#and i like playing with all my packs because i have weird attachment to things and i feel like id miss out if i deactivated a few of them

[simsreaper]

I blame windows 10 for all my sims 3 crashing problems because windows 7 never disrespected me like yes the sims 3 crashes every once in awhile but I get constant fucking crashes depending on the saves I play and it pisses me off, like please I've done all the fixes what more do you want from me 😭😭 I miss my windows 7 computer and being able to play the sims 3 all day without a single crash

[k9effect]

I thought about Mav passed out at his work desk with headphones on and it spiralled into this whole thing

Mav always felt a little lonely.

Even when he had people around him who loved him, he always ended up on his own one way or another and felt that loneliness seeping in. Goose was the first to notice. Before Goose's trips back to Tennessee to see Carole included Mav, he would come back to base to hear about how his pilot had lost a bit of his shine while he was away.

That's when Goose started making the recordings.

It was a small gift, but it meant the world to Mav. A brand new walkman, headphones and all, and a single cassette tape. This tape didn't have music on it, no, it contained a three hour recording of Goose reading though the F-14 Tomcat Flight Manual and adding in his own comedic commentary.

He wasn't sure what Mav would think of it, but when he returned home from another trip and found his pilot curled up asleep on the lounge, headphones on, walkman clutched in his hands, the tape run through, he realised he had made the right decision. Once Mav stirred, realising Goose had returned, he pulled the RIO onto the couch and thanked him for how thoughtful and considerate of a gift it was. That it made him feel less alone.

Goose continued the recordings. They were simple things he could make while completing other work. An hour recording here of Goose rambling while he completed chores, half an hour recording there of Goose muttering while he completes some paperwork. Even after Mav started joining him on his trips to Carole and they inevitably became attached at the hip, Goose continued making recordings. They grew more sincere over time, telling Mav that he was loved and he was strong and could get through anything.

Maverick was very glad he continued making them. It was a piece of Goose he could always carry with him.

Because one day, Goose wasn't there anymore.

Ice was never quite certain why his wingman was always listening to music on a busted walkman, but he never questioned it.

That was until he was packing Mav an overnight bag after an accident and Mav had specifically requested the walkman. Ice had taken a closer look at it and seen the writing on the cassette.

‘GOOSE - 12’

Curiosity got the better of him and he pulled on the headphones and pressed play.

“Y'know, Mav-” It was Goose's voice, Ice realised with a pang deep in his chest, “- I'm pretty sure, by like, most, if not all, the laws of aviation, you should have broken our Tomcat's airframe several times over. I honestly don't know how she's still together-” There was the clinking of dishes and sloshing of water along with the distinct sound of a bristly, sudsy brush scrubbing metal. “- What sort of demon did you make a deal with to manage this? I'm not arguing, I'd rather not face a board of inquiry again, but I'm curious.”

Ice paused it.

He realised very quickly what the cassette was and that, judging on the number, there were more of these.

Mav was always listening to Goose talk.

He packed the walkman into the overnight bag with much more care than he offered possibly anything.

Mav stared.

He blinked once, then twice. But it changed nothing.

There was a cassette sitting on his bed. On it, was scribbled a name and a number.

‘ICE - 1’

Beneath it was a small, simple note.

‘Listen to me.’

Mav pushed the cassette into his walkman and, sitting down, let it play.

“Hey, Mav. Sorry if this is weird for you, it sure feels weird for me. I- uh- I realised what the walkman is for. I'm sorry I teased you for it, it's not dumb and old. I know Slider thought you were pretty cool for having one. He's got one too. But anyways, I found a recording of Goose and I realised why you have this so I thought, y'know, maybe I could make you some new ones? To make up for the teasing at least. I mightn't be as good as Goose but I'll give it my best shot. I've got a book here, I'm just gonna read it out loud for a while, okay? Okay. Here we go…”

Mav listened to the whole thing in one sitting. It was long and sweet and Mav felt something aching inside him, something that hadn't ached in a long time.

Every week or so, Mav would find another cassette in his room with an increased number on it. It was just Ice for a while, but then he found one labelled ‘SLIDER - 1’. Then another a few months later labelled ‘HOLLYWOOD - 1’, then ‘WOLFMAN - 1’. His collection grew as more people helped continue Goose's legacy.

The day he found ‘VIPER - 1’ he felt like he was five again. Viper's recording was two hours worth of him recounting childhood stories of Mav, stories of him with his parents, of just his parents, and deployment tales of his dad.

Once Mav buys his first proper home, an old hangar out in the Mojave Desert, he builds a small shelf to hold all of his cassettes instead of keeping them in a bag or a box. It's then, when they're all neatly organised together, that he realises just how many he has.

The original thirty-one from Goose.

Three from Carole.

One short one from Bradley.

Seventeen from Iceman.

Ten from Slider.

Seven each from Hollywood and Wolfman.

Four from Chipper.

Three from Sunny.

And, so far, Two from Viper.

He doesn't feel so lonely anymore. Everyone he loves has put time and effort into making sure he doesn't feel alone. That instead, he feel loved.

And he sure does.

Even now, years down the track, Ice will stumble upon Maverick passed out at his work desk late at night ontop of a half finished project, with his old walkman next to him, headphones on, listening to Goose laugh his way through the Tomcat manual.

[bahablastplz]

All in | Chapter 16.5 (Felix)

pairing: Lee Felix x f!reader (mafia au)

summary: You didn't know what you were getting yourself into when you started dating Yang Jungwon, notorious mafia boss. Your life gets flipped upside down when you're found beaten and bloody by SKZ, the rival mafia group, and you're quickly integrated into their lives. What will happen when you try to leave your old life behind and start anew?

chapter summary: How did Felix come to join SKZ?

warnings: please see series masterlist for all warnings

series masterlist ~~ series taglist ~~ main masterlist

<< previous ♡ next >>

Felix:

When I was a child, people used to tell me that I would get taken advantage of for my kindness. I didn’t really understand what that meant, or what these phrases ‘to be walked all over,’ or ‘doormat,’ ever really meant. I just knew that I was taught in school to never bully anybody else, and that everybody should be treated with kindness, and so I did just that. 

I was treated poorly from a young age by other kids for reasons I never really understood why. To my understanding, they were reasons out of my control, because there was nothing I could ever do to make anybody like me. At some point I realized that other kids’ parents were telling their children to stay away from me. 

When I was in second grade my family moved away, and I finally made a friend. We didn’t move too far away, just a few neighborhoods over, but I still ended up changing schools. And so for once, I ended up growing closer to a boy in my grade even though I was a transfer student. I felt like something good had come of my move, even though I had begged and begged my parents for us to stay. 

“Why do you even care about staying?” my mother had asked. “It’s not like you have any friends.” Even though I was young, that had hurt like a knife to the gut. I didn’t want to be a burden, so I complied. She was right… I wasn’t sure why I cared so much about a place I had no stake in, but I was a kid, and kids have weird attachments to things sometimes. 

But then suddenly, Jack, my new friend on the playground, made me feel like all of my issues went away. I didn’t think about how hard it was for me to make friends anymore, I didn’t have to think about leaving the old school behind. I felt happy, distracted, and care-free. Like a kid should. 

It was short-lasting. 

After school, Jack and I were playing on the playground when his mom came to pick him up. His mother grabbed him harshly by the elbow, dragging him away without saying goodbye. 

“This ‘Felix’ kid you’ve been playing with, you didn’t tell me he was a Lee!” she spat. “You can’t play with him anymore.” They were far enough away that I could barely hear them, but the words still made anxiety bubble up in my gut and tears pool down my face. 

“Jack–” I called after him. “Bye, Jack!” His mother held him closer to her body as they walked away, shielding him from me. 

We never played together again, and just like at my first school, everybody started avoiding me no matter how nice I was. However, this time I had an answer as to why that was: it wasn’t because of me, it was because of my family name. 

It wasn’t clear to me at first what about my family name was such an issue or what caused it to make the other kids stay away. I still kept to myself all throughout school, not interacting much with any of the others. I even considered begging my parents to homeschool me at one point, but I knew that it would have been too much of a burden. My parents wouldn’t have been able to afford taking the time off of work to homeschool me. 

It was lonely. 

I didn’t put up a fight when we moved again. I was in high school this time, and when my parents told me we were moving, I packed my bags and  wordlessly followed. 

Finally, my parents admitted the truth to why we had moved after we settled into the new place. My father hadn’t gotten a new job; we were on the run. It was the reason why we had moved the first time and it was the reason why we had moved now. It turns out that my parents were prone to bad spending habits and taking out loans from the wrong people, and so each time we would have to pick up and move. It was hard, and my parents would often try to look for other options in order to pay off their debts, like selling drugs or partaking in illegal activities in exchange for cash just so we wouldn’t be displaced, but their name wasn’t the most reputable around. All they had wanted to do was help, but it was only hurting me over and over and over again when I had never done anything wrong from day one. 

It’s hard to know that your parents have done something so horrible. Looking at your own parents that you’ve known your whole life and seeing the faces staring back at you, knowing what they’ve hidden from you, it changes the way you look back at your childhood. It changes the way you view your parents and it changes the way that you view yourself. 

When my parents were killed and taken away from me suddenly, I didn’t know how to feel. 

Grief is just so, so complicated. 

Because I was still mourning the fact that my parents weren’t the people who I thought they were when they were taken away from me. I was trying to cope with the fact that my parents were inherently ‘bad’ people, but at the same time, they were all that I had. 

They were all that I had. 

“Help me take them down from the inside,” Chan had said. Bang Chan is the man that had found me a few days after my parents had died, had approached me at their funeral. “I need you to help me. The loan sharks, they killed my dad, too. I understand you, I was you once. If you can join, I think we have a solid chance of destroying them.” He explained to me that since he joined the loan sharks he had already risen in the ranks, was already gaining a lot of power. 

As much as I hated the idea of joining the people that killed my parents, the idea of revenge was so self-fulfilling. The man was convincing, too, with an already solidified plan and the work to show for it. 

I began to not really know who I was anymore. The only thing that was on my mind was blinding rage, and that was the thing that motivated me to wake up every day. I was no longer the little boy with a childlike wonder that was nice to everyone. 

I satisfied my one-track mind with Chan’s help. I delivered the finishing blow, the only exception being that Chan would be the one to take his place. I was fine with that, but it didn’t quite fill the hollowness inside that I had originally hoped. 

Joining the loan sharks and killing the man on top, it didn’t bring my parents back. It didn’t change what they had done and it didn’t change the person that it had turned me into. 

When I started to go into a deep depression and felt that maybe I should leave Chan to lead the new organization by himself, I was surprised by what he had said. 

“Leave…? Felix, leaving isn’t an option now. You owe me for helping you catch the guy who killed your parents.” I sort of looked at him strangely. It wasn’t the same thing that he had told me when he had recruited me and I felt like I was stuck now, with no way out. “That’s not something you can take lightly,” he had told me. “I was right there by your side. It’s only right for you to be there for me by mine. After all, you got to accomplish your mission, but mine is only halfway there.” 

And as his right-hand man, he had told me how he had planned to rebrand the loan sharks into something slightly more sinister. For now I had a new purpose in life, and it was to completely serve Chan until he felt that he had accomplished his goals.

I made my first friends again in this new life. I made them in Hyunjin, who I found to be a great conversationalist and so introspective that he had me questioning myself on a deeper level. In his thoughtfulness, his delicateness, and his intelligence that was valued in the group among all else. In Minho and Jisung, who had joined at the same time, in their complexities and hidden humors that are only unlocked once you know them on a deeper level. Their connections and smiles and hearts and anxieties and all of the love that they have to give, both individually and together. In Seungmin, who’s twisted humor hits deep and who’s compassion is even more heart-wrenching once you get to know him. Who would never tell you that he cares about you but would show it to you through his actions. Who pays attention to every last detail about everyone. Changbin, who has so much inner strength and resilience that he doesn’t know what to do with it, who wants to be strong because he is so scared of not being able to protect the people that he cares about. Who would so effortlessly do anything that anyone asked of him. Jeongin, our maknae, who everyone cares about like their own baby brother, who everyone wants to protect and cherish. Who has seen his fair share of shitty things but works just as hard as everyone else in order to strive for his goals. Who, even though he had known us for only half as long, would jump in front of a bullet for us. And then… Y/N… 

Y/N who made my world stop spinning on my axis when I met her. She ignited a fire inside of me and though a little voice inside of my head spoke and said it was probably wrong, I didn’t dare to listen to it. There’s nobody like her. Nobody who would ever dare stand up to Chan, nobody I’ve ever met who I’ve wanted to cherish and protect so much, but also, nobody that I have wanted to see flourish and grow. I am utterly and hopelessly in love. 

It didn’t take me long to realize that between Y/N and SKZ I had obtained something that I had needed for a long time, and I hadn’t even been looking. A family. A real one. 

And I intend to do whatever it takes to keep it. 

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──── ♡ ─── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

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[notebookqueenofnarnia]

Okay Demigods

now that Season 2 has been confirmed (!!!!!!!!!!) I am here to make my official appeal that you ALL read the books. and yes...i mean ALL the books. Because here is what you are missing if you don't:

(mostly spoiler free. mostly vibes and chaotic no context)

OG PERCY JACKSON

Percy's INCREDIBLE sarcasm

Lots of chaotic Mr. D moments

Percy's unending absolute obliviousness when it comes to: his own abilities/powers, his own feelings towards a certain daughter of Athena, and EVERYONE'S feelings towards him

the full list of Percy's felonies (it's longer than you think!)

how much Percy thinks about Annabeth, especially in the third book

The Hunters of Artemis (everyone's like 'which godly parent would you have?' but im like ??? who cares??? I'm running off with the girls to immortal to hunt men i mean monsters)

soooooooooo much Sally Jackson is the Best Mom (to everyone who walks through her door) content

BLACKJACK. TRANS ICON BLACKJACK THE PEGASUS.

Rachel. Elizabeth. Dare. (this is how the audiobook says her name every single time)

Paul Blofis

Sally Jackson, author

Poseidon: Blowfish?

HEROES OF OLYMPUS

If you don't read these books you are missing out on some of the coolest female characters Rick has created: PIPER (an iconic), HAZEL (unintentionally hilarious), REYNA (beautiful character arc), and ANNABETH's point of view will have you loving her on a whole other level, trust me

Also: COACH HEDGE

Leo

All The Ladies Love Leo

the audiobooks are INSANE. It felt like a full cast read the book, but no. it was just one insanely talented narrator.

FESTUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS (im a dragon girlie)

Personally, I spent a lot of time reading the OG 5 wondering about how Roman mythology plays into Percy's world. Uncle Rick answered my questions and answered them SO WELL

Hazel the horse girl

Frank the horsebirddolphinman

Frank, gentle himbo, my beloved son

MY FAVORITE SCENE WHICH INVOLVES PERCY NOT KNOWING HOW TO DRIVE, A HARPY, FRANK, AND HAZEL AND THEYRE ALL SCREAMING AND IM PRETTY SURE STUFF IS ON FIRE

Forced Proximity for 7 teenagers and one chaotically violent satyr (that's Coach Hedge)

Eros/Cupid being one the most genius things Rick's ever written

Percy's hate of Ares transcending god magic

(also his love of Annabeth, but that's like obvious)

PercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabethPercabe

weird barely gnome things

this one giant whose name is definitely not pronounced like female anatomy

everyone thinking Percy and Annabeth are constantly getting up to the hanky panky

a statue made me cry

Gay Grumpy/Sunshine (or should that be Death/Sunshine) origins!!

TRIALS OF APOLLO

Apollo, vain himbo of godly proportions is forced to live as Lester Papadopoulos

Percy: why

a very chaotic twelve year old daughter of Demeter

she commands Apollo around

plant magic

terrible great haikus at the start of every chapter

Sally Jackson being the best mom to everyone who comes to her door

magic shoes

a sassy magic prophetic arrow that talks in Shakespearean English

so much gay grumpydeath/sunshine content

also yes sunshine's dad is Apollo

Apollo sings

Grover! Piper! Reyna! Hazel! All the friends! Everyone

Jason! (also im sorry)

what if there were some trees who were an elite squad of warriors who also answer to the chaotic twelve year old

gay moms of the midwest

unicorns

in the last book, chiron takes the campers on a 'field trip' to help take down the big baddie and he shows up dressed as a warrior soccer mom with granola bars, water bottles, and extra swords attached to his fanny pack

a different chaotic twelve year old while fighting to the death in a building that's on fire: "CAN WE GO ON FIELD TRIPS EVERY WEEK?"

chiron: "ROSE DEAR RAISE YOUR SWORD A LITTLE HIGHER!"

okay im not going to spoil it but in the last book there is also this extremely horrifyingly violent moment that Uncle Rick somehow turns into one of the most hilarious things i've ever read

Piper in the epilogue

CHALICE OF THE GODS

more insanely funny percy first person narration

Grover, Percy, Annabeth reunite ("the gang is back together!" "The three musketeers!" "Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey!" "Excuse me?")

have you met the god of himbos? (Percy has)

SO

MANY

EASTER

EGGS

for Season one. you can totally see how Uncle Rick worked on the script and chalice together

if you liked Annabeth shoving Percy into the water....this one is for you

Percy, supreme god of snakes

the cutest cutest cutest cutest Percabeth content you will ever read

hippie gods (yes more than one)

Percy is literally obsessed with Annabeth

Annabeth already being the Jackson daughter in law

Sally Jackson and Paul and

For the record: You CAN read Chalice of the Gods without reading the other series, but please please please read all these books. The audiobooks are phenomenal.

[cameronspecial]

Before The Last Petal Falls (Part 1)

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: Talks about sex and drugs.

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 2.4K

Summary: Coming home is supposed to be a happy occasion, but it's hard to be happy with your ex-boyfriend lurking around the corner.

A/N: This is a sequel series to Thorn In My Side, Rose in My Hand series.

Masterlist

Going back home is the last thing Y/N wants to do right now. The Outer Banks is full of memories from a heartbreak she does not want to remember. However, she is no match for the force known as Cassie and Marvin, and that is how she finds herself on a plane back to North Carolina. For the past five years, Y/N has done everything in her power to not step foot on the island again and now, it is all for nothing. “Please fasten your seat belts, we are preparing for landing,” the pilot’s voice stirs Y/N from her slumber. She can’t believe this is actually happening right now. The elderly lady beside her smiles at her, “First time going to North Carolina?” “Uh, no. I actually grew up there, in the Outer Banks, but I haven’t been back since I left. It feels a little weird,” she answers honestly. 

“Ahh, so you were running from something.” 

“Yeah, I was. But it looks like I can’t anymore. I just hope that something isn’t there anymore.”

The plane lands and Y/N gets her bags from the carousel. She waits for Mason in the pick-up area, running towards him when she spots his car. Mason crushes Y/N in a hug, “It’s so good to see you back on American soil. This is long overdue.” Y/N pats his back while returning the hug. “Yeah, yeah. It’s good to be home. Did Lace get Sparky here okay?” Mason picks her suitcase up and packs it into his trunk, “Yep, he’s probably being a little energy ball in our living room as we speak.” They both laugh at the joke and then hop into the car. “So how’s your internship at the architectural firm? Is it different from the one in Toronto?” she asks her brother, bringing her hand to the locket around her neck. Heading back to the Outer Bank is causing her to be anxious and playing with the locket calms her down. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Mason that she still wears the necklace and is playing with it. 

“It’s going well. Most buildings that people look into getting built here are a different style than in Toronto. OBX wants beach boxes, while Toronto has a wide range of styles. It’s really fascinating watching how my boss’ designs still match to look different from one another.”

“That’s cool. I like the name beach box. It sounds fun. Like a giant sandbox. And are you enjoying it?”

“Yeah, I really am. Although, I do want to see if I can get an internship in an Asian country afterwards. They have a different style that’s interesting. How is the bookstore coming along?”

“A little stressful right now to be honest. Juggling my book edits and what I need to change or add so that the building is up to code and now being here. It’s all just a little too much. At least, I have a name Bookkeeper. It’s gonna confuse people who actually know what that career is but I think it’s funny.”

“It is a good name. It’s very punny.”

“Ugh, that was so bad.”

———

One of the worst places to be is her childhood bedroom. The countless days they spent cuddling on the bed haunts her. The love they expressed physically all over the room is practically engrained in her brain. She had never been able to feel that way again. She unpacks her clothes into her closet and goes to check on Sparky downstairs. He was left down there because she didn’t want him sitting on her suitcase like he did when she was packing her bags in London. He has gotten bigger and he has a little bit of an attachment issue. He doesn’t like being very far from his Mommy for very long. Y/N’s heart drops to the pit of her stomach when she sees the open front door and bolts out of it in hopes of catching her dog before he gets too far. 

She follows his barks like a trail of breadcrumbs to the sidewalk. If her heart wasn’t already giving her problems, it certainly is now. The sight before her is one she never thought she would see again. Rafe Cameron is kneeling down and petting Sparky. Beside him is a beautiful woman in a sundress. Her long black hair cascades down her shoulders and her brown almond-shaped eyes show such warmth behind them. Her makeup is done to absolute perfection. Y/N slowly approaches the trio without hesitation. She doesn’t want to go near Rafe, but seeing as it doesn’t look like Sparky is nowhere near going home, she had to go get him.

 “Hey Sparky, long time no see. It’s good to see you again, Bubba. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for ya. You’ve gotten so big,” she hears him greet. As she approaches, she accidentally steps on a stick and the crack alerts the others to her presence. “Hey,” she awkwardly begins. “I’m just here for my dog.” Rafe nods and stands up, moving to wrap his hand around the woman’s waist. “Uh, yeah. I remember a time when he used to be my dog too.” Sensing the tension, his companion introduces herself, “Hi, I’m Blythe Katsumi. I’m Rafe’s fiancée.” Blythe sticks her hand out for Y/N to shake, which she does. “I’m Y/N Y/L/N. Rafe’s- uh…this is Sparky.”

“It’s okay. I know you were his high school girlfriend. He told me about you.”

“Right. And he didn’t tell me about you.”

Rafe rolls his eyes and huffs, “Yeah, well it’s not like we were doing a lot of talking in the last five years. What are you doing here, Y/L/N?” 

“You mean besides looking for my dog, in front of my house? The better question is what are you doing here Rafe?”

“I have every right to be here because unlike you, I’ve been coming back home.”

Before Y/N can retort, Blythe stops the conversation from going any further. “Well, it was lovely meeting you, but we need to go. We have to get some stuff ready for the engagement party.” Blythe waves goodbye and takes Rafe’s hand to walk away. This draws Y/N attention to Blythe's left hand with the giant diamond engagement ring. This causes a stabbing feeling to shoot through Y/N’s heart. Her hand shoots up to her locket and she begins to rub it for some comfort. This action doesn’t go unnoticed by Rafe as he catches it from the corner of his eye.

———

Everyone has their own vices. Cheating. Gambling. Alcohol. Lying. Rafe’s is drugs. There was a period of time in his life when weed was not the outlet he turned to when in need of getting out of his own head. That one blissful year he had with her was his escape instead. But after the breakup, weed was the only thing that made him forget about her. Eventually, he became numb to the weed and he needed something stronger, so Barry introduced him to cocaine. Mason didn’t know that Rafe had stepped it up in the drug department because if Mason knew, he would’ve found some way to get Rafe to stop. And Rafe didn’t want to, he needed to escape the feeling of being consumed by her. 

Before today, Rafe had managed to go a month without thinking about her at all. It was his highest record in the past five years they had been apart. There was no bookstore he walked by with a girl quite similar to her standing at the window. No hard kombucha in Mason’s fridge to indicate that she had been there. No caramel ice cream at the parlour that she would beg him to buy. It was like the universe was giving him a break from being haunted by Y/N. It seems the universe is done with giving him that gift because as he drives to Barry’s house, he is drowning in thoughts of her. He loved seeing Sparky, of course, but why did she have to come back? He couldn’t get the smell of her hibiscus body wash out of his mind. The sweet but gentle tropical scent she wore contradicted the foggy and rainy place she had moved to. Her hair is held back in a claw clip he used to play with whenever she would leave them around. 

And the thing that had really caused him to spiral is her hand still holding the locket he had given her for their first Christmas as a couple. Has she been wearing it for the past five years? Had she worn it while she let other men make her feel good, but nowhere near as good as he can make her feel? Would she wear it when she told them she loved them? But most importantly, how dare she come back to what is now only his island and wear it as if she cared for him? She hasn’t been back in years or talked to him; she doesn’t get to pretend like she’s thought about him. It is driving him crazy and he needed something to stop him from going too deep down this rabbit hole. 

Barry hears Rafe’s motorbike and is waiting outside for him. “Well, well, well, look who came back from the dead. Thought you went sober on me for a second there, country club. What can I get you for you?”

“However much you got. I got a feeling that I’m gonna be needing it more often.”

He knew he would need whatever he got his hands on to help him forget about her because if he didn’t then he would remember. And it would probably kill him to remember just how his heart almost leapt out of his chest when he saw Y/N Y/L/N right before his eyes.

———

When they broke up, Mason told both of them that he would not be used as a source to find out more about the other. He said it was for his own sanity in not wanting to be caught in the middle of his sister and best friend, but it was also in hopes that it would cause discourse between the two that would lead to their reunification. So it made sense that Mason would keep an engagement from her. But she still needed more information that she would give Mason no other choice but to give her. “How long have they been together, Mace?” Mason closes his eyes in a silent prayer that he isn’t about to have this painful conversation with his sister. He lifts his head from his laptop and turns towards her, “A year and a month. They’ve known each other for a year and a half.” 

“How long have they been engaged?”

“Four months.”

“Did you help him propose?”

“He didn’t ask.”

“How come you didn’t tell me?”

At this, Mason can hear the sadness in his sister’s voice. He knew no matter how much she says she is over Rafe, it isn’t true. It’s why she still wears his locket after all. He knew she needed to know though. 

“You know I don’t want to get in between you two. Also, I just didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t want to tell you something that would hurt you so much. I love you and I want to protect you from that pain.” 

“Yeah, I get that. It just would’ve hurt less if it came from you,” she whispers, not knowing what else to ask or add to the conversation. She turns around and goes to her room, where she finds Sparky waiting for her. He gives her a pouty look, asking how come he couldn’t go with his Daddy. She sits down on her bed beside him and places his head on her lap, “I’m sorry, Bubba. But I did what I had to do. Breaking up with him was necessary. I mean I set him free and look at him now, he is getting married.” It hurt. It hurt that he was okay with marrying Blythe before he turned twenty-five. He wanted to speed up his life plan two years earlier just for Blythe. How come he was willing to do that for Blythe but not for Y/N? Was Blythe really that much better than her?

Doing what any other girl would do, Y/N resolves to some internet sleuthing. It wasn’t that hard to find Blythe’s Instagram. She has a public account and Mason is following her. She has an impressive 500K followers; probably because she is the heiress to a popular Japanese hotel chain. All her posts have her makeup done to perfection and her clothes are all designer. One of her saved reels is of her and Rafe partying on New Year's Eve. At least Blythe can keep up with Rafe on that level. Y/N moves her search to Google and finds Blythe’s Wikipedia page. She was born in New York and raised there. She attended UNC for fashion. From multiple tabloid pictures, she can tell that the party scene is one Blythe frequent but she is also a sweet girl. In one picture, she is giving her jacket to a homeless person along with some money when she is returning home from a party. She helps out at soup kitchens and takes children out on shopping sprees. Y/N supposes that Blythe could just be doing it for the media attention, but the look in Blythe’s eyes tells her it isn’t true. 

After finding out possibly everything she could find out about Blythe, Y/N turns all of her electronic devices off to stop her from spiralling on social media anymore. She heads over to her bookshelf in need of a bookish escape. Her eyes glance over the different titles until her eyes find one particular book she had not thought about it in a while. She pulls the book off the shelf and opens it up to the title page with the inscription on it. The copy of The Lightning Thief that Rafe had annotated sits before her. She had left it here when she went to university because it felt too hard to bring with her. It held too much meaning. As she sits down on her window sill, she begins to read the book with a special focus on the inscriptions. She reads for hours, allowing herself to feel every bit of emotion that passes through her. God, it hurts to be back home.

Taglist: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @gillybear17 @f4ll-for-you

[stillness138]

Since there won't be any more expansions (and i'm a chronic procrastinator), i updated my personal top 10 Gwent card arts into a top 20, including the few sets that came since then and shuffling things around a bit.

It's a long one, hence the cut.

Personal top 20 Gwent card arts:

20: Bone Talisman by Bogna Gawrońska It's still the most festive looking thing i like. My beloved blue-and-bright red fidget spinner. I really can't explain my weird attachment to it any other way; i generally tend to like the item arts, maybe it's the collector brain, maybe it's because after Homecoming and most of the expansion sets since later 2019 onwards, these base set trinket adjacent arts became more prominent to me among a lot of new, more dramatic and bleak character and scenery art.

19: Ceremonial Dagger by Katarzyna Bekus The entire set of strategem arts from Merchants of Ofir is honestly packed, but the dagger is the one i found myself putting in my in-game profile the most. Maybe it's the item hoarder brain again, maybe it's the color scheme i find relatable if that makes sense, most likely it's the premium helping a bunch to make that choice too. The background weirdly fascinates me. Does it have anything to do with The Spiral? I have never attempted to really assign any logical meaning to the strategem arts, they're clearly more symbolic than anything, but it still makes you wonder.

18: Ard Gaeth by Katarzyna Bekus Somewhat related, here's another piece of wonky multiverse lore. And once again, it's the color that first grabs attention; the contrast of teal and this dusty red. Then one starts realizing the implied size and scope, the birds help with that, apart from being a cute composition detail. The shattery effect makes it look volatile, unstable, dangerous. Ominous. Which ultimately makes it fit with the rest of the Wild Hunt archetype in more than just lore.

17: Coup de Grâce by Lorenzo Mastroianni There are two wolves in me, one loves bright colors, the other actually enjoys a lot of the bleaker scenes. Although to be fair, Lorenzo Mastroianni is a big contributor to that. And it's no wonder, when he casually drops stuff like this. It's almost symbolic, lot less than strategems but certainly more than other, straightforward "war sucks" Gwent art. How do you visually represent something sad in a way that makes it hard to look away not just because of the tragedy but because of the beauty put into making that image? You ask Lorenzo Mastroianni, the modern classical artist, to do it.

16: Viper Witcher by Valeriy Vegera I once described Valeriy's art as "where Lorenzo uses a tight color palette, he uses every pencil in the case". This one is perhaps not as obvious an example, the whole piece has a very unified atmosphere especially from afar, but still, there are so many colors especially in textiles and skin. They're harder to register sometimes but it's how Valeriy does texture and shading. And somehow, he bridges the bleak and the colorful world too. Admittedly, this card also had to be here because mr. Viper is my son, and the voicelines are done by an actor with the nicest, smoothest bass i've heard since Peter Steele.

15: Naglfar's Crew by Anton Nazarenko I was surprised by how much i ended up liking this one. It's the implications, i think; enchanted to laboriously upkeep this monster of a ship, this 'and if you see it emerge from a breach in the sky, you know you're fucked' symbol of death and decay. It's dark in a way i find compelling, i guess.

14: Serpent Trap by Marta Dettlaff Back to the bright ones, i liked this art ever since i discovered it as Nature's Gift in post-Midwinter beta. The card saw play in Scoia'tael spell decks, and to me it became linked to Francesca Findabair for their shared spectral snake thing. But that all aside, the art is just so pretty. Vibrant, yet not oversaturated. And like the item arts, needed to balance out the cool and badass and the dramatic and tragic. Looking at it now, another point comes to mind; it's still grounded? The way Gwent art at large is grounded compared to other card games. Like it's not trying so hard (both this piece and the game's art in general). That's refreshing.

13: Chort by Bartłomiej Gaweł It reminds me of the first game's main menu. The Witcher 1 main menu is, to me, one of the most accurate representations of this universe, its atmosphere. Even if the "you kill cows, you get ambushed by the fucking baphomet" is a meme game mechanic, something about it is...witchery. Superstition, folk legends, and ultimately, monsters. Or that's my takeaway, anyway. But the Chort art, beside being on the more rare side in-game, has always weirdly drawn me in.

12. Oneiromancy by Lorenzo Mastroianni This was the Novigrad expansion key art before they turned it into a card, and i sure am glad they did. Lorenzo can get a bit weird, as a treat, someone said. Are they Condwiramurs and Corinne? Possibly! But i'll abstain from the schizo theories now. It's a gorgeous, well composed and executed surrealist piece. Inception if it had strong palpable atmosphere.

Denis Villeneuve > Christopher Nolan. but Lorenzo beats both

11: Funeral Boat by, you guessed it, Lorenzo Mastroianni One final yippee for the last card set. And my god it's beautiful. Tight composition can get surprisingly hard to coordinate and make decisions for, but this is so well-balanced. The left end of the boat is closer to the frame, but right side has the most noticeable color, the character's face, and of course the bird to even it out. As if to defend the title i gave him earlier, Lorenzo references Isle of the Dead in a way that, even if symbolic, fits into the universe perfectly. Someone stop me before i start rambling about similar concepts in different mythologies.

10: Dana Méadbh (now the token spawned by Call of Harmony) by Anna Podedworna The most famous Gwent artist enters the list. With a piece made around two, when you think about it very bold choices. The goddess of nature and life, glowing with inhuman light in a black and barren forest. Obscured by thin, bare tree trunks. But to make her emerge and stand out, that was necessary. And it's working wonders. A lot of the Scoia'tael faction is obviously green, all kinds of green, but even a simple choice like making it pop out of black makes the card art stand out among others.

9: Circle of Life by Oleksandr Kozachenko It has everything i usually look for in Gwent art; nature, color, atmosphere. A certain tranquility, perhaps. A little bit of story - the orange badge is the Kerack coat of arms. It's that environmental storytelling thing gamers keep talking about, complementing the character and faction drama of the rest of its card set.

There's a slightly changed, extended version, too, and somehow it's even better.

8: Gezras of Leyda by Bogdan Rezunenko As much as i tend to dunk on Bogdan for having played Blasphemous once and making it his entire personality, Gezras is easily the best school founder card art of the set. Once again, the choice to have these prominent arts on the more symbolic side paid off, and the result is a stalking nocturnal animal out for revenge, backed by a giant image of what simultaneously did him irrepairable harm and gave him the means to defend himself. The premium doesn't disappoint either.

7: Rioghan the Undying by Daniel Valaisis To nobody's surprise, the atmosphere, once again, got me hooked. I love the cold color, the dramatic flow, the big imposing silhouette of a ship in the background. Poor boy is the picture of misery. It's pure melancholy (something not that common in the Skellige faction by the way, which is a point in favor of Funeral Boat too), that i, of course, am inevitably drawn to.

he's just like me fr...

6: Witches' Sabbath by Michal Lisowski Did i craft this card already or not? The realist's complaint towards near-greyscale card art. I share this sentiment, if only for the comedy of it, but with a few notable exceptions, and this piece is the main one. The Robert Eggers comparisons were made already i'm sure, but it really is a take on the last good Witcher 3 quest with a dramatic, more dreamy, or you could say cinematic quality ramped up to 11. Gone is the fanservice present in the game and the unnecessarily grotesque depictions of fatness of other parts of this card set, and what remains is a beautiful, ominous callback to folklore and classical art.

5: Tinboy by Valeriy Vegera This is a baroque painting. The drama. Tinboy doesn't take that scarf off, ever. And here this poor soul is, their last will to live dragging it off him. On purpose? On accident? Probably both. The pattern marking Tinboy as a gang member staining with blood of a victim, something something symbolism. All in Valeriy's signature 'which pencil should i pick up next' style. Underrated piece.

4: Lara Dorren by Toni Muntean They finally got our girl. And once again, despite heartbreak, it's gorgeous. Soft, sweet colors with a necessary hint of melancholy (the lighting suggests it's sunset?), and a pure, painted quality without the need for texture assets. A scene like this is better left a comparatively simple and laid back tribute. Beyond the technicalities, i also really, really applaud Toni for the outfit design. This is the Aen Elle princess, dressed well but for the weather. And the fact her mostly blue clothes with yellow sleeves mirror Cregennan's yellow jerkin with blue details, and her red brooch above the heart might, beside contrasting with the blue, very well reflect his fatal wounds... well. As much as death on card art isn't always done the best, Lara is represented together with that which mattered to her the most. Despite being categorized among the Wild Hunt, she remains herself.

3: Lydia van Bredervoort by Igor Klymenko The joy i felt when this was the art of Lydia they managed to get into the game. It's easily one of the best contest pieces and on par with the best Gwent has to offer - it has mood, and that ever present air of groundedness, realism, and in that, unfortunate tragedy. But similarly to Lara, it shows Lydia being her own person; doing what she loved and was good at without sight of Vilgefortz despite her being known as his ever loyal assistant. Likewise, it doesn't sensantionalize her condition, but references it in a subtle, tasteful, and even clever way. I also love her dress and the overall color palette. Igor understood.

2: Eldain by Anna Podedworna Couldn't help it, this asshole has me in chokehold and he's enjoying it. In my defense, this piece highlights everything Anna is known for, because she's damn good at it. Incredibly sharp main subject of the piece contrasted against a blurry background, which allows for insane details like the strings extending from the top of the lute. To add more fun to it, Eldain isn't even in the absolute foreground, but the piece is still composed smart, so he remains the main focus. His silly red collar on mostly green helps. On top of all that, the art tells a little story, something Anna often does too, and in this case it delightfully sums Eldain up. It's also the best premium in the game.

look at his little red ears from sitting against the sun aww

Honorable mention: Lake Guardian by Anton Nazarenko Like the following #1, this card has sentimental value to me as my second card reveal and artwork i made my best emote of. It was a perfect match, bird gals and all. It's a Sirin, bringing in a more obscure but not unwelcome mythology reference to the universe. And I love her vibrant, marble-like eyes.

1: Dol Blathanna Sentry by Lorenzo Mastroianni ...remains my favourite card art since that fateful day sometime in January 2018. I was just discovering what there was to know about Witcher, downloading Gwent in the first place out of need for more content as i was slowly reading through the first book. Gwent has done a lot to explore and build on this universe, and it has helped me contextualize a lot of things early on. I remember scrolling through the deckbuilder, seeing this art, and being struck by its mood, this aura of secret and wonder. "Oh, so this is what Dol Blathanna looks like..." It's quintessential older Lorenzo. Very much admitted brush work, fog, tight color palette. The little specks of blue in flowers and face paint work just right. Maybe it's a reference to Arthurian myth and Avalon, maybe to Greek myth and Hades, or maybe, as is often the case and was the case later (or earlier in this list), both. It spoke to me and my sense of wonder back then. It speaks to me when i search for comfort now.

now, time to tear Karol Bem to shreds in the top 20 least favourites xd

[humanfleshbutcher]

Can we get another Puss in boots x reader? Your last one was adorable and such a fun read! Maybe a platonic one where the reader is a bit on the younger side and likes helping mama luna with all her cats and when finding out puss can talk wants to play adventures with him? And puss ends up attached to his new little friend and is practically waiting for them to come back to continue their games!

Puss In boots + Reader 'new friends' (Young Reader)

OMG YESSS AAA MY HEART 😭😭😭 IM SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG I DIDN'T REALIZE and thank you i just started writing so i'm sorry if it kinda sucks (also, I hope you don't mind I added some extra scenes

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

Summary: You find a new friend while helping out your godmother, and what a surprise your new friend is.

TW: None

!PLATONIC!

-----------

You have been to Mama Luna's home countless times. You spend weekends there helping her take care of her cats (which she made promise not to tell the 'HR' about). You swear you can tell all the cats apart no matter how much they look alike by heart. That black cat is different from the identical black cat because that cat is more relaxed and sleepy while the other is more on guard and less tired.

But this time it was different, you were informed that Mama Luna got (another) new cat and you want to see it! The only thing you know is that it's called 'Pickles'.

You instantly packed your bags for the stay and arrived. You were a little surprised when you saw Pickles was ginger. maybe it was the eyes? You're not sure, but you're not there to judge Mama Lunas naming techniques, you're there to hang out with the cats you love so much.

To be honest, Pickles was interesting. He acted differently than other cats. Sometimes you catch him standing there like a human... But hey, cats are weird in their own way.

But that little Ginger cat reminded you of someone.... You swear you saw some cat like him before... well, maybe you're just getting Deja vu, right?

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

The house was silent... well as silent as a house can be with thousands of cats in it. You were asleep with cats in your chest and on your legs, currently, you were laying on the ground with all the other cats. Not a thing in the world was bothering you...

Until you heard talking. It stirred you from your sleep. You looked up, seeing Pickles and.... A dog dressed up as a cat? You slowly sat up, carefully moving the cats out the way.

You couldn't believe your eyes, a cat and a dog talking???? Are you imagining stuff right now? You didn't really know what to do, so you just stared as the two animals communicated.

"Under the porch I kind of made friends with the rats, but the centipedes still aren't too fond of me." The dog spoke in an innocent voice.

"Congratulations.." Pickles replied, seemingly not interested in the dogs banter.

Pickle continued to listen to the dog banter, looking around the room. Until his eyes landed on you. Instantly, his eyes widened and he placed a hand over the dogs mouth.

Now it was just a staring contest. You didn't move an inch, and neither did they...

Well, until the dog ran over to you and asked "Hi! Whats your name?" You flinched slightly as he made his way over to you. Pickles groaned, walking over to the both of you.

"Uh- I'm Y/N?" You responded hesitantly. The dogs tail wagged rapidly behind him.

"You can speak?" You asked now, with the same excited but hushed tone. Instead of being frightened, you were super excited. It was just like the fairytales!

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

After that moment, you spoke to pickles more. He at first seemed distant, but soon he became attached to you. He loved how you compared him to puss in boots, not knowing you're speaking to the legend himself.

He probably became more attached to you because you would give him 'human' food, you were told by Mama luna that he once 'baked pancakes' or something, so you guessed he liked human food.

You also sometimes gave him milk, but not too much. Mama Luna told you thats how cat's got fat, despite Puss telling you it's false.

But what you loved most, is that you got to play-pretend adventures with him. He seemed so creative, telling you stories and playing them out with you. You made fake props and pretended to be pirates, hero's, thief's and whatever else you could think of.

He enjoyed it too, he loved your determination and how you liked to play out the adventures that puss in boots was in (a.k.a Inflating his ego). He really appreciated you, you were like a young daughter he never had, and since you visited so much you were practically always there.

Every weekend you'd come over with a new story and new things to play around with. Sometimes your stories would take a few weekends to play out, but that's what was so fun about them. They could be endless, with a twist at every ending, or a relative who wants to avenge his old brother after you just beat him in battle.

Endless fun for the both of you.

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

You stuffed your last pieces of clothing into the suitcase, zipping it up with force. You huffed. You were more sad than usual to be leaving the house, but it's only because you have best friends here now.

"Why so sad?" Pickles asked.

You plopped onto the bed next to him, scratching him behind the ear.

"Well, i don't wanna leave yet." You pouted, looking over at your suitcase.

Pickles leaned into your hand, getting your attention.

"Hey, you'll be back here next week, and I'll be waiting for you, my little friend." He reassured, standing up and petting you this time. You giggled, standing up from your bed.

"Darling Y/N! Your mama is here!" Mama Luna yelled out for you. You sighed.

"Hey, Pequeño, when you get back, we'll go on adventures you never thought were possible, okay?" He said, you instantly flooded with excitement.

Once you were at the door, you knelt down next to Pickles and hugged him.

"Good bye puss." You whispered to him, then saying good bye to Mama Luna and going to your mom.

Puss watched you run off, a smile on his face.

"Aw Pickles, already missing little ol' Y/N?" Mama Luna giggled, walking away from the now closed door. He stared at it for a bit longer, before muttering to himself.

"Already..."

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

[Pequeño = little one]

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

Sorry if it seems rushed, but I wrote this real fast! I hope you like it (english isn't my first language so sorry for any mistakes :') )

[sikeydelic]

the meow meows playing minecraft :3

plus headcanons because i need to get this out of my brain:

-fyodor would only want to do speedruns or hardcore— he finds minecraft so boring without the challenge. he doesn't care about speedrun.net that much because, if he really wanted to be at the top of that list, he could probably bribe and hack his way in pretty easily. definitely the one out of the three who plays the most (total epic gamer). sometimes (usually because nikolai asks him to) fyodor will hack servers and cause chaos for a little bit before he gets banned (for, like, the 300th time). probably knows how to make super complicated redstone shit but he hardly ever does. favorite biomes: plains, deserts, warped forests

-nikolai causes destruction everywhere he goes. when playing on servers hes a griefer, and when he plays alone/with his friends he just tortures every mob imaginable. prefers to play in creative, and will fly/glide around exploding stuff. he sets villages on fire and watches all the villagers scream and run around in pain and then laughs really loud about it. makes pits of animals that are so densely packed they start dying. he also stretches the game to its limit, spawning in so much stuff that it completely glitches out. the kinda guy to make a huge wolf army also. can entertain himself with this for a little while, but eventually he gets bored and goes to do something else. favorite biomes: coral reefs, nether wastelands, plains

-sigma never plays, but sometimes fyodor and nikolai are playing and he thinks it might be fun. definitely the "what's (insert basic minecraft thing)" to fyodor's "you dont know (insert basic minecraft thing)??????" never got the game explained to him (fyodor and nikolai both immediately ran off to do their own thing) and kept dying over and over. everyone got annoyed at him asking "how do i sprint?" "guys wait why cant i get over this (jump)" "whats this weird green thing why is it hissing at me" "how do i craft an axe" etc. eventually he figured it out and became a builder, every time they played making really cute little houses. always has at least two dogs and one cat that he cares for a lot. probably builds a farm but then gets too attached to the animals to actually kill them. prefers to have long lasting saves in easy mode that he'll build cooler and cooler builds on. eventually tries to recreate the sky casino. uses aesthetic shaders and always has really nice looking skins. favorite biomes: lush caves, flower forests, taiga.

the chat would just be like

<NIKOLAIAIAI> EEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAA

XxDostovxX has made the achievement [Getting an Upgrade]

<NIKOLAIAIAI> AHUVORNWH[BREOWJRBOEJRNBFNN[RVJEFF EKSN H

sigma1111 hit the ground too hard

XxDostovxX has made the achievement [Acquire Hardware]

<sigma1111> im confusd what just happened\

XxDostovxX has made the achievement [Diamonds!]

<NIKOLAIAIAI> dieded

<sigma1111> qwat

sigma1111 tried to swim in lava to escape zombie

XxDostovxX has made the achievement [Nether]

[pudding-parade]

Get to know you - Sims Style

@rstarsims3 tagged me for this a while back, and I'm finally posting my answers, which took me a while to compile because 1) Blabbity blab blab blab, as usual, and 2) Still needing lots of rest and stuff, so no sitting at a computer for hours on end.

But here we go! I'mma put my blabby answers and my tag list behind Ye Olde Cut.

What’s your favorite Sims death? What an odd question, especially to lead off… Well, I guess if I had to pick one, it'd be the one from TS2 where cloudwatching occasionally brings a satellite down on the cloudwatcher's head. But generally, mine die of old age, if they manage to get that far. I play with long, but realistically proportional, life stages, mostly because I'm almost always playing "experimental" saves where I'm "road testing" rulesets and such, so I need a lot of time to work out kinks and test ideas and stuff.)

Alpha CC or Maxis Match? I land on a combination of more-realistic (but not ultra-realistic) stuff for CAS, but for everything else, like with furniture and deco and stuff, I tend to prefer CC stuff that visually fits in with the EA stuff in terms of style and textures and whatnot, so that the CC doesn't stick out like a sore thumb when combined with EA stuff. In fact, my "go-to" CC for build/buy is stuff that adds on to EA stuff, like more doors/windows that match an EA door/window.

Do you cheat your sims weight? What, to make the fat ones skinny? The skinny ones fat? The skinny ones buff? No. I don't see why I would. It's easy enough to make a sim gain or lose weight without cheating, which I'm assuming means just using the sliders.

Do you move objects? Is there anyone who doesn't? That's a serious question. Is there any one who doesn't? I want to know.

Favorite Mod? I'm leaving aside the NRaas mods because I don't see them as mods so much as things that are just essential to make the game playable in the often-weird ways that I play. There are others that I also consider just essential for when I'm playing in certain styles, especially for more primitive settings. But for ones that are optional and just pure fun, I'd nominate all of @thesweetsimmer111's baby- and toddler-related ones.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack? I know for TS2 it was Seasons. For TS3…For a long time, I had just the base game, which I got when it came out, but didn't play beyond trying it out and then going back to TS2. Then, years later, I got a new computer and decided to give TS3 another try, but I couldn't find the CD or DVD or whatever it was, so I bought a combo pack with the base game, Late Night, and the High End Loft or whatever it is stuff pack, so I guess it would be Late Night. Other than that, I bought all the other TS3 EPs in one go when EA had them on sale for 50% off via Origin, which that combo pack forced me to install. (But which I am now free of again. 🏴‍☠️)

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing? As aLIVE. Because that is when the game is live. Games do not live, but they can be live. See, this is one reason why English sucks.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? Here's a thing about me: I don't really get attached to the pixel people. For me, they're just tools. I'm guessing it's because I'm not a storyteller when it comes to Sims, so I don't see sims as characters. Sure, sometimes I find one endearing for one reason or another. Usually, they have traits that make them assholes, and I like to watch them create chaos and ruin wherever they go. One of the founders of the Random Legacy that I will get back to one of these days is one of those. But I find I like other people's sims more than mine, though that's more of a testament to those simmers' story-telling skills than anything else.

Have you made a simself? Only by accident. A few times I've just been randomly moving sliders around and somehow I ended up with something that looked like me at some stage in my life. It stayed that way for a minute or three, before I yelled OH GOD NO! and quickly slidered the horror away.

But to be honest? I find the entire concept kind of creepy, at least in terms of putting a self-sim in the game and playing them as a character. That would just feel weird to me. That said, I suppose it might have been something that would have appealed to me if I had played when I was a kid, but the game didn't exist when I was a kid. Computers didn't exist when I was a kid, at least not in a form that regular people could own and that could fit on a desk. I was in my 40s when I started playing the game. My daughter played TS2 when she was a kid, and she had a self-sim inserted into the stories she would play, so…yeah. Maybe it's a younger-person thing. Or maybe I'm just weird. Yeah, it's probably that second option.

Which is your favorite EA hair color? Probably the black, but even with that I have to add some highlights to it because otherwise the hair just looks like a creature from the void eating the sim's head.

Favorite EA hair? None of them. They all need to DIAF.

Favorite life stage? I don't have one. I have a least-favorite, babies, because they're basically just objects, but once they're actually sims, I enjoy playing sims of all ages equally.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I originally bought TS2 just to build in it, and for a couple of years, that was all I did. I only started actually playing the game later. Now, I enjoy both building and actually playing the game, depending on my mood. Usually, I'll have a binge of building, but I eventually come to a point where I'd rather do anything other than build. Then I play the game. Then, eventually, the urge to build comes back. So it's a back-and-forth.

Are you a CC creator? I made lots of stuff for TS2, mostly object retextures/recolors. I've made a few minor things for TS3, and I retexture hairs and add preg morphs to clothing for my own use, but I wouldn't consider myself a CC creator for TS3. In fact, I'm actively resisting learning how to make stuff for TS3 because I really don't want to go down that rabbithole again.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad? Friends in the sense of "people I enjoy talking to and sharing ideas with and sometimes arguing with here on Tumblr?" Sure. Are those the same as friendships that develop face-to-face in the real world? Nope. But, sometimes I like talking to my Simblr friends a lot more than talking to my real-life friends, so make of that what you will. Y'all are less draining sometimes. LOL

Do you have any sims merch? No official merch, but my brother-in-law is into making pottery, and several years ago he made me a big stoneware mug with a plumbbob on it. Which is ironic because when I play the game I turn off the plumbbobs because I hate them. LOL But I love the mug. It's heavy enough that neither cats nor wagging dog tails nor giant snakes (though he could do it if he focused all four of his brain cells on the task) can knock it off of tables, but not so heavy that I can't comfortably lift it. I use it for eating soup and the occasional mug cake, and also for drinking the awful herbal tea my husband makes me drink, though since the recent surgery, I don't have to drink that anymore! *dances* So now it will just be my soup or cake mug. Or one for tea that I actually want to drink.

Do you have a YouTube for sims? I don't have a YouTube for anything. Well, OK, I have a YouTube account for watching other people's stuff and making playlists of things I want to watch, but I don't post videos on it, and I don't really watch video game-related stuff on YouTube, either.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing? It hasn't, really. I've pretty much always just come up with wacky scenarios to play and see how they go. In fact, for me, coming up with the scenario and figuring out how to make it work in the game and then inventing a ruleset to govern it is sometimes more fun than actually playing the scenario. LOL

And my Sims all look like the game made them because…the game makes all of them. I just poke the random button until it produces something that doesn't look too much like a freak of nature, then I hit up a couple sliders to remove or tone down any remaining freakishness. (Though I confess that I will spend an inordinate amount of time sculpting the titties of those who have them. Why? I have no idea, other than I just like me a nice pair of titties. Too bad there aren't any sliders for male titties…) Then I just slap on a different hair, maybe change the eye color, and slather on some makeup and facial/body hair and shit until they don't look too stupid, and then off I go. From there, they're all born in the game, and I just leave them as-is, mostly because I can't be bothered. "I can't be bothered" is pretty much my philosophy of life.

Who’s your favorite CC creator? I hate this kind of question. I feel like all they do is disappoint and discourage people if they're never picked. I refuse to do that over something so trivial. So, my favorite CC creator is you, the person reading this. Yes, you. Even if you don't make CC. It doesn't matter. You're the best.

How long have you had Simblr? I started my TS2 one in 2013. (I can remember that only because I know that I started it the same year I met my husband. LOL ) I started this one….2 years ago? 3? Something like that.

How do you edit your pictures? Other than basic cropping and resizing and maybe adjusting brightness/contrast a bit if the pic is too dark or whatever, I generally don't. I don't even use Reshade all the time anymore, only in certain situations, though I do have an NVIDIA profile for the game that adds ambient occlusion and better antialiasing and shit like that. Sometimes, though, I'll decide to photoshop scenery pics, and then I just kind of stab at it with various tools and filters and layer blends and shit until I like I how it looks. There's no actual process involved. I'm random like that.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite? I gotta go with World Adventures. Bits of it are a bit, shall we say, culturally problematic, but man, I never get tired of doing those stupid, stupid tombs. LOL Plus, I love that NRaas Traveler allows you to "travel" to any world, and I don't think that mod works without WA, so…. Yeah. WA.

Tagging: I have no idea who's done this, so I'll just tag a few random people, off the top of my head. Feel free to do or ignore, as you choose. No pressure from me! So...@nectar-cellar, @happy-lemon, @erasabledinosaur, @esotheria-sims, @lilleputtu, @littlefrenchsims, @anamoon63, @lazysunjade, annnnnnnnd @papermint-airplane.

[fluffydice]

I keep reading your ABO posts cause they’re like AHHHH✨✨ they fit so perfectly im love 💕

Aaahhhh thank you so much :3 here, have some more thoughts about this

We'll talk about Kuboyasu a bit here because he's my other blorbo. Here's some things of him in his gang:

Kuboyasu is also an example of someone who didn't latch onto their family pack properly. Unlike Kusuo, however, he sought out another pack in his gang.

He's never had the opportunity to act as a puppy in a pack dynamic: playing around, being taken care of and carefully taught. He's always been the pack leader. It's gives him that idea of being a man that he's so attached to in canon.

People in more dangerous and/or violent environments tend to be closer in sync with their hindbrain. Kuboyasu is very in tune with his, and it helps give him those finely-tuned battle instincts. It also, however, has the side effect of making him a bit more stereotypical, acting as a sole provider for his pack and more chivalrous toward omegas.

This gives him weird behaviors during his ruts, like obsessively cooking for his gang members. He's also a lot more possessive about his things than most, and doesn't really like it when people try to touch his stuff. His pack members are fine to touch any of it, except for a few key items (his bike, helmet, a specific favored weapon that I haven't decided on yet, etc.)

His gang is an all-alphas one, both men and women. This has the unfortunate side effect of him never actually really being close to any omegas or betas. And because none of his friends are omegas, nor his parents, he's never actually been inside a nest. He tends to give them a pretty large radius out of worry he's intruding.

Most people don't really tend to contest his authority. Kuboyasu's reaction, as a result of both his father's treatment, his violent environment, and his closer connection to his inner alpha, is usually to snap his teeth at them and growl instead of...talking about it. Very few people will continue to push after that. Nobody really questions it, though, because that's how a lot of gang leaders are.

As you might be able to tell, Kuboyasu is often a foil for Saiki in this narrative. His reaction to his trauma is almost the exact opposite of Saiki's.

Now here's some of him at PK:

He's very protective of Saiki and Kaido, and later, Teruhashi and Akechi. It more shows itself in an over-reaction to a perceived threat, rather than something in his day-to-day behavior.

When he first got to PK and started assimilating with Saiki, Kaido, and Nendo, he initially clashed a lot with Saiki. The reason being that Saiki was their pack omega, essentially their 'leader'. Both of them squabbled a lot sometimes because Kuboyasu, if you can believe it, tends to be more lax than Saiki about letting them fuck around and be dumb. Saiki's even more protective than he is, but it actually shows itself in his normal interactions.

Kuboyasu, in the midst of an argument, snapped his teeth at Saiki. Kuboyasu got such a bone-chilling growl in response that even his alpha thinks twice about doing something like that again. It's a necessary correction, and Kuboyasu kind of calms down a bit after that.

*Cocks gun* you thought it wouldn't be Kubosai, huh. He eventually does manage to win Saiki over, and kind of fills the role of pack alpha. Of course, there's a clear deference to Saiki in more stressful situations, but most of the time Saiki is content to let Kuboyasu smooth things out.

[valeriefauxnom]

On the Head Accessories of the Royal Family

There's no grand agenda to this post, more just a few observations I found a bit amusing in the course of research and wanted to share.

So, of the family that does wear head accessories, a pattern seems to emerge: they're mostly metal instead of the incredibly ornate gem-studded crowns IRL royalty liked to flaunt about, kings and princesses alike.

But taking a look at the fam, only Leonidas and Chelle (well, and Zethia, but I dunno how much of that is royal fashion vs Auspex religious-based choices) have any gemstone piece to their circlet/tiara/crown, and Leonidas' isn't even attached to the actual circlet itself. Chelle's also has one, which, for a women who loves to play up being a ditzy party princess to manipulate people into underestimating her, is a bit of a surprise she didn't go full display of riches to me.

Even King Aurelius' lacks ornamentation:

Here's where things get a bit more conjecture-y: given Aurelius seems to loathe vanity, seeing as how he hides away his coronation portrait for this reason, and whether he's following or starting a trend, I think he's tried to raise the kids to be 'modest' in presentation. Of course, this still involves looking proper, but I think he might not have taken well to ostentatious shows of wealth or encouraged beliefs that they were inherently superior than lowly peasants.

Regardless if this is part of the reason or not why everyone isn't porting gemstone-packed crowns, it's still funny that even my best friend WillofWinnie picked up on this enough in her incredible gift in the form of sticky-note fic art when designing a new little circlet for Zethia in its ending scene that I am shamelessly showing off again because it made me so happy to receive fic art!

(it also leads to my next point, being that she also picked up the tendency for the fam to be very attuned to pointy metal accessories!)

Now, I don't have any guess as to why they love plain pointy metal circlets, besides that maybe it's a demonstration of Alberia's militaristic pragmatic might. But it's not the only pointy plain metal head accessory someone in the family wears!

Yep, there's someone in the royal family that wears earrings. Who, Chelle, Zethia, you might wonder? Nope, that goes to Leonidas, who wears plain gold, if pointy metal earrings that disguise with his hair pretty well.

He has them it in all of his versions including his base one, but I felt this was one of the best ones to highlight the contrast that it's not just a weird parting of hair. You go, Leo!

I dunno what fashion expectations are for the royal court in Dragalia, ie, maybe it's considered a masculine (ex: Look at My Manliness for Having HOLES Gauged in my Ears!) or neutral accessory, but hey, it's not too often you see pierced ears in my experience on boys in video games in a more meta sense. Really, the only things that are suggested about court fashion is that Cassandra's clothes are considered inappropriate and Leif believes Gala Chelle's are, too.

But wait, there's more! In somebody else's Gala form, they too gain this. It's also pretty hidden in art, but as you can clearly see on the model...

Gala Emile has gained a singular earring on his right ear that's suspiciously similar to Leo's.

I wonder if he wanted to try and emulate Leonidas but chickened out immediately after his first ear was pierced and then pretended it was a deliberate fashion decision instead of him not wanting to be poked again.

So yeah, two of the royal family wears earrings, and it's Leonidas and Emile, of all people.

[bluegoblinzz]

Clouds Fill the Mind of the Drone

The room was cramped. Every wall was black and shiny, and the ceiling was low, and the room, for a moment was only lit by a set of square lights on the perimeter of the room. They were the kinds of lights you’d see lining the aisles at a movie theater, but they were a bright white instead of a dim red. I tried to stand, but cold metal pressed against my wrists, holding me back. I shuddered, and I felt a pit in my stomach. I wanted to scream, to shout for help, but I knew whoever my captors were would have none of that. So instead, I shut my eyes and told myself I would be okay… my roommate would realize I’m missing and call someone… I would be found. 

I looked around, trying to calm myself, to ground myself. I tried to observe where I was but not dwell upon why I was there, yet…

Five things you can see…

I can see… a table.

On the table is… a really old computer. Holy fuck that thing is a dinosaur, it’s cube shaped.

And I see… my chair… it’s metal. 

I see… my cuffs attached to the chair… they have a blinking light. Damn, if they can invest in futuristic handcuffs and fancy lights, you’d think the would at least get a new computer. 

And I see… My old sneakers, that I’m wearing. 

I took in a deep breath and shut my eyes. 

Four things I can hear…

…I can only hear my breath…

..also I can hear my heartbeat in my ears… 

… and-

CLICK!

The silence was broken by a loud sharp click, which made me flinch. When I opened my eyes, I saw the screen of the old computer had lit, up, and then went dark. In the middle of a black screen, bright white text appeared in blocky letters.  

‘PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE’

Right when I read those words, the lights on my handcuffs turned green and the cuffs opened up. I stared at the old screen for a moment, taking a deep breath inward before pressing the space key on the keyboard. The entire screen lit up white, and there was a hiss as white noise came from the speakers on either side. Happy cheesy piano music played through the muffled crackling speakers, and a logo appeared on screen. The logo was of the stock cloud image, the one with the three puffs, but it was angular, where each puff was a trapezoid, and the logo was a deep indigo. 

“Hello, and thank you for joining Cumulus,” An enthusiastic female voice spoke. It was muffled and garbled as well. A scene faded into focus on the screen. The screen was fuzzy and the color contrast and lighting were off, too warm. The scene was of a white middle class cishet couple sitting at a breakfast table. The overall enthusiasm of the video, combined with the low quality computer combined with my disposition… It made me feel nauseous. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. 

“Here at Cumulus we are committed to making communities around us are safe, and making work run quicker!” And this was where the video went from weird to frightening. There was a big tall person in a black shiny suit. Or at least I think it was a suit. They were covered head to toe so I couldn't tell if it was a person, but if it were a robot then it would be way too high tech. Well, whatever this… figure was, it had a broad stature and was very muscular. Bright blue lines ran up and down the suit, from its boots, up its torso, and around its arms. On the center of its chest were a set of blue letters and numbers. It said “CC-552”  There was some kind of metallic pack on the back with two tubes that connected to the helm…

And the helm was the strangest part… the eyes were covered with some glowing screen that looked somewhat like ski-goggles… There were two big triangular points on top of the head, which I couldn’t tell if they were supposed to be ears or horns. And where there was supposed to be a nose a and mouth, there was a vague square bump that looked like it could have been the snout of a bull, or some kind of lizard? The muzzle of some animal, is all I could tell. That was where the two tubes connected to. 

… Oh and the suit also had a tail because it couldn’t be weird enough!

Anyway, this thing, whatever it was, put a platter of pancakes on the table. The man sitting  at the table smiled and nodded, and the thing saluted back, and moved stiffly and robotically back to the kitchen counter. The camera dollied out until it was outside of the house, outside of the window looking in at the scene, and soon, the couple was out of view, and another similar suit stood guard with a gun outside the door. The mask here was much more clearly dog-like, the rubber muzzle coming into a point. Except, the lines and numbers on this suit were lime green instead of blue. The numbers on its chest were “GD-001”

  “Our mission is to make life easier and to make everyone happier.” The scene changed; it showed one cat suit manning the counter at some fast-food restaurant, wearing a polo shirt, shorts, and a cap with the fastfood logo on it. Off to the side, another bull suit with the same uniform played with a claw machine, took the toy out of it, and handed it to a child, who jumped for joy when she received her new unicorn toy.

“And we can’t thank YOU enough for helping contribute to that!” The shot there was of four of these suits. Two of them had arms around each other, and all of them either waved to the camera, or held up peace signs.

“So, what do you need to do to join the family? How do YOU get started?” A graphic of a stick figure in a box in front of a computer appeared on screen. 

“Once this video is done, you will have access to the changing room. In there, you change into your uniform.” The stick figure hopped into a second box, and then was replaced by the outline of an anthropomorphic bull.

“Then in the next room, you can gain your visor, batteries, and other implements, to fully become one of our state of the art drones.”  A chill went down my spine, and I felt my breath get stuck in my lungs.

Drones, I thought, that’s what those were… and that’s what they’ll make me. 

“After that, you will have a chat with one of our seasoned employees about any questions you may have working here.” The anthropomorphic bull figure sat at a table in front of another anthropomorphic animal.

‘How do I get out of here?’ was the only question I had, but I had a feeling whoever was there wouldn’t have an answer for me. 

“And in the final room, you begin your programming.”  The little figure hopped into one last box, where it lied down and was overlayed with a spiral. I told myself I wouldn’t go into that room. 

“Take all the time you need growing accustomed to being a drone, but for your own safety and health, please do not wait too long. Thank you for volunteering, and we hope you enjoy working at Cumulus!” The cheesy piano music abruptly came to a stop and the screen went black. 

“Volunteered,” I muttered sarcastically. At that point i was beyond panic; i was completely removed from reality. My chest felt tight and I still felt shaky, but emotionally I felt nothing. My thoughts went from ‘this can’t be happening’ to ‘this isn’t happening. How could it?’ And I believed them. 

A beep and another click made me flinch again, and when I looked down, I noticed the cuffs around my ankles were undone, the lights on them going green as well. To my left: the wall slid upward soundlessly, revealing a brighter room lined with black UV lights. This room was larger, and the ceiling was higher. The walls and ceilings were black the lights revealed zigzagging fluorescent lines on the walls, and blue fluorescent lights on the ground. At the end of the room was a big rubber suit hung on the wall.  Below it were a pair of rubber boots and a helm. The black rubber had an especially shiny coating to it, a thin silvery finish, as if the rubber had been UV coated. There were purple fluorescent markings on the suit as well, with a purple logo of the angular cloud on one shoulder, and big purple numbers written across the chest: “AQ-320.” I walked up to the suit and stared at it… it was mine, they made it for me… 

“I don’t… need to put it on,” I told myself, “They can’t make me.”

But then my heart sank as I had a realization: they had said: “for your own safety and health, please do not wait too long.” They weren’t going to do anything until I put the suit on. My choices were either to comply or to starve. I know a lot of people say that they wish to “die with dignity,” or go by that old phrase “give me liberty or give me death,” but I knew I was weak, and wasn’t ready to die. I could not be a martyr, I’d rather be a drone. 

I changed into the spandex pants. They were especially snug, and there were soft rubber pads all along the outside that made the suit look muscular. Whoever designed this probably did it to intimidate ordinary people, to make them think we’re stronger than we actually are.  The inside of the boots were padded with a soft matte rubber, making them feel squishy to walk in. Next I put the gloves on. There were clips on the edges of the gloves, and different types of clips over each knuckle. The rubber of the gloves was about two or three millimeters thick, making the gloves feel heavy and making my hands feel bigger.

I noticed that there were tiny flat electronic circuits on the inside of the gloves, and on the inside of all the other pieces of the suit as well. I wondered what they would do and why I would need them. I myself was not a robot. Nonetheless I changed into the chest piece of the suit, and it was especially snug and especially heavy. At that point, I couldn’t notice how comfortable, how cozy the suit was. It made me feel both more relaxed and more unnerved. The chest piece also had thicker rubber padding around my pecs, my abs, and my biceps and triceps, telling me that the design was definitely about intimidation. The sleeves and the gloves had matching clips, so I snapped the two together. I knew I was reaching the point of no return. 

And finally there was the helmet. I picked it up and gripped it with my big rubber hands, and stared at its face for a moment. The goggles, or the ‘visor’ as the video called it, was missing, and there were clips to hold it in place. There were two circular clips on either side of the muzzle, probably where those tubes connected to. The muzzle was shorter and snub in comparison to the muzzles in the video, and the helmet had two big, floppy ears. Its cheeks were round but the jaw overall was square

A bunny, I thought to myself, and a chad bunny, at that. 

I held the helmet in one hand, and then slowly reached down behind myself to check something, and I huffed and rolled my eyes when I noticed it was there: a tiny ball of rubber above my lower back. A tail. They HAD to give me a tail. 

Slowly I put the helmet over my head, letting it rest on my crown and my shoulders, and then I snapped the clips of the helm to the clips around my neck on the chest piece. And once I did that, the smaller wall on the rectangular room beside me slid open. There were more fluorescent lines marking the floor and walls, but inside of this room was a large rectangular pack with three devices on top of it. 

It was hard to move around in the heavy suit, but I made my way over to the devices and examined each one. The first one had the appearance of a tablet except it was curved, and had a “screen” on both ends. I assumed this was the visor and I clicked it into place on the  helm. It was dark and hard to see through. Then there were two identical devices: Tiny metal boxes with four holes on each one. It took me a moment to realize that these connected to the clips on the back of each of my gloves. I clicked each device into place. Hesitantly I stared at the large metal box. It must have been a battery pack, or some kind of control panel or something… 

This is it, I thought. I had no idea why I was complying up to that point. I suppose I knew it wasn’t going to go well for me if I didn’t. I guess I was afraid and wanted to rip off the bandaid so to speak. But I knew once I put the pack on my fate was sealed. I looked up and looked around, looking for some way out one last time. I didn’t see any cracks in the walls, any ways to open the doors… I didn’t even see any cameras, but I knew there had to be, because how did they know what I was doing? Uncertainty took hold.

“Hello?” I called out, “Are you watching? W-why am I here?! Why me?!” There was no response… I knelt next to the box, still looking up at nothing in the room. 

“Why?” I repeated. 

… still no response.

I waited for a few minutes, expecting some ingenious escape plan to pop into my brain, or expecting someone to come get me. But that was the thing… I was waiting for something to happen. I was scared but the silence scared me more, I wanted to move on. I wanted to know what was next. Perhaps I was curious.

I hoisted the metal box upward, and examined it for a moment, there was a power button on the right hand corner. When I clicked it, blue and purple lines lit up all around the pack and gave off a soft glow, like a gaming computer. I turned the box around to make the clips face away from me, and clicked the clips on the right of the box to the right of my back, and swung the box around like a closing door to click the left clips to the left side of my back. And finally I grabbed a hold of the two tubes on top of the box, and connected them to each of the clips on my muzzle. 

There was a click and then everything went completely quiet, like I hadn’t noticed how loud the airflow of the room was until my helmet turned ‘noise cancelation’ on. The visor gave off a dim glow and showed that angular cloud again, the ‘Cumulus’ logo. A bunch of numbers and charts appeared on my screen, with the words “VITALS” written on top, and after a few seconds, the an EKG started spiking and falling, numbers appeared at the “BLOOD PRESSURE” section, there was some brain activity chart i didn’t understand, and also a chart that I believe measured my breath? 

Before I could even process what was going on with each of the readings, big red letters appeared on the screen. 

TERMINATION: 3

“Wait what?!” I shouted, my voice muffled by the suit. 

TERMINATION: 2

“What does that mean?!”

TERMINATION: 1

“Am I gonna die?!” 

… when the number hit zero, there was a sudden and sharp pain in my chest, making me flinch. In that moment there was nothing. I didn’t see or hear anything. I didn’t think. I couldn’t acknowledge myself. I wasn’t there… I was completely gone. 

“Rᴇʙᴏᴏᴛɪɴɢ.” There was a robotic monotone voice, and suddenly I was aware again. My head shot up abruptly. Through my peripherals I could see that my arms and legs snapped to a stiff posture, and my back was straight. But… I couldn’t feel them at all. I tried to move from the position I was standing in but I found I couldn’t move or feel my arms or legs. Everything was completely numb. And then I saw the vitals in front of my eyes. I had no pulse. The breadth readings weren’t there, and my blood pressure was listed as N/A. And at the top, of the screen, were the words: READINGS: NORMAL. The vitals then disappeared, and I could see through my visor clearly. 

“Cᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴄɪɴɢ ɪɴᴛʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴛᴏʀʏ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴏᴄᴏʟ.” The monotone voice spoke again. And that was when I noticed the monotone voice was my own, and I was saying these things against my will. I felt absolutely nothing. My heart didn’t speed up and I didn’t feel my stomach twinge or churn. My mind buzzed with thoughts like “oh my god oh my god” and “what the hell what the hell?!” But emotionally, I felt nothing. My thoughts matched what i would have felt in the past but I didn’t have an emotional connection to these thoughts.

Then my body marched forward on its own. One leg and one arm snapped outward simultaneously, not bending at the knee when I took a step. And then the other. And then this robotic motion was continued until I passed through the door and walked up to a metal table beside a metal chair, and then my body dropped suddenly to sit down in the chair, and pulled itself to face forward in a quick snapping motion. The room was lit about the same as the other rooms, however above the table was a bright light that accented only the table And those who sat there.  Across from me there was a drone whose helm had green markings on it, and had the features of a German shepherd. There was a dim animation of a green spiral on its visor. Then I read the numbers on its chest: GD-001. Just like in the video. 

“AQ-320, Tʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰᴏʀ ᴊᴏɪɴɪɴɢ Cᴜᴍᴜʟᴜs,” It said. “Dᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴs ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇ?” Its voice was deep and despite its mechanical articulations, its voice was gentle. My lungs did not move that whole time, but when I went to speak, my chest expanded.

“Aʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪs?” I asked, my voice monotone. I wanted to see the one in charge. I didn’t know what I would do, if I would beat them up or demand answers, or what, but I knew this wasn’t right and I needed to see them. 

“Nᴏ I ᴀᴍ ɴᴏᴛ. I ᴀᴍ ᴏꜰ ʜɪɢʜᴇʀ ʀᴀɴᴋɪɴɢ, ʜᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ I ᴀᴍ sᴛɪʟʟ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ Mᴀsᴛᴇʀ.”

“Wʜᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ?” 

“Nᴏʙᴏᴅʏ ᴋɴᴏᴡs.” 

I seriously expected GD to respond with “classified” or something like that… The way they gave such a human response there made me think they were more human than initially thought. I knew if I could still feel anything: I would feel I some empathy for them. I would feel sad that this fate I have been subjected to for less than an hour has been their reality for… I’m not sure how long. 

“Wʜʏ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ I ᴍᴏᴠᴇ? Wʜʏ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ I ꜰᴇᴇʟ? Wʜᴀᴛ ᴅɪᴅ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ?” 

“Yᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ,” They said,  “Bᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀʟsᴏ ɪᴍᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ. Nᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ ᴄᴇʟʟs ᴀʀᴇ ᴠɪᴛᴀʟɪᴢᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇsᴛ ᴅɪᴇ. Yᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴘᴜʟsᴇ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀᴇᴅ ʙʏ ʙᴀᴛᴛᴇʀʏ. Yᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟʟᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴀ sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴏꜰ TENS ᴜɴɪᴛs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙᴇɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰʟᴇx ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴍᴜsᴄʟᴇs. Aꜰᴛᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʀᴇᴘʀᴏɢʀᴀᴍᴍᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴀʏ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ TENS ᴜɴɪᴛs ᴀᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ.”

I shook my head. None of it made sense to me, and one question kept repeating in my mind. I tried to shout it out: ‘why… WHY?!?!’ trying to seep my desperation into my voice, but it still came out monotone. 

“Wʜʏ. Wʜʏ.“ 

“AQ-320,” They began “ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴛᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ sᴇɴsᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏs ᴏꜰ ᴏᴜʀ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀ. Iᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴜᴛᴇ. Iᴛ ɪs ᴇᴀsɪᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴄᴄᴇᴘᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪs ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ, ᴛᴏ ᴀᴄᴄᴇᴘᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ.” And then it did something that I didn’t expect. Something that surprised me so much, for a brief moment I felt a chill down my spine, a lump in my throat, and real sadness in my heart. It reached across the table and gently touched my hand. 

“… Tʀᴜsᴛ ᴍᴇ.” 

I stared at the canine figure in front of me. We were drones, both of us, but maybe whatever ‘drone’ meant wasn’t what I thought. Maybe there was still room to be me, and also room to be AQ-320. I wasn’t content with my disposition, but I now knew that I wasn’t alone. I attempted to nod in recognition, but I found I still couldn’t move. 

“…ᴏᴋᴀʏ,” I replied. 

Its hand snapped backward to its side. At first I was offended but then realized it probably had no control over whether it wanted to do that. 

“Aɴʏ ꜰᴜʀᴛʜᴇʀ ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴs?” GD-001 asked. 

So many, I thought. But too many right now. 

“Nᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ,” I stated. 

“AQ-320, ʙᴇɢɪɴ ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴀᴍᴍɪɴɢ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴏᴄᴏʟ.”

My body snapped into a standing position, and once again it began robotically marching by itself, past GD-001 toward the door that was sliding open at the end of the room. 

“Nɪɢʜᴛʏ-ɴɪɢʜᴛ,” GD-001 said. I could see its reflection in the shiny wall waving at me.

When I crossed the threshold of the final room, the door slid behind me. The room was dark but there was a soft purple light that filled the entire room, making it feel cozy. Inside the room there was a big bed without a blanket, a pillow, and a night-time hat. My hands shot outward, picked up the night time hat, and put it over my bunny ears. Then, my body went stiff and flopped on top of the bed, my head resting on the pillow. 

And so it began. One moment I was staring at the blank ceiling, the next moment I was staring at a pink and purple spiral in my visor. Two similar pitches rang in inside my helmet, causing a waving dissonance. At first the spiral and the tone didn’t do anything; I felt completely normal. But then the spiral became harder to look at, harder to understand. My own thoughts became harder to understand, and they became harder to form. Happiness washed over me and I felt my lips curl into a smile. I tried to stop, but my face then was frozen in place. 

I knew this feeling of joy was bad; it was insidious and was being used to control me, so I tried to suppress it, but it was the best I had felt so far during my time at Cumulus… so I had to just let it wash over me… at a certain point I didn’t want to resist the happiness, and I didn’t know why I did. There were low whispers and mutterings of thoughts in my head. They didn’t come from the visor or from the speakers but I knew these thoughts weren’t my own, so I tried to resist them. But then my mouth began moving on its own.

“Oɴʟʏ ᴄᴜᴍᴜʟᴜs.. mmmm… H-ʜᴀ…hʜhʜᴀᴘᴘʏʏʏ…”

The thoughts got louder and more persistent.

“Oʙᴇʏ… no- Dʀᴏɴᴇ… uhhh… ᴍ-ᴍ-ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀ.” 

And then something clicked, and these intrusive thoughts and my own mind became one. 

“Oɴʟʏ ᴄᴜᴍᴜʟᴜs ᴍᴀᴋᴇs ᴍᴇ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ.

I ᴀᴍ ᴀɴ ᴏʙᴇᴅɪᴇɴᴛ ᴅʀᴏɴᴇ

I ᴏʙᴇʏ ᴍʏ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀ.

Mʏ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀ sʜᴀᴘᴇs ᴍʏ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴛʏ.” 

I kept repeating that over and over again, feeling calmer and calmer the more I repeated it, thinking less and less the more I did, and forgetting more and more. The more I said it, the more it became true, and the less I cared. 

I was in the middle of repeating my programming again, when a robotic voice interrupted me. 

‘Iɴɪᴛɪᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴛᴇsᴛ ᴏɴᴇ.’

I fell silent. Text appeared on the screen in front of the spiral. 

YOU ARE A BUNNY

My mouth shut and my eyes widened, and I shot upward into a sitting position. I didn’t know what those words meant but I felt them and I believed them with all my heart. And then an image of a carrot appeared in front of the spiral. My mouth watered. Craving and hunger and excitement overwhelmed me. I grinned and picked up my hands, letting them flop forward in front of me. The rubber tail on the back of my suit shook. I wiggled my nose some more. 

Then the carrot swung back and forth in front of the spiral, and my eyes followed it, and my tongue lulled out of my mouth as it did. I was overwhelmed with both joy and confusion. The more I watched the carrot and the spiral, the less I thought, and the more I gave into Cumulus’s programming. And eventually my eyelids grew heavy and it was hard to keep an upright posture. I began swaying as I fought sleepiness, wanting to keep watching this entertaining video in my visor, wanting to keep being a bunny and wanting to keep obeying. But then a new word appeared on screen. 

DROP

Once again, I didn’t understand the word, but my body followed. I slumped forward, my head dropping and my arms falling limp. And then one word kept flashing on the screen over and over. 

FORGET

FORGET

FORGET

This tranced state, this programming, had burrowed its way into my mind. I forgot without resistance and without question. I fell backwards, lying down once again, relishing this happy state of mind that was made for me, and obeying the command over and over again, allowing the visor to guide me into creating a new me… a better me… 

I love Cumulus.

I love my job.

I love to obey.

I am a drone.

My mind is devoid of thought.

My mind is clouded with calm.

My mind is clouded… 

Cumulus…

[arcaneacolyte]

Little Death and Taxes

Summary:

Taxes

Goddamn son of a bitch fucking taxes.

Aether rubs over his eyes one more time, the screen in front of him not getting any goddamn clearer. He sighs sharply, and ignores as best as he can the stabbing pain he gets from his ribs in return.

One stupid move and he’s out of this leg of the tour and put on tax duty.

——————————

Aether is stuck at the ministry while the rest of his pack—sans Sunny—continue with the European Re-Imperatour. Dew sends him a video after the Ritual with the message ‘miss u’ attached.

It’s not what Aether expects it to be at all.

Pairing(s): Aether/Dew, Rain/Dew, Aether/Rain/Dew

Words: 6,615

Contains: Consensual Feminization, Crack Treated Seriously, Pet Names, Dirty Talk, Begging, Masturbation, Phone Sex, Webcam/Video Chat Sex, Dildos, Knotting, Dom/Sub, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Humiliation, Degradation, Crying, Dacryphilia, Breeding Kink, Impregnation Kink, Choking, Polyghouls, Mentions of Swiss/Dew, Sub Dew, Dom Rain, Aftercare, Safe Sane and Consensual

——————————

Look at me, I think I’m clever with that title lol, but it was too good to resist. This fic is me playing around with the silly cracky headcanons that Aether was left behind to do taxes, but I put a little spin on it of my own. I also have wanted to do a feminization fic along with a phone sex/long distance sex fic for a while, so here we are lol.

Originally I started writing this before it was confirmed that Aether was technically no longer with the band, and I was incredibly sad about it because he’s my favorite Ghoul, but I decided that they can pry my Bigguns Boy from my cold, dead hands.

I don’t know how Rain got in there. He originally wasn’t intended to be, but once I thought of it, I knew I needed to add him lol.

Also a reminder that my versions of the Ghouls have no connection to the artists that play them. They’re demons summoned to be in a silly Satanic rock band and are polyamorous little goobers in between.

Unbeta’d, so if anything is weird or wrong, please let me know and I will fix it!

Read below the cut or on AO3 if you prefer that.

Taxes.

Goddamn son of a bitch fucking taxes .

Aether rubs over his eyes one more time, the screen in front of him not getting any goddamn clearer. He sighs sharply, and ignores as best as he can the stabbing pain he gets from his ribs in return.

One stupid move and he’s out of this leg of the tour and put on tax duty.

Aether makes a face at himself. Well…..that’s not exactly how it had gone down.

He was trying to be helpful, really. Trying to help bring something heavy down a tall ladder for a Sister of Sin too small to get it herself, and of course, in his deep-seated need to be useful , he had unfortunately misstepped and slipped off the ladder. 

At the time he thought that the Sister was going to actually have a heart attack, however many pounds of sturdy ghoul and what else landing to the ground with a cacophonous crash right in front of her, and while Aether was able to calm her down with assurances that he was ok and walk away from the encounter, it was more than his pride that was wounded.

Three broken ribs. Broken enough that if he breathed too deeply or moved his body too quickly, a sharp stabbing pain would steal his breath right back and leave him lightheaded.

One might think that being a Quintessence Ghoul, he’d be able to heal himself right up no problem. However the thing about Quintessence Healing, was that it was a lot easier to use it on someone else rather than yourself, and every time Aether had tried, that sharp pain had racked his body enough that he couldn’t do anything more than alleviate it to where it wasn’t feeling like he was actually being stabbed.

He didn’t heal enough before the tour, and with an obviously heavy heart, Papa had made the hard decision to find a replacement rhythm guitarist for the opening leg of the Re-Imperatour. 

There’s no ill will towards the Quintessence Ghoul that they summoned to replace him, dubbed ‘Phantom’ by the fans, and Aether even wondered how the slighter Quintessence Ghoul felt about the whole thing, being put on tour so soon after summoning. Aether had scrolled through many videos of those first few Ritual nights, watching the rest of his pack playing without him.

He’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt to be away from them.

He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t afraid it was going to be permanent.

Dewdrop had taken it the hardest of course. They were mates, and mandatory separation just wasn’t something they did . Every day before they left for the tour Aether watched Dew’s frown grow deeper and deeper, and it actually took a serious conversation from Aether to convince Dew to leave with the rest of their pack. Sex, kisses, and a few dozen promises to heal as fast as possible, so he could get back on the road with them where he belongs. 

Get back next to Dewdrop where he belongs.

At least he has Sunny, who had come down with basically the Ghoul equivalent of a bad flu, and was also replaced by another Ghoulette since it was determined she wasn’t in touring shape either. 

Ignoring the different stab of pain at the face of being unable to help Sunny because of his own injury, Aether tries his best to return his focus back on the computer screen in front of him.

Right. Taxes.

Goddamnit.

He once again curses his innate need to be helpful, and pushes back the voice in his head that reminds him how easily he can be replaced if he doesn’t show his worth. 

When Sister Imperator had asked him if he would be willing to help her with something light while he was healing, he had metaphorically jumped on the chance. Showing initiative and a willingness to continue to serve and all that.

All it had gotten him was a dozen file folders jammed packed full of receipts and an order to categorize all of them and make sure every expense the band had made in the past year was accounted for. Aether didn’t even know until now that they even did taxes, but that’s what you get for having an incredibly profitable metal band as your way of turning the world towards Satan. No way to turn this into a non-profit now.

So he’s been working on the goddamn receipts for days now, almost a week, and he can feel a migraine preparing itself in the back of his eyes. It’s late, and he should probably crawl back into his nest, but it just smells like him and Dew, and without his little Fire Ghoul there to snuggle up against, it hurts almost as much as his ribs do.

Besides, he wants to stay up late enough to text and maybe call Dew, something they've been doing since the tour started. Dewdrop tells him the stupid shenanigans he and the rest of their pack have gotten up to on and off the stage, and Aether tells him how good he looks and how much doing taxes sucks and how Sunny is feeling. It’s all painfully domestic and Aether would enjoy it more were it not for the fact that he should be right along with them, and would know everything Dew was telling him already because he was there to experience it.

The spreadsheet on the computer isn’t making any more sense now than it was a few minutes ago, and Aether decides that he can at least take a break. Checking the time, he notices that it’s a little past the usual time that Dew tells him that the band is either back on the road heading towards the next Ritual, or spending a night in a hotel before they head off again in the morning. He reaches for his phone that he placed on the corner of his desk earlier, and looks to see if he has any messages.

There’s a couple of Snapchats probably from his other packmates, some other social media notifications, but the Quintessence Ghoul smiles when he sees that he has a text from Dew.

From: ~🔥Spitfire🔥~ ‘miss u’ There’s a video attached to the message, and even though the preview is black, Aether’s smile widens. Probably Dew just saying some stupid shit like, “You better call me as soon as you get this, asshole. Don’t leave me waiting or I’ll fall asleep on your ass.”

Without thinking, he clicks play on the video, and while it’s definitely from Dewdrop. It’s not what he expected at all .

He’d recognize that lithe body and that fall of straw blonde hair anywhere…..but what he doesn’t quite recognize, is the clothing he’s wearing. On second thought, the black strips of cloth covering him could hardly be described as clothing , and they’re hardly covering anything in the first place.

Aether watches, rapt as the video continues, and more and more and more details start to register.

Dew's cock it out for one; it takes an embarrassingly long time for that to click, but the rest of what’s going on in the video is so damn attention grabbing he can hardly be blamed can he?

The black strip of fabric that could hardly even be called a tube top stretches over Dew's chest, but the Quintessence Ghoul can still see the ring piercings bulging the fabric, leaving little to nothing to the imagination, and it’s almost more scandalous than if he were wearing nothing.

A black skirt is hiked up onto the Fire Ghoul’s hips, so much pale skin on display that it makes Aether dizzy and swallow as his eyes roam. 

It’s strange how it takes him this long to realize that Dewdrop's head is not in the video, at least not all of it, but there are moments where his chin dips into the frame of the camera, and bright, fang bitten lips give him a flash of red that makes his cock jerk within his sweats.

Then it finally hits him all at once. 

Dew sent him a video of himself jerking off. 

Aether scrambles now to turn the volume up on his phone, hands already sweating as he starts the video over from the beginning, praying to Lucifer that he can take everything in from the very start with sound.

And oh Belial is there sound . Aether watches, clutching his phone so hard, as if he were afraid to drop it and miss something. 

“Aeth~”

In the video, an arm covered in black fabric all the way to his bicep reaches down and grabs his cock between his kneeling knees, the flushed tip of it aimed at the camera, making Aether swallow roughly at the sudden and gripping urge to get that cute, hard little cock on his tongue. It always fits so well, just enough to be a comfortable and sinful little mouthful. 

The tinny moans that come out of the Fire Ghoul’s mouth over the phone speakers are already driving Aether crazy, having not heard them in so, so, long. The Quintessence Ghoul swears, and adjusts his hard cock in his sweats, unable to stop himself from giving one hard squeeze and stroke. Just to take the edge off, he swears. 

Eyes rapt, Aether watches in awe as Dew continues to run a hand steadily up and down his cock, pace very unlike himself. Usually when Dewdrop gets a hand on himself, as hard as he is right now, he’s pumping slick fingers up and down at a breakneck pace, trying to rush himself into orgasm since he’s not the type of Ghoul to deny himself any pleasure unless someone is making him.

Then he hears it, somewhere off screen, sounding like it’s coming from behind the camera.

“Go on now, don’t be shy, Firelily…..show him…..”

It’s Rain’s voice.

Aether nearly chokes on his own saliva at the harsh throbbing kick that his cock makes, the front of his sweats already starting to soak with pre-come. He doesn’t even have to look down to know that it’s true.

He also doesn’t have much time to ponder or even really even reflect on what Rain could possibly mean by, “show him” before he’s getting his answer, and what he sees makes him scramble to reach down and push his goddamn sweats and underwear out of the way and get the first real grip to his cock. The pleasure overwhelms him for a second and he closes his eyes, relishing in the feeling before snapping his eyes back open. His thumb taps quickly on the video to run it back a few seconds just so he can watch it again.

It takes a few seconds for Dew to actually do as Rain asked, but those few moments of anticipation make the reveal all worth it.

Dew whines, and sits up nice and tall on his knees instead of sitting back on them, and a dildo the same shade of his clothes comes into view. Thick, probably oh so long, and wet .

Aether can’t help but send a silent thank you down to Satan that that was one of the Water Ghoul traits Dewdrop had kept after his transition to Fire, because the idea that Dew could be ready to take anything up his ass without lube if you got him horny enough never failed to make Aether’s eyes nearly cross in pleasure. 

Straining to keep his eyes open, Aether clicks the volume up on his phone a few more notches and continues to watch, uncaring now how his cock is out in the open and how he’s furiously stroking himself as he watches. Anyone could walk in on him at this exact moment and he wouldn’t even give a damn. He probably wouldn’t even look away, because nothing was more important to him in this moment than watching Dew poised with a dildo part-way in him, hand still stroking his cock in that teasing manner; the pain in his ribs doesn’t even register to him anymore as he waits for Rain’s instruction.

And what an instruction it is.

“What do we say for Aether, Sweetheart?” The tone is sickeningly sweet, and Aether can easily imagine the equally saccharine smile that plays across Rain’s features even though he’s nowhere to be found in the video itself.

Dew whines, and Aether pulls the phone closer to his face, watching with greedy violet eyes as the Fire Ghoul’s thighs quiver. How long has Rain had him riding on that dildo? Had he even let Dewdrop rise up from where the dildo fills him until that exact moment? What events led to Rain recording Dew and having the pale little Ghoul send it to him with the caption ‘miss u’ like it was some innocent little message? 

Clearly the devious Water Ghoul had been stirring up Dew for a long while, because the whines and moans that slip out of his mouth, sometimes with a visual counterpart, are shaky and wild and wet . Dewdrop only gets that way when he’s been teased for a long time. 

Has Rain been teasing him since before they arrived at the hotel? Since before they performed their ritual? Aether swears under his breath, accelerating the rate of his own stroking, panting harshly through parted lips. There’s so much he doesn’t know that he should know, and the fact that he isn’t in that hotel watching this live, stuck here doing taxes of all goddamn things, causes him to curse again.

Pre-come drips over his knuckles, the wet sound of his stroking amplifying as he hears Rain ask again, less nicely this time, what Dew is supposed to say.

What— oh Lucifer in Hell — what is he supposed to say ? The Quintessence Ghoul would be waiting with bated breath were he not wringing his cock with abandon now, twisting his wrist on the upstroke and dragging harder on the downstroke; pulling at his foreskin and exposing the head of his cock as another large pearl of pre-come trickles out of him and over his knuckles, adding to the mess that he’s making of himself.

Finally, Dew speaks, his chin to his chest and his mouth in view of the camera. Aether’s eyes snap to it.

“Miss your big, fat cock in my ass--”

“ Ah-ah! ” Rain admonishes with a displeased click of his tongue, and the pathetic little squeaking keen Dew utters makes Aether dizzy .

Dew swallows and tries again, his legs trembling with fervor now. Swallowing roughly himself, Aether can just imagine how much the pretty, pale little Ghoul in front of him wants to slam his hips back down onto that dildo and ride, ride, ride until he’s come all over himself.

“Miss your big fat cock in my c- cunt ,” Dew says, and Aether nearly blacks out from how quickly he grabs the base of his dick to stop himself from coming right then and there.

In his delirium and almost orgasm, Aether hears Rain coo, “ Good girl…. ”

Aether has to double his efforts to not come his fucking brains out.

It’s not something Dew and Aether do together do all that often, or really ever , but the Quintessence Ghoul has heard from many sources— read: Swiss and a bit from Rain himself —that when Dew gets desperate enough, he really likes it when you do everything to point out how small and pretty and delicate he looks. How much like a pretty girl he looks. When you put him in an outfit that really makes the scene that much more real to him, and get him so horny and dropped into subspace, he’ll admit how much he likes being someone’s baby girl . He doesn’t have to be a big, tough, prickly Fire Ghoul. He can be pretty and sweet and treated oh so kindly as well as oh so meanly.

But that kind of play is usually reserved for Swiss and Rain. Not for Aether. Sure, Aether calls him pretty and sweet, but he’s never made Dewdrop use that kind of language for himself. He’s never made Dew wear an outfit like this—there’s fishnets on his legs, fucking Hell— but hearing it over those speakers makes Aether yearn to hear it live, and the curses of being left behind once again as he throws his head back might as well be shouted from the rooftops with how vehemently he spits it.

“I miss it…..I need it~”

Aether keys back into the video and once again taps it back a few seconds. There is no way in any of the circles of Hell he’s going to miss a single goddamn thing in this video.

“And what do we say about Aether’s cock, Babygirl ?” Rain asks, sounding closer to the camera now, as if he were standing just off to the side of Dew. The part of his chin that Aether can see is turned away from the camera slightly, and he must be right because suddenly, a familiar hand comes into the frame and grips at Dew's throat, causing a choked off moan to croak out of the Fire Ghoul.

Then, the camera suddenly moves, and Aether’s eyes widen and his mouth gapes as the camera is pulled up and aimed directly at Dew's face, and really, Aether can do nothing more than start pulling at his cock again at the vision that Dew makes.

He’s been crying, of course he’s been crying. But this isn’t the ordinary cry that he sometimes pulls out of Dewdrop when Aether Doms him. 

Black streaks of mascara run down his cheeks, his eyes glassy and filled with tears and frustration and rapture , so deep in subspace that he seems like he doesn’t even have it in himself to be embarrassed about Rain exposing his face. Some strands of hair are plastered to the side of his temples and neck; one adamant piece stuck to his lips, making him look all the more wild. And oh , his lips. That redness that Ather had caught glimpses of before wasn’t from Dew biting them, or at least, not just from Dew biting them. Pretty berry red lip gloss covers his mouth, and Lucifer, even his mustache is gone, his upper lip shaved smooth and pretty, probably just how Rain wanted him.

Speaking of the Water Ghoul, his hand is still clasped around Dew's throat, and Aether watches as it tightens just enough as Dew moans out. 

“I miss it…..I need it~”

He’s so close to coming again, he can feel it deep in his hips, the all consuming want to come. Yet another part of Aether wants to drag it out, to see how this video ends, to come when Dew comes, if he does get to come, and that idea just drags another moan out of him as he strokes a little harder. 

It takes a monumental amount of willpower to remove his hand from his cock, the head flushed and purple, wet. Aether imagines for a frantic second it’s wet because of Dew's slick, and the mental image actually makes his eyes roll back this time.

“Well…..” Rain says lowly, camera still aimed at Dewdrop's flushed face, and it seems that the Fire Ghoul has grasped at some modicum of brain cells, because his eyes are looking away from Rain, but that doesn’t stop the low grade whine that he’s got going on in his throat.

The throat that Rain decides to actually squeeze now, the indents of his fingers very clear as they grip at the sides of the sweet little Fire Ghoul’s neck.

“Eyes on me or you’re not getting anything,” Rain enunciates carefully, and Dew's eyes seem to do as commanded before the Ghoul himself can even recognize that the action is done. Aether still can’t see the Water Ghoul’s face, but he hears that sickly sweet tone again. “That’s it, Babygirl . I know how much of a dumb bimbo you become when your cunt is filled with cock, but you need to pay attention.” 

Fuck, it should not turn on Aether to hear Rain be condescending to Dew as much as it does, but he can’t help the way his cock kicks and hits his belly, leaving a wet mark behind on his t-shirt. He grips the arm of his chair with his free hand to stave off the gnawing all consuming urge to pump and pump and pump his cock until he comes everywhere. He hasn’t felt the need to come this much is so fucking long. 

A terrible pang of loneliness hits him then, and he chomps onto his bottom lip to give himself anything to focus on other than the sheer longing he has to be with the two ghouls in the video.

“’M not a bimbo……” Dew replies weakly, and Aether draws a deep breath in sympathy for the choked tone. 

The condescending laugh Rain lets out shouldn’t sound so good to Aether’s ears.

“Oh?” Rain’s voice is innocent, before he seems to lean in and get incredibly close to Dew's ear. "Then why are you trembling so hard like it’s taking all of your brain and willpower to prevent yourself from bouncing on the fake cock splitting your soaking little pussy open?” He hisses.

All Dewdrop can do is keen wantonly at the dirty talk, his tears filled eyes rolling shut, making said tears slip down his face and wet his cheeks anew, his glossy red mouth open and panting. He finally seems to find his words, because he whines, “Because you told me not to….”

Rain takes pity on him then, or seems to, because he lets out a long suffering sigh. “Oh, I suppose you’re right….for once…..you have been a particularly good little girl for me tonight…..” He removes his hand from Dew's throat, and the Fire Ghoul gasps out a full breath, but that’s all he gets before Rain is leaning in close again. “Is it because you know I’m going to make you send this video to Aether? Is it because you wanna be a good slut for him?” He asks, conspiratorially.  

Oh. Oh no.

That thought hadn’t occurred to Aether. Is this a special version of Dewdrop that’s only happening because Rain decided to involve Aether?

Rain doesn’t get an answer from Dew, and neither does Aether, because at that exact moment, the video stops.

His phone is ringing.

The name on the caller ID makes him swipe furiously and answer it, halfway—ok, probably a lot more than halfway—delirious with arousal and indignation and longing and a myriad of other things he doesn’t have the spare brain cells to name as he croaks and speaks for the first time in what feels like hours.

“ What the fuck ? ”

“Ah, so you did get it, good,” Rain replies. So nonchalant, as if he didn’t help send Aether enough wank fodder to supply him for the next century . “With how long it was taking you to respond, I was almost afraid you were asleep.”

Aether growls into the phone, and Rain actually laughs, apparently endlessly pleased. The Quintessence Ghoul always knew he was a mean, sneaky little thing when he wanted to be, and the very clear mirth in his voice just proves it. 

“ What the fuck ?” Aether repeats, and Rain chuckles again, clearly amused.

“Didn’t think it’d get you this riled up, big guy…..”

A soft sound breaks over Rain’s end of the phone, and Aether hears Rain pull himself away from the speaker to say. “You hush or you’ll get nothing .”

A wave of arousal hits Aether so hard he almost gets vertigo. “He’s still—?” He starts to ask, gritted through his teeth, and Rain finishes the sentence for him.

“Waiting and whining like a little bitch in heat? Yeah, she is.”

Aether chokes on a moan. “F-fuck, Rain.”

Rain just laughs more. “You wanna see?”

Growling, Aether can’t help but reach for his cock again and squeeze . 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” is the smarmy reply from the Water Ghoul. Aether hears movement on Rain’s side of the line again, and wonders what the fuck is happening before Rain answers simply for him. “Turn video call on.”

Aether nearly drops his phone pulling it away from his face to do just that. Thank Satan below he doesn’t, and he thanks Satan again as the video call connects, Rain’s camera pointed directly at the object of Aether’s desire.

Dewdrop is poised right where Aether had left off in the video, but has fallen apart even more. His legs are actually truly shaking with the effort he seems to be exerting. His face is bowed, until Rain says, “Babygirl,” and Dew's head wearily looks up. Even more of his hair is plastered to his messy face, but Aether thinks he’s fucking beautiful and he can’t help but growl, which makes Dew's head snap to attention now.

He whines, and Rain replies. “That’s right, he’s finally here…..”

Dewdrop sobs. Honest to Lucifer sobs . “ Aether ~” He cries loudly, like the Quintessence Ghoul has been the key to his salvation this entire time. And oh, how utterly blasphemous that thought is.

“I’m here, Firelily,” he groans, stroking faster, unable to help himself because while the video was great , this is happening in real time. And while it would be even better— right even—for him to be there, this is the next best thing. “What do you need?”

When Dew takes more than a second or two to answer, Rain replies, the camera approaching closer to the delicate and worn out little Fire Ghoul. And oh , how pretty he is with his trembling thighs and rock hard cock sticking out from that slutty little skirt. Aether can see the fishnet stockings better, and he doesn’t think he’ll be able to look at feminine clothing without imagining what Dew would look like in them for a long time. “Well, he asked you a question, didn’t he?”

Dew sobs again, his breath hitching as he wails, probably loud enough for the hotel neighbors to hear, but in his current state doesn’t seem to care about. “I need your cock— uhhngh — Aether! —I-I need to c-come ~!”

Aether just growls more, eyes unable to look away from the pathetic little display, on how Dew's cock kicks at his own confession, how his hands grip the bed sheets to his sides, white knuckle.

Rain must be a goddamn mind reader , because he proudly says. “I’ve been making her wait since she sent that video to you.”

Dew whines and screws his eyes shut at the pronouns, but doesn’t protest, opening them again after a few long seconds.

“ Good girl~ ”

It comes out of Aether’s mouth without permission, but once it’s out he can’t find that he regrets it with how Dewdrop reacts. He wails again, more tears streaming down his face, his cock absolutely pouring out pre-come. The Quintessence Ghoul bets that if the camera angle were different, he’d be able to see Dew's slick drooling and dripping down the dildo still perched inside him, not deep enough to satisfy at all .

Rain nearly cackles. “Hear that, Pretty Girl? Well….I think we can finally move to the main event.” He moves, and Aether hears him shuffle onto the bed, front and center across from Dew, and the big Ghoul growls again to see that he was right, the dildo is absolutely covered , as are the sheets below the trembling Fire Ghoul. 

“Go on Princess….” Rain growls himself. “Show and Tell time…..”

Dew nearly ragdolls in relief as he finally, finally sits back down on the dildo, and the near shrieking moan would have Aether worried about noise complaints normally, but right now? He couldn’t give two flying fucks. He watches as Dew starts to bounce, riding and wailing and moaning and sobbing . Aether strokes along with his pace, and he can just about pretend that this beautiful creature is riding him, that he’s actually making Dew that wanton, that desperate .

“Tell him what you really want, Princess,” Rain commands, and Dew doesn’t even think to disobey him.

“Want you to knot in-in my pussy, Aeth—oh fuck ~” He whines and throws his head back, a fountain of hair flying behind him at the motion, bouncing on the dildo with true abandon now. However, he seems to remember some rule that Aether was never privy to and brings his head back forward, his face partially hidden by the straw colored strands that follow, but glassy, tear filled eyes stare right at the camera, practically into Aether’s soul. “Fill it up….m-make it—make it catch. ”

Aether can’t keep his mouth shut after that. How could he? How absolutely could he with the vision in front of him now? With Dewdrop pleading so sweetly, riding the simulacrum of his cock so desperately?

He lets loose utter filth. Praises Dew , tells him what a pretty girl he is, what a perfect little bimbo Princess he’s being. How good he was following Rain’s orders, and how amazing he looks, strung out in wanton abandon but still wanting more, more, more. The Quintessence Ghoul can feel his knot starting to inflate, something he hasn’t felt since before his pack members left, and he growls sharply, his fangs showing, and he knows that Dew sees them by how he tilts his head back and to the side, offering his neck, offering his submission. Aether feels a little bit of drool slide out of his mouth at the thought of sinking his teeth into that plump little scent gland, drowning himself in pheremones until he’s fucking drunk with it, but he doesn’t care. All that matters is coming and making the perfect little Ghoul in front of him come his stupid whore brains out.

“Gonna come—” he warns with a grunt, the feeling of his arousal along with the vision Dew makes rocketing him so very close to the edge.

“Yeah—you gonna knot her little pussy? Gonna knock her up?”

If Aether had the wherewithal, he’d notice Rain panting, but he just continues to fuck his fist, determined to come, needing it more than he feels like he needs to breathe.

And he agrees, agrees with Rain and tells Dew so. “Gonna knot— need to knot. Gonna tie so tight in your cunt, Baby…it’ll— fuck —you’ll be so full of me…..”

“Need it, need it, need it~! ” Dew all but shrieks, slamming himself down on the dildo so hard it’s actually shaking the bed, probably knocking the frame against the wall. If Aether were there, really doing this to him, the same thing probably would be happening anyway, so Aether can’t find it in himself to care, not when he’s this close.

And he is close, and he tells Dewdrop so. “Close…..almost there, Baby….here it comes— here it comes !”

“ Come in me—Come in my cunt~! ”

With that, and a particularly hard squeeze to his knot by his own hand, Aether does. He growls sharply, loudly into the speaker, and Dew slams the dildo home one more time before they’re both coming, shouting each other's names as if their infernal lives depend on it.

Their subsequent orgasms seems to last forever, Aether coming all over his shirt and his sweats, Dew coming without a single touch to his fucking dick, as if all he really needed was a cock in his ass to come so fucking hard. Aether’s cock gives another sharp kick at that, and he groans again, feeling the swell of his knot and squeezing it again, pretending for just another moment that it actually was buried deep inside Dew.

The comedown from the orgasm seems to last an eternity as well, but finally, the fog of arousal begins to clear from Aether’s mind, followed quickly by a deep loneliness. Yes, he just quite possibly had one of the best orgasms of his infernal life , but he wasn’t actually with Dewdrop and Rain, and as he watches Rain reach for Dew from behind the camera, cup his face and praise him heartily—the sweetness in his tone real this time—the Quintessence Ghoul can’t help but sigh and shut his eyes. 

His attention is brought back to Rain saying his name, and he opens his eyes again to see Rain has turned the camera on himself. 

“Hey, I’m gonna do some cleanup and aftercare with him and then we’ll call you back, ok? It’s easier to do it without holding the camera….” His tone seems apologetic, but Aether offers him a weak smile.

“Go ahead, I gotta do some cleanup myself,” he glances down at his soaked shirt, tucks himself back into his sweats with a small grimace, and Rain laughs, this time not a tinge of cruelty in it.

“Sounds good, I’ll call back ASAP, ok?”

Aether tries not to let the sting in his heart affect his smile. “Alright, talk to you soon.”

His phone goes dark as the call ends. 

Once it does, he realizes it’s the only light in the room, the laptop in front of him long asleep. Aether sighs, sets the phone face down on the desk, leans back in the chair, closes his eyes, and just lets himself wallow.

He misses his pack, he misses their scents, their laughter not played through a tinny electronic speaker. He misses dinners and rituals and touching them and—

Aether paws at the tear that slips out. 

Goddamnit.

There’s no one to blame but himself, and he sighs, sadness turning into anger and frustration at himself, and he moves, flicking on the desk lamp and reaching more vigorously for the box of tissues than he needs to, and that’s when his injured ribs seem to reawaken and remind him even more of his stupid mistake.

He tries to clean himself up as well as he can, but quickly finds it’s a lost damn cause and simply sheds his shirt, allowing it to fall to the floor. It caught the most of his orgasm anyways. He dutifully ignores his bruised torso in favor of shoving the dirtied tissues into the garbage. 

Reaching up and rubbing at his face, he tries to stave off an oncoming headache. Sighing, he stands and moves, taxes altogether forgotten. He’s going to go lie down and wait.

Shuffling towards the bathroom, he rids himself of his stained sweats and underwear, uses the toilet, and downs one and a half glasses of water before padding to his wardrobe to change into something soft and clean.

He grabs his phone from the desk and approaches his nest, flopping down onto it and hissing when his ribs protest. He tells them to shut up and tries to get as comfortable as he can alone in his sea of blankets and pillows.

He tries not to stare at the blank screen, tries not to turn it on too often to see how time has passed. He knows aftercare is important and it can take a while, especially after an intense and probably long scene like that one, but he can’t help but be antsy, waiting and waiting for the phone to ring.

It does, eventually, and Aether accepts the video call on the second ring. Once the camera connects, his heart melts.

It’s an overhead view of Rain and Dew snuggled in the hotel bed, white sheets pooled around them. Dew's  whole face is buried into Rain’s neck, and Aether tries not to speak too loud. He looks asleep.

He also tries not to be disappointed in that.

“How’d it go?” He asks.

Rain smiles and shifts, getting more comfortable. “Pretty good…..” he then hesitates and Aether frowns softly. “He kept asking for you for a bit….”

Aether’s eyes shut and they both share a little private moment of agony. “Yeah?” he croaks, opening his eyes.

Rain nods, finally settling into what seems like the perfect cuddle position. Aether tries fiercely not to be jealous. “But I let him know we were gonna call you after we were done cleaning up.”

It strikes Aether suddenly, that throughout that entire encounter, he didn’t see Rain come. His frown deepens. That wasn’t fair, was it?

“Are you? Did you—?” 

It comes lamely out of his mouth, and this time he internally thanks Rain for his somehow mysterious ability to read minds when he needs to because he smiles and shakes his head.

“I’m alright,” he says from where he’s pressed into Dewdrop's hair. “He got me off several times before we even got the dildo in….isn’t that right?” He aims the question at the Ghoul cuddled into him, kissing at that wild straw hair, and Dew grumbles, nipping at the gills at Rain’s neck before turning his eyes towards the camera. His face is clear of makeup, but his eyes are still red, as is his nose, and he sniffs a little bit. 

Aether can’t help himself. “Hi, baby….” he coos softly, and the Fire Ghoul trills back at him, pressing his face into Rain’s neck again, but keeping one eye open and on the camera.

A flash of pain clenches Aether’s heart. “Wish I was there with you,” he admits pathetically.

Dew makes a noise at that. “Heal faster,” he demands, his voice rough and funny sounding with his cheek smooshed into Rain’s collarbone.

The Water Ghoul rolls his eyes. “Take your time ,” he says, nudging Dew, who simply scoffs.

They sit in silence for a long moment, enjoying the company however they can share it, before Dew whispers. “Miss you….”

Aether’s heart breaks all over again. “Miss you too, Firefly….”

The silence isn’t quite as enjoyable after that. Dewdrop yawns after a while, and Rain sighs, defeated. “It’s late,” he admits, even though they all know it is. They should get on with it. They should go to bed because they probably have to get on the road tomorrow, and Aether, well, he’s got piles of receipts to attend to. However it becomes increasingly obvious that none of them want to hang up, especially when Dew whines softly in protest when Rain suggests they go to sleep.

The Water Ghoul bites his lip. “Here, how about this….” and he starts to move, making Dew protest again. Rain simply shushes him and shuffles them onto their sides, propping the phone up on the bed so Aether can see the both of them. They look so comfortable, and Aether yearns . “Tell us about your day,” Rain says softly, nudging Dewdrop, who watches Aether with tired yet fond eyes. 

And Aether does exactly that, trying to think of anything to talk about to keep the call going. In turn, Dew—mostly Rain if they’re being honest—tells him about their day, fills him in on the tour, the rest of their pack members, until even Aether starts to fall asleep in the middle of a sentence. 

“Miss you,” he says. The two Ghouls on the other line rumble in agreement. “Love you,” he adds.

“Love you too,” Rain replies easily. Dew stays quiet, and Aether tries not to let it hurt him.

“See you next time you come home…..” he says instead, not quite remembering when that will be, but it’s the sentiment that counts, that keeps him going. 

Rain and Dew mumble agreements, but again, no one reaches to turn off the call. They just stare at one another, until Aether finally loses the battle and his eyes slip closed, the last thing he sees before he drops off into sleep is Dewdrop mouthing—

“I love you.”

[mister-e-muss]

Backlog report time: How did February ‘24 treat me?

Turns out this was a bit of a light month for me.

AI: The Somnium Files

I blame a fun demo, a very generous eShop sale, and my mutual @sakuracat96 for getting me into this one. I don’t really play visual novels. Ever. To my mind the only exceptions to this are the Ace Attorney games, 13 Sentinels, and now this game, and that’s because there is actual gameplay attached to the story.

If there’s one thing about the game that I can say it’s that it is fundamentally weird. It’s concept is about entering people’s dreams, and trying entirely off-the-wall solutions to progress. Even outside of the dreams, there’s a careful balance of humor and grit.

I loved this game. I feel almost bad for stealing this game for 8 dollars. While I’ve heard that it’s sequel is a mixed bag, I can’t wait to see where this series goes.

Chrono Trigger (DS)

Honestly what can I even say about this one. It’s goddamn Chrono Trigger! We’re talking about one of the original ‘best game of all time’ best games of all time! This is one of the founding fathers of JRPG greatness: a game that compares unfavorably with, depending on who you ask, maybe two other games! There is literally nothing I can say about this game that hasn’t been said at least three times before.

For being almost 30 years old, it is incredible how well this game holds up. Combat isn’t as large or complex as more modern entries in the genre, but it’s effective and fun. The soundtrack is just as good then as it is now. The story is involved, with reveals and new characters coming at just the right pace to keep you hooked.

I genuinely think that this game has not aged in the slightest. That isn’t to say there aren’t games that do certain things better, but it is great as a total package. Do I think that Magus and Frog are deeper characters than say Renne Hayworth/Bright? No not really. Do I think the soundtrack is better than The World Ends With You? No. Does it have a long runtime wherein every nook and cranny is packed with content? Again, no. In fact the DS versions’ extra content is just plain tedious, and feels like padding.

But I think its short run-time is an under-appropriated aspect. I play Xenoblade and Trails, so you know that I love long-running games. Especially when they use that time to really dig into the world and characters and how things work. That said, a long run time is not necessarily a good thing. If you’re gameplay loop isn’t fun or is just tedious, then long run times just extend the discomfort. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in English, it’s that bigger is not better. It’s not a writer’s job to bend the dictionary over their knee, or break a thesaurus’ spine, or demand the reader suddenly memorize an entire Glossary’s worth of terminology to make a book make sense. A writer’s job, in plain and simple terms, is to tell the story as best they can. This is Chrono Trigger’s hidden strength: it’s compact and succinct. Frog might not be as fully realized a character compared to others, but there’s enough of an arc to make the player feel for him. The story might be comparatively short, (my run clocked in at 28 hours, and I spent two of those doing that annoying bonus content I mentioned) but it does so much within that time.

I genuinely feel like Square Enix could release a remake or port in every console generation, and it would still stake up. In fact, I have no idea why Square isn’t using their HD2D engine on this one.

[crusherthedoctor]

What are you favorite Eggman mechs? Like the Death Egg Robo, for example :3

This will be a rapid fire one, because with the sheer number that come to mind, and the urge to resist listing every single one of them, even the laughable ones like Egg Dealer (I'm a diehard Eggfan, what do you expect?), I'd be here all day if I went into extensive detail for each of them, and it would also be pointless because most of them amount to "it cool :3". This will include mechs piloted by other characters that were nonetheless very likely to have been made by the good doctor.

Egg Pistons - For the first final boss in the series, the idea is very creative despite its simplicity. I like the concept of the room itself being the danger, an idea that's shared by the final bosses of Sonic 1 and 2 on the MS/GG.

Catcher Eggman - I like how neon it is, and it's a surprisingly tricky boss for so early on in Sonic 2. Not super tricky granted, but moreso than any other up until Metropolis.

Brass Eggman - He's good with the instruments. My favourite part is when Eggman starts playing tennis with Sonic and then transforms into a giant boar monster.

Death Egg Robot - It's a classic for a reason. I'm so happy its iteration in the second movie was as faithful as it was. And of course, I love all of the spiritual successors that we've seen over the course of the series. The Super Egg Robo in Advance 1, the Super Egg Robo Z in Advance 2, the Eggrobo in Lost World, Black Eggman/Metal Robotnik in the OVA...

Screw Mobile - Bouncing off the water gushers to hit him is fun.

Drill Mobile - Why do people say Marble Garden is forgettable when it has a highlight moment for Tails?

Big Arm - This is one of the Egg Mobile attachments that everyone loves, and rightly so. It's so simple, yet so badass.

Hang Mobile - Gee S3&K, how come SEGA gave you TWO bosses that resemble a penis?

Egg Golem (S3&K) - I like it when Eggman incorporates his tech into natural structures or ancient monuments and weaponizes them. It's a nice spin on his usual schtick, and it's for similar reasons that I like the SA2 Egg Golem, as well as the Rusty Ruin boss from 3D Blast.

Hot Mobile - It looks cool, and the lead-up to it is one of S3&K's many iconic moments. Shame the boss itself amounts to waiting for it to unalive itself.

Great Eggman Robo and the Final Weapon - They both contribute to why S3&K has one of the best finales in the series.

Speed Slider Boss - The boss itself is perhaps not very good (the bosses in Chaotix are not what I'd call a tour de force), but a carousel-themed boss is delightful and on-point for Eggman's character, so whatever.

E-Mech - tfw it's only pathetically easy because if it had access to the moves you can use when you hack Fighters to play as him, you would stand no chance against him. He was too OP for his own good. A testament to his genius.

Egg Viper - The design is top class. The fight is top class. The meme is top class. But my favourite part of the whole thing is the sui-dive at the end, and how the music goes completely silent from the moment you land the last hit, all the way until it finally crashes into the pit in a glorious inferno. Would a half-hearted villain have gotten such a cool not-death scene? I think not.

Egg Walker (SA1) - "You fool. Away... before I make suggestive art of the new character in less than 24 hours after they were revealed."

Egg Walker (SA2) - Yeah, it's weird how he doesn't use any other mechs in the whole game when you put the gameplay justification aside, but as a portable version of the aforementioned walker, it's just as effective as its bigger brother, and packed equally to the brim.

Egg Spider - One of the trickier water zone bosses in the series... unless you're playing as certain characters I guess.

Egg Hammertank II - As Advance 2 was my first Sonic game, this was my first Eggman boss, so there's a nostalgic soft spot present for it.

Egg Bomber - It's Eggman in a tank. That's it, that's the reason.

Egg Totem - This has always been one of my favourite bosses in Advance 2 due to the balancing act you have to pull for it, and it caps off the already excellent Music Plant.

Egg Saucer - I love it when the fandom suffers for its sins. Even if that includes me.

Egg Shrimp - "Don't worry lads, there's a very important reason why I'm building this." *captures little kid's mother just to spite them*

Egg Emperor - Another instant badass. Metal Sonic may have been the one piloting it, but he wouldn't have used it for his ruse cruise if it wasn't Eggmanny, and it probably was the real Eggman who piloted it in Generations 3DS, so there.

Egg Mobile (Battle) - I don't know if this counts since it's just the Egg Mobile on its lonesome with red armor. But it's a boss, so I guess that's all that's required. He only has two attacks, yet he's still one of the harder opponents in the whole game regardless, and it's followed shortly after by him driving Emerl insane and forcing Sonic to Old Yeller him. Well done, Ivo, that's the kind of wholesome content I'm sure the fandom has in mind when they talk about you.

The Advance 3 bosses in general - Just for how hilariously checked out G-Merl looks when he's crammed into random places on said mechs. Special mention for the Egg Cube in Toy Kingdom for being a unique ring out boss.

Egg Breaker - This is basically just Egg Emperor Jr. (even has the same face lol), but it's still cool with its morning star arm and its YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, THE MORE THE MERRIER, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, THE MORE THE MERRIER, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY- I know this only happens in the Mad Matrix version, don't ruin the joke

Egg King - Running on the mech itself, even if only briefly, is the hypest shit.

Egg Salamander - The one with the funny song about coffee.

Ghost Titan - Whisker was the pilot, but he himself is an Eggman robot, so... I just enjoy how chunky and tank-like it is for something that can float.

Egg Wizard - This is one of the most underrated final Eggman mechs, and one of the most underrated final bosses in the series period. Its design sets itself apart from others in the doctor's catalogue, as do the magic-based attacks gifted by its theft of the Jeweled Scepter. Only downside is that Nega's there.

Egg Dragoon - You knew this one was coming. Iconic design, iconic battle, better than Dark Gaia and its ridiculous number of back-to-back QTEs without question. Then it returned in Generations with some Egg-Wyvern wings and a nice Egg Viper tail. Good stuff.

Nega-Wisp Armor - Eggman finally got to be the true final boss of a 3D game. Only took over a decade. Bowser never had to wait that long. The fight itself, while easy, is still memorable with how he uses the Wisps' abilities against you. Even the announcer is on his side.

Time Eater - He finally got one of them under his control, and gave it a sick clockwork aesthetic. I will always sing the praises for this achievement, especially when later material has regressed back to square one for no good reason. I like to imagine that its jittery movements is the creature itself trying and failing to fight back against Eggman's control. Gives the whole thing an extra layer of cruelty, and remains consistent with the doctor's modus operandi of shoving sentient beings in steel coffins when they never asked for it.

Weather Mobile - The gimmick is both fun and funny. As is the infamous buzzing at the end.

Gachapandora - Gotta catch 'em all.

Phantom Egg - Despite looking like a ronper suit, the fight itself and how it incorporates the non-King Heavies makes it a winner. And the music, obviously.

Klepto Mobile - How is a hastily cobbled together piece of shit able to keep up with Phantom King to a standstill? Because that's the magic of Eggman when he's used properly.

Mega Death Egg Robot - Storing a second mech inside the first one is the most Eggman thing ever, and a final example of how cunning he was throughout all of Forces.

Bridge Island Boss - It's already a good spin on the Death Egg Robot archetype, but then it summons the Big Arm claws. It's still the first boss when all is said and done, but it's one of the best first bosses, and considering how the later bosses in Superstars have gained a reputation for being challenging, starting off with something like this is some good foreshadowing.

Sky Temple Boss - The Wacky Workbench boss, but actually a threat for reasons beyond forgetting which platforms you shouldn't bother with.

Egg Diablo - What do you get when you cross a villain that takes pride in his evil, and a fandom that insists on making him a good father and demanding he retire from villainy altogether? I'll tell you what you get: you get what you fuckin' deserve. The shogun influence is interesting, kind of like the classic equivalent of the Egg Emperor's knight motif. And I like the rewind gimmick, which I'm still convinced is a reference to the unused Final Fever from Taxman CD. (Seeing how the Black Dragon was likely inspired by the unused dragon boss concept in S3&K, it doesn't seem too farfetched.)

Fang's Mech - Yes, Fang has an engineering side, but it's got Metal Sonic eyes, he was already working for Eggman in this game, and there's no way he could have given players a concussion without some assistance from the man who gave us the Egg Diablo.

[talenlee]

Game Pile: Root (Video)

Root — Mastery Depth And Material Demands

Watch this video on YouTube

Thumbnail and script below the fold. The script is in part based on this article and this article.

In 2018, the board game Root was released by Leder games, to a sort of confused, but very enthusiastic ‘hooray!’ Based on earlier successes by the same developers (and some weird, contentious ‘hey, you copied my notes’ complaints), Root is an asymmetrical war game, where in the base box, you have four factions competing with one another to try and take control of a nonspecific woodland glade. Each faction, the game promised – and delivered – are different; not the same rules with a few different units, but entirely, meaningfully, complicatedly different in how they relate to one another.

Lauded for its emergent complexity and its charming aesthetic, Root is one of those games that quickly became institutional; multiple expansions, fan merchandise, an RPG in the setting, all that stuff that signalled people are into your game, the base board game Root is probably one of those recent classics. It’s kinda funny to talk about in hindsight, to revisit these words from years ago because like, Root isn’t even the biggest Cole Wehrle game, and its weird early start is now just a footnote, certainly compared to his work on Pax Pamir. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just know that each of these things I’m mentioning is worth an article unto itself.

Root, the board game is a lot of game. As kickstarter products go, it’s one of those games that absolutely jam-packs the box with stuff, and it’s not even like that’s a bad thing in this case. While I will regularly dunk on kickstarter board games for making tons of pieces that are unnecessary — looking at you, Kingdom Death Monster. Root is a game whose meeples and cards and board and all the tokens and reminders are there to serve a purpose, and then maximise their charm and value in that space. The copy of Root I’ve handled – which isn’t mine – is very present in its mass. It’s a really, really charming game, and the game you get is very rewarding per-kilogram price. While normally kickstarter games with a lot of good material components are secretly miniature distribution venues with a board game attached, Root is using every gram of its materiel.

I never wanted to buy Root, though.

Look, Root is amazing. Don’t take me saying that as a mark against it. Games aren’t inherently valuable, you don’t just automatically want them for any reason. Any given game’s value should be considered in what it offers, and that’s kind of why we talk about games like this. To complain about Root the board game is to pre-emptively make excuses about why you don’t like it, it seems. Root is a game that doesn’t fit my life, and the reason why is kind of specific.

What it is is what I refer to as mastery depth.

Mastery Depth is a term I used when talking about Century: Golem, then realised I may have never mentioned it anywhere before. I mention it from time to time, and then don’t explain myself, which is a great example of bad academic language. Here’s the concept, then: Mastery. The ‘put it in a single sentence’ version of Mastery looks like this: Mastery is the way the game is affected by having already come to understand the game.

That’s a small sentence, it’s reasonably simple words. Like any simple phrase in games studies, it comes with weight that makes it feel challenging to properly handle. Let’s dig into it, then: For pretty much every game, previous experience playing the game makes the game easier to play. Sometimes that’s just a matter of learning the rules more thoroughly, so you don’t need to look things up. Sometimes it’s about knowing what you should prioritise in the game, after the rules present them to you as a big wave of equal stuff.

Mastery depth is a way to look at a game in terms of how much of what a game does that rewards players with more or less mastery. Is there a game you can think of where there’s a particular dangerous situation that can come up and you need to know how to recognise it? What about the way we see Chess, a game with a variety of ‘openings’ that require learning a new language to understand? Mastery is how you recognise those things. A game that rewards mastery often rewards playing with mastery – games like Dungeons and Dragons are mind-blowingly complex, but as you master them you learn how to stop caring about unimportant details, and learn ways to build the game to get the outcomes you want.

A lot of games get called ‘bad’ because they lack mastery depth, and some are ‘bad’ because their mastery depth has a hard limit. Connect Four and Tic-Tac-Toe are games that once you understand them enough are solved, and the person with sufficient mastery knows the way the game will go and wins it. By comparison, though, there are some games where it’s hard to tell different levels of mastery – you can look to the intricate and complex development of Magic: The Gathering, where asking a computer to calculate ‘best plays’ in any given situation is brain-explodingly difficult.

Bear in mind what players need to know, how much they have to play, and if your game needs mastery or rewards mastery, and if you’re okay with that. Mastery is fun! I love games with a lot of mastery depth… but I’m also learning to love the games that are a bit less likely to reward you for a long-term plan.

I’ve been thinking about this these past few years as the weird uncle watching my family’s relationship to games changing. There was a point where games had to be almost universal, players need to be playing with the same pieces and information had to be open so I could help maintain the game state for the young kids trying to play. But then things developed and evolved and now I’m at the point where they’re playing complex games like – well, Magic: The Gathering. What this means is that I’ve been familiar now with a really interesting experience of watching a playgroup evolve in real time over the past few years.

It’s heartwarming and honestly really cool. It taught me a lot about ways that these ‘simpler’ games could be engaging in different ways. King of Tokyo and Century Golem are two games I would never have sat next to one another but their mastery depth is very similar, and the games you get to play out of both one are both really good. And this idea, Mastery Depth, is at the Root, ha Ha, of my reasons for not wanting my own copy of the great woodland war game.

This is a game with four factions, each of which play explicitly very differently and do their own unique form of play, which means that you need players for that. This isn’t a game I can take to a family gathering and sit down and play once or twice a year with my mum and nephew. This is effectively four separate games in one box and each of those games interacts with one another, and those interactions are complicated. In order to play this game, everyone needs to be aware of how their faction plays and how to play it right, to just make it function, and then they need to understand what’s important to that function to play it well.

Basically, this is not a game for ready sharing, this is a game for playing and replaying with a small group of people who want to play it again and get better at it. This is not to say this game is not a game for people like me: I love the complexity, I love the systems of the game, and I love the ways they give you choices for how you engage with the game. Yet, this is not a game for a person like me.

This is a game for four people like me.

I don’t have four people like me.

Root needs table space, too, of course. This game sprawls out and it needs a gutter to play around so you can put your player card somewhere and your hand and keep track of what’s going on. I do not have a big, clear, open table for playing board games. When I do have access to big tables, it is often at the University, or it is at my parents’ – and my parents have dining tables that have other needs.

Point is, Root is a game that asks of me materially in ways I cannot give it; I cannot give it the players, and I cannot give it the space.

<videogame footage starts>

This is where I get to point to good news, everybody, because Root has a digital version on Steam. and that good news is extremely good news. See, to my absolute shock and delight, Root on Steam is pretty much everything you’d want out of a digitised version of the game. It is visually charming, with lovely models and animations that do not carry the same aesthetic character as the meeples the board game does, but still convey the tone of the different factions.

As a digital game, Root melts away a lot of the things the game does that you need to pay attention to and process and handles them for you. You do not need to shuffle, the deck of cards is not a thing you look at – it’s just that at the end of your turn, cards appear in your hands. You do not need to look over at other player’s boards or ask them to calculate their Victory Points for you, because those are presented on the interface itself. Information is brought forwards as necessary and you are given room to inspect the game in the ways the game recognises you need to.

It’s also quiet: You do not have to communicate with the other players if you don’t want to. For random games of a board game with strangers, this seems like a bad thing, but you have to remember that the videogame community and board game communities are not necessarily dealing with the same problem. Videogame players can use the videogame plateform to quell anxiety, and to not have to talk to people or make sure they’re managing the rules correctly (and avoiding a socially awkward fight at the table) can be a delight. The game handles asymmetrical play – where you can turn up, play a turn, then log off for days at a time if necessary.

Is it a strict upgrade? of course it’s not. To talk about these games as if they’re comparable versions with a better or worse misses the point. Root is a beautiful game that’s very complex, hard to manage in your house, and challenging to find players for, which means for me, it’s strictly superior to have Root on Steam.

But you know what will never happen?

My partner will never wander by the computer while I’m playing Root, look over my shoulder, and say ‘oh, that’s cute, can I join in?’

I will never be able to take a meeple from the box of this and use it in another game for an impromptu bit of house ruling.

When the servers shut down, I will lose access to this copy of Root and have no way – literally no way with my current skillset – of changing that.

If I don’t plan on playing Root this month, I won’t be able to hand it to my friend Pendix and say ‘hey man, give this a shot with your partner for a few weeks, see what you think.’

The ways we structure our relationship to games change based on how we play them. Root has a digital version that solves so many of its problems, and let me play the game with some people I really care about. Opening those pathways limits others, and that means that as with many such things it’s a compromise. In a lot of ways, it’s best not to think of Root the board game and Root the digital game as just the same game, but rather, two asymmetrical factions in the same space, competing for your attention in different ways.

Root as I said up, in the top, a really charming game, a game that I like and that doesn’t serve my needs a lot. But now I have a version of it I can always play with one of my friends. We can even play with the expansions very cheaply. For this reason I give Root a score of Friends/10.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!