#a good bit with my problem in this raid is that i'm just not that good and apparently simply can't aim the yeet thingies in the first boss

[ofdarklands]

second attempt at the raid, only died once per boss with a bonus one at the last one. progress

i wish the final boss' sword swing signal was closer to the ground so i could see it better. i literally cannot zoom far enough to see it in a way i understand. we'll not get into the remembering the order part

[obitos-whore]

Naruto men taking care of their s/o when they're sick

I'm currently dealing with a cold and really shitty stomach problems, probably due to food poisoning. So, I present you this. Apologies if it's not good or your faves aren't in it. Also, shout-out to everyone who's currently sick. We're in this together and we'll get through it.

(Includes: Obito, Gaara, Shisui, Itachi and Kakashi)

Tw: Mention of sickness, throwing up and medicine

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Obito

He was woken up by the sound retching coming from the bathroom

After noticing that you weren't in bed, he immediately went to check on you in the bathroom, calling out your name softly to make his presence known and to not startle you

When another wave of nausea washes over you, he kneels down beside you and gently rubs your back in circular motions

"It's okay, love. It's okay. Let it out, I'm here for you."

Once you're done regurgitating your dinner, he hands you some water to rinse your mouth with

And in case you accidentally made a mess, don't worry, Obito will reassure you with a kiss on the top of your head and a soft "Don't worry, honey, I got this" and clean it up while you brush your teeth

When everything is nice and clean again, he will help you back to your shared bedroom and offer to make you some tea and prepare a hot water bottle for your upset tummy

Since he knows how draining and strenuous throwing up can be, Obito makes sure you're nice and comfy, with a bucket in reach and a box of tissues to wipe your mouth and tears with, before heading to the kitchen to prepare that tea and hot water bottle

Back in bed, he will hold you tight and cuddle you, peppering your head with affectionate kisses and whispering words of encouragement

Gaara

He noticed something was up when he came back home and you weren't there to greet him like you always do

After a quick search, he found you laying in bed, wrapped in two blankets and shivering, teeth practically clattering

His protective instincts kicked in immediately at the sight of you and without wasting any time, Gaara began to tend to you, pushing aside his own fatigue

He checked your temperature, fluffed up your pillows, turned up the heat in the room and brought you an extra blanket. He even gave you one of his sweaters for extra warmth and comfort

"Don't worry my little desert flower, I'm going to take care of you."

Gaara practically raids the medicine cabinet and insists that you take some of everything

Despite his usually stoic and calm demeanor, Gaara tends to turn into a bit of a helicopter parent partner when it comes to you. (And he's not ashamed of it)

He also doesn't care that he might get sick as well by being so close to you. He just wants to be there for you and nurse you back to health like a good spouse should. Plus, he can handle a bit of a runny nose and some coughing

Shisui

It was actually him who got you sick in the first place

He insisted that he could take care of himself and that you should stay away until he was no longer infectious. But you didn't listen and that's how you two ended up being sick together

Feeling guilty, Shisui tries to make it up by tending to you to his best of ability. Which sounds as strenuous and tedious as it actually is, with each of you insisting that the other should rest and let them do all the work

To no one's surprise, neither of you actually gets much done and instead spends the majority of the day sleeping

Your diet for that time consists of mostly medicine and teas and some instant ramen. Maybe some fruits or home cooked meals if someone was so kind to bring you some

Despite both of you feeling like absolute ass, you do appreciate the chance to spend some 'quality' time together. Even if that mostly consists of coughing up a lung and trumpeting like a herd of elephants while blowing your noses

Regardless of which of you is the worst off, Shisui will be the one to go to the pharmacy and the grocery store to get medicine, food and a few other things, such as flowers, a "Get well soon" card, a cute little plushie and your favourite snacks

The poor guy is being eaten alive by guilt and his unwavering love for you is what gives him the strength to actually leave the bed and function somehow. Even if it's for your sake only. So you better appreciate his efforts

Itachi

Itachi had come over to your place, to spend the few days he had off with you

Wanting to surprise you, he used the spare key you gave him to access the apartment and prepare a cute little dinner date a la stay at home. That was, until he heard noises coming from the bathroom

He decided to investigate and that's when he found you, hung over the toilet, hair and clothes a total mess and face almost as white as the toilet you were hugging

His previous plans now forgotten, he dutifully takes it upon himself to care for you, starting with comforting you and carefully getting you back to bed once your stomach has been emptied

Knowing that tea, warmth and bed rest are the best way to soothe an upset stomach, Itachi doesn't shy away from becoming your personal nurse/butler during that time

He will make you homemade ginger tea, cook easily digestible meals for you, prepare as many hot water bottles as you need and want and even take care of the chores around the apartment without you even having to ask him to

And on top of that, he still takes the time to cuddle with you and rub your stomach to alleviate the pain and discomfort you're in

He'd even request to have a few more days off, in case you're not feeling better by the time he has to be back on duty

Kakashi

When you and Kakashi met up for one of your rare dates, the silver haired Jonin immediately noticed your ailing state and advised you to take it easy

He even offered to reschedule your date so that you could take the time to rest. But after you stubbornly insisted that you were fine, he eventually gave in, albeit reluctantly

The next day, he decided to pay you a brief visit and check on you

Of course, he wasn't surprised when he saw your pale face sheepishly peeking out from behind the blanket as you tried to stifle a cough

"So much for "I'm fine", huh?"

Pretends to be smug and smart-assy about being right and takes the opportunity to gently scold you for being stubborn and reckless with your health. Look, he cares a lot about you but doesn't know how to say or show it properly, so he acts like an all-knowing, wannabe doctor to get the message across

Signs himself up for the role of your caretaker, because obviously you suck at doing it yourself and he is the only responsible adult here. Basically the pinnacle of self-care. Lol

Expect to be served healthy, home cooked meals and lots of fresh vegetables and fruits to help boost that immune system of yours and get you back to health

May or may not coax you to take your medication by promising you extra cuddles and affection

[petew21-blog]

Read the fine print

Rental agent:"Ok, sir. Do you understand everything that has been said and you raid the Terms and conditions?"

Tom:"Yeah. I did and yes." Tom signed the contract from rental company, thinking that no one ever ready Terms and conditions.

Rental agent:"Well, now that everything is settled. Let's take a photo of you so that we have everything complete"

Tom:"You put owner photos on the add with the vehicle"

Agent looking confused:"Well in cases like yours it's pretty standard so that the customers know who to look for. Ok, sit over there and smile for me"

"This was strange, but necessary." Tom thought to himself. He had recently some financial problems that forced him to do something extra to earn more money. While out with friends, he confessed his problems and they gave him a contact for this company. Saying that he can rent out a room in his house or his motorcycle.

Tom didn't really want anybody else in his house or even riding his prescious Ducati. But if he would ever sort this financial situation early, than this would be the easiest solution

Tom received the adress from the rental company where he was supposed to meet the first client renting his motorcycle

Tom waited at the spot. A very old man approached him:"Ahhhh, good day, sir. You must be Tom". Tom looked at him from top to bottom. This old man wanted to ride his motorcycle? What was the company thinking? What of he crashes somewhere? He won't be able to life the vehicle back up. Or himself. There was no way he would let this happen

"I'm sorry but this must be some kind of mistake" Tom said

The man:"Oh no, I am sure I found the right man. I have your photo from the company and photo of your motorcycle"

Tom:"Not to be rude, but are you sure you'll be able to drive it? You look... a bit fragile."

The man:"Oh, boy. Then why do you think I picked you?"

Tom;"Sir, I am not a taxi nor a tour guide to drive everyone in the city"

The man:"I wouldn't expect you to do that. But I am sure that I will be able to handle that with your strength and your ability to drive it"

Tom:"With my strength? What are you on about?"

The man:"Haha, boy. Now you sound like a senile old man. And I am 93. I have the right to sound like one"

Tom:"Yeah. Anyway. You can call the rental company and they will give you your money back. I am sure. I'll call them that they wanted to rent out the vehicle to someone... incapable and they will find you a different ride to enjoy"

The man:"Dear boy, I don't think you read your contract. Did you?"

Tom:"What makes you say that?"

The man:"You rented out your motorcycle and your body along with it"

Tom was in shock. Did the man really meant what he was saying or was it again just another bunch of crap? Tom decided he wasn't interested in finding out and decided to leave

But as soon as he turned around he felt a sharp pain on his back. Something was trying to get in. To everyone else on the street it must have been a normal second of time. But for Tom it felt like it took an hour just to move. Yet, he couldn't move anymore. He could still feel, hear and see. But he couldn't move an inch of his body. His body now moved on its own. Tom started panicking.

His body looked at his hands and arms. It patted his abs and then groped his bulge.

"What's happening?"

The man:"Oh you can't be mad at me, Tom. I haven't been this young in over half a century. I was really looking forward to it"

Tom:"What? How are you doing this?"

The man:"As I said. I bought the experience from the rental company. I get to have your body and your Ducati. Can you imagine my old body riding that thing?"

Tom"This is mental. This isn't happening"

The man:"I assure you it is. You should read the fine print, my boy."

The man now walking with Tom's body sat on the motorcycle and looked at himself in the mirror.

Now speaking directly to his reflection

"Look, Tom. I really don't want to cause you any trouble. I am too old to do much in my body, but now in yours I can do so much. And I heard from the company that you were really willing to rent so I suspect you have some financial problems. I can help with that"

Tom:"How?"

The man:"I can give you my body's money. All of it"

Tom:"Why would you do that?"

The man:"Because I want them to be put to good use. And I know you will use them right "

Tom:"what's the catch?"

The man:"Keep me in your body and let me have the driving seat from time to time. I want to be young like you again. I don't want to steal your life and I'm not ready to die yet. Therefore this is the best option for me:

Tom:"So that would mean you would be everywhere with me? Seeing and feeling everything as me?"

The man:"Yes. But we can swap who is in the back of your mind and who is driving. Haha. I'll be like your second inner voice"

Tom thought about it, bit couldn't make up his mind. It didn't sound that bad. He could use the money and also help an old man to enjoy a part of his life. And if that meant he would have to share a bit of his time and body, then that wasn't so bad.

Tom:"I'll have to think about it. I still don't know you. And also please put a hand to your ear so that people think I'm calling someone. They are looking weird at me talking to myself"

The man smiled and immediately put a hand to his ear:"Oh where are my manners. I am Nicholas Connor. I have had a fee wives but no children. I was a director of a big company, which gave me enough money to enjoy life. But I still want to keep on enjoying it"

Tom:"Nice to meet you Nicholas. Do you mind driving us to my... our appartement?"

Nicholas:"Right on, chap"

Tom's body started inspecting the Ducati. Nicholas put on his new helmet and stretched out his arms in the jacket

Nicholas:"Oh this feels nice"

His muscle memory knew what to do and how to drive. Tom was still impressed how the body possession went and how was Nicholas actually doing good as Tom

Nicholas arrived in front of Tom's appartement building

Nicholas:"You live quite far from the city centre, Tom. Must be hard always driving so far"

Tom:"I enjoy driving, but yeah. It's costly. But not as much as paying rent in the city centre"

Nicholas entered Tom's appartement. It was small and messy, but suitable to a man like Tom

Nicholas:"I'm not saying anything mean. But you know It could look better"

Tom:"Yeah I know. I was... busy"

Nicholas started undressing

Tom:"What are you doing?"

Nicholas took off every piece of clothing throwing it on the ground. "Tom, I am old. Being in this young body makes me want to inspect it. Enjoy the youth. I'm sure you understand"

Nicholas looked over his body in the mirror. Then started laughing

Tom felt insecure:"I know I'm not one of the biggest. By my dick is not a joke"

Nicholas:"Oh its not that, Tom. Your penis is amazing. I just haven't had an erection in years. I think you and I are gonna have a lot of fun"

Few months later. Tom's body was walking down the street

Tom's body speaking:"Yeah, but this time you're cooking. I cooked last night and you hated it. So now it's your turn. Yeah right. After all that you still want more?"

He went swiftly to the company building that previously belonged to Nicholas

"And what are we gonna do tonight? Oh yeah? That sounds great. But not if you rush things like always. Haha. I never finished so fast before"

A security guard noticed Tom's body entering the building and rapidly opened the door:"Good morning, sir"

Tom's body:"Good morning"

Tom's body to phone:"Look, you know I can't keep on saying more stuff like this. I know it makes us hard and you like it, but I'm at work now. Yes we will go on a ride this afternoon. I know how horny that makes us."

"Now? But I just arrived. Fine."

Storming out from the parking lot was Tom's body in a suit speeding on the street away from the building, smiling and laughing.

Tom's body:"We're hard already? Well the ride should be fun"

Tom and Nicholas were now one being. Constantly switching who was controlling the body, but treating the other one as an equal part of the body and as a best friend

The security guard smiled as he saw the new young owner of the building driving away, enjoying life.

A message request and an inbox request from @

Tom was going through some financial problems and his best friend advised him that maybe he could rent a room in his house, or even rent his Ducati, that would make him a lot of money. But Tom didn't check properly what the rental company did, and he didn't realize that he was not only renting his Ducati, but his body as well. That's why he was surprised when he went to the place where he had met the client and saw that the man was at least 90 years old, but it was too late to back out.

[ibuttermybagle]

Things in the third episode (Gems - cause I'm a gem enjoyer first and human second) of season 10 that continue to declared it as one of my favorite seasons:

• Jumping from a tower the height of a mountain "good thing I widened the river huh?"

• "Whatcha doing there?" - "Just going through my chests" Tango changing his chest sign to say they're Gems chests, followed by Gem calling him a pushover with both giggling

• Gem pointing Grian out for still fishing, especially after spending 2½ hours on stream with him doing the same

• "With a bit of help from a friend-" zooms in on Grian standing in the distance unmoving

• Intense planning to kill the guardian with tnt, only for it to be one more hit to kill. Going for the others and Grian going "wait there's more than one?" Followed by Gems "Griannnn"

• "There's a pillager outpost" - "I wonder if they have allays" - "No, this is how it happens Gem. We're gonna be lost in the wilderness."

• "Fish stop!" - "Grian!" Immediately pulls out fishing rod as well and fishes too. They have a problem your honour.

• Tango and Gem geeking out over the Guardian sound on the noteblock

• "No more distractions" immediately getting distracted again. Multiple times. And starting a raid.

• Ethos offended little "you punched me! You always punch me!" And Gems "You act surprised, like you never met me before."

• Etho wanting Gems Sniffer egg head, doing a whole thing about it. "You could have just asked" - "You could have said no" - "I don't say no to you often"

• THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE FLYING FISH GOD DAMN IT LOOKS AMAZING

Other episodes

[allwormdiet]

Sentinel 9.4

Back in the saddle again

You know, I'm not sure if tinkers actually are "supposed" to be smart. The other examples we have to work off of besides Kid Win are Bakuda (constant state of fucking around and finding out until it killed her), Armsmaster (he of the dumbfuck raid boss solo plot), and Dragon (actually no notes on Dragon's relative intelligence), plus Chariot in just a minute here who literally only succeeds at being a mole because the Protectorate allows him to succeed as a ploy

I'll concede that they're adept engineers and scientists, sure, but you can know how to build a nuclear reactor and still be dumb enough to build it in your backyard. There's no single measure of intelligence that everyone measures high on, that's just not how it goes.

Then again like two-thirds of this chapter are lowkey about Kid having self-esteem issues so like, I get that he's being hard on himself. I feel like half the cape POVs we've gotten so far have self-esteem issues, never mind Taylor Hebert Queen of Self-Image Problems

I'm gonna skim over a lot of this fight like I had in 9.3, but while this can't feel good for one's confidence, honestly I'd mostly just be relieved. Like, yes, let the villains whose powers are Railgun and The Fucking Sun take it easy on me, that's fine, I like my body parts staying in the configuration they have.

Thank God he actually has a chance to feel like he's contributing, without the horror of accidentally killing someone

Wow, Trickster sucks. Why do they put up with this guy?

So, somehow I doubt he's somehow lacking in a specialty, but from the description of his apparent focus issues (plus the fact that taking medication to help with focus nearly took him out) I wonder if the way his tinker stuff goes involves having a bunch of little things, if the lack of focus is somehow a sign of what his specialty actually is.

Oh fucking boy

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay (sarcastic)

Also I don't know why they specifically would go to cities that have already been Endbringered but there's a real "kick them while they're down" energy to it that I do not care for. Goddamn jackals.

Is it the "another tinker" thing or the "that wasn't Armsmaster" thing that he's more excited about lmao

Weld's adapting a little better to his role, and Clockblocker is able to keep his mouth shut and play along, so things are improving.

I dunno man, it's a citywide apocalypse, does bedtime matter anymore?

Hey what the

Fuck

is going on here

Tinker-to-tinker communication

Y'know, now I'm curious what the wages are for a non-Tinker Protectorate member. Obviously Tinkers can have it made if they've got something the higher-ups want, but is Miss Militia making enough to own a house? Is your income tied to merch sales?

Think this is the first time someone has outright said triggering as a parahuman rewires your brain to some extent. Curious to see further elaboration on that.

I think if you're gonna hire a mole, you should make sure they can lie convincingly. That feels like step two.

(Step one is "make sure you can trust this person to be a mole for you")

Fucking gottem

Well hey Kid, looks like you're pulling your weight after all

Current Thoughts

I do think Sentinel is a neat arc but I'll admit, in recounting and rereading this it lost me a little bit. That might just be the Travelers fight though, I could feel the lack of stakes to the fight like a gap between my teeth.

Kid seems like a solid character, classic impulsive inventor with an actual exploration of what that impulsiveness does to his work ethic and self-worth. I'm glad he gets a chance to shine here and I hope he figures out his exact specialization so he can stop being so down on himself

The Wards do seem to be coalescing into more of a team as things progress, sure would be a shame if the resident lone wolf was to fall for obvious bait and disrupt that or something.

[cherry-holmes]

Glimpse of a life with Javier Peña (series)

Chapter 4

MAIN MASTERLIST

Summary: Past incidents have brought you closer to Javier than you thought. And he’s determined to not ruin it again.

SERIES MASTERLIST

Previous chapter

Pairing: Javier Peña x Female Reader

Word count: 3k

Warnings: Mention of violence typical of the serie.

A/N: Chapter 4 is here! Stay tuned for more updates❤️ Thank you SO MUCH for your support and your interaction with this story🫶🏻

I’m taking requests! Javi Peña, Joel Miller, Din Djarin, BBC Sherlock Holmes, Supernatural…

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Next morning, your hands were sweaty as you sat at Messina's desk after everything that happened last night. She appeared exhausted about, well, everything about drug cartels, set raids, violence and stubborn DEA agents. And now she is dealing with a gender violence case of one of her agents and her only translator.

She sighed and reached for a stack of papers, which you instantly recognized as administrative reports. You had translated hundreds of them in your time working here.

"Agent Ibarra reports himself sick this morning," she said as she filled some of the blank spaces, "I'll call him in as soon as possible, and we'll start an investigation."

"There's nothing to be investigated," exclaimed Javier, who had been standing behind you and supporting all your narrative. "I was there, he pointed a gun at us," he explained, sounding totally mad.

"I believe you both, but there's a procedure that we must follow," she answered, as she passed you the paper, "You have my word that there will be disciplinary actions against agent Ibarra for his behavior," she promised, meeting your gaze. You believed in her.

You completed the rest of the report with your personal information and details about the incident. Javier did the same since he was involved as a witness.

As you and Javier left Messina's office, you couldn't help but feel very nervous. You had never been involved in any kind of problem at work, let alone something related to this kind of issue with a colleague. And, to make matters worse, you had dragged Javier into all of this.

It was Sunday morning, so almost all the agents and secretaries were on their day off. In a job as demanding as the top of the Medellín Cartel empire in the early 90's, any day of rest was treasured. Most weeks, agents and officers worked from Monday to Sunday with no opportunity to rest.

The fact that Javier was willing to come back to the Embassy to support you on his first day off in three weeks made you feel guilty.

"Are you okay?" He asked as you approached his desk.

"Yeah," you answered, but you didn't sound too convinced.

Javier leaned over his desk, watching you attentively. "You know, it's normal to feel a bit shaken after what happened," he said, his voice gentle.

You nodded, appreciating his understanding. "I just never expected to be in a situation like this," you admitted. "Thank you so much for agreeing to come with me, I know it's your day off. I almost regretted and hung up the phone before you answered..." You lost count of how many times you had said "thank you" to Javier in the last few hours.

"I already told you there's no problem, bonita," he said, calling you that for the second time. But now that you were back in your regular work setting, it seemed a little too much. Well, that's what Javier thought as soon as he said it. On your side, the affectionate name made you feel blush on your cheeks and butterflies in your belly. "I'm sorry, I can't help to call you that... I'll stop if it makes you feel uncomfortable," he added, attempting to downplay it.

"No, it's okay," you replied quickly, making him smiled warmly.

"Listen, how about we grab a coffee together outside the base? You know, to unwind a bit from all this mess."

You considered his offer for a moment, your nerves slowly settling. A coffee sounded like a good idea, and you appreciated his company. "Sure, that sounds nice," you replied, feeling a bit more at ease.

He took you to a coffee shop downtown. The aroma of freshly baked goods welcomed you, including sweet pastries mingled with the scent of coffee, creating a delightful combination of aromas. You ordered your usual: chocolate-infused coffee with milk and an empanada de arequipe, while Javier opted for his usual black coffee. He lit up a cigarette.

"So," he began as you both waited for your orders, "You told me that you're Mexican," he recalled, and you nodded. "Which part of Mexico?"

"Monterrey," you replied.

"Ah, norteña," he exclaimed. It was unusual to hear him speak in Spanish since it wasn't his first language, and he sometimes had struggled with it. "Deberías invitarnos a todos en la oficina a una carnita asada," he joked, making you genuinely smile and forgetting the events of the previous night.

The waitress arrived with your orders, placing the plates and cups on the table. Javier couldn't help but steal glances at you when you weren't looking, admiring your delicate features, soft lips, and radiant complexion. You were the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid his eyes on.

You noticed his gaze lingering on you, and when you caught him looking, you couldn't help but blush slightly. The atmosphere was cozy, with the warm aroma of coffee filling the air and the soft chatter of other diners creating a pleasant background noise.

As you both sipped your coffee and enjoyed your empanadas, the conversation flowed easily.

"Tell me, what brought you here to Colombia?" He wanted to know. "There are places closer to your city to be a translator for this type of matters than Colombia."

"I was a translator in El Paso DEA Base before they sent me here," you explained, and he raised his eyebrows.

"No way! I was in there too, also before they assigned me here," he conveyed. "Why is it that I didn't know you back there?" he wondered.

"When I came there, you were gone," you explained, and he furrowed his brow.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Because I translated your last report in El Paso," you said, "That was my first day, I remember it because my department colleague didn't want to make the translation herself."

"Why?" He was so concentrated on your response. You flushed and, at this point, there's nothing more you can do than laugh shyly.

"You slept with her the night before you left and didn't tell her. She was very pissed."

Javier burst into laughter, shaking his head. "Ah, that makes sense now. I should've been more considerate."

"Yeah, you should have," you agreed.

"What a coincidence," he said, more to himself than to you. "How is it that we ended up working in the same places almost at the same time on the first one?"

On the tip of both your tongues hung the word "destiny," but neither of you dared to say it.

"How old are you?" He inquired instead, "You look pretty young to have such work experience."

"I am," you responded, "I'll turn twenty-six next month," you said.

"Oh, my," he laughed, leaning back in his chair, "You're making me feel old, sweetheart."

"How old are you?" You wanted to know.

"I'm turning thirty-six in June," he said.

"Oh, you look younger," you said because it was true, "I thought you were thirty."

"Well, thank you, bonita," you swear you would blush for the rest of your life as long as he kept calling you that.

As the coffee shop's ambiance embraced you, the hours passed unnoticed. It was only when you noticed the sunlight filtering through the curtains, casting a warm glow over your table, that you realized how much time had passed.

You glanced at your wristwatch and then at Javier. "Wow, I didn't realize it was so late," you said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Javier smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Time flies when you're enjoying good company," he replied.

Although you insisted on paying your own bill, the agent didn't let you. He drove you home, where he accompanied you to the doors of the building.

"Call me again if you need anything, anytime," he assured, and you nodded with appreciation.

"Promise I will, Javi," now it was his turn to feel his chest beating fast. Many people called him "Javi," but you pronounced it in a way he had never heard before.

"See you tomorrow at the office," he waved as he crossed the street and got into his truck.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Turns out, you weren't the only one who had such an experience with Diego Ibarra. The gossip about your report to Messina spread very quickly all over the office and had encouraged two more women to stand up and tell their stories. So the agent was immediately removed from his duties.

The first time you saw him after your report was Monday morning. He looked so furious when he came out from your boss' office; his face was so reddened that you thought it would explode, his breath was irregular, and he opened and closed his fists like he was about to fight a dragon. And kind of he could, since Javi was guarding your office like a dragon in a tower. He tried not to make it that evident, but he failed. He was concerned that Diego would enter to confront you as he went from side to side of the office, gathering his things to leave the building and kept looking at your door with furious eyes.

It was almost noon, as you were reviewing some documents at your desk, you overheard raised voices coming from the hallway. It was Javier and Diego. You couldn't make out the exact words, but it was clear that their confrontation had taken a heated turn.

"Oh, no," you muttered panicked, as you rushed out of your office, your heart pounding. When you reached the hallway, you found Javier and Diego standing face to face, their voices raised in a furious argument. Their clenched fists and tense postures indicated that a physical altercation was imminent.

Murphy, recognizing the dangerous situation, stepped between them, pushing Diego away from his friend. "That's enough!" he yelled, his usually calm demeanor shattered. "We don't need this kind of behavior here."

The other officers and secretaries in the office had gathered, trying to diffuse the situation. Diego's face was contorted with rage, but the combined efforts of his colleagues ensured that he didn't escalate the confrontation any further.

You also wanted to come closer and tried to do something, feeling guilty for all of this mess. It wasn't your fault, of course, but you just couldn't help it. However, as you attempted to move, Marta held your arm, stopping you. You looked at her and Ana, who was standing next to her, and you read their gazes, "don't make this more dramatic." They were right.

Murphy, his voice stern, addressed Diego, "You're done here, Ibarra. You need to leave."

Diego, though seething with anger, knew he had no choice. He turned and walked toward the exit, but not before leveling a chilling threat at Javier. "You're gonna regret messing with me, Peña."

Javier remained remarkably composed, his only response a tight-lipped, determined look in his eyes. He watched as Diego was escorted out by other officers, his threat lingering in the tense atmosphere.

Diego's  furious eyes had locked onto you for a brief, chilling moment as he was escorted out of the office.

You couldn't help but feel a mixture of worry and relief. The confrontation had been intense, but Javier had managed to maintain control, avoiding a physical fight. You turned to look at him, who had been talking with Murphy and thanking him for intercede.

"Javi, are you okay?" you asked, concern lacing your voice.

He turned to face you, his expression softening. "I'm fine, bonita. Don't worry about me." He promised.

As the day progressed, you couldn't shake the feeling of unease. The tension in the office was palpable, and it was clear that Diego's departure had left a mark. You wondered if there might be more repercussions in the days to come.

As the week went by, Javier's role as your unofficial protector didn't go unnoticed, and, as is natural, people talked. Rumors circulated that Diego had acted that way because you had cheated on him with Javier. Some others suggested that you had used him to make Javier jealous. Many even dared to say that Javier had manipulated you into making a false accusation against Diego because he couldn't stand seeing you together. Neither of their versions were true, of course.

But the last one had some kind of truth: Javier couldn't stand seeing you with Diego. It made his blood boil, and despite the circumstances, he was relieved that Diego was gone and far from you. Also, he knew his threat to him had been empty. He was used to receiving hundreds of threats from real drug lords and their thugs; the ones from a damn abusive drunk ex-officer le hacían lo que el viento a Juárez.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Every day that passed was torture for Javier. He was constantly eager to see you, talk to you, and make you smile. He began bringing coffee to your office in the morning, inviting you for lunch in the evenings, and offering to take you home at night.

You also started to get used to his presence, and you felt a heavy weight in your chest every time he was outside of the base on a raid, feeling even worse if you found out that he had been involved in a chase or a shooting. Javier never told you the ugly details of the hunts, but you ended up finding out anyway through his reports. The Medellín Cartel was a violent and cruel organization, and you were well aware that Javier risked his life every day.

But in the cutest part, you wore your best dresses for work, paying extra attention to your hair and makeup in the morning. You used the same perfume he told you he loved and kept your nails painted red, knowing he liked them that way. You also noticed that he continued using the same cologne you had mentioned you liked.

You didn't know it, of course, but Javier hadn't had sex with anyone for days. He didn't invite any secretaries to his apartment, and he limited his interactions to receiving information from his informants and letting them go with nothing more than their due payment. Not even Helena slept in his bed or sat on his couch the two times a week she visited him. Javier didn't want to be with anyone because every time he tried, you crept into his thoughts, and he couldn't stand to keep doing that to you. He jerked himself off thinking of you, of course. He wasn’t proud of it, but it was definitely better than use someone else just to pretend she was you.

Javier was deeply conflicted. He cared about you more than he wanted to admit, and it scared him. He didn't want to put you in harm's way or drag you into his dangerous world. As long as he was still working to take down Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel, he would be a target for the enemy.

However, he knew that working as a DEA translator, you understood exactly what, why, and how his world worked. He was a former DEA agent, familiar with the stress, hard work, and the constant need to watch his back. So far, you had chosen to spend your days with him, but it had been as friends. He couldn't deny the growing attraction and connection between you two. Deeply, he knew that he wanted something more than just friends.

There had been years since his last formal relationship, which ended with a bride in tears at the altar. Javier knew that he had been young and a dick back then. It didn't justify his actions, but it had been a painful lesson.

He didn't want to break your heart. He knew he would never forgive himself if he hurt you for being an indecisive son of a bitch. If he was going to ask you to be with him, he needed to be sure.

One week before your birthday, as he parked his truck outside your building, Javier cleared his throat, attempting to say something. You had noticed that he had been acting nervous all day, but you couldn't quite figure out what had him in that state. You didn't say anything as you waited for him to speak first.

Javier said your name softly, "I was wondering if you had any plans for your birthday this weekend," he said. His big, dark-brown puppy eyes shone in the dark with the reflection of the streetlights.

"Umm, no," you said, "I usually get dinner with the girls from work, but I haven't mentioned anything to them yet."

"Oh, that's fine," he said, looking a bit more relaxed. But really, just a bit, because you swore that you could almost hear his heart beating from the passenger seat. "I mean, because I was thinking that maybe you would like to go to the fair with me. I would like to take you for a birthday dinner first, of course. Then spend the night at the fair."

He looked so adorable. You had never seen him that nervous before, and it was actually very cute.

"Javi, be honest with me," you said, and he went pale as a sheet of paper. He nodded, though. "Are you asking me for a date?"

You could see the color creeping up his face, now reddening his cheeks. He started mumbling, too nervous to notice that you were just teasing him.

"Javi, it's okay," you laughed, and his gaze returned to you as a smile formed on his beautiful lips, "That would be nice," you finally accepted.

His smile widened as his shoulders relaxed.

"It's a birthday date, then," he said.

As you headed into your building, Javier called out to you from the truck, "See you tomorrow, bonita," he said with a warm smile.

You couldn't help but smile back, your heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time. "Goodnight, Javi."

As you entered your apartment, you couldn't contain your excitement. It had been a long time since someone had made such an effort to celebrate your birthday. Javier's nervousness and sincerity had touched your heart deeply, and you were looking forward to your birthday date with him.

NEXT PART

[blue-sadie]

Lost In The Woods

Anakin skywalker x Reader

Summary: sometimes his looks can cause you to follow along to his crazy plans

Warning: forest sex

Yn/3rd person pov

It was like being stuck in an endless loop the forest had no being or end, the tall trees disrupting the communications.

the soft sloshing of mud under our feet being the only thing you could hear I was furious how do I always get dragged into his stupid decisions how can I not say no to his stupid......dreamy face wait... what are you thinking he's dreamy his... a... idiot yeah an idiot.

I shook my head trying to get me to stop thinking about him "you ok there yn" aww his voice it made my heart want to melt... get your act together yn "fine" I muttered briefly turning my head to the side looking back at him as he trailed along behind me "anything from obi wan" he asked catching up beside me I rolled my eyes internally "nothing" I growled and gasped as he caught my wrist, pulling me to him "what is your problem" he said as his piercing blue eyes stared down into mine.

The height difference made me want to shrink back and disappear "answer me" he growled bringing his face closer to mine I gulped as my eyes flickered between his eyes and lips is he a good kisser? Does he think of kissing me "i-i" I had no words to speak was I really angry at him or more my self for following him? His presence confuses me "i-i isn't an answer, yes I get it i messed up and got us lost but doesn't mean you can be a bitch to me" my eyes snapped to his as he spoke, he waited for me to speak but when I didn't he just sighed and let me go and carried on walking without another word.

I internally slapped myself and sighed out before following a bit behind him and continued the walk in silence. We walked in till the sun was started to set and found a nice clearing to spend the night and like a unspoken conversation I went to collect the firewood and anakin went to found some fish in the near by river, I gathered the basics and started building the fire and later lit it and sat close by the flickering flames keeping myself warm as I waited for anakin to return. The forest was quiet except for the crackling of flames the shadows started growing closer as the night progressed I was starting to worry.

"Ani" I called out at any sound I heard my breathing started to quicken as I stood up staring into the dark distance "anakin its not funny anymore" I yelled as my legs started to tremble its been almost 2 hours "please come out" my eyes started to glisten as I looked around hopelessly "I'm right here" I jumped turning to him his usual grin plastered on his face but I didn't care and ran to him in embracing him "I was so scared" I whimpered hiding my face in his chest as he chuckled "I'm sorry" he murmured and stroked my hair "I found a imperial base we can raid in the morning for communication I was just scouting it out to make sure it's no threat" he explained and eyed me carefully as I pulled back.

I lazily wiped the small tear the ran down my cheek turning away from him "ok" I murmured and went to sit by the fire I felt awkward and scared I didn't want to make things weird between us we were always friends since he joined the order but over the years a strange tension formed between us "hey I'm ok" he said sitting beside me, I never liked being left alone for to long everyone in the order knew this and master yoda says it's gonna be my down fall it's because when I'm left alone I get lost in my head and over think things and has been some of the cause to our failed missions.

"What's happening in that brain of yours" he asked nudging me softly, I sighed heavily burying my face into my hands "what's not happening in my head" I laughed bitterly "you remember what obi says 'if you let it happen it will happen' he chuckled trying to mimick obi wans voice I glared up at him playfully "we both know sometimes obi wan doesn't know what he's talking about" I giggled remembering the countless times me and anakin proved him wrong "yea but he's old" ani laughed pulling me into his side his chest vibrating with his laughs, was it wrong to want to stay here forever? Just me and him.

"A-anakin" I murmured gazing up at him and admiring as the flames flickered in the mirror of his eyes "yes yn" he said his eyes staring back into mine "i-i wasn't mad at you earlier" I whispered making his brows come together in confusion "I was just f-frustrated with myself" I turned my attention back to the fire "why are you angry with yourself" he asked shifting himself to face me his hand grabbing my own in a comforting manner "I-I was angry at myself for how easy I follow you" I said and trembled as I felt his thumb started to graze over my knuckles as a comforting gesture.

"That's not something to be angry about surely" he tried lighten with the mood, I started to feel blush rise to my cheeks I was being silly "j-just forget about" I said and tried to remove my hand from his but he held tight "I won't forget about it yn" he urged me to continue explaining my behavior and my foolishness started getting into my head you can't tell him he'll just laugh and make fun of you, but he isn't that type of guy right? I stared blankly at the ground as I was stuck in my head, he likes padme he can never like you, I was caught in a daze into I felt his soft lips meet mine.

I stared horrified into his eyes but his were calm and full of care "get out of that brain and talk to me please" he pleaded huskily as he pulled back from my lips "i-i" I blinked trying to process what just happened "y-you kissed me" i was in shock and raised my hand to my lips which were kinda puffy from the kiss he chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head as a slight blush dusted his cheeks "I'm sorry if I step-" he tried to speak but I brought my lips to his again our eyes flattering closed as our lips molded together this was the first time in ages I felt happy and complete and the voices in my head finally stopped.

His tongue slowly pushed into my mouth as his hands guided down my sides to my hips and urged me to move and sit on his lap my heart thumbed with desire as I straddled his lap my hands threaded themselves into his hair as his stayed on my hips "w-wait wait" I panicked an pulled back "what yn" he asked concerned and raised one of his hands to caress my face in worry "what about the rules" I murmured "about padme" my heart broke as I said her name his concern turned into a grin "yn nothing happened or ever will happen between me and padme what made you think that" he chuckled being my face closer to his, I tried turning away but his fingers grasped my chin "were you watching" he murmured I blushed from embarrassment conforming his suspensions making him laugh.

"Your so fucking adorable" he smirked before catching my lips in his once more "ani" I whined as he nibbled on my bottom him, his kiss was starting to get more passionate and rough with each passing second and his hands getting more touchy "god I want to fuck you so bad" he growled out as he moved his lips to my neck sucking harshly out my skin "f-fuck" I whined out squirming in his hold "if you keep moving like that I'm gonna go fucking feral" he hissed into my ear his hands planting my hips down onto his lap to stop me from moving.

"Ani" I moaned as I started to feel my panties dampen, his hands slowly started trailing up my leg and went under the fabric of my clothes, a shiver running up my spine as he stopped at my thigh he pulled back from me and his eyes darkened from lust and hunger he kissed me again as he slowly started pushing me to the ground his big body caging mine to the floor "fuck" he muttered as he ripped off his robes leaving him in nothing but boxers "anakin" I squeaked my heart almost beating out my chest as I looked over his body "like what you see" he teased making the blush come back to my cheeks he laughed at my reaction and started kissing my neck again as his hands started working on getting my clothes off.

My body heating up as I felt his hands touched my skin my hands threaded through his hair forcing his lips into my skin I want him, I need him "ani I need you" I moaned throwing my head back and heard him growl lowly "all you had to do was ask" he roughly ripped off my underwear and his and my mouth gaped at his size he was huge "fuck" I muttered biting my lip "it's all your" he growled moving his body closer to mine his cock teasing my pussy lips "please anakin" I begged and winced as he slowly pushed in the stretch causing me to cry out "fuck so t-tight" he groaned as he fully pushed in and waited for me to adjust.

"Y-you can move" I murmured and before he did he leaned down to my ear "that's a good slut" he growled before thrusting roughly into me "f-fuck ani" I cried out as my fingers dug into the forest floor with each thrust he forced moans out of me, his hands wondered to my breasts playing and pinching the nibbles "aww I can't wait till these are big when your pregnant" he groaned his head tilting back I gasped "what" "do you think I'm gonna pull out slut your mine now and I want everyone to know" he chuckled darkly as he quicken his thrusts.

My heart flattered as he said those things "would you like that everyone knowing that I own you" he muttered I nodded eagerly and started moving my hips back into his making him yell out in pleasure "such a good slut for me" he groaned and used one of his hands to rub my clit "and good sluts get to cum so cum when I get to 1" he murmured his eyes piercing mine "10" he started kissing my breasts leaving hickies along my chest "9" my breathing started to quicken as I felt a knot start to form in my stomach "8" I closed my eyes and my mouth formed an o shape "7" his thrusts started to faulter as his cock started to twice.

"6-6" my moans started getting high pitch as I felt the knot tighten "5...4" my body started to spasm and tense underneath him "3" his groans and growls were louder and his breathing rigid "2" he yelled out "1" I screamed out as I cam my body shaking as he coated my insides with his cum I panted as I tried calming down "thank you" he sighed out pecking my lips and carefully flipped us over so he was on the ground "a-aren't you gonna pull out" I whispered and shivered as I felt a cold breeze on my back "nope" he grinned grabbing his torn robes and covering the both of us I cuddled into his chest and we both sat in silence watching the fire burn

"I love you yn I hope you know that".

Tag.List

@neteyamyawne @sweetirilly

[spectrechosts]

Beast Of Burden - Chapter 10

Full Series

'Don't do anything rash', hmph! As if Lunaeris needs to be told that. She acts only after determining the best, most decisive course of action her considerable intellect can conjure.

"Father!" She declares, barging into the throne room. "We are going to war."

"What!? Why!?"

A good question. Why are they going to war?

"I'm short on details at the moment." She says, waving her hand dismissively. "But Kallixenia's order is under attack! We must assist them."

"Who on earth is attacking them?" Her father asks, concerned. He's getting bogged down in the particulars, of course, when time is of the essence.

"I'm... not sure, exactly." Lunaeris admits. "However-"

"Lunaeris..."

She whines loudly.

"I'll send some scouts to investigate the situation, but I can't in good conscience send our people to fight a war we don't know anything about." Says her father. "Even if I could; we took heavy losses from the demons, and we're still rooting out their remnants. I don't know that we have the forces to spare."

He is, admittedly, making points.

"Gah, fine." Lunaeris groans. "But I'm headed out there to help."

"You- R-Right now?" He asks.

"Within the hour."

"Oh dear." Her father mumbles, not expecting that his promise to let her go would be tested so soon, or in such dire circumstances. "Do... Do be careful?"

With another dismissive wave and a frustrated 'myeh' of acknowledgment, Lunaeris leaves to pack her things.

A schism! Those fuckers, those absolute fuckers! Gods, what was she thinking, of course the church wouldn't let Kallie change her oath even if the gods would, how would they sell her life away-

Wait, how would they sell her life away anyway? Even if she were keeping her oath, Kallie's already bound to her. Is her dad still paying them? That would be stupid.

Ugh, it doesn't matter! Lunaeris gathers up her adventuring gear, raids the storerooms for more potions because- well, she's here, she may as well; and makes her way back to the throne room.

"Are you still paying the church for Kallie's services?" She asks her father, who is in the middle of sending for his scouts.

"...No? I paid upfront for her protection, spared no expense. She's sworn to you for life." He says. "Doubly so now, I would think. You are married to her."

"But then why would- Ugh!" Lunaeris huffs.

"Did you find out what's going on?"

"No! That's the problem!" She whines. "The church is mad at her and I don't know why and-"

"The church?"

"A schism, she said! Or, someone said, I don't know who- It doesn't matter!"

"I've heard nothing of this." Says the king, frowning. He gestures to one of his messengers. "Disregard my previous orders; I want to meet with all the archbishops of the Elven church. Summon them here, urgently."

The messenger scurries off, and Lunaeris sighs.

"I- I don't know that we're involved. I don't know who's involved, besides her order."

"I rule by divine right, Lunaeris. Our church may only be one amongst many allied together, but if sides are being picked then I want it to be clear: Our kingdom stands with its princesses." He says resolutely. "Are you going on your way?"

"Yes! Yes, I- Thank you!" Lunaeris laughs shakily. "You won't regret this! I'll let you know when I've met up with them!"

"But- Do still try to be careful, yes?" Her father calls after her, stoic mask faltering a bit as she eagerly dashes off.

~

Rushing off to save someone who's about a week's travel away from you is less valiant and more frustrating than Lunaeris would like. She curses her past self for never taking much interest in any of the books her teacher had on long-distance teleportation. The pyromancies always just seemed so much more fun, so much less nausea inducing. Really, who needs to teleport more than 20 meters?

Her, apparently! Idiot.

Her communications with Kallixenia aren't comforting either. The situation is deteriorating fast- They can repel any one assault with ease, but the inquisition doesn't stop coming. Even in shifts they can barely sleep, the slow trickle of reinforcements barely keeps pace with the wounded- There simply aren't enough paladins in their order.

They need help, and she's- she's just one wizard, but that's better than nothing. Even if her father is truly supporting them in this, politics are slow. She has to do what she can before then.

Which is, ah-

Well, she can-

If she just-

Oh, hells. All of this is so much easier when you have someone to stop your enemies from simply running up and gutting you. She'd really expected to have a plan by now, but she doesn't, and she's here, and-

Maybe if she simply tags along with the inquisition forces? Like just another adventurer here for some coin? No, that puts her into far too close quarters, and how would the defending paladins tell her apart from the rest?

Perhaps she could ask Kallie to come get her? No, no, definitely not! She's behind enemy lines, what with the inquisition base camp practically overtaking the town like this. She can't ask her to fly right down here and get shot out of the sky.

Obviously she can't just start a huge fire in their camp, that'd be foolish. Obviously.

But, you know, small fires, subtle ones, ones that she can walk away from before they get going enough to draw attention- That's not a terrible idea. Just a few little sparks in some key spots, and she could really do some damage! Torch their supplies, leave them out in the cold; and then while they're all dealing with that, Kallie can come get her. All she has to do is snoop around a little! Simple!

~

Lunaeris stirs with a splitting headache, her cheek pressed to the cold, hard ground. The memories of how far she got into her plan before her capture are fuzzy, but the tent that she's in seems very not on fire.

Dammit.

"High Cleric Dione, I believe you when you say this is the best way, however-"

"There is no however! You said you wanted an alternative to the sustained assaults, she's the alternative."

High Cleric? That sounds important. Maybe she can still swing this, torch some important church dickhead.

"I worry that you overvalue your little monastery. If word of this gets back to her father-"

"Overvalue? Overvalue!?" The High Cleric squawks. "The Oath of the Bulwark- You want to talk about her father, do you know how much money it made us from him alone? How much good the church can do because of it? All those hungry fed, sick healed-"

"Dione, I've been a loyal servant of the Inquisition for fifteen years." The other woman says, rolling her eyes. "You don't need to lie to me about where the money goes." Gods Lunaeris hates these two already. This is really all just over selling Kallie's life again? How vile.

She stokes those feelings inside her, lets that hate bubble and boil until-

She coughs violently, smoke billowing from her lungs. There's- The mana can't go anywhere, it's trapped inside her, searing through her veins.

"Oh good, she's awake. Leave us." Says the High Cleric. "Trying to start another fire, Princess?"

Lunaeris takes some time to answer, choking out soot until she can breathe again. She laughs; a weak, wheezing laugh.

"So I did manage to start some?" She says, smug. "I couldn't remember."

"One." Dione answers, unimpressed. "Easily extinguished, minimal damage."

"Aw. Get these cuffs off me, I can do better."

Dione ignores her.

"You know, I've been quite curious about Princess Lunaeris." She says. "My Kallixenia was an exemplary student. A paragon of our order. I send her away, and within six months my paladins are getting wedding invitations because she's gotten involved with her charge."

She pauses, with an exasperated sigh.

"I can't say I approve, but- The will of the gods. Who am I to deny prophecy? And then the two of you run off, infuriating your father and disgracing my order." She says, putting her hand to her brow and and shaking her head. "Then, long after I had given up on seeing that particular embarrassment righted, Kallixenia returns! Princess Lunaeris is back where she belongs! I think that I can relax, my name no longer besmirched by the two of you. Not one month goes by, and my star pupil breaks her oath so badly that none can ever take it again."

She what?

"And so I have to ask myself: Who is this Princess Lunaeris? Who could have corrupted Kallixenia like this? What on earth-" She asks, looking over Lunaeris disdainfully. "-is so special about you?"

"Well, I'm really quite charming, is the thing." Says Lunaeris.

"Are you now."

"Yes, I act with a certain brash determination that's very easy to get swept up in."

"Mm." Hums Dione, clearly unconvinced. "And this undid almost a full lifetime of rigorous training?"

"Well, you're not getting the full picture. I also have a delightfully plump behind."

"From where I'm standing you seem to have a rather plump everything."

"Yes, and delightfully so!" Lunaeris reiterates, annoyed. "Are we quite finished discussing my attractiveness?"

"Yes, we are; I'm rather sick of listening to you already." Dione says, gagging her with a strip of cloth. "I don't need to understand how you've done this to undo it. Your heretic beloved told me, before she threw me out of my own monastery, that she thought her oath was wrong. That she- you'll love this- she would rather you have died than her own life be laid down in your stead."

She what!? Hah! That's her fucking WIFE GET FUCKED YOU OLD CRONE-

"Let's see if her word is still worth anything." Dione says, opening the flap of her tent to beckon the woman she had been speaking with back in. "Send a messenger up to the monastery- alone, unarmed. They'll let them through. Let Kallixenia know that she has one day to end her little rebellion, or her princess dies."

[roguesscribbles]

Sorry I've been so dead recently! I've got a little project going on that's taking up my art time. Hoping to unveil it soon!

In the meantime, here's my new OC! I made her for a Mass Effect DnD group I'm joining! Her name is Raina Akiyama, she's a human engineer that abandoned her smothering military life to explore the galaxy, settling on Illium following the Reaper invasion.

You can read the full backstory under the cut:

Raina Akiyama was always destined to join the Alliance Military. From the day she was born on an Alliance ship to two parents with a decent military ranking, she spent the majority of her formative years on various Alliance ships or bases following wherever her parents were stationed.

At the time, she could count how many times she has been to Earth on one hand. Her father was from Japan and her mother was from Britain, so she had been to visit family members that she doesn’t remember the faces of. Her upbringing was lonely at times, her parents were busy working and other children were not that common. However, with the absence of people, she found her love in the mechanical instead.

She could always be found tinkering away at some piece of tech she found, sneaking into the engine room to look at the inner workings or pelting the engineers with all sorts of questions. And the Alliance were happy to support these dreams of hers, educating and pushing her towards a career as an Engineer.

There was just one problem, Raina didn’t like the way the Alliance ran things. She was never a fan of the authority, of the training exercises and the expectation to give it everything she had, with instructors and crew members who were always a bit too strict with a child, most likely already seeing the soldier she would become. She always felt trapped, forced into enlisting, because where else would she go? She was raised here, with a line of family all expecting her to join as the next generation as they once did, and she knew very little of the habited planets that dotted the galaxy.

Eventually, when she turned 18, she enlisted officially as an Engineer, continuing her training and enhancing her skills. If there’s one good thing she can say, it’s that the Alliance provided her with almost unlimited funding to tinker with whatever gadgets were put in front of her. She became intimately familiar with both the massive hardware of the Alliance vessels to the weapons and armour the troops relied on. She never fully felt like she belonged, but she could at least surround herself with the things she loved.

Things changed about 2 years later. She was stationed on a small base with an equally small squadron. Something that was meant to be safe, somewhere to train her and other recruits. For the first time in her life she felt like she had friends, people she could rely on and actually talk to, who had her back. Things finally started to fall into place, and she started to feel that yearned-for feeling of belonging.

Then, the raid happened.

A group of bandits attacked the base in the night, where there was minimal activity. They wanted the equipment that they had in storage. It wasn’t even very much, they most likely saw them as easy pickings, and they weren’t entirely wrong. Almost all of her squad was killed in the incident, though in the end Raina’s squad managed to barely win. During the scuffle, a confrontation with one of the assailants left her scarred after they slashed her face with an omni-blade. When she came to in the medical wing of an Alliance vessel, she found herself blind in her left eye.

Her entire world came crashing down. Almost all her friends were dead, that belonging ripped away from her in an instant. She was back to the cold, sterile vessels with people who saw her as little more than an asset, who wanted her back up and running as soon as possible as if a great tragedy hadn’t just occurred. As soon as they were able, they installed a cybernetic eye in the one she lost, patching her up like a broken piece of machinery.

Not even her parents were here. They contacted her as soon as they knew she was awake, but neither of them could leave their post to see her. Something in Raina just snapped. She needed away from this place, away from the military. She expressed her concerns to her parents, but they disapproved, encouraging her to just get better and push on. This was the family way. That just made the need to leave even more prevalent.

She was able to push for her to be medically discharged, quoting physical trauma and PTSD. She sent one final message to her parents telling them she was leaving and not to contact her. She grabbed all her belongings and money that she saved, grabbed the first civilian shuttle she could and started exploring the galaxy.

Over the next few years, she moved from planet to planet, exploring and experiencing and just living. She met so many new people, made new friends and went on her own adventures. She used her skills for work, either taking on odd jobs or temporarily joining a crew, which improved her abilities even further. She began to discover herself more as a person, get better at social interaction and just breathe for the first time. Life was good.

Then, the Reapers arrived.

Once more her world came crashing down, but this time it was different. She wasn’t alone. She had been staying on Illium when the news spread, and it wasn’t long before the Reapers made their way to them. Raina sprang into action, helping wherever she could to help the planets militia fend off the invasion, as well as help the people who had been displaced and evacuated to the planet. It kept her busy, and when the Reapers eventually fell, her positive presence put her on a lot of people’s radars as someone who was reliable.

Following this, she decided to take up a more permanent residence on Illium. They may have fended off the attack, but there was always work to be done. Plus, as a mercantile hub, other planets more affected turned to them for aid. She never found herself short for work, and she was keen to continue to improve her skills with the variety of machinery and tech that passed through. She dreams that one day, she can open her own mechanics shop, and make her role on Illium that much more permanent. Because she belongs.

[banyanas]

Okay there is no Way this is gonna fit in the fic wordcount limit (and a lot of it is background understanding to all my other fics too lmao) so who wants to talk about fiddly somewhat mundane toad-centric worldbuilding in regards to Imperial Amphibia -> Caste System Implementation time period??? And even if you don't want to I'm showing it to you anyway.

The 4 tower lords (Cardinal Lords used as an older title when I write) as participants and vassals to the Newtopian military is... pretty new. Especially because toad clans didn't really have a formal military in the first place (and still don't- toad army we see is an arm/branch of the overall Newtopian/specifically Leviathan-ruled Amphibian military). Previously, of course everyone paid fealty (and taxes but we will get to those) to the crown, expected to follow the laws of the united empire under the Leviathan dynasty, but toad clanheads and lords acting in a formal military position in direct vassalage to another army is... definitely new. As far as 'new' goes for a place with an implied-lengthy history as Amphibia does.

Nowadays becoming a Cardinal Lord means becoming an officer- if said lord wasn't already one in the first place. It's a more concrete requirement in the modern era, but before that, hey, remember what I said about taxes? It's relevant just stick with me a bit pls.

So, with the Me-Brand toadbuilding, toads were traditionally nomadic, and likely a more pastoralist society (tarantula cheese...). This did include very few permanent communities toad caravans cycled through, usually as a place of trade/commerce and cultural significance (specifically cairns and mass gravesites) for individual and allied clans. And from there, the majority of toads split into a bunch of much smaller semi-mobile camps that joined and split, in accordance to whatever understanding or trade agreement or alliance or rivalry their clan might have with other clans. These towns are still around despite how vastly different they are, and three of them are in the territory of a Tower- South Tower is the exception to this, since the southern toad population used to be so heavily intermixed with frogs they lived pretty equally spread inside the same township. Which oof, way to show how things change for the worst in a thousand years.

Pre-Andrias, taxes could be paid in both currency and bulk goods or productions- and they could make that work, because of the seemingly-infinite power source music box battery maintaining all their tech and infrastructure. Frequently, this was how toads paid their taxes- a bit harder to do pure currency payments, as well as y'know not rlly paying property taxes due to not privately owning much land.

(It was also, I want to note, supplemented by raiding rival or enemy clans, because they’re still a martial society- they aren’t peaceful nomads before Andrias fucked up everything, they’re violent and there’s inherent problems with gatekeeping someone from community aspects on the basis of whether or not they've killed something/own a weapon. Which we will get to the owning a weapon thing Also in a bit).

Buttttt after the box was stolen, there were a few policy changes. Taxes were required as coppers- ostensibly to bolster restructuring efforts and stabilize the economy now that the Calamity tech that was the fulcrum for their ENTIRE INFRASTRUCTURE was burglarized. Coppers which they don’t have much use for and thus don't have much circulating… yeah. But hey, specifically military service can be offered instead of coppers for taxes, at least for toads and some newts. Doesn't hurt that offering an out from taxes via military enlistment keeps toads and some newts from kicking up a very bloody, very messy fuss while the whole 'I invented speciesism and an oppressive caste system because I'm mad at my girlfriend and boyfriend' thing was being pushed through to law. Between breaking the law with all the severe risk of a nasty punishment/heavy fine that entails, or military service with some Perks of Power for an already highly combative culture? Yeah, no-brainer for why we barely see any non-military toads on screen. (This entire thing is a pretty damn slick move when it comes to enforcing ranks and systems. And admittedly less hamfisted than what we see in modern canon because frankly I think Andrias stopped caring about being careful with his enforcement of it once it became more self-sustaining)

The very messy, very bloody messes did happen, btw. After the last rebellion early into Andrias's reign (mostly made up of toads and frogs working together. Man this just makes it even more depressing to see the state of things in modern eras), only toads that were either in training, currently enlisted, or veterans were allowed to own and carry weapons. Which, beyond the practical problems of 'Amphibia is a dangerous place with lots of things that want to kill, eat, and/or poison you', when toad rites of passage and traditions, up to and including standards for being considered and allowed to act as a legal adult, rely on the use, ownership, or exchange of weaponry and blades... hm. Oh dear.

It's even worse for the frogs btw. Unless a frog somehow ended up actively serving a military term (which they are discouraged to), frogs were disallowed weapons at all. Because de-fanging and controlling who is allowed to be armed is kinda one of the first steps to suppressing and controlling groups of people, with one of the OTHER steps being financially suppressing and controlling (see the taxes thing, upward movement being nearly impossible for frogs and toads). Also contributes to casualties for frogs being way higher than they used to, since if they're a law-abiding citizen and get caught by a hungry predator, or bandits on the road, or any number of things they cant just drive off with pitchforks and slingshots, they're kinda screwed! It's messed up! And it's usually disregarded by newts and toads, because frogs are light on their feet, quite springy, they can just run, yeah?

Fun fact tho, this makes the Plantar basement stash SUPER illegal for some spicy revolutionary reasons. Hell yes good for them.

[justplainwhump]

Hope

A little follow up to Noor's last scene, before I move on.

Noor learns new truths.

Content: BBU, very early recovery, conditioned whumpee offering sex to caretaker (turned down)

The woman who'd guided him into the red car with him was still there. Rather tall, about Noor's own height, slim build but notable muscles around shoulders and arms. There was a slightly dangerous air around her, even when she smiled. It made him nervous.

She'd talked to the driver, quietly, quickly, in a language he didn't understand, and all he knew is that she was angry, and quite a bit worried.

She had fallen quiet now, looked back at him from the passenger seat, dark honey eyes taking him in.

"I can," he assured her softly, without her having asked for it. There was only one thing anyone wanted of him, anyway. "I am specifically trained to please men, but my skills are surely sufficient to give you a good time, too. Maybe together with your partner?" Noor tilted his head toward the driver, a bulky man with a constant frown on an otherwise soft face. The type Noor liked most. He could almost feel these arms around him, this mouth hot on his skin. "I'm sure I can help him unwind." His voice had dropped to a seductive whisper, just the way he'd been taught. Just the way that always worked.

Not now.

The man glanced into the rear view mirror. Deep, dark eyes. Noor bit his lip and smiled. "It wouldn't make me unwind," the man said plainly. His voice resonated deep within Noor's body. "It would make me very uncomfortable."

Noor let out a small laugh, soft and airy, the way that could hide the deep confusion underneath. He'd never been turned down by another man. And now, the second time within one night. The handler in the house hadn't had enough time, Noor could understand that, even though a quick fuck like that could've been over in less than five minutes. This man here, though, could have all the time in the world with Noor.

Maybe he was straight? But many of his clients were, or claimed to be, and they still fucked him all the same. "I can be whatever you want. I can make your wildest dreams come true."

Noor eased himself back in the seat and ran a hand through his long hair, brushing it over his shoulder, as he searched for the other man's gaze in the mirror, eyes slightly veiled behind his long lashes.

It didn't work. The man just focused back on the street. "We can't take him to the safe house yet," he said to the woman. "They're at their limit already with the rescues from the last job. I don't think they can handle this one. He'll be a problem around men."

"Men don't have any problems with me," Noor purred and pushed up his body on the back seat, desperately wishing for another body to settle down close to his. "On the contrary. I make them forget any of their problems."

They wouldn't throw him out, surely, he hoped. He wouldn't need to be alone and on the run tonight. He couldn't.

"You're right. I'll take him," the woman said flatly.

Noor covered his sudden disappointment with a renewed smile. It didn't sound nice. It didn't sound like she wanted him at all. But he needed to be wanted. He was made to be wanted. All the clients, at WRU, and at the shady walking house downtown, they had wanted him. He lived, he'd survived, because he'd been wanted.

He stared at the car door next to him. The nightly city was rushing past in streaks of light in front of darkness. He thought about his chances. He'd get hurt, rolling himself out. They'd find him again. If not them - why should they, if neither of them wanted him? - then the handlers from the raid. This time, he might not be able to run. But it was his only chance. To find someone who actually wanted-

"Hey." A hand rested on his forearm. The woman had turned on her seat entirely to face him. Her hand was warm. "I'm Marta," she said. "What can I call you?"

Her touch made him shiver. Her skin was warm, a little sweaty maybe, in the damp heat of the summer night. Noor didn't mind.

"Noor," he said softly. "It means light."

Marta smiled. "Okay, Noor. You don't need to be afraid."

He wasn't, he thought. There was only one thing he feared, and that was white and monotonous and cold.

She looked at the door handle knowingly. "Or whatever the feeling is that makes you leave. You're allowed to leave, Noor. You can just tell us, and we'll drop you anywhere. We don't want to own you."

He blinked once, before he laughed again, in the inviting way that he was so good at, hoping to find an unsuspicious reply. He couldn't. It didn't make sense. He didn't want to be owned, but neither did he want not to told what to do. He didn't want to stay with them, if they didn't want him, but he didn't want to be alone, either. There was no place he could go. No place he'd even understand.

"You can come with me, I'll set you up with a bed, and I'll buy you a pizza. And we'll talk about finding a place for you."

Was he so easy to read? Noor had always prided himself for his skills at understanding what his clients desired. But he'd never thought someone would even bother trying to understand what was going on inside of him.

A place for you.

A place for Noor, for himself.

The words made him feel warm.

"But you don't want me," he whispered.

"I don't want you," Marta repeated slowly. "As in, I don't want your body, or your service. But I want something for you."

"What?"

"A life," she said.

This time, Noor didn't laugh.

He just fell silent, when she sat back in her seat and faced forward, and the man steered through the dark side alleys of a nice neighbourhood Noor had never seen.

Both of them said nothing. And in return, Noor. didn't touch the door again.

He spun the words in his head.

A life. A place for you.

It made no sense.

But in the most beautiful way.

"I'd like that," he whispered eventually, so quiet the people wouldn't hear him over the noises of the car.

It didn't matter. He'd said it to himself, anyways. And to his surprise, it felt like the truth.

-

---

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[anticidic]

Hello, it's " Ask Game for Fun" BSD edition....

1.) Who are 3 characters from BSD that really describe you (despite you don't really like them, maybe)?

2.) Which character that you dislike but you just love their designs?

3.) Which character that you love but you just dislike their designs?

4.) If you must choose, which 'super power' that you want for yourself from BSD? Why?

5.) Do you have any personal favorite head canons from BSD?

6.) If BSD og characters switch place with BSD beast AU, do you think they can survive? Why?

7.) If you were asked who are in BSD that you can see based on canon that are gay/bi/pan/demi/ace/aro/etc which characters are they?

Thanks if you want to answer 🍀

wait, is this an actual thing, anon?!

1.) Who are 3 characters from BSD that really describe you (despite you don't really like them, maybe)?

This one's a bit hard, because I feel like on a more surface level I relate to Dazai. And I think that's why I gravitated to him as my favorite character. The apathy, struggling to fit in with others, mental health struggles, masking. When I first got into bsd I was in a pretty bad spot, but I'm actually in a really good place now, so I'd say I still relate to the fact he likes joking around with others. Also, Chuuya because the short people problems are real and I have a friend irl who completely dwarves me and makes fun of me for it. 🫠 I'm also more of a wine drinker myself and I like being stylish! And third, I think Louisa! Even though I have to be super bubbly and outgoing in my job, I'm still awkward and shy with meeting and talking to people. And I also can get easily flustered. She's also a fellow coffee lover.

2.) Which character that you dislike but you just love their designs?

Another hard one. I don't really have many characters I actually dislike in bsd. Pushkin is one of them, and Ace is another, and Professor N, but that's honestly about it? Everyone else I'm either neutral/have no strong feelings toward, or like. But I guess I'll go with Ace for a cool design but a character I don't really care for.

3.) Which character that you love but you just dislike their designs?

Dislike is a bit strong for me to use. Atsushi's hair took a while to grow on me. I know why he has that haircut, of course, but I found it oddly distracting specifically in the anime. I really love his BEAST design though, having the shorter, sharper fringe. I also think Chuuya looks a lot better without his hat.

4.) If you must choose, which 'super power' that you want for yourself from BSD? Why?

My initial response was to say Chuuya's ability, because his gravity can be used in a lot of situations that aren't combat-related, but I wouldn't also want the Corruption that comes with it, sooo. UH. Maybe Oda's or Nikolai's? I'd like to be able to predict if something was about to happen to me, like a freak accident, and be able to avoid it, but Nikolai's is also nifty for teleporting. Gee, now Poe's sounds fun but I'd feel bad trapping people in my stories because they're usually angsty.

5.) Do you have any personal favorite head canons from BSD?

Dazai being touch-starved and emotionally constipated.

Though Dazai used to complain about how spicy curry was, he grew to like it because of Oda.

When Chuuya's in a good mood, he likes to hum to himself or repeat a song that's stuck in his head.

Before Atsushi started making some money at the ADA, he raided the employee fridge for food in a pinch and got caught by Kunikida.

6.) If BSD og characters switch place with BSD beast AU, do you think they can survive? Why?

Most of them are already in BEAST and did just fine. I actually think their BEAST selves would be more prepared for Fyodor's machinations because it doesn't matter about Dazai switching, he still has premonition of the other world and knows what Fyodor's plans are well in advance before they've even been put into motion. BEAST bsd characters would likely have had a way better chance of defeating Fyodor sooner before he got to where he was now.

7.) If you were asked who are in BSD that you can see based on canon that are gay/bi/pan/demi/ace/aro/etc which characters are they?

I headcanon Sigma as aroace. I just see him as someone who wants to go to work, do what he has to do, and that's it. He doesn't seem very invested in others beyond anything platonically. I'd also probably put Ranpo in that category. Ranpo doesn't mind making friends, but I feel like that's all he sees others as.

I'm not going to touch on Dazai, because I think he's a bit of an odder case. And also because my theories about this are actually incredibly dark. But Dazai doesn't have any qualms about using his body to get what he wants, and he's shown that in the manga. That's more of a mafia thing, though, and part of his manipulation. Him not valuing himself even extends to his body: he doesn't see intimacy as something to connect with someone or bond over, it's just another tool. I don't know about natural attraction, but he'll force himself to act attracted to someone if it'll get him what he wants.

[anoonimthepoorchad]

Today was a messed up day for me, as well as for many people in Kyiv, as it began with an air raid at 3 A.M., and the loud sound of explosions followed by the sound of the air raid sirens. Those were 10 ballistic missiles russia sent to our city, ruining apartment blocks and causing fire. Everything happened so fast, it was impossible for anyone to run and hide in any kind of a shelter. Now I'm afraid to sleep in my bed at night.

Yesterday I enrolled in a blood donation event at my university, all by my own initiative. I always wanted to be a donor and I finally got a chance to try this out. But I was unprepared for the food restrictions and mostly stayed half-hungry for the whole day, as well as the following morning. It also took me a lot of energy to get to the university on my own, because of the sleepless night and the lack of nutrition.

Mostly the people who were donating blood were the kids from the military department of our university, I guess it was compulsory for them to take part in this event, while I came on my own choice. I did the needed tests, got my blood type and pressure checked, drank some sweet tea and went to the classroom to have my blood drawn.

I'm not the type to be afraid of blood, nor was I forced to come here. I even argued with my grandma over me choosing to donate blood when some of my other relatives had problems with this before. Everything was fine until the very end, like 2 minutes before the needed level was reached. My body decided that hunger, tiredness and all the stress I've been under these days was enough and tried to make me unconscious. And when the doctors tried to help me, my stomach turned against my breakfast and ruined my sweater in the most embarrassing way possible. After that the pressure was normalized and I finished the donation without any complications, so I'm glad they didn't have to throw the whole portion of my blood out. The doctors made some jokes about hungry students (a funny stereotype in our culture) and made sure I had regained my strength before I went home.

The mobile service is yet to come back, so back then I only told my parents that everything was over successfully and went home, where I had a good amount of rest and washed my clothes. I still feel a bit lightheaded but mostly I'm very embarrassed. It's scary how it feels to succumb to your own body and I feel like I should have commanded it to obey and not to embarrass me in front of everyone. But I know that back then I barely understood what was going on around me, I had no power over myself at all. Still, next time I'll just make sure to eat well and to sleep well before donating blood. It just feels like I was a big child, helpless and dirty, and that I made a trouble for everyone. It ruined my happiness over finally trying to help my community.

[max1461]

There are obviously occasionally people who just have really extreme violent impulses, you know, serial killers and so on, but I sometimes wonder if like... part of the problem with the world is that most people just have like a moderate level of desire for cruelty, like not so great as to do something illegal but great enough to engage in bullying, support policies or social norms that basically have the express purpose of causing needless pain, find excuses to morally justify hurting others (usually emotionally but sometimes physically) because they actually enjoy it, etc. Like observationally this seems to be a thing that a lot of people do habitually. It's not clear to me if this is cultural, in the way that like... you know, periodic raiding and small scale war seems to have been a cultural norm for most of human history but then we reorganized society in a way that made this mostly not happen, or if it's just really like human nature.

I was reading about the Toolbox Killers on Wikipedia (not a good decision for my mental health), and I was like. Ok, there's nothing you could have said to these guys to convince them that what they were doing was wrong. By all indications they wanted to hurt people, they enjoyed hurting their victims, and they felt no remorse. They were only upset about getting caught. Like, if you're a person who doesn't want to hurt others I feel like you fundamentally just can't get inside their heads, you know, there's no way it's going to make sense to you. And like I said, there's no way you could have convinced them that they shouldn't do this. Either by inherent nature or by circumstance or whatever, they came to be people whose brains just do not work like yours or mine. You see what I'm saying. Trying to reason with them and convince them to feel remorse or to change their ways seems, based on my lay speculation about these things, like it would be about as likely to succeed as convincing you or at that the goal of life was to maximize the number of carrots we could balance on our heads. Like just a fundamentally alien source of motivation.

And then I was thinking, ok... what if that's just everyone? What if what the Toolbox Killers are to extreme cruelty, you average person is to moderate cruelty? If we live in a world in which, by a quirk of biology, most people just fundamentally want to hurt each other. And you can convince them that this would be disadvantageous, you can threaten to punish them, but you can't really get them to see why it's wrong. They will always look for an excuse to bully others, look for justifications for causing harm and taking pleasure in it. What if that's just our lot as humans? It doesn't seem implausible. But it's a bit depressing.

[baidar-oroq]

I think I've been here before...

So lately over on Twitter, there's been a bit of a shitstorm in the FFXIV community.

Okay hang on, that doesn't really narrow it down...there's been a shitstorm over the difficulty of Dawntrail's dungeon and raid content. To sum it up, people have offered criticism of the difficulty-generally fair criticisms-and a small army of entitled jackasses are running around yelling about how if people don't like it they should just leave, games are not for you, you just want easy modes, fuck off casuals.

I think I may have given a hint on which side of the argument I fall on.

Here's my opinion on DT's dungeon and raid difficulty, starting off by saying I legitimately LOVED the Arcadion raids, despite the problems I'm about to list. So here's the list.

The fights are generally too busy visually, with loads of effects going off at once as the game bombards you with overlapping mechanics. It's all too easy to blunder into something because you've become lost in the visual soup.

Mechanics are hitting far harder than they need to, and especially hard if you're someone who uses the Duty Support to learn the fights on your own.

The expansion has drastically increased the visual vocabulary of telegraphs for mechanics and does a poor job of easing you into them. (This has always been true about FFXIV.)

There are many fights that have overlapping mechanics for far too long and make it too easy for you to fail them because of point #1.

I think these are all fair criticisms and they are all things that can be overcome with repeating the content, yes. But if you say this on Twitter, you will be insulted endlessly. And here's the thing.

I've been here before.

Namely in 2010, playing Cataclysm in WoW.

It is fucking uncanny how alike the situation is; after Lich King, where WoW was at the peak of mainstream popularity, the hardcores got the ear of the devs, who decried the game was too easy, it needed to be harder, come on guys, throw us a bone.

And so Cata launched with some of the most painful content in the world to run-in fairness, far harder than FFXIV's current content-and a lot of players complained that the dungeons were overtuned, offering fair criticisms. I remember that the first boss of Shadowfang Keep was basically impossible if the group didn't have every member with a 10 second cool down on interrupts; some comps literally could not do it. The dungeons were not fun at all, and the raids were worse.

And of course the forums were aflame with people saying get good, the game is fine, you all just suck.

But here's the thing. And it's something that you'd think Yoshi-P would know, considering how much he valued WoW as an influence:

When the sub numbers came out for the first time after Cata launched, three million people had quit.

I can testify to the effect that Cata's launch had; my guild went from being able to run two ten man raids and a 25 man ICC each week to having so few players I had to switch to tank to allow the guild to do a 10 man raid, 25s were dead. The difficulty of Cata blew a hole in the game's casual players that WoW never recovered from. Now I am willing to admit that it probably wasn't the difficulty change that caused all three million subs to vanish; Lich King was the game's peak, it was never going to sustain it.

But it was definitely a factor, a major one, and 4.1 only having as content the brutally hard troll dungeons, where you could spend two hours not clearing, sure as fuck didn't help.

And FFXIV has done the exact same thing; at the height of its popularity, it has tipped the content difficulty scale in the favor of the hardcores. So if sometime next year, there are no congested realms and a lot of houses are being demolished because their owners unsubbed, history could very well be repeating itself. Hell, it might even be worse; WoW didn't force you to do dungeons unless you wanted to gear up for content. FFXIV forces you to do dungeons and trials at least ONCE as part of the MSQ.

Why can't MMO devs ever find a happy medium?

[iantimony]

it's tuesday!

last weekend someone taught me how to catch crayfish when wading and this weekend i successfully grabbed one!! proof at the end of the post.

listening: guess (charli xcx, billie eilish): old roommate put this on for me and helloooooo. it's so. yeah. (link is the official music video, warning for flashing) it led me to this playlist cunty trashy slutty skanky which, first of all, excellent playlist name; second of all, what a fucking combination of songs?? something about the juxtaposition of nirvana -> kesha -> korn, etc is. insane in a good way.

last week was bandcamp friday! i last-minute got a few things: finally got sammy rae's "good life" and "let's throw a party", and preordered their newest album "something for everybody". i still need to buy my ticket for their concert near to me this fall. then i got sad snack's full discography for like $5 (the no children ska cover lol), the altogether's "when we were kids" which has been a go-to comfort album for me for a bit, shakey graves "deadstock" anthology, and finally the dear hunter "antimai".

i've been back on the podcast grind, just casually keeping up with stuff like mbmbam sawbones lpotl etc as they come out. most recent mbmbam (episode....730?? jesus christ) has some REALLY funny bits, notably towards the beginning where the cincinnati tornado sirens were being tested and griffin made a comment about the air raid sirens going off again and travis was like ?? dude i'm not in the fucking blitz??? it was very good. there was something else towards the end of the episode that also made me laugh out loud -- oh yes i just went and relistened to the last minute and it's the wish at the end, "i wish my cat would know what it means when i flip him off". so fucking true griffin. i was considering going to one of their tour dates but unfortunately they will be in the nearest city to me when i'm out of town for my second wedding of the fall. ah well

reading: most fallow. lots of little articles for my research.

watching: shane dawson and the art of the constant rebrand - jimmy robins: little retrospective about a guy who i never really liked and haven't thought about in years. i guess he's still around ??? okay. not gonna embed it so you don't get jumpscared by his face.

playing: this is a partial share with watching but last weekend my old roommate and i hung out with one of our friends with the intention of having dinner and crafting. however. we were so tired from kayaking earlier that day that we just ended up watching friend play stray and not crafting at all. it's really cute! i did get Very emotional at the beginning when the cat fell! i was like no!!!

my friend mostly played it but i did do a little bit, it was lots of fun. there was a very funny bit where friend, getting really in the mindset of Being Cat, pulled out a battery pack from a fan and was like "hehe i'm gonna drop it off the roof!" and did it before we could stop her, we were like wait we might need that to solve a puzzle -- but the answer was no it was fine, which is good, because it ended up dropped on a completely inaccessible rooftop ledge below, oopsie.

making: !!! ALL REDACTED !!! i will be able to post some of it next week. i do not know if beloved mutual celestialtourguide reads these regularly but just to be safe. allegedly the glaze kiln WILL be done by wednesday so i will finally know how fucked my guys are. if they're very fucked it'll be like. well, okay, i guess my gift is just money now,

other redacted item is embroidery related!

eating: mostly leftovers from last week, i think im gonna make crisped chickpeas with herbs and garlic yogurt from deb smittenkitchen to use up a zucchini that i have languishing in the fridge. it'll be a nice light lunch.

misc: THE PRELIMINARY EXAM DOCUMENT EXISTS. rejoice. however this comes with the caveat that i don't have a date set yet because i am in the trenches of trying to solve a Very specific problem with my software. the solution is a complete unknown to me as of now. it is in the stage of "putting key words in quotation marks in google scholar and going down the list emailing all the authors like heyyyy help please", which is scary. at least one other person has done something semi-similar - in fact they have my advisor in their acknowledgements thanking them for her editing help lol - so i'm hoping i'm nearly there. because once that is resolved i can FINALLY set a date, which, assuming i pass, also sets the earliest point at which i can give my thesis defense! scary!!

anyway. crayfish proof. it looks like im squishing him way worse than i actually was, he got released and swam away safely do not worry