#Like if I knew about this poll from the beginning I would have submitted a lot of ships and some very rare ones

[frobin]

Late to the party and for everyone who does not know this is about this poll: https://www.tumblr.com/onepiece-polls/727007686847332352/one-piece-shipping-war-round-4-quarter-finals

Warning to all the new followers: I have a tendency to talk too much about shipping! In general. Because I've been around the fandom for quite some time.

---

UsoppKaya basically got confirmed in the Live Action. In the Anime and Manga one could see hints (if they wanted to).

But even though a very common thought and side-ship in the earlier stages of One Piece, UsoKaya never had a huge following as a ship. Thanks to the fact that there are only very few hints in canon (367 fanfictions and 29 with the otp:true filter).

After Usopp joined the crew there are maybe a hand full of scenes that could be understood as romantic... but also as platonic.

Even though shipping does not has to be based in canon it helps some people (me for example, lol).

And Usopp had a lot of interactions with other characters. Usopp/Perona had a surge at one point (but only 6 fanfictions).

So… even though we got that one confirmation of Crew/Non Crew (And there is a surge of fics… I consider to finally finish my Kaya/Usopp fics too, lol.) it is also certain that we won’t get any confirmation like that for any Crew/Crew.

Oda made it clear that romance will never be the focus and the crew is “in love with adventure”. He also told the LA writers and producers that he does not want them to write romance.

I talked the possible reasoning for it here:

So, UsoppXKaya aside, FRobin - even though they very possibly will forever be doomed to be a secondary pairing (995 fics vs. 170 fics for otp:true) - are well liked within the fandom. So as long as they are not against a powerhorse they have good chances.

I might eat my words but I’d say they win against Kid/Killer (211 vs. 103 otp:true) , who are also surprisingly an underdog because historically Kid/Law (995 vs. 507 otp:true) was more popular until Law met Luffy and LawLu became more popular (4085 vs. 2578 otp:true) again and Kid wasn’t really around. Only in Wano we learned more about the Kid pirates.

And while Nami/Vivi (569 vs. 134 otp:true) also started very weak back in the day, they a very dedicated fandom. (I remember searching some information about the ship itself but there aren’t many reasons as to why people ship them.) So that will be a head to head race.

NaVi vs. Sanji/Usopp (504 vs. 311 otp:true) though ... hard to say. I'd bet on NaVi but it looks like Sanji/Usopp has a very dedicated fandom too... Either way in the end FRobin will win because of the last few ships, they have the most supporters. And also that is what I wish for xD

I think it's funny the live action made a ship actually canon but it's still gonna lose this round in the shipping war 😂

[simlit]

Chosen of the Sun | | dawn // thirty-two

| @maladi777 | @izayoichan

POLL RESULTS | The audience vote ties 50/50. The poll is decided by a coinflip resulting in favor of using the scroll. Indryr's [TRUTH SCROLL] is depleted and will no longer be available for future use.

next / previous / beginning

INDRYR: If he knows anything more, it may be to our benefit to try. We don’t know when we’ll get the opportunity to confront someone like him again. KYRIE: I guess you’re right, but… Well, let’s get it over with, then. KYRIE: My lord, might we speak to you a moment? ELDEWYN: Mm? Ah, of course! Help yourself to the wine in the meantime, Master Bard! ASTER: Way ahead of you! ELDEWYN: Yes, Your Grace? How might I help you? KYRIE: Indryr. ELDEWYN: What is that? What are you doing—?! INDRYR: You know more about Castien than you’re letting on. ELDEWYN: Why on earth do you care so much about him? What is this nonsense? Help! Help! KYRIE: Please, my lord, don’t— ELDEWYN: In here, help me at once— KYRIE: Stop shouting. INDRYR: Your Grace… ELDEWYN: What… are you doing… to me… KYRIE: I didn’t want it to have to come to this. We’re not trying to hurt you. We just need information. Indryr, please proceed. INDRYR: I… Uh… right. Castien Thallan, who was he really? ELDEWYN: I told you what I know! I’m just a magistrate! I remember rumors swirling at the time that Castien was the illegitimate child of some noble… They said he had claim to a great fortune and that is why he’d come up from the south to stir trouble, but I can’t tell you what I don’t know! INDRYR: The scroll will make sure of that. Then, his followers believed him to be of noble bloodline? ELDEWYN: I suppose they did, how should I know what they thought? I never met them! They were rowdy and destructive! Made noise and broke things wherever they went! They had a clear disdain for authority. We of the aristocracy knew to steer clear. INDRYR: And after Castien’s death? What happened to them? ELDEWYN: The few that remained became outspoken protesters of the trials. But back then there was a movement to have the tradition done away with. They weren’t the only ones to speak out. Once the rules were altered, it got quiet and I haven’t heard a thing about it since! KYRIE: You said Castien’s involvement in the trials was predetermined. ELDEWYN: There were whispers that the priest before you— Lord Ilduin— had been bribed by Castien’s father. It’s all hearsay. I said I don’t know. KYRIE: Then he doesn’t. It’s all speculation. ELDEWYN: Release me at once! KYRIE: Very well. But you will speak nothing of this. You will tell no one we were here or what we’ve asked of you. ELDEWYN: Yes, Your Grace. ELDWYN: Now if you would all kindly get out of my home. Now! KYRIE: Aster, Lucien, let’s go. ASTER: Hm? Has it all gone tails up then? LUCIEN: We heard yelling… KYRIE: Please just gather your things. We’re leaving. KYRIE: wincing INDRYR: Your Grace… you’re unwell. KYRIE: I’m fine. INDRYR: You… have the power to compel. KYRIE: And it’s no easy feat. It takes a heavy toll to force your will on another. INDRYR: I expect it is quite the burden… One might find you quite the formidable foe. KYRIE: Trust me, Indryr, if I’d ever used my powers on any of you, you’d know of it. It’s not something one can hide. A mind is very aware when it loses control. Duke Eldewyn will only submit so long as I channel the spell. But there was no other way. If he tells anyone what we’ve done… KYRIE: I- Indryr? I… Please— INDRYR: Don’t worry, Your Grace. Your secret is safe with me.  

[astorinx-writes]

Why "Lost In Outland" Is Astro Boy's Most Beloved Episode

The 2003 series is considered by fans to be one of the best renditions of Astro boy ever. Known for its risk taking and emotionally charged story-lines, most if not all the episodes hit. But one in particular, “Lost In Outland,” stands out among the rest. Why that is, has been of particular interest to me, who personally enjoys it as well. My findings have led me to come up with three reasons as to why. For starters, the change in pace & scenario compared to other episodes. Secondly, the unforgettable and unique characters. And, thirdly, Astro’s place in it all. While this is not an exhaustive list of reasons, it is clear from these three alone that, out of all the 2003 series episodes, “Lost In Outland” proves time and time again to be the best and most loved.

Now, of course, before we begin, I have to disclaim a couple of things. One, this is not meant to convince you to like the episode if you dislike it already, I am simply explaining what I have found & researched and presenting it to you as such. Two, I am well aware that the research methods I have used to come to these conclusions with drawbacks and downsides that harm its legitimacy. While I tried my best to circumvent this, things can and do fall through the cracks, and there is nothing I can do about that in said regard.

To start, I want to explain a little bit about how I got to this point, and what made me wish to write this post. I knew personally that Lost In Outland was my favorite episode of the 03 series, but when speaking about it with other people, I was shocked to find out I was not the only one who felt that way. I also, at the time, had developed some theories as a result of this feedback that hinged on my own personal thoughts, not just about the episode, but also about my personal life. Thus, I decided to put together a Google Form in an attempt to not only gauge what other’s thought about this episode, but also if my theories held any water.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, there are some caveats to doing a poll. Besides the obvious— that people can lie or use bots to manipulate the results— there’s also the inherent bias that I am (presumably) polling people who already like and enjoy the 2003 series. So, the odds of them liking Lost In Outland goes up tenfold. There’s also the fact that I was only (at the time of writing this) able to pull in 8 responses. But as I said, I cannot control how people respond, and who responds, exactly. Even if I made it extra obvious that the results would be anonymous, that still may not have been enough to convince people to be brutally honest. This fandom is also quite tiny, so while 8 people in a poll for any fandom would seem so little, in this case it’s actually quite a lot. Finally, there was a second section in the form that contained some more heavy questions (mostly pertaining to my theories) that people had to opt in to answer. Some may have chosen not to participate and thus only answered the questions from the first section.

Out of the 8 people who submitted responses, 75% of them consider Lost In Outland their favorite, or all-time favorite episode. 25% did not consider Lost In Outland to be their fave or all-time fave. Participants were given a question to elaborate on why they did or disliked the episode, and we will be discussing their thoughts later. For now, to continue, 75% prefer the subbed version of the episode, while 25% prefer the dubbed.

For the second half of the survey, in which 87.5% of people agreed to participate, 57.1% of them consider themselves to be LGBTQ+/queer. 42.9% of them (presumably) consider themselves to be cishet. Precisely 71.4% of them have said they’ve experienced some form of trauma at any point in their life, while 14.3% did not, and 14.3% said “maybe.” The final question, directly attempting to answer a theory I had made, was a bit inconclusive. Only 57.1% of people said that they have or had (at any point) thoughts of escaping/running away, starting over somewhere new, or anything similar.

Now that we have broken down the multiple choice responses, we can get back to talking about the written response question I saved for later. This brings us to the three reasons outlined in the intro as to why the episode is so enjoyed. For starters, we can talk about one of the most frequently brought up reasons: the characters. Many praised the unique nature of the commune characters, with one even mentioning how lovable and interesting they are. Personally, I also agree that the characters are what make the episode. They serve as the backbone for the episode’s plot, and as one participant said, even make for the perfect set-up for a spin-off show. Boon in particular was brought up twice and seems to be the breakout star altogether. However, I can also see the opposite for why some wouldn’t like this, as introducing so many new characters (that, spoiler alert, we never see again) can be overwhelming, or seen as a waste. But, I think the episode did a fantastic job at making them all diverse and unique that we can’t really forget them. And, as for the “wastefulness” argument, that’s somewhat valid, but it’s not entirely our fault that the show couldn’t find a way to bring them back in some capacity.

Next, we have something a little similar, and that’s the change of pace/scenery. Now this personally has got to be one of, if not the sole reasons I love this episode, and I’m glad everyone else agrees! To begin, many pointed out how we don’t normally get to see live as lived outside of Metro City, or even outside of those that are rich. This episode, based around a commune that is said to live in Outland as a “[Way for] people to forget about their problems.” gives us a perspective we haven’t seen yet. Of course, though, I can't talk about this point and not say the obvious, that this isn’t the first time (nor would it be the last) that Astro’s lost their memory. However, in this specific context, I think it takes that idea and freshens it up a little. It’s also really nice to see O’shay step up to the plate and take initiative in looking for them. Not to say that he’s never stepped up before, but as one participant wrote: “It was the first episode, Ochanomizu claimed parenthood over, Atom.”

Finally, our third reason is a bit hard to pin down. Originally written in my outline for this blog post as simply “Astro’s altruism”, which is based on a single response written that spoke of Astro wanting to help others, despite everything. It seems far more that the majority (including myself), similar to liking how different of a situation Astro was in, also liked what it represented for them. Now, I am no psychologist, nor would I claim that anyone who participated is, either. Even still, the fact that it's as clear as the night sky that what Astro goes through is enough to make us all collectively sigh in gratitude that it’s not of importance or worry this time around, is astounding. Yes, there is still something to be said about the episode's entire premise beginning with Astro going out of their way to fix the satellite, despite not being instructed to do so at all. As well as the fact that they were able to clear Boon’s name after successfully using the Boon Unit. But for once, we’re seeing Astro live a life where they aren’t pestered or arsed to have a “purpose,” to be a mediator, to feel like being an activist is more important than being a kid. They were allowed to just be, and that, is precious.

For the 25% who disliked the episode, only 1 submitted a written response that said though it is not their favorite, they still enjoyed the episode. The other declined to comment.

To summarize, there are many reasons why Lost In Outland is considered the best of the best, even by 2003 series standards. But, based on my research, the 3 most predominate ones are: the stellar characters, the unorthodox setting, and Astro’s place in it all. And considering I agree with them all, should it really have been a surprise to me that I wasn’t the only one? Perhaps not- but I’m glad to now have concrete evidence as to why, and perhaps you do too as well. Because, out of all the 2003 series episodes, “Lost In Outland” proves time and time again to be the best and most loved. And the proof is in the pudding.

[essaygraveyard]

The oddities of Old School RuneScape.

Recently (as in sometime since the time dilation got worse) a friend of mine bullied me back into playing RuneScape for the first time in a decade and some change. It was, at first, a fun little exercise in nostalgia and childhood wish fulfillment. I was unsurprised to find that I still remembered just about everything you could do in free to play given I had completed all of that content half a dozen times and when it came to the members content I was finally able to do all of the things that a young hatsforfish could only dream of doing. I never had a membership growing up, so to see the grass from the other side felt like striking off long forgotten bucket list items. What I didn't suspect when I submitted the request to recover my account was that I would stick around.

RuneScape has gone through a handful of iterations since it first went online in early 2001. The version I grew up playing was RuneScape 2; the version that the modern Old School RuneScape (from this point on OSRS) is based on and the version that was revived due to some of the player base's dissatisfaction with RuneScape 3 (R3). My original character, which I had made in my elementary school computer lab and whose name was a misspelling of the name I had at the time wished my parents gave me, remains trapped in R3 since it is technically the original game. OSRS is a ship of Theseus of the 2007 version of the game that got updated out of existence. It is not the original but is made of all the parts that the original slowly replaced. Or it was at the beginning, because the devs then continued to update the new old version of the game with new content and even new visuals. So OSRS now is more what we remember RuneScape 2 to be rather than what it actually was.

The updates aren't haphazard though. Almost every change or addition to the game is polled by the player base before release and needs to meet a stringent 70% approval rating to pass. What this effectively means is that the active community in the game decides what nostalgia means to them. This helps get around one of the problems that Dan Olson pointed out with regards to WOW in this video which is that the paratext of the game, the guides wikis and technical understanding of the games systems, has fundamentally shifted the way we play the game. Back in 2007 nobody knew what they were doing, they just did what felt right to them or what a friend of a friend had said was good. The idea of a "game tick" was not in peoples vocabularies and so the devs didn't have to design around people intricately manipulating and optimizing the game the way they can now. At the same time nobody has the same amount of time they did back then so the genuinely long grinds the game used to contain are even less appealing today.

So when I started playing OSRS I remembered back to Olson's original video on WOW classic and figured that the same was going to more or less be true for RuneScape as well. Logging in to my new character (whose name ended up being weirdly prescient) I figured I would exhaust my nostalgia fairly quickly and throw in the towel the same I have for any game without a proper ending. It was sometime during the quest Recipe for Disaster that the true form of OSRS started to appear to me and I started to notice the pattern.

See, I wanted to get my combat level up, so I looked for the best way to train combat and the internet almost universally said that slayer tasks were the way to go. I jump into some of the level appropriate tasks, looking up guides along the way and it mentions an item that would help called the Slayer Helm which is unlocked by earning points from doing tasks. Well, that's convenient since I'm already doing tasks but doing tasks my level meant points came in slower. If I did faster easier tasks, then and did the high-level ones on the count that gave a score multiplier then I would have the Slayer helm in no time. That being said killing all these low-level mobs quickly mean leaving a ton of bones on the floor and it's just such a shame for them to go to waste since prayer is such an expensive skill to train otherwise. Turns out that there is an item that automatically converts dropped bones into passive prayer xp and that would be incredible to have for this grind. It is, however, locked behind the Morytania achievement diary which has a ton of requirements but they're all things I was meaning to do anyhow. So, I head off the grind agility and right around the time I start thinking about unlocking Fossil Island so I could start doing birdhouse runs in between agility course laps the whole picture finally snaps into place. The natural game flow of OSRS is just simulating what it's like to live with inattentive ADHD.

Given that I have inattentive ADHD I figured that OSRS just allowed for more floating from thing to thing than most games do so I saw my real-life tendencies reflected in it more than most other games. That was until I found out that a ton of other people play the game this way. Now that could just mean that a lot of ADHD havers play the game, which wouldn't strike me as all that unusual but either way I wasn't out of place here. What was odd was that existing like this usually makes me absolutely miserable but for some reason doing those same patterns in RuneScape didn't frustrate me at all. In fact, this sort of tangential advancement has kept me focused on the game waaaaaaaay longer than I ever could have guessed. While I never did get my bone crusher, I did just get back around to finishing the quest that I had gotten distracted from in the first place. Intentional or otherwise, the design of the game is one of the first times it felt like the way my brain works might not always be a detriment to my goals. In spite of that I do not recommend getting started on the game unless you have a lot of free time and nothing better to spend it on.

[insomniac-astronomer]

Romanogers: Trade Her Back | Ch. 2 - Steve’s Apartment

Hi there! Welcome or welcome back to this story! Since this is a part of a series, I would strongly advise you read chapter 1 here: trade-her-back-ch-1. Thank you so much for coming back to check out part 2!

Song for the chapter: “That Man” by Caro Emerald in true Peggy Carter fashion.

Enjoy!

~~~

The forties smell different. It's strange, but that's the first thing I notice. Like gasoline and smoke. Not at all what I had been expecting.

I couldn’t tell you where we are if I wanted to.

“Welcome to my old apartment.” Steve sends me one of his dorky smiles.

The building is made of brick. Six evenly-spaced weathered doors line the front of it. Steve leads me up a few concrete stairs to the end of the row of lower doors. He kicks a brick to the side revealing a key. Making quite the spectacle out of it, he unlocks the apartment and beckons me inside.

“Oh-” Steve’s voice trails off as we both stare at the wreck that is his old home. “I wouldn’t have been in here since I left for the war but that would have only been a few months ago.”

“Someone made themselves a doorway through the window,” I gesture to the smashed glass.

“Hold on.” Steve’s voice darkens as he pushes me behind him. Seriously? I shove past him and start examining the place, ready in case someone decides to attack us from around the corner.

After a few minutes of me going left and him going right, we determine that the trashed apartment is empty. Completely empty; not just of people, but of furniture and valuables as well. Whoever broke in might be on their way back here right now.

“Board up that window with something. Make sure that everywhere else is still secure. And why the hell did you think it was a good idea to leave your key under a brick?” I speed back to the front door, locking it tightly and testing it’s integrity a few times, just to make sure.

“Only Bucky knew I kept the key under there.” Steve says back as he picks up a piece of the broken couch to place on the window.

“It’s not that hard to find.” I mutter as I begin testing light switches. All of them seem to be working, as the lights are slowly warming up and I haven’t started an electrical fire yet.

A few moments of strange silence pass over us as we work on straightening up the place and testing some of the appliances. Unsurprisingly, everything seems to be in working order, there’s even a small carton of milk in the fridge.

Steve and I have always been a chatty pair. I don’t think I’ve ever realized that till now, when we haven’t spoken in at least twenty minutes. Superhero work is tough, but when you’re with your team, there’s a certain unspoken agreement not to mention any hardships unless we have to. Keep the mood light, you know? That’s maybe why this quiet feels unfamiliar to me.

“What do we do now?” I ask to break the silence.

Steve gives me a confused look, almost gesturing to the pile of rubble he was sorting through.

“I mean after we finish cleaning. You jumped us to the forties, did you have a plan in mind?” I try to make my tone sarcastic and teasing but given the solemn mood we’re both in, I don’t think it transfers.

“It’s Saturday.” Steve says quietly. I’ve never seen this man so deep in thought, even back when Wanda had put that nightmare in his mind.

Suddenly, I remember. “Your dance with Peggy.”

He nods.

I want to say something to comfort him. Yes, we went back in time for this but he deserves to be happy for once. Even if it’s just an artificial sort of forties-haze joy. Although, he’s already seen her at ninety years old. Hell, he went to her funeral, saw her body.

Oh, that’s messed up. He said at eight right?

“You’d better get ready Prince Charming, the sun’s starting to set.” I smirk. “Don’t want to show up looking like you just made out with her niece or anything.”

Steve sends me a glare, though I finally see a small smile fight it’s way onto his face. “You know what Romanoff --”

“What? I didn’t say a bad language word.” My snarky facial expression turns into a grin.

“Just for that, you’d better have this whole place cleaned by the time I get back.” He says, standing and brushing some brick dust off his pants.

I roll my eyes. “Please, I’ll leave you some of the fun.”

~~~

Steve left a few minutes ago. He told me not to leave the apartment because, well, can you imagine what would happen if I walked down a street in the 1940s wearing a skin-tight suit? But besides that, he’s right. Life was different back . . . now, and I would probably behave like an alien to them.

The kitchen and living room have now been swept out and all the bits of rubble removed. Steve was able to salvage the couch cushions and set them up like a children’s fort-style floor couch. Since everything in the kitchen was mostly in working order, that looks almost normal. If you don’t count the fact that there is no table or chairs.

There is no TV, just a small radio to entertain me. Fantastic.

Although, I did just come back from the dead so maybe it would be alright for me to rest my neck for a minute or two. I lay down on the floor couch. Just a couple minutes and then I’ll keep cleaning. Steve should be --

I don’t know where I am. A strange orange material seems to be covering my eyes. I reach my hands up to remove it, only to find that the material is surrounding me. It’s like I’m walking through an orange snow globe if all of the snow had transformed into a million complicated crystalized patterns.

What is happening? And why does it feel like I’m walking through quicksand?

Before any of my questions are answered, the orange world flashes brightly, and there is only darkness.

~~~

I can’t believe Tumblr formatted this all for me. I wrote it on a Doc with indents and everything, this is fantastic. Anywho, sorry this took so long to write out, it’s about three letter-sized pages in length so. Let me know if I got the characters right or otherwise, I’m very open to constructive criticism.

Quick question: I’m plopping my masterlist into my bio for now, but does anyone know how to get it on the dashboard of options? Like where the asks and archive buttons are. Thanks :)

I have also now actually opened my asks so if you have something specific you would like me write, jump in and send me something. Check my bio for fandoms and masterlist for the post with guidelines if you would like to submit something!

One last thing, I’m going to attempt to make this story somewhat interactive with the lovely romanogers community reading it. Go follow my instagram _lenamarieanne to answer polls and other things that will affect not only chapter lengths but possible characters and story events!

Thank you so much for reading! Much happiness and sunshine to you! ~Lena Marie Anne

P.S. Feel free to drop a like, leave a comment, or do a re-blog. I will respond to any comments!

[readyplayerhobi]

Let’s Put On A Show

; Camboy!Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Smut, fluff

; Word Count: 21.5k

; Warnings: Dom!Hoseok, male masturbation, voyeurism, camming, dirty talk, sub!Hoseok, dom!reader, sex toys, male anal, oral sex (male and female), penetrative sex, handjob, fingering,

; Synopsis: Welcome to HopeWorld! Lay back and enjoy a show with BehindTheScene’s number one dominant camboy, Hope! Are you looking for a Master to make you whine? A Sir to make you beg? Or a Daddy to treat you right? Hope’s got something for everyone...

; A/N: This is the first true ‘smutty’ fic I’ve done in a long time...so please be gentle and love it. It got longer than expected...there’s more fluff than you may expect...I hope you all enjoy and love! Please comment, give feedback, send asks and reblog if you like! It helps to encourage me to write and I’m always interested in your thoughts, questions and headcanons!

-

HopeWorld has gone live!

Almost immediately, you’re clicking on the link on your phone while you lay back on the mound of pillows that sit on your bed. Chewing your lip lazily, you wait while the screen goes black before loading, flipping into landscape position and leaving you with the visage of a double bed with dark, ruby red silk covers, and dark wood bed posts rising on all four corners while a pile of pillows rests against the intricately carved headboard.

The title of today’s show is simply ‘Choose Your Pleasure’ and you wriggle slightly against your own soft sheets, thighs clenching as you already imagine the mental and auditory stimulation you’re going to be provided with.

Sure enough, there’s a quiet shuffling noise through the speaker of your phone before a guy steps into view and sits down lightly at the end of the bed. He’s wearing black slacks that leave just enough to the imagination yet still grip his toned thighs deliciously while a white button up shirt strains against his physique as he leans back on his hands, the top two buttons undone and leaving a delicious expanse of golden skin visible, a silver chain with a lock pendant lying against the gap between his collar bones.

There’s pure silence for a moment before he lets out a small huff of laughter, the breath leaving him almost silently before he leans forward again, elbows resting against his knees and giving you a delightful view of his shoulders.

He’s slim, yet with enough muscle to make the definition obvious with his tight yet perfectly acceptable clothing. This close to the camera, you can see the way the deep brown of his eyes reflect the light of his screen while he reads the messages that show on his computer with a slight tilt to his mouth.

You sigh softly as you bring your phone closer to your own eyes, greedily drinking in the sight of his sculpted jawline and the straight slope of his nose that meets two strong, dark brows. Blonde hair that’s almost platinum at the ends sits styled elegantly on his head, a generous helping of forehead revealed while the strands blend into a deep honey blonde before evolving into the dark black of his natural hair colour.

It’s been a while since he dyed his hair, and you wonder idly if he’ll keep the blonde or maybe go a different colour. Last year, he’d spent the whole summer with vivid, scarlet hair before dying it all black again in what had apparently been a fit of boredom.

But his loving and loyal fans had adored the light hair he’d had two years ago and begged him to consider going back, which had led to his drastic change two months ago. You certainly weren’t going to complain; the man looked hot in anything.

The man you were watching, and who was in turn reading the comments that flew past on his screen, was one of the most popular camboy’s on BehindTheScenes; a website that catered to all manner of sexual interests. There were pretty girls who would put on a show and rugged guys who would follow your every order and all manner of other delights to be found.

But unlike some other seedy sites, it was all perfectly legitimate and only verified people where allowed to begin creating shows on the site. That means that they had to be aged 18 and over, along with the viewers. Everyone had to provide valid proof of identity to be allowed on, and you knew that the benefits of being one of the camboys or camgirls were exceptional.

80% of the money they made went to them, with the remaining 20% going to the site in order to keep it going; paying its own staff and keeping the maintenance going. Viewers could simply watch for free, but they were only allowed three free shows a month before they had to pay for at least one show or they could pay a yearly fee of $69 to view as many as they liked.

It worked out better that way, considering each show was $5 to view. There was also an extensive tipping system using coins, which could be bought individually or in packs, video game style. These coins were used to ‘tip’ those making the shows, which often meant that they were incorporated into the shows themselves.

Those who tipped a certain amount could request something or have their message read aloud, some used them as a way to allow users access to a poll that would dictate what the show giver would do. But the coins weren’t cheap. 100 coins was $10, with each hundred costing a further $10 until you reached the 1000 coins. Then it was $5 per hundred.

Before you’d gone onto the site, you would have never thought that camshows would have earnt much, but then you’d watched a few and discovered the almost obscene amounts of coins that viewers would buy and tip in an attempt to be noticed or get their host to do something. It was not unreasonable for the top shows to earn thousands of dollars per show if they were good.

And HopeWorld was very good.

He’d been on the site for 7 years now, so his profile said when you clicked on his username. His real name wasn’t given, just a pseudonym of Hope and the country he was from along with his age, 28. Oh, and his sexuality which was clearly listed as ‘Bisexual’.

His archived shows were also available via his profile, purchasable for 250 coins each or free for the premium members who paid an even higher fee to get even more privileges. There was also a range of photographs available to view for free; from selfies of him smiling sweetly to seductive poses that haunted your dreams.

Some of the cam-stars on BehindTheScene were versatile in what they did, never going for a specific genre. They would have sex with other men and women, or do solo shows to please people. Have their shows in the privacy of their room, or do risqué public shows that upped the ante.

Some of them chose to specialise in what they did, gaining a niche audience who lived for the shows that were put online. Girls who did solo masturbation shows with an array of colourful and unusual dildos, guys who jerked themselves off and submitted to their viewers through the use of coins to tell them what to do.

HopeWorld specialised in solo masturbation shows, only he used domination as his tool of pleasure for his viewers. You hadn’t understood how that could even work through a camshow until you’d seen his for the first time, and then you’d seen why he was so good.

He had a command of his voice and body that meant every subtle gesture, every tiny rise and fall in his voice was perfectly engineered to produce an answering response from his viewers. A slight narrowing of his eyes when one of his viewers became a little bratty or spent obscene amounts of money demanding him to do something let it be known that a punishment would follow.

Hope would get himself off on camera sure, but at his pace. He rarely followed orders from people who spent money to ask him to do stuff and he would be quite cutting and cruel sometimes to his viewers. Not in a way that crossed any lines, but more in a way that showed he would refuse to do what they asked simply because they paid.

It had boggled your mind when you first saw it, wondering why on earth people watched someone who refused to do what they were being paid money to do. Particularly given he encouraged people to pay, and on an entire system that relied on the patronage of viewers.

And yet...he was one of the most popular camboys on the whole site. Viewers went wild for his uncaring persona, for the sheer dominance in his voice when he sneered at the people who begged and pleaded for him to do what they wanted while simultaneously following his every order on the other end of their screen.

When he demanded they play with themselves, they would. When he told them to stop, even if they were at the very edge of their orgasm, they did so. And oh, would they beg him to let them orgasm, to find that sweet release at the end of their fingertips that was entirely controlled by his deep and seductive voice.

You had never considered that someone like him would do well, and yet he had his subscribers and viewers wrapped around him as well as those pretty fingers of his wrapped around his cock.

Yes, Hope was extraordinary and you’d been a loyal follower for years now.

There was something about the dominant persona of HopeWorld, the way he refused to bow to the pressures that buckled so many other cam-host’s over the years. He would take things under advisement sure, changing his shows up enough to keep interest but he had no interest in being at the mercy of his viewers.

And you loved it.

Which meant you were already beyond wet when he let out a low chuckle of amusement, the sound rough and almost grating in his throat as he lets his wet, pink tongue flick across the rich buds of his lips.

“So...how are we all today? I hope you've all been good while I was gone.” His voice is deep, rumbling from his chest with a slight rasp. It's something he obviously puts on because when he forgets himself during shows, it'll go a little higher with a tone more casual. It's still pleasing though and you’d happily listen to him read the phonebook if they still existed.

Unsurprisingly, silence meets him but his beautiful eyes are relaxed into happiness as they scan over the hundreds of comments that fly in the chatroom. A reverberating chuckle rumbles from his chest as he runs a finger along his lips, the corner worked up before he glances at the camera.

“How have I been? Oh...I don't know, just waiting for the next chance I had to see all of you.” Smooth, if a little cheesy. But it's a camshow and these people live for that stuff.

“Would I ever agree to the threesome over with GoldenBoy and ChrisChim? Well, they did ask me personally but I don't know...don't you think I'd be too much for them? And I thought we had a good thing going here? Or are you wanting me to expand?” He hums lightly, musing to himself.

The comments explode and Hope lets out a breath of a laugh as he reads them.

“You think it'd be hot? Wow, there's a lot of you who want to watch me have sex with someone hmm?” This is how his shows always begin, a little bit of teasing talk between him and his viewers while he waits for them to come in. It makes him feel a little more reachable; not just a bunch of pixels on your screen.

Lately, he's been getting more requests to mix up his shows. You'd have thought that he would be annoyed about it all. His speciality is solo, yet everyone seems desperate to watch him fuck someone on screen.

Not only that, but there seems to be a vocal minority that's growing to see him submit. Which is wild, as you've never seen a show with a single hint of that.

But it's what the viewers are increasingly wanting, and the unfortunate fact is that hosts are sometimes beholden to their viewers. He might one day do it if it would please them and increase his views.

His lips purse for a moment as he reads and considers, forming a tiny triangle and you coo softly at the screen. Normally you’re moaning or panting at him, but sometimes he acts cute without realising it and you can see the want to have him on his knees for the camera.

“Wow...so there’s a lot of you huh? Maybe...maybe I’ll think about it in the future. Keep an eye out if you all really want that...but for today I think we all need to get back to business, yes?” He leans back on the bed, revealing the long, slim line of his body and you instantly go hot, a spear of pleasure hitting your centre as you squeeze your thighs in response to the blatantly sexual way he holds himself.

His legs have dropped open, leaving a wide gap of space between them and giving the overwhelming aura of power and domination. It’s a classic move, and yet it works so well as he puts his weight on his hands on the bed, letting the viewers gaze up and down his body.

It works well because he’s showing everything he has, everything that you can look at but not touch. Your fingers ache to reach through the screen and unbutton his shirt, letting the soft material slip from his shoulders to pool around his wrists before they would dart to the waistband of his slacks.

You’d tug at them, letting the waistband shift him forward slightly before undoing them slowly, keeping eye contact with him the whole time until the zip is fully down and his cock presents itself to you through the opening created.

Yes, you’d love to undress him where he sits. Slowly, seductively until he’s trembling with anticipation and gasping with need.

Blinking rapidly, your brow raises at those thoughts and you can suddenly see why everyone wants to see him submit live on camera. He’d be glorious moaning under your fingertips, and your inner muscles convulse on nothing at the very idea of fucking him till he’s a writhing mess.

Lord, the idea of watching that would be hot as fuck.

In reality though, he’s still sat in the same position as he watches his screen, white teeth prevalent as he bites his lip while a brow quirks up. There’s already a slight tent forming in his pants, the tight material constricting what’s beneath and contorting them even further. It’s a basic human reaction, and you so desperately want him to reveal himself already.

"So what do we want today boys and girls?" He brings up one hand and holds three fingers up, the corner of his mouth tilting in a seductive smirk while his brow quirks. "Do we want daddy to make an appearance? Or are you feeling like Sir needs to come out? Or is it a Master kind of session again? Remember, as usual it's 100 coins to vote...500 to give me a specific request that I'll consider."

He’d already set the poll up while everyone had been discussing wanting to see him have sex on camera or submit, and it was running with votes coming in fast. This was how he made his money...people desperate to get their fantasy come to life today and some people desperate enough to spend even more to get a specific request in.

You’d felt sorry for them at first, and a little resentful of him for being manipulative. Until you’d realised that these people voluntarily wanted to part with their money in this way on people like him. And if they didn’t do it with him, then they’d just go to another show and do it there.

At the end of the day, he was the one getting naked and orgasming on camera for everyone else’s pleasure constantly. While he obviously enjoyed the voyeurism aspect of it, it would likely take a lot out of a person to do that. Some people were ostracised by their family, friends and work for doing stuff like this.

The money was a bonus for some camstars, but for others it was a lifeline.

Either way, the amount he always made sometimes made you contemplate whether you’d make a good camgirl or not. But then you’d immediately shy away from the thought. You were far too shy to be a solo camgirl. You’d need someone there to buoy you, give you the confidence that you struggled to gain yourself.

Hope shifts forward once again, rolling his neck and your breath stutters at the arousing sight of the long, elegant sweep of his throat. It’s perfectly smooth with not an inch marred, and you so desperately would love to suck a deep bruise into the sensitive skin there till he’s grunting in your ear.

“I’ll give it a few more minutes and then we’ll get this show started yeah?” He grins, the smile lighting his face up. It makes him look more boyish, yet at the same time the intensity in his eyes tells you that there’s nothing boy about him.

His whole backstory is a complete enigma to his viewers, given how little he says on his profile and the complete lack of information he gives in his shows. Literally the only thing viewers get to know about him is his age and the country he lives in, not his name, nor his normal profession. It seems to simultaneously appeal and frustrate his viewers.

The time he spends reading over comments and making conversations is also spent teasing his ever watchful crowd, a wandering hand roaming along his body slowly in all the areas you so desperately would love to touch.

A slight hitch in his breath gives away his actions and you note the way he’s pressing his palm to the crotch of his pants, lower lip teasingly bitten as those elegant eyes scan over the screen. Smirking, he finally leans back slightly before giving a soft laugh.

“Alright boys, girls and anyone else who’s here to enjoy. Let’s get this show on the road yeah? I’m afraid it’s not going to be a long one. I’ve had a tiring day.” He whispers before shifting on the bed, legs spreading once again while his hand trails down his body slowly.

“Have you all been good for Sir?” The obvious winner of the poll slips off his tongue with ease, and you watch as he slides into the persona just as easily. Each persona is slightly different to the next, and the Sir has always been one that doesn’t waste time.

Apt, given that he’s already stated that he won’t be doing a long show today.

He begins to roll up his sleeves, taking his time as the white material rolls back on itself until both forearms are visible. The skin is smooth and honeyed, the muscles beneath working as he clasps both hands back together to read some more comments.

His set up means the laptop is pretty close to him, but the camera is a little farther away to get the full effect. But he can still read his comments with ease.

“Now...I see lots of people saying that they’ve been very good but how do I know for a fact? Tell me what you’ve done, and for each comment I like...I’ll undo a button for you.” One eyebrow lifts up while he sucks his lower lip into his teeth, eyes dark for the camera.

The temptation to send your own comment in is overwhelming, but you stay away from the chat this time. Instead, you take in every tiny detail that you can see of him on the screen and simply admire the way he teases and plays with his audience.

Each viewer that gives him a satisfactory answer, such as someone getting a positive score on a college test or someone getting a new job, results in a button on his white shirt being loosened until soon enough...he’s got none left.

Instead, you’re graced with the beautiful image of his bare torso and you let out a soft whine to yourself at the sight of it. He’s a pretty lean guy, but the defined abdominal muscles lets you, and everyone else, know that he obviously works out and takes care of himself.

His chest is free of any hair, but there’s a tantalising trail that leads down to the waistband of his black pants and you want to desperately lick along there until you find his happy place. Because it would be his happy place if you got your mouth on him.

Hope knows this is what people want though, and he lets everyone have a few minutes to simply admire him as he slowly runs his hand along his stomach, tutting at a few unruly viewers who demand him to go faster.

“Demands make for sad viewers. Keep it up...and I’ll punish you.” His voice is ridiculously low as he murmurs out the threat. You know he’ll do it too, and it makes you clench your thighs at the rumbling bass that rolls through your speakers.

There’s one persistent viewer that doesn’t seem to be getting the rules, or maybe they’re just doing it on purpose. But either way, the demands for him to take off his pants become insistent to the point his eyes narrow in annoyance.

Slowly, and with his eyes focused on the camera, he begins to button up his shirt once again. Automatically you let out an expletive, annoyed at the viewer, and sure enough the others watching simultaneously beg him not to do it while berating the one causing him to put his foot down.

“Now, now. Don’t be mean everyone. Some people just need to learn the rules right? You get two minutes of nothing from me now. Do it again, and I’ll button up another and you get five of nothing. I said this wasn’t a long show...do you not want anything to happen?” He muses quietly, rubbing at his lower lip.

Sure enough, the chat explodes in begging and pleading. But he holds firm and there’s two whole minutes of nothing but him simply staring at the camera. After that’s up, he lets out a deep sigh before unbuttoning the final button once more.

“Now...are we going to play good?” You’re nodding your head in response, despite the fact he evidently can’t hear you. “Okay. Now...I got some good responses from you all. If you want me to take off these pants...then I need to hear why. Tell Sir why he should do that. What are you going to give him?”

A trick question obviously, because in reality they can give him nothing. But it’s not about that, you can guess that. It’s about giving him the allusion of power over his viewers. About them believing that he’ll do what they want if they ask him nicely enough.

“Oooh...some interesting answers here. But I think I like this one. Simple, but it gets me excited.” He grins, a heart shaped smile that’s so beautiful you can feel your heart swooping already. “I’d give Sir the prettiest moans. Not much to it, but you can’t deny there’s nothing sweeter than hearing a desperate moan sometimes.”

Sure enough, he follows through with his promise and slowly peels off his belt before unbuttoning the black pants. They drop to the floor almost silently and you can practically hear the stunned silence from the audience at the sight of him.

He’s not wearing any underwear, leaving his hard cock to bounce in the air slightly from being released. Hope isn’t hung like some of the guys on the site, nor is he as thick as some of them. But you’d certainly never complain.

Thick enough for his fingers to only just meet when he wraps them around the base, you feel yourself clenching as he gives himself an experimental stroke. It’s long and slow, and the prolonged eye contact he maintains with the camera makes it feel weirdly personal.

But that’s his specialty. Making every viewer feel like they’re the only one he’s entertaining.

“Like what you see?” He asks huskily, licking at his lip as he watches while his hand moves along his length. You’re nodding without even realising it, your own hand sliding down your body until it slips beneath your own clothing and your fingers find the hood of your clit with ease.

Slickness meets your fingers as you spread it over the engorged bundle of nerves, a soft gasp leaving your mouth as you touch yourself in the way that you enjoy most. You’re not even really paying attention to what he’s saying anymore, too focused on the way he sits back on the bed and continues to jerk himself in such delightful movements that have him gasping between words.

For a few minutes, you try to only circle your clit in time to his own strokes but you find yourself getting impatient and wanting to reach your ending sooner rather than later. He has far more patience than you have though, and he’s only just started to caress his cock at a faster rate while he purrs out pure filth to his audience.

A few comments are begging him for release already, no doubt riled up to the point of orgasm like you are and you find yourself hoping that he’ll have mercy today and let you all come. You’ve already begrudgingly removed your fingers from yourself twice in an effort to hold out your pleasure for even longer, edging yourself until it’s almost painful to pull away.

“Why should I let you all come? You were all begging me to last longer earlier. Are you wanting to come for yourselves? Are you almost there? All tight and desperate? Fingers aching? Hands clenching? Are you dying to be filled, or fill someone else? Are you imagining me fucking you? My cock driving into you, hips slamming into yours? Are you wet? Lubed up? Would it be loud? Messy? Would you whine for me?” His words come fast in a staccato manner, his own voice tense with strain as his hand works at himself faster.

People comment in droves, confirming his suspicions with some writing rather elaborate scenarios that you’re impressed at. They can’t be working themselves too hard if they can write that much.

Hope must think so too, reading a few with amusement before he lets out a deep groan at the pleasure he’s giving himself.

“I like your answers. I think you’ve been good for me today. So...I’ll be nice. You can cum. Cum for me. And I want you to moan my name while you do. Imaging cumming around my cock, tightening around me until all I can think about is you.” As he does so, your fingers work at yourself even harder and the ball of pleasure that’s ballooned in your stomach expands even more until you finally fall over that precipice.

A long moan leaves you as your hips circle desperately, fingers dancing over your clit to elongate out the intense orgasm until you can’t handle it anymore and you simply lay there, spent. Your legs fall to the side slightly, tingling from the sensation while your hearing goes a little fuzzy for a few seconds.

The phone lies on your chest; Hope’s moans and deep groans escaping from the small speakers and filling the room with lust and pleasure.

Despite the fact that you’ve just brought yourself to orgasm, your pussy tingling delightfully even if you feel horribly empty, you grasp the phone and look at the screen again. It’s just in time to see Hope’s head fall back, the beautiful line of his defined throat taking centre stage as his chest heaves, abdominal muscles prominent as he sucks in desperate breathes.

A final moan leaves him before his thighs clench and his hips jerk up into his hand. Thick, white cum paints his stomach as he orgasms finally, cock twitching in his hand as he works himself through his own orgasm. It’s so hot that you’re almost tempted to let your fingers play with your clit some more, but you feel far too tired and content for that.

Instead you just watch lazily as he finally finishes, his last few ejaculations simply leaking down the shaft of his cock and coating his hand as he squeezes out every last drop. Finally done, he looks back at the camera with a heady gaze before smirking tiredly, reading the comments.

“You all did good today. I’m sorry it was short, and it wasn’t very interesting. I’ll make it up to you next time. I want you all to do some good aftercare okay? Get a drink, take a shower, go to bed if it’s bedtime. Take care of yourself, however you like to. You’ll do that for me right?” His brow rises expectantly, only falling when he nods in satisfaction at the responses he gets.

“Good. Now...I’ll be saying goodbye. You were all wonderful and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Until next time.” And the screen goes black.

-

The silence in your room is deafening once he signs off, leaving you to lay on the bed and regain your breath as you stare up at the white ceiling. White sheets with cute star patterns cover your comforter and you stand up lazily, dropping your phone to the night stand before stretching out any kinks you may have caused from your attempts to gain your own pleasure.

Tugging your shirt off, you deposit it, your leggings and your soaked underwear into the clothing bin before rooting through your underwear drawer. A pair of comfortable boy shorts with a Hogwarts design are picked out carefully before you head into the bathroom, cleaning yourself up and coming back out in only the underwear.

At this point, your boyfriend has made his way into the bedroom and has pulled back the covers, wearing a plain black shirt combined with grey sweatpants. He looks up at you, a brow raised as he looks over your mostly naked body with a smirk, the sight causing your nipples to peak already.

Rolling your eyes at him, you go into the closet and pull out a Star Wars shirt of his, letting it drop around your body and land just below the curve of your ass. Moving over to the bed, you climb in next to him as he sighs heavily, eyes closing.

“That was a good show.” You say quietly, tiredness lacing every word and he lets out a soft laugh. The bed jolts as he shifts onto his side, shuffling closer to you until he has you pressed against his front and his arm wraps around your waist.

“Yeah? You watch it?” Nodding slowly, your nose is pressed to the smooth skin of his collarbone and you inhale his scent deeply. He smells like the peach of his shower gel and the clean scent of his shampoo, an underlying smell that’s entirely him making your body relax and feel at peace.

He presses his own nose into your hair, his lips curving into a smile that you feel against your forehead before he’s pushing them into a kiss against your skin. It’s soft and filled with love and gratitude for you supporting him.

What his viewers don’t know, is that HopeWorld is one Jung Hoseok. Your boyfriend of six years. You’d both started dating in your last year of college, having known each other since the beginning when your mutual friend, Jimin, had introduced you both.

That acquaintance has turned into a warm friendship, filled with underlying admiration which turned into desire and lust over the years. A one night stand after a few drinks had resulted in you both waking up one morning in his bed, wide eyed at the fact your circumstances had changed so abruptly.

You would have been willing to take on the mantle of Hoseok’s girlfriend eagerly at that point, but he’d been slightly reluctant. Not because he didn’t like you, he’d assured you plenty that he was pretty sure that he was in love with you actually, but because of something else.

Something he wasn’t sure you would approve of, or want in a boyfriend.

And that was when he’d introduced you to BehindTheScene, carefully explaining what he did and the fact that it was not only helpful to his funds but that he actually enjoyed it. His love for you had overridden it though, and after showing you what he did he’d given you the option of asking him to stop.

He would’ve done it too. Put his camboy career out to pasture at your request, choosing you over his love of performing for a willing crowd.

You’d gone home with thoughts whirring in your head, an instinctual part of you influenced by society telling you that you were disgusted with the idea. But an overwhelming part of you was curious.

He’d told you as you left, decision unmade, that he would be doing a show tonight and you could watch if you’d wanted. Carefully, shyly, you’d made an account and clicked on his name when he’d gone live.

What you’d seen had you embarrassed at first, cheeks heating but your body heated even further with something more. Something primal that told you that you wanted this man more than you had before.

You’d gone to his the next morning and told him that he could keep doing the shows, as long as he never did a sex show with someone else. Solo shows were fine, a fantasy that you could indulge in as you listened to his words and imagined him fucking you with each luxurious and rich word that dripped from his mouth.

But shows with other people? No way. That was not acceptable.

He’d accepted your terms eagerly, happily. The happiness in his face at not having to give up something he so obviously enjoyed and loved had made you realise that you’d made the right decision regarding this. You may not have understood it fully, but you understood his happiness.

The few friends of yours that had found out about his shows over the years had been confused as to why you were so accepting of them. How could you let your boyfriend jerk himself off on camera for the pleasures of thousands of people? How could you let him say those kinds of things to faceless people, the kinds of things he should only whisper to you in the heat of the moment?

Every time though, you’d simply said that it was what he wanted. It didn’t impact on your life, because he wasn’t doing anything physically with anyone else. He wasn’t messaging other girls or guys, he wasn’t sleeping with them or any of that kind of stuff. He was sat in a room in your house, getting himself off to a camera. There just happened to be people watching.

You would rather he do that openly with you than feel the need to do something secret, feeling pressured or unhappy. Hoseok’s camshows made him happy in a way you couldn’t, providing him with confidence and satisfaction that benefited you greatly. It didn’t make your sex life bad, if anything your sex life was phenomenal.

Hoseok would often get so turned on during his shows, the thoughts running through his mind about things he’d like to do to you, that by the time his show had finished, he’d be hard again and coming to you for seconds. You were the one who got to experience all the things he whispered to his viewers, you were the one who got to feel him inside you as he chased his orgasm, skin soaked with sweat while whines left his throat as he pushed through the oversensitivity.

Not only that, you enjoyed watching his shows too. And he knew that you watched them sometimes, providing an extra turn on for him. He’d told you once that he imagined you were watching them everytime, and that he would say things specifically with the aim of getting you off or turning you on.

If you orgasmed, it was a bonus for him.

And besides all of this, Hoseok’s camshows brought in a ridiculous amount of money. His normal dayjob was as a freelance web and graphic designer, often going to his friends workplaces to work but also spending a large amount of time in his home office.

It was reasonably well paid work, but it didn’t matter at all. He brought in so much money from his shows over the years that he’d been able to contribute towards your house easily with a huge savings account in turn. He had no student debt, he’d bought his car outright and the money he’d put towards the house had meant the mortgage was much smaller than it would have been.

Quite frankly, Hoseok was loaded from careful saving and even more careful planning with his shows. Your salary was nothing in comparison, a meagre amount from your generic office job that was used to pay half of the bills.

But the most important thing to you, was that he finished his shows and came to you with his bright smile and a happy, relaxed demeanor. Just as he supported you with your gaming habits, even if he had no idea what the hell you rambled on about, you supported him with his.

It just meant his ended up with his dick in his hand and cum everywhere.

“Your viewers seem to be becoming more insistent about a sex show.” You muse quietly in his arms, taking solace in the feel of him in the quietness of the room. Six years together, five of them physically living together, had produced a relationship that was solid in its silence, relaxed in its love.

Hoseok lets out a hum of contemplation, shifting slightly to push a knee between your own legs before pushing his face into the pillow more. “Hmm, I know. I don’t really know how to go about it because I obviously can’t do it. But if they keep getting insistent, then there’s a chance they’ll leave if they don’t get what they want.”

He sighs heavily at this, his chest expanding and deflating against your own. Bringing a hand up, you rub at his chest reassuringly, pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone in a comforting move.

“You don’t have to do what they want, you know that. It’s your show, not theirs. And you’ve been there a while now. You’ve got loyal viewers who won’t abandon you.” Hoseok sighs in response, not saying anything and you know that it’s bothering him.

The comments have become more frequent lately, his viewer base becoming more frustrated. It didn’t help when Jungkook and Jimin, the little shits, kept offering to have him on one of their shows or a threesome if he wanted it.

The two had begun doing their own shows after finding out Hoseok did it, fascinated with a whole world they hadn’t known about. They were even more popular than Hoseok, with their innocent faces and dirty words.

Both did solo shows, but they also had sex shows with each other that appealed to a wide range of people. Taehyung, Jungkook’s boyfriend, was apparently okay with the whole thing and you were more than a little mind boggled at that. Which made you feel hypocritical, because obviously some people’s relationships were just like that.

If Taehyung was okay with his boyfriend having sex with his best friend live on camera, then that was his prerogative. But the very idea of Hoseok doing that made you intensely unhappy.

Unsurprisingly, Hoseok had turned down every invitation they’d given him. They’d promised not to do it anymore after they’d offered again on their show last week, the invitation casually spoken as they’d read the comments once they’d finished, skin glowing with sweat.

Hoseok had got angry at them, shouting at them for once and terrifying everyone. He didn’t get angry. He didn’t even get annoyed half the time. But it had set him off, everything just merging together at the wrong moment until he’d blown up on them both.

His show hadn’t gone well that day as his viewers had constantly been asking about the invitation, leading to him being a little more intense and biting than usual. It had made for a wonderful show watching him, as he’d held off his orgasm longer and longer through edging as a punishment for all the questions and his viewers had to suffer for longer too.

He had a whole game with them at this point, where they would push themselves to orgasm only when he did. It meant that he would edge them for a whole hour sometimes, his own cock leaking profusely by the end, his tip red and angry from the wait.

That day, he’d gotten so pissed off that he’d ended the show abruptly. His orgasm had come in a flood, a moan escaping his mouth as his head fell back and he came far earlier than he would’ve. He’d only been going for fifteen minutes, and his viewers had been shocked by the suddenness.

“I wish they wouldn’t. How do I tell them ‘oh hey, I don’t do sex shows because I have a girlfriend that I love very much and I have zero interest in ruining that just for you all to get off’?” He queried, tiredness in him. You wondered if he was getting tired of this whole thing by now, his viewers becoming more unruly as time passed.

Love blossomed in your stomach at his words though, appreciating his steadfast refusal to give in to them because it would mean cheating on you. A thought you’d had while watching him earlier appears back in your mind and you muse on it quietly.

It’s something you’d thought about more and more recently, and you wondered what his thoughts on it would be. Finally, you decide to just put it out there in the open and see what his thoughts actually are. You could have got him completely wrong.

“What about if you do a sex show?” The words are quiet, yet in the silence of the room they’re astoundingly loud. Hoseok doesn’t do anything for a moment before pulling back, looking at you with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

“What? What do you mean? I’m not cheating on you! I don’t want to have sex with someone else.” His protest is outspoken, genuine panic and unhappiness in his voice as his eyes scan you over.

It makes you feel good, bizarrely, at the way he protests against the idea of having sex with someone else. Combined with his sincere emotions at it, you smile and shift your head to press your lips to his in a sweet kiss.

He kisses back automatically, but when you pull away, you spot the way his lips turn down. The idea of that is genuinely upsetting to him, and you frown as your hand strokes along his side gently.

“I don’t mean have sex with someone else.” The words are out now, and he takes a moment for them to process before his eyes widen once more. Only now they’re in a different kind of shock, a hint of interest in them letting you know that maybe he’ll agree.

“What? Wait...what? You? You’d do a show with me? But I thought you didn’t want to do anything like that?” The words fall from his lips quickly, but you feel the way his fingers tighten around you.

No doubt there are images running through his mind right now; you on top of him, riding him to completion. Him kneeling before you, thrusting into your pussy with confident, hard strokes that have you whimpering and quivering before him till he has you crying out his name. All the while, a camera records every movement, every sound from you both and sends it out to thousands of viewers worldwide.

Your breath hitches at that thought, hips squirming against the mattress and his eyebrow rises slowly as your thigh squeeze around his own involuntarily. Slowly, an incredulous smile spreads over his face as he looks at you with intrigue.

“Holy shit. You’re turned on at the thought of that huh? Would you really be okay with that? I mean...you’ve never shown interest in it before?” He’s certainly interested though, and you let out a huff of laughter at the sudden semi he’s sporting against your stomach. 28 years old and yet the refractory time of a teenager on occasion.

“Well...I’m so used to seeing you do it now. And I know how much you enjoy it. I don’t know, the idea of it is...attractive I guess? Just...having you and knowing that there are thousands of people watching who would die to be in my place.” Hoseok laughs at that, pushing slightly until he’s rolling on top of you and your back hits the bed.

He kisses along your neck slowly, sweet kisses that speak of love and trust even as he slowly grinds his hips into yours. “You already have me. Many times. In many ways. In ways they’ve never seen.”

“That’s another thing. I think I’d want you to submit to me.” Hoseok pauses at that, pulling back once more to stare at you with a carefully blank face. His lips are wet from the assault he’d begun on your neck, and you reach up to trace along his lower lip slowly before pressing down on it until he opens his mouth for you.

Slipping your finger inside, you bite your own lip at the feel of his heated, wet tongue as you play with him before stroking along his cheek, letting his own saliva cause a trail that shines along his golden skin in the soft light of the lamp.

“You want me to submit to you?” His words are careful, slow and full of consideration as his eyes narrow slightly, looking over every micro-expression on your face. A coy look takes over your own as you wrap your arms around his neck, fingers trailing lovingly while you move your legs.

There’s a moment for realisation in his eyes before you’re pushing hard at him, causing him to rock backwards and end up on his own back. He lets you obviously; something you’d long ago learnt was that you can’t move him unless he wants to move. But he’s too intrigued by this idea to start any arguments right now, and instead his hands move to rest against your hips.

“Yeah. You’re used to it. And I’ve seen all the comments. People want to see what the mighty HopeWorld would look like on his knees. Who better to do that than your own girlfriend? You trust me, you know that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you and you wouldn’t sleep with anyone else on camera.” Fingers get brought down on your hand as you reason with him, the slightest rocking of your hips causing your core to brush against his hard on.

Each touch has his hands twitching while his breath hitches, but his eyes remain focused solely on you. HopeWorld is a master of seduction, a dominating persona that doesn’t take any crap from anyone.

Jung Hoseok, on the other hand, is a switch who leans more to the dominant side. The two of you usually just have normal, pretty vanilla sex but you both enjoy engaging in the kinkier aspects every now and again. And while Hoseok enjoys dominating you, he also likes being dominated in turn on occasion.

Which is probably why his pupils expand in lust at the thought of you making him submit on camera, allowing himself to be vulnerable in the capable hands of the person he trusts most.

Running your hands down his clothed chest slowly, you reach his waistband and run your fingers along the inside slowly. He swallows thickly, tongue wetting his lips as he lets out a pant before his eyes eyes glance down to where your hands are.

“Really? You’d really want that?”

Smiling, you lean down and kiss him deeply, tongues exploring each other before pulling away and gripping his blonde hair tightly at the dark roots, keeping his head firmly against the pillow as he tries to follow your mouth. Grinning, you nod.

“I mean...we need to work stuff out obviously. And we need to check that your audience actually wants that. But...it gets me hot thinking about it. It’s obviously getting you horny.” You whisper against his lips, grinding your hips harder against his erect cock and causing him to whimper gently. Your fresh underwear is soaked through again, but you don’t care as you enjoy the relief the friction against him gives you.

“Okay. Okay, we’ll think about it further later and all that. Please fuck me.” He gasps out, eyes clenched closed while his jaw tenses, revealing the delightful line of his throat and his sculpted jawline.

Smiling, you move down to suck an open kiss into his throat harshly, marring his skin just how you’d wanted to while watching his show while letting out an approving noise. “With pleasure.”

-

A few weeks pass by since your suggestion to him, the time creeping past in its usual ways. Your own job was not exactly the most mentally stimulating, but you were steadily working your way up the career ladder with a clear goal in sight. It may not be amazing, but it was providing you with the experience you needed for what you really wanted to do.

Hoseok had been busy with an influx of projects, spending a lot of his waking time glued to his laptop and computer screen as he designed graphics for companies and created beautiful websites for others. His speciality tended to reside mostly in working with smaller companies, tending to their every needs and providing a lot of after completion support that involved tinkering with their sites if necessary.

While he loved what he did, you knew that it was tiring for him. The last two weeks had involved you having to practically pull him away from his computer in order to get him to eat and sleep. Needless to say, his shows had unfortunately taken a backseat and he’d had to put a notice out on his channel that they may be sporadic for the next month or so.

Which was you’d taken the day off today and begged him to take a day off too. You knew that his work didn’t run like yours did, but the dark circles under his eyes and his increasingly paler skin made worry run rampant in you. He was running himself into the ground in his attempt to get everything finished within his deadlines and you wished desperately that he would take your advice and hire Jungkook as an assistant.

Of course, he would point out that he couldn’t afford an assistant but you were sure he could work something out. There was too much work for one person, and you knew he’d always harboured a hope of creating his own creative agency that specialised in web based design.

But Hoseok was stubborn, and he often had to be run to the point of collapse before accepting change or something new. And while you didn’t appreciate his method of coping with things, you knew that you had to make everything else in his life as comfortable as you could.

He did it for you after all. When you had your nervous breakdown in your old job from too much stress and anxiety, Hoseok had been there for you. He’d been the one shouldering your pain and tears, rubbing your back and kissing your head. Being a pillar of strength for you. So of course, you did the same back.

And you knew that Hoseok knew what you were doing today. He wouldn’t have agreed to it if he didn’t, and you were happy that he was letting you coddle him today. It was time to just be you and him, no jobs or work involved.

As such, you were currently driving to the coast for what you were hoping was going to be a day of fun for the two of you. The skies were blue and the breeze was warm, giving you a good feeling for what the beach was going to be like.

Looking over at Hoseok, you smile softly as you note him sleeping with his head against the window. How he’s managing that when you have no doubt his head is vibrating furiously against the glass, you don’t know. But then again, you do know. He’s just been that tired.

He sleeps the whole way there and by the time you park up, facing the crystal blue sea, you can even hear the soft snores that escape him. Hoseok isn’t normally someone who snores, but you guess the position he’s in is making it more obvious.

Pulling the keys out of the ignition, you shift over to look at him. His newly dyed dark hair gleams in the light that makes its way through the window, his skin a shade paler than it normally is. He hasn’t spent a whole lot of time outside, and you desperately hope that it makes him a little happier and stress free.

A white t-shirt sits on his torso, slightly baggy while denim shorts let his toned legs be seen to the world. Which is a good thing, because he has damn good looking legs. He shifts slightly in his sleep, arms crossed over and shoulders hunching a little closer while his tongue licks at his lips, a quiet murmur leaving him and you laugh lightly.

Reaching over, you stroke through his hair repeatedly and enjoy the softness of it against your fingers. Hoseok likes having his hair played with and it’s always one of the quickest ways to relax him and get him to sleep. It’s also one of the best ways to wake him gently, bizarrely.

Sure enough, a quiet rumbling from his chest lets you know that he’s waking up before he’s blinking slowly, squinting in the light. Yawning loudly, he stretches out as far as he can in the car seat before looking at you quietly, lips pouted ever so slightly.

His face is swollen with sleep, eyes puffy and cheeks rounded. Everyone told you that as time passed, the excitement of your relationship with him would disappear and you’d just be left a quiet and serene love.

They lied, because as you watch your sleepy boyfriend come back to consciousness properly, you feel a fizz of excitement and happiness bubble in your stomach. Six years together, and he still makes you feel young.

“Are we here?” He asks, voice crackling before he coughs to clear his throat. Laughing lightly, you open your door and get out, dipping back down to look at him with a brow raised.

“I hope so. Otherwise I’ve found a really large expanse of previously unseen water.” You tease, closing the door before pulling out the blanket and food you’d prepared this morning. Hoseok grumbles quietly as he gets out of the car too, standing with his arms resting against the warm roof.

“Ha ha, funny. I see why I started dating you now, a real comedian.” He says, reaching into the glove box to pull out a pair of sunglasses and sliding them on. Walking around to the front of the car, he takes the food and bag from you before clasping your hand in his own, fingers twining together.

“You’re always so grumpy when you wake up, you know that?” Hoseok lets out a grunt before quickly leaning down and kissing your lips, pulling away before you can do anything. A noise of protest leaves your mouth as you reach the sandy shoreline, kicking your shoes off while Hoseok just strides out onto the hot sand, tugging you along.

“At least use some chewing gum after you’ve slept for an hour! I don’t want to taste sleep breath.” Looking up and down the beach, Hoseok decides the spot you’re at is perfect and lets go of your hand to lay the blanket out.

It’s only once he’s knelt down on the soft material, kicking his own shoes off that he looks back up at you with a brow raised above his shades. “You never mind when I kiss you in the morning before we’re about to fuck.”

“Hoseok!” You whisper shout, looking around in embarrassment even though there’s no one near you. He chuckles and pulls you down with him, wrapping an arm around your waist before kissing your cheek sweetly.

“What? There’s no one here and you know I don’t mind an audience.” Leaning away from him, you scan over his face and feel a small sense of relief run through you as you can already see the stress and strain practically vanishing from his face.

“I thought I said we weren’t talking about work today?” You ask, reaching into the bag and pulling out some sandwiches you’d made. Handing him the ham, cheese, bacon and salad that you’d prepared especially for him, the two of you eat in silence for a moment as you simply enjoy the gentle, cool breeze rolling off the ocean and the sound of the waves crashing on the white beach.

“That’s not work. You know that.” He says quietly, playing with the crust of his sandwich. From the concentrated look on his face, you’re pretty sure he has something on his mind and you wonder what it is.

Reaching out, you run your thumb along his cheek gently and smile when he closes his eyes and leans into your touch, his brows creasing together slightly. “Hey...what’s wrong?”

He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, just enjoying the feel of your hand on his face and you don’t feel the need to pressure him. You know Hoseok will tell you when he’s ready, and you’ll be here when he is.

Thankfully though, it doesn’t take too long for him to open up again. It had been a struggle to get him to be open with you in the first few years of your relationship. You’d joked that the US Federal Reserve had a vault that was weaker than Hoseok, because he just didn’t let people into the deepest areas of him.

Until he’d finally trusted you enough to crack open his walls and let you slip inside.

“You know that you said you’d do a show with me?” His voice is quiet, deeper than it usually is due to his lower tone. You actually feel a little unnerved, frowning slightly as you acknowledge his question quietly.

Hoseok tears the crust into tiny pieces before swallowing and letting the handful fall onto the blue patterned blanket. “I wanna do it. I’ve already done polls and...people want it. So...I want to do it if you’re comfortable with it.”

“If you’re okay with me being on your show then...yeah. I mean...I want a mask because I don’t want my face seen and I don’t know if I want to be naked because I don’t know if I can handle those negative remarks but...yeah. It’ll be an experience.” You laugh softly, pressing yourself into his side and resting your head on his shoulder.

“Hey! You’re beautiful, there’s nothing wrong with your body and everyone should feel privileged to see it.” The defense in his voice for you has you smiling brightly, pushing at him until he rocks to the side. His arm lifts and pulls you into him closer, wrapping it around your shoulders.

“You’re still tense though. So what else are you thinking?”

He lets out a soft breathy laugh, head falling forward. “Can’t hide anything huh? I think...I want that to be my last show. Go out with a bang.”

His words fall into silence, shocked from your side and waiting in anticipation on his. Pulling away from him, you scan over his face with wide and shocked eyes. Hoseok just watches you back quietly, his sunglasses pushed up and keeping his hair away from his face. He looks slightly unsure of himself, like he doesn’t know if he’s said the right thing.

“Really? You...want to quit that?” He chews on his lip for a little bit before nodding, taking your hand and playing with your fingers silently.

“Yeah. I...yeah I do. I’ve enjoyed it over the years, and it makes me feel good but...I think it’s time. I’ve done it for seven years and I have no reason to keep doing it anymore. I’ve saved plenty of money from it and I just feel like this is the right time to end it all.” You’re not sure what to think, as this sounds like it’s come from nowhere and yet he sounds like he’s thought it through.

“But why? You love doing it. It’s not because of me or anything right? You know that I’m not bothered about it. And your fans will stay with you, even if you have a sex show.” He smiles endearingly at you, moving forward till he’s kissing you. It’s short and sweet, pulling away before you can even do anything more.

“I know that. I know all that. But...I want to quit. For me. I started doing it as a way to earn some money and gain some confidence. I have that confidence now and I have more than enough money. You keep saying that I should hire Jungkook as an assistant and...you’re right. I have too much work...which is why I’m going to finally do it. Start the company. I can’t do that and still be a camboy.” It all sounds logical to you, and you can see now why he’s been reducing the number of shows he’s been doing over the last few months.

Slowly pulling away from people so they’re less shocked when he leaves finally.

“You’re going to do it then? Finally start the Jung Company?” You’re grinning brightly at him, lips pulled in a smile so wide in dual excitement and pride for him. His degree had been a dual business management and web design course, so he hopefully had everything he needed.

“Well first of all, it’s not the Jung Company. Hope Design, or something like that. I dunno, marketing is not my strongest area. Despite it technically being my area,” He contradicts himself, frowning slightly as it registers before he nods. “Anyway. Yeah. I’m gonna do it. Web and graphic design...full time. Take on more clients, make it a full time job. Hire people when necessary. It means I get to do what I always wanted...and I get to spend more time with you. And you have me to yourself.”

“Hey, I was never bothered about that.” You say, resting your hand on his stomach as you kiss his cheek. He smiles and kisses you again, a little longer than before.

“I know. But that’s another thing. I want to spend more time with you. I want to...be more with you and I don’t feel comfortable doing sex shows with what I want. If...you agree with me then I don’t think it would be fair of me to take time out to do them, nor would I feel comfortable.” You’re frowning now, wondering what he’s on about here. You’ve always made it clear that he was doing them before he started dating you, and you’d given him implicit permission to continue.

Taking in your confused face, he lets out a quiet laugh and runs a hand over his own. A quiet groan leaves him. “Ah Hoseok, you’re fucking this up.”

Turning, he lets go of your hand and reaches into his pocket before pulling out a small box. Almost immediately your eyes widen as he hands it to you with a tentative smile, hands shaking the whole time.

“Hoseok...is this…” Your voice trails off as you open it and see the beautiful ring inside. It’s silver, probably platinum, and has one beautiful diamond in the centre with two smaller pink diamonds on either side and two even smaller, clear diamonds on either side of those. For an engagement ring, it is neither ostentatious nor simple and you love it.

Almost immediately you’re looking at him through watery eyes, throat closing in on itself as he smiles through his obvious nerves. “Will you marry me?”

You can’t even get the words out a you nod repeatedly, tears slipping down your cheeks as he lets out a loud laugh before slipping the ring onto your finger. Almost immediately, you’re engulfed in his arms as he hugs you so tightly, pressing his face into your neck as you both rock from side to side.

“That’s the other reason I want to quit. Because I swore to myself that I’d stop when I got married. I want to marry you, and then I want to have babies with you and all that good stuff. And when I imagine that life, I don’t see those shows in it. That’s our life, not anyone else’s.” You sniff almost pathetically as you look down at the ring before looking back at him. He looks sincere, his eyes filled with love for you and you swallow thickly.

“You know I wouldn’t stop you doing it if you still wanted to. You know that right?” You ask quietly, imploring him to know that you really would be okay with it. For now at least, but you understand where he’s coming from.

“I know. I know you’d support almost any decision I made. But this is what I want. It always had to end at some time. So I want to do one last show where I show the world you for the first and last time, before stopping it. And then I want to make a company we can be proud of, and a family that we can love. I’m tired of jacking off on camera babe. Call me old at 28 but, I want the only person to see me like be you. So are you okay with that? Marrying me? Having sex with me on camera once?” He wiggles his brows at that and you laugh, wrapping your arms around his neck before kissing him deeply.

When you pull away, you’re both breathing a little quicker and heavier than before but it doesn’t stop you from kissing the tip of his nose. “I was already willing to have sex with you on camera. Marrying you is just the icing on the cake.”

He smirks at that. “You can have your cake and eat it. Though not right now, because right now I want to throw you in the sea.”

And with that, he heaves you both up before running down the beach with you in his arms, ignoring the ear-splitting shrieks that come from you and he deposits you both into the salty ocean.

-

It’s a week later that Hoseok finally decides to end it, announcing via his Twitter that the show he’ll be performing tonight will be his last ever. Understandably, there are many of his fans who are angry and shocked that he’s ending his camming career, but there’s plenty who give him support and encouragement.

He’d announced it via an open letter to all his fans and loyal viewers, one that he’d written carefully over the week before decreeing it perfect and deciding that it was the perfect way to end it. There was no explicit reasoning for his decision, only that his personal life had become so important to him that he didn’t feel comfortable carrying on with his camshow persona any longer.

And so HopeWorld would be officially closing tonight. His final show would not be saved, and all his previous shows would be deleted along with his profile. Only those who had bought and downloaded them would be able to continue enjoying them.

Hoseok had decided that he was done with the camshow world, and that meant he didn’t want his material out there unless it had already been downloaded. A clean slate for him, and for you too.

Despite how accepting you had been of his request to join him on his last show, perhaps understandably you’d ended up with some pre-show jitters. Whereas Hoseok had gained in confidence throughout his camshow career, the idea of putting your body on show was suddenly nerve wracking.

There were different expectations placed on women, and you’d slowly gotten to the point that you were half of a mind to back out. Which was why Hoseok had paused in his preparations for the stream to sit you down on the bed and console you.

He was dressed to impress as usual, black jeans that clung to his legs and ensured nothing stayed hidden while he had a white button up shirt on. Hoseok liked those as it meant he got to tease the viewers for longer unbuttoning it all, but you just liked it because it emphasised everything hot about him.

From his slim shoulders to his firm waist, his golden skin to the delightful sculpted hollows of his collarbones. Honestly, it’s a wonder you’ve never come in here and jumped him halfway through a show before.

But today you’d had some input on his wardrobe, particularly given that it was going to be your show. As such, he had a leather collar wrapped around his neck that contrasted beautifully against the movements of his throat. He’d worn them on occasion before on his shows, just to entice people with the possibility of something they weren’t getting.

This time though, you were actually going to use it and just the sight of it on your delightfully attractive fiancé was enough to make you shiver. There was always something hot about seeing him submit to you, and despite your misgivings you were excited to let his viewers see that for their final view.

Despite your eagerness for that, and also for him to rearrange your guts live on camera, the crippling insecurities that came with stuff like this were dampening your mood. And Hoseok had noticed, given how carefully he paid attention to you.

“Are you okay? You don’t have to do this, it’s up to you. You know that right? I’d never make you do anything that you don’t want to.” His voice is low and calming, expression concerned while the back of his knuckles runs along your arm in slow movements. It’s not a lot, but it’s surprising how comforting it feels to you.

For a second, you go to lie to him before deciding to be honest and shrugging slightly. “What if they don’t like me? Or like...think I’m fat or that I look funny down…” The words trail off in your embarrassment and worry.

“Woah woah, okay firstly. I don’t care if they don’t like you, and neither should you because they’re never going to see you again after this one show. You’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen, you know that right? And I’m not saying that just because I’m marrying you, you really are. Secondly, you’re not fat and you look perfectly fine. I swear. Please don’t worry about things like this because if you start now, then it’ll fester and get worse in your head. You are perfect as you are. If you think you can’t do this then just let me know and we don’t, I don’t mind. I’d rather not have you in the show than have you end up with crippling insecurities, okay?” Hoseok states insistently, moving his arm around your shoulders and pulling you in close to him.

You let him practically baby you for a few minutes, letting him soothe over any of your worries because it feels good to have him reassure you. A little selfish perhaps, but you were about to get naked on a livestream with him. You needed the assurance from him that all was going to be well, even if he couldn’t actually promise that.

Hoseok had your implicit trust and love, so you had to trust and love that he would keep an eye on things.

“Do you still want to?” He asks quietly, pressing his lips to your temple and letting them rest there for a moment, warm breath tickling the finer hairs along your skin. It’s intimate and comforting, the scent of him so close and his presence so calming. There’s little wonder you fell for him all those years ago, his sweet smile drawing you in and everything else just solidifying him as the perfect man for you.

A myriad of emotions runs through you though as you think through his words, your hands self-consciously coming to cover up the bits of you that you always feel a bit more wobbly than they should be. The areas that make you feel a little anxious when you think of thousands of people getting to see them in HD glory.

Hoseok’s hands move down to where yours are, and it’s only when he slips his underneath your own to stroke at the soft, vulnerable skin there that you realise you’d been clawing at it. Subconsciously unhappy.

“I don’t want you to do this if it’s going to be negative on your health. I love you, I love everything about you but I don’t want you to push yourself to do something for me if you’re not happy.” His words are quiet against your skin, murmured almost but you feel them to your very core as his fingers gently move against the parts of you that you’ve struggled with, with not an ounce of disgust on his face or in his words.

“I want to. I want to still do this. I just...it’s scary.” The words a little more soft than you’d have liked them to be, almost whimpered out like a child. It makes Hoseok chuckle quietly, not laughing at you but the way you’d said it, before he wraps his arms around you completely.

“I know, I still get a little nervous. But you’ll be great. We’ve prepped for everything, and I am beyond excited to introduce everyone to the woman who owns my body, heart and soul.” He says seriously, squishing you to him.

You can’t help but snort at his words. “You can keep that cheesiness though, that’s solely yours. And you’re just excited to get laid, you’re already hard.”

The thick erection currently pressed to your stomach means Hoseok can’t argue back, so instead he just pushes it further against you. A quiet gasped moan leaves his mouth as he does so, the friction from the action pleasurable against his sensitive member.

You’d both prepared earlier for the show to make sure it was seamless and easy. Which meant that you were both in your outfits, a matching dark green and black lace lingerie set for you with suspenders holding up some delightfully sexy stockings that had made Hoseok whimper to himself when he’d seen the whole outfit.

Green was his favourite colour after all.

It had also extended to prepping each other sexually, with enough foreplay to get him raring to go while you were pretty positive he could slide straight in if he wanted to. The toy that you were going to be using, along with a bottle of lube, were hidden out of sight so as not to give anything away to the intrigued audience.

Everything was ready to go...all Hoseok had to do was start filming.

Pushing him down till he’s sitting back on the bed, you bite your lip and run your fingers through his hair slowly before rearranging back into the style he’d managed to get it into earlier on. Your new fiancé was incredibly attractive and you knew that you’d really won the life lottery with him.

“Okay...let’s do this. Bring out Hope.” Hoseok doesn’t say anything for a moment, just watching you closely with those beautiful dark eyes of his. It felt like he was looking deeply into you, trying to assess whether you were truly comfortable with this.

Slowly, he nods before his hands squeeze on your hips, pulling you a little closer to him before he presses a soft kiss to the skin between your breasts. It’s surprisingly non-sexual for the area, but instead it just feels like he’s comforting you.

And as you stand back, moving into the corner away from the glare of the camera, you acknowledge that he probably was. If you give him any signal tonight that you’re not happy, then he’ll stop. Even if it is his last show.

The next ten minutes are spent with Hoseok setting everything up properly with the camera and making sure everything’s working before the light is red and he’s sat back in his usual position on the bed. A brow is raised almost arrogantly as he waits for the viewers to come in.

From your position, you’ve got access to your own laptop and you can watch his page as they rush in. His shows normally bring in a good few thousand viewers at their peak, sometimes hitting 10k. But the news about this being his last show must have spread like wildfire because he’s only been live for a few minutes and he already has half that.

Yes, HopeWorld was certainly going to go out with a bang.

After 10 minutes of waiting around and idle chatter between Hoseok and his loyal viewers, he finally decides to get it going. A quick glance over to you gets your approval before he’s shifting forward, elbows resting on his knees before he smirks at the camera.

“So...I’m going to get straight to the point here. From the large viewer count, which I think has beaten my all-time record, I’m guessing that everyone knows this is my last show before HopeWorld closes its doors for the last time,” He pauses for a moment, eyes flickering over the comments before grinning brightly. “Aaaawwwww.”

The sound is teasing and not even slightly sympathetic, his every moment over exaggerated before he’s smiling back at the screen, tongue running along his white teeth slowly. “Yep, last one. And this is going to be different. Not just because of it being the last. But there’s always been something that people wanted from me and it just didn’t fit at the time. Given it’s my last show...I thought I’d do something different for you all. Go out with a bang.”

His grin turns mischievous as his brow wiggles enticingly, eyes darting over to you once more. “Tonight...Hope is going to retire. But I’m not going to be your Hope for most of the show.”

At that, you take a deep and fortifying breath before clenching your fists to try and calm your racing nerves. This is everything you’d fantasised about whenever you’d watched his shows, and yet now you’re so nervous and worried.

But the tiniest tilt of his head towards you gives you the courage to paint a mysterious smile on your face before you saunter into view. Along with your delightfully sexy lingerie, you also have a pair of sky high heels that cause you to tower over Hoseok for once.

He looks at you slowly, his pupils blown out already as his wet lips part, breath coming faster already in anticipation of your touch. Smiling, you run your fingers through his hair before gripping the back of his collar and tugging at it.

It jerks his head back until his eyes lock onto yours at an awkward angle, a look of pure and utter submission on his face as every inch of his body relaxes into your grip. “He’s going to be mine, aren’t you?”

You’ve lowered the tone of your voice until it’s low and smooth like butter with enough of a hint of husk to make Hoseok shiver. He doesn’t respond for a moment and your fingers tightened on his hair until he lets out the softest whimper.

It’s nothing impressive as a sound, barely heard in the room despite the quiet, but you know damn well that his viewers likely just almost brought themselves to orgasm just from that one syllable.

Because Hope has never once whimpered in submission, nor has he ever looked like this. So powerless under your hands.

Honestly, as much as you love being dominated and sobbing out his name, you don’t think he’s ever looked better than right then.

Smiling at him, you let the finger of your free hand trail along his jaw slowly, taking in the feel of his skin and the hardness of bone underneath before dragging your fingernails down his throat until they slip beneath the leather collar.

“Be a good boy and unbutton that shirt.” Hoseok lets out a moan in response, his nose pressed to your bare stomach from how you’ve pulled him forward. He doesn’t make any further move there though, despite the heat of his breath as it caresses you.

Instead, he does exactly as you demanded from him. Long and elegant fingers, fingers that you’ve drooled over many times on your screen as he gripped his cock or screamed over as they abused your pussy, are working each button from its position to reveal more and more golden, toned skin.

The whole time he does this, Hoseok keeps his eyes firmly on yours until you’re not entirely sure if he’s submitting like he should be. A hand flutters up to touch the black lace mask that’s wrapped around your eyes, hiding your feature from view. Pointless if anyone you know watches this, because there’s no way on earth Hoseok would ever cheat on you. Nevermind doing it live.

But still, it provided a layer of protection that comforted you. Even if it was flimsy.

Plus Hoseok had practically drooled when you’d put it on so that was a win.

Once the shirt was unbuttoned, it lays against his torso prettily and you lean back to admire the delightful lines of his musculature that you’ve kissed and licked so many times before. He’s beautiful, and you fully intend on making sure that he knows that.

“So pretty. Take off those pants for me.” He nods his head slowly, fingers pushing the button through before unzipping them. Standing, he lets them pool at his feet before stepping out of them and you’re left to admire his physique.

He’s lean, yet the toned muscles let the viewers know that he works out enough. But what you’re focused on is his cock, standing proudly from his body as it bobs in the air. As you’ve stated before, he’s not a huge man, but while he may not be the longest he’s certainly got a delightful amount of girth that has you moaning out his name more often than not.

“Doesn’t he have the most delightful dick?” You ask the camera, reaching forward to let your fingers clasp around the silk covered steel of his erection, stroking gently and making him shudder as his head falls back. “Lay back on the bed and stroke yourself for me Hope.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Hoseok responds, sitting back on the bed. He shifts until he’s horizontal to the camera, allowing his whole body to get in the shot before he grasps his dick in his hand and begins to stroke. Talented and experienced hands that know exactly how hard to pull and how to twist until he’s groaning out and painting his stomach white.

“Don’t cum, but keep stroking.” You command firmly, resting a hand on his thigh. “I’ve got a surprise for the viewers.”

With that, you disappear off camera before coming back. The whole time, Hoseok watches you intently while his hand works at himself slowly, his cheeks ever so slightly flushed. But that does nothing to disguise the look of lustful interest in his eyes, nor the way he grips himself tighter with anticipation.

Moving until you’re just in view of the camera, you bend over to give Hoseok the best view of your ass and clothed pussy. The pained groan he lets out tells you that he obviously appreciates it, but you focus on the camera instead as you paint a pretty smile on your face.

“Now...I’ve heard from Hope that you’ve asked him to do a lot of things over the years. And he’s been a very naughty boy by teasing you all hasn’t he? It’s taken this long for him to be the one on the receiving end, and I know you’ve just been desperate to see that.” You pout slightly before winking. “But don’t worry, I’ll make him beg for you all.”

A turn of your head lets you see that Hoseok has slowed down, his hand not moving where it grips his cock firmly and your brow raises slowly. He catches your eye and flushes, mumbling out an apology to you before he’s stroking himself once more.

“I’ve also heard that you’ve asked if he’d be more willing to do things that other camboys do. I know that a lot of the solo guy shows don’t only jerk themselves off but use sex toys on themselves.” Leaning in, you read the comments as they move past on the screen before making a contemplative noise.

“I know he uses sex toys...but it’s always like...a cock ring or a fleshlight. I was thinking that we could have something else this time.” With that, you wink before producing the sex toy from your back.

The dildo is a glittering green, a joke that you’d bought him years ago when you first brought up the idea of pegging him. At the time, he’d just rolled his eyes in amusement but eventually he’d let you actually use it on him. As such, this was very much his toy.

And he definitely enjoyed it.

When you’d both been discussing how this show would go, the idea of using sex toys had come up and you’d then brought up the idea of using a dildo on him. It was something you both enjoyed in your private sex life from time to time and he’d casually mentioned sometimes that his viewers had often suggested it to him for the camera.

It was a popular form of entertainment for other camboys, but Hoseok had never done it. That wasn’t his style of show and he didn’t particularly enjoy doing that solo.

No, that was your thing to do with him and he’d been receptive to the idea of doing it on camera.

Which was why you’d both prepped so intensely earlier, because neither of you wanted to spend half an hour on camera just prepping him. Despite what porn and fiction said, anal sex was not something to just rush into and you had no desire to hurt your fiancé by going too fast.

Sure enough though, the comments are going crazy as everyone can guess where this is going. Hope being submissive was exciting enough for them all, but finally getting to see him being the one to writhe and whine as his ass was fucked was pushing them into overdrive.

It was with amusement that you watched the viewership spike suddenly, and you wondered if there were people who were spreading the news. You knew for a fact that Jimin was watching intently, which made you only slightly nervous. But if he couldn’t be fucked by, or fuck, Hoseok then he’d said he was damn well watching you do it.

“Yeah, I thought you’d all enjoy that. Would you like that Hope? Have your ass be fucked by me while all your viewers watch?” The question is light and inquisitive, double checking with him that he really was okay with this.

His response comes in a low, rasping voice that betrays the desire he’s feeling for what you’re going to do with him. “Yes Ma’am. I’d love that.”

“Hmmm...I did say that I would have you begging for your lovely audience. Maybe we should start now.” Moving over to the bed, you crawl on top of it until you’re between his legs, pushing them apart enough for you to kneel comfortably there and enjoying the sight of him stroking himself slowly.

Just slow enough that you can’t complain at him, but not fast enough to get him going. Though that doesn’t stop the bead of pre-cum that drips onto his toned stomach.

Uncapping the bottle of lube you’d dropped on the bed next to him, you drip it onto the dildo before stroking it slowly to coat it entirely. The sight of you jerking off a fake cock and not his own has Hoseok whining quietly, a tiny pout forming on his lips and causing you to laugh.

“Look at that. Where’s the Master or the Sir now? I’m only seeing a whiny baby. Are you being a whiny baby Hope?” You tease, voice light as you let your lubricated fingers trail along the soft, vulnerable flesh of his inner thigh.

“Yes Ma’am.” He responds dutifully, playing it up by pushing his lower lip out even more. His muscles twitch as you near his cock, testicles drawn up tight but you bypass that entirely.

Instead, you shift till you’re hovering over him before leaning down and catching that pouty lip between your teeth, tugging slightly before letting go. His breath, minty fresh from brushing just before going live, pants against your mouth before you kiss him.

It’s not a sweet kiss, nor is it soft. Instead, it’s rough and forceful with you taking control of his mouth and forcing him into submission. His natural dominant instinct makes him fight back for a few seconds before he remembers his character, sinking back into the silk sheets and letting you have your way with him.

While he’s completely distracted, you take the chance to grab his swollen cock and pump it a few times with a tight grip. He’d let go during the kiss, too concerned with your mouth on him to care about stroking himself off but your touch has him gasping into you.

You take that opportunity to slip your tongue into his mouth, exploring him thoroughly in a kiss that quickly turns loud and sloppy. It’s probably not hugely attractive to watch, but you have no doubt that it’s a turn on for the audience when combined with your hand stroking at his stiff cock.

Pulling away suddenly, his kiss swollen lips cause you to smile as you note the wetness of them while your eyes trace down his slim frame till you reach his pride and joy. Any motion has stopped on your side, but his hips are moving in small, minute movements almost of their own accord as he tries to fuck into your hand.

“Do you want this cock?” You ask, lifting up the dildo that has been held firmly in your free hand. It shimmers in the light, wobbling slightly but Hoseok’s eyes darkened at the sight as he nods. Tutting, you grip his cock firmer. “I said, do you want this cock?”

“Yes Ma’am. I want that cock.” Hoseok is quick to respond, his words laced with a whimper and you smile triumphantly before letting go of his own cock. It bounces against his stomach for a moment, so stiff and needy that it rises back up.

“Good boy.” With that, you let lube trickle from the bottle down onto his balls before running the tip along it, collecting it before pushing it against his puckered ass. With the head pressed firmly in place, you pause to glance up at Hoseok and only when he gives the tiniest nod do you begin to push it further.

There’s resistance but it’s much easier than it would have been thanks to the prep you’d done and the copious amount of lube. He hisses slightly as the tip finally slips inside, his body tensing at the sensation but you made soft noises of encouragement, a hand running along his thigh reassuringly.

The hard bit is over now. Hoseok’s always found the first penetration hardest, but you know he’ll be okay now that’s over with. And if he’s not, then he’ll tell you. If he’s really unhappy, he’ll use his safe word.

His comfort is the priority here for you, despite what the viewers may think.

But the preparation he’d undergone earlier makes it easy on him, and he makes no noise of complaint or visible flinch by the time the length of the dildo is firmly inserted inside him. His cock is still hard, but you take hold of it and jerk him in a few quick movements to keep him interested there.

As you do so, you pull and watch as the length slides out of him slowly and easily before pushing it back in. Hoseok clenches slightly at the feeling before relaxing once again, letting out a long and slow breath.

It takes a few minutes for him to be fully okay with the sensation of the dildo, but the combination of time and the pleasure he gets from your hand job soon has him panting out loud.

Sure enough, it’s not long until he’s whining out loud as you increase the speed with which you thrust into him in small increments. A slight angling has his entire body stiffening up; not from pain but from pleasure as a long groan leaves him.

Experience has taught you that this angle is what seems to really stimulate his prostate and the way his thighs begin to shake tells you that he’s more than happy with the situation. Smiling to yourself, you lean down until you bite at the muscle of his thigh lightly, tracing your teeth along the sensitive skin there as he gasps out loud.

“Does that feel good?” You ask, nose running along his leg given you have no free hand in which to reassure him. A glance up tells you that he’s nodding in response, mouth open and eyes closed as his hips rock slowly.

Grinning, you stop suddenly and push the dildo in as far as you can get it. Tapping at his thigh with your now freehand, you look down at him imperiously. “Keep that in you. I’m sure you can do that right?”

He nods immediately and when you let go of the dildo, it doesn’t move at all. A pleased smile makes it way onto your face, causing you to lean down and kiss his forehead. “Good boy.”

You don’t need to look at his face again to know that he’s blushing a pretty pink under the praise, instead you just run your fingers through his dark hair before moving to look at the laptop. The chat is going wild with what they’ve just seen, even if they angle means that they can’t quite see the dildo in him.

Taking pity on them, you take hold of the camera and bring it around so that they can get the perfect view of him. “He looks so pretty doesn’t he? And he takes it so well. Jimin and Jungkook have really missed out. Don’t you think his cock looks so nice though?”

A few comments make you chuckle in amusement as you read them, eyes hidden behind the mask yet gleaming with anticipation.

Horny4Hope: Hope looks so nice fucked out.

CumToMe: That cock would look better with your juices on it

DVA256: Fuck him Ma’am! Make him beg!

“Should I fuck him? Do you think he deserves to put his cock in my pussy? Has he been good enough?” The comments flood in with viewers desperately screaming at you to fuck him, or be fucked. Some want to see the Hope they know and love appear and make you sob his name whereas others demand that you ruin him till he’s gasping.

“How should I fuck him?” That question gets hundreds of answers flooding in, but the overriding theme appears to be riding him. Keeping him in his submissive position and not allowing him the chance to gain any dominance.

Eyeing him as he lays there patiently, white shirt splayed open and carefully muscled torso just waiting for your touch, you agree with them. Being on top isn’t your favourite position, that would be when he’s jack hammering into you from behind, but it does give that beautiful sense of power. Plus, Hoseok goes wild for the view.

“Let’s ride him then shall we? I think we’ve tamed him enough.” You slowly take your underwear off, as seductively as you can for the camera before moving back to the bed. Once there, you move until you’re on top of him with your soaked core hovering over his stomach. His breath is coming faster already, sweat on his face and chest and you can’t wait till he’s drenched.

But you don’t slip onto him yet. Instead, you widen your stance a little until your clit brushes against his toned stomach, the sensation causing you to gasp out. Eyes fluttering shut, you rest one hand on his chest and rock your hips back and forth, the friction sending shocks of pleasure through your system while your wetness coats his skin.

“You feel good already Hope. Will you make me feel good with your cock?” You ask, breath strained slightly as your hips buck a little more. Hoseok’s eyes are glued to the area between your legs, focused with laser intensity on your engorged clit as it rubs against his abdomen.

“Yes Ma’am. I’ll make you feel good with my cock. You’ll feel better with my cock than with my stomach, I guarantee it.” His eyes flick up then to catch yours, a slight look of defiance in them as if he’s telling you to test his theory.

Your eyebrows shift upwards slightly and you smile, reaching to grab his swollen cock before you inch backwards until the tip of him is rubbing against your entrance. Rolling your hips in a circular manner, you tease him by sliding only the slightest of him inside before lifting off him again.

This is repeated a few times until he lets out a quiet whine of impatience, laced with desire and need. Tutting, you take pity on him and slide down on him suddenly, his cock penetrating you with ease given how obscenely wet and aroused you are for him.

Every inch of him fills you immediately, your sensitive walls clenching instinctively as you let out a long moan of pleasure. Hoseok’s cock has always felt good, and the knowledge of being watched makes it even more arousing and therefore pleasurable as you tighten once more.

His hands flex against the sheets, not touching you given that you haven’t given him the permission to do so. But you know he’s desperate for his hands to sink into the soft flesh of your hips, push you down as he drives upwards.

Instead, he lays there with clenched teeth as you slowly begin to ride him. He looks so attractive that you can’t help but lean down and bite along his neck once more, reaching any skin that you can manage around his collar and sucking deeply until you can feel the vibrations of his noises through his throat.

“He’s doing so good for me, aren’t you? His cock feels just as good as you think it might, I hope you all know that. Just imagine him inside you, filling you up until all you can focus on is the thickness between your thighs. Each ridge of him pressing against your sensitive areas, the friction of him so overwhelming. Imagine him fucking up into you, or you riding him like this. He’ll be whatever you want him to be, right Hope?” You end the teasing by running your hand along his chest, nails scraping slightly as he shudders and moans under you.

“Yes Ma’am. Anything you want.” He’ll probably say whatever you want right now, the combination of his cock in your wet, tight warmth and the dildo pressing against his prostate with every clench of his muscles and movement of his hips overriding any coherent thoughts he may have.

“That’s my good boy.” Purring to him, you begin to ride him with wild abandon.

Each roll of your hips had his thick length sliding in and out of you with a practised ease, the blunt head of him rubbing against the sensitive nerves inside you with each precise movement until you let out a soft cry of pleasure. Looking down at him, you groaned quietly at the sight of him so unbelievably fucked out beneath you.

It was a common sight for you, but not one for his viewers who were used to the restrained and controlled persona who inhabited HopeWorld, ruling it with darkened words and silken hands that touched only himself. Now though, they were being introduced to a whole new persona of Hope; one who enjoyed losing himself to the sensations and feelings that came with letting go.

Hoseok was tense beneath you, the toned planes of his chest shuddering as his lungs worked to force life giving oxygen into his starved body while the tendons of his neck tensed delightfully beneath the black leather of the collar that wrapped around him. Bruised rosettes were blossoming already from your earlier, insistent, ministrations and you smirked at the sight of them as he bit down on his lip, reddened from the constant chewing he'd been doing.

His abdominal muscles flex beneath you with each rock of your hips, a sign that he's fighting the instinctual urge he has to surge forward and fuck you till you're weeping his name. Only the knowledge of punishment, a refused orgasm once more, keeps him from giving in.

Inky hair clings to his sweat soaked forehead as his eyes scrunched closed, whimpers of almost pain leaving his throat but you know it's the opposite. He's experiencing too much pleasure, the precipice to bliss just within his reach and you purr softly.

“Does my Hope want to come? Do you want to come inside me until you're leaking out of me with each thrust? Till I'm coated in white?” He nods immediately, a choked grunt escaping him as you twist your hips a certain way while clamping your inner muscles down.

Reaching behind you, twisting your body till the camera has a great shot of you riding him,you grasp the end of the dildo still firmly wedged in him and pull on it slowly before sliding it back into place. It's awkward in this position, and you can't pull it out far enough but his reaction makes it worth it.

A high pitched whine leaves him before tagged gasps tear from his lungs, body jerking like he's been electrocuted beneath you from the dual pleasure of your slick, tight pussy around his cock and the thick, long intrusion pressing against his prostate in his ass.

Looking at the camera, you smirk before using your other hand to play with your clit slowly. Deft, experienced fingers rub at the bundle of nerves till you're fluttering around him and he's letting out random noises as you let out a deep sigh and shake your head.

“I don't think our Hope deserves to come in me, do you?” You ask his viewers directly, pausing your movements to lean in and read the flurry of comments that are flying along the screen. There are over 70,000 people watching you ruin him right now and the sheer thrill sends a tingle down your spine.

“Looks like they agree Hope, no pussy for you.” You murmur, grinning for the camera before turning back and leaning forward. Hoseok's eyes are almost black with lust and passion and he acquiesces to you with zero complaints as you kiss him messily, tongue playing with his in a loud show before you pull away to admire his wry lips.

Lifting your hips up, he slips out of you before his length bounces on his stomach and rising back up to press insistently at your clit. Sighing quietly, you grind against him and simply enjoy the way his slick flesh feels against you.

“How should I use him to get off hmm? Should I ride him? Get myself off while he watches? Or ride his face?” You throw out the suggestions casually, feeling the way Hoseok shudders beneath you in anticipation of whatever you’re going to do for him.

Crawling over to the laptop, your eyes glance towards the camera and you take note of yourself in the screen as you do so. Your breasts are still held tightly in your lace bra, the hints of green noticeable even at a glance and your teeth bite at your lip seductively as you run a hand over the soft mounds of them.

Unsurprisingly, the comments are going wild and you laugh lightly as you sit against the edge of the bed, likely leaving a patch of darkened wetness on the delightful silk sheets. Smirking, you let your tongue run along your lower lip slowly while looking into the camera.

“Shall we do a little poll? 100 coins to vote.” You murmur, grinning as your fingers tap over the keyboard as you set up the poll how Hoseok had shown you once. The hitch in his breathing from behind you let’s you know he’s probably turned his head away to let out a laugh at your blatant commercialisation of ruining your fiancé.

He’d be proud.

Shifting, you look at him with a raised brow as the poll begins to run. Hoseok’s face is carefully blank, the sweat on his brow shining in the light as he works to calm down his breathing now that he’s been given a respite. There’s something delightful about edging him along to an orgasm before letting him whine as it falls away from him and you understand exactly why he loves doing it to you so much.

Running your fingertips lightly alone his chest, letting the slightest touch of his skin ghost against your own. The sensation has him shivering, the fine hairs on his arms rising as you lean over and press an open mouthed, wet kiss to him. A stilted breath escapes him at your touch and you smile, your tongue darting out to lick the lightest line of wetness along his stomach.

You follow the natural lines of his muscles, dipping into the crevices and enjoying the slight tang of his sweat as it hits your tongue. It almost immediately makes a flare of heat burst into life between your legs, causing you to squeeze. The slight relief caused has you sighing against him, warm breath hitting the cooling trail on his skin and making him shiver again.

“You’re being very good for me, aren’t you? Such a good boy.” The words purr from you, low and teasing as you bite at his hip bone and cause him to jerk in response. He doesn’t respond until you look back up at him, brow raising while your eyes harden slightly.

Hoseok bites at his own lip, looking a little like he wants to be petulant and you mentally encourage him. Because there’s nothing like reprimanding him and making him whine for you, and the power trip the camera is giving you is like nothing else. You don’t even need to feel between your legs to know damn well that not only is your pussy wet, but your thighs too.

But he evidently decides to deny you that thrill because he nods slowly.

Still, you decide it’s not quite enough for you and you reach for his collar, pulling him up slightly until his shoulders leave the bed. “What was that? Are you being a good boy?”

Hoseok hisses lightly, his muscles in his torso flexing as he keeps himself up to ease the pressure on him before he nods once more. “Yes Ma’am. I’m being a good boy for you.”

You almost end up moaning at that, jaw clenching slightly to keep it all together at his sex roughened voice, the tone scraping against all the pleasurable bits inside you and letting you know that he’s beyond turned on. Though his cock was enough evidence of that.

Instead, you just smirk and let go before turning back to the laptop as he falls back to the bed with a soft ‘ooph’. The comments have been going wild again, with some people complaining about the lack of normal HopeWorld content but the vast majority going crazy over seeing their Hope being so utterly dominated after years of controlling his crowd so easily.

It would appear his fans are very approving of this change of pace, and you can’t help but break character and smile as you see the love that’s being sent your way. Any reservations or insecurities you may have had are swept away at the sight of them and instead you feel oddly empowered.

You understand why Hoseok has done this for so long now.

“Hmm...it would seem that the people want me to use your mouth to get myself off. What do you think about that Hope? Are you willing to put that naughty tongue to good use? You’re certainly willing to let it run on these shows...shall we show the audience that it’s good for more than just reprimanding?” Smirking, you take hold of the camera carefully and walked back over to the bed, carefully making sure that you’re in focus and everything is still working.

Hoseok’s watching you with those sex darkened eyes, lashes creating soft shadows on his statuesque face and you’re desperate for everyone to see how he looks even more beautiful with his mouth wet from you. You don’t let him have a chance to move, and instead straddle his waist once more before slowly crawling up his body.

The camera gets placed down just above his head, your eyes on the laptop screen to make sure you’ve got the perfect view while you try to avoid whimpering at the feel of his heated breath against your sopping core. This isn’t a position you do all too often, but your thighs literally tremble with desire at the idea of it right now and a quick glance down has you internally sighing.

Hoseok’s eyes are focused with quiet intensity on the soft flesh between your legs, his breath coming a little faster and his hands gripping the silk bedsheets tighter as he restrains himself from doing what he so obviously wants to. Which is attack you with so much fury and lust that you can’t stop your moans.

“Now then Hope...I’m going to need you to stick out that dirty tongue of yours. I’ve seen the filth that you’ve said with it over the years, and I think it’s time that we put it to good use.” There’s not even an ounce of resistance in Hoseok as he sticks his tongue out, stiffening the pink muscle into a point that has you shuddering on nothing.

Christ, he was going to be the death of you.

“Good boy.” You whisper before lowering yourself the final few inches until you feel the wet tip press against the engorged bundle of nerves, so sensitive that you can’t keep the deep groan inside. He’s warm against you, his tongue firm yet slippery as it slides along your folds with ease.

Hoseok doesn’t try to do anything for the moment, though you can tell by his closed eyes that he’s having to control himself pretty well. You don’t want him to get jaw, or tongue, ache though so you stroke your fingers through his hair slowly while you rock against him before finally letting him free.

“Use your mouth on me Hope. Show me that tongue is useful for more than just being dirty.” It’s all the confirmation Hoseok needed and he immediately relaxes his tongue from its stiff position, the loss of sensation almost causing you to whine.

Instead though, it’s replaced with his hot lips and an intense pressure as he wraps them around your clit before letting go. He continues with this motion in an almost teasing manner; suck and release, suck and release. It doesn’t help when he suddenly includes his tongue, flicking the tender flesh until you shudder above him.

Opening your eyes, you focus on the camera before glancing to the laptop to make sure it’s getting the best shot. From here, you can see the night sky blackness of his hair as it gleams in the light, his elegant nose visible before his wet, pink tongue darts out to lick a long, flat strip along your pussy.

It’s a ridiculously arousing shot, and combined with his movements has you moaning out loud while you fist at his hair. Your hips are moving of their own accord now, short little grinding motions that press yourself further into him and he lets out a deep hum of approval, the vibrations sending shivers along you.

“That’s it, oh god yes that’s it. Keep going, make me cum. Use your fingers.” You command of him, your voice wavering slightly as your eyes flutter shut from the pleasure that sizzles along your veins. It’s been over forty-five minutes now, and you’re more than ready to finally fall into the embrace of the orgasm that you’ve been teasing yourself with.

And Hoseok is more than ready to give it to you, with his long and elegant fingers running along the supple skin of your thigh lightly before reaching your drenched core. Two of them slide along you, coating themselves in your excitement before they’re slipping inside.

Almost immediately you clench tightly around him, the sensation of something penetrating you overwhelming and enticing. Hoseok doesn’t let you go easy though, and you almost get the sense that he’s getting his own back on you.

It doesn’t surprise you. You’ve always claimed that he was dominant even when being submissive, he just let you do what you want. But you certainly don’t complain this time, not when he starts to finger you at a fast tempo that matches the insistent flicking of his tongue on your clit.

Each stroke has his fingers bending, curling against your g-spot and sending an overwhelming amount of pleasure through your body every time until you were making the tiniest moans. The sounds are lewd and loud, overwhelmingly wet and you have no doubt that Hoseok’s chin is likely getting covered.

He makes no complaint however, instead just focusing on your pussy with a laser focus. A glance at the camera in front of you makes you quiver, thighs tensing before you’re moaning out in one long, low syllable that sounds like it’s been drawn from the bottom of your stomach. Your internal muscles clamp down on his fingers, twitching around him as your entire body convulses while his tongue still working at your poor clit.

Hoseok’s hand doesn’t relent either, continuing to push through your tightness and elongating your orgasm until the over sensitivity of it all has you panting and pushing at his head until those beautiful brown eyes of his are visible once more. They’re creased slightly, amusement evident in every inch of his gorgeous face but you don’t let the camera see that.

Instead, you shift until you’re kneeling on one leg, the other pushed outwards so the camera can see the slick, wet evidence of Hoseok’s ministrations on you. Even from here, you can see how turned on you look and the lust in Hoseok’s eyes tells you that the viewers are probably loving it too.

Humming to yourself, you shift until you’re sitting closer to the laptop and lean in to read the comments while positioning the camera to focus on your torso. The silk brushes against your clit momentarily and you let out a tiny gasp before focusing once more.

“Oh, it seemed they liked that Hope. You were being a very good boy, they approve. Do you think we should let him get his treat now? Good boys deserve a reward right?” Your voice is huskier than it would normally be, but you’ve just been given a phenomenal orgasm so there’s no surprise.

Sure enough, the comments come rolling in like a wave of unrestrained lust and desire. People demanding that Hoseok be ridden till he’s whining, fucked in the ass till he’s pleading or sucked till he’s gasping. One thing was for certain; everyone wanted to see their favourite Hope brought to an orgasm that was so shattering, it would shift the axis of his world.

“Okay everyone, I see. We all want our beloved Hope to get his happy ending yeah? A true goodbye to the camming world? What do you say I make him moan for you, the way he’s made all of you moan over the years? Would you like that?” Hoseok lets out a soft gasp from behind you, his hand moving until it’s resting against the small of your back in a reassuring way.

The camera doesn’t pick this up and it warms you from the inside at his touch. He was ready for whatever you gave him.

His viewers are desperate to watch him truly fall apart, to witness him brought to orgasm by someone else. Smiling, you shift to look at him before smirking, running your finger along his swollen lips. He keeps firm eye contact with you as his tongue flicks out, playing with your finger before you’re looking back at the screen.

“Is everyone ready? You’re going to get to see the one and only Hope, truly fucked out for the first and only time.” The chat goes wild with excitement and lust, causing you to laugh as you move out of the way before shifting the camera until it’s focused on Hoseok perfectly.

He’s still wearing his shirt, the white that covers his arms contrasting against his warm, golden skin that’s covered in the lightest sheen of sweat. His hard cock, swollen and stiff against his stomach, is leaking pre-cum and you grin as it twitches as you watch it while his balls are tight, desperate for release.

“Let’s go then Hope, can you handle it?” You turn towards him, crawling on your hands and knees down the bed until you’re at his thighs. His lip is pulled into his mouth, white teeth apparent for a moment before they’re gone.

“I can handle it Ma’am.” His voice is quiet and respectful, but you can hear the slight pushback in it. He’s being cocky, which is a dangerous thing to be when you have his actual cock right there. Instead of saying anything though, you just grin before taking hold of the dildo that’s been sitting prettily inside him the whole time.

You know that it’s been affecting him, as occasional movements that had nothing to do with you would make him gasp and shiver. And you know exactly where his prostate is from previous experience. Not only that, but you have zero qualms in making him cry with pleasure again.

He tenses up for a quick moment before relaxing, his thighs tightening once more as you pull at the thick intrusion penetrating him until it’s almost out. Pushing slowly, you slip it back inside and grin at the deep grunt that leaves his mouth.

The next stroke is angled slightly, your wrist working to find the right angle until his entire body shudders and his hands claw at the sheets. Bingo.

“Do you like that? Does it feel good?” You murmur, tone low as you bend down to kiss along his toned thigh wetly. A few of your kisses turn into you sucking at the skin harshly, leaving pretty red spots that blossom, while others you bite at the muscle there.

It’s undeniably hot and arousing, the way he writhes on the bed at your insistent touch and how his hips circle desperately. Much like how yours must when he’s hammering into you, trying to find the perfect angle that makes your body sing.

But you’ve already found that with Hoseok, because each breath that escapes his heaving chest is laced with the beautiful sound of his moans and whines. Each noise painting a beautiful picture of heady lust for the camera.

“Did you know that he can orgasm from prostate stimulation alone?” You look at the camera, brow raised in amusement. From this distance, you can’t read the comments but from the way Hoseok’s cock jumps, you know that he’s remembering the experience as well. “It takes a long time though, so today we’ll just have to help him along.”

Smiling at him, you grab the bottle of lube and add a little more to make sure he’s extra comfortable before working at him harder. Hoseok hisses out slowly, his chest lowering as his breath leaves him and you decide that now is the time.

His cock is resting on his stomach still, a pool of pre-cum leaking profusely from his tip with the more you stimulate him. Reaching for it, you grasp the base of him firmly before moving up in one, long stroke. The downward stroke has him gasping and you continue the motion on, starting to move faster until the sounds in the room reach lewd levels once more.

Leaning forward, you tongue at his balls slowly, tracing along the skin and sucking one into your mouth playfully while his body wriggles on the bed desperately. His hands continually clench at the sheets and you wonder if he might tear straight through them.

“Oh god, oh god please. Please.” He starts to pant, the words high pitched despite his deeper voice and painted with desperation. Poor baby needed to come.

Letting go of his testicles, you run the flat of your tongue up his shaft slowly, letting it play along him before you flick your tongue at the spot just below his tip. Salty liquid greets you, the evidence of his desire and pleasure and you suckle on the head of him for a few moments, enjoying the way his hips jerk up to try and find more of the warm embrace of your mouth.

You don’t let his movements dictate you however, and instead your tongue dances around his tip for a minute or so, dipping into his slit before tracing along the edges of the head. Finally, your lips wrap around him, only this time...you don’t let go of him. Instead, you let your head lower until he’s firmly in your throat, your nose pressing against the hair at his base.

The suddenness of being deep throated has Hoseok choking, his hips jerking up and almost gagging you as you force your throat muscles to relax around him. “Oh fuck, oh god, oh fuck, oh shit.”

He’s not making any sense with his words and you get the feeling that any form of coherent thought has officially left him as your throat contracts around his sensitive tip. Each pull of your mouth on his cock is reciprocated with a stroke of the dildo inside him, creating a dual sensation of pleasure that has him speaking in pure gibberish as his face screws up.

There’s no warning of his next move, no pat on your head or verbal cue. Instead, his hips jerk savagely under you before his entire body convulses in a wave of pleasure as streams of thick cum coat the walls of your throat. Hoseok is normally pretty loud when he orgasms, his groans deep and intoxicatingly arousing, but this time he’s almost silent except for a soft, high pitched whine.

You help him through it, continuing to bob up and down on his cock as he cums while your arm continuous to pump the dildo in him. As usual when he’s getting prostate stimulation, the orgasm is longer than usual and it feels like he cums for minutes, your mouth salty with his taste.

Finally though, he starts to whine and pant as the pleasure turns to overstimulation. “Oh god, please stop. Please stop Ma’am.” He gasps out, hands twitching as he struggles to avoid pressing against your head.

You take pity on him, releasing him with a slick sound and watching as his sensitive member falls back on his stomach with a slap. Humming lightly, you gently tug the dildo out of him and place it on the towel you’d prepared earlier, ready for it to be cleaned later while your hand runs along his stomach lightly.

Pressing a kiss to his chest, you move up to then kiss his lips while you scan over his face quickly to check that he’s okay. He watches you with tired eyes, the half moon crescents wrinkling as he smiles at you.

“Are you okay?” You ask quietly after a few minutes, keeping your voice soft and quiet as your hand strokes along his chest comfortingly. He nods, lips pursing into a slight pout and you can’t help but chuckle at him before kissing him again. “Come say bye to your viewers.”

Hoseok groans slightly, knowing that you’ll give him the aftercare he needs and wants once the camera has finished. You have every intention of bundling him into the shower, cleaning him up, giving him a warm drink before cuddling up with him under the covers. But he has to finish his camshow career now.

He shifts forward, his movements slow and lazy and you let him lean against you. His head flops onto your shoulder, black hair covering his forehead and you make soft, unintelligible noises as you move it away so the camera can see his beautiful face. Maybe the shift in demeanour might be jarring to the viewers, but neither of you care.

Leaning forward, Hoseok pulls the laptop closer to you both while you drape his discarded jeans over both of your laps. Odd, to want this privacy after what you’d just done yet you felt the need given the topic. He makes a soft hum of acknowledgement before shrugging off his shirt and wrapping it around your shoulders.

“Did everyone enjoy that?” He asks, the corner of his mouth twisting up as a hint of his usual Hope persona comes through. Your hand slips behind him to rest against his back, providing comfort for you both.

The comments are running along the screen and you read a few with a smile, enjoying people screaming unintelligibly in the comments over how beautiful Hope looked being ruined or how nicely he came for you. From what you can read, the general consensus is positive to it and you feel proud that you’d done what he wanted.

“Yeah? You think she’s hot? She is, isn’t she? Pretty good at this too.” He goes quiet again before laughing. “Actually no, I don’t do this often. But tonight was special for you all, right? A treat to say thank you for loving me over the years.”

You want to hug him at that; the love and affection in his voice is so strong. He’ll miss this, you know he will. But Hoseok is also stubborn, and you know that he won’t change his mind.

“Does she have her own shows? No, she doesn’t,” He pauses and looks at you with a bright smile, the familiar heart shape warming your own heart. “I should stop talking like you’re not here. But seriously...thank you for all your love and support over the years. It’s meant a lot, and I’m glad that you’ve loved me in turn. I’ll miss you all.”

Hoseok waves at the camera, smiling brightly and laughing at the comments as they fly past. “I love you all! I hope all you dirty folk find someone new to keep you in your place. But for now, HopeWorld is officially closed.”

And with that, he turns off live stream.

It’s silent for a few seconds before he looks at you and presses a kiss to your forehead. He doesn’t move, just lets his lips rest there before he’s nosing at your hairline while his arms wrap around you.

“You did really good. A natural on camera. And you looked beautiful. And I’m not entirely sure I’m feeling my legs yet.” Snorting, you lean back slightly to look him in the eyes.

“Are you okay?” You’re asking both about his physical and mental state after what happened but also about closing down his camshow career. His lips purse before he nods.

“Yep. I’m good. I love you.” He whispers before kissing you slowly. A rumble of pleasure leaves his chest and you smile into it.

“Love you too. And now I believe I owe you some aftercare, so shower it is Mr Jung.”

“Yes future-Mrs Jung. Your fiancé needs his cuddles.”

“And he’ll get them. Once he’s clean.”

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 55 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 55 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2020

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users   of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may   reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information   remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in   my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical   compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

Someone in the melee noticed them in a brief moment of better visibility. They frantically called, “Boarders aft!”  Shocked into further action, Captain Mord left the fight and led the two hundred and fifty foot charge back to the map table.  They were too late.  Kurin was gone.

In a small boat, barely out of sight in the fog, Tanlin bent her back to carefully muffled oars.  The Sea Hawk circled once and disappeared into the mist.  Shortly, they heard it scream, back near the Longin. The bird came back and circled, flying low and slow ahead of them. In short order, the Wide Wing lead them to the other three boats.

It swooped down and landed on Tanlin’s heavily padded shoulder, talons adding another few small rips to the pads.  Tanlin chucked the Sea Hawk under the beak and then gave it a bit of dried skelt.  The razor sharp beak took it gently from her fingers and made short work of it.

As Kurin looked on in amazement, Tanlin said, “Good, Skye.  Good. Now, show us t’e way t’ ‘ome an’ nest.”  The big bird bobbed its head, and launched off her shoulder, beating up, out of sight.  Tanlin had a faraway look, as if the world about her was a dream.  

She shook herself and pointed surely through the fog, “T’at way, swift an’ quiet.”  After they had rowed for a bit, she ordered, “Step masts.  Rig t’e sails.  Lively, now!”  Without a word, the crewmen and women leapt to obey.

A cat’s paw breeze swept through the fog and filled their sails.  In a short time they were clear of the fog and scudding north through the chop raised by a brisk breeze.

Finally, Tanlin relaxed, but only a little.  She called to the other boats, “Wad t’ey nae look at our message at all?”

“No, Captain.  We were driven back by knives.”

Shaken, Tanlin asked, “T’ey refused ye rescue?  T’e Longin broke the Groit Law?  Ye were attacked wit’ knives?”  She paused and swallowed hard.  In a calm voice belied by shaking shoulders and tears she asked, “W’at losses?”

“One dead, three wounded, one missing,” they replied.  

Kurin saw Tanlin crumple a bit but then brace herself.  “‘Oo died?”

“Macoul, the helmsman,” they called back.

“T’e wounded?” she asked, shaking but dry-eyed now.

“Gemma Colin, Darkistry Colm and Lenai Halin, Captain,” they called back.

“An’ t’e missin’?”

“Bosun Modanet.”

Then she did cry but she held her course.  “A good ‘elmsmon gone. Doctor Corin’s daughter.  M’ best friend.  Arnat’s mot’er. Oi can ‘ope t’at t’e Bosun got our message t’ yer Ca’tain. I’ ‘arm t’ t’ese few ‘urts so muckle, ‘ow does anyane survive a war?”

Kurin tried to distract Tanlin from her grief.  “How did you train Skye so well?  I never heard of anyone taming a Wide Wing before.  It was like he understood you.”

Tanlin did smile, though there were still tears in her eyes, “She.  Skye’s a female.  T’under’ead’s bock ‘ome on t’e nest.  Huh, she just got bock t’ t’e ship.  She brought ‘im a fish.”

“But how did you train her so well?” asked Kurin, in genuine curiosity.

“Oi dinnae.  Oi defended t’eir nest wen t’ey decided t’ make ‘t in our rigging w’ile we rode in t’e eye o’ t’e storm.  Oi brought t’em some fish, because t’ey’d been days wit’oot food.  T’ey adopted me.  T’en w’en Mecat gave m’ a Dragon’s Gift, t’ey were on m’ shoulders, trin’ t’ protect m’ from a Groit Dragon.  T’ey got included in t’e Gift.

“Sorry, Oi’m upset an’ tellin’ ‘t badly.  Let m’ calm down an’ Oi’ll tell ‘t better.”

“Did I hear one of the crewmen call you ‘Captain’?”

“Full o’ quest’ns, arenae ye?” said Tanlin, smiling in spite of herself.  “Aye, Ca’tain Barad stepped down voluntarily, for t’e good o’ t’e ship.  T’e crew elected m’.  T’was unanimous. Ye con poll t’em yersel’, i’ ye wont.”

“What I would want is to hear Barad say that he stepped down voluntarily,” said Kurin almost wistfully.

“T’en ye shall ‘ear ‘t from ‘is ane mout’, an’ t’at, soon,” said Tanlin firmly.  She pointed.  The sails of the big square-rigger could be seen coming over the horizon.  A Wide Wing could be seen leading the ship.  When it was clear that ship and boats had seen each other, the bird dove from five hundred feet up, hitting the water cleanly, with only a small splash.  A few minutes later, it surfaced and took off, circling back to the high lookout where the nest was.

“T’at wa’ T’under’ead,” said Tanlin, proudly.  “Wen we get t’e wounded taken care o’, Oi’m going t’ take t’em a basket o’ fish, for t’eir chicks.  Oi’m part o’ t’e flock, after all, an’ tis the duty o’ t’e flock t’ care for t’e young.” She cocked her head in self-conscious imitation of a bird.  “Oi’ll take care o’ ye, t’.  Wont t’ ‘elp feed t’em?”

The Grandalor turned into the wind, using it as a brake, to stop so that the party could board.  

“What fortune?” called a light baritone voice that Kurin knew.

“She came wit’ us, Barad,” Tanlin called back.  “T’e price wa’ ‘eavy.  We ‘ave t’ree wounded, ane dead an’ ane missin’.”

“You heard the Captain,” Barad’s voice called.  “Get four stretchers rigged, now!”  Their boats bumped up to the Grandalor and tied up to a piece of cargo net that had been hung over the side for use as a ladder.  The boarding party swarmed up the net, except for Tanlin and a few others who stayed behind to tend to the dead and injured.

Tanlin turned to Kurin, “Go on, get aboard.  T’ese folk volunteered t’ be in t’is party an’ ye are t’e reason t’at t’eir blood wa’ shed.  I’ ye donnae get aboard, t’will ‘ave all been for naught.”

“I’ll go aboard, never fear that,” Kurin answered seriously.  “These people risked their lives to get me here.  I can take a few minutes to help them.  I know bandaging and that abdominal wound  needs to be rebound.  She is in shock.  Wind her tightly.  Her arms and legs, too.  It will help to keep her blood pressure up.”

“Thank you, Kurin,” said a dark haired woman, injured in both an arm and a leg, as she helped wrap the more gravely injured woman.  “I’m Darkistry, by the way.  I hope that Lenai will be able to thank you herself.  I wish that we had known this trick of bandaging two hours ago.”

“I wish that I had known it was needed,” Kurin replied seriously, bandaging an arm.  “Captain Tanlin, this woman needs to go first. She’s in deep shock.”

Tanlin, who was steadying the first of the stretchers, said, “OK, Kurin, can ye ‘elp get Lenai int’ t’e stretcher?  Oi’ll ‘old ‘t steady.”

Kurin placed the crewmen along Lenai’s still form and directed, “Everyone, lift at once, on my mark… Lift!”  They all lifted until she was high enough for Tanlin to get the stretcher under her.

Tanlin signaled for the stretcher to be raised and called, “Number ane, ready for lift!  Get ‘er directly t’ Doctor Corin in sickbay!  Oi t’ink ‘e’s going t’ ‘ave t’ operate on ‘er.”

Darkistry said, “Take Gemma next.  She’s lost a fair bit of blood and got a nasty blow to the head.  My cuts are pretty deep, but I’m not bleeding much, I just need a ride to the deck and somebody to lean on until I can get stitched up.”

“Ye’ll lie flat an’ stay t’at way until we can take care o’ ye,” Tanlin ordered.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Darkistry replied with an almost impudent grin.  As an aside to Kurin, she confided, “I never was very good at taking orders but I think that I’ll follow these.”

They helped Gemma into her stretcher and Darkistry into hers.  Crewmen went up alongside, to keep the stretchers steady.  An honor guard of Macoul’s friends came down and escorted his body up to the deck.

When they were alone in the boats, Kurin demanded, “What are you up to, Tanlin?  This ship,” she gestured at the Grandalor, “has been rebuilt for war!  I’m not blind.  You’ve changed the bow profile for better speed and ramming strength.  It’s been reinforced with at least two layers of Wing Ray for hardness and penetration.  Your bowsprit has been reinforced and broadened as part of that.

“Your standing rigging is over twice the thickness needed for storms and it’s been moved to absorb ramming shocks better.  Your rigging and sails have the coloration of fresh fireproofing by Hag extracts.

“What do you hope to gain by all of this?”  Kurin ended her tirade, hands on hips, face set and angry.

“Oi’ve made ye a promise, an’ ‘t’ll be kept!  T’is ship ‘as been remade because we see precious little o’ justice in t‘e actions o’ t’e Council!

“We are nae paddle ducks t’at ye can cut t’e ‘ead off wit’ nae struggle!  We’ll fight for t’e rights o’ the Groit Law!  Wen we can get a fair trial, we’ll submit t’ real justice!

“We’ve a few prisoners t’at we belive need t’ go for a swim t’ yer foster fat’er Iren’s halls!  T’eir trial’ll ‘ave t’ be a fleet matter.  We are ‘olding t’em until t’ey can ‘ave t’e chance t’ rebut charges o’ mutiny an’ murder!”  Tanlin paused for breath, fire in her eye.

“Tell m’ Kurin, w’at’s t’e second o’ t’e Groit Laws, t’e ane right after t’e ban on slavery?”

“The right to rebut charges.  Everybody knows that…” Kurin trailed off.

“Name m’ t’e court w’ere we can answer any charges?  T’ere’s nae such court for us.  We were condemned wit’oot trial.  Ask yer friend Sula i’ t’at precedent isnae w’ere t’e Ca’tain o’ Ca’tains got ‘is start?  T’en ask ‘ow many ships an’ lives were lost as a result.  T’e answers’ll appall ye.  

“Groit Law is put aside at groit peril.  We’ll send for Sula an’ Ca’tain Sarfin, along wit’ a quorum o’ t’e Council, yer ane Ca’tain Mord an’ ane ot’er ‘oo ‘as an interest in t’is case.  Blind Mecat.  Ye know ‘er, Oi believe,” Tanlin finished with irony.

“How can you send for Cat, or the others, for that matter?”  Now Kurin was curious again.

Instead of answering, Tanlin said, “Cume up t’ t’e deck an’ brace yersel’ for w’at ye’ll see.  Ye’ve nae beheld t’e worst t’at’s t’ be seen, yet.”  Tanlin did not wait, but climbed the net.  Shrugging, Kurin followed.

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

[quickspinner]

⭐⭐

Ask for the Director’s Commentary on a story

Okay, how about Triple Threat? You guys, you have no idea how much I freaked out over that simple story. 

Triple Threat was a piece that I did to celebrate reaching 500 followers here on the blog; I asked people to submit prompts and then gave everyone a few days to vote. I got a lot of prompts, although several of them were from a certain person who shall remain nameless especially because she submitted them all anonymously and she will tell you I can’t prove that it was her. 

I don’t remember exactly how many prompts I got but it was somewhere around 20 total I think. I put the voting up and 40 people voted. 

(I’m not going to turn this into a commentary about fic feedback, but I am going to point out that, assuming everyone only voted once, that’s 8% participation. On a poll where all you had to do was check a box--or a few boxes--and hit a button. The notes on that piece are somewhere around 200, which is actually in the “pretty darn good” category by my standards; anything over 50 notes has me feeling like I did pretty good.)

So in the end, the voting was really close between Marinette/Viperion flirting and Multimouse/Viperion flirting and I swear I only intended to write a short little fun thing just to say thanks for following and especially for everyone who drops me little notes or asks to let me know they enjoy my work. But my brilliant brain decided “well those are all the same people, so I can probably do both, right?” 

I love seeing Vipernette and so I felt kind of dumb for not realizing other people might want it too, lol. The challenge is always, though, figuring out how to get him in the suit and her...uh...in her civilian clothes (that almost came out bad, you people are a bad influence, and you know who I’m talking too). The other question is, how much do we want Luka to know? I’m a big fan of Luka knowing Marinette is Ladybug, I think it’s in line with his intuitive and perceptive personality...but my writing buddies and I agreed that it would be more fun in this case if he didn’t know. More challenging, but nobody cared about that part but me, lol. So I started thinking about how I could do it. On top of that, I had some trouble because for me, flirting usually happens kind of naturally in the flow of the story? Having flirting in mind from the beginning was actually kind of difficult. 

I thought I could take sort of an Evilustrator approach and have the akuma be after Marinette, but there was one problem with that: I needed an akuma and a strategy for defeating it, and then a reason to bring Multimouse in. 

Y’all. I’m a fluff writer. I’m light on plot and I don’t do action and I was sweating this fic and if I hadn’t already had several thousand words down when I realized just how much I had bitten off I would have spit it out and done something different. 

But this is where having a community of other writers can help; I had the basic scenes I wanted to hit planned out, and I reached out to some writing buddies and they helped me hash out a basic plan that I could work around the types of interactions I wanted Vipernet and Vipermouse to have. I knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to end up and it was connecting the pieces that was the real challenge, so I’m grateful I had people I could talk to. Half the time I end up solving the problem myself but just talking it out and bouncing ideas is super helpful.

Of course, the other struggle was figuring out how Luka would react to Multimouse if he didn’t know who she was, and how I could get them to a point where they could flirt believably. And then just to complicate things I figured well I need Ladybug to give him the miraculous anyway so let’s throw her in the mix too. 

All of this just to say y’all that fic was hard and I’m so, so grateful to have had friends that could help me work stuff out, and I’m so glad the reaction was so positive because it was definitely out of my comfort zone. 

[boopboopboopbadoop]

Righteous Karens At The Polls

Ok, so local/state primaries were yesterday. I did a bunch of research and presented my notes on each candidate to my family. After some discussion, we decided to use my sample ballot. My stepdad even met us at the polls because he, too, wanted to copy off my sample ballot. You know you’re finally an adult when instead of reading off your parents’ ballots, they read off of yours.

But anyway, this is only the preface to the bigger story.

So we get to the polls and the sign in lady is really really mean and my mom is kinda seething, but we’re all just like whatever. There are no tables like usual because covid, so we all find a booth and I unfold my sample ballot and we get bubbling. Then we hear this screeching and it takes us a second to realize we’re the ones being screeched at FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM!

The mean sign in lady, in the rudest tone of voice she could possibly muster, screamed across the room. “EXCYOOSE ME! EXKYOOSE ME! YOU CAN’T HELP HER! YOU CAN’T HELP HER!” (this was not righteous yelling or simple yelling to get attention. This was filled with venom. And it was making a scene.)

My mom tries to quickly and calmly remind her what we told her when we walked in. We’re a family.

The lady keeps screeching at us. I’m like whatever I’m already done have fun guys (because again, the stupid thing is, they WEREN’T helping me. I was helping them.)

So I’m waiting to submit my ballot and knowing the supervisor of elections is going to get a letter. Because there’s never been a problem with us sharing a booth before (maybe it’s because we don’t usually vote with my stepdad?) and covid regulations don’t apply because we’re a family. And even if there’s always been a problem and just nobody has noticed, we would have been fine with a nicer correction. If somebody had come up and said “excuse me y'all, I don’t know of a statute about this, but we were told that it’s one per booth” we would have gladly dispersed and even apologized for the oversight! But no! This cantankerous old lady decided to yell at us like we’re 3 years old across the room and make a scene. I get it, maybe sometimes parents try to coerce their children into voting a certain way, but that was very obviously not the case as I showed her from the very beginning that I had the sample ballot, and also a simple tap on the shoulder and an “excuse me?” would have worked just fine!

And as soon as I heard my mom whisper “This is not going to end well”, I knew the Karen was going to come out.

You see, my mom has the capacity to behave like the ultimate Karen. She has the other Karens quaking in their boots. But here’s the catch. She only does it when one of us has actually been legitimately wronged and/or the employee has ACTUALLY crossed a line. So she also has righteous anger on her side.

I try to go with her, but she tells me to wait in the lobby with my stepdad, so we’re just out there like “do do do do do...” while we can hear her yelling at the nasty old lady, who turns out is the supervisor (who apparently has the very appropriate last name of Crab), so she’s asking for the higher supervisor. That bitch wants to make a scene? Then my mom will make a scene, see how she likes it.

So we finally leave and then we get held up by the poll watcher, who informs us that this is not a new problem, and then the assistant supervisor of elections WHO HAPPENED TO BE THERE joins her like wtf happened here and I had trouble not laughing as I listened to my mom fight to censor our preferred insult of “cantankerous old bitch” into “mean old biddy”.

TL;DR: My entire family got yelled at by a cantankerous old bitch at the polls for something we weren’t actually doing.

[jeanvaljean24601]

Emmy Song Competition: With Music Branch Facing Hundreds of Choices, Is It Fair?

Now that first-round Emmy voting is completed, who will be nominated for the season’s best song? RuPaul? Hailee Steinfeld? Darren Criss? Kristin Chenoweth?

That’s right, all four actors are potential nominees in Emmy’s song competition, officially known as Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics … as are such musical personalities as the Weeknd, Sara Bareilles, Brad Paisley and Nick Jonas — along with about 200 other songwriters.

If you’re an Emmy voter in the music branch, how do you decide what song to vote for? Do you pick something you already know and like, or do you investigate some, or all, of the many tunes entered?

There are seven music categories, which encompass more than 300 separate programs, a daunting task for even the most diligent voter. The vast number of shows entered is overwhelming, and no one — especially working professionals, which constitute the bulk of the estimated 600 composers, songwriters and music supervisors in the TV Academy’s so-called “Music Peer Group” — can possibly see them all.

Emmy’s original-song category is challenging on several fronts. There are 103 tunes in contention, many from obscure series or movies, but also a surprising number written, or performed, by top writers and singers. Those may have an advantage simply because of their pedigree.

The Weeknd is a credited co-writer on a song from Fox’s “American Dad!,” country singer Brad Paisley on ABC’s “Brad Paisley Thinks He’s Special,” Sara Bareilles on the animated Apple TV+ “Central Park,” Nick Jonas on the Jonas Brothers’ Amazon documentary “Chasing Happiness,” Labrinth for Zendaya’s HBO series “Euphoria,” John Legend for the Epix series “Godfather of Harlem,” Ingrid Michaelson for Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for HBO’s “Watchmen.”

A handful of actors, too, are credited as writers, including RuPaul on a song for Netflix’s “AJ and the Queen,” Kristin Chenoweth on Hallmark’s “A Christmas Love Story,” Hailee Steinfeld for a very contemporary song in Apple TV+’s period “Dickinson,” and Darren Criss on Quibi’s “Royalties.”

Documentary songs have a shot, particularly when they have already gotten plenty of promotion because they were eligible the previous year for an Oscar. Diane Warren won in 2016 for “Til It Happens to You,” the Lady Gaga song for the campus-rape doc “The Hunting Ground,” and Common won the following year for “Letter to the Free” from the racial injustice doc “13th.”

This year Warren has another such song, written for “Cracked Up: The Darrell Hammond Story,” which went to Netflix after a theatrical run last year. Similarly, Pharrell Williams is up for the Emmy for the song he wrote for the Clarence Avant doc “The Black Godfather,” having also been Oscar-eligible last year. Singer-songwriter Sia is eligible for yet another doc, “Seven Worlds, One Planet.”

There are three subcategories of songs that have a better-than-average shot at nomination, and the eventual award: “Saturday Night Live,” the weeknight talk shows, and the annual Tony Awards.

“SNL” has won three times (including two for Justin Timberlake, one of which was for the infamous “Dick in a Box”). This year the NBC weekend fixture entered five songs, which run the gamut from the questionable-taste “Let Kids Drink” to comedic ditties with Adam Driver (“Slow”), the Weeknd (“On the Couch”) and Adam Sandler (“Stuck in the House”).

Opening numbers at the Tonys won in three consecutive years at the Emmys (2012-14). Up this year is host James Corden’s live, 10-minute, elaborately choreographed performance at Radio City Music Hall in June 2019.

Name recognition may also add points for the late-night talk shows. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” entered two, while “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” have one apiece.

So don’t count out tastelessness as a factor. “Dick in a Box” won in 2007 (despite efforts by high-placed music-branch officials to get it disqualified for its rude content), and Jimmy Kimmel’s “I’m F—ing Matt Damon” won the following year. This year’s questionable delights include graphic masturbation in a song from Netflix’s animated “Big Mouth” and a profanity-spewing John Oliver singing “Eat S—, Bob,” aimed at a coal baron who sued him.

Then there are the shows that are built around music — again, an advantage for branch members who can’t be bothered to check out shows they’ve never heard of. Disney’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” entered four songs and the same studio’s “Descendants 3” submitted two.

Popular shows with musical components also loom large, including Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Amazon’s “Transparent” musical finale, and Netflix’s musical drama “The Eddy.” And what to make of the song from Netflix’s fantasy series “The Witcher,” which has 29 million views on YouTube? (Last year’s winner was a song from “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” which routinely built musical numbers around its stars and scripts.) android tv box

Even Oscar-winning credentials are no guarantee of a nomination. “La La Land” songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote the sweet marriage-proposal song “Running Home to You” for “The Flash” in 2017 but the music branch passed. This year Pasek has two songs in contention for YouTube’s “Saturday Night Seder” fundraiser. h96 max x3

Are there too many nominees to reasonably be considered? What does a conscientious voter do?

“All voting members in the Music Peer Group are instructed to vote for the submissions they have seen and are worthy of nomination,” says Julie Shore, the TV Academy’s VP of awards and member services. “Beginning in March, they are provided with access codes so they can watch and listen to programming on the viewing sites provided by all the platforms, networks and cable networks engaged in For Your Consideration campaigning. They also can watch and listen to all the entries on the Academy’s FYC Viewing platform, which allows the voter to select the entries by category.”

“Most of them are pretty lame,” concedes one music supervisor who viewed a number of entries on the Academy’s streaming platform. (Variety saw about 30 of these on YouTube, but many songs there are accompanied only by a slide from the show, not the actual video content.) h96 max tv box

“You can vote for one, or all,” says another longtime member. “You have no assurance that anything has been seen. It’s just a coin flip, the whim of whoever logs in and says, I like that. It feels more like an online poll.”

Over the last two years, the TV Academy has dismantled the system that the music branch designed and implemented two decades ago, that was designed to ensure that every single entry was examined by at least a handful of fellow branch members. But it was complicated and costly, Academy execs say, and cost them voters — because in order to enter one of the categories, you had to agree to judge another one, and many busy composers and songwriters simply couldn’t take the time.

“The current voting procedures have resulted in a significant increase in Music Peer Group member participation,” reports Shore. h96 tv box

For many years, nominees in the song category were chosen by a “blue-ribbon panel” of top TV composers and songwriters, viewing all of the entries in one evening at the Academy. Sometimes as many as 40 would participate, and the results of their voting would determine the nominations in that category. “Everything was screened and vetted, so when the nominations came out, you knew that qualified people had really thought about this and spent time with it,” says one veteran.

The current system, says a multiple Emmy winner, “is what we had over 20 years ago. No one knows what to vote for and the more popular shows clearly have an advantage.”

[blogsills]

After Democrats Surged In 2018, Republican-Run States Eye New Curbs On Voting

April 22, 20195:00 AM ET

ASHLEY LOPEZ

BRET JASPERS

SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN

A sign directs voters to a polling station on Nov. 8, 2016, in Cave Creek, Arizona. The state is one of several considering new voting laws that could make it more complicated to vote in 2020.

Ralph Freso/Getty Images

After high turnout in last year's midterm elections propelled Democrats to a new House majority and big gains in the states, several Republican-controlled state legislatures are attempting to change voting-related rules in ways that might reduce future voter turnout.

In Texas, state lawmakers are considering adding criminal penalties for people who improperly fill out voter registration forms. Arizona Republicans are proposing new voting rules that could make it more complicated to cast an early ballot. In Tennessee, GOP lawmakers are considering a bill that would fine groups involved in voter registration drives that submit incomplete forms.

POLITICS

Georgia Governor Signs Law Addressing Some Criticisms Of Contested 2018 Election

Republican lawmakers in those states say new laws are needed to maintain the integrity of voter rolls and prevent fraud. Voting rights advocates and Democrats dismiss those claims and argue that the policies are designed to dampen turnout among younger, nonwhite and poorer voters, who are less likely to back Republicans.

If enacted, these proposals could have an impact on future elections, especially in Arizona and Texas, where demographic and political trends are making both states more competitive on the national level for the first time in decades.

Last fall, Arizona Republicans saw their total control of all statewide offices shattered by surging Democratic turnout, losing four of nine statewide races — including a U.S. Senate seat. Democrats view the state's other Senate seat as one of their best pickup opportunities in 2020. In Texas, record turnout helped Democrats flip two congressional and 12 state legislative seats — not to mention come closer than they have in decades in the Senate race. While Tennessee wasn't ultimately competitive in 2018, there was a surge of newly registered voters in the Democratic strongholds of Memphis and Nashville.

House Passes Extensive Election And Campaign Finance Overhaul Bill

The bills in Republican-controlled states that could curb voting come as many Democratic-run states are heading further in the opposite direction by expanding access to early and absentee voting and adopting automatic voter registration (several traditionally Republican states have also adopted automatic voter registration).

"We are seeing both the good and bad side of the fallout of the 2018 election," said Danielle Lang, co-director of the voting rights and redistricting program at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.

Democrats saw a major increase in voter turnout in Texas last year. Now, in the name of combating voter fraud, the Republican-controlled state legislature is looking at a new law that could increase criminal penalties for those who don't fill out voter registration forms properly.

Texas: from misdemeanor to felony

Texas Senate Bill 9 — which was recently approved by the state Senate and is under consideration by the legislature — would make it a felony, punishable by jail time, for anyone who provides false information on a voter registration form or casts a ballot when they are ineligible, even if it's by mistake.

Ahead Of The 2018 Election, Texas AG Ramps Up Voter Fraud Prosecutions

Voting groups in the state say they are concerned this effort could result in jail time for people who don't properly fill out their voter registration forms. Currently, providing false information on an application is a misdemeanor.

"If Senate Bill 9 passes, a person who makes a simple mistake — puts the wrong ZIP code on a voter registration card — could be prosecuted, fined and even put in jail," said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which registers young voters, among other things.

She described the bill as "one of the most strict voter suppression laws in the country," noting that Texas is already one of the most difficult states in which to register voters and that the proposed new penalties could make it even harder.

Texas Officials Begin Walking Back Allegations About Noncitizen Voters

This latest push to tighten Texas' voting laws comes months after Texas election officials launched a troubled effort to remove alleged noncitizens from the state's voter rolls.

The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican from rural east Texas, says the point of the bill is not to crack down on people who "inadvertently check a wrong box." He says the point is to make sure local prosecutors "are prioritizing these crimes."

"This bill is aimed at people who are intentionally cheating," Hughes says. "This is not to catch people who make an honest mistake."

Cases of intentional voter fraud are rare in Texas — in many instances in which authorities have prosecuted someone, the people being prosecuted said they did not realize they were ineligible to vote.

Voting rights lawyers are also concerned about the bill's increased criminal penalties for those who cast a ballot — including a provisional ballot — when they are ineligible to vote.

Provisional ballots were created by federal law to allow people to vote if they aren't sure they can, and a provisional ballot is counted only once election officials determine that the voter who submitted it is eligible. Provisional ballots are often used when eligible voters are erroneously not included in their state's voter roll.

Senate Bill 9 undermines that federal protection, said James Slattery, a staff attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.

"It would assume that if you knew the facts that made you ineligible to vote, even if you didn't know the law, casting that provisional ballot would essentially make you a criminal," he said.

A polling station in Franklin, Tenn., on Election Day 2018. Tennessee's legislature is considering a bill that would impose hefty financial penalties on groups that register voters if they submit too many improperly filled out forms.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Tennessee: "We have never seen a bill like this"

In Tennessee, Republican lawmakers point to a surge of incomplete voter registration forms submitted in Memphis and Nashville during the run-up to the 2018 midterms as the motivation behind that state's legislation.

Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said that under the state's current law, county election commissions are obligated to track down and verify incomplete registration forms.

"This is only going after folks that create chaos intentionally or knowingly," Goins told member station WPLN.

Voters Approve Major Changes To Redistricting And Other Voting Laws

The measure, which already passed in the state's House, is backed by Goins. It proposes fines of up to $10,000 for groups that pay people and that submit more than 500 incomplete forms, with lower penalties for fewer incomplete registration forms.

But for people who "intentionally and knowingly" submit incomplete forms, the bill suggests they could face misdemeanor charges.

The legislation would also require groups to turn in the forms within 10 days of the registration drive and would require training for people conducting voter registrations of over 100 people. Groups also wouldn't be allowed to pay campaign workers per registration form.

The risk of fines could deter people from organizing registration drives, said Tequila Johnson, the co-founder of the Equity Alliance, who said the bill is an attack on organizations like hers that focus on registering people of color.

"We have never seen a bill like this on the floor, until we dared to register 86,000 black and brown people to vote," Johnson said at a news conference in Nashville. "This screams racism."

Arizona voters at a Phoenix polling place on Nov. 6, 2018. Arizona is considering major changes to popular early voting rules, which could affect some 200,000 voters.

Arizona: "This is a service — it's a convenience"

The changes that Arizona Republicans are considering would focus on registered voters who have signed up to cast mail-in ballots but don't use them.

The bill would remove some people from what's called the Permanent Early Voting List. People on the PEVL get ballots mailed to them so they can mail the ballots back or drop them off on Election Day.

But Republican state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita wants counties to purge people from that list if they don't vote using an early ballot in two consecutive election cycles.

"We want to make sure that the lists are up to date. That's just good practice. That makes sense on, frankly, any kind of database that you have," she told a House committee. "That you're really communicating with those who want to be communicated with and that are using the service. This is a service — it's a convenience."

Partisan Election Officials Are 'Inherently Unfair' But Probably Here To Stay

Local election officials say that they already have ways to maintain clean voting rolls and that the proposed legislation will simply confuse voters. The Arizona secretary of state's office estimates that 200,000 voters currently on the early voting list did not vote in both 2016 and 2018. But the office also said the bill's language is unclear, making it hard to assess its potential impact.

Democratic Rep. Athena Salman called it voter suppression to purge the PEVL.

"There is a great debate around whether or not it is 'peh-vl' or 'pee-vl.' But I find it fitting that if this bill passes, the list will no longer be 'permanent,' and so one might call it 'evil,' " she said.

Republicans dispute that this is an attempt to make voting more difficult. The bill doesn't remove people from the registration rolls, just the mailing list for early ballots.

Republican lawmakers have proposed other bills this legislative session that have drawn criticism from voting rights groups, including one that bans paying workers for each voter registration form they turn in.

"All Americans care about election integrity"

This latest round of legislation lands after a decade-long push by state-level Republicans for strict voter ID laws around the United States. Those laws were criticized by voting rights advocates for adding obstacles to casting a ballot that would particularly harm nonwhite and poor voters, although a recent academic study suggests the laws have had "no negative impact on registration or turnout."

Georgia Set To Remain A Battleground For Voting Rights Ahead Of 2020

The stated basis that Republican lawmakers gave for many of those laws was to reduce the incidence of in-person voter fraud. Repeated research has unveiled scant evidence of anything more than a small number of instances of voters attempting to cast multiple ballots. But the repeated message that voter fraud was rampant has become a powerful motivator for Republican campaigns to turn out their own voters. Likewise, Democrats have also used potential threats to voting access to mobilize their own supporters.                                                 But the impact of that push has been to increase partisanship and conflict around voting, the centerpiece of a democratic system.                            Lawmakers often reexamine voting laws after an election, said Lang, of the Campaign Legal Center. For example, there was a bipartisan push from Iowa's Republican governor to make it easier for felons to restore their right to vote after release, although it ultimately failed. And Kansas, which had been ground zero for fights about election laws for years, recently passed a bipartisan voting law that will make it more convenient to cast a ballot.                                        "All Americans care about election integrity, and yet these issues get framed in very unhelpful partisan ways," Lang said.                                                      Ashley Lopez reports for member station KUT in Austin, Texas. Bret Jaspers reports for KJZZ in Phoenix. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports for WPLN in Nashville, Tenn.

[jodiesuniverse-blog]

Killing my preacher

Musing of my former self

the self absorbed in me ...unaware of the inner self that was longing to be set free

absorbed in the latest fashions, trends, makeup, hair, celeb’s and their imagined life, the political theater of which country to fear this week, which politician is raised up to worship, and which is condemned until redeemed

....everything the corporate media giants threw at me day after day, week after week ...I poured through all of the non-important things 

those 30 second news clips of distraction

the 10 second review of what is coming up in next in their news-hymns, as they puked this 10 second clip every 3 minutes until they would climax with the 30 second story 20 minutes into their broadcast

patiently I would sit like a school child learning the alphabet

as if my life depended on it

my coworkers would admonish me if I was not ‘informed’ of the latest happening in this media bubble

all if it ...every last word ...contorted, arranged, shrouded in such deceit

my heart was numb, my mind was dumb I could only submit

my eyes bled until they were once again fulfilled with all of the images, the wants, the desire to fit in to their idea of how I should be

my shepherd told me what to think, what to believe, how to behave 

most importantly HOW TO CONFORM

I quietly submitted

I became a sheep listening to my shepherd - the media giant 

My shepherd told me what to think, how to think, what to believe, all day long ...not too soon did I realize all the characters blended into one puppet it did not matter what channel I watched ...a different face, clothes, hair, but the daily script did not veer....

from the 4am news cycle drum beat ...it’s insidious mass murder of thought

different actors but all the same lines, the hate on Trump, I was told how evil and unhinged he was ...yet nothing confirmed this but yet... 

I longed for more news, more propaganda it was impossible to put the news down

it followed me everywhere from the kitchen counter radio, the tv in every bedroom, my den, the living room, all through my house it was non-stop ...my leader led me to what it wanted me to hear

I couldn’t escape my drive to work, co-workers, friends, gym ...my god my preacher followed me in ads, with talk shows, and music?  

Music I longed to just listen to songs but my preacher would not have it

If a song was played I solemnly waited until the next song was held out like a bone as my ears salivated to taste it ...my reward for reviewing the hate, the programming what my cult leader is telling me ...was the thirst for the next song

I was becoming obedient and deaf all at the same time

I couldn’t escape this incessant hate on Trump it was everywhere

and still is

until one person who escaped whispered in my ear

stop watching and listening to the cult-of-media, you will break free from the propaganda if you can just get a hold of your mind release the desire to be informed as the sheep tell you that you must do to be like them ...flush out your mind and heart ...cut this disease and filth from your mind for 30 days

you will see

YOU ARE BORN to be FREE to just BE

mediation was hard, shutting off my tv-GODS and all of the sweet nothings fed into my ears was difficult but I knew I wanted freedom, my heart knew, my soul knew, all of everything within my cells knew this preacher was killing my spirit with its lying propaganda of hate on Trump, racism and this latest attempt at killing the American spirit through impeachment

Once I rejected the need to have my mind programmed it was a shock to see what I always felt in my heart ...the media is a cult of lies 

it’s purpose is to destroy the mind and subject all of humanity to obedience to this god

It’s through The Great Awakening that my soul has been lifted up and my mind is free to reject the lies fed upon mankind but this unseen god that filters through into the minds of those most needing of its sordid message

From my logical thinking I can now decipher the truth

President Trumps campaign raised more than 100 million in the 3rd quarter

Twitter is filled with Patriots refusing to be silenced

And the greatest shakedown of a mob boss is about to happen when this god goes silent to the masses

I feel that in my bones

once you awake and get the #RedPill your mind is cleansed to accept truth

because the media god - humanities 24 hour a day preacher - is killing mankind with its lies passed off as truth

Sheep no more

I killed my preacher the media god and I await the reconciling of people everywhere as they themselves must assassinate this beast and refuse to allow it into their homes, their space, their hearts and minds

As impeachment fury is being puked on America by their media god those still within this cult believe the lies told

that 58% of Americans want impeachment

despite the fact this cult-leader/media has a stronghold on it’s soldiers (some call them journalists) some of these obedient soldiers have gone against the media god and have come out with the truth of the lies told by a congressman known affectionately by our great President as pencil neck ...   

The lie that 58% of Americans favor impeachment can be found in the polls on Twitter by those who are in bed with the media god  they ask their obedient followers if President Trump should be impeached and their polls have backfired with a resounding NO

LOGICALLY and legally the impeachment is a farce and would not happen

but the media gods no longer care about reporting anything else it is all about taking this President down

Is this a coup?

Of course it is ...when your eyes are opened and the propaganda machine is silenced in your universe ..then you can begin to evaluate the outer universe and see the sick amounts of corruption within the political party the elites that somehow are so popular they are elected over and over and over again?

Then you begin to understand that is not logical and voter corruption is happening daily within every small town, city, and government office

This isn’t about right or left

It’s about corruption our government is a gang of corrupt mob bosses

Everything they say about Trump is everything they are themselves involved in

How long have these criminals been ruling over America?

Trump has been in office for 3 years and somehow the decades long corruption is his undertaking?

Sheep no more

I’ve killed my media god preacher and I can no longer subscribe to the theater of politics and the vast criminal corruption.

Impeachment is the distraction to the decades long elite political ghouls we have in government when you understand what Liddle is in the context of pencil neck you should be horrified at their deceit

because these people are truly sick

#SaveTheChildren

800K children go missing every year in USA 

why do our politicians dismiss this?

In killing my media god preacher I now recognize the monsters that occupy the House on the Hill in DC

[the-hinata-project]

How do you set up a week like this? I mean, the part where you actually manage to get people involved with it?

That’s an interesting question! I assume you mean getting people to participate when the event actually runs?

The main things you need, regardless of how many followers you have: posts that advertise and explain your event, and tagging those posts appropriately!

Some bonus things: something eye-catching about those posts (fanart/sprites and banners for the event), probably multiple posts about the event to keep people thinking about it, and getting help from friends or outside sources willing to plug in and promo your event! Your own followers may help, so never disregard your own blog!

The success of the event depends on: The subject of the event (How popular is the ship/character/series?) and how much effort you put in (Does it look like you actually care about the event? Does it look like you will respect the participants and their fanworks? Do you seem reliable enough to handle the event? Are you approachable? How do you handle criticism and hecklers? Did you organize it well?)

If you want details, I can only give you my own experience with events. (It’s under the cut because, well, I can’t be concise...)

I’ve only ever run one ship week before, and that was completely on my own at the time. I say “on my own,” but I actually did have support, namely my friends and mutual followers on my main account, spreading the word whether they were actually interested in participating in the event, or not! I am very thankful to them for putting up with it XD

There’s also tagging posts appropriately by the characters/ships involved in the event (in this case, Hajime and Izuru). And I really have to hope that the post shows up in the tags. I keep making sure after the post is created that the post shows up where it is supposed to (in other words, don’t put external links in your posts whatsoever! Not even links to polls). Also, you want to make sure to post it at a time you know people are active. To me, it seemed like around 10AM or 3PM PST will work.

People like me actually do surf Tumblr through the tags, so when they are interested in the event (as I’m sure they must be at least somewhat if they are surfing through the main character tags), they would hopefully reblog the post and their followers may be interested and reblog from them, and the cycle will hopefully continue. Reblogs are so important. Likes... don’t tell me much except that you are interested? And that’s a maybe as well.

A lot of it has to do with whether people are interested in what the event is about. Hajime/Izuru is a rather popular character who people love, so not to sound like as if I’m bragging or anything, but I do expect this event to gain traction based on that.

However, even less liked character/pairings can get some traction! I know for my ship week, I put a lot of effort into making sure people knew about the event. I actually went over what is expected, lol. I made polls to get as may people involved as possible and check how many would be interested in participating. I made quite a lot of pixel art leading up to the event, as well, and with each post, it’s another chance someone new will see it and be interested in the event.

And Kamu//Koma Week, for example, would occasionally get fanart made by their friends (mostly pixel art) and answer asks and tag these in the main tags (their ship tag mostly, and the character tags too maybe). They also had some polls made to get people involved- I mean it is both more advertising and it helps get people engaged and hyped about the event.

Both me and that mod relied on the tag system and our own followers. If you do own a blog that has a lot of followers, definitely use it! And if not,it’s very much possible to get attention. Like for me, I don’t have an insane amount of followers, and I have seen people who don’t have many followers have very successful events. Still, whatever followers you have, make sure to reblog your posts on your own blog!

Another thing you can do is respectfully ask for people who do have a lot of followers (like ask blogs, for example) to help you make your event known. If they don’t get to your ask, don’t be pushy with it, please ^^;

For this event, I could rely a lot on the tag system, my mutuals were helping spread the word, and I was able to get @/ask-hinapape to help! (Let’s say we had connections XD) I’ve seen people ask ask blogs and confession blogs for promos before, as well!

Mod Kusamochi, Mod Ahoge, and I each made something to promote the event! I drew the icon, Mod Kusamochi made the header (Also was put on our submission guidelines post) and Mod Ahoge made the “Uncle Hinata” poster on our Mods Intro post! To attract people to your event, having an attractive post is going to help you. Make sure it is something that centers on what your event is about, of course, but also try to make it pretty! Using a lot of colors might help, or maybe it is a moving gif.

It is not that fanart is necessary, either! You can use sprites or official art and just edit it. I mean, for the ship week I ran, I took already-made transparents or transparented stuff on my own and added a background that was actually just the background of other official art, but zoomed in or replicated into a pattern. You can also ask friends to help you out if you’re not that great with making fanart/sprite edits! And if you claim to have no friends, you can always request/commission someone else to help!

Having organization in an event is going to help as well! Make sure you give people time to think about the event you’re planning  so that they can organize themselves. A week is very short notice, a month is better, but might not be ideal enough for people to time themselves. When the event occurs is also going to affect how many people can participate. Make sure when you plan it, people have the time to submit something.

You want to have some rules, as well. First, you have to figure out just how is it that people are submitting their entries. For example, most events have you use specific tags. As a mod, you go to those tags and reblog them to the event’s blog. You can also have people submit their entries to the blog, and you tag or mention who created the submission.

It’s also great to have backups! Make yourself available and approachable in case something goes wrong. Do they need more time? Did you miss their entry? Did they accidentally break a rule?

If you need help creating rules, then try looking up other ship weeks for guidance on how they had set up their guidelines!

You also do not want too many restrictions, especially not something controversial, like “none of these ships are allowed”, or “none of that character”, or “these headcanons are not allowed”. Give people more freedom, and you’ll find you run into less problems. It may even be that no one was planning to draw/write something about the things you restricted them on, but because you restricted it, now they demand you let them. Or, if you had perceived there would be a problem, it might just be that there never would have been one to begin with. Don’t create drama, you’re only going to hurt the event and yourself.

And on the rare occasion, you may come across hecklers. The first time, you might respond. Try to not confront them even if they are rude- remain calm. It may just be that what you think is an insult to the event is just curiosity worded a bit strongly. They don’t like the ship? Explain that all participants are going to use a specific tag or tags they can block, or that they will all be tagged with the ship name, so they may as well block that. Same goes to specific characters. They don’t like how you run the event? Ask them what they wanted changed, or tell them that if they want to create their own event, they can. If they or others keep filling up your inbox- ignore it. It hurts, but don’t give in to the bait. There’s an event you are running with people that actually care for the subject- you focus on that. Don’t bring all the negativity hecklers want to pollute the event with. They want people to feel bad about participating in the event. You stay strong, and the participants will too.

Be open, be willing to make changes, be willing to stand up for yourself when needed, and most importantly, show that you actually care. Make sure that it is known that you find the event important enough to have created it and will treat it with the care and effort necessary.

You can feel the difference between someone that gave their event a lot of thought, and someone that didn’t plan ahead as much as they could have. And I’m not pointing fingers at any particular event- I’ve seen a few events that were not planned that well. But for the most part, I’ve seen a lot of mods who created events they genuinely cared for.

To me, a successful event is not measured how many people participated. A successful event is one where those that participated and the mod(s) feel genuine pride at what has been created for the event. If the goal was to expand a ship, then even one fanwork is more than what it had once been. If the goal is to show more appreciation for something, then even if only a few people actually participated, you now know who it is that shared your love for the subject. For me, I found that the most valuable knowledge- knowing you are not alone in your love for that subject.

All-in-all, if you want to create an event, whether it is a ship week, a secret exchange, or an appreciation week for a character/series/etc, just make sure that you and the participants are able to have fun and that you are able to be heard by the people who’d like to participate.

This turned out to be... quite the lecture, lol. Sorry XD I hope this was informative though!

-Mod WORLD DESTROYER

[nyrator]

goddd okay

post solo exchange diary feelings

warning this got super dark/personal real fast and I apologize but mannn

so like

goddamn what a relatable author kabi is

god I wish I had scans of this manga to post and scroll through over and over again, I buy physical whenever I can but always read the digital versions anyway because convenience (also my head gets dizzy from physically reading things apparently, or at least my eyes don’t know how to focus properly)

okay so like

yeah it started off like “oh well yeah haha I’m successful now time to keep going, oh I’ll right an exchange diary”

and boy did it spiral down from there (in a good way)

the fight with her father, the feelings of abandoning her mother... those especially got to me. I’ve grown distant from my mother, but I still feel afraid to abandon her, leaving her behind with her growing dementia and inability to take care of herself, she can hardly walk. But at the same time, for my own happiness, the only thing I can do is leave. And yet, even if I do, the guilt will remain. That part resonated with me so hard and made me want to cry.

and then kabi’s life, writing about her ten years of depression, being a lesbian, her infatuation with her mother, and then having it published and trying to keep it a secret from her family, while also wanting to share it- until it ended up getting delivered to her house after she moved out, and her mother ended up reading it and just being so cold to her- such a familiar cold feeling. The lack of love in her family, the complexity of it all, I can feel it, I can relate to it so hard.

it’s scary to think there’s someone out there, who is suffering just like you are, but can phrase it so beautifully, and yet they continue to suffer and there’s nothing you can do about it

I have to admit this gamejam has brought up my underlying feelings of depression again. It’s something I’ll never be rid of, the scribbling insides of my head begging for suicide every day and every night, intrusive thoughts about returning to the lifestyle of mutilating myself with any object in my vicinity, my eating disorder, my lack of energy to even move at times, and other gruesome things I probably shouldn’t lower your moods with (sorry for getting too detailed here whoops)

yet I still have the mindset of “at least I’m not as bad as I was before, I’ve been worse”

which honestly is true, I have good people in my life, which honestly I admit makes me more fearful for losing them by venting, if solely for the fact that I know I’ll never get completely better, and am afraid of them giving up on me with these kind of relapses

but Kabi reminded me of something

loving myself is the only way I’ll find happiness, even if short-term. I have an extreme self hatred, I’ve noticed my mental nickname for myself is “you piece of shit”, and I’ve noticed any time I get remotely happy about something, or praise about anything, it makes me so estatic and grinny that my inner voice tells me “aaa, I’m such garbage, look at me getting excited for a single comment on this trash”, yet I still bask in the moment in a mixture of self-hating ecstasy 

it’s probably impossible, but I need to keep it in mind

but yes, this depression and Kabi make me want to do something recreational with it- if I’m going to vent about depression, I might as well do it in a format people might enjoy

after the jam is over I might try again to make a serious comic

I have a poll on twitter about it, but even then all the categories bleed together and I have no idea how I’d actually organize it into a coherent structure, but I want to make something. And not about me, but about a fictional character, some idealized version of me probably, some author avatar or something. That Rotten Nyan character I mention every now and then. And the events would be exaggerated but based on my life, without feeling weird or lying or anything since it’s partially fictional, and I feel that it’ll be too tryhard and dark and grim and beyond my capabilities of making, but I still want to at least try.

the problem with trying though is sitting there concentrating and turning these thoughts physical, and trying not to be overwhelmed into a crippling depression where I don’t want to move for hours at a time due to focusing on them and getting sucked away into the abyss with them. At the very least, I can vaguely picture the artstyle in my head, it reminds me of an artist I follow on twitter whos name begins with dorm, that sad yet more detailed deformed-anime look

at the very least I’ve managed to sort of distance myself from it and instead focus on it in terms as a story, but the biggest thing I’m afraid of: hurting people I reference in the story. There are friends I want to talk about, events that happen, but I don’t want to risk hurting my friends with this information (they’ve gone through their own fair share of hardships), but I’d feel rude hiding this story from them too. I think I’d probably just keep it underwraps for a bit and mostly keep it to online friends if it ever happens, though, see if the internet discovers it on its own.

but yes, the gamejam itself

I love the people involved and hanging around them is always a good time, and I really do want to finish this game someday, but man, this game just brings about some kind of irrational guilt in me, why I don’t know, that triggers my depression- but it’s so dear to my heart at the same time. I’ve tried taking breaks from it, for months, years, and I come back, reread my notes, and it still hits me as hard as ever. It’s not like other projects that I can just lose attachment to, something in me tells me this is what I want to make someday, this is the one. Even if it isn’t as a game, just some way to share Yarn and Nyla’s lives with the world.

I don’t know if it’s the feelings of sadness the game gives me, the doubts I have over the game itself, or just doubts in myself in being able to bring it to life, but mannn, it crushes my soul in more ways than one when I try to work on it

I’ve gotten two worlds done-ish-but-not-really, and my mind just isn’t feeling it, it’s not satisfied, and it doesn’t have the energy to polish it up. Backgrounds were always my hardest thing to visualize, and this game always proves it to me- I just can’t create landscapes or environments. I can make concepts, but not a solid physical form. It’s funny, I knew I’d only get three worlds done instead of ten by the end of this, but I didn’t expect the progress to be this painful to just get three done. Still, the jam gives me the most incentive to work on it, even if I don’t submit anything at least I’m working on something in a good environment.

but yeah, this got a lot more dark than I intended whoops

luckily I have good people to talk to about ideas and need to open up more to more people in general and get a better understanding of what I’m doing with this game

also yeah

read Nagata Kabi stuff

she’s great and I love her and wish her the best

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : World of Sea : Part 55

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2018

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

Someone in the melee noticed them in a brief moment of better visibility. They frantically called, “Boarders aft!”  Shocked into further action, Captain Mord left the fight and led the two hundred and fifty foot charge back to the map table.  They were too late.  Kurin was gone.

In a small boat, barely out of sight in the fog, Tanlin bent her back to carefully muffled oars.  The Sea Hawk circled once and disappeared into the mist.  Shortly, they heard it scream, back near the Longin. The bird came back and circled, flying low and slow ahead of them. In short order, the Wide Wing lead them to the other three boats.

It swooped down and landed on Tanlin’s heavily padded shoulder, talons adding another few small rips to the pads.  Tanlin chucked the Sea Hawk under the beak and then gave it a bit of dried skelt.  The razor sharp beak took it gently from her fingers and made short work of it.

As Kurin looked on in amazement, Tanlin said, “Good, Skye.  Good. Now, show us t’e way t’ ‘ome an’ nest.”  The big bird bobbed its head, and launched off her shoulder, beating up, out of sight.  Tanlin had a faraway look, as if the world about her was a dream.  

She shook herself and pointed surely through the fog, “T’at way, swift an’ quiet.”  After they had rowed for a bit, she ordered, “Step masts.  Rig t’e sails.  Lively, now!”  Without a word, the crewmen and women leapt to obey.

A cat’s paw breeze swept through the fog and filled their sails.  In a short time they were clear of the fog and scudding north through the chop raised by a brisk breeze.

Finally, Tanlin relaxed, but only a little.  She called to the other boats, “Wad t’ey nae look at our message at all?”

“No, Captain.  We were driven back by knives.”

Shaken, Tanlin asked, “T’ey refused ye rescue?  T’e Longin broke the Groit Law?  Ye were attacked wit’ knives?”  She paused and swallowed hard.  In a calm voice belied by shaking shoulders and tears she asked, “W’at losses?”

“One dead, three wounded, one missing,” they replied.  

Kurin saw Tanlin crumple a bit but then brace herself.  “‘Oo died?”

“Macoul, the helmsman,” they called back.

“T’e wounded?” she asked, shaking but dry-eyed now.

“Gemma Colin, Darkistry Colm and Lenai Halin, Captain,” they called back.

“An’ t’e missin’?”

“Bosun Modanet.”

Then she did cry but she held her course.  “A good ‘elmsmon gone. Doctor Corin’s daughter.  M’ best friend.  Arnat’s mot’er. Oi can ‘ope t’at t’e Bosun got our message t’ yer Ca’tain. I’ ‘arm t’ t’ese few ‘urts so muckle, ‘ow does anyane survive a war?”

Kurin tried to distract Tanlin from her grief.  “How did you train Skye so well?  I never heard of anyone taming a Wide Wing before.  It was like he understood you.”

Tanlin did smile, though there were still tears in her eyes, “She.  Skye’s a female.  T’under’ead’s bock ‘ome on t’e nest.  Huh, she just got bock t’ t’e ship.  She brought ‘im a fish.”

“But how did you train her so well?” asked Kurin, in genuine curiosity.

“Oi dinnae.  Oi defended t’eir nest wen t’ey decided t’ make ‘t in our rigging w’ile we rode in t’e eye o’ t’e storm.  Oi brought t’em some fish, because t’ey’d been days wit’oot food.  T’ey adopted me.  T’en w’en Mecat gave m’ a Dragon’s Gift, t’ey were on m’ shoulders, trin’ t’ protect m’ from a Groit Dragon.  T’ey got included in t’e Gift.

“Sorry, Oi’m upset an’ tellin’ ‘t badly.  Let m’ calm down an’ Oi’ll tell ‘t better.”

“Did I hear one of the crewmen call you ‘Captain’?”

“Full o’ quest’ns, arenae ye?” said Tanlin, smiling in spite of herself.  “Aye, Ca’tain Barad stepped down voluntarily, for t’e good o’ t’e ship.  T’e crew elected m’.  T’was unanimous. Ye con poll t’em yersel’, i’ ye wont.”

“What I would want is to hear Barad say that he stepped down voluntarily,” said Kurin almost wistfully.

“T’en ye shall ‘ear ‘t from ‘is ane mout’, an’ t’at, soon,” said Tanlin firmly.  She pointed.  The sails of the big square-rigger could be seen coming over the horizon.  A Wide Wing could be seen leading the ship.  When it was clear that ship and boats had seen each other, the bird dove from five hundred feet up, hitting the water cleanly, with only a small splash.  A few minutes later, it surfaced and took off, circling back to the high lookout where the nest was.

“T’at wa’ T’under’ead,” said Tanlin, proudly.  “Wen we get t’e wounded taken care o’, Oi’m going t’ take t’em a basket o’ fish, for t’eir chicks.  Oi’m part o’ t’e flock, after all, an’ tis the duty o’ t’e flock t’ care for t’e young.” She cocked her head in self-conscious imitation of a bird.  “Oi’ll take care o’ ye, t’.  Wont t’ ‘elp feed t’em?”

The Grandalor turned into the wind, using it as a brake, to stop so that the party could board.  

“What fortune?” called a light baritone voice that Kurin knew.

“She came wit’ us, Barad,” Tanlin called back.  “T’e price wa’ ‘eavy.  We ‘ave t’ree wounded, ane dead an’ ane missin’.”

“You heard the Captain,” Barad’s voice called.  “Get four stretchers rigged, now!”  Their boats bumped up to the Grandalor and tied up to a piece of cargo net that had been hung over the side for use as a ladder.  The boarding party swarmed up the net, except for Tanlin and a few others who stayed behind to tend to the dead and injured.

Tanlin turned to Kurin, “Go on, get aboard.  T’ese folk volunteered t’ be in t’is party an’ ye are t’e reason t’at t’eir blood wa’ shed.  I’ ye donnae get aboard, t’will ‘ave all been for naught.”

“I’ll go aboard, never fear that,” Kurin answered seriously.  “These people risked their lives to get me here.  I can take a few minutes to help them.  I know bandaging and that abdominal wound  needs to be rebound.  She is in shock.  Wind her tightly.  Her arms and legs, too.  It will help to keep her blood pressure up.”

“Thank you, Kurin,” said a dark haired woman, injured in both an arm and a leg, as she helped wrap the more gravely injured woman.  “I’m Darkistry, by the way.  I hope that Lenai will be able to thank you herself.  I wish that we had known this trick of bandaging two hours ago.”

“I wish that I had known it was needed,” Kurin replied seriously, bandaging an arm.  “Captain Tanlin, this woman needs to go first. She’s in deep shock.”

Tanlin, who was steadying the first of the stretchers, said, “OK, Kurin, can ye ‘elp get Lenai int’ t’e stretcher?  Oi’ll ‘old ‘t steady.”

Kurin placed the crewmen along Lenai’s still form and directed, “Everyone, lift at once, on my mark. . . Lift!”  They all lifted until she was high enough for Tanlin to get the stretcher under her.

Tanlin signaled for the stretcher to be raised and called, “Number ane, ready for lift!  Get ‘er directly t’ Doctor Corin in sickbay!  Oi t’ink ‘e’s going t’ ‘ave t’ operate on ‘er.”

Darkistry said, “Take Gemma next.  She’s lost a fair bit of blood and got a nasty blow to the head.  My cuts are pretty deep, but I’m not bleeding much, I just need a ride to the deck and somebody to lean on until I can get stitched up.”

“Ye’ll lie flat an’ stay t’at way until we can take care o’ ye,” Tanlin ordered.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Darkistry replied with an almost impudent grin.  As an aside to Kurin, she confided, “I never was very good at taking orders but I think that I’ll follow these.”

They helped Gemma into her stretcher and Darkistry into hers.  Crewmen went up alongside, to keep the stretchers steady.  An honor guard of Macoul’s friends came down and escorted his body up to the deck.

When they were alone in the boats, Kurin demanded, “What are you up to, Tanlin?  This ship,” she gestured at the Grandalor, “has been rebuilt for war!  I’m not blind.  You’ve changed the bow profile for better speed and ramming strength.  It’s been reinforced with at least two layers of Wing Ray for hardness and penetration.  Your bowsprit has been reinforced and broadened as part of that.

“Your standing rigging is over twice the thickness needed for storms and it’s been moved to absorb ramming shocks better.  Your rigging and sails have the coloration of fresh fireproofing by Hag extracts.

“What do you hope to gain by all of this?”  Kurin ended her tirade, hands on hips, face set and angry.

“Oi’ve made ye a promise, an’ ‘t’ll be kept!  T’is ship ‘as been remade because we see precious little o’ justice in t‘e actions o’ t’e Council!

“We are nae paddle ducks t’at ye can cut t’e ‘ead off wit’ nae struggle!  We’ll fight for t’e rights o’ the Groit Law!  Wen we can get a fair trial, we’ll submit t’ real justice!

“We’ve a few prisoners t’at we belive need t’ go for a swim t’ yer foster fat’er Iren’s halls!  T’eir trial’ll ‘ave t’ be a fleet matter.  We are ‘olding t’em until t’ey can ‘ave t’e chance t’ rebut charges o’ mutiny an’ murder!”  Tanlin paused for breath, fire in her eye.

“Tell m’ Kurin, w’at’s t’e second o’ t’e Groit Laws, t’e ane right after t’e ban on slavery?”

“The right to rebut charges.  Everybody knows that. . .” Kurin trailed off.

“Name m’ t’e court w’ere we can answer any charges?  T’ere’s nae such court for us.  We were condemned wit’oot trial.  Ask yer friend Sula i’ t’at precedent isnae w’ere t’e Ca’tain o’ Ca’tains got ‘is start?  T’en ask ‘ow many ships an’ lives were lost as a result.  T’e answers’ll appall ye.  

“Groit Law is put aside at groit peril.  We’ll send for Sula an’ Ca’tain Sarfin, along wit’ a quorum o’ t’e Council, yer ane Ca’tain Mord an’ ane ot’er ‘oo ‘as an interest in t’is case.  Blind Mecat.  Ye know ‘er, Oi believe,” Tanlin finished with irony.

“How can you send for Cat, or the others, for that matter?”  Now Kurin was curious again.

Instead of answering, Tanlin said, “Cume up t’ t’e deck an’ brace yersel’ for w’at ye’ll see.  Ye’ve nae beheld t’e worst t’at’s t’ be seen, yet.”  Tanlin did not wait, but climbed the net.  Shrugging, Kurin followed.

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

[kashmiresims]

Winner Takes All

First Post | Previous Post | Next Post

Reggie had never been so frustratingly angry before. To learn that he was being blacklisted from a fraternity that he had the right to be in, to know that the object of his affections wasn't any closer to reciprocating those feelings, and to know his robot could likely not make the cut to get into the collegiate robotic championship all weighed his mind down until his thoughts were nothing but a whirlpool of darkness.

He was still consumed with them by the next day but had at least gotten to work on his robot after meeting with his father. That was one step closer to solving the latter problem.

He went back to the engineering building Sunday afternoon. No surprise, Shane Calhoun was also there fiddling around with his pathetic luxury gardening robot. Who needed such a thing? Was there a demand for a service so dull?

Information was a commodity—the ability to gain knowledge and use it against your enemies or in your favor. Now that was worth something. Shane of course, didn't say anything to Reggie and vice versa; both young men were on chilly terms, especially now that the mayor's election was so close and their fathers were toe-to-toe in the polls.

They had been classmates, not close, but cordial enough in high school. Shane didn't exactly put himself out there but then again, Reggie wasn't the most social boy either. He briefly looked to Shane, who was ignoring him and tightening up his robot chassis, and still felt a pang of regret for snapping at Alanna and driving her away—and into helping Shane the previous night.

Shane eventually left, docked his robot in its stand and Reggie took the rest of Sunday, well into the evening to finish programming his spypot to accept audio feed. He tested a recording, it sounded faint, so he cracked open the robot and adjusted the microphone to be near the bottom. Alanna had been right about the sound being more clear from that point.

Now it was Monday; he stayed in his apartment all day, playing Rush Hour and grinding out wins like it was nothing. Every win would gain an amount of in-game credit he could use to purchase custom car parts and upgrade the racing vehicles he used. He hoped that Violet_Fire would return soon so he could show it off, and then if luck permitted, win a race against them again. They were the only one, it seemed, to be good enough to make a race interesting—because he never knew for sure if he'd win against them.

Then just like that there was a *ping* and a chat box appeared in the corner of his screen.

Violet_Fire: Wanna race?

MegaZoom: k if ya wanna lose : P

Violet_Fire: Keep dreaming you N00b ;)

Reggie smirked. They were just trying to shake him up before he began. He went to main screen and started up a co-op game. Violet_Fire immediately entered into the instance and picked a classic car with a high-ranked engine they must have bought through in-game credits. Reggie's custom racing car, was a sports car with an engine that had top speed stats. He had put together and, it was in his opinion, a perfect racing engine for this game.

Violet_Fire: what is this?!?!?!

MegaZoom: :D

He wondered if they would chicken out and withdraw but they stayed in the instance. Stubborn as usual.

Violet_Fire: lets race the valley map

MegaZoom: why, so you can make tighter turns and try to get past me?

Violet_Fire: I don't need tight turns to beat ur behiney ;)

There was that word again. Alanna had said it the other night. What were the chances...the cosmic chances of her being his Rush hour rival all along?

MegaZoom: Wanna bet?

Violet_Fire: I do ;P

That took him by surprise. He was only joking around but now he was intrigued...

MegaZoom: What do you want if happen you beat me? Not that it'll happen

The ‘Violet_Fire is typing’ notice seemed to last forever before their message was submitted.

Violet_Fire: I want your custom car

That was untoward. You could trade cars in the game but Reggie's custom car was worth hundreds of hours of grinding and racing randoms. What would be worth the equivalent? He still wondered if Violet_Fire could have been Alanna Thackery, but was that information worth the potential loss of his custom car?

MegaZoom: If I win, how about you get on the voice chat channel and trash talk me without hiding behind a wall of text?

Violet_Fire: Fine lets do this

Though, Reggie immediately had a flick of nervousness in his gut and dryness in his throat because on the off-chance Violet_Fire was Alanna, she would surely recognize his voice! Would she think he was stalking her all this time? He had gone to some length to find out her class schedule but that was only recently when he realized how much he still liked her and it was handy to know where she'd be on campus so he could conveniently 'bump' into her. Evelyn Jane had done stuff like that in the past and he always thought it was dishonest but he could see the merit in it now.

Another *ping* interrupted his thoughts, Violet_Fire was impatient to begin and told him to start the game already. So he did.

He selected the valley map, which had its roads through tunnels, across rivers and especially tight turns. It wasn't his favorite but he'd won races on it before. The trick was to drift on the corners and his custom car had a sweet drift, fine-tuned to withstand the sharp curves of the road.  

The screen counted down 3...2...1 and Reggie slammed the up arrow on his keyboard, dragging his mouse to the left. His car peeled out and was hair ahead of Violet_Fire's. The first bend was a corner but not the sharpest and he drifted around it with ease. Annoyingly, so did Violet_Fire.  

His heart sank a bit as they passed him and took the fork in the road that was a shortcut on the map, but had more perilous obstacles. He didn't ever take the shortcut because of them. So he relied on his speed-tacular engine to make up the time as he made up the distance.  

He came up behind Violet Fire's car and gave them a bump of warning, but not enough to send the off road into a crash. He managed to get ahead after passing the start line. They had two more laps to go.

He maintained first place all throughout the second lap but then the third the tides changed when Violet_Fire spun out and took him down as well. All momentum was lost and it was a scramble to get the cars pointed the right direction and the speed up again. That dirty move put them back into first place and Reggie couldn't lose! He just couldn't! He was tired of losing all the time!

So instead of taking the safe path, he was desperate enough to try the shortcut to make up the lost distance. He was already behind and so he took a calculated risk to see if it would pay off. He avoided getting stuck on a collapsed bridge and drove through a waterfall, finally a dark tunnel with no light until he turned a corner. He sometimes ran his cars into the tunnel walls when he took that map shortcut. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel appeared and he hit his booster. His sports car nearly flew out of the shortcut and landed in front of Violet_Fire, who must have thought their win was inevitable since he was so far behind and therefore didn't bother taking it in the first place.

He nearly flipped his keyboard in excitement after zooming across the finish line in first place. He'd get to keep his custom car, and talk to his biggest racing nemesis voice-to-voice. To find out if they were who he suspected they were. He quickly typed in into the chat box.

MegaZoom: I'm on the RH05 channel.

He flipped his headset microphone to ‘on’ and had to swallow a few lumps in his throat. It was just a race in a video game but his adrenaline was high. A second later Violet_Fire's avatar popped up in the voice chat—it was of a purple flame. Plumbbobs, what was he going to say?

"H...h..hi there," he stuttered out but lowered the register of his voice significantly.

"I want a rematch," came the clear voice of Violet_Fire. Definitely female, definitely familiar and his heart seemed to stop beating and all the saliva in his mouth dried up entirely.

"Sore loser much?" he finally asked. It had seemed like minutes between when she spoke but in all-reality was only a few seconds. He would never speak in this way to Alanna face-to-face but it would just make her suspicious if his online persona suddenly started being super nice for no reason.

"I thought crashing into you would have pushed you far enough behind, and I never would have thought you'd take the shortcut on the valley map."

Reggie laughed, "I knew you wouldn't."

"Anyway, I got on chat like you wanted. What now? Want me to trash talk you like you asked?"

"I didn't ask you to trash talk me! I just figured it'd be interesting to hear you do it with your own voice."

It was kind of surreal, to hear her talk so candidly. It made him wonder how calculated her words were in a regular basis; he’d always assumed her kind words were the norm but she was really quite brash behind the mask of anonymity.

"So, you're a girl,"

"How observant of you," she snapped back before he could get to his point.

"No, I knew when you first talked but I'm wondering if I could ask your advice on something?"

She made a long, low sound that gave of the impression she was apprehensive or even inconvenienced, "Suuuuurrreee."

"What is your idea of a perfect date?"

"Why are you asking?" she teased.

If she only knew.

But he was glad he had the upper hand and she didn’t know who he really was.

"There's this girl I like and was going to ask her out but I haven't been on a date for years..."

There was nothing but silence, and he dreaded she recognized his voice or figured out his identity but after a few moments, her voice rang through with a suggestion--"Take her stargazing."

"Stargazing?"

"Yeah, like cuddling under the stars or something. I know it's pretty nerdy and all but I'm just kind of fascinated about the galaxy, are we the only ones out here? You know? I had a telescope when I was little, but my sister kept hogging it and we'd fight over it."

It was even more evident the person he was talking to was Alanna with that fact. He knew she had a sister, and her sister was kind of unpleasant and snide from what he remembered. He could feel for poor little Alanna being bullied away from her telescope and her suggestion and anecdote only made her more adorable.

"Hey, it's okay. I mean we do play a lot of video games so that makes us nerdy anyway, right?" he tried to reassure her.

"Speak for yourself, video games are the new cool!"

He laughed as did she and he felt more at ease, like he was talking to her normally as if they were chemistry partners in high school again. Well, all besides his lowered voice, which he had been careful to maintain the lowered tone as he talked as not to arouse suspicion.

"How long have you been playing Rush Hour? You're pretty damn good." Reggie asked.

"I started about a year ago. My brother gave me a link to download the free trial and it got me kind of hooked on it."

Reggie recalled that Alanna had a brother as well.

"How did you get into it?" she asked in turn.

"I saw it was a recommended play in a gaming magazine and so went out and bought a copy. I've been playing since I started college."

"What college?"

"Sim State. You?"

"I didn't say I went to college."

He inwardly cursed for giving away info that he knew more about her than she knew he would know.

"But do you?" He asked, covering over his blunder, “I mean you sound like you could be a student.”

"I do and I am."

"Where?"

"I think...I've given enough personal info for one day. Good luck on your date and let's race again soon, Zoom." she said then added, "That is, if you want to lose!"

With that, she disconnected and he wasn't even offended by her last needling comment.

How could it be that a girl he thought was perfect had somehow become even more so? What was more perfect than perfection? Divinity? Was Alanna Thackery, in fact, a goddess?

He stood to stretch his legs because he'd been sitting for a while at his computer. The lightness he felt at winning, and knowing that the girl of his dreams was his one and only gaming rival made him feel as though he could lift off the ground at any moment--happy enough to fly if he could. He only took a few steps back until he felt the bed frame behind his knees and fell onto his mattress with a heavy sense of satisfaction. Something, something had gone his way for once.

His imagination ran wild thinking of what other games she could have played, a fierce spark in her eyes as she raced, the determined smile between her lips when she was focused on winning. He fantasized about this side of Alanna he'd never seen—the competitive, sassy, unapologetically candid version of her.

Picturing her, in all her perfection behind closed eyelids--made him smile and hope that his plan to ask her out would work. He could plan her idea of a perfect date and then she’d have no reason not to fall for him.

A different *ping* sound suddenly went off--a faint little note coming out of his headphones which he had taken off before standing up. It was a chat box on a tab he’d left open on a web browser. He sat up, and curiously went to check it out.

The web page was sitting on the student profile site--a place he often visited to see if Alanna had added any new pictures or updates he could use as conversation fodder the next time he saw her. She hadn’t messaged him though. It was, to his very ultimate surprise--Marshall Cosgrove.

Marshall Cosgrove: Hey u there?

Reginald Orbinson: Yeah why? What do you want?

Marshall Cosgrove:  Meet me at the coffee shop on the east edge of campus.

Reggie felt himself frown. Why would the Hoh Fruhm President suddenly be interested in meeting with Reggie when the day before he had made it clear that Reggie was never going to be allowed in?

Reginald Orbinson: Why would I?

Marshall Cosgrove: Cuz I have a proposition that could get you in.

He didn’t have to specify as to what Reggie could get ‘in’ and Reggie felt like his luck was on a roll that evening. If he got into Hoh Fruhm, everything would be right in the world. 

It was downright chilly outside, and Reggie could feel himself shivering in his jacket even. There weren’t any cricket chirping which had been a constant for the past three seasons. The night felt kind of lonely as he made his way to the edge of campus. He was to meet Marshall Cosgorve at the same coffee shop where they had seen each other the day before. Reggie headed toward the entrance, eager to get out of the cold but a voice stopped him.

“Orbinson.”

He halted and looked to the right to see Cosgrove backed up against one of the decorative fences that contained a tree with his arms crossed. The front of the coffee shop was a charmingly landscaped area that he didn’t mind sitting in between classes when the weather was nice. 

“Cosgrove,” he nodded and approached, waiting to hear what Marshall had to say, “Why the change of heart?”

Marshall merely glowered, as if he didn’t want to be offering Reggie a way in but he had no other choice, “To put it plainly, I need you to get some information on someone--I can’t use any of the guys at Hoh Fruhm because we are all being watched rather closely after today.”

“Why, what happened today?” 

Whatever it was that was bothering Marshall, seemed to explode as he threw his arms out, “We got raided! The police showed up on an anonymous tip that illegal substances were being used at our parties. They found pills, and now the charter is in jeopardy--Hoh Fruhm is on probation!”

“But not double-secret probation?” Reggie asked with a smirk. Marshall wasn’t amused by the reference and he slumped back against the fence.

“I’m sure I know who tipped the police off; the guy that left the frat a week ago--and the entire Greek Society like he was better than us.”

“Okay but what do you want me to do about it?”

“I want you to get some dirt on him. I’ll use it to ruin him. If he thinks he can just walk away and then drag us through the mud afterward then he has another thing coming. You get this information on him and I will let you join the vacancy he left behind.”

Reggie felt himself shiver but wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or the absolute hatred and determination in Marshall's voice. Reggie’s cleared his throat, he didn't know who this person was yet but it was possible that it would be impossible to deliver what Marshall wanted, "What if I can’t find any dirt on him?”

Marshall let out a scornful laugh, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as far as the Calhouns are concerned. Nick’s dad is one of the slimiest son a bitches I’ve ever seen and you can probably agree since he’s running against yours in the election. So help me get dirt on Nick–he’ll go down like he should, and you get into the frat you've been wanting to all these years. It’s a win-win.”

Nicholas Calhoun.

Now there was a name that Reggie hadn’t heard for a long time. Reggie didn’t have to think long about the offer, because unbeknownst to Marshall, Nick and Reggie weren’t on friendly terms anyway. He had no emotional conflict in trying to cause Nick any embarrassment or hurt Marshall would have him suffer. It wasn’t like Nick Calhoun ever considered how much his words would affect young Reggie–getting every kid in school to laugh at him on a weekly basis when they were children.

But as much Reggie wouldn’t mind digging up dirt on Nick, he wanted more than what Marshall was offering for it.

“If I can get you the information you want to bury Nick, I want a position in the frat--vice president.”

Marshall nearly growled in response, “I can’t guarantee that, those positions are voted on by the members every semester...”

Reggie whirled around, a knowing frown plastered on his face, “The Calhouns aren’t the only slimy son of bitches in Kashmire--your father orchestrated the entire election between my dad and Elm Calhoun. You haven’t been fraternity president all these years because of your popularity, so don’t  tell me you can’t rig your own house elections.”

Marshall’s livid expression let up slightly at being called out, seeming to mull over Reggie’s demand. Reggie wasn’t naive, he knew Marshall would try to find a way to screw him over once he got what he wanted, especially now that he’d demanded a place of rank within Hoh Fruhm. He half expected Marshall to withdraw the offer but to his surprise, the blond straightened up and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can move around--but only if you get what I want. Nick Calhoun will pay for what he’s done.”

“Shake on it,” Reggie demanded and Marshall lifted his arm, extending his hand. Reggie took it in a firm grasp and they shook. It was a good thing Marshall came to him for this task--Cosgrove likely banked on Reggie’s desperation to join the Greek society as a sure way to obtain what he needed but Reggie could do one better. He had a spybot and that made all the difference between failure and victory.