#I should have just yahtzeed this one

[84reedsy]

Fmk Marty jannetty, Rick steiner, buff Bagwell

🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 🙃 

F*ck: Marty Jannetty (He'll probably get pissed about me asking about Shawn Michaels the entire time lol) Marry: Buff Bagwell (I would like you to know that I said this with gritted teeth) Kill: Rick Steiner - (He almost was the F*ck choice, but some of his more recent comments got him booted from pleasuretown)

[prismatoxic]

loving the timeline i got to witness of:

-yahtzee reviews a game on zero punctuation -in the course of the script he finds a reason to bring up ayn rand/atlus shrugged, mostly as a joke -brings up ayn rand again as the closing punchline -final credits message is "bioshock was a good game wasn't it" -one day later the escapist uploads a new extra punctuation about why bioshock's opening is amazing

did you get bioshock on the brain by any chance, mr. croshaw?

idk what his schedule of making ZP/EP looks like, though i do suspect that EP might possibly be visually edited by someone else? i'm like 99% sure yahtz still does ZP by himself except to pass it by matt the editor for notes on where he should maybe swear less, but EP is kind of visually different (despite using yahtzee's art still) so maybe he just reads his script and lets matt do the visuals? idk. the man's busy he puts out 2 videos like every week, i wouldn't blame him

regardless, my point is that idk where in the process he decided to make an EP on bioshock, but the idea of him writing the sea of stars script, thinking about ayn rand a little too hard, and getting on a bioshock kick because of it is pretty damn funny

if he addresses this in the bioshock video i'm going to feel very silly but i was just taking a food + youtube break so i only watched the sea of stars review for now

[howtofightwrite]

For a character that virtually can’t die and regenerates in order to keep living, how do you make action interesting? Emphasize they still feel pain, why they’re doing it?

I'm actually going to step back a bit from this question first, and complement it. This is a very honest question, and something most writers who include violence in their work, should really think about. Even if you don't think you have characters like this, you do.

Now, I'm going to dunk on Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw for a moment. Ages ago (I think it was in one of his Resistance reviews), Yahtzee described, “threatening to blow up the world,” as the laziest form of raising the stakes. Because, “hey, I live on a world.” He's mostly correct. Threatening your protagonist's life is even lazier. In the vast majority of cases, your audience knows you won't go through with it. That you won't kill off your protagonists.

With that in mind, when you decide your protagonist is completely immortal, that changes less about how you write them than you might expect. The biggest difference is simply that they're directly aware of their plot armor, rather than them engaging in faux indecision based on their perceived mortality. Again, this is something that every writer who uses violence should think about, at least a bit. It is natural for a character to fear for their life, and have reservations about risking their life, but making the part where your character's lives are on the line isn't automatically suspenseful. In a lot of cases (consciously or not), your audience will call your bluff, when you threaten to kill off a major character.

If you think back to major character deaths where something drops them without warning, part of what makes those scenes work is the lack of (apparent) setup. The writer didn't spend pages teasing you with the idea, they just went for the throat and ended that character on the spot. This is more respectful of your audience, because you're not telling them, “well, I might kill this character, or I might not.”

To be clear, I'm not saying that there's no place for teasing your audience with a character's impending demise, just pointing out that in a lot of cases, this won't generate the kind of suspense you'd hope for.

So, to get back on topic, how do you make it interesting? Remember that while this character can't die, the same is not true for the characters around them. Depending on the tone you're going for, you could create an absolutely brutal crucible effect, where everyone around your immortal gets burned off, sooner or later. Whether that's literal, or figurative, is up to you. Even if your character can't die, watching people they care about suffer and die is going to have an effect on them.

You probably don't need to draw special attention to the physical pain they experience, but you do want to be aware of it. Especially in the context of how pain affects the victim's behavior. Beyond that, there is probably an element of pain being far more annoying to the immortal than it would be to a normal person. They know it's not telling them anything meaningful, but it is distracting.

Long-term, both of these can easily result in personality shifts. And, legitimately, this is a scenario where a character may be immortal, but they would still experience significant changes over time, and with the growing emotional pain, could have very adverse effects on your personality. This does have some very real, “live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” potential. How many friends can you lose before you stop caring? How many funerals can you attend before you start taking the phrase, “you're either part of the solution or part of the problem,” a little too far? How many times can you pick yourself up off the pavement a blood-covered alleyway, surrounded by corpses, before you start to forget what made you human in the first place?

And, that's not the only option. The simplest answer for maintaining tension when one of your characters is immortal is keeping your eye on what they're trying to accomplish. Keep track of their objectives, because I guarantee they can fail those. Even just keeping their own nature concealed from the mortal world is probably fairly important, because of the idea that men in hazmat suits will drag them away to some research lab and poke them until they figure out how to replicate their immortality, is a classic (and potentially plausible) threat. (Bonus points, if you're wanting to loop in something like the medieval inquisitions, or some other secret societies that could pose this kind of a threat.)

So, what do you do? To dig out an old cliché threat, “there are fates worse than death,” and it's probably worth exploring them. This also opens up new possibilities for threats. Finally, it's worth remembering that immortality does not guarantee success. If your character is hoping for that, it might be time to give them a very harsh lesson.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Lumine, Eula, Noelle (obviously), and anyone else of your choosing with a late night working S/O, how would they go about persuading their S/O that they need to go to bed and sleep?

(Genshin Impact) Jean, Noelle, Shenhe, Dehya, Lisa, Xinyan, and Ei forcing their S/O to sleep

...Maybe I should sleep after writing this considering it's 12:45 AM. Also, Lumine and Eula's parts were done in a prompt very similar to this one!

"My goodness my glass house is sparkling delightfully in the morning sun, what a nice day to indulge in my favorite hobby of projectile mineralogy! - Yahtzee Croshaw

Yeah, Jean has absolutely zero room to criticize her S/O for working late into the night.

She does the exact same thing, usually passing out for doing so.

But ever since S/O had come into her life, she had been working on adjusting her schedule so she can properly rest at the behest of Barbara, for both their sakes.

Not to mention S/O was also concerned for her well being, so a compromise is made between the two.

(Jean) "If you rest S/O, then I will too. Like Lisa says, there's always tomorrow."

The last thing everyone needed in the Knights was two workaholics falling unconscious after all.

Noelle also has no room to criticize S/O for working too hard.

That being said, Noelle usually brings some tea for S/O, gently sitting it next to them.

(Noelle) "S/O, I know that I may not be the right person to say this, but you should get some rest."

Similar to Jean, Noelle also makes sure to take better care of herself so S/O doesn't have to worry, and hopes that they would do the same for her.

She has no problem helping S/O get tucked into bed before quickly settling in next to them.

WIth Noelle, she doesn't take long to convince them at all.

(Shenhe) "You should be resting S/O."

Shenhe is quite confused as to why S/O is up at this hour.

They should be resting, surely the work can wait until tomorrow?

At first she offers to stay up, thinking it was something related to no one keeping watch.

Only for S/O to explain it was just some work they could be finishing tonight instead of the morning.

(Shenhe) "It'd be far more efficient to have a clear mind and work later, would it not?"

Shenhe stares at S/O with an innocent expression, eventually making them break and relent.

It makes her feel more at ease, knowing S/O won't suddenly pass out from exhaustion.

(Dehya) "Jeez, you're still at that? Come on, it can wait till morning!"

Dehya playfully wraps her arms around S/O's upper body.

If they refuse to budge she'll make a loud and obnoxious sigh.

(Dehya) "If you don't put the paper down, I'll pick you up! It's reaaaal easy for me to do that, y'know!"

When they relent, Dehya chuckles and stretches her arms.

(Dehya) "Finally. Some shut eye will make you feel better too. Can't get paid for your work if you're paying for medical bills."

Part of her wishes that they would try to continue working, just for the excuse of getting to pick them up and embarrass them.

But alas, that would have to wait for another day.

Lisa refuses to bring any work home once she's done for the day.

And by all the damned souls in hell, Lisa will enforce that rule upon S/O as well.

(Lisa) "Darling, no bringing work home.~"

Despite her teasing tone, she is 100% serious.

Lisa was a hard worker herself, but that was only when she was supposed to be on the clock.

Their home was a place to relax and not think about work, so she'll first take S/O's hands gently and have them wrap around her hands instead.

Archons forbid S/O tries to continue working, then the tone of her voice becomes more lethal as S/O starts to feel electricity in the air.

(Lisa) "Won't you pay attention to little ol' me instead of some papers, S/O?"

(Xinyan) "S/O, get your tush into this bed! Don't make me sing some crappy ol' love song, I'll do it!"

The tone of Xinyan is half playful and half serious.

She doesn't want to play some cheesy song just to catch S/O's attention (mostly).

Xinyan just doesn't want S/O to overexert themselves when they don't have to.

Even she didn't write songs that late into the night

...Well, mostly, but S/O didn't need to know that little detail.

(Xinyan) "Trust me, your brain will make the work flow waaay better when you sleep, speaking from experience here!"

Ei convinces S/O to rest, though not in the way most would imagine.

Being an Archon, she could simply use her godly authority to force S/O to heel.

Or if it was the Raiden Shogun, then smiting S/O was an option.

Instead, Ei has S/O stop their work simply by being herself.

(Ei) "S/O, if you are going to stay awake during this time, can we eat some dessert?...It's too late at night? If you're working, then we can drink some dango milk!"

Simply put, it was annoying them for sweets if they stayed up for too long.

While it was because she was concerned for their well being, since humans are meant to rest, she was holding out for some hope that she can sneak in extra dessert for the night.

So far, it didn't work, much to her quiet dismay.

[thespiritssaidso]

Yeah, But That Backflip Though

Summary: Shawn and Gus need to interrogate someone who frequents a place called ‘Aerial Acrobatics’. Unfortunately, Shawn’s caught the eye of one of the teachers, and now has to revisit an old friend of his: gymnastics.

Notes: Is this just an excuse to write gymnast!Shawn? Yes. Is this also just an excuse to sneak in my absolute most favorite (and currently only) OC ship? Perchance. 

And yes, for anyone wondering, the title is a vine reference. If you don’t know which one I’m talking about, here it is

—————

Gus pulled his car into park in front of a large building that looked vaguely like a warehouse. He thought it was a warehouse until he saw the large sign above the glass double doors saying ‘Aerial Acrobatics’ in big pink calligraphy. “Why are we here again, Shawn?” 

“For the last time, we’re here to interrogate Drew Oberon. The dead guy only had a few close friends, and she was one of them. They got together every other week to just paint.” 

“How do you know that?” 

“Well for starters, all the paintings in his house? Every single one had the initials M. T. signed on the top left corner. Not the best signature, in my opinion. Like, at least make it something cool-”

“Shawn.”

“-Also his calendar was open and I saw the dates he’d marked for when he’d meet up with Drew. And his other friends for other activities. He’d color coded the whole thing, it kind of reminded me of the calendar you’ve got hung up in the office.”

Gus tried to steer the conversation back to the original point. “So you think she poisoned him with paint?” 

Shawn hummed. “That’s a good idea. Too bad it’s wrong.”

“Tsch.” 

“No, this guy was killed by something else. Something interesting Woody found in his stomach.” 

“How interesting?” 

“Mushroom interesting. Something called ‘The Destroying Angel’.” 

Gus couldn’t help the surprise that crossed his face. “The Destroying Angel?! Those things are incredibly toxic! It causes severe nausea and vomiting, hallucinations… it practically melts your liver! It’s one of the worst ways to go out.”

“So is it above or below bellyflopping on water from ten stories up?” 

“It’s above it. Way above it.” Personally, the mushroom’s side effects really unnerved Gus. Not because of the general grossness of it all, but because once you actually showed symptoms of being poisoned by the fungus, it would be too late. 

“I doubt that. But anyways. This girl, Drew, she likes to post pictures on her Twitter account of the different places she goes hiking. And you’ll never guess what was in the background of some of those pictures.” 

“Destroying Angels?” 

“Yahtzee! She probably picked a few while on one of her extraditions-” 

“You mean excursion.” 

“I’ve heard it both ways. Anyways, Drew used the mushrooms she’d gathered to poison the poor guy.”

Gus nodded. “Okay, what’s her motive?”

Shawn unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. “That is why we’re here now. It doesn’t make sense. Drew has all the means, but no motive. I need to talk to her. Read her. Feel her, maybe. I need her side of the story.”

Gus followed him out the car and into the parking lot. “Have you told Juliet and Lassie about all this?” 

“You kidding? If Lassie even got wind of the fact that Drew breathed the same air as the murder weapon, he’d have her arrested faster than you can say ‘poison mushrooms’.” Shawn went quiet, and made a face. “Not gonna lie, that wasn’t my best.”

“Okay, fine then. So, again, why are we here? The last time I checked, this is not a forest.” And he was right. There was a few trees here and there, but they were all planted in the sidewalk. There was no reason for them to be at a gymnastics building in the middle of the city. 

“Well, a little birdie told me that Drew comes here every day at noon and hangs around for about an hour before leaving.”

“Was that little birdie named Twitter?” 

“The name of the birdie isn’t important, Gus. If you looked at the time, you’d see it’s currently… 12:03. Which means she should be here.” And with that, he pushed the double doors wide open and walked in. 

Shawn strode up to the counter where there was a woman sitting behind the desk, enraptured by something on her computer. He knocked on the countertop, startling her. 

She recovered quite quickly, and looked up at them with a smile that was almost too big for her face. “Hi! How can I help you two?”

“Hello, my name is Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner Evan ‘Starfish’ Spencer. No relation of any kind. We’re with the SBPD and need to talk to someone named Drew.” 

Gus shook his head at the new nickname. He didn’t know how Shawn managed to come up with a new and weird nickname for every case. It was definitely commendable, that was for sure. Shawn’s imagination never seemed to run dry. At least this time he was semi-honest about their intentions. He’d been ready for him to come up with some ridiculous job that most certainly did not exist yet the other person would somehow buy into. 

The lady behind the desk sat up at the name. “Why? Are they alright?” She asked, although she seemed just a tad distracted, not taking her eyes off of Shawn. Her eyes continued roving his body as she stood up from behind the desk. 

“We just need to ask her some questions, Ms…?” 

“Schulz. Charlie Schulz.” Okay, she was definitely distracted. She’d completely circled around the counter and was now standing right next to the two. “And they won’t be here ‘til later.”

“Ooookay… uh…” he trailed off as she walked even closer to him, going so far as to slightly shove Gus out of the way. 

“Hey! What-”

Charlie held up a hand to shush Gus. “Hold- hold on, can I just?…” Without waiting for confirmation, she began to circle Shawn, sizing him up, hand to her chin, as if she were looking at something new she wanted to test out. She was nodding to herself, and mumbling words like ‘sturdy’ and ‘probably flexible’. The last one didn’t sound very reassuring. 

“Okay, what is this, some kind of shakedown, minus the shaking part-” he was cut off by Charlie poking the space between his shoulder blades. “Woah! Look, don’t touch!”

“Oh hush, you don’t have to worry about me, bestie.” She hummed and nodded to herself, as if reaching a decision. Then she reached out to grab his hand, marching off to the locker rooms with Shawn in tow. “I’m sure there’s a spare leotard back here that’ll fit you!” 

“Woah woah woah, I didn’t say anything about-”

“I know you didn’t, that’s why I’m doing it for you! I’d take a guess we probably have your size. Now come on, I want to see if those hips can fit into our standard leotard.”

“No no no no no, I haven’t- I’m not-” 

The door slammed shut, cutting off the conversation from Gus. He heard muffled sounds of protest, arguing, and then silence. 

Eventually, Shawn resurfaced from the locker room, wearing a green and yellow sparkly leotard. He was walking awkwardly, and reaching down every once in a while to pick at the fabric stretching around his crotch. 

Charlie reached down and slapped his hand away. “Quit picking at it, man. You’ll just make it worse.” 

Shawn dramatically pulled his hand away. “Ow! Watch the package!” Shawn stopped and looked at Gus’ expression. “I don’t want to hear it.” 

Gus unsuccessfully hid a grin, and held up his hands in defense. “I’m not saying anything.” 

Charlie clapped her hands together, only slightly startling the two men. “Okay! Let’s go. Stretches first, of course. Then, we’re going to see how well you do on the bars-”

“What about the part where we talk to Drew? When do we get to do that?”

“They texted me that they were running late. Something about misplacing their gouache. But right now it’s gymnastics time, pretty boy!” She started to excitedly jumping up and down on the balls of her feet. “This is gonna be great!”

———

“This is stupid.” 

“Quiet. Just keep your leg in that position for another fifteen seconds.” 

Shawn groaned, and looked over to Gus. “You alright buddy?” 

Gus didn’t feel alright. He actually felt ready to pass out. Shawn had managed to kick up his leg perfectly vertical to his torso and was only holding it up with only one hand. The other exercises he’d been fine with seeing, even if some made him a little uneasy. But this was just plain unnatural. “I’ll be fine when you put your leg down. Since when have you been able to do…that?!” 

“Since forever? You don’t remember my dad shipping me off to gymnastics every week on Tuesdays and Fridays?” 

“All I remember is you disappearing for 2 hours twice a week.” 

“And you never questioned it?”

“I thought it was a little weird, but I assumed it was just more of your dad trying to train you!” 

“Well, you’re not entirely wrong there buddy.” Shawn let go of his leg, allowing it to fall on the floor next to his other leg. 

Before he could get another word in to Gus, however, Charlie interrupted. “Okay, not a lot of time on the clock here, so we’re just gonna have you on bars. Good?” 

“I don’t actually have a say in this, do I?” 

“Nope! Here.” She handed Shawn a tub of chalk powder and some bandages. “I’m sure you know how to use these?” 

Shawn slumped forward as he took the objects. “Yeah...” 

As he wrapped up his hands up and dusted them with the chalk, Gus just continued watching from the sidelines. He had no idea if Shawn was actually any good at bars, let alone gymnastics. It didn’t really help that he’d never actually seen Shawn do any exercise of any kind either. Well, not in front of him, that is. But there were some… odd moments that were now surfacing to the front of his memory: Shawn lying down on the floor of the psych office; finding a mat stashed away in the closet; him sounding out of breath on the phone when Gus knew for sure that Shawn was at home. The list went on. 

“Okay, you ready?” 

“Well, I’m about put my life on the line. Actually, technically my hands’ life. And my back. And my neck. And face- yeah, my whole life. But it’s all good!” He placed a smile on his face, but it was just a little too big. 

Gus knew that tone. It was how Shawn sounded when he was deflecting, making jokes when really he was more than just nervous. Like right now. He could see it all over his face. He may have the body — Charlie’s words, not his — but he probably hadn’t done this in a while. It was making Gus nervous for Shawn too. 

Shawn dusted his palms of any excess chalk, a small cloud puffing from bandaged hands. 

Gus watched as Shawn stood underneath the bar and jumped up, grabbing the bar tightly in both hands. He hefted himself up in one fluid motion and leaned against the bar on his core. Smoothly and gracefully he pushed himself up in a plank, legs hovering in the air as his arm muscles shook minutely. 

Gus couldn’t help the look of surprise. Shawn, the man whose only exercise he’d personally witnessed was running away from bad guys, was successfully lifting his lower body into a handstand 6 feet above the ground on a 2-and-a-half-inch thick piece of plastic. 

Charlie began clapping from the sidelines. “Woooo! Nice cast, Shawn!”

But Shawn wasn’t finished. The look on his face was one of pure concentration, focusing on not face-planting into the bar and breaking his nose. He pursed his lips as he began tilting backwards, hands loosening just enough to allow his quick descent. 

As Shawn circled around the bar — all while keeping his body perfectly straight in a handstand — he quickly and expertly let go of the bar with one hand while in the peak of his arch and spun his body to face the other way before falling once more in another giant circle, but facing forward this time. 

Gus’ eyes were bugging out of his head at this point. He was currently seeing a whole other side of Shawn, one that was graceful and smooth. He continued ogling as his friend did yet another handstand, but this time one handed. 

He still couldn’t stop staring as Shawn put his hand back on the bar and let himself fall in a swing once more. Except this time, in what was probably an effort to show off, he did a flip — a flip — and landed perfectly on his feet on the mat, arms spread in a t-pose.  

Shawn was heavily panting, sweat beginning to bead on his face. He licked off some of it that was lining his upper lip. “How was that?” 

Charlie clapped very short and small claps, jumping up and down. “Wow, that was amazing! See, I knew you were gymnast material!”

Behind them, the sound of the door opening echoed through the gym. Gus and the other two turned to see who it was, and saw a… man? No, no, a woman. It was hard to tell, the androgynous figure not giving much to go off of. They were carrying a simple drawstring cloth bag in one hand, the other swinging nonchalantly by their side. 

“Hey, hun!” They greeted, completely ignoring Gus and Shawn. 

Charlie ran up to them and practically tackled them. “Drew! Did you get my lunch?”

“Sure did.” Drew reached into the bag and grabbed an opaque Tupperware. “Chicken parm salad, your favorite.” 

“Oh my god, you’re the best.” She eagerly grabbed it before her expression changed to suspicion, squinting her eyes. “You didn’t make this, did you?” 

“You crazy? I’m pretty sure if I did, all you’d be getting was a box fulla smoke. Nah, I had Parker make it.”

Charlie’s expression morphed back into one full of fondness. “You’re so sweet.” 

“Pretty sure that’s you, sugar.” 

They had both been inching closer and closer together before Shawn interrupted with a cough. The distance between the two didn’t change, instead they whipped their heads over to the men who were both awkwardly watching the couple. 

“Oh right! Drew, this is Shawn Spencer and his friend Evan Spencer-”

“Starfish. No relation.”

“Uh- yeah. They’re here with to ask you some questions.” 

Drew looked at the two suspiciously. “What’s so important that they have to ask me instead of you?”

“Well, they’re with the police, so-”

“Really? Come on, I already answered all of Detective Flat Stanley’s questions. If you really worked with them, you’d know that.”

Gus watched Shawn wipe off the sweat from his brow before he said, “That’s the thing, Drew. You see, I am no normal man. I’ve tried, but I’m just too amazing. I’m actually a psychic. And I’ve been getting some serious vibes from you.”

They raised an eyebrow and crossed their arms. “You have, have you now?” 

“Yes, in fact I’m getting something right now.” Shawn theatrically sucked a breath through his teeth, and shut his eyes as a hand flew to his temple. “I see… you, surrounded by green, lots of it. And brown. There’s a little gray too. Ehh… maybe some purple-”

Gus swiftly elbowed his friend in the arm. 

Shawn gave a short yelp. “Ow!” He shook it off and resumed his ‘vision’, this time with his eyes open instead of shut for dramatic effect. “You like to hang around the woods. No wait, scratch that. You don’t just hang out there, you like to hike there!” He winced. “Ew, you do that for fun?” 

Once again, Gus had to elbow Shawn. This time, he managed to dodge it, only barely. 

“I’m seeing plants, Drew. Grass, ferns, trees, moss, and mushrooms.” He paused, and turned to Gus. “Are mushrooms even plants?” 

“It’s still up for debate what fungi really are.”

Drew cut in with, “They’re not plants.”

“Unimportant! You harvested those mushrooms, the Demolishing Demons-”

“Destroying Angels, Shawn. I know you know what they’re called, you said it before-” 

“-Destroying Angels, cut them up, cooked them into a little meal, and gave them to your poor, probably innocent, definitely unknowing friend Matthew Timons.” He lowered the hand from his head. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” 

Before Drew could say something to defend themself, Charlie cut in. “I have several things to say on Drew’s behalf, actually. First of all: Who the hell do you think you are to accuse my girlfriend of killing off their friend?!”

Shawn and Gus jumped back at the unexpectedly harsh tone coming from the small woman. It was a monumental turnaround from the attitude she had shown just moments ago. She’d seemed so full of positive energy not long ago. But now she looked as though she could spit fire.

“Second of all: they can’t cook for shit. The last time Drew was in the kitchen they burned a pot of water trying to make Kraft Mac and Cheese as a surprise for me.” Charlie sucked in a breath and turned to her girlfriend. “I’m sorry, that was harsh. You’re not that bad-”

Drew gently put an arm around Charlie. “You’re fine, sugar. I really am that bad at cooking.”

Gus thought back to earlier, when Drew had presented the Tupperware box to Charlie. She’d asked them if they had made it in a wary tone, as if she was experienced in Drew’s cooking. And what she said just then practically confirmed it: Drew couldn’t cook, so they couldn’t have made something to get Matthew to eat it. He looked over to Shawn and saw that he was coming to the same conclusion. 

“Shawn? Gus?” 

The unexpected voice caused the four to whip their heads towards the source. It was Juliet, and right beside her was Lassiter.

Juliet’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. “What are you two doing here? And what are you wearing, Shawn?”

Shawn opened his mouth, then closed it. Even Gus didn’t know how to explain why he was wearing a leotard of all things. Charlie had just sort of dragged him into the locker room and forced him into the outfit. 

Drew looked at the two detectives in confusion. “What’s- what’s goin’ on here? I already answered your questions.”

Lassiter spoke up first. “Drew Oberon, you’re under arrest for the murder of Matthew Timons.” 

Again, Drew was cut off by Charlie. “On what grounds?” 

Lassiter took the lead. “Well, after we questioned Ms. Oberon — who was hostile at best during her questioning-”

Drew cut him off. “Yeah, you interrupted shroomie time, ‘course I was gonna be pissed-”

“I’m sorry, shroomie time? What, is that code for ‘Drug O’Clock’?” 

“No, it’s when Charlie and I-” Drew’s face turned red. “When we, uh- cuddle on a pile of mushroom plushies she’s collected over the years.” Their face didn’t stop growing red, seemingly embarrassed at having to tell strangers that they and their girlfriend had a specific time set aside to lounge together on top of a mound of toys.

They all stood in awkward silence before Juliet broke it. “Uhm, we did some background checks on her, and it turns out that she has a degree in mycology.” 

Drew looked like they were about to say something, probably to defend themself. But, once again, they were interrupted, this time by Shawn. “What- what is that, the study of colons?” 

Gus clicked his tongue in annoyance. “It’s the study of fungi, Shawn.” 

“How do you just know this stuff?”

“It’s common knowledge!”

“Oh yeah, mycology. It’s right up there next to the word for the fear of rubber bands.” 

“For your information, that’s lastihophobia.”

“You’re really not beating the allegations here, Gus.”

“Would you two shut your yaps?!” Lassiter nearly shouted at them. He continued where Juliet left off. “Matthew Timons was poisoned by a mushroom called ‘the Destroying Angel’. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you? I’ll answer that for you: you do.” He brought out a pair of cuffs from his suit pockets. “Hands behind your back, please.” 

Drew couldn’t even say a word, too shocked by all the evidence currently stacked against her. All she could do was numbly follow Lassiter’s orders.  

Charlie was equally stunned. “What? You’re taking them away? Just like that?!”

Shawn stepped forward and in an effort to calm her, said, “Look, Charlie, I didn’t mean-”

Slap!

Shawn physically recoiled, and Gus winced in sympathy. It looked like it had hurt. Heck, it sounded like it hurt, too. 

Juliet quickly reacted, pinning Charlie’s arms to her sides to keep her from potentially harming Shawn further. Lassiter simply watched from the side — still keeping a strong grip on Drew — eyebrows raised in surprise. Charlie didn’t resist, letting herself become entrapped by the detective. 

Shawn turned back around, now sporting a red handprint on his left cheek. He gently tapped it with a finger, and sucked a breath through gritted teeth. He looked back to Charlie, who’d stood still and only moved to blow a strand of hair from her face. “Charlie, I promise you we’ll prove Drew is innocent.”

She just shook her head. “Don’t bother. You’ve already done enough.” Charlie pulled free from Juliet and stormed out of the building to follow after Lassiter and Drew, who had already made their way out. 

———

Ao3 link

For anyone curious, here’s the list of the moves name’s that Shawn performed in order:

Pull up from hang: The pull up from hang is a skill that requires you to pull your body up towards the bar using only your upper body strength. This exercise helps build strength in your arms, shoulders, and back.

Cast to horizontal: In the Cast to Horizontal, the gymnast casts up and levels out in a position parallel to the ground, requiring core strength and control. It’s easier than Cast to Handstand as the gymnast is only extending into a level position rather than completely upside down.

Cast to handstand: This skill is an extension of the basic cast, where the gymnast casts up into a handstand position. It requires strength and control.

Giant: The Giant is a fundamental skill where the gymnast performs a full 360-degree rotation around the bar in a handstand position, essential for building momentum. (Shawn does the backwards version)

Blind Change: The Blind Change is a turning skill where the gymnast rotates 180 degrees while in a handstand on the bar. It’s a difficult skill but once mastered will allow gymnasts to switch the direction of their swing and add a wider range of skills to their routine.

Front Giant: The Front Giant involves a forward giant swing, where the gymnast maintains a handstand position while circling the bar. It’s key for developing momentum.

Salto Dismount: A common dismount, the Salto Dismount involves performing a salto (flip) off the bar, landing on the mat. It can be executed in various forms.

[cowboybeepboop]

R u mine?

“Will you go out with me,”

“Well you fucked me multiple times, so i guess a date wouldnt be too bad,”

Part one ☝️ can be read as a stand-alone tho I think

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem! Reader

Genre: plot with some porn

Word count: 3627

Summary: neither of you wanted just a one night stand, but you were too stubborn to admit to it.

Warnings: jealous steve, gross sex (and not in the fun way), Sex with Tommy Hagan, there is like no cheating between any of the characters (Steve and reader, tommy and carol), degradation, semi public sex, choking, name calling, hair pulling, the degradation randomly turning into praise, my work is never proof-read

A/N: In this eddie isn't dead and like the upside down isn't mentioned like ever. Theres also like a scene with Tommy Hagan and like some very awkward sex between him and reader. I would also like to say that I normally do not post series and this is going to be the last part. However, if you guys would like to be tagged in any future steve related smut, you're free to comment or pm me <3

It’s been two weeks. A whole two weeks since your fuck-a-thon with none other than your sisters bestfriend. And god, it was all you could think of.

Fuck he was the first guy to ever bring you to orgasm. He’s so goddamn perfect, everything he did for you, he's all you think about day and night.

The pair of you have decided to try and pretend Robin didn't catch you sharing a bed half-naked, or at least she thought you were half-naked. Thankfully, Rob can be very dense sometimes and she thought nothing of it. Even though you were covered in hickeys and he had scratches all down his back, but who knows, maybe she just didn't notice.

Steve has done unbelievably well with pretending nothing happened, but for you it’s nearly impossible. Everytime you see him your heart pounds and your cunt aches.

Youre sort of angry with him, I mean, why the fuck hasn’t he even mentioned anything. Yes, of course you agreed to never speak of it, but still, the man came inside of you. Doesn't that mean anything to him?

You’re angrily chewing on your bottom lip, tapping your pen against the table, fuck that shit. You should’ve known, it’s Steve fucking Harrington. He’s known to just fuck around, but you know what, two can play at that game.

“Hey Robby,” you pout to your sister, who looks up at you.

“What is it? You've barely even been paying attention, I've been cheating this whole time and you don't even care?” she narrows her eyes at you tossing the yahtzee dice at you.

“Sorry, I know, it’s just that my mind was elsewhere,” you sigh, giving her puppy dog eyes, she rolls hers in response.

“Whatever, I get it,” she huffs while crossing her arms over her chest.

“We should go to a party tonight,” your eyes light up with your idea and she scratches her neck.

“Y/N, you know parties aren't my thing,” Robin stretches.

“Yeah but it could be fun, plus I heard that Carol is throwing some epic party at her parents lake house tonight,” you throw your arms around her neck, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Ew, why the hell would you want to go to one of her parties?” she pushes you away, “plus we have that camping trip with my friends tomorrow, I don’t think that showing up hungover is the best idea.”

“We both know that Jonathan is going to be high off his ass with Argyle and Eddie, who cares if I’m a little hungover?” pursing your lips you continue giving her puppy dog eyes.

“Okay, fine. We can go, but I’m calling Steve and Eddie to see if they’ll take us. I don’t want you getting drunk and lost.” you clench your jaw.

“Jesus it happened one time. Would you let it go already?” you glare at your younger sister while she laughs softly.

“Well, whatever. Can you help me get ready? I don't really know how to dress for those kinds of events.” robin follows you up the stairs keeping at your heels.

“Yes! Of course,” you perk up in excitement, “my baby girl is all grown up,” you squish her cheeks and push her to the edge of your bed before searching your closet for a skimpy dress. You know it’s definitely not what Robin was wanting, but it's probably what she was expecting, you’re all for people exploring their sexuality. Which is why you were shocked to find that Rob wasn’t all that interested in meaningless hookups, but then again, not everyone can be as careless as you. Plus it's probably better that she's staying safe.

“Okay, so I know this isn't exactly something you'd normally go for, but..” you hand her a keyhole red halter top and a black pleather mini-skirt. “It's a little showy for you, however, it's so hot. I mean goddamn, you'll have every girl swooning for you. Promise.” Robin flushes deep red.

“Are you sure?” she looks extremely unsure, “ i don't want to look like an out of place weirdo..” she looks all around the room avoiding my eyes.

“Robin, shut the fuck up, youre absolutely stunning. It doesn’t matter if it's not your normal style, you're beautiful in everything.” your eyebrows furrow.

She breathes a sigh of relief, “okay, i'll change right now.'' Robin is a little insecure but she knows she'll survive.

__________

About an hour and a half later, Robin has secured your ride and you’ve finished getting yourself ready. You were so glad Robin insisted that Steve accompany you to the party. It makes your plan that much easier to execute.

You knew for a fact that Tommy Hagan would be at the party, even if it's his ex girlfriends. He NEVER misses a good party and he can NEVER resist a girl dressed in green. Which is exactly why you chose an extremely short sparkly green dress with a semi see-through top. You even wore a matching green lace set underneath, you weren't sure how far you planned to take it but if anything Tommy is a good distraction right?

The sound of Eddie's van pulling into your driveway fills the silent living room, sucking in a deep breath as you stick your hands into your bra, pulling your tits up making sure they don't look anything less than perfect. Fuck Steve. God you want to fuck Steve so bad.

Robin lets the boys inside, offering them some water or snacks as you finish getting ready. A smirk paints itself on your features as you trample down the stairs.

“Rob, stop trying to stall. Let’s go,” you link arms with her pulling her out the door. You were completely oblivious to the pair of brown eyes glued to your ass.

“Jesus Steve, dont cream your pants just yet.” Eddie pushes Harrington's shoulder lightly before jogging to the driver's side of his van. “Hurry up before we leave,” Steve rolls his eyes, speed walking to the vehicle.

__________

About 30 minutes into the party you're tipsy and dancing with the still sober Robin, that is until an orange haired girl pulls her off to the side to talk with her. Puffing your cheeks, you continue dancing. The alcohol running through your veins gave you more confidence than usual. Soon enough a pair of strong warm hands found themselves on your hips.

You didn't even have to turn around, you knew exactly who it was. Tommy. His sickening cologne said it all, but desperate times call for desperate measures. You push your ass against him, grinding against his hard on, you throw your head against his shoulder allowing him to run his hands all over your body.

His lips find their way to your neck pressing sloppy kisses all over the place, his hand moves down your stomach and then the hem of your skirt. Tommy spins you around, placing his hands on your ass while you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Let's find a room,” you bite your lip while giving him a seductive look, “sound good big boy?” you lick your bottom lip while rubbing your leg against his crotch.

“Fuck yeah,” tommy wraps a hand around your wrist, guiding you into an empty bathroom.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Steve saw this exchange and followed the two of you. Tommy closed and locked the door before he could stop you from going in with him. Harrington clenches his fists, for a while he contemplates breaking the door down.

What the hell were you thinking? If you needed a good time you should have gone to him, rather than tommy the fucking prick hagan.

Tommy was sucking hard hickeys onto your breasts and shoulders while awkwardly slamming his dick inside you. He’s too fucking thick to realize that youre bone dry and youre not enjoying a single second of this exchange.

You continue to fake enjoyment regardless, moaning loud “Yes! Yes! Tommy, right there” and “I’m so close”, he roughly shoves your head against the wall as he speeds up. God it felt like he was starting a fire inside you, and not in a good way. He finally cums, you pretend to have an orgasm as he leans against you trying to catch his breath.

“We should do that again soon,” he winks at you, the second he unlocks the door Steve slams it open.

“Tommy get the fuck out. Now.” you've never been scared of steve before, but the look of pure rage in his eyes has you trying to make yourself invisible. Hagan leaves with a huff.

“Steve, she isn't some sort of property. Didn't mommy ever teach you to share your toys,” he chuckles as the door slams in his face. You hop off the sink, crossing your arms over your chest shooting a glare at steve.

“What the fuck,” you push a finger into his chest, “why are you so fucking worked up. Mind your own business honey.” slipping your panties back on your reach for the doorknob, Steve blocks you from the door. His eyes scanning your face, he relaxes his jaw slightly, trying to calm himself down.

“Are you fucking drunk?” he whisper yells at you, “What the hell, youre supposed to be the responsible one. Robin is worried fucking sick and youre up here fucking some douche in the bathroom. For fucks sake Y/N. why are you so fucking reckless.'' His stern voice sends chills down your body.

“Steve, get out of my way,” you maintain eye contact, baling your hands up into fists.

“Fine,” he moves out of the way, letting you walk out. You slam the door and stomp down the stairs, Steve runs his hand through his hair. He notices the soiled condom in the trash and kicks the bin so hard it breaks. “FUCK.” he yells.

You managed to find Eddie and Robin in a small corner which is a little secluded. “Hey, Y/N have you seen Steve?” your sister questions with flushed cheeks, she's tripping over her own feet, quite obviously tipsy.

“No, I haven’t. But maybe you and I should get fresh air while Eds looks for him, hm?” she nods, wrapping her arms around your neck. You guide her out the door, helping her into the back of the van. She lays down, putting her head in your lap.

__________

Eddie shows up an hour late, making up some dumb excuse about what took so long. Rovin definitely didn't mind the extra sleep, you helped him load up your stuff before climbing in the back of the van with nance and jonathan.

It's kinda awkward seeing him again after the last conversation you had. You knew for a fact that he told nancy so as soon as eddie runs back inside to help robin get the beers you guys bought for the trip you burst out.

“Look i didnt mean anything, it was some stupid dare that harrington gave me. I would hate for you guys to get the wrong idea.” you stare at the floor with a deep blush spreading on your cheeks.

“I figured as much, you were the first person to encourage us to get together, I doubt you'd try and break us apart.” Nancy gives you a sweet smile patting your shoulder softly. A relieved expression finds its way onto your face, robin hops into the van next to you.

“OK, just one more stop and then we'll be on our way to the campsite.” Eddie smiles in the mirror, brushing his bangs behind his ear.

You really, really don't want to see Harrington, like at all. So you decide to fake a nap against the robin before you actually fall asleep.

Steve was restless in the passenger seat, the peaceful look on your face was driving him insane. His mind wanders back to earlier this morning, the second he got home he grabbed the panties he previously stole and fucked his fist with them wrapped around his hard dick.

He honestly lost count of how many times he came into your panties, he was furious. Especially with himself, its not like he was your boyfriend, he had no right to be so pissed that you were fucking someone else.

But for fucks sake, he was in the same house as you. Couldn't you have had the decency to leave with Tommy or even better, hook up with some other asshole. Steve was beyond jealous, he just barely fulfilled his fantasy of making love to you.

__________

“Okay so we have three tents,” Nancy taps her chin, “who wants to stay with who, Jon and I are obviously sharing,” Jonathan smiles warmly while wrapping an arm around his girlfriend.

“As much as I enjoy your friendship, I think it’d be uncomfortable having both of us in the same tent,” Eddie says to Steve, patting his shoulder with a coy smirk.

“Yeah you're right, maybe we can share a tent,'' Robin locks arms with eddie.

“So Y/N and Steve, you've got to share the last tent,” he folds his arms over his chest.

“I’ll just sleep outside,” he clenches his jaw and walks off to get “firewood”.

You roll your eyes, where does he get off acting like such a douche bag. Eddie follows Harrington, Jonathan continues putting together his and Nancy’s tent.

“What the hell is that all about?” Nancy questions, crossing her arms over her chest, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Yeah, what happened with you guys last night?” Robin questions with a soft tone. Her eyes filled with worry, she chews on her bottom lip.

“It’s nothing, he just walked in on tommy and i after we,” you smirk softly, “after he thought he gave me the best sex of my life,” you laugh.

“Why did you hook up with him?” the girl's face contorts in disgust while you just shrug.

“I dunno, he was just there,” you plop down on a foldable chair, “it wasn't even worth it though.'' Nancy laughs loudly.

“Of course it was shit, it’s fucking Tommy Hagan.” Robin smiles wide.

__________

Jonathan and eddie have gotten high off their asses, laughing at dumb shit even the fucking trees. Steve is talking to Robin, ignoring your presence.

“Hey guys, imma head to bed,” you cover your mouth yawning silently, they all tell you goodnight. You smile before unzipping the tent, slipping in and zipping it back up. You change into some skimpy lingerie, I know really not the most practical but you suck at actually doing laundry so you’ll have to survive, sneaking under the covers you sigh.

Shivers run down your spine, as rain starts to lightly pour down. You can hear Nancy and Robin scolding Steve and yelling at him to go inside your tent.

“Whatever, fine I’ll go in, just get out of the fucking rain.” Steve's voice is right outside the tent, you suck in a deep breath turning to face the side of the tent. Harrington pulls the zipper carefully, trying to not wake you up, “Shit,” he whispers as he pulls his shoes off.

Your body is shaking uncontrollably, the cold mixed with your stupid lace nightie and the lack of body warmth in the stupid tent. “Hey, are you still awake?” you bite your tongue, squeezing your eyes shut tightly hoping he doesn't notice you're faking it.

“Goddamn it dumbass,” he pulls his sleeping bag on top of yours, throwing the thick blanket he brought along over you. “You’re freezing your fucking ass off,” steve slides into your sleeping bag, pushing his body into yours.

His breathing regulates as he snores softly, you stay wide awake with heat building in your panties, biting down on your lip you sink your hand into your panties. Running your index and middle fingers though your folds, pressing hard circles into your clit, the pleasure has your eyebrows furrowing, eyes closing and desperate pants falling from your lips.

This is probably the most horny you've ever been, no matter what you've never stooped to this level. You've never fantasized about someone while they were right there, right next to you with their hands under your breast, the emotions are just too overwhelming, you just want him.

Using your free hand you cover your mouth trying to hold back moans, leaning your head back you insert a finger into your hole. “Princess, what are you doing?” Steve whispers into your ear, you cease all movements, his hands move up squeezing your boobs roughly. “Was it not enough that you fucked Tommy last night? Are you that big of a slut?” his hand slips into your panties he pulls your hand away and he pushes two fingers into your cunt.

A loud moan rings in the air, Steve wraps his hand around your neck, “Careful Princess, wouldn't want everyone to know just how much of a whore you are,” biting down on your lip you try to stay quiet. Harrington finger fucks you roughly, rubbing your clit with his thumb, keeping his animalistic pace.

“Pathetic slut,” his voice comes out in a hiss as you cum around his fingers, eyes rolling into the back of your head as your toes curl. Steve pulls his pants off, palming thick cock through his boxers, “suck me off Y/N” he grabs a handful of your hair pulling you close to his crotch. You pull down his boxers wrapping both hands around his cock, pushing the tip in your mouth slowly bobbing your head.

“Good girl, just like that,” he pushes your head down softly causing you to gag on his length. Steve groans, throwing his head against his pillow allowing his hips to buck into your mouth, your eyes begin to water. His pace starts to grow sloppy, your throat becoming sore, he pulls you up on his chest.

“Fuck why are you wearing that?” he pulls your nightie off causing your nipples to pebble instantly, his hands rest on your sides as he grinds you down on him.

“I forgot to do laundry,” you say softly, “do you have a condom?” he smirks.

“Yeah in my wallet,” you grab his wallet as Steve takes his shirt off, he's decided you're taking too long. Harrington creeps up behind you, kissing your spine gently, his hands wrap around to squeeze your boobs.

“Steve, be patient.” you grab the gold foil wrapper and put it in steve's hand, you put his wallet back away and crawl over to him. Watching him slide the rubber over his throbbing cock, you throw your panties over by the pile of clothes, he motions for you to come closer.

“Y/N get over here,” your heart rate increases as his hands rest on your hips, pushing his dick into your soaked pussy, a quiet gasp rings through the silent tent. “You’ll have to be quiet,'' Steve says sternly, furrowing his eyebrows as he lays his head against his pillow, having you riding him was enough to kill him.

You pick up your pace, grinding your hips against Steves, the echoing sound of your skins slapping could probably be heard twenty feet away. Harrington didn't care, whenever you slowed your pace he would grip your ass and bounce it on his cock, making sure to fill you with pleasure.

Steve uses his middle and pointer finger to rub sloppy circles into your sensitive nub, causing your body to jerk forward and your eyes to flutter shut, soft moans fill his ears. You wrap your arms around his neck, biting down on his shoulder to keep quiet, he runs his hand through your hair pulling your head back.

His eyes narrow in on the reddish-purple marks Tommy left the night before, his jaw goes slack, he flips you on your back. He sucks rough marks all over your neck, he fucks into you furiously, the whole tent around you moving back and forth along with steve.

“You like that? Fucking slut,” he wraps a hand around your throat squeezing just enough to make you gasp for air.

Steve throws his head back in pleasure, you begin to tighten up around him drawing out a long groan. “Steve,” you chant his name, “more, please I need more,”, he complies with your desires and angles your bodies so he hits even deeper.

“I’m gonna cum,” you moan into his ear, he slows down pulling you against his chest, you climax around him. Steve bucks up into you one last time before he cums, filling the condom. He pulls out, takes off the condom and ties the top, he quickly gets dressed.

You begin to stress, once he opens the zipper to the tent you're still sat naked, fully exposed to the cold air. It begins to feel like there's something stuck in the back of your throat, Steve comes back into the tent, zipping it back up.

“Why didn't you get dressed, you're freezing,'' Steve pulls his sweatshirt off and puts it on for you, wrapping his arms around your waist. “I have a question for you,” he chews his lip while looking into your eyes.

“What is it?” you play with the sleeves of his favorite sweater before slipping under the covers once again.

“Will you go out with me,” Steve cracks his neck before following suit and laying next to you.

“Well you fucked me multiple times, so i guess a date wouldnt be too bad,” he smiles pulling you against him, burying your head into his chest.

“Goodnight Y/N,” he whispers into your ear before kissing the top of your head.

@urs-angel @thesebitcheslovesosadotcom

[fantasyinvader]

Honestly, I think hadou lies at the heart of Persona 5. I mean, there's the basic fact that the targets are people who abuse their power and authority, so the protagonists steal their hearts and force them to change. I've always remembered Yahtzee complaining about the game making this out to be morally ambiguous because the targets were just that punchable, but now I get it. It's simply that they're forcing people to change, to assert their own will upon them using their powers, that it does lend itself to hadou because hadou is about using your power, be it political/ military/whatever, to impose your rule on others.

The Phantom Theives effectively brainwash those whose hearts they steal, ruling over the Palace Rulers in a sense. Even if they have good reasons for doing so, they're infringing on the free will of others. We see as a result of their actions the former Palace Rulers lock themselves away in Mementos out of fear of disrupting the social order. And the protagonists are doing this because they want to reform society. There's also the Mementos targets, which they are rewarded for and even get benefits through the social links.

I'm starting to see how this is supposed to play out. The Phantom Theives are effectively on a slippery slope with how they use their powers, as it does involve infringing on the freedom of others even if their targets are complete shitbags. The fact they're using this power with the stated goal of changing society also plays into this. Imposing your will like this is meant to be wrong, it's hadou. The fact they can benefit themselves from this, being rewarded or gaining perks, is also concerning considering that it could call their actions into questions. Are they really trying to help people out, or just trying to enrich themselves? I've said before that Japanese society teaches that helping someone because you expect to be rewarded to do so is a wrong thing to do. You're supposed to help people just because of benevolence.

And really, the social links of 3 and 4 feel more like Oudou in this regard. It's simply the benevolent influence of the protagonist that causes people to face their problems and come out the other end better for them, not to mention the two groups aren't trying to change society. They're trying to protect people through their adventures.

Meanwhile, the Persona 5 protagonist can instead betray humanity to the Demiurge and reaps the rewards as mankind loses it's freedom. But in the true ending, you decide that no one should have this power and it goes away after kicking the false god's ass. I've heard people talk about how the changed methods of the PTs in Strikers also reflects this change as well.

But I think it also mirrors the Black Eagles route. Edelgard is supposed to represent hadou according to the devs, she promises to make a better world if she takes over, one where merit will be rewarded rather than blood. However, she also wants to be called "El," which is either an ancient word referring to a god or the Chief god of the Canaanites. Doesn't help that some endings reveal she takes over the Church. Yet we know Sothis exists, she sacrificed herself for Byleth, and Edelgard stands counter to her teachings. Even the Japanese name of Byleth's sword invokes the Mandate of Heaven, Byleth having to uphold it by fighting against hadou. Byleth upholds the Mandate by fighting Edelgard. Safflower is pretty much the same as the ending where Joker signs a pact with the Demiurge, putting mankind under the control of a false god. Yet by fighting this false god can we truly free mankind, owing to Nirvana being the path of liberation, not just by defeating one false god but also a group that in the past have thought of and presented themselves as gods, the Agarthans.

And considering Byleth is also named after a demon, a king of hell even. An ashen demon king strikes down false gods.

[thenightling]

The problem with Ancestor worship

One problem with modern Wicca and other forms of Neo Paganism is the fixation on ancestor worship and appreciation. "Honor your ancestors" can be found in pretty much every cultural tradition but it's abundant with Wiccans and Neo Pagans. And this fixation has a way of othering people whose family were... not that good. Suppose you find out you had Yahtzee (word that starts with an N and rhymes with Yahtzee) in your family tree. Or what if you came from an abusive household? Suppose you were disowned by your family, or your blood family has a history of generational abuse or bigotry. What then? How can you do Wiccan ancestor worship if you find out your kin were witch hunters or inquisitors? And what if you're adopted and find out your birth parents never wanted you because they were busy getting high on meth? Sometimes the whole "honor the ancestors" doesn't work. Yes, there are thousands upon thousands of years of human bloodlines that make you who you are and no matter how awful some ancestors were, they can't all have been that bad. But there could still be trauma attached to the very idea of worshipping your previous blood kin.

So here's my solution. Ancestor worship that is not about blood kin. "Ancestors in magick." Think of all the unmarried, child-less witches, Neo-Pagans, Wiccans out there. Why should they go un-honored just because they opted to not have children or couldn't have children?

They were bachelors and "Spinsters" and they were also teachers, healers, companions, guides, leaders, and friends. And they deserve appreciation. And sometimes their spirits linger to guide and educate others. It's not right that practitioners of ages past tend to get overlooked if they don't have biological children and spawned giant family trees. These are people who deserve honor and respect. So I propose the name for them. "Ancestors in Magick." And these ancestors deserve worship too and perhaps those who don't have blood family they can fondly look back on, can think fondly of them. These previous practitioners who had no blood-descendants are family by faith and knowledge if not blood and they deserve appreciation.

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol 27

Howdy folks!

It's so lovely to be back to reading fic again AHHHH!! I'm still taking it easy and not putting too much pressure on myself. I'm also switching to not reading a series until it's finished and not recommending a series until I've finished it, which is a good motivation for... ya know... finishing it. I have a brand new TBR system on Notion that's working out super well for me and making it easier than ever to keep up with the spreadsheet and what I want to read.

Anywho, I've got 15 fics for you this week. If you wanna peruse my other fic recs click here. If you wanna read my fics, click here.

Recs under the Baby Pedge <3

Tender is the Night - Frankie one shot by @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin

Summary: Your husband comes home from a trip to South America and the future of your family is up in the air.

Tags: unprotected PIV sex, angst, reader has given birth but is otherwise undescribed. mention of childbirth but not described, big feelings

Good Girls are Quiet - Din one shot by @beskarandblasters

Summary: At the Outlander Club on Coruscant, you try to help Din capture a bounty. But when the bounty makes a move what belongs to Din, that just won’t do. Din takes you a sleazy motel after and shows you just who you belong to.

Tags: canon divergent (long live the Razor Crest), takes place when Din is an apostate, bounty gets handsy with you, possessive!Din, light canon typical violence, brat taming, reader gets “punished”, rough oral sex (M receiving), slapping, cum eating, nipple play, knife kink, riding the hilt of Din’s vibro-blade, daddy kink, helmet comes off, spitting, vaginal sex, unprotected sex, creampie, use of Mando’a words (cyar’ika = sweetheart), pet names (good girl), no use of y/n

Vis-à-vis - Frankie one shot by @hier--soir

Summary: your bedroom window offers a direct view into your cute neighbour's apartment. as time goes by, you two start looking for each other through the glass. shy glances become desperate, needy glimpses into each other's lives until one day, you finally make contact.

Tags: neighbour!frankie, some serious exhibitionism, naked window neighbour behaviour, a mild obsession between two strangers, mutual masturbation, brief piv sex between reader and an OC [while frankie watches of course], very little actual foreplay, unprotected piv sex, a hint of possessive!frankie, come eating, getting fucked in a short little sundress yahtzee, two* people that need to be thrown in horny jail [three* if you include me]

A Bird in Your Teeth - Joel series by @sempersirens

Summary: since moving into the neighborhood a couple of years ago, you've become close with the miller family. as a young woman living alone joel is protective of you, and he intends to show you how much so.

Tags: neighbor!joel, age gab: reader is early to mid 20s, joel early 30s, no outbreak, allusion to SA, reference to past SA, trauma, nightmares, PTSD, graphic violence, torture/revenge, sweet, tender smut, mentions of past trauma, fluff, alcohol

coming under the christmas tree - Frankie one shot by @undercoverpena

Summary: The way he whispers your name should be a sin—it coating the air, making each letter feel important, essential—as your hands find his belt, undoing it, the sound cutting through all else, even burying a whispered expletive that falls from his tongue. “Do you know how hot you look right now, Morales?”

Tags: explicit. 18+. smut. literal porn from me. oral (m recieving), p in v, praise (jo has a thing, run with it), frankie being gorgeous, minor cock worship, christmas themes.

I'm here - Marcus Pike one shot by @davnittbraes

Summary: Sweet angel baby Marcus Pike is actually one hell of a dom

Tags: reader is described as being in a long term previous relationship, smut (piv, unprotected, oral f!receiving), angst, fluff, description of disgustingly cliché meet-cute, established relationship, mentions of past abusive relationship, anxiety, big beefy cuddly dogs, light BDSM, breathplay, like HEAVY breathplay to some people, physical restraint, Dom/Sub dynamics, Soft!Dom Marcus, Sub!Reader, Praise kink out the wazoo

Don't drink the punch - Dave York one shot by @wildemaven

Summary: You attend the CIA holiday christmas party

Tags: insecurities, jealousy, holiday party antics, mentions of food and alcohol, office gossip, smut (unprotected p in v, fingering, orgasms), there’s no mention of it but reader is on BC, Dave is divorced from Carol, Soft and Sweet Dave, let’s say this is AU and no murdering is happening (or that at least reader is not aware of), reader is mentioned to be wearing a dress with heels and lingerie, otherwise zero descriptive features for reader

Caught Kissing Santa - Dave York one shot by @wildemaven

Summary: Alice saw you kissing Santa Claus

Tags: reader is married to Dave and stepmom to his kids, mentions of food and drinks, non-religious Christmas celebrations and Santa beliefs, alluding to sexy time but no smut, kissing, mentions reader is wearing pajama pants, fluff, soft Dave, one use of ‘good girl’.

Be a Good Boy for Mommy - Frankie one shot by @beskarandblasters

Summary: Frankie cums without your permission. You decide to punish him.

Tags: F!Reader, dom/sub, mommy kink, whipping, edging, oral sex (F receiving), handjob (but not to completion), Frankie whimpering!!, uncircumcised!Frankie, pet names (princesa), vaginal sex, unprotected sex, orgasm denial, no use of y/n

Between Blurred Lines - Joel one shot by @livingemkayde

Summary: joel miller has always been...there. never different, always sporting a brooding scowl etched into his handsome face. he's your best friend sarah miller's dad, arguably worse, your dad's long time buddy. things are never different. not until this summer. not until now.

Tags: smut, unprotected pinv, fingering f! receiving, cockwarming (!?!?!?) uhh dom!joel, significant age gap, dad's best friend mixed with some best friends dad (?!!?!?!?)

Come a Little Closer - Joel one shot by @hyzer34

Summary: After babysitting Sarah for the weekend Joel shows you his appreciation in more ways than one.

Tags: no outbreak, younger/domestic joel miller, unprotected p in v, oral (f receiving), little bit of softdom but not really?, praise kink, multiple orgasms, joel is PACKING and he knows it, no use of y/n, like always if i missed anything please let me know!

Room 77 - Joel one shot by @chaotic-mystery

Summary: It was a great plan at first to carpool with Joel & have him drive to your dad’s vacation house, until it wasn’t.

Tags: one bed trope!, age gap (readers like mid 20s Joel’s like early 50s idk) mean Joel at first, sloppy sleepy sex, reader be havin those daydreams about Joel, spitting, choking, unprotected sex, slight fingering, cream pie, cockwarming, dirty talkkk, slight use of the name daddy, pet names.

Bluffing Season - Frankie one shot by @beskarandblasters

Summary: Frankie Morales is your next door neighbor of the worst kind. To put it simply, you two can’t stand each other. But when his girlfriend breaks up with him right before the holidays he asks you to be his fake date for Christmas, not wanting to go home to his family single yet again. You reluctantly say yes and as you spend time you realize he’s not as terrible as you once thought.

Tags: reader is a baker, two years post Triple Frontier, slow burn, enemies to lovers, fake dating, jealousy, made up lore for Frankie/his family tree, reader lowkey got mommy issues (just a shitty family in general), drinking, mentions of drugs, food/eating, Frankie describing his trauma, some Spanish used, oral sex (F receiving), vaginal sex, unprotected sex, cream pie, pet names (cariño), sort of ambiguous time skips, Frankie is either a Libra or a Scorpio!!, no use of y/n

White Christmas - Dieter one shot by @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin

Summary: You and Dieter decide to escape the push and pull of your families for the holiday.

Tags: oral sex f receiving, unprotected PIV, tummy riding, cumshot, cum eating, inappropriate use of a santa hat, bad family dynamics, face sitting, reader is comfortable wearing lingerie but is otherwise undescribed.

Fluffer - Dieter one shot by @proxima-writes

summary: fluffer - noun - someone on a pornographic film set that keeps a male performer’s penis erect in between scenes. You’re a production assistant on the set of an adult film starring Dieter Bravo, who mistakes you for his fluffer.

Tags: explicit sexual content (18+ MDNI), porn star AU, dub con - mistaken identity, oral sex - female receiving, face sitting, multiple orgasms, vaginal fingering, squirting.

--------------

Happy Reading!

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 E2E18 - Profit and Loss

Star Trek is really good at both telling us who the bad guys are in a very black and white fashion but they're also very good at then taking that and throwing it into a blender to make things all sorts of shades of gray. I find myself feeling the shades of gray with the Cardassians. I rather loathe them, in the way that we're supposed to. They're literal space yahtzees, the show has stated that they've created war crimes similar to those of the Holocaust. It's valid to hate them. That said, they keep dropping stray Cardassians into the mix that aren't like the others. Quark's lost love being one of them.

Everytime a Cardassian comes aboard I'm waiting for the ultimate betrayal and while a betrayal did happen, I'm honestly glad it came from the clearly marked oppressor.

I appreciate how even the Cardassians would have freedom fighters that were around to try to help save Cardassia from fash rule. I was a little weirder out that she kept calling them her students, but only because it made it feel more cult like but that was just a side note my brain kept thinking throwing at me when she did lol

Quark's storyline in this was interesting. I'm not generally a fan of sudden romance stories but the idea that a Ferengi would give up everything for a woman is incredibly out of character (as a whole) it was fascinating to watch him go from "SHE gets free things, you have to pay" to "You're with her, you get free drinks but only drinks" to "I'll give you this VERY important device for free if you get her to stay" to "Take me with you, I'll abandon everything for you."

To be clear, I don't think that last part would have lasted, even if he stayed devoted and loyal, he'd still start to scheme or try to make a profit somewhere. The man doesn't even take his first breath in the morning before he starts to consider the money he can make, he's not giving it up completely. But even the idea of it was interesting.

And then he got Odo to release them? And Odo did? Shocking but awesome all the same.

Having an episode with Garak and no Bashir should be a crime but having a very flamboyant Garak in the episode at all is a win that I'll take.

I wasn't sure the angle they were trying to pull with him because, from my read on the character so far he was against the Cardassian regime or at least had grown to have a bad taste for it so when he "outed" them for being there I was super confused.

Even when he showed up at the end to kill them I was kinda surprised that he would do that. But when he ended up killing the actual villain of this specific episode instead it made me wonder if he was playing some kind of 4D chess. Still don't know where he stands (and I'm okay with it) or what his intentions were but I appreciate the outcome. Chaos Garak for the win.

A show note, not exactly an episode note (though it did happen here): I love how they use his tailor shop and analogies to describe things/situations/warn folks. This is the second time he's done this and its a fun narrative feature that I dig.

7/10 - the plot itself was all over the place and I have more questions than answers but this was a fun ride. Saved from a 6.5 because Garak, though.

[twistmusings]

Hi mod Azul!! I hope you're having a wonderful day :) This might be a little silly, but can I request the octo trio with a yuu that's a really good flier? I can see yuu diving down on a broom to catch the boys from falling, or wrapping the boy's arms around their waist and telling them to hold on. On a more hectic note, I can also see them jumping onto one of the boys brooms while both are on the run, or just being experimental with tricks in general. With how gifted the octo trio is with flying, I mean,,, the hilarity of it all lmao????

I hope you're having a wonderful day as well!!

Octatrio with a MC that's exceptionally good at flying

CW: None! It's just goofs!

Azul Ashengrotto

He likes them a lot, but he feels like he will never truly know peace with them being as passionate as they are about flying. He knows they're skilled, but he simply wishes he could be far, far away when they're practicing.

It's no exaggeration to say that Azul hates flying with ever fiber of his being. So, initially, them assisting when he would tip over off the side of his broom was very appreciated. Now if only it had stayed at that.

See, they offered to tutor him. Being who he is, Azul always wants to improve himself. He wants to be as competent on a broom as they are. It, by all appearances, should be beneficial, right?

Wrong. Wrong. So very, very wrong. Azul realized this about the time that they said "hold on" and encouraged him to hold onto their waist. He had been confused first, but followed their instructions, only for them to rocket off at full speed. He screamed himself hoarse and they were laughing.

It is five minutes of absolute hell, and the moment they slow down and dip back down to ground level, Azul gets off the broom and collapses down to the earth immediately. He can't stand up because his legs are jelly, and he can't even lecture them for the stunt because he's breathing too fast. He feels frighteningly like a human Yahtzee cup and his organs are the dice.

His weak "Never. Do. That. Again." seems to fall on deaf ears as they erupt into peals of laughter again.

It's far from the last time he has the... misfortune of being on a broom with them, though. Aside from the tutoring, they have this habit of jumping onto his broom with him while he's trying to practice during PE and using it to escape whatever problems they're causing with their antics. It's an unfortunate reflex he's developed that if they so much as touch his broom, he's reaching for their waist to cling for his life and desperately wishing he had the other eight limbs to keep himself rooted to them.

And as if all of that wasn't traumatic enough for him, they love to showboat. On at least one occasion they've had to stop his unconscious body from falling to the ground after he fainted when they did a loop with him on the broom.

The worst part is... his flying grade has gotten better so he can't even say that he hasn't learned anything. Sometimes he thinks that he really must be a masochist to keep putting himself through this... but it's the only thing that has seemed to genuinely help him improve...

Jade Leech

Jade handles being airborne with more grace than Azul does, but he still hates it. His grades in flight are still pretty poor.

He is grateful when they rescue him from a nasty tumble off his broom, and when they offer pointers he thinks that it might be wise to have a listen to what they say.

He wasn't expecting a live demonstration, but sure enough they tell him to get on the back of their broom and grab their waist. Jade is... skeptical to say the least, after all he's 6'3" and weighs in just under 200 lbs, so he really doubts that holding onto them is going to do much good if he truly ends up in trouble, but he decides to trust their judgement.

They take off like a rocket and... Jade is stunned into wide-eyed silence.

It's not until they land again and Jade moves to step off the broom that his fear becomes clear, as, like Azul, he simply slumps down on himself as well. He's not laying on the ground, but it takes him a few minutes to regain the strength in his legs again.

See... Jade is quite afraid of heights. He can handle it when he has climbing gear or when he has a mountain that he can anchor himself to, but when there's nothing but air below him he's terrified.

At least they seem pretty genuinely concerned about him and check on him. He appreciates it, but it's hard to explain that he just hates the feeling of his legs dangling like that. He decides to accept their offer for tutoring because he figures if anyone can teach him a smidge of confidence on a broom, it's probably going to be them.

Their lessons are usually normal, but sometimes they will throw Jade a complete curveball. They'll take over flying and do a spin or flip the broom over. Thankfully they've been staying relatively low to the ground so Jade knows if he slips and falls he won't be super likely to be hurt, but he feels something in his brain switch into full wild Moray Eel danger mode and he simply goes entirely still. He knows if he was under the sea he would probably be hiding in a rock crevice, but that's not an option when you're not even on land, let alone sea.

Floyd Leech

Floyd is honestly used to tumbling off his broom in flight classes. He sucks flying, and he embraces that proudly. He will still chirp a Thanks when they save him from landing on his ass though.

He's initially not all too interested when they offer to show him some pointers, thinking it will be boring. However, they grin at him wickedly and tell him to get on their broom and something in him says 'Oh this is going to be FUN' and he climbs aboard.

They go super fast. Floyd might be clinging for dear life, but he's laughing manically and shouting with glee as they race through the air. They even do a little loop and Floyd almost tips off the broom when he stops holding on to throw his arms up in the air.

He doesn't take them up on the offer for lessons, but he does tell them that they can take him on another joyride anytime they like. Truthfully, Floyd has very little interest in learning how to fly long-term, he knows it's not something that's really going to matter when he graduates. But he is down for a good time.

They get along well, actually. Floyd doesn't mind at all when they hop on his broom and steal him away with it to get themselves out of trouble. He definitely needs to be reminded to hold on, though, because he will forget to do that and slip off.

He loves when they do tricks. It's kind of like being on a rollercoaster. (Not that he ever has been on one, but he imagines it is.) He loves when they do loops or spins because, frankly, he's very used to being upside down on his broom anyway.

[nochi-quinn]

candela obscura chapter 4 episode 1 act 1: bleeding out

why is this episode 5 hours long, you can't do this to me, I'm sick

I also hope Aimee is tempered somewhat by the setting, she's usually too Up for me and I'm not at 100 as it is

don't ask me why opal is the exception to this, my love for the crown keepers does not follow logic

"fire."

bisexual lighting

heart. liver. lungs. nerves.

stop saying 'throbbing'

oldhair

last voyage of the dandridge

"that's right, none of you have said a word and I am COMING FOR YOU"

taliesin's hair is a normal color and I'm uncomfortable

LIAM we are five minutes in don't do that to yourself

the eyeliner is doing Things for taliesin

that cravat pin

glasses!

the fact that I'm pretty sure this is all stuff taliesin already owned

can we use this opportunity to make fun of taliesin's mollymauk voice

I missed Alex, I had to nope out of LAbN eventually

everybody just has such good names

oh, taliesin as a dandy is going to do me in

yes, the aorta, famously located in the upper thigh

I know he corrected himself, it's just funny

"a child's coffin" I know damn well you had a better comparison than that, you just went with the creepy one

Grimoria

oh we love a mononym

oh I'm already yawning and it's fucking with my sinuses, this is not auspicious

blood for the blood chest

"I hate ALL OF THIS. SO MUCH."

no way sunny makes it out of here

taliesin's little snaps at alex's six

"I just bought this vest."

oh I missed alex so much

taliesin what are your hands doing

the cardigan is off, I repeat, the cardigan is off

taliesin your drives

"she's lost in your eyes" understandable

oh leo's very sweet

he's a complete charlatan but he's very sweet

"candela" is becoming "yahtzee"

don't know why it tickles me so much that they're using alex's full government name in the subtitles

not the face!

lights??

aw hell

auuugh texture crawlies

should I stay or should I go (into the drink)

he's gonna need those later

I mean he needs them now but he's absolutely going to need them later

"do I want to let you swim back on that six" "you do."

"because I'm a little shit"

"charm bracelet in hell"

thanks I hate it

ghost friends are still friends

as long as she doesn't drill a hole in her head to let them out

"this young woman is now an old man" reverse jadzia dax

"but does HE have spells"

I had to step away, did they kill grimoria

"as the surgeon you are" night surgeon maybe

grim that's so fucking cute

THIS IS A VERY EARLY BREAK FOR A 5-HOUR EPISODE LIAM

we all know liam can't resist a cutesy nickname

I tried to start midst at one point, I need to try again

dead people living in it

I adore liam and aimee

"he does scream, I won't roleplay that" oh this? this is the time you won't roleplay the scream?

okay the congestion is fucking me up, I'm calling it here and catching the VOD for the other three quarters. have fun watching Liam bleed everyone to death.

[f0xgl0v3]

Games played in Camp Jupiter

Covering smaller games that the kids have taken time to play, and the bigger official games, this post was going to be also a Camp Half-Blood one but really like… I just don’t talk about CHB lol.

When I mention something about actual Ancient Rome, take any and all my words with pinches of salt, I try to research a lot but for silly posts like this I cannot 100% confirm that my information is historically accurate. I am not historian:]

Camp Jupiter

Camp Jupiter takes their games seriously. Literally doesn’t matter the game, everyone get super riled up for the war games. Or you’d see the most competitive game of Yahtzee. Staring with the canon war games first, the ones mentioned are listed below,

Death ball; described as similar to paint ball, except wild- using things like various dangerous poisons, acids, and fireballs (however that may be) and is the most deadly. Canonically (as we get the only deathball match in Camp Jupiter classified) is played by launching the balls from mini manuballista, or smaller variants of a type of ancient Roman crossbow. We only get one paragraph explaining it then move on, I think that’s the nature of CJC and I honestly don’t care for it that much. Despite my confusion on how this game canonically is described, I’d like to say my own Hc I got when I first heard ‘Deathball’ in SoN. In my head it’s water balloon fight, dodgeball-esque. With all of the deadly things in these balls that break on contact. It probably is the newest war game after some Praetors in more modern times instated it. The game is very loose, you’re with your contubernium (A Contubernium is the smallest unit in the Roman military, close to modern squads and though they likely didn’t serve much purpose other than to boost morale and like group stuff in the legion I like thinking of them serving a slightly bigger purpose in my Camp Jupiter- more on that in the future) and the goal is probably to make it to a certain marker or something without loosing members or whatever. Because reminder, the war games are just practices of war skills that the legionnaires need to know and serve a purpose to train them and aren’t just silly little games. And as for a cherry on top Ancient Romans possibly played Dogeball akin games- (P.S Frank also mentions this one too but I just didn’t mention that)

Siege is the name of the game we see in SoN and I really don’t have many thoughts on Siege, think that maybe it’s a bit more organized and the cohorts have a lot more stratagem (my autocorrect just used stratagem and I’m not changing it) involved in it. War games are probably a like twice a month thing and are announced probably the week before(? Like the first week of the month the war game for next Friday is announced and then after that the next is announced for the last day of the month, idk tho) and cohorts are given more time to plan.

Gladiator battles; Frank mentions this once and then we move on with no further explanation. I’d think this (and chariot racing among other things) are played in New Rome, and it’s a bracket tournament style (sort of like how Wrestling meets work except also trying to narrow it down until all the matches funnel into one victor? Like those bracket things in like basketball or in the movies- idk) and should only have one victor like I said. Killing isn’t the name of the game in this iteration (they still need their legionnaires-) though injuries are very common and a few have died to it, but surprisingly has a pretty low death rate; probably because they have both camp medics and actual doctors from New Rome on site.

Chariot Racing; the other one that Frank mentions. Also in New Rome, worked roughly the same as in Rome. I don’t have many thoughts other than this shifts Camp a bit and (like from my skimming of some articles-) higher ranking legionnaires and higher ranking families like to have their own horse teams, certain legionnaires take interest in charioteering too. Two members from each cohort are possibly selected for the chariot racing (Two races occur every time, for the fun of it) and compete as usual.

Legionnaires when finally retiring from the legions often do like pursuing careers that correlate to was ancient Roman sports were like. There are leagues purely for different teams within New Rome, seeing as sports are very important (Also if including my silly little outposts hc, they also have their own teams and the leagues have their own stuff and it’s like sports-)

Now, I’m actually good with the list of canon war games and don’t have much more to add onto it, and therefore I wanna get into the smaller games that legionnaires on their own free time like playing,

Swimming; Legion-wide activity that legionnaires like taking part in, whether that is swimming in the little tiber, or in recreational parts of the bathhouse/bathhouses. Legionnaires from not New Rome like to introduce water games.

Boxing and wrestling are givens though they lean more ancient, no dying but the rules are a bit looser. Boxing gloves aren’t used and Camp opts for the traditional method of wrapping your hands with cloth or even just going bare knuckle if both parties agree to it. It’s recreational and not taken too seriously, though disputes sometimes are solved in any method of these smaller games (think duel esque but not actually dying)

Running events; stuff like foot races are really common in camp for freetime. Also doubles as crucial camp training for stamina and strength, plus tag has begun to be integrated too.

Soccer; American football hasn’t caught on too much but Soccer is shared between bother parties. Modern soccer and then New Rome’s soccer type, along with other ball games like rugby, and kickball.

Mythomagic; practically universal. Most New Rome kids grew up on it and will teach new legionnaires that don’t know. There’s a shop in New Rome that specializes in games.

Any type of Ancient Roman board games; there’s a lot and I don’t want to list all of them but this category. Most legionnaires grew up on them and play them with each other. Though it gets competitive.

Yahtzee; have I ever played Yahtzee? No. Do I know how to play Yahtzee? Also no. But it has dice in it and I feel like several Demigods made homemade Yahtzee and started playing.

Varying modern board games; some have caught on but all are mostly homemade except for a few that are from New Rome or families that live outside of New Rome sending them to active legionnaires. Things like monopoly are popular

Mafia; New Rome kids have run with it and it really is a good skill builder for their mind skills or whatever. (I put it in because I like Mafia and I don’t hear people talk about it.)

Note on a future update of the Camp Jupiter map, I have given up on drawing it- drawing it makes it 10x more confusing for me, I’ll just describe things and buildings and I’m honestly better at that. If anyone wants to tackle drawing it from any future descriptions I’d give them go ahead but for now I’ll stick to just describing it all with my delight rather than stressing myself over a map lol.

Also the gaming scene needs to come out with a rpg(?) game set in Ancient Rome with deep character customization, interesting story, and focuses more on the story than combat mechanics because I want that (think Pokémon or Hogwarts legacy esque) also a Pjo game that is similar to the games I mentioned, please I’d froth at the throat over it.

Anyway like I said this was supposed to include CHB games but like- I don’t know but I just.. don’t talk about CHB. I’m more motivated about Camp Jupiter and like talking about it more.

Also wanted to include my favorite board game (Ticket to Ride) in this but I sadly do not think it’s very popular in Camp Jupiter. Also I spitefully didn’t name Chess, but chess is probably played.

[chaosites]

hiiii not a question i just wanted to say im also a big yahtzee fan… i have the tardis one :3

BASED we should play buddyboardgames yahtzee sometime.......

[jones-friend]

I PLAYED SOME MORE GAMES TODAY

Im beginning to rouse from my month of COVID fatigue and got 4 new games in today! 3/4 are from Pandasaurus games, which I’ll have some thoughts on later. They’re varying degrees of good!

One trend I’ve noticed is modern games like to saw two proven games in half and glue them together. Clank! is a dungeon crawler/deck builder. Arnak is a worker placement/deckbuilder. Eschaton is a deckbuilder/risklike. Emerge is if you played Yahtzee to play Carcassone.

In Emerge we are scientists exploring islands for wildlife for points. The goal is to make multi-tiered islands with lots of wildlife meeples on them. You do so by rolling dice and assigning them to actions on your player mat. There are also 4 goals to keep up with and research tokens you can find by making islands or spending unused dice. After 8 rounds the game is scored and the most VP’s wins. One aspect I enjoyed was the modifier tiles. Once per round you can remove/add/swap tiles around your board, this causes numbers to collect for different resources. Numbers are placed on your mat and can be spent together for different meeples or island tiles. So I could put a crab tile on 4 (as pictured) and spend dice from 2 and 4 to place crab meeples on my island. Islands score for the number of tiers times number of meeples.

Emerge is a bit tougher to recommend than most of my games here. I like it, it has some things I like, but it has some I don’t. I don’t think the tile abilities do enough to negate the variation and luck in rolls. You only get one roll, and granted I probably should have taken on at least one or two more tiles, but I didn’t feel they did enough compared to something like One Deck Dungeon. I feel for an optimization game, optimization enjoyers might get annoyed with bad rolls they get stuck with. There’s also a lack of meaningful player to player interaction. There’s racing for objectives first, obtaining research tokens first, and the four bird tokens that can be moved and stolen. I liked the idea of it, but I wanted more. I also felt the objectives asked a lot of you without offering enough reward for chasing them, I focused objectives while my bud islands, and while I scored all four objectives he still won by some 10+ points.

If you want a laid back dice game and you enjoy the presentation of Emerge I would say pick it up. It looks great and at times feels great to make decisions on your player mat for what goes where. If there’s an invite to a game its worth a play. Im not sure if I’d recommend picking it up unless its something you click with.

Apes together strong. After Us takes place in the post apocalypse where Apes rule the world and are racing to reach evolved intelligence. After Us is a puzzle-y deck builder. Players drsw four cards from their deck and organize them in any way they wish. You must combine costs with benefits, collects with collects, and solve the “puzzle” of what works best with what to gather resources and score victory points. The game ends when a player reaches 80 points.

Similar to Emerge theres a lot of bits I like and a few I don’t. There is a lot of simultaneous play that keeps turns from being bogged down and I appreciate that. We all assemble our monkeys together and resolve them at once. Its a brisk game that doesn’t overstay its welcome and the presentation/art is fabulous.

Where I have a bone to pick with After Us is in its RNG and player interaction. When you recruit new apes you draw from a facedown deck. You know vaguely what that ape is good at. The four types focus victory points, batteries, exile/trash, and repeat actions. You’re blind drawing from cards that don’t have specific abilities, just costs and benefits that are slightly randomized across the deck. But I ended up drawing lots of battery costs while my opponent did not, the apes I drew had a harder time with resources than my opponent’s draws, who provided and consumed similar resources. And there wasn’t an easy way out since all cards were blind draws.

The game also lacks any meaningful player interaction, its just a race. Theres a mechanic where when buying an ape you get a benefit of that clan and can pay 2 to copy a neighbor’s benefit, but it feels very stapled on last minute. Because its the only non simultaneous moment the only player interaction slows the game down.

After Us is another harder recommend. If you enjoyed Earth you will enjoy After Us. Earth similarly had low player interaction, youre all tuning engines till one pops. If you’re comfortable with that more solitaire play the puzzle of four apes in a line is enjoyable.

In Aurum players take the role of alchemists making formulas for gold. Aurum is a trick taking game with some higher level mechanics to it that will be hit or miss. There’s 5 “base metal” suits and a gold “trump” suit. Players start with a hand of base metals and one 0 gold. The leading player plays a card. The other players must follow, playing DIFFERENT suits than each other. The highest card wins the trick BUT the lowest card gains a gold card in their “collection” worth victory points. This card may also be used in tricks. At the beginning of the game players choose a number and put down a card from their hand of that number. That is their bid, they want to win exactly that many tricks. Go under and you get nothing. Go over and you score the bid in points. Match the bid and gain double the number in points.

So sometimes you wanna win the trick. Sometimes you want to force someone else to win. Sometimes you want to spend a 6-7 to lose the trick but gain a gold card of that value for points.

For a trick taking game there’s a number of things to consider. Do you want to waste a card that could take a trick on getting gold? Do you want to spend that 1-2 VP gold to ensure you reach your bid?

We played the 3 player variant and I found it to be this interesting standoff. Otherwise it plays 1v1 and 2v2.

If you’re into trick taking games and want something new. In the world of $30 medium pizzas and $10 1lb ground beef Aurum is $15. I recommend picking it up and giving it a try. It won’t work for everyone, but having a 3 player variant was fascinating. Like the other two games fantastic art direction and great quality, great presentation.

Four Humours is a prisoner’s dilemma game. Players place potions in scenes and once two scenes are full all are resolved in this order of operations how the four humors can “win” in priority order. Winning potions are placed on the board to satisfy objective cards. Whoever satisfies the most wins.

To explain the prisoner’s dilemma if you’re unfamiliar, there’s one scene in Four Humours with only two potion slots. Each can hold Choleric or Sanguine. Choleric wins if there is only one in the scene. 2+ choleric means nobody wins. Sanguine is next in priority. If Choleric doesn’t win, Sanguines all win if there are 2+ in a scene, regardless if they are owned by different players. Your opponent claims they played a Sanguine. Do you trust them? If you play your Sanguine and they played Choleric you lose. If you both played Choleric you both lose. If you both played Sanguine you both win. If you decide to screw your friend over and play Choleric to their Sanguine only you win.

And decisions like that are the core of the game. The 4-5 scene cards and 6 party tiles are all logic puzzles and bluffing/diplomacy minigames. With the mechanics behind the four humours you can goad people into making bad moves or win without actually winning the scene. You can be sneaky and crafty, treacherous or trustworthy.

Truly its mechanics are light, the game is placed between you and your buds rather than on your own playmats. With the nature of this game I wouldn’t recommend playing with less than four people, and it can hold up to six at a time. Its a great game that works off a great dilemma, trying to work around possibilities and promises of different players claiming to place different humours where feels great. Great replay value too, our game went thru about 1/2 the scenes and theres an alt game mode to explore.

I heartily recommend this one, easy pick.

One last bit before I snooze. Pandasaurus is a game company I own many games for: Brew, Dinosaur World, Wild Space, now Emerge and Aurum. Every game I’ve played from them is 80% of a really fantastic game. Its just missing a little something. The presentation is stellar, the effort is there, the creativity is apparent. I’m not trying to slam their games by any means.

Most end up relying on their theme harder than their mechanics. Games are carried at the thought of what you’re doing than the nuts and bolts behind it. Emerge, without set dressing, is a game of assembling tokens on tiles and adding base tiles to their tiles, rolling dice to do so. Wild Space is a game of playing cards to play more cards. What makes them tick is their stellar theming and A+ presentation with materials and art.

If you see this logo understand this might not be the most mechanically sound game. It also might not have the most player interaction, if any. But its going to look great at the table and each game has something that will make your brain go brrrr like the board game equivalent of a fidget spinner.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Slumber Party: Final Part

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.2k

Warnings: canon angst and violence

Summary: Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West making an appearance, Charlie coming to visit, and Castiel getting used to being human, oh my! Ding Dong, the witch is dead!

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated.

x

You make it to the kitchen, but you stop short when you see how destroyed it is. Sam and Dean are standing there with their backs turned to you, and when they hear you, they swiftly turn with their guns raised.

"Whoa, it's just us!" They lower their guns, but they are still on alert. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"What do you think?"

"We raided your gun range and made us some poppy bullets. They won't kill the witch, but they will stun the shit out of her. There was only enough for two bullets each, so make each shot count."

Charlie hands over the two guns to the brothers before handing one to Dorothy.

"Now we just have to find her before she finds whatever the hell she's looking for."

"She's looking for a key," Sam reveals. "Ring any bells, Dorothy?"

"Unfortunately. It's the key to Oz. There are magical ways into Oz—tornado, the eye of a hurricane, whirlpool—but this key will turn any locked door into a portal to Oz."

"How did the Men of Letters get the key?"

"I have no idea, but if she finds it, she'll go back and finish what she started. She'll destroy all that is good in Oz. She's got armies of witches and flying monkeys. Many will die."

"What does this key look like?" you ask.

Dorothy pulls out a journal from her jacket and flips to a picture inside. It's a key you've seen before somewhere inside the Bunker.

"I've seen that key. I found it when I was doing inventory," Dean immediately recognizes it.

"Where is it now?"

"My room. We got to get to that key. Alright, Charlie, Y/N, and I will go look in my room. Why don't you guys buy us some time?" Sam and Dorothy leave, and Dean turns to Charlie. "Charlie? The safest place in this joint is the dungeon."

"You have a dungeon in this place? Of course, you do," she chuckles. "I am not hiding, especially in a dungeon. Wicked Witch, a key, and a quest? Let's do this."

She bounces out of the kitchen, and Dean turns to you with concerned eyes.

"She's safer with me than in a dungeon alone. She's eager and curious. If she's going to hunt, then she should learn from the best. I can't wait to see how you'll react when Joanna says she wants to hunt."

"Not a chance in hell," Dean says as he follows you out of the kitchen.

"Okay," you nod and roll your eyes slightly.

You two meet up with Charlie inside Dean's room, and you immediately start to look for the key. Dean knows exactly where it is, and he cheers when he finds it.

"Yahtzee," he grins.

You turn to leave when you spot the witch in the doorframe. Before you can do something, she uses her powers and flings Dean against the wall. The key drops on the ground, but you're not focused on that. Green magic electrifies her body, and she raises both her arms out toward him, but you're quick to your feet.

"Dean!" you yell and jump on your bed to get to him faster.

You land on your feet and turn to the witch with bright blue eyes. Her magic reaches you, but instead of attacking you, you catch her magic with your own. Your magic combines with hers, creating a turquoise mixture. You throw this new magic back at her, slamming her back into the wall behind her.

Charlie raises her gun and shoots at the witch, hitting her in the arm. She screeches out in pain, grabs the key, and mists away through the vent.

"Dean, are you okay?" you ask him and help him to his feet.

"Yeah, thanks to you."

Sam comes rushing in with Dorothy once they hear the commotion.

"What the hell happened?"

"The witch was about to kill me, but Y/N took care of her. Charlie shot her, and she vanished into the vents. Y/N are our kids safe?"

"Yeah, she can't get in their rooms," you confirm. "Did those bullets kill her?"

"No. She's wounded. We should still have some time. She could still be in the air vents," Dorothy says. "You three go, we'll catch up."

You know you can stand up to the witch if she resurfaces again, so you and Dean leave with Sam to try and find her.

"Why haven't you moved in?" Dean asks to pass the time.

"Is now really the time for this, Dean?"

"I'm just asking."

"Look, I never had what you had with Mom and Dad, okay? I don't have any memories of home, and whenever I've tried to make a home of my own, it really hasn't ended well. You grew up with your mom, Y/N. You two know what it's like... I don't."

"You have a chance now," you say quietly. "You have two nieces. They're going to grow up here, and they're not going anywhere, no matter how hard you try. This is our home now, and now you'll finally know what it's like to be in one."

No matter how many times you comb the Bunker, you can't seem to find the witch. Either she's really gone, or she's moving as fast as you three.

"Maybe she's gone. She's nowhere to be found," you sigh.

You turn to leave the room when you spot the witch behind Sam and Dean. You tackle the brothers to the ground right as she shoots green lightning at them. You blast the witch back with your own powers, but she mists away and appears right behind the brothers. She places both of her hands on their heads, and their eyes flash the same green as her magic.

"Shit," you mutter and start to back up.

"Find the girls," Sam smirks.

"And kill them all," Dean finishes.

They both look at you with rageful eyes, and you know you can't stay here. You turn and book it out of the room, using your magic to find the other two ladies. Charlie and Dorothy are located in the garage, admiring the cars in there. They jump at your sudden arrival, and you bend over to catch your breath.

"Breathe, Y/N," Charlie says.

"What happened?" Dorothy asks seriously.

"The witch... got to... Sam and... Dean. Possessed," you pant.

"This isn't good." Dorothy walks over to an old-timey motorcycle and digs through the saddle bag attached to the seat. "Please be here. Please be here. Yes!"

She pulls out a pair of ruby red slippers, and Charlie lights up in excitement.

"I don't believe it. Did you really walk down a brick road in these?"

"No. I've never actually worn them. It seemed kind of tacky wearing a dead woman's shoes. Plus, I'm no good in heels, you know?"

"I don't suppose we could just wish her away?" you ask and catch your breath.

"Sorry," she shrugs. "That's another thing the books got wrong, but like the poppies, these shoes have magic from Oz."

"There you are," Dean says from the door to the garage. He and Sam stand there with threatening looks. "I missed you, my pretty."

"Killing you a second time will be just as sweet as the first," Sam grins at Dorothy.

"Guys, I know you're in there. Dean, you can't let the witch do this. If she opens the door, she's going to destroy Oz," Charlie tries to convince.

"I have no intention of escaping to Oz. I'm going to bring my armies here. Don't worry. You'll join Dorothy right after you watch her die."

"Sorry about the nards, Dean," Charlie winces.

Before he has a chance to react, she knees him in the dick, and he goes down without a second thought. You're more than okay with her doing this if it keeps them away from you. Dorothy tosses you the ruby slippers and steps in between you and the brothers.

"Go. I'll buy you some time."

"Come on," you urge.

You and Charlie leave with the slippers while Dorothy takes care of Sam and Dean. You run over to the war room to see the witch on the metal landing where the front door is. She painted her spell on the door and used the key to transform the front door into a door to Oz. You can clearly see her flying monkeys coming at full speed from her castle.

"When you get a chance, you stab her," you say and hand Charlie the shoes.

The witch is distracted, so you take this opportunity to sneak up behind her. When you get behind her, you tap her on the shoulder. She turns to you with green eyes, but your blue ones are brighter.

"Why don't you go to hell?"

You grab her shoulders and fling her over the railing, sending her crashing down to Charlie. The hunter-in-training raises one of the shoes and stabs her in the chest, and the other one into her head.

Ding dong, the witch is dead.

The only problem is closing the door to Oz or else these flying monkeys will invade your world and kill a lot of people. You use your magic to close the heavy metal door right before they can get to it, and you sigh in relief. You open the door again and make sure they are gone before turning to Charlie. Sam and Dean walk into the room, but by the looks of it, the witch's spell wore off on them as soon as she died.

"Ding-dong bitches," Charlie chuckles.

With the witch taken care of, Dorothy is free to go back to Oz and take care of her business. The key is back in Dorothy's hand, and she is ready to get back to her own world. You all meet in the garage, and you admire the old cars that have been there for seventy years. One of them is a Chevy Carryall that has two back seats. This is perfect for your growing family. The Impala is amazing, but you need more space.

"Dean, check this out," you call him over. "This car would be perfect for our growing family. We'd have space."

"Not my baby?" he pouts.

"You're a baby," you roll your eyes playfully.

"Dorothy, I found something in the archives. Pretty sure it belongs to you."

Sam hands her a copy of "The Wonderful World of Oz".

"You have no idea how odd it is having a series of books written about you," she chuckles and takes it.

"Actually, I do know, and it is definitely weird. You know what? At the end of the day, it's our story, so we get to write it."

"Not bad for a bunch of librarians. Do you mind keeping an eye on my bike for me?" Dorothy asks Dean.

"Yeah, as long as you don't mind me taking it for a spin once in a while."

"Deal."

"Dean, I'm telling you right now the image of you on a motorcycle will result in another child."

"Really? We have company," Sam sighs, and you just shrug.

"Thank you four for everything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a rebellion to finish." She turns to Charlie with a smile. "So, are you coming or what?"

"What? With you? To Oz?"

"Yeah. You said you were looking for adventure. Well, here it is, Red. Come help me find my damn dog."

"This about this, Charlie. You have no idea what's in Oz. I mean, there are flying monkeys and armies of witches. There's all kinds of danger."

"Promise?" her eyes light up.

"Charlie, I am happy for you, but we still need to have Joanna's birthday party. You have to be here for it. Dorothy, you can come too. You two can leave after."

"What's a few more hours?" Dorothy shrugs.

All throughout this commotion, Joanna and Maryann were unaffected. While Sam and Dean got ready, you grabbed the Amazon packages that were dropped off for you at the P.O. Box you had set up. It wouldn't do anyone any good if you gave out the address of the Bunker when it's supposed to be the safest place.

With your magic, the decorating process only took a few minutes. The bunker used to look so boring and plain, but now it's decorated with a bunch of balloons, streamers, princess decals, and a few games. Sam came out first with the presents and set them up on the table you set aside for that. On the other library table is where the food and everything else go, and you work overtime to get those out.

You didn't have a lot of time to plan this, but you feel like you did good for what you had available.

"Are you ready?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, bring her in."

Dean walks in carrying Maryann while he holds Joanna's hand. She has her other hand over her eyes so she doesn't peek, and when she finally opens her eyes, she lets out the loudest scream possible. She bounces around the room excitedly, and you can't help but chuckle at her behavior.

"I want to open presents!" she squeals.

Sam takes Maryann into his arms so that Dean can open presents with Joanna, and you stay in the background to film her reaction to them. You and Dean got her all kinds of different dolls. When you two went to the store, he basically shoved every different doll into the basket. He didn't know what to get her, so he got her everything. Barbie dolls, Disney Princess dolls, and Bratz dolls.

Sam got her a doll head that is large enough to where she can do her hair with a bunch of different hair pins, bows, and even a brush. He claims that she can stop playing with his hair, but you know he secretly loves it.

This isn't the birthday party you wished Joanna would have, but it's the birthday party she loves.

This is what it means to have a home.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)