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world-of-aus · 9 months ago
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Pairing: Pornstar!Bucky x Pornstar!Reader
Warnings: MINOR DNI 18+ (Oral, Fingering, P in V, Praise all around,) Its Porn With a substantial amount of plot?
Author's Note: Second Starkhub Installment for 'The Soldier & Eden Ivy' hope you all enjoy, make sure to drink some water...
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STARKHUB - Eden Ivy Fucks Her Boss to keep her job
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  Eden Ivy 
  Eden Ivy  
  Eden Ivy 
“Eden Ivy.”  Your name was on everyone’s tongue including his own. 
Stark looked up from his calendar brow raised and pen stilling over the boxed paper, “Eden Ivy?” He questions. “You know carter’s available for this shoot right?” Bucky nods, “I know, but I asked for Eden Ivy, not Carter.” Tony raises his hand in mock surrender, “easy there soldier, I heard you just making sure I heard right, ANYWAY.” Bucky watches his manager scribble your name in finalizing the soldier's filming week. The pen drops to the paper, Tony leaning back in his chair, “so Eden ivy,” he questions with a grin, “She’s really that good?” Bucky raises a brow in question, “what do you mean?” his boss leans forward, “oh c’mon Barnes it’s rare you film with female costars more than once. Carters your go to, your like Starkhubs ‘it couple’.” 
The broad-shouldered brunette grimaces, “we’re not a couple.” he grits shutting the rumor down. “She just happens to be the only one that can take what the soldier gives her, you know how intense it can get, not many like that.” 
Tony nods, “you’re right, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but if what I’ve heard of Eden Ivy so far is true – I think the soldier may have met his match.” His boss knocks on the desk after his thought, “well we’re done here pal and listen don’t forget to get with Pepper and Eden to let them know about the upcoming shoot, don’t want any surprises.” 
The brunette stands with a nod, “are they here today?” Tony looks down at his schedule, “they’re on set three should be wrapped already.” Bucky sees himself out of Tony’s office with a wave over his shoulder, feet carrying him out of the building containing the offices and into the building where the sets are located. 
Sex invades his senses as he passes the sets, pushing the door open for set three, he makes it two steps in before he’s freezing, cock hardening in his joggers.  
Quiet whimpers leave your teeth bitten lips, your body gyrating down onto a silicone pink cock, fingers buried between your thighs as you work quick circles over your clit. Bucky isn’t new to solo’s he’s done his fair share of them when he first started at Starkhub, but he’s never seen one look this good. If he was at home hidden behind a laptop, he’s certain he would be watching your scene right now hand wrapped tightly in a fist around his cock. 
He’s entranced by the way you bounce on the silicone, lips parted on a moan as filth spews from your lips. Pepper is the first to spot him, not that he takes any notice barely seeing her cross the floor to where he stands hard and aching. “Like what you see Barnes?” she teases, freeing him from Eden’s spell. He blinks owlish like as he looks over at his smirking bosses wife, “you could say that.” he speaks gruffly. “Tony said you would be wrapped up, sorry for just barging in.” he chokes out ears trained on your moans, you were close he could tell. Peppers grinning, “Tony knew our wrap time, though knowing him, he has his reasons.” is all she says as your climax hits, Bucky’s eyes shutting, teeth clenched, hands fisted at his sides as he hears you ride it out.  
“So, what can I do for you?” Pepper questions the buzz of the set ringing around the two of them as your set wraps. 
“I requested Eden for a scene on Friday, Tony wanted to make sure I ran it by the two of you to make sure she’s available.”  
The one thing Bucky loved about Pepper is how organized she was, he watched her pull out her phone, going into her planner for you. She scrolls through your scheduled week; she hums looking through your days.  
“She’s all yours,” she says looking up at him, “just make sure you let her know too.” Bucky nods and then she’s leaving him. He makes his way across the set, the crew moving around him as he closes the distance between the two of you. You’re still perched on the sets bed, a sheet lazily thrown over you, and a fucked out sweet smile on your lips. Suddenly he wishes he was the reason for that smile. 
Your gaze is locked on his as he closes the distance, “hi,” you breathe, “is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me soldier?” You question teasingly gaze drawing down to the tent in his pants. Despite the cheesiness of your comment Bucky chuckles, “you wanna see just how happy you’ve made me Eden?” 
You try to conceal your grin, teeth capturing your bottom lip as you look up at him, “careful soldier, unless you want a free show, though between you and I we both know our bosses won’t take to kindly to that, nothings free here.” 
Bucky laughs more relaxed this time, “well maybe it won’t have to be a free show, are you available this Friday?” 
Your grin morphs into a smirk, “you want to make a video with me soldier, get me naked and spread out till I’m screaming your name?” 
He gets bold, leaning forward fingers hooking under your chin as he guides you up onto your knees, the flimsy sheet falling exposing your naked breasts to the room. “Want to do much more than a video with you, I want to wreck you, want you to only think of me when you’re with someone else, want to hear you screaming my name when you should be screaming theirs, and when I do, all I want to hear from you is thank you.” 
He’s not above taking you now, especially with how you preen his name, leaning into his touch wanting more. He pulls away, grinning when a whine leaves your lips, “I’ll see you Friday Eden, be a good girl for me now.” He leaves you with a wink, your body slumping into the messy sheets and a curse of his name leaving your lips. 
He’d have you cursing more than just his name come Friday, he’d have you begging. 
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You were dressed in the tightest, tiniest skirt wardrobe could find you, a black silk blouse clinging to your skin, buttons popped open to just below your sternum - and the heels? 
 He was going to fuck you in those heels. The next time you wore them his name would be on your lips; he’d make sure of it. 
There was a pout on your painted features as you met ‘your boss’s’ demeaning gaze, you were swaying “nervously” in your spot, really playing into your role of being the scared secretary on the verge of losing her job. 
“I should fire you Eden,” he grunts pretending to look at the blank sheets of papers stuffed in a prop file handed to him before the cameras started running. “You fucked up my numbers, you’re fucking with my money. You know what I do to people that fuck with my money?” He doesn’t wait for your answer, “I kick them out on their ass’s Eden.” 
You shrink back at his outburst, but he catches the way you rub your thighs together. “Please sir,” you whimper, fuck he wanted you on your knees, his hands fisted in your hair while he choked you on his cock. “I can’t afford to lose this job, my daddy will be so upset with me, please.” He huffs as he kicks away from his desk pushing to his feet as he watches you, strong arms brace him against the fake wood of his desk. “Daddy? You think I give a fuck what Daddy’s going to think? Is Daddy going to get me my money you just lost me?” 
Your lip's part to answer but a knock on the flimsy doors set sounds, the two of you look to the door, Bucky beckons them in. Walker newest recruit to Starkhub struts in paper in hand it was Tony’s idea to introduce him like this - you’d be filming his feature film with him next week. Bucky finds he hates it; he’s staring at Eden like he wants to eat her all while he brings the papers to the desk Bucky stands behind. Walker only stops undressing you with his eyes to tell ‘your boss’ he’s got the newest numbers for him.  
He could care less about the blonde male, but his blood runs white hot when Walker delivers a slap to your ass, one neither of you were expecting on his way off the set. “See you later Eden.” He chuckles, Bucky doesn’t miss the way you shrink back, Walker’s little slap wasn’t part of the script, so your tongue tied, thrown off. He takes control calling your name bringing you back to him, “Eden, eyes on me, you and I aren’t done talking,” your gaze returns to his, good girl he thinks. “You plan on telling your daddy that you messed up, hope he gives you money to fix your mess?” 
You shake your head, “I - No sir my daddy can’t know, he’s going to be so mad at me – please sir – I'll, I’ll do anything I can’t lose this job.” He pushes off the desk, rounding it, closing the distance between the two of you. He stops just a foot short of you, hand reaching out to cup your cheek, thumb running over the apple of it, “you really want to keep this job?” You're nodding eagerly, breath already uneven and he hasn’t even touched you the way he wants too, “and you’d do anything?” 
Those doe eyes you’re so good at dishing come to life, “Anything sir – please.” 
His gaze turns dark, hungry. “Get on your knees.” You gasp mock offense, “sir I -” his hand slips from your cheek falling to your neck, squeezing, “you said you would do anything – now I’m telling you to get on your knees. You want to keep your job, right? Keep daddy and me happy?” 
You’re nodding, “then get on your knees Eden.” 
Your descent is slow, his hand around your neck guiding you as you get down on your knees for him. You look up at him as your fingers reach for the belt buckled through his slacks, you pull the belt from the buckle opening the leather. Your fingers move onto the button holding his slacks closed next letting it pop open, a groan bubbles in his chest when your nimble fingers brush against his hardened cock as you pull the zipper down slowly. Your fingers hook over the top of his slack and boxers tugging on them, his cock springs free from its confines, he watches you lick over your lower lip.  
“Such a good girl,” he murmurs hand sliding up your neck to cradle the side of your head, “now show me just how much you want to keep this job.”  
 Eyes locked on his you get your fingers around his girth, hand fisting around the base of his cock. He waits with bated breath, dark hungry eyes watching you lean forward letting his hand that cradles you follow your movement. Your tongue peeks out past your lips to lick along the underside of his cock, your tongue running over every vein that has his breath leaving his chest. His head falls back a long low grunt falling from his lips as your tongue swirls around the tip before you take him fully into the wet, warm, heat of your mouth till your stretched out around the base of his cock, till he’s hitting the back of your throat. His hand finds its way into your hair, fingers fisting tugging as he guides your motion “just like that” he moans, “fuck Eden knew you were good at something.”   
You moan around his cock, your other hand finding his muscled thigh as you brace yourself, jaw slacking, eyes begging. The fist he has in your hair tightens, his other finding your cheek as he holds you still, complacent. He grinds into your mouth once, twice before he pulls you back till only the tip rests on your tongue, all self-control is lost on him as he fucks his way back into your mouth, pace unrelenting as he makes you take what he gives you. 
“That’s it,” he growls, watching your mascara streak with the tears that pull from your eyes, “take this cock Eden, take it like a good fucking girl, let me see how bad you want it.”  He tugs you off with a snarl harsh tug to your hair as he holds you at arm's length to get a good look at the mess he’s made of you. Your spit pools around your lips, dripping down your chin, staining the black satin shirt a shade darker. He can feel his cock pulse at the sight, watching as you run a thumb over your lips sucking the digit into your mouth as you lick yourself clean, “Did I do good sir? Yont won’t tell my daddy?” 
He takes hold of his own cock, bringing you back into your space as he taps your parted lips with his member, he groans when your tongue slides out, “I don’t know Eden, I don’t feel like you’re very sorry, like you really want this job.” 
You’re whining, kitten licking his cock as if that will fix your ‘mistakes’, “please sir,” you plead doe eyes beaming up at him, “I said I would do anything – and I mean anything.” 
A growl vibrates in his chest as he halls you up, a cry so pretty leaving your lips as you stumble to your feet falling into his embrace. Hand still fisted in your hair, the other finding purchase on your neck as he brings your lips to his, tongue wasting no time as he delves into your parted lips licking up into your mouth. 
“I want you naked, bent over that desk Eden - heels on.” 
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You’re tense as you wait bent over the wooden desk, breath caught in your throat, ass high in the air. He drinks you in, watching you all spread out and waiting, your poor pretty pussy clenching around nothing waiting to be filled.  
He takes slow steps forward, “she’s a hungry thing isn’t she.” He husks from behind you. The first contact made is his hand slapping your pussy, the action jolting you up the desk, gasp tumbling from your lips. “Oh yes she is.” he murmurs fingers dipping into your sodden folds, you moan, head thumping against the desk at his touch, “sir please.” You push back into his hand, gyrating against the desk, he leans over you, thick digits circling your clit sweeping up your slick before plunging into your awaiting heat. 
A moan leaves your parted lips, “you’re soaked Eden, slipped in so easily, who got you this wet? Was it Walker?” 
His hot words ghost over your neck, you shake your head, biting back the whimpers, “No sir.” His fingers fuck into you, “tell me Eden who has you this wet?” 
“You sir – please.” you preen pushing back into him, eager as ever. 
“You’re such a good girl Eden,” he murmurs leaning into to nip at the lobe of your ear, “Do you only listen when your cunt is stuffed?” 
You swallow back the yes, instead answering, “no sir – I can listen, I can be good, I promise.” 
“Of course you’ll be good, you’ll do what I tell you if you want to keep this job.” he murmurs ravishing your skin, licking, nipping, biting any of you that he can reach. You’re so reactive to it all, preening his name as he fucks you with his fingers your ass pressing back into his hand as you try to get some control, get him a little deeper. “That’s it, fuck yourself sweetheart, come on my fingers Eden, get yourself wet for me – get yourself ready.” 
The wet slick slide of his fingers into your drenched cunt fill the sets air, skin slapping skin. “Sir please – please!” His teeth capture the lobe of your ear, “Come on Eden, you’ve had no problem taking from me before, come on my fingers, come on.” 
A low moan builds in his chest at the tightening of your cunt against his fingers, a broken cry leaving your lips as your orgasm washes over you. “That’s it Eden good fucking girl,” he growls his warmth that covered your back disappearing as he pushes up, his other hand holding your hips down as he fucks his fingers into you with vigor. 
A cry of his name leaves your lips, hands scrambling to grab a hold of his wrist, he's unbothered, “uh uh Eden, M’not done give me one more, come on now. You’ve taken from me now it’s my turn.” It doesn’t take him long to pull another from you, your body going taught as you gush around his fingers, wetting his slacks. “Fuck such a good fucking girl.” he growls. 
A whine leaves your lips when he pulls his fingers out, making quick work of repushing down his slacks to let his hardened cock spring free again. He covers you with his body again pulling a groan from you as he swipes his dick through your slick getting himself wet. “What’s wrong Eden, you think you’re the only one that can take? Think you could fuck me without getting fucked yourself?” 
Your answer is a choked-out moan as he slides into the wet warm heat of your channel, walls constricting him like a vice. “Fuck,” he growls sliding in till he’s buried to the hilt, the hand that fucked you covering your mouth, “let’s get one thing straight here Eden the only one doing the fucking here will be me. You ever fuck me over again, and you’ll find yourself in a far worse position then this one, you understand?” You’re nodding, whines bubbling past the hold he has on your mouth his cock accentuating every word. 
He can’t hold back anymore as he grabs the parts of you he can with his other hand holding you in place as he makes you take his cock. He only uncovers your mouth to hear how pretty you cry as he drives into you over and over again. He wrecks you like he promised, your body taking every inch of him, “that’s right take my cock like you took my money, keep me happy and you keep daddy happy,” he growls feeling himself closing in on his high. 
He doesn’t want it to end this soon, he wants to have you under him for hours crying for him to stop, that you can’t take anymore maybe another time right now he needed to give clint his money shot. So he pulls out, biting back the groan as he manhandles you to the floor, getting you on your knees as he fists his cock. Your eager for it, tongue rolling out as you look up at him waiting for his cum to paint your tongue, “should have you on your knees more often, it's a good look for you,” he grunts feeling the pleasure build, “much better than that desk you sit behind.” 
Your moaning drives him over the edge, his cum shooting from his cock, painting your cheeks, lips, tongue. He’s winded breath heavy as he watches you clean up his cum from your face with your fingers, he didn’t think he could get hard again but watching your lick your digits clean of his cum would be the thing to do it. He drops to a squat hand fisting in your hair as he brings your lips to his, its a wet dirty kiss all teeth and tongue as he tastes himself on you. 
He wants to laugh when you speak your last line, “does this mean I can keep my job?” but he doesn't instead he pats your cheek thumb running over your lower lip, tugging it down, “you keep me happy, you can have whatever job you want.” 
“Yes Sir.” 
Clints calling cut over his shoulder, the loud buzz of a finished set sounding in the air.  
The two of you relax then your back pressed against the wooden desk as you catch your breath. “How you doing Eden you alright?” he questions needing to check in. 
You smile at him, “more than alright soldier, you always show your costars this good of a time?” 
“If they’re not having a good time m’not doing my job sweetheart.” he answers hands going to the buttons of his shirt. You watch in question as he undoes each button, entranced as he pulls it off handing it to you. Your smile is soft as you take the fabric from his hands putting it on to cover up your naked body.  
“Careful soldier or I might take more than just your money.” 
He laughs, he was betting on it. 
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evidence-based-activism · 3 months ago
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what are your thoughts on the whole situation with the women’s Olympic boxing competitors Andrea Carini and Imane Khelif? I don’t know why feminists are so mad about it, Imane is a cis woman or has an intersex condition, either way she’s not a man.. I thought feminists were supposed to support women winning
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/s/taXu5IeFZc
Hello!
I expect you also sent the ask with the following link: https://www.tumblr.com/assignedmale/757629682153897984?
So, my short answer is that the situation is complex and I don't believe we have enough information to come to a definitive conclusion. In addition, the current cultural context about "trans athletes" is only exacerbating the already complex issue.
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My long answer:
My understanding of the situation is that Khelif is a biologically male individual (i.e., "of the sex" that produces the small gamete/sperm) with a difference/disorder of sexual development (DSD, commonly referred to as "intersex") and was, as a result of this DSD, assigned the female sex at birth.
I want to take a moment here to point out that this is the exact sort of situation the AFAB/AMAB labels were created for. The vast majority of individuals are not "assigned" a sex, they are observed to be a particular sex (OFAB/OMAB?). It is in this sort of situation, where the sex is ambiguous or incorrectly determined that the “assignment” comes into play. Further, I will be referring to all AFAB individuals as "she", given the sociocultural context in which biologically male, AFAB individuals are raised and treated as women.
That being said, the participation of people with DSDs in competitive sports is an ongoing, contentious debate that is both separate from and related to the debate about the inclusion of transwomen in women's sports.
In reference to Khelif, it appears as though the original regulatory agency for boxing (IBA) disqualified her on the basis of her DSD. However, they have lost their position due to (either claims of or actual) corruption. The IOC defaulted to determining eligibility based the sex listed on the athlete's passport, which for Khelif is female (as she is AFAB).
The issue here is we do not know what her DSD is. The IBA claims she has XY chromosomes, but there are multiple conditions this can occur with. For example, as described in [1]:
Individuals with 5ARD2 are "genetic males and exhibit phenotypic male features at puberty and during adulthood". They are "raised as girls during childhood" but "usually develop a near-normal male phenotype" after puberty.
Individuals with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) have "no tissue response to testosterone and no masculinization" even at puberty where they can develop a "near-normal female phenotype". This is despite them having testosterone in the "normal adult male range".
Individuals with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS) "show a range of phenotypes with progressive masculinization depending on the degree of androgen insensitivity".
Just based on this, the best solution for each of these may be different. For example, it likely would be unfair for someone with 5ARD2 to compete in the female category, although it would be reasonable for them to compete in the male category. On the other hand, it would likely be unfair to prevent someone with CAIS from competing with other women, even with their male-typical testosterone levels.
And speaking of testosterone:
The same article [1] describes how men's testosterone level is substantially greater than women's levels, even in women with PCOS. (If you look at the article, make sure to take note of the log-scale. It highlights that the mean/median level in any male subgroup is more than 5 times the mean/median level in any female subgroup.) But again ... does the amount of testosterone really matter if the tissues don't respond to it (as in CAIS)?
In contrast, this study [2] also takes note that "testosterone exposure at puberty had unique effects such as changing skeletal structure and limb length which estrogen exposure to later in life cannot suppress" in males without a DSD. So, it's unlikely that artificially lowering the testosterone in individuals with 5ARD2 or PAIS (or males without a DSD, as in transwomen) would resolve the advantage.
So ... there are clear and significant differences in testosterone between men and women, even when they have a DSD. But in some cases (e.g., CAIS) the difference may not be relevant, and in other cases (e.g., artificial hormone suppression) a lack of difference may not be relevant.
I mention all of this to highlight how the situation is nuanced, and why I don't think we can make any judgements about Khelif. But I also want to explain how this situation is, in fact, connected to the "trans athlete" debate. It's a matter of public trust —specifically public trust in the athletic regulatory agencies.
Currently, there are regulatory boards that are making decisions that are neither consistent with biological realities [1, 2] or public opinion [3-5]. These decisions allow unambiguously biologically male individuals to compete with women.
Now to be clear, this particular case (Khelif) does not fall into this category. The problem here is one of trust: how can the public (or the other athletes) trust these regulatory agencies to make sound and fair decisions on complex cases involving DSDs if they can't adhere to scientific consensus on far clearer situations?
This is important, because athletes also deserve medical privacy. I am aware that public figures are often expected to give up a degree of their personal privacy rights (although I disagree with the extent of this). However, I expect most people will agree it's unreasonable to expect an athlete with a DSD (or any other medical condition) to release the extensive amounts of personal medical information needed to prove it is fair for them to compete with women. This is why we need trustworthy regulatory agencies, so that the public and other athletes can know that this information was provided and appropriately assessed without it having to be made public.
(And none of this touches on how the current disregard for clarity of language (e.g., claiming transwomen are "biologically female") has created so much confusion that many people seem to believe Khelif was AMAB.)
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In addition to all of that, the harassment and vitriol being directed at both women in this situation is excessive, unhelpful, and harmful. I've seen racist and misogynistic comments that black women are "more masculine". I've also seen misogynistic comments that Carini is "weak" for exiting the fight. Slurs are being directed at both women, and in neither case is that acceptable.
I understand why the tone of this debate is so hostile, but I do not support the behavior.
For the comic: the claim that "science and experience shows trans athletes on H.R.T are at a disadvantage" is false (see [2]). The rest of the comic neglects to consider the nuance of the situations and the current cultural context. That being said, most people arguing that Khelif shouldn't compete in women's sports are also ignoring the nuance of the situation.
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All in all, I do not think we currently have enough information to draw any conclusion or make any decisions about this specific situation. That being said, the current sociocultural context has inflamed this debate, created confusion, and eroded public trust in the parties responsible for making the aforementioned decisions. I personally consider that to be the more relevant issue.
References under the cut:
Clark, Richard V., et al. “Large Divergence in Testosterone Concentrations between Men and Women: Frame of Reference for Elite Athletes in Sex‐specific Competition in Sports, a Narrative Review.” Clinical Endocrinology, vol. 90, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 15–22. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.13840.
Luu, Tyler. “Should Transgender Athletes Be Allowed to Compete with Cisgender Athletes?” University of Toronto’s Journal of Scientific Innovation, Feb. 2022, pp. 59–65. jps.library.utoronto.ca, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/jsi/article/view/38091.
Brown, Kim Parker, Juliana Menasce Horowitz and Anna. “Americans’ Complex Views on Gender Identity and Transgender Issues.” Pew Research Center, 28 June 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/06/28/americans-complex-views-on-gender-identity-and-transgender-issues/.
Where Does the British Public Stand on Transgender Rights in 2022? | YouGov. https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/43194-where-does-british-public-stand-transgender-rights-1
Where Americans Stand on 20 Transgender Policy Issues | YouGov. https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/48685-where-americans-stand-on-20-transgender-policy-issues.
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an-idyllic-novelist · 2 years ago
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qin shi huang with yoriichi tsugikuni!fem!reader headcanons
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warnings: spoilers from manga, ooc, slow burn friends-to-lovers troupe
Special thanks to @onecantsimply, @yellow-snark and @thatstrangesheep for their feedback and help with these headcanons! Enjoy! :)
Even in death, Qin Shi Huang was an emperor whom everyone respected as the ‘king who began everything’. He had reunited the annexed nations of China, a guiding light who led his people bringing peace and prosperity after almost a millennium of strife. Now, within the vast afterlife known as Valhalla, he reigned over a substantial amount of territory alongside his successors, working as a cohesive council when conflict arose.
Today, however, he has come to handle the problem on his own terms. For the last two months, men, women, and even children have gone missing from the foot of the northeastern mountains. Given the harsh environment, it is not too odd to believe that the cause of their disappearance might be an attack from a wild animal, angering the spirits who guard the terrain, or just simply got lost.
But the disemboweled bodies told the emperor a different story: there is a beast devouring his people, and it is certainly not a bear. For a split moment, Qin Shi Huang feared that Chi You had somehow returned from beyond its miserable grave and had come back to take revenge on the ‘insolent whelp’ who would not bow before its bony knees as payment for being accepted as an emperor of China.
If that were truly the case, though, there would be more corpses strewn about the mountain base than the current number of victims. Qin Shi Huang had already defeated the god, and he will do it again to protect his subjects. Such is the road he leads as an emperor, after all~.
So imagine his surprise when he comes across a six-armed being with pasty skin and glowing golden sclera, hunched over the corpse of a man cradling his child. It was not Chi You, but a demon. A demon that was the stuff of legends many years ago, only for them to suddenly vanish and become nothing more than a bedtime story to keep children from sneaking off at night.
And now, here is the great emperor, face-to-face with this drooling beast. Qin Shi Huang frowned, bending his sinewy body into an offensive position. Just when he was about to launch an attack, his opponent’s head rolled off its shoulders. He blinked, watching the demon’s body collapse onto the grass, twitching rapidly before disintegrating into dust. Hm? He hadn’t even moved! Unless the presence of an emperor is that powerful before a demon that it self destructs?
“Are you all right?” Qin Shi Huang then saw a figure standing where the demon had been, sword unsheathed. At first glance, she seemed like an ordinary traveler by the way she dressed, but the emperor knew that she was certainly not an ordinary person. Not from the tremendous amount of chi circulating around this woman’s body and the sword fastened at her waist.
She was a warrior as Chun Yan had been.
He grinned. “Hao!”
[Eye Color] orbs blinked at him in confusion, tilting her head to the side as she repeated the word. “Does that mean…you are hurt?”
Zori sandals stomped against the bloodied soil as she strode over to him, astounding Qin Shi Huang with her agility. She frowned slightly, her eyes scanning over his body. “You…are all right, it appears.” She glanced up at him. “I…apologize if I had gotten…your clothes dirty. You are a young lord, yes?”
Qin Shi Huang frowned. “Buhao.”
“Hm?”
He raised his right hand, pressing his middle and index fingers together before he pointed them towards the ground, the golden nail guards glowing beneath the moonlight. “Humble yourself. You are in the presence of an emperor. Be grateful I have not executed you for your impudence.”
“You…are an emperor?”
That was how the greatest emperor in all of Chinese history crossed paths with the greatest Demon Slayer in history, the Mother of All Breathing Techniques, the Sun Hashira [First Name] [Last Name].
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In your defense, you never would have guessed that the man who had been endangered moments ago had not been a feudal lord looking for trouble in these woods, but an emperor who had come to kill the demon devouring his people.
You did apologize for being rude, and politely asked His Imperial Majesty if there was a town close by. You lived deep in the mountains, though in the opposite direction of his territory. It would take about two days to return should you leave now. That was only if you were lucky enough to not come across any more demons on your journey back home.
To your surprise, this emperor all but commanded you to follow him to his palace. He boasted that it was the largest one in Valhalla, with the finest food and rooms available for only esteemed guests and members of his court. However, since you did humble yourself before him, he will make an exception and allow a weary traveler to stay in the guest quarters for the night. You thanked him, trailing after the man through the woods to the crowded streets of a bustling city and right up the stone footsteps of an extravagant palace the likes of which you had never seen before.
You dared to say that it was much bigger than the Ubuyashiki compound.
With a clap of his jeweled hands, a group of young maidens in flowing robes appeared before him. He ordered them to make sure you received the most excellent care, including running a warm bath and mending your damaged clothes. Before you could have a moment to say something, you were immediately whisked away to another part of the palace until dinner was ready.
The food was just as extravagant as the clothes that the maidens had dressed you in. It was almost too much, but you dared to not insult your host. Instead, you bowed your head to him in gratitude and ate as much as you could without being too rude. Thankfully you could recall some of your table manners from when you had been alive, before becoming a Hashira and just the daughter of a prestigious household in the Sengoku era.
Between the raucous laughter and idle chatter amongst the others who dined at this table, you had almost expected to be asked to leave or escorted out of the banquet hall so that the emperor could speak to his fellow countrymen freely without the presence of an outsider.
Instead, His Imperial Majesty asked you many questions. Who you are, why were you in the woods, how did you defeat the demon, etc. You answered them to the best of your ability, humbly explaining that you had once been a Demon Slayer and trained to exterminate the ones who came out at night to consume human flesh. There is nothing special about you.
You had simply worked hard, protected humanity until your untimely death. There was no need for him to know of your ability to see the Transparent World, much less the Breathing Techniques of a Demon Slayer.
Some secrets were meant to be just that: secrets. And you were bad at explaining things; it had been a miracle that the Hashiras, those whom you had worked alongside all those years ago, could comprehend your words and adapt the Sun Breathing techniques into their own variations: Water, Insect, Flame, Wind, Stone, and so forth.
Again the emperor surprised you; he seemed intrigued by the Breathing Styles and continued to ask questions about how to use it until the handmaidens escorted you to the guest quarters later that night, although His Imperial Majesty wished to keep speaking even in a drunken stupor.
The following morning, you thanked the emperor for his hospitality and left the palace. An armed entourage followed you out to the city’s borders to make sure you would not try to attack His Imperial Majesty nor the citizens. You thanked them for their vigilance and hard work before beginning the journey towards your humble home.
You were certain that this was the first and only time you would come across royalty and thought nothing of it in the days that went by upon returning, weeks becoming almost two months since the demon attack. You would either be tending to the crops or practicing your swordsmanship. Eventually, it was time for you to venture down from the mountains to restock on your supplies.
The villagers who lived at the mountain’s edge were kind people. Some of them were elderly and required assistance with manual labor or errands. You did not mind helping them, and were quite hesitant to accept anything from them, especially rice or other precarious commodities.
Most were merchants who traveled a great distance from the village to the city to sell their wares. How could you even consider taking that away from them? To your dismay, they were quite stubborn and practically shoved it in your hands.
The ‘payment’ from the villagers, including the usual amount of items you purchased from the vendors, became too much for you to carry without making two trips up and down the mountain.
You were almost considering having to borrow a cart when a voice called out to you.
Turning around, your eyes widened in shock at the appearance of the emperor Qin Shi Huang walking down the muddied main road, flanked by four or five armed soldiers. He recognized you immediately, almost running with a wide grin on his face.
He’d been wanting to continue his conversation with you, yet due to his workload in the palace prevented him from venturing out sooner. You had also been difficult to track down as no one seemed to be aware that a Demon Slayer wearing hanafuda earrings existed in Valhalla except for a young whelp and his little sister living in the floating cities alongside the Valkyries.
But now, he’s here and ready to chat~. You should be grateful he had traveled such a long way to visit. He is an emperor after all. He was willing to help carry the supplies up the mountains if it meant he had an opportunity to challenge you to a fight and idly chatter over drinks.
Upon explaining that you did not drink alcohol, the emperor told you not to fret. He’s come prepared. Revealing a large jug of corked liquor in his hand with a wide grin, you realized that he would not go away even if you politely asked him too.
So with great reluctance, you guided Qin and his entourage up the mountains, some of them carrying your supplies.
A peaceful day became chaotic. And from this single afternoon of idle chatter and sparring with an incredibly powerful fighter transitioned to an unlikely friendship. Qin Shi Huang was nothing like Sumiyoshi, that much was certain.
Where Sumiyoshi was a humble man blessed to have a family in turbulent times, the boastful emperor had been an unwanted child from the moment he was born. If it had not been for his mentor and mother, that meek little boy would not have the confidence to move forward and pave the road for his people to live in peace, let alone find a method to deal with the Zhao’s anger aimed at him simply because he was from royalty.
He had many children sired from his concubines but he never took an empress, much to his council’s annoyance even in the afterlife. Chun Yan too, of all people!
Yet despite such different personalities from two different people who are your friends….you knew they both possessed kindness and empathy. Why else would an emperor continue to maintain contact with you via letters and occasionally visit you in the mountains over the next thirty years?
He’s a man who had led his people into prosperity after all, the king of all kings.
You had lost so much when you were alive…is it truly all right to be selfish and treasure Qin Shi Huang as a friend, an emperor of all people?
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Qin Shi Huang quickly discovered that there was more to his new friend than being a calm, unreadable individual who never raised her voice once even when he had been purposely annoying just to gauge a reaction.
The Sun Hashira…she was perfect. A beautiful, complex creature who values integrity and kindness above all else. She did not enjoy fighting, preferring a quiet life away from society than challenging one opponent after another. And like him, she knew what it meant to lose a loved one.
When it came to strength, she once told him, those who are marked like herself will all meet the same fate. He had an idea as to the cryptic meaning behind her words…and he prayed that she would live in this afterlife.
When he revealed his past to her, what he had done as a child until his death, the Sun Hashira simply accepted it all as they say together on the snowy veranda of her small home.
“To live in an era of conflict…there can never be true peace without bloodshed. Your Imperial Majesty had gone through so much….and you were loved deeply by Chun Yan. I wish….I could have met her….and thank her for raising a wonderful, strong son.”
Qin Shi Huang.exe stopped working for a span of five seconds before he tried to hide his embarrassment with a swing of the warm sake that his host had prepared especially for them to celebrate the New Year together.
Another year has come and gone…so why was it that his heart hasn’t stopped hammering against his ribcage?
Bonus Content:
After five years of sending luxurious gifts and love letters, it took a stammering confession from the emperor to convey his feelings towards the Sun Hashira.
Although she did not want to marry right away, she humbly accepted a period of courtship from China’s greatest emperor until it was appropriate to be welcomed as his empress.
Some of his court were pleased that he had finally selected a wife to become the mother of the nation, but there were others who believed that [First Name] was too independent and would not respect the traditions required to follow after becoming an empress.
Needless to say, Qin Shi Huang made an example of the courtiers who dared to disrespect his new wife behind closed doors. His warning also extended to the concubines, should they try to do something malicious out of petty jealousy.
Quality time included sampling delicacies in the garden, sparring matches, and cuddling in his private quarters.
Chun Yan approved of [First Name], congratulating her adoptive son on finding a woman who can keep up with his shenanigans.
The domestic bliss between the emperor and empress never wavered…until Brunhilde approached the palace and asked for their aid to fight against the gods. Both of them.
If it hadn’t been for [First Name]’s benevolence, Qin would have immediately executed the Valkyrie on the spot for her arrogance. Instead he gave her the courtesy and listened to her proposal regarding the event called Ragnarok. A battle royale until one opponent is annihilated.
The emperor would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested, but he had no intention of bringing his Sun Hashira into it. He wanted her to spend this afterlife in peace, not to put her life on the line again.
Alas, his wife was stubborn. He agreed to Brunhilde’s terms so long as she agreed to his terms. Once she left the palace, he pulled his empress into a long talk about this…situation.
Whatever obstacles will come their way, they will face it together. The Sun Hashira isn’t alone anymore.
Taglist:
@the-dumber-scaramouche
@onecantsimply
@recreationalfanfics
@deathmetalunicorn1
@yellow-snark
@thatstrangesheep
@dance-till-the-death
@staticradiotv​
Honorable mentions:
@myrisan-melodies​
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humanitys-strongest-bamf · 1 year ago
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OK I WAS TOO UPSET TO WRITE THIS BUT NOW I AM ONLY MILDLY UPSET SO I WROTE IT
Your Worth | Canonverse Oneshot
✧ word count ➼ 1.3k ✧ notes ➼ canon!verse, hurt/comfort, negative self-talk, levi being comforting in his levi way
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The door to your office flew open. It was already well into the evening. Nearly everyone should have returned to the barracks. You were hoping to have some alone time to process and catch up with paperwork. The previous few hours haven't been easy and you were coping by drowning yourself in tedious work.
Your body tensed as you heard Levi's distinct footsteps step into your office.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked sternly.
You put your pen down as you slowly looked up at your visibly agitated boyfriend. You had an idea as to what got him so upset, although you hoped it wasn't the case.
"What are you talking about?" you asked quietly.
He was holding a few sheets of paper in his hand. He placed one on your desk in front of you. Your heart sank upon reading it.
It was your request to the Commander to be removed from Levi's squad. You had submitted it early this morning, putting in substantial effort to get it to the Commander's office without Levi catching on.
You took the page from him roughly, frowning.
"Tch," you muttered in irritation. "He showed you?"
"It's my fucking squad, of course he showed me," Levi scolded.
You didn't respond. You knew he had a point. It was Levi's squad. He was the Captain. Of course he was going to find out sooner or later.
"Why are you requesting to be removed?" he asked with a gentler tone. "Did something happen?"
It wasn't like you to just suddenly do something like this. He had noticed that you had been acting differently or have been more reserved for the past few days. He had been expecting something to eventually happen, but nothing as extreme as this.
"_____," Levi nudged you once you didn't respond.
After a while, your lips finally parted to speak.
"I'm..." you mumbled quietly, "I'm holding you back."
"Ah?" Levi muttered, genuinely not expecting those words to come out of your mouth.
"You heard me. I'm holding you back," you reemphasized. "Everyone you had chosen for your squad is skilled with the gear or has a high amount of Titan kills and I'm just...me."
He took the paper back from you and set it to the side, sitting on your desk as he looked down at you as you sat in your office chair.
"...the fuck do you mean 'just' you?" he asked, although he already somewhat knew the answer. He knew that you were frequently plagued with feelings and thoughts of inadequacy.
You knew that he knew.
"What do you want me to say?" you exclaimed, frustrated beyond belief. "No matter what I do, there's someone that's better at it. There's someone with more kills, faster times, more respect, or whatever! No matter how much I try, no matter how much effort I put in, I will never be the person that someone goes to for help. There isn't the One Thing™ that I'm good at where someone would be like 'hey, _____ should be the one you ask for help from'. No, I'm always in the fucking background and being dead weight, so that is why I requested to be discharged from your squad. The last thing you need is to have me drag you down."
Levi was silent the entire time you rambled, never taking his eyes off you as he listened.
"You done?" he finally said once you stopped speaking.
You scowled at him again.
"Get out."
Levi promptly got up, but instead of walking out the door, he walked around your desk to where you were seated at.
"Get out!" you repeated, raising your voice.
"Not until you tell me that everything you just said was bullshit," he said sternly.
You clenched your jaw, frustrated. You wanted to tell him what he wanted to hear, but you couldn't lie to him. You did legitimately believe in everything you just said, in every flaw that you had just listed.
You groaned in frustration as you buried your face into your hands while gripping at your hair.
These feelings of inadequacy were not new. Feelings of never being good enough and your fear of failure was something that was just drilled into you as a child. You were always being compared to others and you eventually developed a worldview that made you feel like you had to "earn" your right to exist by being good at things. Not only that, but you had to "specialize" in it, which made it so that anytime someone else came along that was just as good at if not better than you at something, you felt like your entire life—including your right to live it—spiraled out of control.
Levi gently placed his hand on your shoulder.
"Hey," he said quietly.
He shook you a little bit once you didn't answer or move.
"_____, look at me."
You slowly leaned back from your desk to look at him.
Before your eyes could even focus properly on him, he gently flicked at your forehead.
"Quit pitying yourself," he said as he scowled.
You rubbed at your forehead, which was now slightly red as you pouted at him.
The pout was a good sign for him. It meant you were listening to what he was trying to say, despite how strong those intrusive thoughts were being.
He knelt down, so that he was eye-level with you, gazing at you with gentler eyes.
"What started this?" he asked quietly.
You looked away, but he immediately grabbed your chin and turned you towards him so that he was making eye contact with you.
You tried to resist against his grip, feeling incredibly embarrassed that he was still able to read you like an open book. You had prided yourself as being able to mask well to not be a burden to those around you, but that was never the case around Levi. You hated and loved it at the same time.
You sighed in defeat.
"I just heard some of the prospective recruits talking and mentioning who in the Scouts they looked up to, and I guess it was foolish of me to even think that my name would be mentioned, but a dumb part of me hoped that I at least contributed something, something to be remembered for if I died," you began rambling, taking a deep breath to keep your voice from breaking as your frustration and self-hate threatened to boil over. "But there isn't, is there? As far as everyone else is concerned, I'm either your partner or just another soldier. I'm not anyone special-"
"Cut that shit out," Levi scolded, not giving you a chance to finish your rambling this time.
You stopped talking, but looked at him with hurt in your eyes.
"I know how important external validation is to you, but the cadets are talking out of their ass and you know it," he said as he looked intensely in your eyes. "You know they don't know shit about what any of us actually do—and it certainly doesn't warrant you requesting to be discharged from the squad."
He sighed and let go of your chin, instead moving to gently place his palm on the side of your face, allowing you to take comfort in his touch. It at least helped ground you when you felt like your emotions were taking over your entire world.
"You're worth more than you know," he said gently before pulling you in and gently placing his lips against yours, lingering for a few seconds until he felt you relax into him.
He placed his other hand on your thigh and gently squeezed as he slowly began to deepen the kiss before finally pulling away and resting his forehead on yours.
"And if I have to remind you of that every single day of your life, I will."
ok this was cathartic, ty to anyone who took the time to read :3 #: @chaotic-on-main @romantichomicide95 @lovolee3 @svftackerman @levisbrat25 @leviismybby @idkks4m @moonmalice @elnyrae @sleepyfairyxo @averysmolbear @cathybarn @tclbts @belovedackerman @bejewelledd @fuyulvr @sad-darksoul @levis-squishy-cheeks @roseofdarknessblog @anviacker @aam1na @luvjiro @noctemys @sixpennydame @dumbfound-princess @raenacreates @deepzombieyouth join my taglist!
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from-izzy · 4 months ago
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dance routine | riize jung sungchan
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“This isn’t part of the dance routine, bubs,” he managed to comment when you pulled away slightly.
pairing » riize jung sungchan x fem!reader​
trope/au » ​non-idol au!, university au!, established relationship
genre » just fluffy vibes here!!, you're both very in love with each other (and it's cute), dance team leader sungchan who teaches you his choreography that he made with shotaro hehe, flirty sungchan who loves to kiss you, also shy sungchan
word count; estimated reading time » 1271; ~5 mins
warnings (lmk if i missed anything!) » from my understanding, other than not being proofread, none!!
navi/masterlist!! 🤍
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i was studying and i couldn't get this scenario (nor sungchan) out of my head and so here we are!! i think this fits sungchan so cutely and nicely 🥺 (and again, i just needed to write for him 🥹)
how is it literally only the start of uni and i'm already stressed-
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Personally, you wouldn’t call yourself clumsy. 
You would like to believe that you trip over the stairs, rock, or the air a normal amount of times, just like everyone else. You would like to believe that the number of times you had a pout on your face and the automatic jut of your lower lip as you spin back around to tell off whatever it could’ve made you faceplant is a normal amount just like everyone else.
That is not what your boyfriend thinks though. In fact, seeing him, you’re slowly believing his words that you are clumsier than most people, but you would never tell him that. Jung Sungchan is friends with everyone and everything around him. The ground seemingly smoothens itself out whenever he walks by and suddenly creates lumps and bumps whenever you walk the same path; not that you would like to admit. 
He probably just has superior balancing skills because what do you mean he still managed to save himself on that one rare occasion when he did trip over a little ledge when carrying a bunch of books in his arms? You remember the shocked look on his face a few metres away when you saw him walking towards you. It turned out that you were more worried than he was because, in the next second, he crouched down to stack the book on the ground, hushing your worries with a kiss. 
Sungchan tilts your head to meet his lips comfortably and you can feel the wide stretch of his lips by the first second of his touch. “I’m okay,” he reassured you as his thumbs provided soothing glides across your cheeks. “How’s my girl today?” And he’s extremely good at changing the subject. 
Later on, he admitted that he was close to facing the surface of the Earth because he saw you way from the distance, increasing his pace and steps to the point that he didn’t pay close attention to his surroundings. You remember reprimanding him by text for that as well as kissing you in the middle of nowhere as you couldn’t reprimand the object that almost hurt your boyfriend.
Today, you managed to convince your boyfriend to teach you one of the dance routines that he choreographed for his university’s dance club. As the leader of the club, he earned a lot of trust from the rest of the team, including making the new routine for the upcoming competitions. Sungchan is good at what he does though and so is his best friend, Shotaro, together making a substantial amount only a few days after the first meeting of the team. 
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” he sighed as soon as he keys in and enters the dance room with your hand in his. “Remember how you got hurt after you tried to learn my other dance from your recording?”
“I won’t!” Yet the way Sungchan raised his eyebrows shows that he didn’t trust your words, “I’ll be okay,” you pulled your boyfriend closer by your intertwined hands. Your hand leaves his and Sungchan tries to chase your warmth back to his. He couldn’t catch you though because your hands chose to ease into his warmth by his jawline, pulling his slowly blushing face closer to yours. Fluttering your eyes close, you take his lips between yours momentarily, wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him closer.
“This isn’t part of the dance routine, bubs,” he managed to comment when you pulled away slightly. His comment didn’t mean that he wanted to let you go but rather an invitation to keep you close to his. A palm lands on his waist, carefully stroking the side of your body as Sungchan makes you shudder in his hold. He feels the way he affected you from your stuttering breath, “How about we ditch the dance routine and you let me kiss you all day instead?”
Your neck started to warm up from his comment and it wasn’t long until it reached your face. A soft thud lands on his chest along that time and he could only let out a mischievous chuckle at your flustered state. 
“Stop flirting with me!” 
“Stop being such a good kisser then!”
You two couldn’t help but bicker for a while more before you finally set your belongings down in the corner of the room. Sungchan finally gave up on convincing you to do anything else other than him being your dance teacher for a while and he finally connected his device to the speaker, setting the volume appropriately so that you could still hear his voice over the blasting music. Warming up first to the music, you relax the tension around your body, heart beating according to the rhythm, even though you missed some as it jumps a few due to Sungchan’s fond expression on you. There was no way to avoid that gaze, nor do you ever want it to. So, you mirrored his expression to him, and your heart skipped a few more beats at how he didn’t look away.
During the lesson, saying that Sungchan is a good teacher is an understatement. You can see why the team didn’t limit him to just the leader position. He’s also very patient and pays great attention to detail. Perhaps it’s his experience and his knowledge of the well made routine, either way, you enjoy the fact that he’s teaching you the steps according to your pace. 
“Got it?” He asked as he rewinds the music to the start. “I’ll play it at normal speed now?” 
Up for the challenge, you nod determinedly to the mirror. “I can do this,” shaking your limbs to rid of your nervousness.
And did it, you did. Since the routine was second nature to him, it allowed your boyfriend to focus on your moves from the mirror. Every movement you make is filled with confidence, smoothly stepping away from the centre tape on the wood and back when you need to. You made it from the start of his lesson to the final step in synchronisation with Sungchan next to you. What’s most important to him is the fact that you didn’t get injured. Not a single scratch, accidental wrong landing, or dizziness that could have potentially led to a physical injury. The proud claps he serenades you shortly earn him a side bear hug from you.
“You did amazing,” he takes out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat off your forehead. You let him do so, giggling with how he goes back a few times to the same places despite knowing it’s all clear.
“See? Didn’t get hurt at all.” You press the tip of your nose to his, landing back on your feet before leaning in once again to press a proper kiss. “Thank you for teaching me.”
His eyes grow wide at the playful gesture, his eyes trained on your radiant smile with your achievement. A hand rises to cover his growing blush, covering up his shyness with a couple of coughs to clear his throat. 
“Y-You owe me now…” Sungchan murmurs under his breath, tips playing with the damp parts of his front bangs.
“Ok!” Shrugging your shoulders as additional information that you don’t mind, “What is it?”
Suddenly, Sungchan’s shy demeanour fades and despite your body still not fully dry from your hard work, he didn’t mind snaking an arm around your waist, his palm resting on your lower back. Confidently, he rested his forehead on yours and replicated the touch of your noses together. 
“What I suggested before you danced perfectly with me.”
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navi/masterlist!! 🤍
tags: @k-labels 💙🤍 @k-films 🤎🎞️ @kflixnet 📺🍿 @starlit-network 🌌⭐
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hananoami · 4 months ago
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˗ˏˋ ♡ 𝓪𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝓵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝓾𝒑 𝗐/ 𝓢𝒚𝒍𝒖𝒔 ♡ ˎˊ˗
I know it's only been three days since v2.0 -- Opposing Visions -- began, but I've already raised my affinity level with SYLUS by a substantial amount thanks to all the new memories that were added into the wish pool and resources that I've been saving. I unlocked his companion on July 15th and since then we went from affinity level 1 Crush to level 50 Lover status! As of writing this I am now half way to done to reaching his Devotion level. Only 50 more levels to go before that ring is mine... A lot of those affinity points came from obtaining and leveling most of his new memories. You also earn points for doing things for the first time with him. I would go into detail, but it might be easier for me to just say there's whole list that you can easily access in game under [With Him > Memos] that reward you with 500 exp per. Not to mention listening to all of his audio stories in By Your Side and Falling For you as well as reading his Anecdotes, Land of the Lost. Forgive me for the mega thread that is going to happen... I'm not entirely sure how I want to go about this. I generally try to take a screenshot of each level up notification as a personal keepsake with the love interest, but Sylus has at least 50 screenshots. Each affinity level unlocks something new and there were even some collectibles that came with special notes. I guess I'll just go in order an recap as many levels as tumblr will allow me to upload in a post. The main post, this one, features a screenshot of the first time I've started gaining affinity points after I unlocked him in Main Story [Long Awaited Revelry] 1-8. The second screenshot is my current affinity level. I will elaborate more on their respective rewards unlocked in later threads to make it easier to follow along with. I am aware that there are hunters who do not wish to see spoilers. While it is not story related, his affinity levels and rewards are new so I will be tagging my post with spoiler warnings. If you wish to avoid them please mute and block the following: #love and deepspace 2.0 #love and deepspace spoilers #lnds spoilers
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accord-vn · 10 months ago
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Major Players in the War Against the Firmament
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The Republic of Stauros
The Republic of Stauros is a global superpower that controls the Americas and much of eastern and southern Africa, its imperialist agenda funded by the exploitation of abundant natural resources. This influx of resources means that they have been able to rapidly advance technology, particularly in bio-science, engineering, and materials science fields, and their advanced technology in turn makes for political capital with which they can bully nations into being subsumed by the Republic.
Stauros is a meritocratic oligarchy with republican structures, and presents itself as being a place where the best can rise to the top. It is centrally governed in its capital of Etorios, by a council of (what were originally) six departments that oversee facets of government such as treasury, military, agriculture, etc. These department heads are chosen from among a democratically elected parliament that makes up the upper levels of each department by the previous council. In short, the system rejects change very stubbornly as those who are eligible to lead have been entrenched in the system for a very long time. This entrenchment means that the Republic, while founded on progressive ideals, has now fully embraced the authoritarian streak that has haunted it since its inception.
Most prominent in Stauros's war against the Firmament is the ExoCorps, the executive arm of the Department of the Exterior. The Dept of the Exterior was created in order to protect Stauros's offplanet interests, however in the decades since they have come to rival the power of the Dept of Military, even surpassing it in many instances. The most notable example of this power imbalance is in the ExoCorps' development of Synaptic Transfer technology and the resulting Janissary program.
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The Sophic Church
The Sophic Church originated as part of the Third Awakening, a reactionary revival in religiosity coupled with anti-Christian sentiment and strong undercurrents of paranoia brought about by a sharp rise in conspiratorial thought. What were several grassroots Gnostic revival movements came together to form a single ecclesiastical society, united in their desire to dismantle current institutions and build something new. These movements, originally different sects, syncretized their beliefs, though after several decades of transformation, their doctrine has evolved into a largely ahistorical conflation of Valentinianism and Sethianism alongside some entirely new ideas.
The Sophic Church played a key role in the formation of the Republic and rose alongside it, shaping it in the process, and as a result, within Stauros there is a strong presumption that most residents of the Republic are a part of the church.
Naturally, due to this relationship the Church has amassed a large amount of wealth and influence, and has invested this wealth into a number of corporate assets. The most prominent among these is Ascension, a corporation with child companies for mining, manufacturing, logistics, pharmaceuticals, and many other industries.
As a result, the Sophic Church has control over a substantial amount of the economy not just of Stauros, but the rest of the world as well.
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The Stereomatos
In 2068, Olympia, Stauros's first permanent Martian research base, collapsed due to mismanagement. Due to the nature of the Stauros Dept of Research's control over the research base, while researchers lived permanent lives on base and even raised families there, leadership was not only appointed from a bureaucracy located on Earth, but also frequently rotated. As a result, most Directors of Operations viewed the position only as a temporary station, and ultimately failed to carry out their duties.
This culminated in 2067, when a failure in the water system caused dozens of people to become ill and 14 deaths. Civil unrest had already started to stir, but now was in full swing.
A nearby ExoCorps detachment was then stationed inside the colony to dissuade uprising, but the additional strain on resources that they caused served only to exacerbate discontentment. Before any violence broke out, the base was declared no longer fit for human habitation and disbanded, its residents either returned to earth or stationed in other colonies. The base was leveled shortly thereafter.
A mere two years later, Synesia was founded on Olympia's ruins. Synesia was intended to serve as a colony and an experiment in autonomous government, as well as a center for Stauros' civic operations offplanet. This quickly expanded into a semi-autonomous satellite state, granted nominal independence by Stauros in return for serving as the governing body for bases and offplanet stations too large and too distant from Earth in order to be effectively managed by a planetary bureaucracy.
In practice, the Stereomatos is a puppet state. Most of its leadership is either beholden or sympathetic to Stauros, and lives under constant threat of dismantlement. Stauros maintains exclusive trading rights with the Stereomatos, and uses the leverage of their monopoly on space infrastructure as means of controlling the nation.
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The Firmament
The Firmament is a revolutionary movement across the Stereomatos with the ultimate goal of eliminating Stauros control over space.
The movement is comprised of several cells across both inner sphere and outer sphere colonies and stations, which frequently work together to improve the living conditions of Stereomatos citizens, smuggle goods and resources across planetary boundaries, and wage asymmetric warfare against Stauros.
The Firmament's immediate strategy is to hold Stauros at resource-point through piracy and targeted attacks on military installations so that they'll agree to several key conditions:
The right to self-govern independent of Stauros control, including reforming the government from a parliamentary republic into a syndical state.
Better access to tertiary industry, including the means to utilize synaptic transfer tech
Access to Stauros trade networks in order to carry out trade with other nations with minimal interference
The Stereomatos as a whole may be generally divided in their opinion on the Firmament's methods, however it is an unspoken rule to side with them whenever possible, because the Firmament represents hope for a freer future and an end to overcrowding and military police actions. Even those ideologically opposed tend to avoid speaking out, because the members of the Firmament are ultimately members of their community. A number of Stereomatos politicians have direct connections to Firmament leadership, and work to achieve the movement's aims through diplomatic means.
On Earth, however, the opinion is generally much more divided. Typically the details of their actions are largely reduced to the effect that they've had on Stauros, and are branded terrorists due to civilian casualties from their attacks. Within Stauros, media is sufficiently skewed that those who are aware of them despise them. Outside of Stauros, the Stereomatos is shown more sympathy, and even those who skew more conservative are open to the idea of free trade with the Stereomatos.
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Federated Oceania
As climate change ravaged the global south, Aotearoa (formerly New Zealand) successfully pushed back the encroaching ocean with a sea wall, reclaiming additional land in the process. Having secured their new position as a safe haven for climate refugees, they pushed Australia into adopting a similar strategy. As a means of allowing displaced people to retain their sovereignty as well as protect against the threat of a subjugation-hungry Stauros on the horizon, the bloc of Federated Oceania was formed.
With a vested interest in environmental sciences and sustainable energy, Oceania rose to prominence by implementing the first viable fusion reactor and selling off excess energy from successive plants. This paved the way to further successes until it became the non-Stauros leader in technology on a global stage, and served as the first country to challenge Stauros's self-proclaimed "monopoly on space".
As a staunch rival of Stauros, Oceania is one of the few terrestrial nations to openly provide support the Firmament.
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The Archon Program
The disappearance of the Caesarea is a mainstay of conspiracy circles system-wide. From independent blogs hosted on the clearnet to chatrooms on planetside LITEs to forums and message boards maintained on Firmnet servers in the belt, no hushed whisper passes through the internet's lips without mentioning its name, and the Caesarea is rarely mentioned without the words "Archon program" in its wake.
However, there is little consensus on what those words mean.  
They say that Archon Program is run by the Dept of the Exterior— no, by the Sophic Church— no, it's the secret Dept of Suppression— as a psyop— actually, it's in order to crush unions (the IPU has NEVER been able to touch Ascension)— no, to serve as a counter to the Firmament's dark matter bomb— and eventually, to dominate the world— utilizing heinous machines that are larger than any Cataphract, that bleed, that drive their enemies and pilots to madness.
When asked for proof, however, the stories converge. A would-be whistleblower from Ascension Aerospace, killed when lightning struck her complex as she was uploading the leak, severing the connection and her life at once. All that was uploaded was the first gigabyte of a single file, titled Archon Program, completely blank except for the image of an A with an ouroboros divided into seven pieces.
Nothing more is known by the public.
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nagito-kissmaeda · 5 months ago
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if it isn't real, why does the sun still burn?
Chapter masterlist
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Summary : Like most people visiting this tag. You have always dreamed of meeting Nagito Komaeda for real, what you would do, what you would say? Things don’t go as planned.
AKA: Reader from our universe ends up in danganronpa and is just trying her best to keep everyone alive. and maybe to make komaeda kiss her.
Contains: she/her pronouns, explicit sexual content, voyeurism
Read on Ao3
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“Basically, we have an update.” Naegi says through Monomi’s face. 
You had only just gotten home from the beach when the rabbit teleported herself into your room and Naegi started speaking to you in serious tones without even so much as a hello. You hadn't even had a chance to properly dry off, but things had turned so serious so quickly that you could hardly spare a thought for your slowly dampening carpet. 
You push some of your salty hair out of your eyes, trying to ignore your racing nerves, “What kind of update are we talking?”
The almost immediate jump between your gentle flirtations with Komaeda to this incredibly serious conversation with the survivors of the previous killing game has you more than a little discombobulated. In all honesty, you had been planning to get home and jerk off about the Komaeda situation, so that only adds to the concoction of very confusing emotions that you are currently saddled with.
In a move that does not help your already electrified nerves. Togami decides to take the wheel for the first time ever , and hearing his voice come out of that rabbit makes you want to combust, “We are currently unable to get the second island open.” He begins, “It appears that upon ascertaining your goals, Enoshima has rerouted a substantial amount of her power to ensure that the island stays closed for good.”
That feels good. For all her posturing, you are getting to Enoshima. She is scared of you, at least a little.
“Luckily, this rerouting means less effort is being put towards keeping the other islands sealed. We should be able to open one of them.” A beat, “Based on the work you have been doing, we’ve all agreed that you should be the one to choose which one, if any.”
“Jesus, um, this isn't really an easy choice.” You say. Worrying your lower lip and beginning to pace back and forth. This is both good and bad news, in a weird way. Monokuma is absolutely going to take advantage of whichever island you open, but progress is still progress, no matter how you look at it. 
You stop mid pace, suddenly remembering the quandary you had been puzzling over this morning, about how to handle despair disease should it actually be released. With a nervous smile, you turn to face Monomi where she still stands in your room, arms crossed over her chest in a Togami-like fashion. 
“Before I make a decision…” You begin, “If, theoretically, Enoshima was planning to release a terrible, deadly and highly contagious disease with unpredictable symptoms and horrific implications for survival on this little slice of paradise.” You laugh, for some reason, “Could you do anything about it?”
Togami only says, “What.”
“That’s the next motive.” You clarify, “Monokuma calls it despair disease, and unfortunately it’s not really something I can handle from my end.”
Togami thinks it over for a moment, and then Monomi shakes her head, “We can’t easily prevent something like that with nothing to go off. Unless you can tell me what that disease looks like as code, which I’m assuming you can’t, then we are shit out of luck as always.” You don’t appreciate Togami’s tone. There is little to appreciate about Togami when his legs are out of view, “Okay, then…could you reverse engineer it? Once the code activates, find a way to… un- activate it?”
Togami scoffs, “You have such a way with words.”
“Yeah, well.” You cross your arms, “I like Imposter Togami-san better.” Monomi raises a tiny fist in your direction, and her eyes look as angry as the plush can manage, “You take that back! You-” “Byakuya.'' Kirigiri chides from somewhere in the background and Monomi returns to her default pose. Togami clears his throat, “Theoretically, yes. If the code is active, we could then order Alter Ego to counter it with some code of their own rendering Enoshima’s manipulation obsolete. Though, as with anything in an OS as complex as the NWPs, it would take some time.”
You sit on the couch, not even thinking about how the salt water might ruin the fabric, “I could stall for time, that’s the only thing I’m good at really.” you chew on your lower lip for a moment, “Could you make certain people immune to the disease, maybe?” Monomi shakes her head, and Togami says, “That would be more fine tuning than ending the code at the root, a waste of time.”
“Okay.” You say, more to yourself than to Togami, “In that case, I think we should open the third island. There’s a hospital there, and I’m certain that with a bit of foresight I can encourage Tsumiki-san to be more preemptively vigilant. Luckily I have foresight in spades, it’s kinda the only thing I have going for me.” 
“It will take us a few hours to get the island open, we can try and have it done by breakfast tomorrow morning. Usami will let you and the others know when it’s done.” 
You nod and then let your head hang loose. You’re tired, and there is going to be so much work for you to do tomorrow. It feels strange to thank the coronavirus for anything, but it is the reason you know anything at all about preventing the spread of infection. That, and a recent obsession with everyone’s favourite plague simulator: Pathologic. Regardless, you presume that the first three infected will always get the disease no matter what, even with all the protection in the world, so there is little you can do on that front. You can, however, make sure Tsumiki doesn’t catch it, and that will be the most important thing. 
“Um, excuse me?” It’s Naegi’s voice coming from Monomi again. You lift your head to look at the rabbit, “I think we’ve been very patient with you until now, and I don't want to be pushy, but we’d all like some answers, you know?” You swallow thickly, “Answers…about what?”
Monomi nervously rubs her cheek with a paw, “Well, about how you know everything. We’re far beyond expecting any sort of betrayal from you at this point, I mean, we’ve been watching you almost all the time and we can tell you don’t want anyone inside the simulation getting hurt, but we’re still curious.”
You feel sick. It must show on your face, because Monomi takes a few steps closer and Naegi says, “You don’t have to tell us right now” then, from somewhere in the background Togami corrects, “Yes she does , Makoto.” 
That makes you laugh, which is nice. You dismiss Naegi’s concern with a wave of your hand and take a deep breath to try and eliminate the nausea, “No no, it’s okay. I should tell you, I just don’t really know how to explain it myself and uh, I’m kind of not even sure you’ll believe me.”
“We are quite used to believing impossible things.” Kirigiri says, “I’m sure it will be fine.” You inhale a breath through your nose, and clasp your hands together to stop them shaking, “Alright…well, a lot of this is going to be speculative, I honestly don’t know all that much about how I got here but I’ll try my best. I um, I think that I am from an alternate universe, or something similar.”
Monomi nods slowly, even though she doesn’t speak, you get the sense that Kirigiri is still at the helm. 
“In my universe, Ultimates as you have them, aren't really a thing? There are certainly people who are talented, and scouted to specific schools for that talent, but there isn’t like, one big school where all the talented people go, and these people aren’t really designated titles or anything.” You take a breath, wondering how much you actually need to explain, “Also the tragedy didn't happen, that’s a big thing. How I got from there to here is the part I’m a bit lost on, as far as I remember I just fell asleep and then woke up in the program.” “Alright, then.” Kirigiri replies, “Obviously there is no real way for you to prove any of this, so I suppose we will have to take your information at face value for now.” Monomi cocks her head to the side, “Though you still haven’t actually answered the question Mokoto originally asked you, how do you know so much about the future?”
“Hah, um. Well, I just wanted to explain the other stuff first, so this part wouldn’t seem as certifiably insane.” you laugh again, it’s a bad nervous habit you have only recently developed, “Where I’m from, this , meaning you guys and the NWP and Enoshima and the tragedy and literally everything ever. Is from a video game.” you stare at Monomi for a moment. You can hear some sort of ruckus in the background, but Kirigiri’s voice remains surprisingly even when she says. “Go on. How much do you know, tell me.”
“The first entry covers your killing game, from start to finish. You play as Naegi-san, so I only really know about how things went from his perspective”
“WHAT?” You hear Naegi exclaim, and then some shuffling as he takes over control of Monomi, “Can you prove it? Say something about me that the others won’t know.”
“You wet the bed until 5th grade.” you say without even thinking.
Naegi lets out a very loud yelp, and from somewhere in the background you can hear Togami chuckling to himself.
You wince, “Sorry Naegi-san, it was just the first thing that came to mind.” “No it’s fine, I understand.” He squeaks, “I guess that proves you aren’t completely lying or anything, please, tell us what-” “Hey wait! ” a new voice calls from the background, “Let me have a turn!”
Your brow creases, “Oh my god. You guys have Hagakure-san in there with you? Why do you have Hagakure-san with you?”
“Whoa! You totally knew it was me right away!” He is much closer to the mic now, but you can tell that Naegi has not allowed Hagakure to get his hands on the controls, “Tell me something about me!”
“I know you spent a few really gross days with Kuwata-san’s really gross cousin.” 
You hear the sound of Hagakure getting shoved quite hard, and Naegi being told to shoo out of the way before Togami finally returns to the mic, “We don’t have time for any more parlour tricks. Explain everything you know up until this point, quickly, skip the unnecessary details.”
“Alright…” You say, and begin.
It still takes some time, even with you trimming the fat as much as possible. Togami asks a question every now and again, and he occasionally lets Kirigiri ask one as well, but otherwise, you just talk and talk and talk. It comes to you quite easily, part way through it stops feeling like you are talking to fictional characters and instead like you are just infodumping to one of your friends. You’re very good at that, so most of the words string together without you even thinking.
When you finally finish, Togami hums aloud, “This seems stupid and impossible, but you know far more than you should otherwise, and importantly, you also seem to know more than Enoshima does.” he huffs, “At the very least you can’t be working with her, or else you would have told her all of this before you told us. So that’s a comfort.”
“I really am trying to help.” You promise, “I know that it’s weird to hear, but from my perspective I’ve known you for years and years. I care about all of you, and everyone in the Neo World Program very deeply, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, I swear it.”
“Sorry, can I ask one more question?” Naegi says, “Scoot over, Byakuya.”
There’s a bit of shuffling, and then Monomi is back under Naegi’s control, “This is going to sound dumb, but it’s going to kill me if I don't ask.”
You shrug a shoulder, “Go ahead, I guess.”
Monomi wrings her paws together and then Naegi asks, “Do you think we’re…real?”
Togami scoffs in the background, “Of course we’re real, Mokoto.”
Naegi makes a panicked whining noise, “But if what she’s saying is true, then we’re just videogame characters, which means we aren’t really real , right?”
“I mean, I don’t even 100% get the semantics of this situation myself but I think you must be at least somewhat real?” You cringe, “Sorry that probably wasn't very comforting, what I mean is that while I know the way things play out, there is still stuff that isn't exactly how it was in the game. A lot of the remnants act more like real people than caricatures and things are able to change in ways the game would never allow. I guess that’s why I suggested that alternate universe theory. In my world this is a video game, but here it’s real. That’s the only conclusion I’ve been able to come to.”
“Then, I guess that’s all we have to go on for now.” Kirigiri adds, “You must be tired, get some rest. We’ll attempt to get the second island open tomorrow, Monomi will update you and the rest of the Remnants if we succeed.” You sigh, “Thanks everyone, I was worried you would think I’m losing it.” “Oh, we do.” Togami replies, and you hear what sounds like him taking an elbow to the gut.
“Don’t worry about it!” Naegi chimes in, “If we find time, we’ll see if we can figure out how you got here, there must be something for us to find in the code. We can ask Alter Ego to look too.” You reach out and pat Monomi on the head, she’s very soft, “Thanks guys, but don’t stress too much about it. Just focus on helping the remnants, I’ll be okay.”
“We’ll do what we can.” Kirigiri says, “You’re just as important as they are.”
You laugh quietly to yourself, “I’m not important, I’m just…unlucky.
---
You try to take Kirigiri’s suggestion to heart and get some rest. It doesn't come easy, after a very long shower where you spent the majority of the time with your forehead pressed against the cold glass, you dried off your hair and collapsed onto your bed to sleep. You had only been intending to take a short nap, but as it often goes, when you woke up again the sun had already set and checking the time you realise that you have also well and truly missed dinner.
You huff and swing your legs over the side of the bed, rubbing at your temples. You have a headache, which is just neat and you really can’t be bothered walking all the way to the market for painkillers, so you’ll just have to live with it. At the very least, you should get something to eat. Standing from the bed, you shove your feet into a pair of sandals and head out the door, not bothering to change out of your pyjamas. It’s been a weird day, emotionally, mostly. You had an uncharacteristically good time at the beach, but now you were saddled with the stress of an upcoming motive, one that will potentially get multiple people killed if you screw it up. 
It’s still warm outside even though the sun has well disappeared beyond the horizon. You’re starting to yearn for winter, for cold, for anything other than the endless heat of Jabberwock island. There’s a warm breeze in the air, and apart from that and the waves crashing on the sand out behind the hotel, the only sound you can hear is your own feet hitting the boardwalk, it is nice outside at night, quieter. 
Just before you turn off the boardwalk and start heading towards the restaurant, a light on in one of the cottages across the way gives you pause. It’s well past Monokuma’s announcement by now, and there’s little reason for anyone to be awake. You only need to walk a few steps closer before you realise that it’s Komaeda’s cottage, the light isn’t all too bright, likely just his lamp, but you’re always too curious for your own good and start heading in that direction anyway. 
You freeze a good few feet away when you hear a sound . For a moment you think that you’re imagining it, but then you hear it again . 
Is he…
You have to get a better look (well you don’t have to, but you do want to) so you scoot over closer to the cottage and drop down into a crouch under his windowsill. His blinds are still about halfway open and the window is cracked just enough that sound is escaping. For a moment you consider closing the window for him and leaving, just to make sure no one else overhears anything, but out of an inadvisable curiosity, you peek up just over the windowsill and affirm that yes , Komaeda is jerking off.
You cover your mouth to hide a yelp, spinning around and pressing your back against the wall of his cottage, trying to calm your breathing. What did you think you would see if you looked? You knew what was happening in there. God why is he so loud ? You cover your ears and squeeze your eyes shut.
It’s only when your legs start to ache that you realise you have been crouching below the windowsill for far too long, frozen in a mixture of shame, fear and something you are too embarrassed to put a name to right now. Readjusting yourself a little, you turn to face the wall and grip the edge of the windowsill, debating pulling yourself up for another peek. Why did he leave his window open anyway? He isn’t stupid. 
Edging yourself upward just enough that you can see the top of his head, and then his eyes squeezed shut, his open mouth- 
Is this lucky or unlucky? 
The question enters your mind unbidden and you cannot stop thinking about it. If Komaeda turned his head and saw you creeping outside his window would that be good luck or terrible luck? This thing you are doing is terrible, but how Komaeda might feel about it is another matter entirely, and you have been confused about it to say the least, especially after he went down on you that one time. 
You still don’t understand why he did that. He clearly doesn’t have any feelings for you apart from a passing interest, and you know that is only because he thinks you possess the ability of foresight.
He did seem to enjoy himself, but maybe he was just horny and you were there or-
He gasps aloud, ripping you from your internal monologue and back to the very real sight in front of you. Komaeda’s hand moves up and down in lethargic strokes, slow and deliberate. His free hand is tangled in his hair, loose strands of it clinging to his sweaty forehead. On one particularly firm stroke his hips jump up to meet his hand and a squeaky moan breaks loose from his lips. 
Breathing hard, he removes his hand for just as long as it takes for him to spit in his palm, and then it’s back on the length of his cock, moving faster than before. You can feel yourself growing warm just watching him, practically glued to the glass despite knowing that you should not be here. His chest heaves with each breath, shirt pulled up high enough that you can see the way his stomach clenches when he rubs the pad of his thumb over the sensitive tip of his cock. Komaeda is very pretty, you’ve always known this. But here, now, with the thin line of moonlight reaching in through his open curtains casting a bright light across all his sharp, jutting angles, he looks like an artist has carved him from marble. 
His mouth hangs open on a shuddering moan, lips moving to form the shape of a word that he ultimately decides shouldn’t be uttered, biting his lower lip hard to keep himself quiet. There is something balancing on the tip of his tongue, and he is afraid to say it aloud, to solidify it, to make it real. 
You wait, for some reason, crouched below the windowsill, hoping to finally catch a glimpse of just what is on his mind. To understand him, to understand why he treated you the way he did despite it not being in his best interest. He keeps his mouth shut though, not a word escapes, nothing more than moans that grow louder and louder. You finally regain your senses and wrench your eyes from the scene. What Komaeda thinks about when he jerks off is none of your business. No matter how much you wish it was. You at least have the decency to push his window closed the rest of the way, so no one else walking by will hear him and try to put the memory of what you saw behind you.
Food is the last thing on your mind now, so you instead return to the lonely comfort of your cottage, knowing a restless night awaits you.
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duckprintspress · 10 months ago
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Thanks so much to the people who've already helped spread the word, it's making a big difference already.
The exact amount of the junk pledge is $2,015.
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To overcome it's malicious impact, we need to hit an "actual" amount of $15,515 (instead of our real goal of $13,500) - as in, we need to raise enough over our actual goal to cover the money that'll disappear when this fake pledge is removed.
Someone also suggested in the tags that we report it - we absolutely did. :) Here's what I wrote to KS:
"My campaign has 50 hours left and I just got a huge spam pledge for $2,000. This is absolutely insane, and I'm furious. How can you guys let this happen? When this pledge becomes nothing but air, my campaign either won't fund at the last minute because people who WOULD have backed to help get us over the line will think we're already funded, or it won't get cancelled til after the end and then the money won't exist and we won't actually be able to afford to do our project. I'm absolutely livid. I knew y'all were having problems with spam pledges but jesus f-in christ KS you need to resolve this absolutely immediately or figure out a way to make it up to loyal users like us. It impacts KS too, since if we crash and burn at the last minute because of this spam pledge, y'all can't collect your fees. This pledge and it's timing entirely screws up my ability to get last-minute pledges, and even having it there for a few hours will have a substantial negative impact on my ability to run this campaign.
"If this can't be resolved immediately, please PLEASE extend our campaign a day, anything to make up for the damage that this will do to my ability to get my project funded.
"This is the kind of problem that, if KS can't get it under control, I don't know how I'll be able to continue using the platform. Another person I know has had over $10k of spam pledges on his campaign in the last few weeks, and was initially told one of the pledges WASN'T spam and it took over a day to actually resolve. Can you think what it taking over a day will do to my project?
"Sorry, I'm ranty, but I'm livid, and the useless chat bot, my inability to get a human in chat when I've got an urgent problem, the utter lack of FAQ support for what to do when I get a spam pledge like this, and the irrelevant categories on this form I'm filling out now, plus the dozens of uncontrolled spam messages I've gotten about my project across four different platforms, have all combined to make me feel like KS either doesn't care about the spam issue or has zero ability to control it, and honestly neither of these conclusions is heartening when they relate to a company that has taken thousands of dollars in fees from me over the last few years."
I. Might have been a little angry, lmao.
However, their support staff doesn't even get to the office until 9:00 AM Eastern time (one hour from when I'm posting this), and then they'll have however many other e-mails to get through before mine. Our 48-hour window starts at 9:37 am. The odds that the junk pledge will be gone by then are EXTREMELY low. The person I mentioned in that message, it took over a day to get rid of a junk pledge and KS initially told them it WASN'T a junk pledge, so ya know that was awesome for them. I'd been feeling pretty lucky that it hadn't happened to me yet - this happened to them about three weeks ago - but well. guess my luck had run out.
Anyway, if anyone has other questions or comments, I'll see them in tags or you can drop us an ask. The outpouring has already been incredible, folks have pledged (or increased their existing pledges) to a tune of $303 since I put up the post an hour and a half ago, which means we're only about a thousand shy. I was teary-eyed before because I was upset about the junk-pledge, and now I'm teary-eyed instead being grateful about how awesome people are.
Thanks, everyone.
We'll overcome this dipshit scammy bullcrap!
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eternitas · 5 months ago
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Unseen Varia - Profiles
Nono Giuseppi
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https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/2322721
Basic Info:
Full Name: Nono Giuseppi
Nickname: none, nobody dares
Age: 27 / 37 (TYL)
Birthday: REDACTED
Gender/Pronouns: cis male, he/him
Sexuality: undisclosed
Ethnicity: italian
Height: 178cm
Flametype: Sun, Lightning, minor Rain
Weapon of Choice: Scalpel
Affiliation: Varia, Medical Station
Position: Head of Medical Station, Medical supervisor, Special officer for medicine and healing
Strengths: vast knowledge of medicine and medicinal procedures, quick reactions and reflexes, precise, toxicology, poison resistance
Weaknesses: coleric, uncooperative, unhelpful unless he believes you have justifiable injury and illness
Character Summary:
Nono is his own menace and notorious for it in the Varia. While the officers are already fickle and strong to back it up and shut you down, Nono is all that and more. Despite his incredible skill as a medic, he is absolutely terrifying and has no bedside manners. He instills fear of himself to incentivise people to look out for their own health a bit more. He seems to always be in a foul mood, never seen smiling or other. He also never talks about his own past or life, living at the medical station and doing... something. People avoid going to see Nono unless it is absolutely necesarry and he will use the time you are in care to tell you how stupid you were for endangering yourself unnecesarily. People did die because of his refusal of care so he is not exactly taking his oath too serious.
Background:
Not much is known about Nonos background. He never talks about it, but there are many many rumors about it. So most of this section is Character specific spoilers.
Nono was born to a mother that was extremely poor and in need of money. The pregnancy had been unwanted and so she eventually sold him to some people who offered her a substantial amount of money. He was raised in a bunker where he was experimented on, his emotional development stunting and his body going through many different changes over the years. At age 8 the biggest change and transformation was brought upon him. His body was altered to become vampiresque. It was molded to sustain itself on poison, so that from then moving forward he was required to either intake it through drinking or injecting poison directly into himself every day. His body became completely immune to any form of poison, with minor sideeffects like heartburn or a headache. At age 12 the facility was raided and destroyed by tha Varia where Tyr and Zarria found him and took him with them. It was a bit difficult since they did not know of the poison he needed to take but the back then Medical officer Catlena quickly managed to find the source of his unwellness and saved his life.
Nono from then on grew up at the Varia, as Catlenas apprentice until she decided to leave when Tyr died. Since then she has not been seen anymore. Nono became the Varias new head of the medical station and had adopted a lot of his teachers personality quirks, while he continued to inject himself with poison every morning.
When Nono was 20 he met Shamal for the first time, having sought him out to get some form of tratment from him. While the survival chance was just 2.3% Nono wanted to still risk a treatment, but Shamal refused any and all help, which festered in Nono a deep hatred for the doctor that even today he still wants to kill him whenever he lays eyes on the man.
Fighting Style
Nono is not a fighter. When he can he will trick his opponent into drinking poison by offering two vials with liquid, one of which holds just water or syrup and the other a deadly poison. In truth both are filled with poison, because Nono would not die from drinking it. When he is forced into combat, Nono will use his scalpel and several injections of toxins.
Trivia
Unbeknownst to Nono the reason why Shamal refused him care was because his mentor Catlena had vowed him to never try a treatment on Nono. Despite his circumstances being dire he can still survive with it while a treatment is not just risky but might do his already altered body more harm than good
Nono only treats wounds and injuries he sees as legitimate, such as from ambushes or enemy attacks. If you got hurt during training or were stupid enough to pick a fight with someone stronger than you you were tough out of luck
It is only known that Nono is very resistant to poison. Not many know that he injects himself or that he can suck poison out like a vampire.
Since Nonos mental stability is ... not the best, it adds to people avoiding and outright being afraid of approaching him for anything.
Nono and Zarria both share the mutual melancholy and grief of having been in the Varia before Tyr died. it's why in general they are a lot more soft with each other
He eats most fruits with their skin.
It is a standart praxis to refer to the Vongola Ninth as Vongola Nono, to differentiate between him and their local Nono.
Nono has been asked repeatedly by "other members" to dismember passed members and sell or even store their organs and limbs, but Nono refuses each time. Whoever dies in his medical station is his property and he will do what he wants with it and if that is cremating them he will do just that
Nono lives at the Medical station. This also means that he sleeps in his office.
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theerurishipper · 1 year ago
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Love reading your analysis post. Thought I'd bring one into the table and let you read my thoughts on a certain character.
.................................. Frankly, I never truly regarded Chloe's character, particularly in her capacity as Marinette's "bully" during Season 1, with the seriousness it seemed to attract. While many viewers hold strong negative sentiments toward her character, my exposure to various novels and manga has shown me instances where characters akin/similar to Chloe were portrayed with greater depth and nuance. In these narratives, authors skillfully delved into the character's animosity towards the protagonist, often weaving a compelling backstory that shed light on how resentment stemming from a childhood marked by neglect or abuse could transform an individual into a more morally compromised figure.
Sometimes, these characters underwent substantial development and personal growth, whereas in other cases, they remained stagnant, allowing the main character to recognize and acknowledge this stasis. This literary divergence underscores the difference in storytelling approaches between Thomas Astruc and many of the creators in the manga and novel realms I've encountered. While Chloe's character in "Miraculous Ladybug" might have played a minor antagonistic role the Astruc creator intent appeared to extend no valuable lessons. In doing so, he presented characters like Chloe as just plain evil while the ones I've encountered with authors would rather use their antagonistic and bully characters as cautionary examples, demonstrating the potential consequences of their actions, whether they ultimately experienced redemption or not.
I find it challenging to take the strong animosity towards Chloe seriously, particularly because of Astruc himself and his own hatred for her, as the creator of a children's magical girl cartoon, it's crucial in my opinion to maintain a clear boundary between one's professional role and personal life. The fusion of personal grievances with one's job can only exacerbate anger and resentment, which is counterproductive. I believe that past personal matters, whatever they may be, should not influence the production of a children's show, as these shows have a profound impact on their viewers.
Miraculous Ladybug, being a widely popular series among both children and adults, should have been carefully considered for its messaging. It's perplexing that the show wasn't discontinued earlier, considering the negative messages that the writing team appears to be conveying. The fandom may also share some of the responsibility; perhaps they've had encounters with individuals akin to Chloe in their own lives, which contributes to their strong reactions. Regardless, the show has already garnered a substantial amount of criticism for Chloe's character. Why the fandom continues to perpetuate and even endorse such negativity remains unclear. Furthermore, the fanbase's inclination to label her as psychopathic and devoid of any redemption, in similar way to Marinette's belief that she can never change, is bewildering and raises valid concerns.
When I mentioned that I never perceived Chloe as Marinette's "bully," I understand that this perspective may not be universally shared. To me, Chloe never posed a genuine threat, unlike Lila, whose manipulative nature was far more concerning. Chloe struck me as someone who was all talk and little action, often emphasizing her privileged background by calling out for her father's help.
In an ironic twist, I actually view Chloe as Marinette's rival more than her tormentor. It's intriguing how Marinette and the rest of their class didn't cower in fear of Chloe. Despite her wealth, Chloe seemed to attract little genuine affection from her peers, as most interactions with her revolved around attempts to control or exploit her, or simply to gain something from her. The way even the show's creators seemed to discard her character makes me sympathize with her on a different level.
Perhaps it's a sign of growing older, but I now perceive Chloe as a rather pitiable character. I can't muster any anger towards her, and witnessing the fandom labeling her as "evil" only makes me inclined to challenge such judgments. If this is how they perceive a child, then they might benefit from reconnecting with reality, as this is a rather misguided and stupid perspective on their part.
I suspect what really irks the anti-Chloe faction is that we choose to empathize with her, even though it may not align with their perspective. It's important to clarify that we're not in the business of justifying or excusing her actions or behavior, nor are we hiding behind her parents' shortcomings as a shield for her conduct. Instead, we're highlighting a nuanced aspect that's often overlooked in the fandom.
It's also worth acknowledging that in this fan community, there's a tendency to grant leniency, especially when it comes to Marinette, often attributing her actions to her age of 14. It's somewhat peculiar how this grace isn't uniformly extended to all characters, with Adrien, for instance, being a prime example. That sort of being a hypocrite.
When it comes to Chloe, I can't help but feel a sense of pity—a very human emotion. I believe there might be individuals out there who have experienced something akin to Chloe's situation, or perhaps they've been a little like her in their own past. If the show's creator chose not to redeem her character and allowed her to spiral further, it wouldn't necessarily be a problem, as long as they conveyed her role as a cautionary tale.
Beneath all the layers of her character, Chloe emerges as a profoundly desolate 14-year-old. I may not particularly like her, but recognizing the underlying sadness in her character is something I believe many people can relate to.
What the point of this show exactly? I thought Magical girls shows were to inspire hope. If the protagonist herself deems her to far gone then what the point. I thought a magical girl is one who doesn't lose hope and to inspire characters like Chloe not to damn her.
I'm glad you like my posts!
And as for your analysis, I don't have anything else to add! It's a great analysis of Chloe. I do agree that Chloe's relationship with Marinette is rather vague. If Chloe did bully Marinette, which I'm not denying, then it's played for laughs more than anything, which makes it confusing as to just what their dynamic was like. Chloe is a bully, but her actions are never taken seriously by the narrative, which sends a muddled message when you start to pretend Marinette was deeply mentally scarred by this when you've spent 5 seasons making a joke out of it.
In the series, Marinette has more of a rivalry with Chloe until Seasons 4 and 5 decided to pretend Chloe was some kind of serious threat whose only go to move wasn't yelling for her daddy all the time. In Origins, Marinette seems more disgruntled than actually troubled that Chloe is in her class again, and even snaps back at her when Chloe does that thing with the bubblegum. Chloe is just the mean-girl archetype, someone with whom the main character has a rivalry. And I personally do interpret Marinette and Chloe's dynamic as one where Chloe bullied Marinette and I am really not going to downplay that, but I also see where it can come off differently, considering the show never really portrays Chloe as a significant threat. Clearly there are scenes in certain episodes where Chloe is being a bully which are taken seriously, but a lot of the time they are not. It's just the archetype, it's up to one's own interpretation.
Thank you for your ask!
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mariacallous · 11 months ago
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U.S. President Joe Biden has asked for an additional $14 billion in new military aid for Israel, a request that lawmakers are now considering. Yet as Palestinian civilian deaths rise and disagreements grow between the U.S. and Israeli governments on the methods and outcomes of the fighting, passage of a massive amount of military support further tying the United States to Israel’s prosecution of the war must not be treated as a rubber-stamp exercise.
As negotiations continue this week on an emergency funding package that includes military assistance to Israel alongside aid for Ukraine and humanitarian relief, lawmakers must ask some tough questions of the Biden administration and the Israeli government.
First, does Israel actually have financial need? Even if Israel is seeking additional arms for legitimate security purposes, such a desire for additional weapons does not by itself establish a fiscal imperative for U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill. While some senior lawmakers no doubt have memories of an Israeli economy working earnestly to catch up with older states, recent decades have seen Israel become a comparatively wealthy nation.
According to 2022 World Bank figures, Israel has a per capita GDP higher than that of each of France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia—and more than 12 times that of Ukraine, the other recipient of military aid in the request before Congress. Due diligence requires that lawmakers seek evidence that Israel cannot reasonably pay for necessary additional arms itself.
Additionally, lawmakers should ask whether Israel—already the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid—has used tens of billions of dollars in U.S. military support to date in a way that enhances rather than harms its security. In addition to supplying Israel with decades of arms and assistance, the U.S. Congress has repeatedly and rightly condemned Hamas’s horrific Oct. 7 attack and atrocities against Israel, and expressed support for its ally’s right and duty to protect its people. Yet, as multiple reports have now made clear, Israel’s failure to prevent Hamas’s brutal attack was not due to lack of weapons or resources—it was a failure of the Israeli government to detect the assault and deploy its forces accordingly.
Not only did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ignore the dire situation in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli security personnel who warned of Hamas’s plans, they also prioritized sending military forces to the West Bank, where the far-right settlers who make up a substantial part of Netanyahu’s supporter base were intensifying government-backed harassment of Palestinian communities.
Israel nearly doubled the number of its battalions in the West Bank in the months before Oct. 7. That left Israel’s south poorly defended prior to the attacks, with Israeli experts themselves blaming the slow response to the Hamas attack on the fact that so many troops were in the West Bank.
Even amid the current war and the emergence of horrific new details of Hamas’s atrocities against Israelis in the south, the Netanyahu government advanced a budget earlier this month that would allocate the equivalent of tens of millions of new dollars to fund illegal settlement projects in the West Bank. Money is fungible, and U.S. workers are owed an explanation as to why they should backfill gaps in Israeli military funding that were caused, in part, by settlement activity that only exacerbates a wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli government’s unending project of settlement expansion and Palestinian displacement raises another critical question: Will Israel use U.S.-funded weapons in accordance with both U.S. and international law?
While the more than 15,000 Palestinians estimated to have been killed in Gaza no doubt include some number of Hamas combatants, the overwhelming number are civilians—and an estimated more than half or even two-thirds of them were women and children. Such figures are prima facie evidence that Israel has not adhered to its obligation under international law to take all reasonable precautions to avoid civilian losses and damage to civilian infrastructure.
In fact, Israeli researchers have reported that the Israeli military intentionally and systematically targets civilian infrastructure, routinely attacking sites with little or no known military activity, but which were known to house families. Hamas’s undoubted war crimes, including its continued holding of hostages and rocket launches into Israel, do not relieve Israel of its own obligations under the laws of war.
Moreover, well-documented public statements and writing by Israeli government and military officials calling for the permanent mass transfer of civilians or the broad destruction of structures in the territory is worrying evidence of an intention to commit some of the most serious violations of the laws of armed conflict and human rights.
Despite these concerns, the Biden administration has shown distressing resistance to enforcing conditions on aid—a number of which already exist under U.S. law—to ensure that U.S.-funded and -supplied arms are used exclusively for permitted purposes.
Rather than continuing to give vague assurances that the administration will continue pressing Israel to follow international law—requests that Israel’s government has clearly ignored—lawmakers should ask Biden for specific commitments related to the enforcement of laws enacted to prevent U.S. arms from being misused, such as the Arms Export Control Act and Leahy Law.
With dozens—if not hundreds—of lives lost daily, and families on either side of the Gaza fence fearing for their loved ones, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that the steps it takes make a just and secure end to this war more likely, rather than funding actions that harm human security, regional stability, and international order with American taxpayer dollars.
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htr2a · 6 months ago
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climate change blackpill megapost
there are several climate tipping points identified in the united nations intergovernmental panel on climate change sixth assessment report (chapter 3, specifically). tipping points refer to critical thresholds in a system that, when exceeded, can lead to a significant change in the state of the system, often with an understanding that the change is irreversible. they are:
the greenland ice sheet
the west antarctic ice sheet
the atlantic meridional overturning current
monsoon systems
el niño-southern oscillation
tropical rainforests
northern boreal forests
thawing permafrost
extreme heat
current (2022) global warming of ~1.1°C above preindustrial temperatures already lies within the lower end of some tipping point uncertainty ranges. several tipping points may be triggered in the paris agreement range of 1.5 to <2°C global warming, with many more likely at the 2 to 3°C of warming expected on current policy trajectories.
greenland's ice sheet is in disequilibrium and we are committed to 2-3 meters of sea level rise from its melt alone in the next 200 years.
greenland's ice sheets have been melting twice as fast in the last twenty years as they were during the previous century.
rapid increase in the rate of melting of the west antarctic ice sheet is unavoidable.
the west antarctic ice sheet is retreating twice as fast as previously predicted
because of widespread seawater intrusion beneath the grounded ice of the thwaites glacier.
the west antarctic ice sheet will raise sea levels by four meters when it melts.
this is causing the atlantic meridional overturning current to collapse.
the gulf stream (aka amoc) is weakening. 99% confidence. measured volume through the florida straits has declined by 4% in the past 40 years
the gulf stream will collapse between 2025 and 2095. 95% confidence.
the north atlantic is four standard deviations above its historic temperatures.
when the amoc collapses, the arctic sea-ice pack will extend down to 50°n. the vast expansion of the northern hemispheric sea-ice pack amplifies further northern hemispheric cooling via the ice-albedo feedback.
a collapse of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation would have substantial impacts on global precipitation patterns, especially in the vulnerable tropical monsoon regions in west africa, east asia, and india where they will experience shorter wet seasons and longer dry seasons with an overall decrease in precipitation
although recent studies indicate that the amazon will experience net benefit from the collapse of the amoc with cooler temperatures and increased rainfall
increased el niño intensity will increase the frequency and severity of droughts in the amazon rainforest.
even if we were able to stabilize global mean temperature at 1.5º C, el niño intensity will continue to increase for a century
and the amazon rainforest is currently in the worst drought on record, which may indicate it has passed its threshold to maintain its own wet climate.
while widespread and persistent warming of permafrost has been observed in polar regions and at high elevations since about 1980, the highest permafrost temperatures in the instrumental record were recorded in 2018–2019 (data from 2019-2020)
as of 2019 the southern extent of permafrost had receded northwards by 30 to 80km
soil fires in the canadian arctic are burning the peat underground and melting the permafrost. stat from the study 70% of recorded area of arctic peat affected by burning over the past forty years has occurred in the last eight and 30% of it was in 2020 alone.
nasa finds that tundra releases plumes of methane in the wake of wildfires.
in 2023 eight times more land burned in canada than average.
russian siberia experienced a similarly massive fire season in 2021.
a methane source we weren’t expecting was warmer, wetter conditions to increase organic decomposition in tropical wetlands which is releasing ever increasing amounts of methane.
we have been experiencing exponential rise in atmospheric methane since 2006. historical data indicates that we may have entered into an ice age termination event fueled by these methane releases.
we have been over 1.5º C above pre-industrial temperatures since the beginning of 2023.
this may be because of the extreme el niño conditions of the 2023-24 cycle, but breaches of 1.5°C for a month or a year are early signs of getting perilously close to exceeding the long-term limit
and the world meteorological organization expects us to permanently break 1.5º C of warming from pre-industrial levels within the next five years.
the united nations environmental programme (unep) emissions gap report found that current fossil fuel extraction commitments leave no credible path to keeping warming below 1.5º C. based on current policies we will experience 2.8ºC of warming by 2100. even if all current pledges were implemented and followed through with (which they never have been), we will only be able to limit that to 2.4-2.6ºC of warming.
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smolpinklady · 3 days ago
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The women that voted for Trump are thinking it won't happen to them. They won't have the health care they need when the time comes now. Imagine voting against yourself. You have no idea how many people say, "I'll keep the baby, abortion doesn't matter to me" where I work. Education has gone downhill. I'm so tired dude
I could go on about this but because Donald Trump represents the “Christian” vote, people who are FOR him will vote for him with blinders on. They only want to see and hear what they want to see and hear.
He does not support the Constitution, he wants POWER. He does not want the 30 something counts of felony charges hovering over him, he wants to avert himself from his detrimental mistakes.
He has stated in his god awful hateful rallies that he wants to initiate MASS DEPORTATIONS.
He has said vile things about women, including his own daughter.
The House and the Senate already have Republican majority. I’m terrified that they are going to work in HIS favor.
What’s crazy is majority of America is middle to lower class families. People who support him are so delusional in the way they think, they think that Trump is going to make the “economy” great, and helping Americans with lower gas prices and groceries.
When in reality his plan is to PROPOSE TARIFF POLICIES that will ultimately RAISE PRICES FOR YOU AND I
Americans are superficial pieces of shit.
The other day I saw a clip of that fuck ass Cheeto saying, “the key to not being depressed is working your ass off.” This is coming from a MAN who has been GIVEN opportunities and a substantial amount of MONEY on a silver platter. At A YOUNG AGE.
If god forbid I experience an accidental pregnancy by a man who I’m dating, and I don’t find out until six weeks or later, in the state of Florida I would have to go through the pregnancy, unless I go out of my way to travel to another state (and I don’t have the means to do that)
I am not suggesting that I would be irresponsible about having sex, I’m only bringing up a hypothetical scenario (abortion is not a form of birth control, but it IS still a human right to decide what I want to do with my body and the pregnancy)
People don’t read. People would rather remain uneducated and believe in some sort of fantasy of a lower cost of living (WHICH KAMALA HARRIS WANTED TO HELP MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES WITH)
This outcome has began to change my perspective on people, even more so.
The vast majority of Americans would rather have a homophobic, sexist, racist, criminal, and egotistical old white man run office over an educated and qualified BLACK WOMAN.
That speaks volumes about people.
If there’s a sign to remain abstinent from sex, this is reason enough.
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gina103 · 1 year ago
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Meeting Everyone!
Ember finally meets the rest of the gang! I've got so many ideas that I've been looking forward to writing with them, so I'm so incredibly excited! Read parts 1 and 2 here!
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Ember was pretty sure she was doing what no borrower had ever done before.
Accept help from a human.
Over the next three weeks, her ankle had healed a good amount. She was now able to climb her ropes without extreme pain, and she could go without her crutch for a longer period of time. Although her ankle would still be sore after climbing or walking, it was a bearable soreness, plus the swelling had gone down a substantial amount. One thing was true though, Ember never would have made this much progress without the help of Jamie.
Ever since he had helped her out of the kitchen sink that night, Ember noticed that he would make sure to leave extra crumbs on the countertops, and since Ember had already been seen by him, she didn’t really feel the need to hide herself from him. She would be inside the kitchen cabinets and Jamie would open it, see her, and ask her how her ankle was like it was a regular Tuesday. To avoid falling into the kitchen sink again, every week, Ember would ask Jamie to help her with her water, and he gladly did so. Basically, doing it for her. Even though she appreciated the act, she hoped that when her ankle was fully healed, he wouldn’t have to do that anymore. Ember liked doing things herself, she would never want to become dependent on anyone. Especially not on a human.
Jamie had been incredibly sweet and caring throughout the healing process, always asking her how her ankle felt, if she felt better, if she needed anything, he would even offer to make her hot food, which Ember never accepted.
Although Ember appreciated his help and his concern for her, she still didn’t know what his motives were completely. She knew from how she was raised that she should never trust a human, and she didn’t, she only spoke to Jamie from a reasonable distance, she hadn’t let him touch her since that night, and she only let him help her when she absolutely needed it. But it was a strange situation. She would’ve been stupid not to accept his help because Ember would still be at the bottom of the sink if she hadn’t, but she would be stupid to trust him as well because he’s a human. No matter how badly she wanted to trust him, to believe that his actions truly had no motive other than to serve her, she knew it wasn’t smart to just jump into his hands and trust him. But the way he always helped her without a second thought, the way he never tried to touch her unless she consented to it, the way he has never asked for anything more from her, respected every boundary she enforced, never inquired about her species, never tried to find out where she lived, never called pest control, never set traps, never told anyone else about her, and never harmed a hair on her head, he sure made it hard not to trust him.
So for now, Ember would keep her guard up, accepting his help until Jamie gave her a reason not to, or when she had fully healed. Then, she could go back to her life as it was before. A life spent in the walls, with nobody to talk to, it was how things should be, right?
Right?
--
Jamie was happy.
It was nice to help out his miniscule third roommate who he now knew as Ember. He was especially pleased to see her ankle healing at a reasonable rate. Anything he could do to make her life easier; he was willing to do it. Although he could still see a lot of hesitation and distrust in her body language when he would, for example, fill up her water cannister for her, it was an improvement from the intense fear or sadness he had seen from her before. She was making progress in multiple ways.
One thing he still had to be careful about was keeping everything a secret from Jesus and Caleb, his other regular-sized roommates. Jamie could tell they were starting to become suspicious, they never said anything about the various changes in his behavior the month before, but he could tell they were noticing it themselves. All Jamie could do was try to act as normally as possible.
Key word, try.
It was a cool October night. Jamie sat slightly hunched over his desk working on a particularly grueling essay for his government class. As he typed the words into his laptop, his mind felt like a sputtering old car, like any moment, he would short circuit and his head would go crashing down onto the desk. As he began to zone out into space, thinking about how great it would be to just give up and jump into bed, he noticed a particular shape standing in the left corner of the desk. When his eyes slowly focused on the peculiar shape, he noticed it looked more and more like a person, a tiny person.
It was Ember.
Jamie jolted in realization, causing Ember to jump and shrink back as well.
“H-hey Ember! How’re you? How’s your ankle?” he said quickly.
“Um, I was just wondering if you had any tape?” Ember replied uncertainly. He noticed that her previously waist-length brown hair had been cut to her mid-back. Even though it looked slightly choppy, like she’d done it herself, it suited her.
“Yeah – yeah of course,” Jamie began rummaging through his drawers, “so, you were able to climb up on the desk ok?”
“Yes, but it’s pretty sore after that.”
A brief silence fell over them as Jamie finally dug out his small roll of tape from his messy drawer. He presented the tape in front of her. His breath hitched when her dark brown eyes met his, they were almost illuminated by the golden light from his desk lamp. His eyes took in her small form, noticing how her little fly-aways and loose hair pieces framed her face, she looked effortlessly beautiful. He almost lost his train of thought before he snapped out of it.
“How much do you need?” he asked politely.
“Not very much…” Ember trailed off, looking at him curiously as she pulled the amount of tape she needed, “This should do fine.”
Jamie nodded, but quickly grew concerned as she turned around to leave. She was still limping quite a lot.
“Hey, why don’t you rest before trying to climb down?" he suggested.
Ember gave him a skeptical look before ultimately taking a seat on a textbook which rested nearby.
A brief, awkward silence passed, with Jamie slowly turning back to look at his essay while Ember sat twirling her fingers.
“What are you writing?” she asked.
When Jamie looked down at her, a smile crept onto his face as he noticed her curious expression staring at his computer screen. How cute. He found himself wishing he could just scoop her up and hold her, but he knew that would dissolve any trust they had built between them. However, that didn’t stop his fingers from twitching with longing.
“It’s an essay for my government class, it’s super boring,” he answered.
“Oh,”
“Yeah, I really hate writing essays. I always get distracted so easily,” Jamie added.
Ember nodded understandingly.
After a minute longer of Jamie trying to focus, he couldn’t concentrate anymore. The presence of Ember made that impossible.
“Hey, I’ll be right back,” he said standing up out of his chair, “I’m just gonna go get a snack. I’ll be back in like, five seconds.”
“O-oh, ok,” Ember replied, watching him leave the room and close the door behind him.
Once Jamie had closed the door, he took a deep breath in and out. Get it together dude.
--
Ember didn’t know why she stayed.
When Jamie left the room, she should have left immediately, but instead, she found herself staying, sitting in her spot, waiting for him to come back. Even worse, she wanted him to come back. No, this wasn’t right, she couldn’t get attached, he’s a human. But the way he would softly gaze at her, with such a tender look in his eyes, it made her heart flutter. The way his face was magnified to her, letting her see every little detail clearly. She could see all the freckles on his nose and forehead area, the way his wavy brown hair would fall into his face slightly, his huge dark brown eyes that gazed at her so sweetly.
Stop it, she thought. She shook her head from side to side, as if to shake those thoughts out of her brain.
Suddenly, the door swung open once again.
Ember froze, petrified.
It wasn’t Jamie standing in the door frame, it was Caleb.
--
Jamie’s stomach dropped when he saw someone standing in the doorway of his room.
Realizing it was Caleb, he dropped the bag of chips he was carrying and rushed towards his room. Jamie knew that Caleb would never do anything to hurt Ember, he was a good guy, but the image of the miniscule girl trembling in fear and terror on his desk was more than enough to jumpstart him into action.
“Hey Caleb! What ’cha need?” Jamie darted towards the desk where Ember was, turned around, and blocked her from view.
Caleb looked like he had seen a ghost. “What. The fuck. Was that?” he demanded.
“What was what?” Jamie replied trying to sound innocent.
“Do not fuck with me right now,” Caleb stepped closer, pointing at the desk, “What was that?”
Jamie said nothing, he was never good at lying. He took a peek behind him to see Ember shaking like a leaf, he tried to give her an extremely apologetic look.
“Jesus!” Caleb yelled suddenly, making Jamie jump in surprise. They all heard a distant, What!
“Nonono please don’t call him in here,” he begged.
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” Caleb replied looking him firmly in the eyes.
--
Ember was trying to put on a brave face.
Here she was, sitting on Jamies desk with him, and his two roommates staring at her like they were trying to solve a really complex math equation. Jamie was standing out of their way, looking extremely apologetic, as if he wanted to say to her, this isn’t my fault! Ember didn’t blame him for being discovered, she blamed herself. If she had just left the moment Jamie exited the room, and not gotten lost in her silly little daydream about him, none of this would have happened. She was a disgrace to the name of borrower. What would her family say if they could see her now?
What followed her discovery is what Ember would describe as a full-on interrogation. Caleb and Jesus asked her just about every question their brains could come up with. Some of the highlights included:
“What are you?”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Are you alone?”
“What’s your name?”
“Do you have a last name or middle name?”
“What’s your favorite color?”
All of which Ember tried to answer honestly without giving everything away. The whole time, Jamie was standing off to the side looking incredibly uncomfortable and stressed, a few times he had to step in to tell the guys to back off a bit, or to calm down with their rapid questioning. Ember appreciated this, at least he was advocating for her, she could tell that he was also interested in her answers to the other’s questions as well. After all the boys’ curiosities were mostly satisfied, they mellowed out.
“Dude, it still feels like I’m fucking dreaming, bro” Jesus said to Caleb.
“Yeah, I feel like I’m on some shit cause no way this is for real,” he replied.
“Nice to meet you, Ember!” they both said, exiting the room waving.
“Yeah, feel free to come chill with us anytime!” Jamie promptly closed the door as soon as they both left.
Ember met his eyes, to which he immediately knelt down to her level, looking at her worriedly.
“Are you ok?” his eyes softening, “That must have been so scary for you,”
Ember took a moment to answer, she felt a mix of relief, fear, and bewilderment. She looked straight at him.
“What does it mean to ‘come chill’ with someone?” she asked, her head tilting slightly.
Jamie stared at her for a moment before a chuckle bubbled up in him, a bubble which turned into a full-blown fit of laughter, much to Ember’s confusion. She watched Jamie clutch his stomach on the floor, barely able to breathe through his laughter. She felt herself blushing watching him laugh.
His laugh was the most wonderful music to her ears.
“You, ma’am,” Jamie said gathering his composure, “You sure are something,”
For some reason, that caused Ember to smile.
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adacatlovelace · 1 year ago
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Some Morrowind thoughts now that I've gotten around to playing it
I love the dichotomy of Early Game being somewhat difficult vs becoming a god of this world shaping it to your whims. It really gives you an appreciation for when you manage to break the game becuase it doesn't just feel like making an already manageable game even easier but instead meeting that challenge the game presents you in a way that makes you feel clever. Like the game straight up feels FUCKING AWFUL until you get your stats up so you actually FEEL the difference from going from slow running and jump basically being useless to VVardenfell's fastest boy who can leap over buildings in a single bound
Speaking of breaking the game, there are an incredible amounts of ways to do so and there are PLENTY of options. Wanna raise your intellect to 60x the stat cap? You can by stacking potions. Wanna make even stronger potions? Well INT affects potion strength and there are potions that raise int. Put two and two together. Low on health/stamina/magicka? Press T as long as you aren't in a town or near enemies and save the potions for combat.
I am incredibly sad what happened to the Alteration school in later entries. Alteration let you influence the world around you including your own body. Open locks, shield yourself, lighten your carryweight, make someone elses carryweight heavier, Water Breathing, becoming jesus and walking on water, levitate, use telekinesis to increase your interaction distance (which is really helpful if you wanna grab something from a position where you are hidden and increase your jump height to ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS, which combined with a high acrobatics to substantially lessen fall damage makes for the most fun way to traverse and even makes navigating Vivec City much more fun. In Skyrim however, its the most boring class of magic in the game. Yeah paralyze is really funny to cast on people, but A. Telekinesis is basically just the gravity gun from half life and rendered almost completely useless by the ability to just move things around B. Transmute is... neat I guess and can be really useful for leveling smithing but its really tedious if you have a lot of ore to transmute C. Equilibrium is great for leveling restoration but not much else since theres not a lot of situations where it would be good to trade some health for emergency mana (Its a shame its not in Oblivion as it would be a GODSEND for those born under the Atronach sign who don't regen magicka naturally) D. I can kind of see what they were going for with Oak/Stone/Iron/Ebony/Dragonflesh to give a defensive option to those who perfer wearing robes over armor but "Activate ability to temporarily receive less damage" never really feels particularly fun or interesting
Speaking of magic, it really does feel like a core part of the game and I dont think NEARLY the amount of fun I did playing Morrowind if I avoided it
Enchanting is amazing system in Morrowind. Activated Effects, Constant Effects, effects on hit allows for SO much creativity without interfering with spellcasting. After all, why ever cast levitation if you can make a ring with a constant effect of levitation you can pop on and off whenever? The answer is that it is FUCKING EXPENSIVE to have an enchanter make you one or EXTREMELY risky to make it yourself. This sounds like a bad thing but really either A. It provides a valuable money sink so you're never just hoarding a shitton of gold with nothing substantial to spend it on or B. You figure out how to substantially shift the odds in your favor. I really cannot stress how much a GOOD money sink that has substantial rewards in return really adds to keeping the player engaged. Theres doing quests and exploration for their own sake and theres doing quests and exploration while keeping in the back of your mind that there is an 80,000 gold enchantment you are slowly working for so you ALWAYS want to come out of dungeons with as much loot as possible
Spellcrafting fills a similar role, except its for your magic stats rather than your gold. You can make superpowerful spells but you need a superpowerful amount of magicka to actually cast them. This works IN TANDEM with the enchanting system as it can be a great way to boost your stats high enough to cast "Angry Ron's Penile Explosion" (Thank you for letting me name my spells)
Alchemy is kind of tedious (Which thankfully got better in Oblivion and Skyrim, UI-wise) but offers a great way to both make money and temporarily boost your stats, as well as keeping you alive. I also like the little bit of flavor of restore fatigue ingredients usually just being various foods
I've heard mixed things about the fatigue system in general but as much as I hated it early game I sort of grew to enjoy it. I've never really enjoyed "survival" type mods where you have to eat drink and sleep but I feel like the fatigue system is a really good balance between that and just normal regenerating stamina. Rather than outright say "you need to perform bodily functions regularly or suffer for it" It gives you an organic push to take a short rest between large encounters or keep a couple restore fatigue potions on you or maybe take things slowly and walk through the dungeon instead of sprinting everywhere or maybe dont jump unless you need to, all with just a little green bar that says "This is how effective you'll be at everything you do"
The "Fast travel" system is also a GREAT way of getting around thats a good middle ground between "Travel to any location on the map" and the tedium that is walking across the map and back several times over to beat a single quest. By having multiple types of travel, each with their own places they can go, it adds that small amount of required planning in quickly traveling from Point A to Point B to keep it engaging. Stilt striders can take you to landlocked towns while boats can take you to just about any town reachable by water. The mages guild will teleport you to other locations of the mages guild. Bigger cities will have more travel options while smaller towns will have few, if any. Even then you have the two intervention spells which will take you to either the nearest Imperial Cult or Temple which you can CHAIN together. Wanna reach ebonheart extremely quickly? Travel by silt strider, boat or mage guild to vivec, cast Alsimi intervention to teleport to the south end of vivec then divine intervention and BOOM. You're in ebonheart. On TOP of all these options you also have Mark and Recall. Mark will set a place and recall will take you there, which is great for both a quick option to get to your player home OR back to the area you need to return to multiple times over the course of a questline (Looking at you Morag Tong)
10. One of the first NPCs you meet is Caius Casodes. He is a high ranking member of a secret organization of spies for Uriel Septim VII called the Blades and he acts as your sort of handler for most of the main questline. He is a shirtless man in a dingy apartment, he LOVES moon sugar and skooma and basically tells you to fuck off and do the whole "open world" thing for a while multiple times to "give him time to think" which Im pretty sure just means getting blasted. 10/10 character I love him
11. Ahnassi is just a gem. Shes friendly, gives good advice and leads (As well as a discount for the best acrobatics trainer in the game) She has a former partner who's got a skooma addiction who you help and its all very sweet. As you go out of your way to perform various acts of kindness her gratitude PALPABLE and will literally offer you the clothes off her back. Just such a kind, lovable character that makes you GENUINELY wanna help her and give her gifts.
12. I dont really like Crassius Curio (part of it is just the stank of 2003-era homophobia as a character) or anyone who uses their position of power to leverage political favors in exchange for sexual/romatic favors but it is REALLY funny that he actually is the one that wrote The Lusty Argonian Maid and the guy in it is named "Crantius Colto"
Overall Thoughts: Great Game, highly recommend if you dont mind a lot of reading and a steep learning curve that suddenly plummets downward as you obtain godlike power
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