gun rant: long

i remember i came across this one "gun article" clearly written by somebody who knew very little about guns but was being paid to write about them and had access to google, i believe it was about the AK-100 series of rifles. they noted that russia had been selling a country (i forget which but it might've been india) a fair amount of AK-103s, and the writer made a comment that stuck with me. it was something to the effect of "this country currently has firearms in 7.62x51mm NATO as standard, but for a reason i can't seem to understand they're transitioning into the significantly less powerful 7.62x39mm?" now, i'd prefer not to belittle this person for just like, not knowing their shit in regards to guns since it is a pretty complex topic with a lot of nuance and contradictions, so here's why a military would go for a less powerful cartridge:

with a lot of things, "good enough" isn't enough. obviously this depends on a lot of factors, but if you told someone that the meal they cooked you was "good enough" there's a good chance they'd take it as something of an insult, y'know? in terms of power in guns, there's absolutely a threshold where "good enough" is absolutely enough. if you need a living thing to not be alive anymore, even if one cartridge does more damage than another, for specific tasks and purposes there's a point where enough damage is enough damage, since they're either dead or they're not. regretfully, we've yet to find a way to kill things even more dead than they already are, so for now making something dead is more or less a binary of "is it dead? then it's good enough". this is why the firearms world made the switch from only using full powered rifle cartridges to predominantly using intermediately powered rifle cartridges.

so, a little lesson in terminology followed by a little history lesson: there are certain, let's call them "ballparks" of a cartridge's power level, usually correlated with overall size. the most common ones i've heard used are "pistol cartridge", "full powered rifle cartridge", and "intermediate rifle cartridge". personally, i'm of the opinion that you could elaborate on that (there's a pretty significant difference in pistol cartridges designed for pocket guns as opposed to service handguns to magnums, just as there's a significant difference in short action full powereds and magnums, but i digress). but to put it in laymans terms, a pistol cartridge is just what a pistol would most likely use, a full powered rifle cartridge is for whole ass big rifles (if you want a very layman idea of it think sniper rifles), and intermediate guys are what bridge the gap between them. we saw widespread adoption of intermediate rifle cartridges starting with the AK-47 (and really moreso the AKM in 1959), and really took off with the NATO adoption of 5.56mm in the 60s and 70s. now, you may be thinking, "if it's just straight up weaker than the stuff that came before, why change it?" and there are a few reasons for that!

first of all, there's the matter of logistics. rifles in intermediate caliber (typically called assault rifles in military parlance) cost less materials to produce, as does the ammunition for them, they provide lower recoil relative to full powered rifle cartridges and therefore allow for better accuracy in full auto, they're smaller and lighter and therefore more maneuverable in tight spaces and have higher ammunition capacity in comparable designs (typical AR-15 and AK magazines both have 30 rounds standard, the comparable AR-10 and all other battle rifles of the era i'm aware of had 20 rounders). and all in all, remember what i said about "enough being good enough"? intermediate rifle cartridges are designed to propel a round at juuust the right velocity and weight that they still achieve an impressive wounding capability (at least relative to pistol rounds), with the main disadvantages relative to full powered rounds being a shortened effective range and worse armor penetrating capabilities. which, respectively don't really matter that much because we've known since ww2 that most actually effective combat has happened out to ranges maxing out at about 300 meters/yards (coincidentally what's considered the maximum effective range of every mainstream intermediate guy i'm aware of) and worse barrier penetration, particularly armor penetration (doesn't really matter because basically no military who focuses on armor focuses on armor for individuals, since armored vehicles are just way more impactful to focus on as far as i'm aware. also, to a certain extent armor penetration is a matter of bullet construction, and it's well documented that if properly designed around it an intermediate gamer is perfectly fine for it, particularly 7.62x39mm).

all of this is to say, of course there are deficiencies in intermediate rounds. hence why we haven't fully abandoned full powered rounds, we still have general purpose machineguns like the M240 (7.62x51mm) and the PKM (7.62x54mmR) and sniper rifles in even higher powered rounds like the AWM in .338 Lapua Mag (8.58x70mm), not to mention how we still have SMGs and PDWs in calibers like 9x19mm parabellum and 5.7x28mm. it's just that things like that tend to work best as a supplement rather than as the Core Fighting Rifle kinda deal, y'know? so yeah like, there's definitely a lot of reasons as to why you'd start transitioning away from a full powered gamer to an intermediate one, despite how the US is teasing wanting to switch back to a full powered one (which is a whole other can of worms, and i feel like that might be getting quietly shelved, but who knows. shit like this takes forever anyways, and it's not like the US military's needs as an entity are remotely comparable to my needs as Some Guy)