#and the other 2 main areas focus on the extremes of each of those

[ellraiser]

stagnant water designs

[togrowoldinv]

Everything Has Changed

Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

You’re vying for the Avengers to choose you as one of the Shield agents to go on a mission with them. Nat performs her own evaluation and you grow closer

Note: Some soft Nat! It was going to come out yesterday but my nephew was born lol. Enjoy this one!

Natasha Masterlist 1, Natasha Masterlist 2, Natasha Masterlist 3, Main Masterlist

“Agents, we will have a very special guest for training today,” Maria Hill’s voice sounds from the entrance of the gym.

You and all of the other agents stand up straighter in her presence. Soon, she’ll be choosing the best agents to go on a mission with some of the Avengers.

You have been working extremely hard to make sure that one of those agents is you.

Agent Hill walks to the center of the room. You keep your attention on her as she instructs everyone to warm up. It’s hard to pretend not to notice when the special guest arrives. Her steps are light, but her presence is undoubtable.

Still, you keep your focus on warming up with the other agents. Some simple stretches and laps to get your blood flowing.

“Okay, focus up,” Maria says, bringing everyone together.

Chatter erupts at the sight of her standing next to Maria. The Black Widow. Natasha Romanoff. You were all expecting the usual special guests, like Steve Rogers or Agent Coulson.

“For training today, I’ve asked Agent Romanoff to join us. As she will be on the upcoming mission, she has some say in what agents will come along,” Maria explains. “Agent Romanoff, is there anything you’d like to share?”

Natasha takes her time before she answers. You wonder what is running through her head as she looks at each and every agent in the room. You swear her eyes linger on you for the longest amount of time.

“I’m not one for speeches,” Natasha finally speaks. “That’s more Cap’s area of expertise, as I’m sure you all have had to deal with.” A few chuckles fill the room. “Let’s see what we’re working with.”

Agent Hill gives everyone assignments for the next hour of training. She and Natasha walk around and observe. You never hear Natasha say as much as two words as she watches. At the end of the hour, the agents circle up again.

“I will choose a few of you to spar with me,” Natasha explains. She says a few agent’s names before she says yours at the very end. Your heart drops to your stomach.

“The rest of you can be dismissed,” Maria Hill adds. The five agents that were chosen, including you, remain in the room.

Natasha goes in order that she called the names out, so you are the last to spar with her. Everyone else lasts under a few minutes with her.

“You ready?” She asks you, a smirk on her face.

“Yes ma’am,” you reply, trying your best to sound confident.

Nat swings first, not pulling her punches at all. She lands a blow on your ribcage. You respond by taking a lunge at her, but she blocks your attempts at hitting her. You try not to let it rattle you.

“Try again,” she says. “Follow my eyes. Try to see what I’m going to do next.”

You nod and reset your feet. This time you manage to block her first swing, but the second one lands hard on your abdomen. You fall back a bit but regain your balance. This process repeats for a few minutes before Nat calls it.

You sigh and fall back in line. Maria dismisses you all for the day after explaining that the five of you are to attend a Stark event tonight. There is more to the job than just fighting, she says.

The rest of the day is spent with you preparing for the next day and getting ready for the party. Stark events are notoriously good opportunities to network, so you prepare yourself for being socially burnt out by the end of the night.

Once you arrive at the party, you find the other agents and get a drink together. There is a lot of laughing and cutting up. Someone brings up Natasha and things get a little more interesting.

“I’m just saying someone that beautiful cannot be as good as they say she is,” one agent says.

“I don’t know, man. I’ve heard she has more kills than anyone else here combined,” another adds.

“Guys, come on she’s just a pretty face,” someone says.

“No,” you jump in, your voice a little too loud. “She’s a hero. You guys know that. She is not just a pretty face,” you say.

You storm off and don’t notice that Natasha was standing near you. She heard everything. Nat walks by the agents and they all look away sheepishly. The bartender hands her the drinks she asks for and she leaves the room.

Standing on the roof of the building, you look out onto the city. You don’t know why it got under your skin so bad that the other agents were calling Nat’s abilities into question. Maybe you just don’t like bullies.

Your thoughts are interrupted by the sound of heels on the concrete. You turn around to assess the threat.

“Sorry if I startled you,” Natasha says.

“No, that’s okay.”

“Mind if I join you?” Natasha asks, offering you a smile. You nod. She walks your side and holds out a glass to you. “I wasn’t sure what you were drinking.”

“Thank you, Agent Romanoff,” you say, accepting the drink.

“Natasha is fine,” she says. “Or Nat.”

“Y/n,” you offer her your first name.

“I know who you are, y/n,” Nat says.

“Oh.”

Nat takes a breath and rests her arms on the edge of the building. You don’t know what to say, but it doesn’t feel awkward.

“Maria will tell you tomorrow, but you were selected for the mission,” Natasha says.

You can’t help the smile that creeps onto your face. It’s what you’ve been working for for so long now. You take a sip of your drink and look out at the city again.

“Are you excited?” Natasha asks, taking note of your body language.

“Yeah,” you answer. “Thank you for choosing me.”

“It was a group decision. You’ve earned it, y/n. You went toe to toe with everyone, including me,” Natasha says.

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t go toe to toe with you,” you say with a light comedic tone to hide your frustration.

“You did,” Nat argues. “Well, more than anyone else did. Seems to them I'm just a pretty face."

"You heard that?" You ask her, turning to face her. She nods. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Nat says. "I'm used to it. I also heard you defending me."

"Oh, yeah."

"You don't think I'm pretty?" Natasha asks, a hint of teasing in her tone.

You're sure your face cannot hide your reaction to her words. A heat creeps up your neck.

"Oh, no. You're so beautiful, Natasha," you say.

"You're beautiful, too. Very much so," Nat replies.

You smile shyly. Natasha feels herself falling for you. You realize how late it is when your phone dings in your purse.

"I should probably get some sleep so I can be ready for the mission," you say.

"Right," Nat agrees. "Maybe after the mission, we can see each other more often."

"I would love that," you reply.

"Goodnight, y/n."

"Goodnight, Natasha," you reply.

Before you step away from her, she leans close and drops a kiss on your cheek. It's soft, and delicate but perfect.

You can't wait to get to know her better.

[treason-and-plot]

Thank you so much for sending me these @anamoon63 and @108sims! This might be a good opportunity to introduce Connor's parents, Tom and Helene Brownlee.

After graduating from Simstate University with a degree in business and accounting Tom was hired by a prominent Bridgeport Accounting firm, where he soon became a senior accountant. He left after three years to found his own company, Brownlee and Associates.

2. He and Helene met when he visited a physiotherapist for a shoulder injury. Helene was the physiotherapist's receptionist. Tom was attracted to her elegant demeanour, husky voice and the way she used to poke the tip of her tongue between her teeth when she was listening to people talk on the phone. She still does it now when she's concentrating and he still thinks it's adorable.

2. Brownlee and Associates now operates in 6 different countries and provides (according to their slick looking website) 'a complete range of public accounting, taxation and audit services to individuals and business. The main areas of focus include taxation, estate planning, asset protection, and structuring.'

3. Tom and Helene's base is still Bridgeport, but they are also very fond of their villa in Monte Vista and their beach house in Isla Paradiso.

4. Helene had to have an emergency peripartum hysterectomy after giving birth to Connor so that put paid to their plans for any more children. Helene was quite relieved, really. Pregnancy and childbirth were quite the worst experiences of her life.

5.Tom used to play a lot of rugby in his younger days (it was how he got his shoulder injury) and he isn't thrilled about Connor's fondness for soccer. He thinks soccer is a stupid sport. What kind of sport doesn't allow players to use their hands, for Christ's sake?

6. Tom and Helene have now been married for twenty-one years. While there have been challenges, those years have for the most part have been very happy.

7. Tom deals with stress by playing golf and watching Westerns. Helene likes to read, meditate and go on long walks.

8. Helene's life since she got married has been geared to making Tom's career a success, and she loves her role as the loyal corporate wife. She knows she is good at it too. And the perks are extremely seductive, particularly the wardrobe and travel budgets!

9. Both Helene and Tom expect Connor to enter the family business after leaving school.

10. They are also very curious about meeting Saffron...Connor has never admitted to having a girlfriend before! (Helene always imagined he'd marry Laura but it seems they don't think of each other that way, which Helene thinks is a great pity. Laura is such a pretty thing...she and Connor would have the most gorgeous babies!)

[aspiring-holistic-otaku]

Season 3 Ramble#2 - “romance" lol ver.3

This month’s episode is all about romance, the third time around now and somehow I find myself with yet another tweak in format. Guess that just goes to show that love comes in many forms. In any case this month’s format isn’t that different from last time. I’ve still split my reads into 3 categories, the main difference is that the categories themselves have changed. Last time it was cute stuff, fucked up stuff and lewd stuff, this time I still have the cute category but I've switched out the other two based on this month’s reads, which I'll explain as we get to them.

So basically how this episode is gonna go is I'm gonna give my top reads this month in ascending order for each of those categories and then my top 1 reads before this month for the same.

Getting right into it the first category up is

Awww {basically v cute v innocent stuff}

#3) The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague (ongoing w 57 chapters, story & art by Miyuki Tonogaya)

This is an extremely simple but extremely cute story. The title pretty much summarizes it actually, the main character is the descendant of an ice demon, which is apparently not too strange in this world since he works a normal office job,,, and he has a crush on his cool, stoic, almost expressionless female colleague.

It's a pretty neat take on slow burns because one it's pointedly ice related, and secondly the ice guy’s emotions affect his environment, like if he gets too excited there'll be a blizzard or tiny snowmen will appear.. If you've ever had a crush on someone you know it's already hard enough to act natural or “be cool" so this guy has a pretty rough go of it.

The art is pretty nice but the characters, especially the wider cast leaves more than a bit to be desired. It actually almost kinda feels like the creator really just wanted to focus on the main two but the editor was like,, that's not how the real world works, especially not in an office... I do appreciate though that some of the wider cast includes different types of demons and it’s fun to see the different ways their emotions leak out, the different pairings, and so on.

As I said it’s an extremely simple story, almost feels like a 4 panel tbh, nothing I'd push too hard but it’s undeniably cute and makes for a super easy binge read or just something to pick up from time to time to escape the harshness of reality and indulge in the very cute but very absurd fantasy of a successful workplace romance… I think more than a few ppl have that one coworker you would if you could… but no… just no… leave it alone… leave it in fiction land my friend…

#2) Skip and Loafer (ongoing w 58 chapters, story & art by Misaki Takamatsu)

The story here follows our main heroine, a real go getter, who moved from the countryside to big city Tokyo for highschool, all so she could follow her dreams of being a politician and help out in rural areas around the country. Anyways she’s characterized as not being great at much else but studying, and in that spirit, gets lost on the way to her entrance ceremony. Here enters our main hero who’s also late but for the opposite reason, he’s super laid back, slept late and was considering just skipping but he felt sorry for this obviously lost but obviously trying girl so he decides to help her out and the story takes off from there.

Just wanna get out of the way that I love all the characters and their interactions with each other and especially within themselves. If anything, that's this manga’s strongest point. It makes the characters ooze real feelings that really feels in place for each where they are. Like not too dramatic where you wonder if they’re really highschool kids or even in school for that matter, and not too fantasy like where everything is perfect and it’s almost like characters are machines just filling a roll.

It kicks off pretty early on with engaging character interactions and the way they change and develop as the main cast gets to know each other is really endearing. I especially really really love the main heroine because she’s that innocent character type but it’s not done in that way that makes her this pure cinnamon roll that’s too good for this world, where nothing gets her down or she chooses peace and love every time. Her thing is that she’s basically socially inept and so she doesn’t really get when people are mean or even when they're being nice sometimes, but she’s all by herself in this new place so she’s trying and though she doesn’t always get it, it’s a real pleasure to see her grow.

It’s ongoing, only 58 chapters but there’s been a ton of realness and real growth in a bunch of ways for most of the cast packed in so far. Really can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

Anyways, cool art, great cast, love the interactions and would definitely highly recommend this one.

#1) Horimiya (complete w 152 chapters, story by HERO & art by Daisuke Hagiwara)

The story here is that the main hero/heroine pair each have a hidden side to them that nobody else knows. At school, the heroine is always super put together but when she’s at home she’s too busy taking care of her little brother for all that and takes on a more homely caretaker persona (the art is shoujo leaning so she and most of the main cast pretty much always looks pretty). But anyways, at school, the hero is seen as a gloomy glasses wearing loner but when he leaves school he looks like he came out of a rock magazine. Tattoos and piercings everywhere. Anyways, this and that happens, the convenient plot is convenient and they end up becoming friends who hold each other’s secrets.

As much as the story kinda feels like shoujo perfect world fantasy stuff, and as much as it came out as top 1 largely because it’s complete, I think a small part of it might have been that a tiny part of me still wants to believe in, and might even still want that kind of “perfect” love. From the innocent buildup to the accumulation of every day special normals and beyond… but in any case, I did honestly like the theme of more and more of your true self coming to the surface and being able to show that true self to someone.

Overall, besides the main pairing, the cast was kinda weak, not bad, just pretty one dimensional But that one dimension was very cute and fluffy and this being a romance manga, it worked. What I will say though is that it took a while for the wider cast to come into play and even more for them to make me care, like not until late 50s heading into 70s did i care about anyone but the main pairing. Meanwhile skip and loafer only has about 50 chapters total and I was fully invested in the entire cast well before then.

But as I said, when the full horimiya cast rolls in it’s all very cute and I liked that they even made the platonic same sex relations pretty cute like yh guys just having fun and it’s not weirdly pervy in any direction, just another form of love yk.. v cool… Again it did have me yearning a bit like wow imagine having a life with both platonic AND romantic relationships being healthy and fulfilling.

Anywho,, pretty neat art, the story kinda just goes on ig but having in mind that it was a romance and it goes on in an increasingly cute way and all, i’d recommend it.

hm:

Even the Introverted Gals Wanna Get Out There! - pretty funny, maybe more funny than cute, also it’s girl on girl, think dead dead demon’s destruction but the main heroines actually get to live life and breath air, literally just vibing out in the club room after school (ongoing w about 6 chaps)

Train Man - Net Development, the Love Story of a Local Train: based on a true story apparently, basically a dude saves some people on a train and becomes friends with one of them and stuff take off from there (complete w 27 chapters)

ftr everything in the main list has an anime but i can’t speak on their status or quality

also ftr I'd definitely rate skip and loafer higher than horimiya overall but because this is the cuteness category, + horimiya is a complete story which I tend to favour for higher places in lists and stuff

next category up is

Dense & Denser

{this is basically when one or more of the characters are just oblivious to any love flags thrown their way}

#2) How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (complete w 42 chapters, story & art by Takeshi Moriki, original LN story by Fumiaki Maruto)

Had never heard of this one before but the title pulled me in like how and why would one raise a boring girlfriend anyways?

The story here is that on the way to school the mc has an encounter with a mystery girl and it’s love at first sight, even though he didn’t see her face…. The mc is an anime/manga otaku much like myself, and this encounter inspires him to make a dating sim game, but after he happens to actually meet the mystery girl face to face, he finds that she’s actually kind of plain,, albeit in a cute sort of way. In any case the feeling of their first mystery meeting lives on so he pushes through with his idea, intending to transform this girl into his ideal heroine. The main story, relations and problems arise around him trying to get the dev team together for this game, and of course this being romance they’re all girls.

It’s all very funny in a very meta way, with commentary on anime/manga culture in most chapters, and the so called main heroine, being outside that culture, usually playing a very good straight man. It’s also meta in how the mc goes about getting his dev team together, as i said they’re all girls so it’s almost like his life becomes a dating sim in trying to woo them into his harem… i mean game dev team…

In any case I’m not even actually sure the mc really counts as romantically dense or if he was just so committed to the bit of being a single weeb undeserving of love that he just pretended not to notice all the pretty loud romantic undertones,,, but maybe that's a type of density in itself… a younger me can def relate… being committed to the bit is a lifestyle… bed is bae… anyways it’s kind of ecchi but still surprisingly good in both the romance and meta aspects. Pretty good art, they made a decision to keep the cast compact and it worked out very nicely. It wraps up in just under 50 chapters but I will say each chapter is pretty dense and can be a bit word heavy. Would recommend.

#1) Monthly Girls’ Nozaki (ongoing w 148 chapters, story & art by Izumi Tsubaki)

This story follows our main heroine as she tries to get the attention of her crush, who is our mc. In approaching him she finds out he’s actually her favourite romance manga creator and through this and that ends up working on it with him as an assistant to try and get closer to him.

Right off the bat I think everyone in this cast is pretty dense but man is the main hero just the most dense mf in the universe. I feel sorry for the main heroine cause she knows but she’s just so down bad for him she kinda becomes dense to how down bad she is. In any case every chapter takes the form of a series of connected 4 panel stories and it’s pretty funny throughout.

The wider cast is pretty neat, nothing too crazy but as i said they’re all pretty dense in their own weird ways so the interactions are usually funny. The art is solid, cast is okay, pretty funny, would recommend for sure.

ftr both have an anime not sure of status or quality

and again ftr i’d rank boring girlfriend over monthly girls’ in general, especially as it’s complete it’s just that this is the dense & denser category and monthly girls’ nozaki is definitely dense central, like black hole event horizon density my friends…

and the last category

That’s Rough Buddy

{a direct reference to avatar when sokka told prince zuko his girlfriend turned into the moon and his response was “that’s rough buddy”, this category is different from the that’s fucked up category I used in very.2 in that these focus more on emotional turmoil and have no physical violence and so on}

#3) Kowloon Generic Romance (ongoing w 61 chapters, story & art by Jun Mayuzuki)

This is kind of eh tbh, cool art, and it’s kind of a mystery as to what’s goin on, so much so that I don’t think I can describe it without spoiling so i’ll lean on the anilist/yen press summary a bit here which is as follows:

“Welcome to Kowloon Walled City: a dystopian townscape where the people are brimming with nostalgia, and where the past, present, and future converge. Amid the hidden emotions and extraordinary daily lives of the men and women working in its confines, a tale of romance begins to unfold for real estate agent Reiko Kujirai—one that feels as familiar as Kowloon itself…”

I doubt that told you anything but I hope it sparks some intrigue, I will say it has a good number of dope one liners, and if i’m being honest the main characters smoke a lot which is an aesthetic I love for some reason so sue me…

Not much else to say tbh, nice art as I said, it’s pretty cool, okay cast, the story is pulling a bit but the bait isn’t that strong, though the aesthetics of it all has definitely caught my eye so I will be keeping up with it after this month… i wouldn’t push it as a recommendation that hard but there’s only 61 chapters rn so no real loss if you do decide to check it out

#2) How Do We Relationship? (ongoing w 115 chapters, story & art by tamifull)

The story here is that the main heroines are gay and in reality no matter how much the media and conservatives want ppl to believe that homosexuality and homosexuals are accepted and normalized in society, in fact that anything but being heterosexual and cisgender passing is accepted & normalized, that’s simply not the case in real life. I live in jamaica and man, not that I really care, but I could get shunned just for reading stuff with gays in it… In any case that’s the sort of reality the main heroines live in which was cool for its realness as they were/are hiding the fact that they're gay, but in any case plot plot plot they end up going out….

This is the “that’s rough buddy” category so I think it’s okay to spoil that it doesn’t go smoothly though I won’t go into further detail. I will mention a really cool thing the author said in an afterword where they say that a lot of romance stories tend to build towards and end at the start of the main characters getting into a relationship, but life isn’t like that. There’s life after that and that’s sort of what they wanted to illustrate. The life after a relationship…. Sounds like a spoiler but remember there’s more than just our heroines in the story. there’s a whole wider cast and they’re all pretty great. each having their own relationship troubles or lack thereof, ideas and philosophies on love and etc.

Pretty solid art, in fact it really reminds me of yokohama shopping log, so much so that i’m convinced it’s a fanfiction created just to make the characters from that series actually full on gay. Pretty solid cast, a story that gets more and more engaging as it goes on though it’s pretty solid from the start. would definitely highly recommend though it can be a bit tumultuous like damn you guys just never gonna be stable huh??

#1) Chobits (complete w 88 chapters, story & art by CLAMP an all woman manga group formed in the mid 1980s made of Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki lgarashi)

I’d always seen this around and always as the profile picture for some more than suspicious internet accounts��� the vibe it gave off in my periphery view was just horrendous tbh but i took the dive and it was worth it, obviously, coming in at #1.

The story here is that in the future, the world is inhabited by humans who live alongside their extremely powerful computers called persocoms, that are shaped to look and act almost human. numerous stories have taken this angle so I think you can imagine the effects that would have on society, but in any case the story follows our mc who recently moved from the countryside to the city and ends up finding one in the trash that he takes in and starts to take care of. The thing is their memory is corrupted so he has to teach them everything, but soon enough the mystery of the discarded persocom comes to light and their abilities could change the world.

All that pompous stuff aside the theme of discerning the shape of love and who deserves it was pretty cool, the mc was bleh and so was most of the cast but the last few chapters and the questions they posed were enough, especially the origin story of the persocom like damn… that’s rough as fuck buddy,, def kinda weird but my condolences all the same…. Art was okay… and yh i’d recommend it..

hm:

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

Top Combo

Video Girl Ai (complete w 131 chapters, story & art by Masakazu Katsura)

This was probably my fav read this month, somewhere between this, boring girlfriend and skip & loafer but this definitely has the best combinations of the different categories I was working with this month.

Again this is something I'd seen floating around for the longest and associated with more than sus accounts but it was pretty good.

The lazy story is that the mc is a lame with no game and his crush ends up confessing to his best friend in front of him. obviously distraught he ends up renting what he thinks is a porn tape.. which I guess it technically is but it's supernatural in that the girl comes out of the TV and tries to mend the viewers’ heart.

Things get super complicated and it turns into the weirdest love polygon I've ever seen, lots of back and forth and dilly dallying but I enjoyed it. The art was great, had a great classic feel, there's more than a bit of ecchi but it's not entirely distasteful or weirdly out of context, the characters and their interactions were a bit exasperating with the back and forth, loves me loves me not stuff but that had its own entertainment value, and in any case I'd recommend it

now moving onto stuff from before this month, which I won't get into details for as I've spoken on them in previous versions which I'm encouraging you to go listen to or read the transcripts for,,

Oldies

Awww

Our Precious Conversations (top 1 oldie ver.1)

Dense & Denser

That's Rough Buddy

Hi Score Girl (top 1 ver. 2)

Boy's Abyss (top2 wtf ver. 1)

That's it for this part, got a little off cuff rambling in the rest of the ramble of you wanna listen in, thanks for checking this out as usual, hope you can find something here or elsewhere that you'll love and I hope you have a good one until next time 🍻

[pierrotwrites-hc]

I discovered TGB on AO3 last week and read through all of Part I and Part II of TGB and the Interlude in the the span of about 48 hours. It reminded me of my middle school tearing-through-books-in-an-afternoon phase and I was both delighted and a bit heartbroken when I got caught up - delighted to have ingested the whole story so far and heartbroken that I have to wait to read more!

I started leaving comments at some point during Part II but they weren't very detailed so I'm coming into your inbox to scream about all the things I enjoyed. Hope you don't mind!

First of of all, your pacing and the timing of your story beats is wonderful. The narrative has a satisfying tempo, if that makes sense. The push-and-pull of tension and release, of when good and bad things happen to the characters, is timed very well and feels extremely satisfying.

Luca and Robert's character arcs are so satisfying and so different from each other! I really like the thing where you narrate some scenes from both of their perspectives or change perspective mid-chapter so we see a scene from both their perspectives. I love how much legitimate mis-communication and struggle to connect there is because of Luca's trauma and conditioning, and I love seeing both of them fight for each other anyway.

You're really, really good at inserting characters into the background and then drawing them out bit by bit as they become more important and our main characters learn more about them. Ged is my favorite example of this. I love how he starts out as just a gladiator in the area who improbably survives and gradually gets more and more developed as he gets closer to Luca and then to Robert. It's like watching a picture come into focus. (To go on a bit of a rabbit trail about Ged: I was convinced he was going to die. So. Many. Times. during the story and watching him survive instead and actually get to have some agency was one of my favorite parts of the story! I really hope he gets to talk with Luca at some point in the future and that they can work out some of their mutual guilt towards each other.)

The way you did the same thing with Doran and Asher were also particularly good. But honestly all the side characters are incredible - it seems like they're all fully fleshed out people with their own stories and hopes and fears, no matter how much or how little of those inner worlds we get to see. There are also some characters who were extremely striking and memorable even without lots of internal development, like Tam and Silva.

Also the amount of characters who are morally gray, conflicted, or otherwise extremely contradictory is so satisfying. The whole story is morally complicated in a really good way, and a very respectful way I think.

I could also go on and on about how much I enjoy your prose style and the way you describe environments and people, to say nothing of your worldbuilding!

Thank you for sharing your writing with us! I'm so glad I got the chance to read it. I know I'll be coming back to re-read soon.

WOW WOW WOW this was lovely to receive (as were your comments!). You've picked up on so many aspects of the story that I enjoy writing (trauma, memorable side characters) and really struggle with (fckn pacing), and it is so wonderful to hear that these elements were successful for you. Also reading the ENTIRE thing in 2 days -- you deserve a medal for valor and fortitude. <3

[volleyball-diggin]

Volleyball Role Basics-Libero

Volleyball skills in a basic sense is made up of 6 components, those being serving, passing, setting, blocking, and hitting. There are 6 players on the court at a time and each player has their own role and certain aspects of the game they tend to focus on. The roles go as follows, Outside hitter 1 and 2, Opposite, Setter, Middle Blocker, and Libero (Lib). To begin with each time a team gains a point the players rotate, the positions they end up in are called rotations 1-6. For 3 out of 6 rotations they will either front row or back row. Today will be more focused on backrow players, specifically the Lib.

The libero takes the spot of the Middle blocker when they rotate into a backrow position. The middle would switch out with the Libero effectively making them spend all 6 rotations in the backrow. This exemplifies their role as the main defensive player. If you take a look at the Court below it is split into 6 parts, the area of coverage varies for each position but for the Lib is is the back left and partially the middle. This is because it is their job to not let any balls hit the court therefore losing a point. Because of this passing is by far the most important skill to have down as a lib. They will need to pass anything that goes over the net towards them, ranging from a Free Ball (Not a swing), a hit, and serves. This means that they will also have to practice the skill of serve receive, essentially passing a serve. This varies slightly from passing in general as hits tend to have topspin on them making them travel in a more controlled path. However some serves have "Float" on them, Kind of like a knuckle ball in baseball. The Lib also has the responsibility of taking the second touch if the setter is unavailable, meaning they also have to be somewhat proficient with setting. As a result, you must have a good understanding of almost all basics of grounded play, everything but hitting and blocking. Below is Coach Donnie, and his YouTube channel Elevate Yourself. His information is extremely helpful and thorough, I tend to go back to his videos when struggling, I hope that helps!

If you guys have any questions or critiques, let me know!

Arrow dictates the front of the court, facing the other court.

[pkmnomegaverse]

🌈 for sage and 🌪️ for corin?

🌈 RAINBOW -  what advice would they give to their younger self? (Sage)

Don't get involved with Darcel make sure to do something about the Marcel and Laurel situation. For sure the Marcel/Laurel thing, since if Sage had the opportunity to talk with her younger self, that would be the main thing she would think to try and change. She’s not the type to really focus on her own personal flaws, so her mind would instead go to finding some way to avoid the tragedy that affected her family so deeply. Stable time loop shenanigans be damned. She would struggle to know exactly what to tell her younger self since she doesn’t really know the specific details of how the abductions went down. Could only really give her younger self a rough timeline on when the event occurred that she needs to avoid, and that it is extremely important she do everything she can to try and prevent this event from occurring. Tell her family if she needs to, push for them moving in with one of her dads if she has to. Hell, could even propose traveling to a different region during that time frame (and this would likely be the easier plan for how to do something about Marcel since explaining things to his family is trickier than her own) just anything to get them away from the area that situation happens in. Was a wrong place wrong time thing so if she can avoid the place, maybe that would be enough to avoid the situation altogether.

I do think while a part of her might think about the implications of how that would affect her overall future (like if her and Katarin would still grow so close without that common thread of trying to figure out what happened to their respective brothers) she would still deem it as worth it. And also optimistically conclude that if they’re meant to be, they’ll still find a way to grow close, even if their circumstances change. Would her younger self take these words to heart thought? Probably. I think she would maybe be a bit doubtful of the whole thing, since the whole situation seems shady. But if older Sage could prove it’s really her, would be on board with believing her and vowing to do what she can to change the future.

I joked about the Darcel thing but one (1) the silly childhood marriage promise happens when both are young enough I assumed Sage wouldn’t be talking with that young of a version of herself (and if she was, that really makes it tricky for her to stress the severity of the Marcel/Laurel thing) and two (2) Sage actually does view her connection to Darcel as kind of a mixed bag. There’s a lot of cons to having his interest (and really it’s mostly cons), but there are some pros as well. Since even with the whole Marcel/Laurel thing, Darcel was not actually involved in what happened at all, and while his interest in it isn’t…good per se. It’s undeniable that he’s useful in getting information. He’s actually one of the few viable means Sage initially sees as “maybe he can do something to help me find my brother.” Which isn’t entirely wrong although he obviously isn’t the hero who saves the day. It probably doesn’t help that Sage kinda holds out hope for Darcel longer than she should. That maybe one day he’ll change his ways. He’s certainly a useful kinda sorta ally if nothing else, thus why she might not say anything about him to her younger self depending on the ages both of them are.

🌪️TORNADO - what is the biggest change you've ever made to them? how have they changed from their original version? (Corin)

Corin is one of those character who from the getgo, he was always meant to play against Casimir. Not in the sense that there were enemies, but that their characters contrast each other. This idea had been lost a bit since both Casimir and Corin were conceived in a Team Flare Wins AU where Corin was raised by Lysandre (can’t recall if he was actually meant to be his bio kid, details were always murky on that end) but whereas Casimir has violent tendencies he represses, Corin doesn’t usually have violet tendencies but when he does…boy does not repress. Has the potential to become a hardcore villain.

In the regular nextgen narrative this doesn’t tend to come up since Corin is very much meant to be a heroic character, but he’s one I’ve always toyed with the idea of a corrupted hero arc for. There’s nothing in Mainverse that would make him go down this path, but in the original version of things where he’s raised by Lysandre as his father and is meant to be his older brother’s protector, boy took a very cutthroat approach to making sure his brother stayed safe. Which strained the relationship between the two.

In some ways this aspect of his character wasn’t changed per se, since I still think of it for potential AUs, but it’s very much something that will never factor into Mainverse. He’s also very much not his brother’s protector, so that aspect of his character (despite being what his name, which means “spear,” actually comes from) has been lost as well.

Also for reference, Corin’s initial design was half based on the young version of Walter from Hellsing. Which I imagine factors into me thinking about villain corruption arcs for him. Considering this is the vibe of the character he was based on appearance wise.

[finleyjackson75]

Directed Study Week 7: Enemies

The Volatile (Dying Light)

The Dying Light volatile is a terrifying enemy designed to Dying Light night time as scary as possible. They are much stronger and much faster that you are, even at the end of the game, and are very fast and can catch up to you in a short period of time.

From 0:45 - 1:00 shows you a scene from one of the first missions in the game, where you are told not to go out at night before hand, but then you get stuck outside at night. You get spotted by a volatile and then have to make a mad dash back to the safe area while being chased by multiple volatiles. The incredible sound design makes the volatile makes the volatile extremely scary to sneak around during the night, since that is your only option if you decide to go out at night time.

Sniper Jager (Sniper Elite 5)

The sniper jager in Sniper Elite 5 is a very unique enemy that can make the game much more tense and nerve racking. It doesn't behave like a normal enemy, mainly because it's controlled by an actual player. Someone can choose to invade someone else while they are playing through a campaign or DLC mission and try to track them down and kill them. While the invaded player has the advantage in terms of direct combat, in terms of being able to resupply on ammo while the sniper jager can't, and being able to use his focus ability to see enemies through walls, including the invader, the sniper jager has the upper hand in stealth, blending in, and using the other german soldiers to his advantage. And sometimes a lack of german soldiers in an area can tell the sniper jager that the other player has already been through that area.

The inclusion of this enemy creates a very unique experience that has never really been seen before in games.

Bile Titan (Helldivers 2)

The bile titan in Helldivers 2 is a huge enemy that has a long range bile spray that can devastate any helldiver caught in it, along with sharp points on the end of its legs that can instantly kill players if they're not paying attention. This enemy only starts spawning on missions on difficulty 4, in the form of a primary objective telling the players to kill it, but begins to spawn as normal enemies and in higher quantities on higher difficulties. They're relatively easy to get rid of with the correct equipment at hand, but without the correct equipment they are very intimidating and can be very hard to get rid of.

The Caretaker (Deep Rock Galactic)

The Caretaker in Deep Rock Galactic is a boss type enemy that only appears during the Industrial Sabotage mission type. You are tasked to hack two shield generator relays before being able to lower the caretaker's shield, which starts the fight itself. This fight requires much teamwork and planning to complete, as there are many parts to the caretaker fight and many things that it does to make the fight harder. There are three phases to the fight, each one starting with shooting the yellow areas on the top corners of the caretaker while it rotates, then running to one of the four random hatches that opens on the middle part of its body and shoot it to deplete its main health bar. While all of this is happening, the caretaker introduces a new complication with each phase, from sending out sniper turrets, sending out little drones that fly into you and hurt you, and even teleporting bombs to your current location. It has a very cool visual design and amazing sound design.

The Cloaker (Payday 2)

(Saving the best for last)

The cloaker from Payday 2 is a type of special enemy that will appear on some of the higher difficulties. It isn't supposed to be scary, but it is. A cloaker will spawn into the map from under a car or through an air vent or something along those line, then it will target a random player, sprint at them at full speed, making a high pitched and terrifying siren-like noise, and dropkicks the player in the face, downing them instantly. The cloaker then continues to hit the player, reducing their health little by little, until a team mate kills the cloaker and frees them.

Here is a video of a cloaker doing just that.

There is a slight whirring sound that emits from cloakers that tell you theres is one nearby, but most of the time you will not see them coming until they are actively dropkicking you. The sound they make when they are running at a player is the perfect sound to cause a fight or flight reaction, making them, unintentionally, one of the best enemy's to ever be designed.

[jaslynnsblog]

NM3217 Assignment 2

The task for assignment 2 was to tell a story using 6-9 photographs, and I decided to work on a simple and direct storyline, with a single main character. Originally, I considered having a plot twist inside my storyline, but I felt that the 9 photo constraint would make it difficult.

For this assignment, I initially drew a slightly different storyboard for a different situation. As there was a one week due date, I intended to complete it during backstage preparation for my production. However, after reviewing the picutres, I felt that the lightings and angles of the photographs were poor, and facial expression execution of my friend was relatively awkward.

Hence, I decided to redo the assignment, using my hall room as a setting. For this, I had to change the storyboard, so that it was feasible within the room.

Storyboard process Making the storyboard, I realised that I lacked in artistic skills to draw. Hence, I decided to draw the main character as a stickman, as it was simple enough to understand. Likewise, I decided to convey the ideas and story flow through simple drawings and icons.

I would like to elaborate on a few frames in my storyboard. I wanted to use the storyboard to set the direction of how I should take the photographs for each frame, and attempted to draw the angles within each frame of the storyboard. In the first frame, I showed the angle of the photograph, by drawing the back of the head of the main character, to illustrate a back view and over the shoulder shot.

The captions above each frame was short but effectively explains what is happening in the scene. To illustrate that the main character was studying, I decided to draw a book icon, which is heavily associated with studying.

In the second frame, I found it challenging to illustrate hunger. As such, I decided to sketch out squiggly lines to illustrate the feeling of hunger at the stomach area, and short lines outside represented the sound of hunger. I felt that this illustration effectively expressed the idea of hunger, without the needing any words.

Lastly, frame 5 was also significant, as I wanted to show a close up shot of the empty snack bag. I intended to achieve this shot from a top down view, and extreme close up shot, but I struggled with sketching how the inside of an empty snack bag, so I took reference from online, to draw the angle that I intended to shoot.

Overall, the storyboarding process was enjoyable and very useful for me to take photographs for each frame later on. I closely referred to the storyboard, especially for the angles I wanted to work with.

Taking/selecting photographs: After the storyboarding process, I went ahead to take photographs for my visual storytelling. For each frame, I went ahead and took photographs from multiple angles, apart from those that I drew in my storyboard, as I felt that there might be better shots from angles that I did not consider previously. After taking the photographs, I had some difficulty choosing between photographs for certain frames. In particular was the third frame, which displayed the snacks.

The first picture was from a lower angle, with the popcorn snack in greater view, while the second picture was from a higher angle, where the other snacks were also seen relatively clearly. However, I eventually chose to use the picture with the lower angle, for 2 main reasons:

At a lower angle, the focus is nicely placed on the bag of popcorn, with the popcorn illustration on the back nicely in view. This emphasises the popcorn, which the main character goes on to eat in the next frame. As compared to the picture of higher angle, there is lesser focus on the other irrelevant snacks, and the words on the packagings. Considering the rule of thirds, the first image was more suitable to show a balance of the popcorn with the background.

The background for the picture with a lower angle was the white wall with flowers. This was more aesthetically pleasing and less distracting compared to the second picture from a higher angle, where the black computer in the background seemed to disrupt the aesthetics of the picture, and felt like an eyesore. Here are the two pictures together for comparison:

Another pair of pictures that I struggled between choosing was for frame 4, where the main character eats the popcorn from the bag. The picture I eventually settled for showed the main character eating popcorn from left view, with the popcorn illustration of the snack clearly visible. The other picture, was from right view, at a slightly lower angle. In this picture however, the popcorn was actually visible from inside the bag.

The main reason why I decided to use the left view picture, was because:

The right view picture was too similar to the angle in frame 1, like an over the shoulder angle shot. I was heavily constraint by the size and layout of my hall room, and angles were limited. I did not want to overlap angles, and the only way to do so was to have pictures from different sides and varying between higher and lower height angle.

The table also appeared to be quite messy, with the snacks and flowers in the background, as compared to the bed in the other photograph.

If I could edit the image I used, I would have it such that the popcorn was visible from the bag. Sadly, we had finished the entire bag of popcorn and I could not redo the scene. Here are the two pictures from different sides:

There is one last image that I would like to talk about in particular, which was a very nice image of the popcorn bowl. I decided to pour all the popcorn into a bowl to take a photograph, and it turned out really nice with vibrant colours and contrast, as well as a very nice focus emphasis on the bowl of popcorn, and the show playing in the background on the computer screen.

This picture would have been very nice, and I considered to put it in for the visual storytelling, but after some contemplation decided against it, because it did not flow with the story line. It would be more feasible for the main character to be upset if there were no more popcorn in the bag as compared to a bowl, as the bag is not as visible, so I decided to stick to the original storyboard and story line. However, I still wanted to include it as it was a good idea for an alternative storyline! Here is the picture:

Critique session For the critique session, I was unfortunately unable to receive any feedback, as my classmates felt like the storyline was simple and direct. Hence, I did not make any major changes, except for changing the layout of the page. The original layout was vertical, but I felt like the stacking image of the snacks and the empty bag was not very aesthetically pleasing.

Changing to a horizontal layout, I felt like the photographs flowed better, and it was more comfortable to see, with the food more spread out.

Self reflection and conclusion: Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment, doing a storytelling through minimal scenes. I had a great time shooting the photographs as well, as I considered how to best angle each shot. I particularly liked the last image, which was a reaction shot, highlighting the main character's feelings towards finishing the popcorn. I felt that the facial expression and top down angle managed to capture the emotions very well.

Based on the assignment requirements, it mentioned not to edit the photographs. Hence, I decided not to manipulate the pictures in any way, and kept them to their original colours. However, I personally would have preferred if frames 3, 4, and 5 were darker, as it would better suit the colour theme of the story. Due to the room light placed on the left, the photographs taken from the left turned out brighter than that of the left, which made the photographs less aesthetically pleasing.

Apart from the difference in colour tones, the rest of the photographs are to my satisfaction, as I experimented with multiple angles per shot, and I chose the most suitable photographs for the final story.

[yesimwriting]

Crossing lines

General Kirigan/the darkling x reader

Summary: This was requested by my friend @vvsdiamond28 who also writes and has a really good kirigan x reader story up right now! The request was basically for a fic in which the reader is out wandering at night and runs into kirigan while he’s in the banya and then they get to talking and some other stuff before he admits to only trusting the reader and giving her his real name. This gets kinda steamy bc of the request and bc the story called for it lol but it’s not full smut bc i decided that it would be better to do that as a part 2 so that i could add some jealousy tension haha

a/n i think im back?? Ive been working on requests a lot and ive really enjoyed writing regularly again. A small side note, after rewatching revenge of the sith im kinda in the mood to try writing an anakin fic 😭 pls he was my OG fictional crush,, so either send help or a request for him or something, Anyways,, back to this fic--ahh i had fun writing it but i still feel awkward writing steamier stuff so be nice!! 

-- 

Those that wander in the night, lost in uneasy thought--there’s probably a lot that can be said about them. But I can’t think of anything to be said about me. Nothing good comes from walking around a place full of powerful and tense people in the middle of the night. It wouldn’t take much effort to interpret my actions as suspicious, and yet I continue forward. I’m an idiot--just because I can’t sleep doesn’t mean I have to wander around campgrounds. My presence is barely tolerated here, I shouldn’t try backstroking in waters I can barely tread. 

But still, I walk, eyes more fixated on the open night sky than anything else. The moon is as full as an overflowing glass, the stars twinkling as if desperate to compete with a light it will never be able to duplicate. I sigh, pressing my lips together. Maybe the stars and I have more in common than I thought. Normally, that would be a good thing. 

Letting out a weary breath, I continue forward, away from the relative safety of the main tents. I’m still on the grounds, I’m approaching the border where the tents of higher ranking officials are. That should make me more nervous, but if anything it almost eases me slightly. 

General Kirigan is not the type to be friendly, and yet our interactions have always been laced with a touch of intimacy I can’t quite explain. We’ve been alone together more and more frequently, and I think that’s how I like him best. It’s strange, but when we’re alone some of his sharpness dulls, leaving space for something I might consider humor or actual personality on anyone else. He probably speaks to many girls like that when they’re alone together--a fact I have to fight to remind myself of--but it’s the closest thing to friendship I have here. Maybe it’s foolish to hold onto that, but I can’t bring myself to release my grip on those sentiments. At least not yet, when the kind moments are still rare and fleeting and no line has been crossed. 

The danger, however, comes from the prospect of not recognizing lines before they’re crossed. Even now, as I walk aimlessly in the night, pacing in hopes of exhausting my thoughts, I’m crossing lines in a much more literal way and even these are ill defined. I must be in new territory now, and even that I can only vaguely recognize because of the strangely humid scent that surrounds this area of the grounds. 

I’m near the banya. I didn’t intend to wander here, but the thought of splashing water on my face is too tempting to pass up on. I move closer, finding a sense of peace in having some direction, even in a small way. 

When the promise of water is only steps away, I begin to regret everything. There’s a figure in the bath. I freeze, ready to attempt to shrink away in hopes of disappearing before I’m caught. This could easily turn extremely awkward even though I technically haven’t done anything. Most people don’t bathe at this hour. Who bathes this late at night? 

I keep my eyes on the individual, trying to make out who they are and how aware they are of their surroundings in the dim light. Pale skin, dark hair--unbelievably attractive torso. My eyes linger there longer than they should. I force my gaze upwards, towards their face as if that can erase my ogling. Embarrassment leaves my face burning--I’m not the ‘ogling’ type, and this person doesn’t even know I’m here. I keep my eyes on them as I step back, taking in unaware features as best I can in the dark. 

I know them--I--Saints, it’s Kirigan. 

Fantastic. Of course he has to be even more impossibly attractive while shirtless and wet. I turn my head upwards sharply, more desperate to not be caught than ever. I would never, ever recover from being caught. Whether he’d tease me or be angry with me, I don’t know. I also don’t know which option I’d prefer. 

I step back again, my gait wider due to my urgency. Snap. The sound of both a twig and my chance of a stealthy escape being shattered. I cringe, craning my neck to the left in a desperate attempt to make it clear that I wasn’t watching him. I take another desperate step, ready to duck behind a nearby tree. Maybe he hasn’t seen me--maybe he’s distracted and assumed that some kind of rabbit or something passed by. He may not actively dislike me, but I’m not sure any semblance of favor he may have for me extends to this situation.

“Y/n.” His tone reveals nothing but his level of certainty. Ignoring him will only make me seem guilty. 

I pause, keeping my gaze off of him. “Yes.” It wasn’t really a question, and yet I still answer it like one. “I was--I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d get some air, and I was walking kind of aimlessly and I ended up here and I didn’t think anyone would be here.” Why do I feel like I’m making this situation worse? “I’m sorry--I’m gonna--I’m going to go now.” This is the kind of embarrassing moment that will come back to me when I’m trying to fall asleep at night. I know it.

“You know the polite thing to do after intruding is to make eye contact.” 

I don’t think my face has ever felt this warm before. At least he doesn’t sound angry, but his voice doesn’t reveal that much. I raise my gaze carefully, turning my head slowly. “I didn’t mean,” I exhale slowly, “It wasn’t my intention to intrude.” 

He straightens slightly at my words, exposing more of his chest. I stay still, eyes trained on his to avoid an accidental lapse. “You could make it up to me by offering conversation.” Kirigan’s tone is deliberate, his words measured and calm. I don’t speak, feeling like I’m being presented a test I don’t understand, but most of our conversations leave me feeling like that. “Only if you’re comfortable.” 

And just like that, I’m backed into a corner. A challenge. To deny him now would be to expose the effect he has on me. My chin raises a fraction of an inch as I take in that assured half-smirk. “Why wouldn’t I be comfortable?” 

Kirigan arches a dark brow, assessing my response. “Then sit,” his voice has not changed, “You want air and I want company.” 

I don’t think anyone that looks as good as he does shirtless has ever had trouble finding company, especially with the smooth way he speaks. Despite this, I step forward to accept his challenge without calling him out on his coyness. Each step is the crossing of another invisible line until I’m near the water’s edge. I make sure to keep my nightgown at a respectable length as I sit down. 

I make a point of extending my legs towards the water while leaning back so that I can’t be easily accused of being a coward. “I feel the need to warn you that I might not make particularly interesting company.”

He angles his head to the side slightly, drawing attention to his jawline and neck. I force my stare to focus on the water. “I’ve never found you uninteresting.” 

There’s something resigned in the way he says this. On instinct, I look up, taking in the slight softening of his features. The release of his usual sternness only adds to his beauty, a fact that I’m already resenting. 

“You may be the only one.” It’s not meant to be a deprecating comment, but I’m not sure my partial laugh softens my bitterness. I hope it does--I’d rather his interest than the interest of my entire unit. 

Kirigan shifts forward, the water moving with him. “Do you think that any coldness you’re experiencing has to do with you?” 

The question has me drawing my eyebrows together. What else could it be? I shrug, “I’ve considered it.” 

He nods once, eyes hardening slightly. “Do you always have trouble sleeping?” 

The personalness of the question shouldn’t surprise me as much as it does. Kirigan seems to only understand boundaries when he’s the one setting them. “Not really.” A partial lie--this time I’m glad I can’t quite bring myself to look at him. “It’s not uncommon for me, but it’s not something I deal with every night.” 

I risk shifting my eyeline when I hear the sound of water moving. Kirigan’s now resting an arm on the rim of the pool, wet skin dangerously close to my ankle and lower calf. “It’s not always easy,” his voice is low now, “Being alone with your thoughts.” 

That’s not the kind of reply I’d expect from him. I blink twice before turning to study his expression. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him seem so tired--so weary and human and in need of something. The line between his eyebrows and the far off quality of his eyes leave me with the strong desire to give whatever it is he needs to him. The urge to reach out, to touch him in hopes of breaking him free from his odd trance leaves my stomach knotted. That line is too clear to cross so recklessly.

I need to chase away the serious atmosphere he’s created. “Is that why you bathe so late at night?” I let myself smile, “To avoid thoughts?” 

“I like the peace of it.” Something akin to amusement touches his words. “And for the record, little dove,” the nickname is pointed and earns him an eyeroll, “The warm water doesn’t exactly chase away thoughts so much as encourages others.” He pauses. “You understand, considering you can barely look at me.”

This is the most embarrassing thing to have ever happened. The suggestive jilt to his words has to be intentional. Damn him. I turn my head, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “I can look at you just fine.” 

“And if I were a Heartrender and could hear your heartbeat your pulse would be normal?” The question is teasing, a small smile pulling at his lips. 

The warmth in my face increases, spreading down my neck. Kirigan’s expression remains smug. “You’re not as funny as you think you are.” 

“No?” He leans forward, angling his head so close to me I can faintly feel the warmth of his breath on my lower calf. “I find myself amusing.” 

At least being around him like this is getting easier. I open my mouth, ready to provide some sarcastic comment I haven’t thought out yet. My mouth clamps shut on instinct when I feel his touch on my ankle. The faint contact quickly grows, his fingers brushing up my ankle and calf, leaving drops of cool water across my skin.

“What are you doing?” That’s a--a fair question, right? I’m not sure, rational thought slipping from me more and more with each passing second. 

“Nothing, really,” his reply is quick. “Nervous?” 

There is no way he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I roll my eyes, fighting against my instinctual fluster. “No,” a full lie, “You’re just getting me wet.” 

“Barely.” When he’s not busy being brooding he’s not much better than an irritating child. He retracts his hand slowly, fingers grazing my skin slowly as he submerges his hand beneath the water. The loss of contact should feel like a victory. It doesn’t. “Y/n,” he shifts closer, back straightening.

There’s an odd seriousness to his demeanor that almost leaves me reeling. “Yes?” 

He beckons me forward. I hesitate, but comply, letting myself shift closer to the water’s edge. Kirgan’s lips part, but no words leave him before he moves his arm, purposefully splashing water over my thighs and bottom of my nightgown. I let out an instinctively annoyed sound. “That is getting you wet.” 

“Kirigan!” My tone is as menacing as I can make it, but he continues to grin. There’s such a lightness to the look I almost forget to be annoyed. Almost. “I should tell the entire Second Army how much of a child you are.” 

My threat does nothing, his smile softening without fading. “They fear me too much for your stories to make a difference.” He says this flatly. “All of them except you.” 

I don’t know if I’m supposed to make something of that comment. A brief moment passes in which I think his eyes come close to softening. Maybe that’s a side effect of seeing the world as you want. Wait...what do I want? Him? No, no, I can’t. 

Okay, he’s objectively attractive and sometimes I think I may see more depth in him than he wants to be capable of. But that doesn’t mean I’m allowed to want anything with him. Even if he was trustworthy enough for me to be with him in any capacity...even casually, it could never happen. Nothing good could come from having relations with the highest ranked general and I doubt he’d ever want me like that. He likes to fluster people and I’m an easy target. I just accept it because being some level of entertainment to him is better than being nothing to everyone. 

“I don’t think there’s much point in fear.” It feels like a fair answer. The fairest answer I can manage, anyways. 

He sighs, the sound heavy. His hand stretches forward cautiously. I watch him and make no attempt to stop him from touching my lower calf. His fingers trace absentmindedly across the skin. “Of course you’d think that.” 

Again, I don’t know what to make of his words. Or his actions. He couldn’t find anything wrong with me just slightly adjusting my position. It’d be a polite way to remind us both of the natural order of things. But then again, someone like him is allowed to be mad about anything. And I’m not sure I want to remind us of our place. 

Actually, I’m completely sure that I want the opposite of that. But admitting that to myself is enough of a risk. I’ve already crossed thousands of tiny lines and what I want will require us to cross a thousand more. 

“I’m a little surprised you’re not reminding me how foolish a notion like that can be.” 

He lets out a tiny breath as he shifts even closer to me. “Maybe I’m enjoying your foolishness.” 

“I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or the opposite.” 

The slightest hint of a smile is visible to me beneath the moon’s glow. There’s something about darkness that adds beauty to things. I wait for him to reply, but instead of speaking his  hand moves further up my leg. I struggle to hide my reaction to his long fingers trailing up my skin.

He’s touched me before, sure. Tiny moments in which he’d push a strand of hair out of my face or wipe at a bit of dirt on my cheekbone. More recently, he had gripped my hip firmly to guide me through a crowd of soldiers. He had been in a hurry, stealing me from a conversation with the only member of my unit that’s been somewhat friendly to me. It wasn’t serious--he had just been rushing me because he only had a minute between meetings and apparently he had too long of a day to not take a moment to speak with me. 

“Are you alright, Dovey?” Normally, the nickname and all of its variations earns him an eyeroll. But everything is a lot less humorous with his hand half up my lower leg, leaving a trail of cool water wherever he touches. 

His fingers press more firmly into my skin. “Yes, I’m fine--it’s just late.” 

“Hm…” Kirigan breathes before tilting his head slightly. “You’re warm.” I stay silent as his hand shifts slightly. “Perhaps too warm.” 

If I’m hot that has absolutely nothing to do with fever. “I’m fine, General, I promise.” 

“Come closer,” he says, “It’ll take me no time to check.” 

...A little too convenient. My nightgown is still embarrassingly damp from the last time I eased tonight. “Please tell me you don’t find me that naive.” 

“Naive? No.” He lifts his hand slightly. “Warm? Yes.” I still don’t trust him. “I’m not going to do anything. I promise.” 

His eyes are dark and the limited lighting of the moon doesn’t offer me much in my analysis, but what I can see makes him seem genuine. “Why do I feel like that’s not the first time you’ve had to say that?” Despite my comment, I move towards him. 

The back of Kirigan’s palm is pressed to my forehead for less than a second. He brushes his hand down the side of my temple, rotating his wrist so that his fingertips can touch my cheek. His hand then continues to move down my jawline and then my neck...and then finally trails down my collarbone. I bite my tongue to avoid exhaling audibly at the contact. 

“Warm,” he concludes with a tsk, and yet he doesn’t withdraw his hand. “Though that could just have to do with the climate.” His thumb slips beneath the sleeve of my nightgown. “Perhaps you could benefit from joining me.” 

I bite my tongue to avoid letting out a surprised, embarrassingly enthusiastic squeak. I don’t know what’s gotten into him...maybe it’s the night air and the prospect of being fully alone. I should be strong enough to break whatever spell he’s starting to place on me. But I’m not. I’m really, really not. 

He pulls on the sleeve of my nightgown slightly. “I’m…” 

“Unless you’re nervous?” Another damn challenge. To shy away from this would be to expose myself. He tugs on the sleeve a little more assuredly, exposing my shoulder to the humid night. “Do I make you nervous?” 

His voice comes out a shallow rasp. I feel it straight in my core. “...Not more than you should.” 

“More than I should?” 

Ugh--too honest. I let myself get distracted. It shouldn’t be too difficult to explain what I meant. He knows he’s feared. He wants to be feared. “I’m sure we’re both aware that there are a fair amount of cautionary tales revolving around you.” 

His hand falls next to my lap. Oh? I didn’t expect to miss the contact between us so much. His expression seems to have fallen slightly as well. Was it my response to his question? It felt fair and straightforward without being too blunt. “And you believe every cautionary tale you hear?” 

There’s something stiff about the way he asks the question. His moodiness is making me miss his touchiness even more. At least then I didn’t have to feel like I made a mistake. Did I say something wrong? “Should I?”

“It depends on whether or not you plan on being brave.” 

“I told you...I don’t see much point in fear.” 

“And yet you’re still there.” A bit of humor returns to his voice. “Why is that?” 

Rolling my eyes, I shift forward, letting my legs dip into the water. This is as far as I should let this go. I’ve already lost too much more control. “Better?” He’s strangely tense again, a hint of something bitter playing at the smug look he tries for. “You alright?”

“Of course you’d ask me that.” He says this with a tired sigh. “You can never make things easy.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

He shifts backwards slightly. I can feel the distance between us like I’d feel a pebble in my shoe. “Do you believe all the stories about me?” 

Is he still bothered by that? “I didn’t mean it as literally as you’re taking it. All I meant is that people are intimidated by you, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s the way things have to be, you’re the only Shadow Summoner in existence and the army needs you to be intimidating so that they can act on your guidance.”

“The way things have to be,” he echoes, his voice strangely weighted. “There’s a specific kind of loneliness that comes with being feared by everyone.” 

Oh--I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him feel defeated like that. I reach for his hand without thinking, pulling his fingers towards my lap. “I don’t--I’m not scared of you.” It’s a weak attempt to comfort him, but it’s the only one I can think of. “That probably doesn’t mean anything, but I--” 

His hand turns in my lap, squeezing the exposed part of my thigh. “It means something.” Kirigan’s voice has hardened in a different way. “You’re the only person I’m certain of.” 

Everything in me seems to tighten at that. At the implication of something so personal from someone so closed off. “Kirigan, you don’t have to be as alone as you feel. You talk to me all the time and you do so in a way that makes it easy to forget the cautionary tales.” His hand moves further up my thigh. I fight as I try to remember our usual dynamic. “You’re the only one that talks to me like that.” 

“Have you ever considered that maybe the others refuse to take to you because of the favor I’ve shown you? The instinct to stay away from me is strong enough to extend to those around me.” Kirigan’s hand moves higher up my thigh. “To be near me is to involve solitude.” 

“I don’t care.” The answer leaves me too quickly. “Being near you is worth it.” 

He leans closer before resting his chin on my knee with no hesitation. “Careful, you don’t understand the line you tread.” Kirigan places his hand more firmly between my thighs. “Or perhaps you do...perhaps you know what you want to cross.” 

This time I can’t help the airy sigh that leaves me. Kirigan pushes against my thigh slightly, separating my legs. I feel his breath on my inner thigh before I know what’s going on. I can’t move, I can’t think, I can’t even breathe. That inability to do anything but feel my heart pound against my chest only worsens as I feel his lips press into the inside of my thigh. His lips trail up my skin before his teeth gently sink into the top of my thigh. 

“Is the line you want to cross?” He breathes the question so softly I feel like I’m being coddled. Everything in me feels too hot to think of any kind of coherent response. Kirigan uses his free hand to pull the fabric of my nightgown as high up my thighs as he can from his position below me. “Or maybe this is the line you want to cross?” Kirigan pulls me forward so suddenly I let out a tiny gasp. I’m not fully on the edge of the banya. “Or perhaps this one?” He kisses the skin of my inner thigh gently. Each time I exhale too loudly, his teeth graze my skin. He gets harsher with each passing second. “Lay down.” 

My body listens to him on instinct. How is this happening? How am I this powerless to fight against something that’s so clearly wrong? The sound of water shifting causes my entire body to tense. He’s pulled himself out of the water. Kirigan moves above me instantly, water dripping from his toned chest and dark hair and onto my still damp nightgown. 

Before I can speak, he’s on me completely, his lips pressing against my jaw. He kisses down my neck, his teeth grazing against my skin sporadically. He pulls away from me by tracing his tongue across my collar bone. I let out something dangerously close to a moan. “Such pretty, little sounds.” 

“Kirigan--” 

“The only name I want you to hear from your lips is the only name that I’ve not given myself. The only name that holds meaning to me.” 

His lips graze where my skin meets the hem of my now soaked through nightgown. I’m not sure the poor lighting is offering me enough coverage now. There’s no way the thin fabric leaves much to the imagination while being this wet. He kisses up my chest and neck until his lips reach the shell of my ear. 

“Aleksander.” The name is grace in the form of a breath so soft it’s more like I’m feeling the name than actually hearing it. 

He presses his lips against the spot on my neck directly beneath my ear. I exhale into the contact. “Aleksander.” As I test his true name on my tongue, his teeth dig into my skin much more harshly than before. 

I let out a partial squeak at the sudden shift in pace as his hands grip my waist. “Say it again. Say my name again.”

He traces his tongue gingerly over the skin he just aggravated with his teeth before I can speak. The soothing sensation is so much I can barely find my voice. “Aleksander.” 

His hand bunches the bottom of my nightgown, raising the fabric to my hips. “...Say it just like that.” Kirgan’s rough hand slips between the bone of my hip and the fabric of my hip. “Like I’m the only one that knows you like this.”

“Aleksander.” I breathe as he traces invisible patterns into my skin with his lips. “Aleksander.” Each use of his name earns me extra attention--a stronger hold on my hip, a more adamant nip at the base of my neck. I feel my need for him so heavily I swear it’s leaked into my bones. “Aleksander.”

When he pulls away, I fight the urge to whine. The night is still humid, but with the absence of his touch I feel like I’m shivering. He regards me silently for a long moment before shifting his weight again. I feel my heart stall in my chest as his hand softly brushes a strand of hair out of my face. He lets his hand linger there, at the apple of my cheek. The entire world seems to stall as he leans down, his hand cupping the side of my face as his mouth inches closer to mine. 

“I can feel the fluttering of your heart.” 

Any poor defense dies in my throat as his lips meet mine. He gives me no time to think about what’s happening as he presses into me even harder. Kirigan holds my face as his teeth graze against my bottom lip. My mouth opens slightly in surprise, giving him the opportunity he needs to slip his tongue into my mouth. His tongue slowly brushes against mine, coaxing me into total, delirious, compliance. When he starts to pull away, I react, my hands flying forward to grab his hair. He lets me get away with tugging him towards me, prolonging the kiss as he bites my bottom lip. 

One of his hands leaves my face and travels up the hands holding onto his hair. He pulls me off of him easily, pinning both of my wrists above my head with one hand. “Easy,” Kirigan warns, “You’ve been such a good girl, let’s not ruin it before we’ve started.” 

A tiny sigh leaves me. I can feel the pride he takes in that as his hand trails further down my body. His fingers ghost along the hem of my underwear teasingly. 

“Is someone there?” I’ve never damned the voice of a stranger more. 

Panic and dread roll in my stomach. I’m going to get caught like this, with my nightgown bunched at my hips beneath the General Kirigan. An unclothed, wet, General Kirigan. “I’m bathing.” 

Okay...good...Aleksander spoke. Anyone with common sense would run at the thought of invading on Kirgan’s privacy. It’s a good thing that the soldier had the sense to linger behind a thicket of bushes. “Pardon General, but there’s been a crucial development. A new strategy should be thought of as soon as possible.” 

No. No. The thought of losing contact so entirely, of having a moment that should have never happened be ripped from me before it’s even really happened is overwhelming. I feel my lips pull into a pout. Kirigan’s hand adjusts on me, his thumb pressing teasingly over where I’m neediest. I bite my tongue to avoid making an inappropriate noise. 

“Five minutes--I’ll be in the strategy tent in five minutes.” 

“I’ll tell the others, General.”

Great. I hear the stranger disappear, his feet crushing twigs and grass as he leaves us. Aleksander’s attention returns to me quickly. Disappointment swells in my chest as I take in the solemn look that crosses his features. His hand moves to my chin quickly before pulling me into another deep kiss. It’s too short lived. 

“I have to go.” 

Frowning, I lift my hand to trace my fingers up his arm. It’s softer than I should allow myself to be, but it doesn’t really matter anymore. Not when this is probably never going to happen again. “Do you?” I mumble to myself, half joking.

He sighs once, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “No pouting.” 

Now that whatever little bubble we were in has popped, I’m capable of normal feelings. Including shame. “I am n--” 

“Easy, little dove, I’ll remember all of this when I find you again.” 

This...this is going to happen again? “You’re going to find me?” 

“I haven’t yet heard your voice crack on my name as I undo you.” He punctuates the promise with a kiss to my jaw. “Again.” Another kiss. “And again.” Another brush of his lips as he finally pulls away. “And again.” 

My breath catches itself in my throat as he moves off of me entirely. Damn whatever change in the war that’s pulled him away from me so suddenly. I sit up as he stands. I’m not sure where to look now that he’s not in close enough proximity to cloud my thoughts. I should leave as he dresses, but I can’t quite bring myself to. It doesn’t feel safe, not when the man that interrupted us could reappear at any moment. Not when I want to hold onto his presence like this as long as possible. 

 He squeezes my shoulder warmly as he passes before bending down to press one more kiss next to where his hand is. 

“Soon,” he promises again. 

--

General taglist: @theincredibledeadlyviper, @grishaverse7 @benbarnes-supremacy  @tranquilitymoon @kaitlyn2907 @lunamyangel @christinawxxx @deceivedeer @real-mbappe @tonks33

[andatsea]

XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 Review

I drew this with an XP-Pen Artist Pro 24, which the team at XP-Pen kindly sent to me for review. I’ve had to opportunity to use this tablet on-and-off over the course of the past several weeks, and while there were a few issues my overall impression is positive.

Unboxing / Contents

Apart from the 24” display tablet itself, the package comes with the usual cabling peripherals, plus some bonus extras. If your machine supports a USB-C connection for display, you’ll only need the one cable (plus the power connection). Otherwise, there’s a HDMI and a USB-C to USB converter included as well.

The extras include: an additional stylus, a one-size-fits-all artist’s glove, and a microfiber cloth.

The container for the stylus twists open to reveal 8 extra stylus nibs. Its cap can also be removed to use as a stylus holder.

Driver (Installation & General Use)

There were a few issues with installation, mostly tied to interactions between the driver, Windows 10 and Windows Ink.

Initially, brush strokes were offset from the stylus’ point of contact with the screen by about 3-4 centimetres when attempting to draw in Photoshop CS6. Random straight strokes also occurred frequently. This same problem did not occur in MS Paint or Photoshop CC 2019. This was fixed by changing the UI scaling setting for the monitor in Windows settings from 125% (which was apparently the default) to 100%.

Initially, brush strokes had no pen pressure in Photoshop CC 2019. Photoshop CS6, on the other hand, did (but suffered from the previous offset problem). This was fixed by turning on the Windows Ink setting in the XP-Pen driver menu. So in other words: CC 2019 needs Windows Ink on to recognise pen pressure, while CS6 didn’t, but was affected by UI scaling.

Interestingly, if Windows Task Manager was in focus and Windows Ink was not enabled in driver settings, stylus input was not recognised at all. There may be other programs that have this issue, but this was the only one I encountered so far.

I will say that I’ve had many problems with Wacom drivers interacting badly with Windows Ink and other things in the past before, so these types of issues are not exclusive to the XP-Pen drivers.

I’m currently using driver version 3.0.5, a beta build that has a lovely UI; it’s clear and laid out well. I did also try version 1.6.4 initially, which was fine — the UI for that version was similar to the layout you find with Wacom drivers.

Apart from the issues during installation that required troubleshooting, I haven’t had many major complaints with the driver in day-to-day use, I do think that there are a few areas for improvement, however.

The driver stops working correctly each time the computer is set to sleep and woken up again. To fix this the driver must be exited from the system tray and then relaunched.

There also doesn’t seem to be a way to bind WIN+SHIFT+ARROW to any of the express keys. WIN+SHIFT+ARROW (left or right arrow) is the Windows shortcut to quickly move a focused window to another monitor, so it’s something I use a lot if I’m on a multi-monitor setup. Unfortunately, attempting to set this shortcut in the express keys menu will simply move the actual driver window over to the other monitor while the custom input is not properly recognised in the text field.

The driver does offer a “switch monitor” option for the express keys that when clicked will transfer your stylus input to another monitor, which is extremely useful.

Screen

At 24” with a 2560x1440p QHD resolution, images are sharp and crisp even when viewed from a close range while drawing. Genuinely, it feels great to paint on based off this aspect alone.

The colour temperature is set to 6500K by default in the the driver settings. I think initially it felt just a touch too saturated, but overall I’m fairly happy with the colour display.

The monitor has touch-sensitive inputs on the top right corner: a -/+ for quickly adjusting the brightness, a menu for further settings, and power. I found myself using these to adjust the brightness throughout the day frequently. The power input requires a few seconds of continued contact from your finger to react, which prevents you from accidentally brushing it and turning the monitor on/off.

The monitor comes with a built-in stand. I found it easy to adjust to different viewing angles and also incredibly sturdy. I had no problems leaning on the monitor while drawing.

The monitor also comes with a pre-applied anti-glare screen protector. I wasn’t bothered by it and it seems to be holding out well after several weeks of use. I think the screen itself definitely needs the additional anti-glare, as being a display tablet means that it’s significantly more reflective than my main display.

Stylus

My first impression of the stylus was that it’s lighter in comparison to the Wacom styluses that I’m used to — there is very little to no weighting on the back end of the stylus, which makes it feel noticeably different when gripped. To be honest, though, I forgot about it when I was actually painting. Still, I would prefer a bit more weighting because I do think it makes the stylus more comfortable to hold overall for long periods of time.

There’s also no eraser nib, but I’ve personally never used those on Wacom tablets (I always use shortcuts to switch between brush and eraser instead) so this was a non-issue for me.

The two shortcut buttons on the side of the stylus sit quite flat to the surface, so I think they would be less likely to bother people who don’t use them. I use them a lot, however, and found that they were still easy to click despite being quite flat.

Unfortunately however I ran into a curious issue with using one of the stylus buttons to activate the eyedropper tool. When the “alt” key is mapped to one of the triggers on the stylus, activation of the eyedropper function in Photoshop (tested in both CS6 and CC 2019) is somewhat unreliable. That is, when the “alt” key is held down, the expected result is that once you tap the stylus on the canvas, a “mouse-click” will be triggered and the eyedropper will activate. While this works perfectly fine if you hold down “alt” from the keyboard (or hold down an “alt” that’s bound to one of the 20 express keys), when you hold “alt” from a stylus trigger I found that tapping quickly with the stylus only seemed to activate the eyedropper about 50% of the time. In order to activate it more reliably, I had to press harder and longer with the stylus, which can become tiring and slowed down my painting process. I also found that frequently, pressing down longer would lock me into the eyedropping function until I clicked the trigger key again.

After submitting feedback about this XP-Pen’s R&D department, I was informed that this issue occurs because the stylus is only able to send one message to the tablet at a time. Pressing “alt” on the stylus and trying to “click” at the same time counts as two messages, which may interact with each other unexpectedly. This is why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.

The buttons seem to otherwise work completely fine for any other functions that don’t require the stylus to send two simultaneous messages, so unless you’re like me and like to bind “alt” to a stylus trigger, this won’t affect you.

Pen Pressure & Activation Force

Most current-gen tablets flash a big number for the pen pressure levels as a selling point. Having used tablets with 512, 2k, 4k and 8k levels of pressure sensitivity, I’d say I noticed the biggest difference when switching from 512 to 2k, but in my opinion beyond 2k the change is minimal and has no real impact on the way I draw. The XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 comes with 8192 levels of sensitivty, which is a very big number, but in practical application all I can say is that it works the way I expect it to and I don’t have any complaints regarding the transition between pressure levels on the default linear pressure curve.

More importantly I did notice that the IAF (initial activation force) was not as low as I would have liked. Very light input is not recognised, or only partially recognised before dropping off and on again. In a practical sense this doesn’t actually impact me through most of (perhaps 97%) of the painting process, but it did give me pause once in a while when I wanted to make a really light stroke and had to adjust my method. The drivers for this tablet do come with a pressure curve you can adjust to your preferences, so this can help a little, although after some tests I preferred to leave mine on the default setting.

Summary of Drawing Experience (tl;dr)

I think the mark of a good tool or piece of hardware is that it does not draw attention to itself during the course of its use. An ideal drawing experience allows me to be fully immersed in the act of drawing without having my focus shifted to dealing with the tool. With this in mind the XP-Pen Artist Pro performed very well for the most part, but was held back by a couple of issues.

Pros:

The monitor resolution honestly feels great to look at; the pixel density means that I can basically forget about pixels even with my face positioned closer to the screen.

The parallax between the tip of the stylus and the actual position of input was very minimal and basically not noticeable for me, especially after the simple calibration process offered by the driver.

At normal room temperature (say up to about mid-20’s celsius) the monitor screen stays impressively cool to the touch and I was never bothered by resting my drawing hand on its surface even when painting for long sessions.

The 20 express keys and 2 roller rings are extremely helpful and I actually found myself using all of them, despite initially thinking that I’d only need half of them. The keys are also comfortable and responsive to click (which sounds like it should obviously be so, but having used some Intuos iterations in the past which had some very annoying-to-click express keys, I don’t take this feature for granted anymore).

Cons:

The driver needs to be restarted everytime the computer wakes from sleep in order to work.

Higher IAF was noticeable when very light strokes were desirable. Also, the input will on rare occasions glitch by performing a completely straight max opacity + max brush size stroke. This seemed to happen primarily when I was trying to get light strokes to register. (It didn’t happen often enough to bother me much since it’s just a quick undo, but it did happen enough times that I noticed it.)

The issue with eyedropping using “alt” mapped to a stylus trigger as detailed above. Quite unlucky for someone like me who has over a decade of muscle memory for this particular mapping.

Overall, as I said at the beginning, my impression of the tablet is positive. While I think it has room for improvement when it comes to driver performance and the initial activation force especially, it also has a lot to offer at a highly competitive price point ($900USD at retail), and it would’ve been amazing if something like this had been available to me back when I first started digital painting. As I do enjoy using it for the most part I’ll probably continue to use it on-and-off in future.

[charlotte-headcanons]

Hey! How have ypu been? 2,3,6,7,9,15 Who else but Monty (Kata, Brulee, Peros too :D) yeah it's a big order!

Phew, that one sure took a while! But everything for you, friend 💕💕 We're alright, hope you've been well too! ✨

Some practicalities first: We decided to organize this answer by characters, for maximum space to go into detail on each headcanon! Some headcanons pertain to our modern AU rather than to the One Piece canon as we found these headcanons worked better for a particular prompt: we'll indicate those at the start of each bullet point!

Send us a number and a character and we'll post headcanons!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Mont D'Or is a librarian by passion and a prosecutor by profession. He opened up and manages his own library in the early mornings and late evenings, but in-between that, he works on court cases. He might be overworked, and is definitely a workaholic but he hardly ever slacks off on either of his careers; and he's notorious for being professional, convincing, and very attached to every case. Highly principled unless Mama orders him to do something for her, he refuses to prosecute those he doesn't believe should be prosecuted, and for those he wants to face justice - he will get so heated that he might get reprimanded by judges for yelling or by cops and detectives for joining their investigations uninvited. His sister, Galette, is his secretary, and she follows him around everywhere, helping out however much she can!

3. Drinking headcanon

Mont D'Or... might have a bit of an alcohol problem. It's not that he gets drunk often... but he does drink regularly. Essentially, every time his siblings piss him off, he takes a sip, so you can imagine how many sips accumulate throughout the day. His prefer drink is red dry wine and he mostly drinks alone, without witnesses, not to give a bad example! To get really drunk, he would have to drink a lot; but if he does get drunk, he mostly gets more explosive than usual or somewhat lagged out, processing all information input slower than normally.

6. Musical headcanon

In Mont D'Or's eyes, the main function music has is to help him either focus or unwind. For both of these roles, he enjoys classical music most - think especially something akin to Wagner. He despises loud music and prefers instrumental pieces, although he is also an opera enthusiast. His guilty pleasure, discovered quite recently, could also be lo-fi kind of music! It calms him down a little, even though he doesn't like to be caught listening to it, as his expressed music-related opinions are overall quite snobbish.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Mont D'Or would gladly cook if he had the time for it; but being as busy as he is, he is forced to depend on others and on ordering food throughout each day. His tastes encompass rather fancy cuisine: he adores charcuterie boards and seafood, refuses to eat fast food, adds cheese to pretty much everything that is remotely acceptable like an apple pie and calls it an acquired taste. Besides that, he always likes to have a cookie with his black coffee; considering how much coffee he drinks every day, that is a lot of cookies consumed!

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Mont D'Or was known as just a nerd. He was way more shy and less aggressive than he is now; it was only over time, having been ridiculed by some siblings for his unconventional (in this family) interests, that he toughened up and learned to stand up for himself. Ever since he learned to read, Mont D'Or was a frequent visitor to all libraries of Totto Land. At the time, there weren't that many, nor did they have impressive book collections, so soon enough, Mont D'Or started reading books way above his age target group, and by the time he came of age, he was disappointed to find out that he has already read every book currently available within Big Mom's territory. At first, little Mont D'Or wasn't quite sure what he can offer to his family of murderous pirates: he wasn't strong nor all that ruthless, and his strengths could be found rather in the areas that wouldn't be that useful for sailing or plundering. He also felt lonely before Galette came along, and he could most often be found alone, or around Compote, who had a soft spot for her smart little brother. Eventually, Mont D'Or figured out that strategy and organization were the areas where his family could need him, though; from there, he moved on to transform from a quiet nerd into a pillar of Big Mom Pirates’ planning.

15. School headcanon

Besides setting up many more libraries in Totto Land than it once had, Mont D'Or took it onto himself to kickstart a proper education system in his mother's territory. In the past, none of the Charlotte siblings went through formalized education, rather having to learn from experience or directly from Big Mom, other pirates, and from each other. Now, Mont D'Or makes sure that teachers are recruited to Totto, and at least basic schools (available universally) are established!

Modern AU: It is probably not surprising that at school, Mont D'Or would be a straight-A's student. Stellar at every test, he would however not be all that liked by the teachers due to his behavior problems. His temper and lack of respect for authority if the authority is wrong would both make him a troublesome student to get in conflict with. He'd absolutely correct the teachers on their mistakes, and if they dared refuse to acknowledge their faults... he would yell. 😔

Katakuri, Brulee, and Perospero under the cut!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we discussed in a previous post, Katakuri would definitely be every parent's dream child, aka a doctor and a lawyer in one! A neurologist and an advocate, Katakuri would be very close to burnout, and wouldn't really actively work in the law field anymore, not wanting to infringe on Mont D'Or's turf. He would definitely work too much, but telling him to rest would hardly be a solution: with his perfectionism, he would not be able to sleep unless his task was carried out well. He wouldn't like his job all that much, really, but he'd still keep it to continue supporting his younger or less talented siblings with his money; and not to disappoint his mother, of course.

3. Drinking headcanon

Katakuri refuses to drink alcohol, finding every possible excuse to not be pressured into it. First of all, he just doesn't want to show his mouth, lay down, or do something even more embarassing for anyone to see if he gets drunk. More importantly, though, he is scared of falling into an addiction as a coping method, so he prefers to just avoid the temptation altogether. If possible, he'd rather not be around drunk people, too!

6. Musical headcanon

Katakuri enjoys all kinds of music and has quite a diverse tastes, with some of his favorites coming from indie rock, metal, cute pixel music, grunge, and more. He is quite embarrassed to share the music he listens to, so when possible, he listens to it on headphones. When he's fully convinced that he's alone, he might sing a little or bob his head to the music he enjoys; if listening to songs around people, though, he'll keep a fully straight, unmoved face.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

As the supreme donut lover, Katakuri actually has a secret bucket list of all flavors of donuts he wants to try! He cares about the textures of food a lot, and generally prefers soft and chewy things. To set him apart from Luffy, Katakuri also doesn't really like meat, with few exceptions! Sometimes, Katakuri joins Perospero in his morning tea drinking sessions, and it was from his older brother that he learned to like his tea very sweet. As for cooking, he tried it as a child, but found to have little patience for it back then; now, he'd probably do way better if he tried to cook, but just like Mont D'Or, he just doesn't have the time!

9. Childhood headcanon

Katakuri is probably the Charlotte that changed the most since his early childhood. Before the Brulee incident, he was actually a rather lazy, even if talented, kid. To get him to train, an incentive of donuts was always necessary; and having been highly influenced by Daifuku and Oven, he also used to be a bit of a troublemaker. If anyone made fun of him or annoyed him, they would always see Katakuri throwing hands - he was far more eruptive than now and didn't really care what others thought. Brulee getting hurt because of him, though, had a life-changing effect on him; and it effectively molded him into the hardworking, serious, troubled person that he is now.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Despite starting off as a troublemaker who slept through the boring classes, these days Katakuri is a model student, and many teachers marvel at his transformation. He is just as good in sciences as in sports, and often represents his school in various competitions, regularly winning too! Although he gets A's in everything, his favorite school subjects remain the humanities. After school, he revises the lesson material for exactly an hour every day, but doesn't need to study much before tests, having a great memory and a kind of sixth sense for filtering out important information. Despite not wanting to be in the spotlight, he's very popular with fellow students and a lot of classmates have secret crushes on him, girls or guys!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we headcanon, one of Brulee's main hobbies is tending to her herbal garden, and she knows a lot about the healing properties of plants! Naturally, then, she would gladly choose pharmacy as her career path: the calm atmosphere combined with helping others would fit her vibe perfectly. Besides that, she would also work voluntarily babysitting the children of her siblings; the kids would always be kind of scared of her at first, but soon enough they would outright cry whenever she would have to leave even just for a moment.

3. Drinking headcanon

Brulee drinks alcohol rarely and in small amounts; mostly as an addition to a good dinner. She is an extreme lightweight, so anything more than one glass of her favorite white wine results in her becoming way more clumsy than usual and inevitably getting a next-morning headache. To avoid this, she makes sure to never drink more than she knows she can handle!

6. Musical headcanon

Another classical music lover, Brulee would enjoy something akin to Schubert's songs most! Even though she isn't the best at it, with her voice being just a bit too nasal and too scratchy, Brulee likes to sing (especially ballads and lullabies!) and often hums while working. Having a bit more free time than most of her siblings, Brulee also managed to learn some instruments, albeit she only ever stuck to the basics and simple pieces. The piano is the instrument she plays rather well, so she can teach her younger siblings how to play a few easy songs if they so please; very recently, she also picked up the violin, and she enjoys practicing it although, so far, the sounds she can make hardly resemble what she would like to hear.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Brulee cooks a lot and enjoys doing that a bunch! She's quite experimental and healthy with her recipes, and prefers salty foods as well as meat or soups. As a result, she is one of the few bastions that keep some of her siblings from succumbing to dessert-only diets. Once in a while, she bakes bread too; since she always cooks way more food than she needs, she often ends up sharing or donating it! You can almost always smell something cooking up in her hut; even if Totto Land has so many high-level chefs, Brulee still likes to make her own, homemade food herself.

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Brulee was much more anxious than she is now. She was always a bit awkward and clumsy, and kind of bullied for her witchy appearance by the other children in ports and in Totto Land. Over time, she learned to embrace herself, though; in the stories her older siblings told her, she always identified with the witches, and she later proceeded to amplify this image of herself as much as possible, instead of resenting it!

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Brulee would be a mediocre student, who'd be kind of picked on, at least until Katakuri got all set on defending her! Her favorite school subject would be history, and she'd also enjoy some parts of biology - though she'd much rather learn about plants and animals than the human insides. Always a sweetheart, Brulee would enjoy secretly making her classmates happy with little anonymous gifts; each birthday or Valentine's Day, anyone could count on at least one card from a secret friend, who everyone would suspect to be her, as she isn't all that great at hiding.

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Perospero would be an interior designer, but really, one of a kind. Even if just designing a chair, he'd see his work as art and himself as an artist, and he'd act accordingly. Cracker Any architect unlucky enough to have to work with him would end up in despair as he'd blatanly ignore the technical limits and capacities of a building for the aesthetic. Likewise, his clients would have to be prepared for many unexpected decisions and costs: Perospero would not take orders from them but always stick to what he thinks looks good, no matter how intricate or expensive. Effectively, the only clients brave enough to employ him more than once would be the rich and extravagant ones: those would appreciate his work immensely, while anyone remotely more practical would have to complain.

3. Drinking headcanon

Perospero parties and gets drunk quite often, although he exclusively drinks overly sweet cocktails and never drinks outside of a social context! When he has too much to drink, he gets either hyper, horny, or annoying - or all three at once - depending on his mood. Whichever it is, he also loses all understanding of personal space, gets a lot more touchy, and much more likely to lick everyone and everything. At the end of the night, he has the tendency to pretend that he's much more drunk than he actually is, too, hoping that someone will carry him home like the princess he wants to be; though most of the time, it just ends up with Daifuku pulling him back by the leg.

6. Musical headcanon

Perospero loves to sing, especially publically, and he's surprisingly good at it! damn I really got a stroke first time I heard him sing, like, my man, how can you sing so well with an entire tongue out wtf Perospero explain. His preferred repertoire of music to sing includes all sorts of songs from musicals; as for music to listen to, he ranges between musicals and hyperpop, or any music sweet and bubbly on the outside but disturbing and horror-like as it develops!

7. Food/cooking headcanon

Perospero does not cook on principle, insisting that they have the chefs for it. His diet as a whole is downright atrocious; he adds sugar to quite literally everything, acts dramatically, as if he was poisoned if forced to eat anything not sweet enough, and mostly lives off candy. His 'tea' can hardly be called that anymore, considering that it contains more syrups and sugar than tea itself. Basically, Compote gets chills whenever she sees him eat and continuously marvels at how the fuck he is still alive.

9. Childhood headcanon

Having to take care of his siblings early on, Perospero didn't get much of a careless childhood. Once Linlin was unable to keep all children with her on the Rocks Pirates ship, by the time he was 8, he was put in charge of all the younger siblings she left in a port (while Compote was looking over the ones that stayed with Linlin on the ship). Perospero looks back at his childhood fondly, though; he liked ordering his brothers and sisters around, liked being in charge, and especially loved being admired and looked up to as the eldest sibling role model. Once Katakuri became a new favorite of the family, Perospero was so jealous and grumpy for a while that he even went through a rebellious phase of trying to run away; he came back less than a day later though, having cried his eyes out once missing his family and homesickness kicked in, never to try to leave ever again.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: At school, Perospero would definitely focus on socializing way more than on learning. Among the teachers, he would be known as a smart but lazy kind of student, doing the bare minimum for most classes, though excelling in art and music. He would have mostly girl friends, essentially running his own mean girls group; together with them, he'd always come up with excuses to not exercise during P.E. so that his looks don't get ruined and so that he can just spend the time gossiping about the guys instead. If someone got on his bad side, Perospero would also not be above bullying them, although he wouldn't do that in a conventional way - rather, he'd just make his victims severely uncomfortable, getting way to close, switching between flirty and dangerous tones, and making them feel trapped before just backing off and laughing. An absolute menace to society, even in a modern AU 😔

If you managed to get through all of this, we salute you, soldier 🎖️Hope you enjoyed, though! ✨ It was sure fun to come up with. Thanks for the ask! 💕

[themoonofartemis]

ib @/whileinvenus and @/seralite!

Below will be a set of wanted connections for each one of the Artemis members! If you are interested in any of those, you can message me on tumblr dms or you can dm me so i can give you my discord account!

Some plots will be more selective than others, so i will list the level of selectivity when i’m talking about each connection. Of course, aside from that, we can discuss anything that you have thought that is not listed specifically here!

We can apply these connections through threads (preferably on tumblr, since i have no idea how discord threading works) and/or writing pieces and, of course, a lot of gushing about our ocs’ relationship on dm and listing a lot of headcanons.

And last but not least, you can ask as many connections as you want! Just don’t take all for yourself. I might update this in the future but i’ll reblog the post if this happens!

FORMER COLLEAGUES [∞]: Nayeon spent years being a student in a prestigious music academy in Seoul, where she learned how to better her singing abilities. This is a connection for fellow idols who studied with her in the same academy! This can go either on the friendly side or her and your oc didn’t get along too well, whatever you have in mind! Open for any gender.

FRIENDS COME FIRST [SEMI-SELECTIVE, 0/1]: Nayeon went through a really rough time with her members because of her extreme dedication to her relationship, she began to arrive late to practice and distance herself from most of the people close to her, this went on until she realized her behavior wasn’t healthy and broke up with Hoseok to focus on what matters in the moment. This connection is for a close friend of Nayeon’s that she ended up distancing herself from to give attention to her boyfriend, is your oc angry at her or they understand? Will their friendship be the same after everything? This can go any way we want! Can be any gender!

DO YOU LOVE ME? [SELECTIVE, 0/1]: Hyojin has a history of having her heart broken, she craves to love and to be loved, so it leads to her easily falling in love with someone who expresses interest in her. This can go a lot of ways, your oc can be using her only for her body, they can end up being overwhelmed by her intensity or maybe they were just playing with her feelings for fun, anything that ends her with her heart broken once again, really! Open for any gender.

ACADEMIC RIVALS [SEMI-SELECTIVE, 0/1]: Back in high school, Hyojin was one of the best students of her class until her mental health fell down as well as her grades, your oc and Hyojin studied at the same school and always competed for the title of the best. They meet again in the idol business and either become friends or end up competing again. Open for any gender.

PRODUCING BUDDIES [∞]: Hyojin is the main producer of Artemis and is completely in love with music, she loves talking about it and makes music all the time. This is a cute little connection for ocs that are also producers! They can collab, produce for each other, or maybe they can even be rivals, who knows? Open for any gender.

HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER FELT PERSONALLY VICTIMIZED BY ROWAN KIM? [∞]: Bluntly defining it, Rowan is a bitch, she’s getting better each day, but she still has her moments. You want your oc to be destroyed by her? This connection is for you! She can dislike your oc just for fun or for an specific reason. Who knows, maybe she regrets it all in the end and they become friends? Open for any gender.

FLORIDA GIRL [∞]: A fun friend connection! Rowan grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and would love some fellow buddies from the area! Open for any gender.

NOTHING PERSONAL [SEMI-SELECTIVE, 0/2]: Rowan is known for changing lovers more than she changes clothing, this connection is for either ex-boyfriends or friends with benefits! Can have some pining and/or with one of them breaking the other’s heart, it can even go on the more toxic path! Open for male ocs only.

I REALLY TRIED, I’M SORRY [SELECTIVE, 0/1]: Rowan and your oc had a serious dating relationship, your oc loved her and Rowan loved your oc, until a certain point. The more time passed, Rowan began to realize they never really had any feelings for your oc and that she still loves Haofeng (@stormseasonishere). This will end up with Rowan breaking your oc’s heart, this can go with them having a really messy breakup, a sad breakup or a understanding one where they are still friends after! Open for male ocs only.

FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS ME [∞]: Have an oc that is a mean/party person? Rowan can be great friends with them! She tends to really like people that have similarities with her and takes them under her wing, they can go on little shopping hangouts where they spend loads of money and go to parties together! And even rely on each other for being too similar.

THAI SQUAD! [∞]: You have an oc that is from Thailand and want them to be friends with Lai? This is for you! We can think about a lot of cute and funny dynamics and even some sad ones depending on how inspired we are! Open for any gender.

I HATE THAT PLACE… [SEMI-SELECTIVE, 0/2]: Lai is a former trainee from SM Entertainment, and she didn’t have a good experience at all, must trainees hated her and pressured her to give up every single day, your oc would be from SM or would’ve trained with her at the same time. This can go two ways: Either Lai and your oc are really close or your oc is one of the trainees that bullied her back then. Open for any gender.

I’M SORRY THAT I BROKE YOUR HEART [SELECTIVE, 0/2]: Sujin was, and still is, a toxic person. She plays with women like there won’t be any consequences and just can’t seem to get better; she doesn’t have the intention at first, but her relationships always end in disaster. Sujin and your oc will be dating for a certain period of time until they break up, she can either be an innocent person that gets fucked over by Sujin or they are equally as bad and they are in a mutually destructive relationship. Open for female ocs only.

I’M GOING DOWN WITH YOU [∞]: Toxic friendships, y’all! The type that influence each other to do the worst things that you can think about, their development is up to us! Open for any gender!

ANGEL [SELECTIVE, 1/1]: The opposite from the connection above, your oc is completely different from Sujin yet they strangely get along really well, your oc puts Sujin in line and keeps her from falling down completely, your oc is the person that Sujin considers the most outside of Artemis and she’s really scared of fucking things up with them. Closed.

YOU SEEM NICE, LET’S BE FRIENDS! [∞]: Chang Chang is a social butterfly, she loves meeting new people and is a really fun person to be around! Her and your oc will have a lot of fun hangouts and overall have a ball of sunshine as their friend! Open for any gender.

I’M NOT THE PERSON YOU MET [SELECTIVE, 0/2]: The time will come that Chang Chang will become tired of feeling inferior inside of Artemis and will fight with all of her members, she begins hanging out with completely different people and drastically changes her personality. Your oc is a former friend (or a former lover) that Chang Chang met during that time and that she decided to cut contact after solving her situation with the girls and her older friends. There can be pining, toxicity, or even mutual healing! Open for any gender.

[jj-babebank]

Room 107 // chapter III // JJ Maybank (smut)

This story picks up where season 2 leaves us.

TW: May contain mentions of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sex and violence.

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS CAN BE FOUND HERE: one ; two

Chapter 3 - La Ganga

Samara’s hand was still resting on JJ’s knee as her eyes sultrily bored into his, waiting for his response. JJ’s head was spinning in a thousand different directions, trying to assess what exactly was going on. The main issue he had with this whole ordeal was that she didn’t in fact invite him over because she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. The sad truth, as JJ came to realise, was that this annoyingly attractive girl had simply overheard him boasting to his friends about the gold that they had found, and respectively lost, and now she wanted a piece of that instead. JJ sighed loudly. As much as he hated to admit that this was a bad idea, he pushed that thought very far to the side and tried to negotiate with the part of his brain that didn’t think logically, which in his case was the dominating one. What exactly could he lose here? The chances of them finding the Royal Merchant gold were extremely low, to the point where they were almost non-existent. This girl was voluntarily offering to help them find it, and she was also willingly to let them stay in her family’s hotel for free until further notice. How JJ saw this was extremely straight-forward and simple - Samara asks for part of the gold, Samara offers her help in return for the gold, JJ accepts said offer and lets her help, growing closer to her in the meantime, seducing her and eventually winning her over, so that even they don’t find the actual treasure, she realises that the real treasure was right there with her all along, at it wore worn down biker boots and went by the name of JJ Maybank. Yep, that sounded like a great plan, one of his best plans yet, if he did say so himself. He looked down at Samara’s hand still on his knee, a ball of excitement growing in his stomach just at the sight of it being there, then he looked up at her face, twisting the corners of his thin lips into a smirk. “You have yourself a deal, gorgeous,” he said, his confidence suddenly returning to his body. The old JJ senses were coming back headfirst and he was feeling great about it. Samara smiled in return, raising her glass for a toast, “To working together,” JJ clinked his glass with hers, sending her a wink, “To working with each other,” The pair sat in silence for a moment, JJ mostly admiring the girl sitting next to him, before she broke the silence, “Where did you say you were from, JJ?” “We never got to that part, actually,” he answered, glad that Samara was taking interest in him, “I’m from a place called the Outer Banks, more specifically Kildare. It’s in North Carolina, right by the coast.” He explained, painting an imaginary picture of what he was saying with his hands, "You know, prior to ending up here, which was a total coincidence by the way, the furthest I’d been from Kildare was Charleston. I, uh, I haven’t really been anywhere.” Samara was studying his face while he was talking. She had asked him a simple question and was expecting a simple answer, yet this boy could just seemingly not stop talking. She couldn’t decide whether it was annoying, or strangely endearing. She almost felt bad for having to shut him up to change the topic to what she had actually called him over for, “So tell me about this gold,” Lucky for her, JJ didn’t seem to mind her direct approach to the change of subject, instantly going into another story - the one that interested her the most. “Funny you ask,” he said enthusiastically, taking a rather big sip of his wine, “So as I said, I’m from the Outer Banks. Let me describe the OBX to you - it’s an odd place, you see, a place much like any other in the sense that it’s divided into rich and poor, however that divide is a suuuuper big deal to us. You’ve got the rich and elite bastards called the Kooks, and you’ve also got the not so lucky ones who work for them - the Pogues. Me and those guys you so kindly invited into your home, are, well, were Pogues. Except for Sarah, she was rich-rich.” There it was again - JJ getting completely side-tracked in his own thoughts, talking about irrelevant to the topic of conversation things.

Samara somehow found it entertaining and she wasn’t particularly bothered by it so she just let him speak, hoping that he’d eventually get to the point. “- so one day, it turned out that John B’s old man was dead, although he’d left behind all these clues and well, one thing lead to another, we found the gold, except we weren’t the only people looking for it, obviously,” Bingo, there it was - the gold. Samara knew this was her cue to focus, “- so when we were finally within touching distance of the gold and the cross - boom - we threw ourselves of the ship to dodge getting totally killed, and, well, here we are.” JJ wrapped up his story, leaning back into the couch and sighing contently with what he believed to be a great short summary of what had happened to him and his friends, finishing the rest of his wine. Samara frowned as she did the same, “Hold that thought,” she said, standing up and disappearing into the diner for a brief moment, before coming back with a bottle of the infamous whiskey from earlier, it had just enough contents to fill up one more glass each. JJ smirked at the sight of her when she sat back down next to him and she frowned dramatically, “What? I thought this called for something a bit stronger.” JJ didn’t protest as the pretty brunette refilled their wine glasses with the harder liquor, “I have a cousin up in Daytona,” she said as matter-of-factly, “He owns a motel in the Holly Hill area. We can crash up there while we head up north. We’ll leave first thing Thursday morning, before my aunt and cousin come back. I’ll make sure we have everything we need by then, we have just enough time.” “Why are we heading up north?” JJ looked puzzled, “And how many cousins with hotels do you have?” “Seeing as we know virtually nothing about where these people were heading, the most logical thing that we can do is go back to the Outer Banks and try finding out as much as we can from there. There must be someone who knows.” The more she spoke, the more it made sense to JJ. Ward would have made sure to erase all of his traces by now, Rafe would have tried his best to follow in his father’s footsteps, however there was one member of the Cameron family who was, for the lack of a better word, messy. And that was Wheezie Cameron, Sarah’s younger sister. JJ was sure that Ward would have changed all of their phone numbers, if they were even still allowed to have a phone, however the thought of Wheezie Cameron totally removing herself from social media was by far absurd to JJ. He was sure that they would be able to somehow trace her even without having to go all the way back to the OBX, but before they could do that, this was their only option. Samara had turned out smarter than he had made her out to be initially. She was cunning, generous and helpful, all traits that JJ never thought he’d find this attractive in a woman. Hell, up until now he’d never even looked for any traits in women beyond their physical appearance, yet here he was - a changed man. “You, miss,” he pointed at her with the hand he held his wine glass in, “Are a genius. Has anyone ever told you that?” Samara snickered, although she couldn’t help the slight blush that was painting itself across her tanned cheeks, “Don’t push your luck too much, JJ, we’ve only just met,” she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, almost appearing shy for a split second. This didn’t go unnoticed by JJ and he took it as a green light to scoot a bit closer to her, to the point where their faces were inches apart. He couldn’t help but breathe her scent in, and boy did she smell alluring, her perfume heavy and somewhat oriental, at least that’s how JJ would describe it. It reminded him of all the times he’d served tables down on Figure Eight and rich Kook girls would walk past him, leaving behind a scent of expensive designer perfume. Samara almost reminded him of a rich Kook girl, she looked so well put together and so on top of her shit. Good thing they weren’t in the OBX anymore, otherwise his friends would grill him for breaking the one promise he had made to himself

long, long ago - never getting with a Kook. Except she wasn’t a Kook, they weren’t in the OBX and much to his dismay - him and her were hardly getting with each other. He realised that winning Samara over would take time, and lucky for him, he had all the time in the world. Finding Ward and the gold would take a while and he was up for an adventure, especially since it included this gorgeous young lady. He studied her some more. Her skin looked so soft, and so did her lips - so soft, so inviting. Her eyes were dark and mysterious, shaped like almonds, and the way she batted her luscious lashes almost made her seem like she was keeping a number of dark and dangerous secrets. JJ knew that deep down she saw something in him, too. She just needed the right push to admit it. A stray strand of her hair fell in her face and before she could react, JJ gently tucked it away behind her ear, taking his time when his fingers met her face. He let them linger there for a second before pulling his hand away. “Thanks,” was all that she could say. “Don’t mention it,” he said gently, “We’re gonna be partners after all, we’ve gotta help each other out, right?” Samara almost rolled her eyes at the sound of JJ referring to them as ‘partners’, but she withheld from it. Something about this boy was very endearing to her, in a lost puppy type of way, and she didn’t want to admit it, but she didn’t entirely dislike his company. Au contraire, it had been a while since she had had someone around. This didn’t seem all bad to her - she would go for a little adventure, make some friends, and if all goes to plan, she’ll come home with a bag full of gold. Hell, if she felt frisky enough she could even JJ the time of day once or twice - no strings attached, of course. He seemed keen enough, that much she knew. And she had never been with anyone in that way before, much to everyone’s disbelief. She wasn’t going to tell him that, of course, especially not now. Perhaps it was the alcohol speaking, but she suddenly found him so attractive. He was her usual type - seemed like the local bad boy back home, the one who didn’t abide by the rules and got himself in trouble more often than not - and only God knew just how much Samara liked the bad boys. His fingers, although rough and calloused, left the softest touch, and she was ashamed to admit she wished he’d left them there for a moment longer. She crossed her legs and sat up straighter, trying to regain her composure. She knew she’d had enough to drink. She couldn’t do this here, especially not tonight, not in her aunt’s hotel. She knew that if she didn’t call quits to the night now, things might get ugly and she didn’t want to lose her composure with JJ yet. “Shall we?” She said, trying her hardest to sound as confident and unfazed as she could, “Head to bed I mean,” She quickly added, mentally kicking herself for not clearing it up and potentially giving JJ the wrong idea. Judging by the growing smirk on the boy’s face she realised she’d just dug herself a hole. “I thought we’d only just met, Miss La Guardiana,” he winked, standing up and offering his hand to help her up. She accepted it and turned on her heel towards the stairs as soon as she was on her feet, sassily flipping her hair as she did so. JJ followed after her, smirk only growing as they walked up the stairs and into the hallway to their respective rooms. When they reached JJ’s room, they both stopped, Samara leaning against the wall. “Fill your friends in on our plan so far,” she said, “About heading up to Daytona, I mean. I’ll take care of everything else until then.” JJ raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what she meant by ‘everything else’. She noticed his confusion and decided to clear it up, “I’ll sort out some clothes for all of you, food is on the house, we’ll also need some cash so…” she eyed JJ up and down, an idea forming in her head, “Perhaps you could be useful while we’re still here and work for it, I’m thinking… waiter?” JJ almost laughed, “Baby girl, you name it - I’ve probably done it. Back home, there isn’t a job I

haven’t worked, just to make enough to put food on the table. Besides, serving food and drinks is the least I could do to repay your kindness,” his eyes darkened as he took a step closer to Samara. His face was getting dangerously close to hers, never breaking eye contact, “It’ll be my pleasure to work for you, miss La Guardiana,” Samara held her ground, trying to keep her cool as much as she physically could. On the inside, she was on fire. “Likewise, mister Kildare,” she whispered, inching her body closer to JJ’s; she wanted to push his buttons as far as she could in the moment. They stood there in silence for a moment; they didn’t need to say anything - their eyes were doing all the talking. JJ couldn’t keep his eyes off Samara’s lips, though when he finally gave in and leaned forward, the girl took a sudden step backwards towards her room, leaving him breathless. “Make sure you wake all of your friends up early tomorrow,” she simply said, “You didn’t think you’d be the only one who’d have to work for a living around here did you? “ she faked a grimace, still stepping backwards towards her room, “Meet me tomorrow in the lobby at 8. We’ve got work to do,” she stopped in front of her door, pressing her key into the lock, “Oh, and JJ?” Her door clicked open, “I really enjoyed tonight. Looking forward to our next date. Goodnight,” with that, she was gone. Did she say date? JJ stood in the hallway for a moment before going into his room. He couldn’t hide the grin on his face even if he wanted to. Samara totally had a thing for him and he couldn’t wait to dive into this new adventure - the gold being the last thing on his mind, because maybe, just maybe, Samara wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

[ninbinary]

DnD "Character Backstory Datapoints" idea; for when you have little or no ideas, sourcebooks or world lore!

Hi Dungeons and Dragon-ers! My main experience with DnD is very old-school style, and while I've played a little modern DnD, I've run a pretty old-school homebrew (with a few modern idea additions) for several years.

I've also walked at least a half dozen folks who were new to Role Playing Games through character creation, and came up with the following suggestion / dice-y method for folks who aren't sure where to start on the whole idea of "character backstory".

Summary: you roll some dice that tell you things about different Significant Time Periods In Your Character's Past, and you (or you and the GM) try to describe and link those time periods together into the highest-level summary of your character's youth and pre-adventuring backstory.

Specifics:

First determine how many Time Periods they have. Decide how old you want your character to be at the start of the game, as compared to the "standard" age at which their species starts adventuring (this being entirely relative, as a 50-year-old Elf is still in his 'goofy puppy' stage, while a Human's thinking about retiring, etc). Then roll for the number of Time Periods you'll be generating:

Young for a starting adventurer: d2 + 1

Average-ish for an adventurer: d3 + 1

Older for an adventurer: d4 + 1

Then for each of the Time Periods you rolled, you'll roll 3 (different) dice, and each of them determines how Much or how Little that time period has of a certain thing, where the Higher Numbers implies "More" and Lower Numbers implies "Less".

the d12 is about Danger (high = much Danger, low = little danger, aka safety)

the d10 is about City (high = very urban area, low = very rural area)

the d8 is about the Diversity of Population they were around (high = many species, low = very few or maybe only one species)

So for example:

If you're creating a Dwarf and your first Time Period is:

1) d12=3, d10=5, d8=1

the first thing that jumps out is the d8 (Diversity of Population) is at the absolute Minimum; thus you probably have a dwarf living in an entirely dwarf community. Urban/City is 5 out of 10, so its a moderate size dwarven community, and Danger is 3 out of 12, so quite low (perhaps the normal background-level of danger in a DnD world)

Then if your second Time Period is:

2) d12=10, d10=4, d8=3

Now the Danger is now Extremely high (10 out of 12), but the other indicators are pretty similar (slightly less Urban, slightly more Diverse). This suggests they may still be in their same city, but a war has broken out, or there's a huge natural disaster; the noteable increase in Population Diversity might be allies in the war, or helpers after the natural disaster.

Or let's say Time Period 2 was still quite dangerous, but both other numbers were different. For example, here's what an Alternative Second Time Period might have been:

2a) d12=10, d10=2, d8=5

Now the danger might suggest they've moved somewhere much less Urban (more rural) and much more Diverse. Do we explain that as "there was a war in the Dwarven city, and the character was shipped away as a refugee to a farming village?", etc.

It doesn't always work well, but some ways to help make the most of it:

-focus on the most dramatic dice (the ones that are closest to their maximums or minimums), and/or focus on the most dramatic changes between periods, and it should give you the biggest suggestions for narratives.

-similarly, keep in mind that Time Periods are not (necessarily) all of the same length. If you've got 3 time periods, and one of them is quite out of step with the others, it may be that one was a pivotal turning point that went very quickly, while the others lasted many years.

-and if your GM's game world has a lot of built-in lore or regions or events, s/t/he/(y) can help connect your backstory to specific parts of the game world!

Anyway, let me know what you think :)

[hellfireclub-at-thebau]

Boy Wonder

Chapter 2: Briefing

Warnings: Graphic depictions of crime scenes, blood, gore, PTSD flashbacks

Word Count: 1.5k

I could feel eyes on me. Almost every single team member was staring at me, eyes locked on my expression, and my body language.

“This must either be extremely new, or they’ve been hiding it from us, because I totally wasn’t aware of this.” Garcia practically whispered, either to herself, or to all of us. I couldn’t really tell. Whoever she was whispering to in the moment wasn’t the main point of focus. 

After avoiding every 20/20 special, and every reporter, I was unable to fully escape the memory of my father, or even, his physical being. 

Everyone began to file into the briefing room one by one, some reluctantly. Rossi seemed to do a double take on me, and it felt as though no one was talking. Lips were moving, eyes were staring, and the only sound I could even hear, willingly or not, was my own heartbeat.

I felt sick, my stomach was turning over and over. Until hazel eyes met mine, and the tall Spencer Reid was standing in front of me, trying desperately not to comfortingly touch my shoulder in order to maintain my sanity in the moment.

“Hey… If you want to skip this briefing, I’d be happy to go with you. We can take a walk around base.” Reid suggested.

Finally coming into consciousness, at least somewhat, I shook my head. 

“No, I’ll be okay. Not knowing will just make things worse. Besides, I can’t just avoid him my entire life. What if Netflix calls?” I ask sarcastically, grabbing one of my stress balls from my desk before rushing to the briefing room, in what felt like slow motion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a mix of reactions. Some of my team members were either avoiding eye contact, or giving me too much.

“Did I grow a third leg?” I ask, setting my stuff down on the round table, taking a seat. Reid followed suit, sitting next to me.

“No, but obviously, there’s an issue.” Prentiss said, taking a deep sigh before looking at the screen.

Everyone took a look at each other, before looking into the case file. I decided to save myself the trouble, for I knew exactly what kind of images I would be seeing. 

“Last night, three bodies were found in Boston, all displayed in public places, entirely gutted and hung by their small intestines.” Prentiss began, as the screen showed the graphic scenes in front of a school, near the harbor, and on a statue. 

“No security footage from any traffic cams, public cameras, or near the school?” Matt asked, looking at the pictures, baffled.

“No, there was a total blackout of cameras in the area for at least three hours, in which the unsub positioned these bodies.” JJ explained, showing the footage from before and after the blackout.

Those people… Those kids…

“However, the serial killer who made this MO famous, and made it his signature, is still in prison.” Emily said in many breaths, as if it was hard for her to say.

“So he didn’t escape San Quentin?” Luke asked, putting his pen in his lips, tapping his bottom lip rhythmically.

One and two, and three and four, and-

“As of this morning, he is still in California, and he has been for the past 25 years.” Emily said, looking at me.

A copycat. I didn’t realize my father had fans.

Suddenly, I felt an urge to help, more than usual. I was a profiler, we all were, but only I knew my father.

“I’m sorry, Prentiss, but… If it’s okay with you, I’d like to debrief the team about my father?” I asked, starting to get up from my seat.

“Are you sure, Caroline?” Spencer asked, putting a hand up as if to stop me.

“Go right ahead, Caroline.” Emily said, taking a seat.

I took a deep breath before taking the case file on the table and opening it quickly, taking a quick look at the crime scenes. Then, my mind scanned through my father’s behaviors, and journals I had read that he had written, like a filing cabinet.

“This unsub seems to have an extreme fondness of who the media deemed the Boston Butcher. But to me, he’s Christopher Gray. My father.” I managed to squeak out as I faced the group. 

David Rossi gave me a small, but sad smile. 

“My father killed 19 women within the span of six months. His endgame, however, was unclear. My mother, Amelia Gray, found his journals about his thought process during the act of murder, and confronted him. This caused my father to kill my entire family, before attempting to burn the evidence. However, I hid. In a spot that my father wasn’t aware I frequented, and I survived. I would have died in that house, if it weren’t for our own David Rossi.” I smiled softly, gesturing towards the Italian gent.

“Gray started with prostitutes, after cheating on his wife with one, then began to kill any prostitute he came upon. The first kill sparked something inside him, like he finally found what could fill that void. He became addicted to killing. He was skilled, resourceful, and never left any DNA at the crime scene.” David explained, making sure to look each and every team member in the eye. 

“This copycat killed three prostitutes, then displayed them within a three hour time span. Obviously, he is resourceful with technology, but it could be that the level of detail this person is putting into these killings is immaculate, down to the number of people killed and displayed at once.” Emily explained, pressing a button on the remote in order to show the faces of the prostitutes that were killed the night before. 

“If he’s following an exact process, and victimology, he may be wanting to extend the spree of the Butcher, or even finish his business.” Spencer explained, starting to trail off before reaching the ultimate conclusion, looking at me with a sense of sadness in his hazel eyes. 

“Which means the copycat will want to finish with me.” I muttered, a sinking in my stomach that felt like the weight of the entire world, dropping all at once.

“If he finds you, of course. The world thinks that Peyton Gray died in a head-on collision with her uncle at the age of 9. He doesn’t know that Peyton is still alive and well, but living as Caroline Allen.” Tara crossed her arms, placing a hand on her cheek. 

“While we figure this out, and what our exact game plan is, we should all be prepared to head to Boston. Wheels up in 30.” Emily ordered, prompting everyone to grab their things and leave the briefing room. 

“Except for you, Caroline.” I sighed, closing the door to the briefing room and crossing my arms.

“I understand that you want to protect me, Prentiss. But you and I both know that my help would be more of a benefit than any sort of risk.” I argued, sitting down like a child in the principal’s office, my head in my hands.

“If this copycat’s endgame is you, then I have no choice but to put you in protective custody.” Emily shrugged her shoulders, grabbing her phone from her waist.

I groaned. This day could not get worse. I had been in protective custody duty before, being the agent in charge. But I could not spend days alone with an agent I barely knew. 

“But there is one thing I’d like to ask you. Your father… If this copycat is a fan of his, or even his proxy, he probably knew them. Maybe talking to him will-” She began.

“No. I will do anything to help except talk to that son of a bitch.” I spat through gritted teeth, my knuckles becoming whiter than my already pale skin. 

“Alright. You can help us from protective custody. I suggest you quickly get things in order before your protective custody period begins.” Emily warned, before leaving the briefing room, and leaving me to wallow in my thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A whine escaped from the small dog bed next to the kitchen table. I couldn’t help but tear up, knowing Teddy would be here without me.

“I know, Teddy. But think of the bright side. Kate and Bill are going to be taking care of you while I am gone, and I am sure that little Anna will give you lots of treats.” I chuckled, before hearing the horrible ring of my phone. 

My transport was downstairs.

I quickly grabbed my two bags, gave Teddy a kiss on the snout, and hurried downstairs. I hopped in the black SUV and put in my AirPods, turning the music up to max. 

One could drown in the bass of classic rock.

I was enjoying the kick of the drums so much that it never hit me that we had spent over an hour in the car. Reaching a small cabin in the woods, I grabbed my bags and made my way inside, to meet the agent on duty for the entirety of my solitary.

I was taken aback when I saw a shaggy-haired, lanky nerd with a blue sweater hugging his skinny body. 

“Spencer?” I asked, waiting for him to turn around.

He did so, and gave me a smile. God, that smile. “Hey roomie. Pizza later?”