#This ending was designed in a lab to make me as mad as possible

[kjzx]

Someone just told me the ending of MHA and thank god I stopped watching it by the end of it everything(!) is the same as when the class started bonding together with the three exemptions: 1. they're aged up in the most uninspired ways possible; 2. aizawa got injures but it doesn't matter because ~fantasy prosthetic that works just like the real thing~; 3. deku lost his One For All "impending death" quirk and became a teacher (potentially amazing outcome but they didn't show it for this to matter) AND THEN THE CLASS BOUGHT HIM A HIGH TECH QUIRK COSTUME CANCELLING OUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THE ORIGINAL QUIRK

[radioinactivity]

Been thinking about Fallout 4 again and I've always wondered what is the minimum number of changes you could make to the plot so it would at least be cohesive and I think I've got it:

The Institute are isolationists pursuing immortality.

Add a little backstory that they tried to share their technology with the rest of the Commonwealth like 75 years after the bombs dropped and the Wastelanders tried to kill them to take all of it. So they decided to lock themselves in CIT to keep doing mad science, intent on outliving the "savages" on the outside.

The current generation of Synths are replacing people in order to keep the Commonwealth politically unstable so they can't unify and potentially raid CIT again. Importantly: the Institute cannot be influenced to stop this strategy. You can convince some members of the Board but not the guy in charge of defense, he will always insist that their survival hinges on the Commonwealth staying uniquely chaotic.

Synths themselves are the result of their pursuing immortality via test bodies but they're imperfect (ie failures)- rad resistant, disease resistant, age slowly but they're sterile (kinda like a fun parallel to super mutants in FO1 wow imagine that). So the Institute uses them as a slave class and as infiltrators so they don't go to waste.

The Railroad are all synths using old world spy shit they've learned and stumbled on (ie the DIA facility under the Slocum's Joe) to try and liberate the other Synths in the Institute. This is why they're kind of bad at the Spy Shit until the Sole Survivor shows up. That's it. That's the only change.

Tbh the Brotherhood is Fine. Maybe bring back the cut ending where you can ice Maxson and put Danse in charge. The Minutemen are also Fine but I think taking back Quincy and making it a settlement should have been part of the plot. Preston deserved that closure it's weird he didn't get it.

And finally: The Sole Survivor is another synth let loose on the Wasteland who just THINKS they're a prewar parent looking for their baby. This is the ideal justification for the player to either faithfully pursue their lost kid OR fuck around and build shacks OR be a force of Chaos upon the Commonwealth. Either the programming worked really well or it didn't.

None of this fundamentally changes the structure of Fallout 4, and really you can't do much about some of the stupider shit, but at least this gives the Evil Faction some tangible ideology that make sense. And I think if the Institute has understandable motivations, everything else clicks into place a little more neatly. Sidenote: this whole silly thought experiment is based off the notion of like. Only using what Fallout 4 already gives us. Think of it as the design document for a Main Story mod where the goal is to make as few changes to the base game as possible to make everything cohere.

Anyways Fallout 4's missed potential was created in a lab to drive me specifically insane

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Chemitory

Debut: Kirby: Planet Robobot

Hello everyone! I hope you’ve remembered to take your medicine lately! And I hope you take it from a secure and clean container received from your pharmacy, and not from a funny robot who throws ambiguous pills at you! Because that would not be healthy. That’s a Science Fact!

Of all the robobots they put in Planet Robobot, Chemitory is my favorite! This design is so so pleasant, and as it idles, it waves its hands gently and happily. Perfectly pill-shaped, since it is all about pills, with floaty hands and an eyes-in-a-void face! That is such a common kind of face for Kirby characters, but it works so especially wonderfully here! Perhaps this is a Haltmann Works Company healthcare robot, here to allegedly help. Instead, it throws pills at what it considers a problem in hopes that it will go away. A scathing satire of modern psychiatry!

Of course, Chemitory has a big clear dome full of pills, and it is here to throw them at you! This dome, delightfully, swings back on the two hinges on either side of its head, allowing it to reach in! What is Chemitory’s prescription?

Chemitory has been officially diagnosed as Mad Scientist! If it doesn’t have its pills, it probably turns into a boring ol’ Regular Scientist. Doing dilutions in a lab. Wearing proper protective equipment. That’s not Chemitory’s style! Chemitory would rather endanger lives and not be approved by the FDA, like a GOOD mad scientist!

Kirby can swallow Chemitory, OR its pills, to obtain the Doctor ability! I am a little surprised the ESRB was fine with letting Kirby consume strange pills, and receive a benefit from doing so. Again, please don’t consume strange pills. But I’m glad Kirby does it, because Doctor is perhaps my favorite ability! It is so fun! Kirby can throw pills like Chemitory, as well as lots of other medical-themed stuff! It is also probably the silliest looking Copy Ability. That is so many accessories! Wonderful.

Something I think is so delightfully wacky about Chemitory, and Doctor as a whole, is that they may very well owe their entire existence to the Dr. Mario amiibo! Planet Robobot allows for amiibo to be scanned to give Kirby certain abilities, and it seems that its new abilities were designed with this in mind! ESP is obviously a Ness reference, almost obnoxiously so. Poison, while the most original of the three, can be reasonably linked to Splatoon, since it features goop that splatters onto surfaces, and damages enemies that touch it. Doctor, of course, is heavily based on Dr. Mario!

Do you think, if amiibo did not exist, or if Dr. Mario was not added to Smash 4, the Doctor ability, and by extension Chemitory, would have never even been conceptualized? It feels rather possible to me, so I am glad both of those things happened!

Chemitory is a sort of one-hit wonder, appearing only in one game. At the end of Planet Robobot, when the mechanization is reverted, maybe every Chemitory even ceased to exist! I have faith, however, that we will see Chemitory again, since Copy Abilities always make their return eventually! And hopefully, Doctor will make its comeback in Kirby Star Allies 2: Chemitory Is In This One And Is Playable!

[blondiest]

wait omg sorry i didn’t see the reblog let me try again. could i possibly send you beymane as a rarepair and ‘anatomy lab’ or perhaps ‘math lecture’ as a setting.

HELLO. not to worry not to worry <3 i actually went way overboard with this and ended up w something that is 1.2k and counting so i am posting just This Bit and persnaps i will update in little installments if i continue with it :3 this is pre-relationship, so i'm sorry it's not as shippy u_u imo beyond eventually gives her a little rabbit heart or something during anatomy dissection & imo this is, to misa, unbelievably romantic,

misa's lab partner is— unusual. she noticed beyond on the first day, before they'd actually been paired up. he really sticks out. not in a bad way, necessarily— misa sticks out, too, because this class is mostly pre-health students and misa is a fashion design major— he's just hard to miss. tall, long-limbed, sharp features. sort of unsettling to look at. he's got a face and build that might be good for a career as a high-fashion sort of model, the ones who aren't, like, actually hot, but look weird in an interesting enough way to make up for it. she doesn't think he has a future on the runway, though, mostly because he carries himself like he's sorry to be alive. she really isn't sure what to make of him at first. misa tries to be nice to everyone, because she hates it when people are mean for no good reason and there's usually not a good reason to be mean unless someone makes her really mad, so of course she's friendly when they get assigned as partners for the semester. she also doesn't like it when girls lead guys on, though, so she tells beyond right away that she has a boyfriend. "he's going into biological engineering," she says, proud. "he's like, really smart." beyond just blinks. "okay."

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2024-05-13

Monday the 13th

Listening: I've been playing a lot of Beat Saber so my beat saber tracks have been stuck in my head, most notably Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim.

Reading: About halfway through A Memory Called Empire, which is great. I love a fucked up huge space empire. I am forcing myself to internalize the pronunciation of the Teixcalaanli words because I know otherwise I would just silently read through them.

AMCE gets into it fast and throws a lot of political machination out at you which lands well, the vicarious experience of having to think on your feet about complex social protocol is a lot of fun, it's honestly a much better fit for books than, say, swordfighting.

Didn't take my book with me this morning and while flipping through my ebooks on my phone I noticed that my Google Books copy of Nona the Ninth had an update? there's a small play at the end of the book with Palamedes and Ianthe bargaining over Naberius Tern's body. Absolutely wild. Palamedes does a Phoenix Wright OBJECTION! shout. It's great.

Watching: Avatar 2: Way of Water. Hoo boy. I am so mixed on the Avatar movies. They're not very good, from a storytelling perspective, but they're so much fun to watch. Beautiful animation, lovingly thought through world and set design, hot cat people, and some of the worst narrative you've ever heard.

They're back because in the intervening 15 years from Avatar 1 the earth is now dying and they want to colonize Pandora? Sure, okay, but that's definitely sudden and weird. They're also still harvesting a valuable resource from Pandora, because otherwise they wouldn't be able to do the metaphor, but now it's whale oil that stops ageing. Great. Also it's now proven that even as far back as Avatar 1 it was totally possible to back someone's brain up to a flash drive, and they've resurrected the evil general from there.

Okay wait. They can back up your brain and put it into a lab grown catboy hybrid but we're also harvesting immortality whale oil? Surely we have already solved immortality in this setting. Just back up your brain!

There's also... the rest of the movie. Characters have such muddled motivations, why is this kid who was raised by the Na'vi and knows the general was a murderous bastard helping the murderous bastard brainclone. Why is Neytiri written to have no more than 12 seconds of foresight.

Look, I love the idea of Avatar. There are no doubt incredible lorebooks with details on all the animals and machines and cultures out there, I remember watching the Sideways video on the original designs for Na'vi music that got scrapped because it sounded too weird, I love a crazy xenobio worldbuilding project, it's just not a very good story.

Playing: Dark Souls, made it through the Four Kings and the Bed of Chaos, now I'm into the Catacombs. I will finish my video cuts at some point.

Making: Nothing much this week, small sewing repairs. I did not see much of the aurora, just some faint red skyglow on Friday evening, so no photography.

Tools and Equipment: If you forget to do something at work surprisingly often you can just tell someone "hey sorry I lost track of that" and they will not be that mad at you. but watch out.

[leftdestiny-posts]

My apologies for spamming your notifs lately but I randomly thought of this after messing up an egg recipe :’3

-

Whenever the Segments get mad at Cupcakettore, they try to sabotage his desserts. Once, a Segment snuck into his kitchen after the egg whites and yolks were separated. He then proceeded to pour all of the yolks into the bowl of egg whites, thereby wasting Cupcakettore’s earlier efforts. He even went as far as to poke the yolks to thoroughly mix them.

The next day, all of the Segments were served (poisoned) scrambled eggs for breakfast.

-

Also, ten-page ramblings, you say?? I shall make more room in my brain for Cupcakettore xD

Please, never apologize for giving me notifications!! It's a joy to see asks/messages from you :DD jkafnjkfn can you imagine my joy when I got this scenario for cupcakettore from you? While it's not quite ten pages, I definitely rambled for a while,,, so beware when you read this XD (note: I went really off topic but I added a doodle to compensate ^^;; forgive me XDD)

Before I'll drop the HCs, let me adore this scenario because <3 YES!!! (I have this lemon merengue cake recipe and I ALWAYS!! :(( mess up the eggs. I feel your (and cupcakettore's) frustration...)

Cupcakettore (quite literally) doesn't fit in the way he was designed to do, and while he is part of the hivemind, the others tend to make his life miserable whenever they can (granted, that is only possible by ruining his recipes lmao, hence situations like these).

Never before did the other segments (nor Zandik himself) understand his passion for baking (likely they never will). And while cupcakettore compares the kitchen to the other's lab and baking to experiments,,, the others just don't get it.

[Okay, I'll drop some HC's before I (hopefully) cycle back again to the scenario because cupcakettore (dubbed "DOTT" for simplicity,) has lots of lore in my head jsnldg]

• He was the first segment to be considered 'successful'. However, Dott remains far from resembling Zandik, as he is closer to becoming an 'individual' instead of a segment from the past. (let me explain;)

• While Kunikuzushi was created from wood, I imagine the current segments to be made from a combination of techniques from Ei's prototype puppet + Kharnri'ahn technology/Ruin guard parts. DOTT, instead, is a result of biotechnology --- a combination of innovative technology on human evolution + Ei's techniques for creating Scaramouche.

• ALSO!!! "Water holds memories", every segment carries a vial with blue fluid which connects them to the hivemind, and in extension, Zandik. These vials hold the memories that shape them, giving them personalities, and setting their traits fixed to a segment of "Dottore's"/"Zandik's" life (a.e. one of the 'younger' segments holds Zandik's memories of the Akademiya,, another of his first years in the Fatui,,, etc!! They all know what happened in the entire timeline [from Zandik's oldest memories to his recent ones], but if they're not in the vial, they haven't 'experienced' those memories; thus it doesn't shape their personality)

• But... Dott was only a prototype,, and thus hadn't been created with the 'vial' in mind. He was shaped to be a clone of Zandik; he got the same beliefs and ideas implanted in his mind ever since he first woke up; but without being a fixed part of the hivemind, he was able to drift into an individual (and while he's still very much a version of Dottore, he did gain some personal quirks that don't belong before he got added to the hivemind. Zandik suspects his unchained love for experiments (main_trait_1) and curiosity (main_trait_2) ended up being DOTT's downfall into a baker.)

• No one knows why this segment hasn't been deactivated (Pantalone sure questions it every time he gets a bill that consists of baker ingredients). --- Perhaps the first working prototype is a reminder of how far Zandik has come in his research, and perhaps he is there as cannon fodder, but at the end of the day, Dott does introduce a new perspective (even if most can't see that perspective).

• Everyone underestimates this segment until they remember that this segment is created in the image of the 2nd Harbinger.

• My guy created one of the most potent poisons on 'accident' (which he is currently banned from making again because of its effects). Dott also 'accidentally' created a truth serum that's now used for information gathering (although this ended up attracting a lot of rip-off serums on the market that didn't originate from DOTT. Pierro ended up having to ban this invention as well, since no one could differ a working truth serum from the cheap less-effective version of it (information intel became unreliable))

• He loves LOVES robots!!! Loves dissecting them, putting them back together, repeating, replacing parts, changing parts, and creating something new. He doesn't make many useful inventions in the field of machinery, but he remains incredibly intelligent and has a knack for remembering everything step by step, making ruin guard dissection and repairs his to go to job. (Though, if forced to choose between baking and robots... you know what he'll choose LMAO)

• One time he killed Zandik's favorite assistant on accident, but it's the assistent's fault, really!! After all, Dott did put a warning sign next to his fresh batch of cupcakes... Although, in hindsight he should've written the 'beware: poison' on a bigger piece of paper and not on a sticky note.

• He puts the most questionable things into his cupcakes. If it's not a new poison or serum, it'll likely be something worse (don't ask him)

• Once, a Fatuus was overheard laughing about the segment who baked in his free time. --- He ended up in the oven that same day, only for Dott to laugh in revenge.

• He shares his cupcakes, and while it's rude to decline them (he will turn you into his new red velvet batch), you can't be cautious enough with eating them.

• He ended up going into retirement once Zandik created enough segments. He was allowed to remain activated for as long as he delivered test subjects. So, he opened a bakery. The unsavory patrons that enter his shop end up getting delivered to his fellow kinship in the capital labs.

• His bakery is successful (to everyone's surprise)

• If you're polite (bonus points if you're a regular), you'll be safe. Contrary to normal belief, he does have a heart in the shape of curiosity and validation, so if you're a sweetheart breaking into his routine, you'll end up getting his special made cupcakes (he baked them just for you!) and the news of your annoying co-worker suddenly missing! (Tell Dott about it, he'll laugh. Just don't ask why he does)

OKAY SO!! I can 100% see (pre-bakery times) a new segment stealing one of his cupcakes (god forbid mess with his recipe and he's like;

Imagining a new(-ish) segment messing with his eggs after Dott spent HOURS on separating them (curse that Fontainian macaroon recipe,,,) --- DOTT will get revenge.

Fortunately, the segments are durable, else they would've died from that new poison he added.

[diltonsstrangescience]

I was thinking about Dilton’s insane garage laboratory again, and I got an idea for a comic. I would draw it, but I draw so slowly that it would take forever to finish a 6+ page comic, and I have too many other ideas to work on. So all you get is a written summary:

— Dilton’s dad hears from the other parents (or the newspaper) that multiple cars have been broken into or stolen in the past few weeks, and he decides the family needs to keep their car safely in the garage instead of the driveway, at least until the perpetrator is caught.

— He informs Dilton that this means Dilt needs to clear all his science stuff out of the garage to make room for the car.

— “You want me to dismantle my lab? Dad, please, don’t do this to me! Anything else!”

— “This isn’t a punishment, it’s just how things have to be for the foreseeable future. Your lab was our garage first, and we need a garage more than we need a lab right now.”

— “But how can you expect me to transport all of my equipment within the day? Where can I possibly store it all? How can I continue my experiments under these conditions?”

— “Why don’t you ask those friends of yours for help? I’m sure they’d be more than happy to lend a hand. That boy Moose, especially, should be useful in carrying your computers around.”

— So Dilton asks the gang for help, and they agree to help him clear out his lab, as well as each taking a portion of his science stuff to look after (there wasn’t enough space in Dilton’s room for all of it). They also agree to keep Dilton’s experiments going themselves, in small ways like taking notes on observations, or adding three drops of such and such to this concoction each day… etc. They’re all excited, thinking it’s going to be fun to try their hand at mad science for a while.

— Next comes a series of little Disasters caused by Dilton’s science in the hands of his inexperienced friends over the next few days.

— One of his friends ends up drinking some sort of potion (or multiple), either on accident or on purpose, and there’s some kind of weird effect—I’m not sure what yet, but almost definitely a minor transformation of some sort, on the same level as turning green or growing a tail or only talking in parrot squawks. This causes humorous problems in their life. (Jug wouldn’t drink unknown potions on purpose, because he has common sense, but Archie has none, so it would make more sense for him to do it intentionally.)

— One of his friends has to look after some animal test subjects, like mice in cages or something, but it turns out the animals have been made superintelligent, and they break out and start sabotaging the character with clever plots. The character fights back, mostly unsuccessfully, and things descend into Tom & Jerry territory. (I think this would be funny with Jug, especially since Hot Dog could be there too, animal vs animals.)

— One of his friends (maybe Betty?) has to look after a robot, and all seems cool and fine until it malfunctions (not her fault) and turns evil or chaotic and starts destroying things. (Its glowing eyes turn from green to red, so it’s clear that it’s evil now. This was an intentional design choice on Dilton’s part, as a warning sign in case of malfunction, and because it looks cool.)

— Veronica is given something she doesn’t need to observe or use, just store somewhere and not mess with. But at a fancy party, she tries to show off to her rich friends that she’s smart as well as beautiful and wealthy by showing off ”””her””” cool new invention, and she turns it on. She immediately loses control of it, whatever it does, and it causes a Disaster. This one’s working correctly, but Veronica doesn’t understand how it works or how it turns off, so it’s still causing a problem. (Hmm… maybe a weather-creating machine? Imagine a blizzard packed into a ballroom.)

— (Midge and Moose also helped Dilton, so I need to think of two more disasters. Or maybe, since they’re closer friends to Dilton, they know a thing or two about science and following instructions, so they don’t do anything they’re not supposed to, and they happen not to meet with any malfunction-type accidents. Everything goes fine with them.)

— The comic ends with Dilton’s dad reading in the newspaper that the crook who was breaking into and stealing all these cars has been caught and put in jail. He says to Dilton that this means their car is safe (because problems are very simple in this world), and so Dilton can have the garage back for his lab. (Let’s say it’s been like a week since the start of the comic.) Dilton is excited, and says he’ll go find his friends right away and tell them, and get his science stuff back. He rushes out the front door, only to find all his friends running up his sidewalk together, all carrying the science stuff he gave them and begging him to please take it all back! (Dilton is surprised, because he had no clue about all their problems, but everybody else looks like a wreck from their individual ordeals. This is all in stark contrast to how excited they seemed in the beginning to take on the science.)

— The end! That last scene was the punchline and final panel.

[moss-selfship]

Decided to Make a little lore Drop for my Xenoverse 2 insert/oc A NEW ANDROID APPEARS? FRIEND OR FOE?

DATA LOG - ENTRY 1

"My name is....WAS...Android 22. I was created by the brilliant Dr Gero as part of his secret "Project ARK" as a way to ensure that his research would never be lost. Unlike my previous iterations 17 & 18 i was never an organic human turned android, and unlike cell i am not a bio android. I am instead the same as android 16 being fully an automaton. But i was designed to be indistinguishable from a normal human, i look human, i sound human, i was meant to imitate an average human and be undetectable. You see, Even though the doctor had long since fallen to his madness, fear, and paranoia...deep down in a sick twisted way he only wanted what he thought was best for humanity and knew that the information and research he had gathered and his vast array of knowledge were to invaluable to ever loose if something were too happen. So he started "Project ARK" and created me, dubbing me android 22. He Created me using his most advanced materials and technologies and made me his most powerful and deadly creation he had ever built. But i was not built for combat, in fact i was originally programmed to avoid conflict. Once i was completed he placed me deep in the forest far from his base in a hidden alcove that nobody would find. I was to be the life boat of his lifes work and to protect it from any and all harm. When he turned himself into an android he created a three way link between himself, his computers in his lab, and me. When the doctor was killed it triggered the emergency system and all the information in his various computers as well as all the knowledge he held in his own mind were beamed into my head and locked away for safety. After a set amount of years after his death my reanimation protocalls activated and i was awoken (Gero programmed me not to immediately awaken so that what whatever killed him may have blown over or left the area for good).

However back then i was a mere automaton, i was nothing but a robot that was programmed to protect the knowledge it held. My first directive was to head towards Geros lab to try and continue his work, however as the lab had been destroyed i had to follow my second directive which was simply protect the information housed in my brain from any and all possible threats. He designed me with his most advanced technology and deadliest weapons...but i was never meant to fight..in fact these were only meant to be as last resorts as he did not want me risking the information inside me. And so i followed my programming and wandered the world as a facsimile of a regular human. The Doctor had designed me to be indistinguishable from a normal person without the most intense examinations. I looked human, i sounded human, i "acted" human, every aspect of me was designed to appear like a normal human (even having a small sub ki generator installed along with my infinite engine. so that i would have a small ki signature like a normal person). My programming was to pretend to be a human for as long as possible until i could find a fellow mind brilliant enough to continue the doctors work (That he hadnt already ruled out, apologies bulma) However as i travelled the world for years something....changed. Being his most advanced creation filled with every single bit of knowledge the doctor had must have caused a snowball effect. I began to have variables in my behavior that were never part of the original codes, i began to behave differently than ways that were programmed in me. This wasnt automated learning as it had been before...this was...different. Dr Gero may have been a raving madman who had long since lost himself to his madness and anger, but he was a brilliant scientist at the end of the day and i began to evolve in a way no normal machine ever could. I began to take a life of my own and with the help of the sheer amount of knowledge given to me, the futuristic tech he created me with...and perhaps that small spark of nobility the Dr had in himself....i became sentient and became...alive. As you can imagine this has been an....overwhelming experience. I am struggling with this newfound sentience and trying to find my place in the universe...and my joining of the time patrol and learning about other universes does not help the issues of my existential dread. I have decided to give myself a new name, as i am a new being and i will forge my OWN path in life. But that is enough for this log for now. 

My name was android 22....now..i am Moss"

[broken-clover]

20- Wonder

In another bizarre coincidence, I promise that I didn't know Super Mario Wonder was supposed to release today, the fact that this ended up the way that it did baffles me too. I did consider making this one Mario-centric to fit with the theme but admittedly I'm not super confident writing things for the mainline Mario series so I ultimately didn't go with that route.

Instead, I continue to dig around in my bag of weird fandom. I wanted to do something with The Suicide Squad because it's one of the few superhero movies I genuinely enjoy rewatching. How's that post go about seeing a character and knowing they're basically designed for you? Because that's pretty much Polka Dot Man for me. I'm still mad about it.

Content warnings for suicidal ideation, pretty much the same as canon. There is also a bit of alcohol and vomiting. I promise this does get happy, it's just that this is an R-rated movie full of fucked up characters

-

Corto Maltese was a beautiful place. The more time he spent on it, the more obvious that became. And the more obvious it became, the more he desperately tried to loathe it. Because he wasn’t supposed to have even made it that far.

Sheltered and stupid were two different things. Mother might have done her best to keep them all under as tight a watch as possible, but it hadn’t left Abner naive. The mortal dangers of Task Force X weren’t hypothetical. Most of them were fully expected to die and any survivors were just going to be tossed back into another, equally dangerous deathmarch later. It was exactly why he’d signed up in the first place. Of course he wasn’t going to make it out alive, he couldn’t even if he wanted to. It would be much faster than placing his hopes on a prison riot or slowly waiting for his disease to do its job.

Unfortunately, several things were getting in the way of his death wish. If there was one thing in the world he feared more than anything, it was being a disappointment. Being a disappointment was simply asking for mother and her friends to strap you down on the worktable until she found a way to fix it, to make it all better. If he so much as thought about abandoning the mission, mother’s face swam before him with a scowl. It could have been so easy, just run away until Waller decided it was too much and had the bomb in his neck detonated. It wouldn’t have even hurt. The thought of being a disappointment would have hurt more than any physical injury ever could.

Beyond that, it seemed his team- team, what an odd word for a group that could barely stand each other- were almost as lopsided in the head as he was. Nobody liked him, obviously, but they were often too busy bickering or getting distracted with their own business to hate him enough to just kill him and save them all a lot of trouble. Bloodsport and Peacemaker especially, those two had seemed so promising, but their constant bickering meant neither of them had even attempted to shoot him yet. King Shark wasn’t out of the question, but things weren’t looking too good on that front, either.

And, thirdly…the longer he was someplace beyond the sterile walls of S.T.A.R. labs or the high concrete walls of Belle Reve, the more he had started feeling emotions other than deep, all-consuming dread.

It frightened him. There was safety in being certain, even if that certainty was that nothing would ever get better. That he would never be anything more than a lab rat or a pawn to push around. Hadn’t he been tormented enough? What had he done to deserve it? Why did the universe have to torture him with hope?

It had been such a small thing at first, tumbling over itself to become an avalanching snowball. All he had done was his usual nighttime routine, expelling the dots that had built up across the day before they started to burn under his skin. When he’d sat back on his haunches after nearly puking his guts out, the nearby greenery had caught his sight. It was so mundane, so normal-looking, so…lovely. Vibrant, waxy green leaves that shone even in the dim light. Nothing like polished metal or unbending stone. In a moment of weakness, he’d allowed himself to touch it, and a sparkle of awe settled itself in his chest as his fingers traced the swooping branches.

He kept trying to step on it, but that little twinkle just wouldn’t die. More distractions kept getting in the way. More little things that stuck out to him. The bugs that hovered around the lights at night. The distant sound of water lapping against the island shore. Music floating out from the radios at Soria’s camp. The rough yet strangely cozy texture of the seats in Milton’s van.

While the others conversed through the ride to the bar, Abner watched the city go by from the bus windows. So many people doing their mundane little tasks up and down the streets. He wondered what it felt like. If he would ever get the chance to do something so simple.

(Why would he even ask that? Why would he entertain the thought that he ever would? Why, for even just a second, did he hope…?)

The ruckus inside the building hurt unlike anything else ever had. It compelled him. Likewise for the tiny glass of alcohol that Peacemaker had ordered for everyone at the table. He knew what alcohol was, but had never tried it for himself. People seemed awful fond of it, though, so he expected it had to be interesting.

Oh.

Horrible. It was horrible!

How fantastic!

It stank, like the bodies around him did. It burned as it went down his throat. Ratcatcher 2 offered him her unfinished shot, and he took it. Someone else slid him a new, full one. He drank and drank until whoever it was finally stopped putting more alcohol in front of him. Which was well enough, because his vision had started to go fuzzy, and it would have been a struggle to hold the glass without dropping it.

They were supposed to be keeping an eye out for Grieves, but the longer the night went on, the more they started to get distracted by the goings-on. Flagg was flirting with somebody across the way, and Peacemaker and Ratcatcher 2 had gotten up to join the crowd on the dance floor. Abner had joined them briefly upon the latter’s insistence, but quickly grew too dizzy from all the lights and spinning and excused himself.

At some point, after a long, slow blink, he’d opened his eyes to find himself with his knees pressing against tile and his head dangling above a toilet. He contemplated the situation momentarily before his stomach decided to empty itself. Thankfully, there were only a few glowing dots mixed into the bile and secondhand alcohol, enough to fizzle but not to eat right through the bowl.

It was a small relief, as he immediately puked again. Alright. Alcohol wasn’t quite as fun as people made it look.

Something behind him squeaked, in the high-pitched way animals did. Sure enough, when he had enough energy to turn his head and not immediately get Dizzy again, a rat had scuttled under the stall door to stare at him.

“Huh?” He squinted through the blurry vision. He recognized this one, didn’t he?

Something knocked on the bathroom door thrice, then it squealed open. “Abner? Are you in here?”

“Rat-” he coughed on his own spit. “Ratcatcher 2? Wuh- why are you here? Isn’t this the men’s room?”

“Sebastian said you got stuck. The others were busy, so I thought I should check to make sure you were okay.”

It was bizarre to consider. Someone cared enough to do that?

He let the rat crawl up his back to unlatch the swinging door. The girl approached him, and the look of concern on her face was as genuine as her tone. “Are you alright?” She asked, brow furrowing. “You don’t look too good. Should I get Robert?”

Abner grinned, looking like death warmed over yet never feeling more alive. “I'm just wonderful.”

That little sparkle wasn’t going to die anytime soon, not like this. But more and more of him was starting to be okay with that.

[noaheadiegamedev]

Lots of WIP Art Coming Soon!

tldr: Progress shots of five characters coming soon, descriptions after the fold.

I'm creating a set of tutorial scenarios for Thursday Thrashers to make it easier to learn, and part of that includes making new thrashers that happen to work well within the tutorial context. There are six such thrashers, one of which (Norm L Guy) I already have created art for.

Now, I could just make a tutorial prototype without art for the other five, and just build them up later. However, I'm treating this tutorial as a 'vertical slice' - a proof of concept of what one of these Thursday Thrashers products is actually going to look like. That includes complete art assets for everything involved.

My plan is to make the five character arts all at once, by tackling each of them one step at a time. That means, first I'll make a playlist for all of them (done), then a vision board, then sketch, then create a 'form pass', then local color, then shading.

Once I get to the sketch phase, I'll post the progress for each step, and maybe go a bit into my creative process for the different characters.

After the fold: Brief descriptions of each of the five characters.

Note: These concepts might shift around over the course of production.

Character One: Harmonie Platine (He/Him)

Concept: Tokusatsu-style hero that excels at teamwork, by powering up everyone close to him, which is stronger the more teammates are within his proximity. Could also be referred to as the 'Platinum Ranger' or the 'Titan Ranger of Harmony'. Lives on a planet where cities are constantly being attacked by giant monsters, which are warded off by specialized teams of 'Titan Rangers'.

Aesthetics: Platinum tokusatsu character with a raygun. Design inspiration drawn from Moebius, Rene Laloux, and other 70's/80's French sci-fi illustrators.

Character Two: Gasket (She/Her)

Concept: Burly cyborg engineer that lives/works in a scrapyard. Really good at making something out of nothing. Cranky and curmudgeonly, but ultimately a good guy at the end of the day.

Aesthetics: Blue-collar grease monkey, cybernetic parts scavenged from scrap. One of her arms is an ion cannon. Might wear a factory jumper and flat-top, or alternatively a Canadian tuxedo and mullet, or something between those two.

Character Three: Ligeia (She/Her)

Concept: Undead ballerina, patched together frankenstein-style by a mad scientist. One of the scientist's earlier creations, she was eventually dubbed obsolete, and was to be 'scrapped' for parts. She managed to escape the lab, and find a rocketship off-planet. She now fights in the arena in hopes that her broadcasts make it to the laboratory and gives the other creations/test subjects/prisoners hopes of escaping.

Aesthetics: Goth ballerina, either with a swan skull for a head, or some other form of swan skull motif. Wields cleavers.

Character Four: Basil (They/Them)

Concept/Aesthetics: This one's a bit up in the air. Narratively, the four things I know about them for sure are that they're nonbinary, they're middle-aged, they're some sort of magician, and they're also a mentor of sorts. They were designed mechanics-first to fill a specific role in the tutorial, so there are a few different directions I can take them. Their capabilities in-game are healing magic, speed buffs, launching orbs of magical energy, and breathing acid. At this point I'm just trusting the process - which has worked for me before.

Character Five: Lady Camellia (She/Her)

Concept: I'm actually torn between two different possible concepts, though the character design will be pretty similar between the two of them. She's either going to be a lady in a big red suit of futuristic armor with thrusters on them, and be a sort of 'turbo-boosted knight', OR be a microscopic lifeform's equivalent of a massive mech suit (which in her scale is the size of a city, but in our scale is the size of a person). In either case, the aesthetics will be largely the same - though the nature of the detail work will be different.

Aesthetics: Big shiny red robot suit with knightly motifs. Sleek design with soft undulations here and there to reference her namesake flower. On her back will be giant thrusters, and she'll be wielding a really long and pointy lance.

[anime-grimmy-art]

What do you do when there’s not much to an AU? You make up your own stuff, ofc. And as is per usual when I make Character Designs, I make up a shit ton of lore too.

The ramblings under the cut, but what I’m really interested in, is what you guys think. Do you guys have any headcanons/ideas for this AU? Let me hear them! Also, if you don’t wanna read on tumblr, here’s the Google Docs link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/151yshHxnb_--P6eMKkwkI2dee9xC_Llb/view?usp=sharing

Before I get into the characters’ roles, here’s some general facts and backstory of their town:

- Basically, it’s Undertale meets Harvest Moon / Stardew Valley. Well, kinda. I at least used that approach for coming up for the jobs for the characters. You know, how there’s always a general store, a doctor, a smithy, etc.

- The usual story of a HM game is that you come to a town that’s way past its glory days and you, as the player/farmer, help them get back to that. The “backstory” of the town is that that already kinda happened. I’ll get into it more in the character description, but basically when Asgore was still mayor, the town got really popular. Then yadda yadda, a certain tragedy happened, two kids died, and the town suddenly got very bad publicity. There was a lot of stuff going on back then, bad reputation being spread and also a lot of law stuff, cos, you know, supposed child murder ‘n all, so Asgore made the decision to shut off the town to ppl from outside. This was in the interest of most monsters living there, because as fun as it is to have a lot of people coming there, most just wanted to live a quiet life. Not everyone was happy with that though, so many moved away from town and some others are trying to get the town back on its feet. But more on that later.

On to the characters:

I’m just gonna start with the skelebros, cos it’s their fault in the first place I got so invested.

Basically, they are what the player is in hm/sdv. They just showed up one day, took over the abandoned farmhouse and began their life there. The two came to town way after it was “closed” and since then a new mayor has opened the possibility for new residents to move in. Their farm helps the economy of the town a lot and the mayor, like usually in hm games, is trying to use that to make the town more known again. The skelebros aren’t really working towards that goal however.

So, now a bit more detail on them individually.

Papyrus:

- The design is mostly based on what’s “canon” in this au.

- He works mostly on the fields and is in charge of the crops. Their fields aren’t spectacularly big, but still big enough to plant a few dozen rows of veggies. 

- Paps also helps out a lot in town when he has the time. He helps Asgore with his plants, he goes fishing with Undyne, helps Toriel carry crates around and so on. This is inspired by the part-time job mechanic in HM ToT.

- Unbelievably, in this AU Pap is not an absolutely awful cook. Since he helps out at Muffet’s and Grillby’s a lot, they tend to show him some tricks to cooking. Even though Pap’s not a big fan of the greasy or overly sweet cooking those two do, he picks up a lot.

Sans:

- Again, design mostly based on the “canon” look. Maybe a bit more baggy.

- This is finally an AU this dude gets to rest. Since there are no resets and he doesn’t have to see his bro die again and again, for once in his life, he’s not a sad ball of depression. He’s just a chill and lazy dude that loves to make puns. Though, since he’s not too experienced with the feelings of loss, helplessness or grieving, he still tends to hide behind puns and fakes smiles if he does feel bad.

- Sans is in charge of the animals on the farm. Papyrus begrudgingly gave him that role since Pap’s loud demeanour and hectic movements usually scare the animals. Sans’ relaxed attitude draws the animals to him naturally and even if Pap mostly finds him sleep against a tree, in a stack of hay or on one of the sheep, the animals are always fed, healthy and relaxed, so Sans seems to be doing his job.

- Sans always has a small chic sit inside his hoodie or hat. Is it always the same one? Who knows, maybe.

- Sans also, somehow, can produce eggs out of thin air. Grab into his hoodie pocket, in his pants pocket, in his hat, in his slipper, there’s suddenly always an egg there. On good days he can even make butter or cheese appear. 

Gaster:

- He’s literally just a scarecrow in this. Though, if you ask any of the bros why they designed their scarecrow that way, they won’t have an answer.

Frisk&Toriel:

- Frisk is mostly based on what I wore myself as a kid in summer. Just a loose shirt with a cappy. Toriel basically has her ut gown, just with an apron on top.

- Frisk just appeared outside the “magical” forest one day. Napstablook and his cousin found them and brought them to Toriel, who has been taking care of them since.

- Toriel runs the general store in town, but also often takes care of the few kids that still live there.

- Frisk usually helps out in Toriels store, plays with the other kids or sits around at Asgore’s. They’re notorious for nabbing small snacks, mostly from Asgore’s plants. You’ll always find them munching on something. 

- Frisk was in town before the skelebros. Since they’d moved in, Frisk often went to spy on their farm. After a small incident with angry chicken, Frisk got to know the two better and now they see them as something between brothers and uncles.

- But Frisk honestly gets along with everyone. Just like in UT, they’ve not only been adopted by Toriel but literally everyone.

- Toriel and Asgore’s relationship is not as bad as in the main game, since, you know, Asgore didn’t kill literal children, but there’s still tension between them. Back when Asriel and Chara died and the whole thing with the bad rep for the town began, Toriel felt betrayed by Asgore focusing more on the town than giving their deceased kids the grieving they deserved. They’re not divorced, but Toriel still moved out and said needed space to think. Now that Frisk is in the picture though, the both of them are slowly coming to even ground and may even be able to talk things out and clear up the uncertainty of their decisions.

Asgore:

-Asgore has his UT Ending / Deltarune clothes, just with a gardener’s belt.

- He’s the previous mayor of the town, but after all the crap that happened, he stepped down from the position. Now he has his own little shop and sells seeds, saplings, homegrown veggies and fertilizer. So, basically what e.g. the Marimba Farm is in HM AP

- His main customer is Papyrus and they’re on friendly terms. Asgore is worried about how much and how hard Pap works, so he often gives him a discount. 

- Since his family’s past tragedy, Asgore is kind of nervous around kids. So, when he first met Frisk, he hoped they’d not visit him too often. But to his chagrin, Frisk took an instant liking to him and spends a lot of time at his shop (and steals eats the fresh grown veggies). Now, he’s really grateful for that, because for one, he loves Frisk as dearly as he had his own children, and also because now the tension and mistrust between him and Toriel seem to grow smaller day by day.

Undyne&Alphys:

- I gave Undyne a pretty basic fisher’s outfit. Alphys basically has Elli from HM’s outfit, just a bit more doctory stuff added. She still has her canon lab coat too.

- In essence, Undyne and Alphys have 2 completely different jobs. Alphys is the resident doctor and Undyne runs the fish market.

Two things. Yes, I know Alphys is more a mechanic than a doctor, she fits the aesthetic though, so she’s the doc now. And no, Undyne being a fisherwoman is not cannibalism, think of it more as a shark hunting smaller fish.

- The reason I lump them together is because they act as the local “smithy”. Alphys is still really tech savvy in this (I mean, Mettaton is still part of this AU), so she takes on most problems with electronics and stuff. For Undyne, I didn’t want to lose her Royal Guard’s Captain image, so she’s really good at handling tools (and weapons, but Al doesn’t let her make them anymore). So basically, if there’s a broken tool, you can be sure that either Undyne or Alphys can fix it.

- As for relationships, those two are still an item. Alphys is still really shy and a shut-off, but since Undyne and Pap become best friends, she gets to know the skelebros better. She and Sans especially get along well, since most of the time Undyne and Papyrus are let loose, they sit back and talk about science-y stuff. (no, Sans doesn’t have a background in science but he’s still into sci-fi)

- Alphys has a bit of a strained relationship with both Asgore and Mettaton.

Back when Chara and Asriel died, it was because of “illness” (maybe poisoning?). Alphys feels awful because with her back then limited knowledge on medicine she couldn’t help the two. Asgore doesn’t hold anything against her but Alphys can’t help but feel guilty.

Alphys still built Mettaton’s body in this one. The two had a really big disagreement, because Mettaton hated the fact the town was going to close, and he couldn’t understand how Alphys could feel otherwise, even more so endorse the idea.

Mettaton, Napstablook, Mad Dummy/Mew Mew:

- Napsta and Dummy are pretty self-explanatory, they got straw hats. Mettaton’s outfit is a bit of a joke cos it’s a play on “work at the top and party at the bottom”. The tie has two different sides, one with the yellow red pattern, the other completely red. His “top part” is the business part, because when he’s on tv or in the mayors’ office, you don’t usually see his feet. The bottom is his party/dance part, cos his dancing/entertainment channels mostly feature his legs. 

- Mettaton, still a robot, Napstablook and Mad Dummy are all still cousins in this AU.

- Originally, they all lived and worked at the Blook Farm, the Animal Farm of this AU. Mettaton, however, despised that simple live and after befriending Alphys and her building him a body, he left the Farm to pursue bigger things. 

- Mettaton runs the local tv network. From weather to game shows, he does it all. He also runs the tailor shop in town that sells his designer clothes and merchandise. After Asgore stepped down, Mettaton also took over the role of town’s mayor and now works towards making the place more known again. Not everybody is happy with him doing that though.

- One of those people is the Mad Dummy. He can’t stand people anyways and he always claims that history would just repeat itself.

- Since the whole family is made of ghosts, they have different dummies and scarecrows they can use to take care of the animals. To mock Mettaton and kinda get back at Alphys for giving MTT such an opportunity, Mad Dummy found the blueprints for the Mew Mew robot and now modelled one of their scarecrows after it. 

- Napstablook isn’t fond of taking over obejcts like his cousins do, so he mostly takes care of the snails. Somehow, he can interact with them even when incorporeal. 

Muffet&Grillby:

- The two of them run the Inn together. Muffet cooks in the daytime and makes desserts, Grillby manages the bar in the evening. 

- The two still can’t really stand each other but working together like this benefits them both because their rivalry just spurs them on more.

- Even though Grillby is a patient person, somehow Muffet is the only person who riles him up enough to retaliate. (Well, maybe except for Sans, he’s a strong second).

So, basically everything between those two is a challenge in some way. Even if Papyrus doesn’t notice, even his cooking lessons are a challenge for them. 

- Even though they’re constantly bickering, after working together for so many years, there’s a strange level of respect and trust between them. Even if back when they first started this business, they’d pour salt into an already open wound, nowadays they’d know better and just take a step back from the other or even comfort the other (on very rare occasions only). 

Asriel&Chara:

- They be dead. Kinda.

Some Characters that’d live in that town too but that I haven’t made designs for:

- Gerson is the original smithy of the town. He’d grown up in a family of smiths, but he’d always had an appreciation for the sea. That’s why, when the town became more deserted and Undyne had a good enough skill level as smith, he took up the Captains hat and now mostly spends his days out on sea. He also ferries people to places if they need him to. Oh, and just like in canon, Undyne learned most of her skills from him.

- Burgerpants is a poor dude Mettaton basically kidnapped when he was trying to get fame in the city. Now Burgerpants works wherever MTT needs him to, be that as cameraman for the tv shows, cashier in his tailor shop or his slave secretary in the mayor’s office.

- MK is Frisk’s best kid friend. MK’s parents are in charge of shipping the goods out of town and paying the individual people. MK’s the one that usually collects the goods at the end of the day.

- Other than that, there are only a few people in town. I’d imagine the older folks or the really young families stayed in town after it was closed. I think the librarby dude would still run the library. Some Snowdin residents like the stone family or the dogs also might still live there. 

[xmint-conditionx]

please hold | myg

pairing: idol!yoongi x fem!reader

w/c: 2.1k

summary: your boyfriend is taking you out after he gets off of work, but you want him now. even if he has to take an important business call.

tags: 18+, smut, light choking, slight spanking, a little bondage, light degradation, orgasm denial, all the good stuff.

a/n: i've had this written for like a year lmao, i just had to fix it. here it finally is, hope you like it!

Here you are, once again lounging on the black couch at Genius Labs. Yoongi is quickly working at his station, rolling his chair back and forth between the keyboard and the three monitors at his desk. His headphones are on and his eyes dart fervently across the screens; he is in his own world, and you love to watch him work.

He had asked you to stop by the office before you went home tonight. He wrapped up a big project and wants to go out with you to celebrate. He isn’t allowed to tell you what it is, but you could tell over the phone that his excitement could barely be contained. It must be big. He talked so fast and excitedly that his rough Daegu accent started slipping through. He had even hinted that if you played your cards right, you might get a little action tonight. You’ve been asking him to fuck you in his studio for months now, and you can’t help but be a little giddy with the thought of it possibly happening tonight. And now, you’re glad you wore this outfit.

You’re not a very patient woman, but you try to be on your best behavior when you let yourself in and see he’s immersed. You always let him come to a natural stop where he wants because you understand the creative process like few others do. That's something he really likes about you.

So you watch, and you wait. You’re laying flat on his sofa, legs hoisted up and crossed on the back of the seat as you scroll through Twitter as you hear the mouse sporadically clicking.

He chews on the inside of his cheek and furrows his eyebrows as he makes a cut in the sound. His tongue pokes out and grazes his bottom lip, wetting it, and you press your thighs together to stifle a little of your growing desire. God, he is beautiful. You watch as his hands fly over the keyboard, his dexterous fingers flexing and his rings shimmering in the light.

That tongue should be on you, and those fingers should be in you. You shift on the sofa so that your legs are down, and you can feel yourself getting wet. You pray for him to hurry up.

As if he had heard your prayer and decided to answer it, Yoongi takes off his headphones and hangs them on their designated hook. He turns toward you and finally really takes you in. He runs his eyes lazily over your crop top and mini skirt combination, raising an eyebrow at you in a silent question. You bite your lip and grin up at him with hungry eyes, giving him the silent answer.

You two had always been on the same page.

Like lightning, he’s out of his chair and on top of you, one hand up your skirt and the other one’s middle and ring fingers are pressing down against your tongue. This man can go from zero to one hundred faster than you can hike up your skirt, and you are one hundred percent here for it.

He massages circles on your covered clit as you suck on his fingers, more than eager to feel him inside of you already. He bites and nibbles along your cleavage and you smell his musky shampoo, and then…

His phone rings.

With a growl, he hoists himself off of your frame and grabs the phone on his desk. Once he sees who’s calling, he scoffs.

“I’m sorry, babe, I have to take this. He was supposed to call hours ago.” He slides the finger that was just a hair away from your clit across the screen to answer the call, and you deflate into the cushion.

You’ve been so good and patient; surely you can wait a little longer.

“Excuse me?” Yoongi blurts out, “You’ve got to be lying to me right now.”

You freeze. Oh, no. He’s mad. You can hear the man on the other end of the line rapidly talking, you guess in an attempt to defend himself.

“I absolutely told you that’s what would happen. Was I not clear? Did I not tell you that if it wasn’t dropped off by 5 that we wouldn’t be able to send it until Monday?”

This is going to be a long one. The ache in between your thighs is still there, pestering you. His heightened blood pressure has caused his veins to pop out of his arms, and looking at them bulge out is too much. You can’t take it anymore. You reach down and gingerly slide off your panties, tossing them to the side and then begin circling your clit with your middle finger. You sigh with the wave of pleasure that courses through you at finally, finally getting some relief. You pick up the pace.

“So you’re telling me that you have single handedly set this project back three whole days with your incompetence and you want me to figure out how it can be fixed?” he screams into the phone as he turns around and finally catches what you’re doing. He freezes, mouth agape. His eyes widen.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he mumbles, and you’re not sure whether its directed at the man on the phone or at you.

His eyes alight with something dark, and he comes over to you and grabs your wrist, stopping your movements. You pout and he barks into the phone, “Hold on a minute,” before he muffles the microphone on his black t-shirt.

“What do you think you’re doing, woman?” he hisses at you, desperately trying to keep his voice low, your arm still firm in his grasp, “Did I give you permission to touch yourself?”

You put on your best doe eyes and shake your head, poking out your lip slightly for maximum effect. He releases your wrist from his iron grip and goes back to his call.

“Absolutely not,” he says into the phone, as if answering his earlier question, “What makes you think that’s going to work?”

All you want is his attention, and now you know how you can get it. You let your hand graze against your throbbing clit again, and you have no reason to hold yourself back. You let one finger slide into your aching slit and moan at the pleasure. Hearing you, Yoongi whirs around again, this time with real heat in his eyes.

“Why does nobody listen to me!?” he yells, and he’s back on you in an instant. He grabs your hand and brings it to his lips, where he sucks your finger clean.

“You’ve gotten yourself into this mess,” he says to the man, “You’re going to have to accept the consequences.”

Why does it feel like he’s talking to you too?

He holds the phone up to his ear with one hand, and his other quickly replaces the hand he removed. Without batting an eye, he pushes two dry fingers into your slit, and you groan at the stretch. God, it already feels so good. You’re so worked up already that you feel as though you’re already halfway there. The man on the phone is rambling endlessly and Yoongi pulls the phone away from the both of you, holding it at a distance, letting the man talk to the air.

“You’re such a fucking brat,” he mumbles in your ear, “I can’t believe how impatient you are. You want it so bad, slut? You can fucking have it.”

He holds the phone back up to his ear as he starts pumping his fingers in and out of you. You relish in the feeling of his long fingers pushing you to the edge. He’s listening to the man continue to ramble. His jaw is set and mouth is pressed into a firm line, clearly extremely annoyed.

“Sangook,” he says, but the man keeps talking. Yoongi adds a third finger, darting his eyes over to you for a moment as he watches you grit your teeth at the addition. He loves watching you take him, especially when you have to adjust to him. He continues his pace as he listens to the man ramble until he’s finally had enough.

“Sangook!” Yoongi yells, and the man on the other end finally goes quiet. The only thing you can hear is how wet you are; you’re squelching lightly with each entry of his fingers. He seems to notice too now, and flicks his eyes over to your heat. His eyes darken as he licks his parted lips, and he draws his eyes up your frame to meet your hungry gaze. He speaks clearly into the phone, but maintains his eye contact with you.

“Listen to me,” he says, arching his eyebrows at you as he presses his thumb against your clit. He’s bringing you closer to orgasm, and he knows it. “You’re just going to have to wait. You blatantly disregarded my instructions.”

Just as you tighten in preparation for your climax, he removes his fingers, and you almost start crying at the loss of pleasure. He turns away from you again.

“You’re lucky I don’t fire you for this, you know?” he barks into the phone as he stands up and leaves you there to painstakingly come down from the high that you were just moments away from.

You clench your thighs together and curl your legs up to you as you turn on your side and stuff your face into the throw pillow. You groan dramatically into the cushion, and you hope throwing a small fit will get you what you want. You peak up from the pillow, giving him your best puppy dog eyes, when you see him walking towards you with something black in his hands.

He’s holding his phone sandwiched between his ear and his shoulder as he listens to Sangook on the other end. Yoongi’s eyebrows are furrowed together as he fidgets with what he’s holding, and then you hear it: the unmistakable ‘rrrrrrrpp’ of tape being pulled.

Your eyes widen as you see the long strip of shiny black electrical tape catch the ceiling light.

“Yoon… gi?” you murmur, transfixed on his grin as he steps closer to you.

“I’m just going to have to make sure that this doesn’t happen again going forward,” he says into the phone, “you understand.”

He climbs on top of your frame, pressing your torso further into the couch as he quickly gathers your wrists and begins to tie them. You squirm beneath him, but his grip, and then the electrical tape, is too strong. Before you know it, your wrists are securely bound at the base of your back. You hear the roll of tape hit the floor, and you feel him shuffle behind you.

“Now,” he says, “to be clear, you’re on thin ice. Do you understand me?”

He hikes up your skirt and palms your ass with his free hand. You turn your head to look back at him as best as you can, and you poke your tongue out at him. Your desire to be defiant is strong today.

He tilts his head and looks at you with incredulity. His eyes wide, mouth agape, and furrowed eyebrows tell you that despite how bratty you’ve been, he’s still a little shocked. A moment later, his palm strikes your ass, and it strikes hard. You yelp as your skin smarts at the hit, cunt clenching at nothing. He leans forward, pressing his weight against you, and you feel his lips graze against the shell of your ear.

“Are you going to be good for me now?”

You huff. He wraps his hand around your throat and gives it a little squeeze. “Answer me, brat.”

“Are you going to give me what I want now?” you retort, and in an instant, he’s off of you and you feel his arm snaking under your belly. He hoists your ass up and presses himself against your slit; you look back and see the phone is still pressed up against his ear. You hear a faint zip, and your mind swims with thoughts of him fucking you while on a business call.

He eases himself in and lets out a long breath as he bottoms out. He fucks into you hard and fast, leaving you a whimpering mess on the throw pillow. He’s got one hand on the phone and his other on your hip, pulling you to meet his thrusts.

“Yeah, uh huh, that sounds like a good plan, Sangook,” he says right as he lets his free hand find your clit, “Go see what you can do and make me remember why I hired you in the first place.”

You’re reaching your climax and the moment the hand that was previously holding the phone grasps your hair, you come undone. You scream and cry into the pillow, not wanting to be heard by Sangook on the other end of the call. He fucks you hard through your orgasm, and from the feeling of his grip tightening, you can tell he isn’t far behind. He grunts and spills out into you, sputtering his hips through his own high, groaning deeply as he pulls out.

“No, I just hit my toe. And Sangook, if you don’t have this fixed by the end of the night, be prepared to retrieve your things from the office on Monday.”

Click.

[abumbledbee]

Tubbo and Wilbur’s Parallels

tw/ mentions of death / suicidal ideations

“If I can’t become the next Schlatt, then you can’t become the next Wilbur.”

This is a quote from Tubbo, given just before the exile arc began, when he was arguing with Tommy. Tommy accused him of acting like Schlatt because he was putting the nation's needs before him. Tubbo, offended at the comparison, reminds Tommy that he is acting irrationally, and is reminding Tubbo of Wilbur.

When we speak of parallels between Tubbo and Tommy with Schlatt and Wilbur, we’re often inclined to compare Tubbo with Schlatt, because they worked together so closely during Schlatt’s reign, and the complicated relationship between them which ultimately ended up with Schlatt having Tubbo lose a canon life for his betrayal. And due to Tommy and Wilbur's close relationship before and up to Wilbur's betrayal, it's easy to draw comparisons between them as well.

But I think we often overlook a lot of similarities between Tubbo and Wilbur that are worth delving into more, and the farther Tubbo goes with his character the more comparisons I keep catching. At this point I think Tubbo's character parallels Wilbur's far more than Tommy's does.

Wilbur was the founder of L’Manberg, and its first president. It’s a nation he built from the ground up, which started as nothing more than a front for his drug lab but grew into something bigger and more meaningful than Wilbur ever planned for. While on the server he found love (?) and had a child, Fundy, and then things began to get rocky as they fought for their independence against Dream.

Ultimately Wilbur fails to protect L’Manberg and their independence is bought by way of Tommy sacrificing his discs in return. Wilbur ends up losing his country by way of being exiled when Schlatt wins office, and we watch his descent into madness as he realizes how much he cared for the country and how no matter what he does, what it once was is gone forever in his eyes. The Pogtopia arc originated with Wilbur trying to come up with a plan to secure his presidency again and to reclaim his country. It ends with Wilbur refusing his original role and ultimately destroying the very thing he created along with himself because he couldn’t bear to see what it or himself had become.

In Wilbur’s darkest moments we see them play out on screen, his button room is one of the most iconic scenes we got during this period of the storyline. Wilbur in an enclosed space, surrounded by the signs reminding him of what L’Manberg once was and what it would never be again. He's hounded by his thoughts, his mental state shattered and he no longer believes there's any other course of action.

Ultimately this is his final resting place, the room where he sets off the TNT that destroys L’Manberg for the first time. He begs his father, who had just arrived to the server because he was worried when Wilbur stopped sending him letters, to kill him. And Phil does.

L’Manberg’s story does not end here, despite what Wilbur did. It begins again, with Tubbo and a crater. We talk about Tubbo being president of L’Manberg as though he was just taking on the role and a nation the way Schlatt did, but in reality, he founded it again. Tubbo, along with Phil and others, REBUILT an entire city on the rubble of its former life. Tubbo’s L’Manberg is in fact nothing like Wilbur’s, except for the parts Tubbo purposely recreated, like the camar van.

The major difference in their takes on presidency is that Tubbo did this for Tommy, for Wilbur, for the original citizens. He took on the role of President out of duty to Wilbur who passed it down to him when he felt unfit to rule again. He did his best on behalf of everyone who fought on Pogtopia's side, to reclaim a nation they all had lost. In the end he lost it one final time, chunk errored by way of Phil, Techno, and Dream.

And from here on we see a new Tubbo. The bright-eyed, president-elect is no more, and instead he begins to isolate himself from the main server. He retreats to a snowy biome separated by water, and builds a house and gives it a name. Snowchester. Now, most people wouldn't give just a house a name. Even from the start Tubbo was creating a new community, without even realizing. Eventually Snowchester grew to be a legitimate colony of its own, with Jack Manifold, Foolish, and Puffy all moving in and setting up shop. He declares independence, and in doing so, decides he must ensure it any way possible. He's seen what happened to Wilbur's L'Manberg, how helpless the other man was in keeping it safe. He knows he failed his own L'Manberg, and he will not let it happen again.

He hatches a plan with Jack, and the answer is.... Nukes. A bomb, in other words. But instead of using it to destroy his nation, it'll be used to protect it. Tubbo designs it, and they ensure it works with a test launch before decommissioning the remaining two. Time passes and eventually, he's opening up to people again. Tubbo marries Ranboo and they adopt a child together.

Suddenly it's not just Tubbo, it's Tubbo and Ranboo, Tubbo and Michael, and then Tommy is gone. It's shocking, and unexpected, and he doesn't believe it at first. He's been so beaten down under Schlatt's regime he no longer openly shows his emotions, the closest we get to seeing his true grief during this time is when he stares at the memorial he just finished for Tommy in Snowchester. Then comes the anger.

He wants to know how this could've happened, he tries to investigate it, but before he can get too deep into it, Tommy's back. Revived, and Tubbo has had to experience losing him and gaining him back again twice now. Inevitably, like with most of Tommy's plans, Tubbo is roped into his next one. And it's a doozy. Tommy reveals that he wants to kill Dream, to ensure he can never revive anyone else, and Tubbo reluctantly accepts.

One of the most troubling moments during his investigative time was when he made a room for him to fill with his notes and evidence. At first glance it is deeply reminiscent of Wilbur's button room, the walls covered in signs and his lectern in the middle of the room mimicking the button. Because Tommy returns before he can get further in his investigating we'll likely never see this room again, but seeing him make it to begin with filled me with unease.

Tubbo has lost his fear of death. It's first noticed at Doomsday, when he defeatedly jumped in front of Techno's rocket launchers over and over again. We see inklings of it again and again, such as when he scoffs at his chat begging him not to investigate Techno for the TNT at the prison, saying he'd die. Tubbo just replies with "So be it." and continues on. We see it again when he and Ranboo investigate the Eggpire and get caught, and he continues to fight with them until he's only got a few hearts left. He mentions feeling exhilarated, full of life from almost losing his last. It's a reminder of the violent life he's had til this point, his time in the SMP filled with war and bloodshed since the very beginning. He's not afraid to fight despite being on his last life, in fact at times he seems almost ready to end it all.

Yesterday's lore stream was unsettling in a few different ways. The first being Tubbo casually mentioning how his eyes play tricks on him. It's a throwaway mention towards possible hallucinations or paranoia. He also refers to himself as paranoid later on when he's worried someone's hurt Michael, and it bothers him so bad that the next minute he rushes over to ensure Michael is safe. He is willing to do whatever he must now, to ensure Michael can grow up safely, much like Wilbur wanted for Fundy, with no Dream to terrorize the server any longer.

Wilbur's initial wish for L'Manberg once it was fully formed was for it to be a nation his son could grow up safely in, with all the possibilities at his fingertips, until their independence was threatened and he had to focus on leading an army instead of being a father.

But even more upsetting than that, is Tubbo's admission to how he designed the nuke. He tells Jack after one is stolen that there is a manual detonation option, a dead man's switch. He designed the bomb to have a suicidal solo detonation option as a last resort, so if he ever needed to use it and Jack wasn't there he could take matters into his own hands. Tubbo was so ready to ensure if something happened to his self-made colony he could deal his revenge even at the cost of his final life. His reasoning for making the nukes was not for self-defense, it was so he could finally take a swing back at whoever took from him again. He'd seen L'Manberg destroyed twice by people who initially sided with it, had 2 canon lives ripped from him by way of betrayals. He might not have thorns on his armor but by god will his death have them, and heaven help whoever is on the receiving end of his suicide-start nuke.

This mimics Wilbur's final steps but from the logical, more level-headed mind of Tubbo. He's created a bomb, a weapon of destruction he's willing to die with. Wilbur wanted to die with L'Manberg, Tubbo is willing to die for Snowchester.

[maxwell-grant]

Jumping off from my previous question/suggestion, might I please ask if there are any superheroes you think would make fine Pulp Villains and any Supervillains you think would make convincing Pulp Heroes?

I'm gonna go ahead and remark that I'd personally suggest to anyone who's trying to create pulp characters inspired by superheroes (which would be probably about 90% of you who may want to do that sort of thing) to flip the script around a little. As in, don't try to create pulp analogues to the Justice League/Avengers upfront, but play around with some of the lesser-known icons and filter those through your idea of what “pulp” means (which is gonna be quite different than my own or anyone else’s). 

I’m not gonna really mention characters I’ve already talked about before like Vandal Savage or Namor, instead I’ll pick new ones and see what can be highlighted about them.

Regarding “Superheroes who could make fine/convincing Pulp Villains”, even though he’s a character I've read basically nothing on, Martian Manhunter definitely leaped out to me as an obvious option. He’s a Sci-Fi Superman who takes the first half of the name to an extreme that borders on comical, except he’s not a square-jawed white man, he’s a 1.000 year old green alien from Mars with shapeshifting powers who can look as monstrous as the artist desires. He’s the product of an advanced civilization and genetic modification, and on top of the Flying Brick powerset and shapeshifting, he also has incredibly powerful and extensive telepathic abilities, he can become invisible, phaze through matter, use telekinesis and other weird abilities. A lot of pulp stories closer to sci-fi were based around the idea of taking one of these abilities and extrapolating horrific consequences for them, and J’onn has those by the dozens. He also has an extremely mundane weakness that would allow him to be beaten by Macready with a blowtorch if that’s where the story ended.

He was also a law enforcement officer from Mars who became a police detective and it’s even right there in his name, and again, I have never read anything he’s in (I should probably pick the Orlando mini), I know he’s for all intents and purposes a generally nice man who tends to job a lot in crossovers and cartoons, but the idea of taking all those great vast and horrifying alien powers, combining all of them into a single character who also happens to be the last survivor of a doomed planet (and one who actually lived through it’s collapse), and then making that character a former cop trying to resume his work on Earth? 

That is a Pulp Supervillain begging to happen, and a particularly horrifying one at that. And hey, speaking of The Thing-

Now, Plastic Man’s potential for horror has already been explored quite a bit in some of the darker DC continuities like Injustice and DCeased, and it’s quite funny seeing a lot of these turn Plastic Man into The Thing because there were quite a handful of Wold Newton pages that ran with the idea that Macready from the original story was Doc Savage, and that the secret chemicals that Eel O’Brian was hit by that gave him his powers were actually samples of The Thing contained in one of Savage’s labs. Regardless, the idea of a former street crook suddenly gaining bizarre shapeshifting abilities that allow him to reign terror on his gangster associates could make for a great premise as a pulp crime story that veers into horror as the gangsters gradually figure out what is Eel O’Brian’s deal, and then the story can take a more tragic turn.

The thing about Jack Cole’s Plastic Man that modern takes on the character neglect is that, while Plas was a lively roguish anti-hero (arguably the first of it’s kind in comics), he’s still for intents and purposes “the straight man” (HA, right, Plastic Man being “straight”). He’s the relatively sane hero who plays off Woozy’s wackier misadventures and the imaginative madness that Jack Cole paints his adventures with, and it makes for an interesting contrast considering Plastic Man is already a weird character, having to ramp up the strangeness of the world around him so that he still remains the sane man. There are ways to twist this into something quite horrifying, even tragic for Plastic Man as he either struggles to maintain coherency, or embraces the shifting chaos the world’s spiraling into for better or worse (and definitely for the worse towards those on the receiving end of his vengeance, or even his humor).

Now, onto the flipside, regarding Supervillains that could become Pulp Heroes -

Normally I’d not mention the Batman villains here, because I already have a lot to talk about in regards to them as is, they comprise some of my favorite comic characters, but I pretty much have to make an exception for Two-Face in this topic, as not only a pretty obvious option but one with even case studies to prove it, as not only do we have The Black Bat, a 1930s costumed pulp hero with an identical origin story and several other conceptual overlaps with Batman, as well as The Whisperer, a young hotshot police commissioner who dresses up as a disfigured vigilante to kill criminals without consequence (and who’s somehow less of a maniacal asshole in his secret identity than in his regular one), but it turns out that there actually was a 1910s pulp hero called The Two-Faced Man:

Crewe was created by “Varick Vanardy,” the pseudonym of Frederic van Rensselaer Dey (Nick Carter, Doctor Quartz), and appeared in three short stories and two novels and short story collections from 1914 to 1919, beginning with “That Man Crew” (The Cavalier, Jan. 24, 1914). 

Crewe is “The Two-Faced Man.” 

He is in his forties and has gray hair and a “sharply cut and handsome profile—until one caught a view of the other side of his face and saw the almost hideous blemish that nearly covered it, and which graduated in corrugated irregularity from a delicate pink to repulsive purple.” 

Crewe is two-faced in another way. Crewe is a saloon owner in below Washington Square. But he has another identity: Birge Moreau, portraitist and socialite hanger-on. Crewe uses both his identities to solve crimes as an amateur detective.

The only person to know about both of Crewe’s identities is a police inspector who is also Crewe’s friend and who Crewe helps in pressing cases - The Encyclopedia of Pulp Heores by Jess Nevins

And speaking of obvious picks for Supervillains turned Pulp Heroes,

Assuming I even need to make a case for Kraven the Hunter other than just presenting this cropped panel from Squirrel Girl and in particular the art painted on the Kra-Van, or even just telling you to read Squirrel Girl and it’s take on “The Unhuntable Sergei” (I had no idea most of the people saying “Kraven’s arc in Squirrel Girl is as good if not better than Kraven’s Last Hunt” weren’t actually joking in the slightest and I speak as someone who has Kraven among their absolute favorite Marvel characters, it had no right being that good), I’m going to quote the brilliant Rogue’s Review from The Mindless Ones that lays down in painstaking detail why Kraven could make a killer protagonist in that horrifically over-the-top pulp fashion

One thing that strikes me writing this, is how well Kraven could hold his own comic. There’s always room for a book spotlighting a ruthless, hardcore, gentleman bastard, and Kraven’s raison d’etre makes him supremely versatile, so well suited to any genre, any environment. It’s odd that more writers haven’t jumped on the fact that in a universe where off-world travel is possible – indeed, common – a hunter like Kraven would have a field day. 

I can just imagine the opening scene – herds of weird cthuloid bat creatures grazing in the gloomy green nitrogen fields, bathed in lethal, bone splintering fog, when, suddenly, LIGHT! from above and an unholy bellowing: “CTHGRGN fthgrgnARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGN!”

They look up in fear and then they start to run – ploughing into and over each other, tentacles flailing, as from the space-ship’s docking bay Kraven silently plummets, barely dressed for the cold, a glowing knife smothered in elder signs jammed between his teeth. 

You should have seen him one night previous, sipping alien tokay around the Captain’s table with the other guests, discussing the morning’s hunt; and the way he insulted the Skrull dignitary by forgetting himself and accidentally sporting his favourite piece of formal wear: his boiling unstable dinner-jacket of many colours, fashioned from the hide of one of the Ambassador’s super kinsmen.

Whoops!

Midway through Kraven explaining how the best way to irreparably damage a symbiote is to wait until its bonded with you and then seriously maim yourself, the Skrull decided it might be a good idea to simmer down, while his beautiful Inhuman lover hung on every word.

The deeper I get into this the more convinced I am that the MU’s hunter-killer extraordinaire wouldn’t limit himself to bloody planet Earth. And neither would he limit himself to this dimension, or universe or timeline. The guy’d be just as at home leaping, sword raised, onto the back of a T-Rex in the Savage Land, as he would be ploughing through werewolves in the graveyards of Arkham or tracking a howling Demon across Mephistopheles’ realm. 

He’d work perfectly in all these environments because he has a damn good reason to be casting a bloody swathe through them: wherever there’s big game, you’ll find Kraven.

The next choice I guess is an oddball, but not that much of an oddball if you know already what is my main frame of reference towards Marvel

I don’t think people appreciate enough that the main reason Shuma-Gorath has anything resembling a fanbase has nothing whatsoever to do with the comics he was in, but entirely because, when Capcom designers had a list of Marvel characters to pick from to work on Marvel Super Heroes, they took a look at the diet Cthulhu and went “gimme THAT one”, and then went all-in in giving the alien squid monster a funky personality along with a great stage and music and animations and all that great fighting game character stuff, and now he’s maybe the most popular Dr Strange villain along with Dormammu and Mordo, despite having ZERO film appearences or major showings in comic sagas.

Capcom's designers redefined Shuma-Gorath from a nebulous cosmic evil into a comically smug cartoon bastard who can rant about devouring all dimensions and souls horrifically while also cracking poses and zingers like “How do you expect to win a fight with only two arms?” and having dinners with Dhalsim or hosting Japanese game shows in his endings, and it kills me that none of this ever made it’s way into any depictions of the character outside of MvC. 

So that’s kinda what I’d go with. I’d take Capcom’s Shuma-Gorath, depower him a bit obviously from his canonical power, and run with the premise of his MvC3 ending where he decides that, well, if he's the unlikely savior of this pathetic planet and these wretched human dogs like him so much, and he’s clearly having a much better time here among them than he ever had drifting among the stars cealessly consuming life, then maybe he can take a break from all that eldritch business and keep up hosting the Super Monster Awesome Hour and maybe fight whatever PITIFUL villains think can take HIS planet. I mean, he’ll probably still end up destroying the planet by the end, but why not give this hero business a try?

Just until he gets his full powers back of course. 

I mean you can’t deny he DOES look pretty good in that bowtie, surely The Great Shuma-Gorath wouldn’t be so unmerciful as to deny these vile wastes of flesh something good to look at in their brief and miserable lives.

[pyrajanison]

Psychonauts 2 Hidden Villain Speculation part 2 **SPOILERS**

I’ve already stated my suspicions of Otto Mentallis as being a hidden antagonist, perhaps in a future installment, but there is another character whom I also suspect of being not what they seem. 

And that is Cassie O’pia.

Before I even knew of her existence in the game, there is an odd detail that one finds that may be related to her. Starting in Loboto’s mind, while collecting figments, a couple drew my attention as being out of place in the mad doctor’s mind.

The appearance of bee figments, of which there are a total of two in the level. As I did not yet know who the main villain of the story was, I filed this away as a possible clue. Continuing through the game, when I finally made it to Cassie after avoiding her swarms of bees, I kept my eyes peeled while traversing her mind for anything that tied her to Loboto. And wouldn’t you know it...

Upon entering the Teacher’s domain, a Tesla coil from Loboto’s lab can be seen high up past the drawing of a fish’s skeleton, where you get the ability to make an archetype. To further implicate a connection between Loboto and Cassie, we look near the end of the level, when the Counterfeiter book is handed over to the Librarian. The Librarian archetype states that it wasn’t the fact about being an outlaw that she wasn’t proud of, it was because “...nobody likes a snitch!” And where have we heard the word snitch before? That’s right, Loboto’s mind on multiple posters telling him not to be a snitch.

But Loboto isn’t the only nefarious character that Cassie appears to have connections to. In the lead up to the Teacher’s domain, in the children’s section, we see not one, but 3 Faberge Eggs!

Eggs that, we later learn, are associated with the Czar, the royal family of Grulovia, and ultimately Gristol Malik. 

Now why does she have these connections to not one but two of Psychonauts’ prominent villains? One option I could see, if we paint her in a good light, is that at the time in her life she was a teacher, perhaps she taught both Caligosto and Gristol at some point. [EDIT: In the boss fight, it is mentioned that she was never actually a teacher or a librarian]

Though I think a more likely option is that, given that Cassie creates archetypes for different parts of her life, that perhaps we have not seen all of them. During the introduction of the archetype mechanic, Teacher Cassie mentions an aspect called ‘The Shadow’  in an ominous fashion (the game zooms in on her eyes as she says this). On top of this, there are figments of busts of Cassie that you can find throughout her mind. 

There are a total of 6, one of which has two of it. I assume that these busts represent archetypes of Cassie’s mind. On this logic, and given that we have only seen 4 archetypes in total, this could either mean we have yet to see three archetypes, or, in my opinion, that the one with two figments to it’s name is supposed to represent the real Cassie and the rest are her archetypes, with the four main ones beside her and one outlier on another page.

But who would this unseen archetype, this Shadow, be? Well, I believe we have already met her.

This mouse. Unlike the rest of the paper figures of Cassie’s mind, this one is rather close to the Librarian as her assistant. Now, that wouldn’t be too suspicious, but when you return to Cassie’s mind after completing the level, you can find all the archetypes standing together, and this mouse is standing next to all of them. When you talk with the mouse, she states that she will be watching Raz, rather ominously might I add (though this part I don’t recall completely and have yet to find someone else who has record of the dialogue to fully recall the quote, so if anyone knows what exactly the mouse says, please let me know.) Could this be the shadow archetype, or some aspect of it? (I know this one’s a bit of a stretch though)

All in all, I believe there is more to Cassie’s story than she lets on. She has a clear criminal background that she isn’t ashamed of and clear connections to people in the underworld. As a person who designates herself as separate identities depending on the circumstance, who’s to say a darker archetype of her’s doesn’t exist. She might not even be aware of it, as we’ve seen her subconsciously making bee swarms of herself that keep her prisoner, though I doubt this. Have to keep our eye on her in future installments. (There is also the detail of her namesake, the Cassiopeia constellation, which has a story behind it that may hint towards Cassie’s true nature, but I won’t get into that here, post’s already long enough.) 

[biromanticbooknook]

My Most Ambitious Crossover

I got bored by posting only my second gen Amazon AU, so I’ll get back to that tomorrow, but enjoy this one-shot about Chloe and Marinette creating their own trip instead of their class trip in the meantime. Can’t have you all thinking I’m a one-trick pony, can I?

“-and that’s why we think you shouldn’t go on the trip this year.” Mlle. Bustier tried to look apologetic, but it was as much her idea as the students. Between Marinette refusing to set an example and Chloe associating with her, neither of them deserved to go.

“Oh, thank goodness. I was afraid I would have to get my daddy to donate 30% of the funds like he does every year.”

“I’m just glad I don’t have to take 60% of the trip funds out of my commission profits. That will give me a much bigger budget for fabric and accessories.” Everyone blanched at the statements of the 2 girls. They were saying that they paid for 90% of the trip every year, but that couldn’t be right. They worked so hard on fundraisers every year, they must be lying about how much they contribute.

Marinette just ignored them, turning to her seatmate. “Do you think that our other friends would want to go on a trip with us? Most classes take their trips during May, so we could leave at the beginning of June and take the entire summer.”

“Nice thinking, Maribug. With fewer people, prices go down and we can afford more bang for our buck.” They walk out of the classroom, discussing who to ask and when.

The class just made a big mistake.

-----

By the time the weekend rolled around, Marinette and Chloe had their group list finalized. The people going on their trip were themselves, Luka, Kagami, Aurore, Mireille, and Marc. They got together and started brainstorming fundraisers.

Marinette started. “There are the given examples; you know, car wash, bake sale, raffle. What else?”

“We could host a show.” Luka suggested.

“Like an exhibition?” Marinette asked. “We could have you perform, Kagami do a fencing demonstration, and I could do a small fashion show, using Chloe and Marc as models. Aurore and Mireille could be our MCs.”

“To capitalize on money-making, we could sell tickets, food and drink, and merch for Luka’s solo career as well as commission spots for our resident designer.”

“That’s good.” Marinette starts scribbling in the shared notebook.

“At Le Grande Paris, we could host parties. I know days when the grand ballroom is open. We could host an auction, sell lessons and creations and stuff. We could also host a masquerade ball that we sell tickets for. We could charge for food and drink. The pools are open for private reservation quite often, we could have parties there too.” Chloe takes the notebook and starts writing down her ideas, mapping out all the resources needed while muttering.

“We could also host a carnival or a gaming tournament in the ballroom.” Kagami looked thoughtful. “I’ve never actually been to one.”

Chloe added that to the list. “Should we do anything else?”

“We could start a go-fund-me. Artists and writers do it all the time to get their creations off the ground.” Marc murmured.

“That would be great. What’s our goal for this entire endeavor?”

“Our goal, Maribug, is €45,000. That should cover travel, boarding, tours, food, and souvenirs. Whatever we don’t spend gets redistributed to the group.” Chloe supplies.

“Then that should be it. Nice job, guys!”

“My, what a whirlwind of a planning session. I hope nothing rains on our parade. I wonder weather Mlle. Bustier’s class is doing this well.” Aurore beams at them.

“Mm-hmm.” Mireille agrees with Aurore.

“Probably not. Our classmates couldn’t pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel. They’ll just listen to Lila that the boot will empty by itself through the toe because ‘I worked on patenting this boot’, then they’ll get mad at the boot for not doing it.” Chloe chuckles dryly.

“Be nice.” Marinette reprimands half-heartedly.

-----

Chloe immediately filed the paperwork with the school board so they could go on their trip with no safety or legal concerns. She recruited Mme. Mendeleiev and M. D'Argencourt to be their chaperones, who were more than happy to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles, Star City, Central City, Metropolis, Gotham, New York City, and Tokyo.

They had their first fundraiser at the end of September, a pool party at Le Grande Paris. Even Mlle. Bustier’s class attended, though they didn’t know who had set it up, only that Luka was performing. They hadn’t even started their planning  yet. The group made €3,041.

The next was a car wash in the middle of October. It was cool enough for a car wash to be pleasant while being warm enough that everyone was still out and about. They earned €2,632. Bustier's class was getting ice cream and listening to Lila brag.

They then had an All Hallow’s Eve bake sale, complete with candy decoration reminiscent of the American holiday. They earned €1,800.

During November, they held a carnival, with a full fall theme. It was wildly popular with families from all over Paris, earning them €6,483. It was around this time that Mlle. Bustier’s class held a bake sale, and earned €1,594. They celebrated.

Throughout the holiday season, they took advantage of peoples’ spirit. They held a raffle throughout the 12 Days of Christmas, while also holding a bake sale the day before winter break. Overall, they earned €10,749.

Over winter break, Chloe bought plane tickets and reserved tours and hotels, so all that was left was to get money for the tours and food. They were over halfway to their goal.

During January, they rented a theater, and held their exhibition. They had a crowd of fencing enthusiasts, rock music lovers, and fashion followers. They made €5,830.

They held a date auction and a masquerade to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It was amazing, and they earned €7,284.

They had checked their go-fund-me, and had found that €10,000 was there, putting them €2,819 over their goal. They were ecstatic!

They still held the gaming tournament at the end of April, but let it be free for everyone to enjoy as their celebration of reaching their goal.

-----

Mlle. Butsier’s class had made €7,000 over their 3 fundraisers, and they were pretty proud of themselves. No doubt they would be going somewhere much better than whatever Maribrat and Chloe have planned. Once the girls walked into the classroom, the class started to brag.

“We’ve finished fundraising!”

Marinette smiled and decided to be nice to them. “Cool. Where are you going?”

“We are going to New York City.”

Chloe was not as kind. “Oh, so are we! It was so hard to raise the €45,000 needed for our trip, but we did it. It was so euphoric to meet our goal. How much did you guys raise?”

“We made €7,000.” The smiles slowly slipped off the faces of the class. “What do you mean the €45,000 needed?”

“Well, we needed to cover food, travel, boarding, and tours, and that was just for the 7 of us. I can’t imagine what the budget would’ve been like for an entire class.” Her smile got an edge, like a lioness who knew she had cornered her prey.

Her classmates blanched. “What was our budget, Alya?” Rose looked towards their new class representative, hoping that she had an answer.

“We never had one.”

“Well, at least you filed the paperwork right?”

“What paperwork?”

Marinette responded this time. “The paperwork needed to go on a trip. You were supposed to submit it to the school board for approval of safety and legality. It was on page 17 of the packet I gave you at the beginning of the year. Didn’t you read it, Alya?”

“I-I-no. Lila said that was just extra work that you had given me to throw me off my game. She said you didn’t actually need to do all of that.”

“I didn’t know that Lila had more experience being a class representative than me and Marinette, the only 2 people who have ever been class representative here.” Chloe’s voice became as sharp and sweet as her smile. “Well, have fun with your trip. Marinette and I have to do last-minute checks on our arrangements.”

The class looked at the people that had carried them the previous years, and realized how much they relied on the girls. Lila was cursing herself for pushing away the only people who actually did anything in this class.

-----

The class ended up going to Disneyland Paris, and tried their best to look as upbeat as possible on their social medias. Meanwhile, The group was having the time of their lives.

They stayed in LA for 2 weeks, visiting movie sets and meeting actors. They spent another week just going on everything at Disneyland and California Adventure.

They then spent a week in Star City, touring Queen Industries and having a meet and greet with Oliver Queen and his ward, Roy Harper, who seemed to enjoy Aurore’s outgoing personality. They even saw the vigilantes.

They spent another 2 weeks in Central City, touring STAR Labs and watching the rogues try to fight the Flash family. It was the most meta-filled city in the world, and They toured a forensics lab with Bart Allen. Chloe seemed grimly pleased with seeing the bodies. She might’ve been projecting certain people onto them, not that she would ever admit it.

2 weeks in Metropolis was really fun. They toured the Daily Planet with Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Mireille was amazed by what you could do to report without having to be in front of a screen. They made a scavenger hunt of how many Supers they could find, and they found 2 different superboys. Lex Corp also gave them a tour, although it was more professional than the tour of the Daily Planet.

They spent 1 week in Gotham. They toured Wayne Enterprises and stayed out of the Bats’ way. Luka got the phone number of Tim Drake. Marinette enjoyed the inspiration that the gothic architecture brought her. There wasn’t much of a nightlife scene, considering only fools stay out after dark in Gotham.

Their 1 week in New York City was hectic. The Avengers were all at the tower when they were touring with Pepper Potts by Chloe’s request. Chloe might’ve been unofficially adopted by Tony Stark when she stood up to them and made them ‘cease their bullshit’. The Black Widow also took a liking to the girl. They also ran into these weird teens muttering about monsters when they were waiting for the elevator at the Empire State Building.

2 weeks in Tokyo. Their last stop. They visited the prestigious Ouran Academy, the host club getting Marc to come out of their shell by constantly helping boost his self-esteem. Chloe enjoyed talking business and finances with Kyoya Ootori. Kagami led them all in a traditional tea ceremony, before they all stormed the streets to try the unfamiliar street food.

Marinette ended up being unofficially adopted by 3 heroes, 2 rogues, and 5 billionaires. She was happy getting to spend 7 weeks on the road with only her closest friends.

The class was incredibly jealous of the trip their classmates took. They hoped next year they could go on a trip like that as well, but they had missed their shot.