#and this is by far not the only time roland does this

[haveihitanerve]

the slow, not so subtle, shuffle towards curt and then nod and bop back to the front of the stage

[unproduciblesmackdown]

i went through this account’s handful of videos from this show, and i’m pretty confident that’s will roland, next to harrison chad as quince, despite the view being mostly obstructed from the angle this whole time. he’s Most Visible for a moment at the very end lol. since the costuming is just a buttonup and tie w/no especial “it’s This character, or Any character” cues, i’ll guess he’s “will roland” at this point, though that doesn’t mean he wasn’t appearing in some other capacity earlier. every pre-2018 xmas wrole cited in that tweet has been accounted for, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been some of those characters more than once, as is definitely true for uncle peenie appearances

[neversetyoufree]

Looking back, I wonder how much of Vanitas's choice in this scene is tied to the fact that he was given a choice in the first place.

So much of Vanitas's character is centered around the theme of self-determination (and the lack thereof). He is absolutely deprived of any control over his body and/or destiny at many of the key points in his life, and nowadays he's always desperately grasping at what few shards of self-determination he does have. This is why he freaks out when Roland talks about him being "under the vampires' power" in mémoire 15. It's why he's hung up on the idea of freedom as isolation from others' influence. It's why his main response to being triggered is to do something crazy and cause a scene; it puts him in control of the situation.

All that to say, when Luna destroys Moreau's lab and agrees to take Misha away, Vanitas must be desperate to feel some form of in-control, but I do not think he expects to be given any choice in what happens to him next. He's been conditioned not to expect that despite how much he wants it.

Vanitas certainly doesn't have much agency in how he lives his life as a child, as no kid gets to pick their parents or circumstances, and Vani has it especially rough with the death of his mother hanging over his head. Then his father dies protecting him, and he dies in a situation in which Vanitas is utterly powerless. Horror erupts into his life out of nowhere, and his dad throws himself in front of some fangs, and there's nothing Vanitas can do but watch it happen.

Next there's Vanitas's brief time training as a chasseur, which is one part of his history we know little about, so it's hard for me to say how free his choice was. He may have been pressured into joining, as we know the Chassuers aren't above pushy/manipulative recruitment of children (Astolfo), but I could also see his choice to hunt vampires made as a trauma response to the powerlessness of the vampire attack he survived. "I was powerless, so I'll claim the power to enact violence and make sure they can't hurt me or others again."

Then Vanitas is abducted by Doctor Moreau, which strips him of his agency just about as awfully as anything possibly could.

Vanitas the test subject has no bodily autonomy. He is poked and prodded and experimented on, because his body is an object of science to Moreau, not the vessel of a person with rights or self-determination. His only big active choices during his captivity are the choice to not run away for fear of somebody else suffering and the choice to volunteer in Mikhail's place. The only choices he can make are the choices to stay and throw himself even deeper into his own violation. Even his relationship with Misha is something that just kind of Happens to him. The kid is a force of nature that Moreau dumps on him without his say.

(This isn't Mikhail's fault, as Misha is just a child that wants affection, but having a needy, vulnerable little brother figure suddenly dropped on him in the midst of all that horror couldn't have made Vanitas feel less out of control).

Then Vanitas's torment by Moreau hits its climax, and Vanitas is told that not only has his body been violated by way of pain and torture—even his basic humanity has been and will be stripped from him. He now feels the disgust of having the blood of something he hates inside of him without his consent. And he's about to be killed, turned into a mindless husk of a "living key" instead of a person.

And that's when Luna shows up. This mysterious, incredibly powerful being appears and wreaks havoc on Moreau's lab like an avenging angel, and it agrees to Mikhail's request to take "us" along with it. Everything in Vanitas's life so far has taught him that he is powerless in the face of others' great power. Horrible shit just keeps happening to him forever, and this monstrous person sounds like they've just agreed to carry him off on Mikhail's request without a word of input from him. Of course he doesn't expect to be given a choice.

But he is.

Luna scoops up Mikhail, then they turn to Vanitas and ask if he would like to come along with them as well. After months or years of absolutely all of his autonomy and power being stripped away from him, the most powerful being Vanitas has ever encountered stops and gives him a choice about what he'd like to do next. They give him the option to go off on his own and decide his own fate rather than go along with them. And that's why Vanitas doesn't run away.

These are the images that flash through Vanitas's head right before he gets up and runs to Luna:

These moments are what inform Vanitas's choice. The memories of his father's death and Moreau's final experiment on him—his two most awful moments of abject helplessness.

When Vanitas runs to Luna and accepts their offer, these moments are what he's running from. He's fleeing from his inability to do anything or control his fate. He's running from a life of stolen agency. He's running toward the one adult who actually stopped and gave him a choice about what he'd like to do next.

Vanitas chooses Luna because they, despite having the power to kill or subdue him, give him the freedom to choose to accompany them in the first place. He's drawn to them not for protection, but as an escape to a life where he gets to keep making choices and grasp some agency.

Luna is the savior that gives Vanitas his freedom and autonomy back after it's stolen by Moreau. That's why it's so tragic that Vanitas carries their Mark in the present day. It's undeniable proof that, in their right mind or not, some version of Luna violated the fundamental trust and gift of autonomy that brought Vanitas into their family in the first place.

Luna's bite, both the physical violation and the transformation into inhumanity that it brings, is yet another way that Vanitas is stripped of all control of his body and fate.

[cursedtransby]

Ryoshu and Grief

Ryoshu as a sinner is defined by her lust for blood, art, and the beauty that comes with both. However I think a large chunk of people realize that this is not her only trait, and this is something that has slowly been fed out across the Cantos and Egos we’ve gotten for her.

Spoilers for basically all of Limbus.

Since her reveal, we’ve had some plenty of reads that PMoon is not taking her inspiration, Hell Screen, as mere setup for an insane artist. Her constant connection with Spider-Bud and family shows that she is at the bare minimum connected to the lore of the family torn apart by lust for a perfect painting of Hell itself.

Ryoshu’s identity in relation to Hell Screen and a traditional family setup is something that honestly deserves more attention in a separate post, but it’s clear something massive happened between her family and it’s caused her a massive trauma response that triggers grief quite often...even if it doesn't seem like that.

Most of Ryoshu’s behavior is opposite to how people usually think of grieving, but it’s still a form of grieving nonetheless. She tries to repress her emotions through increasing forms of ecstasy. As someone who has depression and has gone through losses of my own, one of the possible responses you can have is to try to chase some emotion, regardless of what it is and how unhealthy it is for yourself and those around you. You’ll do anything for that warm feeling of positivity about yourself.

Regardless of this though, that sadness still exists in Ryoshu. We know this thanks to her mood during Canto 7 being rather quiet aside from the betrayal of Hugo, where she immediately decides to cut off his arms due to it being “unoriginal and played out”. Otherwise she’s being bristly towards the concept of family, but not actively aggressive or particularly violent. In fact, the one time I'd say she has a strong reaction in this Canto is to Sinclair's interpretation of her usual acronym stuff.

Ryoshu and Sinclair honestly ALSO deserve their own post because there is a lot to go into, but to put a cap on it I'll simply state that Ryoshu has a lot of emotions regarding Sinclair. It's the only thing that can rouse her aside from the art of betrayal she sees from Hugo, because the concept of family triggers her that much. There's a reason that the ONLY Ryoshu ID to have Gloom in their kit is Spider Eyes, because she's having to directly confront the very concept of family and protecting others, and it's reflected in her giving out more support than most of her other kits and in story by helping calm Yi Sang.

This sadness and desire to care exists across the Mirror Worlds as well, she just does a far better job of hiding it under her usual veneer of "insane artist only pursuing ecstasy". Edgar Family Butler is all about taking the role of caretaker of things, and she normally helps take care of her fellow butlers, only changing her attitude when they are about to be raided by the Wild Hunt and die. Even in something like her W Corp or 7 Association identities, she still has her kit showing off some support by giving out fragility for the team or even giving out barrier in W Corp.

No matter what she does, it's inescapable for her, and something she is desperately hiding away in order to keep things moving. The very same way Yosihide continued his painting, Ryoshu keeps spreading violence to hide away her grief. But it will always be there, underneath the surface, if you look closely enough.

Overall, it's a fascinating take on grief and how one can cope with it, and PMoon has always done a wonderful job on not taking the typical route with things. They did it before with Roland's grief, and it's clear that they're doing similar things with Hell Screen's adaptation. Also thanks to @lu-is-not-ok for inspiring me to write up more about one of my favorite sinners, since their posts analyzing The Red Chamber and Hong Lu fascinate me to no end. Additionally thanks to @ryoshudoodles for making beautiful art themselves and showing off the duality of Ryoshu's lust and gloom beautifully.

[snakeunderyourboot]

sometimes I think about how the book that contained John wasn't meant for Arthur.

At any point in time, before it reached Arthur and Parker's office, anyone could open it. It could have been Noel before he sent it. It could have been Roland. It could have been the guy from the bookstore or a random customer. It could have been even just Parker.

But it was Arthur who opened up that book, it was Arthur who miraculosly survived and it was Arthur who managed to retain most of his body. Out of all people who held this book in their hands it was Arthur who eventually got John.

And sometimes I think how much does this fact matters towards John's journey to humanity. Considering that Kayne only talked about other Arthurs and Johns I can only assume that only they managed to get as far(or as far as they could)

Just....this idea that neither Arthur nor John were meant for each other. If fate was a little bit different, they would completely miss each other. John would be in some other body and maybe he wouldn't even be "John". And Arthur would be still in Arkham, working as an PI (even if he continue to do so)

They weren't meant for each other, but the idea that despite that they are ultimately perfect for each other. Because only if it's them they manage to get this far. Only if it's them they manage to continue their journey. Only if it's them they are on the path to becoming a better version of themselves.

And I think that this particular instance of them being two different entities that ended up together by a stroke of fate but despite that managed to carve something beautiful is super annoying to Kayne. Considering how much he states himself as the one who controls the narrative, who can change the location and time and fates of characters how he wants - THIS ONE moment he didn't change. It just happened. And we deal with waves that this caused.

I think it's beautifull

[thefoxholecast]

The Original Foxhole Court Extra Content (Archived from Nora Sakavic’s Tumblr)

We copied the following text directly from the pre-2024 version of the Foxhole Court Extra Content page on Nora Sakavic’s Tumblr blog (korakos.tumblr.com/fox). In March 2024, she did “some spring cleaning” by shortening the list of links and deleting/hiding old posts. The links in this copy lead to archived snapshots of the old posts on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Some of the links are broken. If you have copies of these posts, please let us know so we can fill in missing content!

Because Tumblr only allows up to 100 links per post, we're unable to replicate the full list here. View the full list of links on our blog here: thefoxholecast.tumblr.com/FoxArchive

The Foxhole Court

ETA 2023: most of the posts here are from 2013-2015. Some of them overlap with older drafts. Some answers have evolved over time, even if they haven’t been updated here. Most I haven’t changed my mind on, for better or worse. Take ‘em or leave ‘em, and good luck making sense of ‘em around all the drunk rambling and detours. One day if I have the energy I’ll just sort it into a coherent reference.

~~

Two sections here: the questions submitted by tumblr users, and a miscellaneous collection of stories & factoids pulled from the oft-neglected blog. The questions aren’t in any particular order, though I did try to organize them by subject matter. Ish. Once the dust is settled a bit I’ll try to find a better sorting system. Also, the tumblr tag I use for questions is http://korakos.tumblr.com/tagged/foxhole-court-questions-and-spoilers

Lots of spoilers for The Foxhole Court ahead!

Preface: Why are Asks disabled in 2016?

COURTING MADNESS

—Exy Rules & Regulations

—Exy: A History of the Sport

—Palmetto State University

—The original “What Happens After King’s Men” post

—SON NEFES, the cousins’ freshman year through Renee’s eyes

——One . Two . Three . Four . Five

—Nicky Hemmick

—Seth Gordon

—Aaron Minyard

—Matt Boyd

—Kevin & Andrew

—David Wymack & the Monsters

—Wymack & Andrew re: Neil

—Dan Wilds is recruited to the Foxes *

—Allison through Dan & Renee’s eyes *

——pulled from an abandoned, unfinished book about the Foxes’ women

TUMBLR

NEIL

—Neil’s life on the run

—Do they ever celebrate Neil’s birthday?

—What if Neil told the truth earlier?

—Neil through the Foxes’ eyes

—Neil through Ichirou’s eyes

—Neil’s looks post-book and relationship with his reflection

—Does Neil ever talk to Bee?

—Neil’s millions

—Neil’s fight training

—Who’s Neil closest to beside Andrew

—Neil’s fashion style

—Cellphone ringtone

—Christmas/birthday presents for Foxes

—Does Neil ever cry?

—Neil’s lonely fifth year

—When Neil’s overwhelmed

—Does Neil crush on his teammates?

—Neil & Ichirou’s intimidation

ANDREW

—Andrew’s sober look at his teammates & Neil

—How did Andrew react to Cass’s letter?

—Andrew’s medication and the follow-up

—Has Abby seen Andrew’s scars?

—Andrew & Mama Bee

—Andrew & Roland

—How far has Andrew willingly gone?

—What animal figurine did Andrew buy Betsy?

—Andrew’s eye color

—Andrew’s opinion of the cats

—What’d Andrew say to Nicky in TKM?

—Andrew’s honest opinion of Exy

—Andrew’s thoughts on Neil’s binder

—Andrew and his sexuality

—If Andrew had met Neil’s mother

—Andrew’s thoughts on Neil’s sexuality

—Andrew’s fondest memory of Neil

—Andrew’s aforementioned withdrawal

—Do you think Andrew is really really really awesome?

—Proust and Andrew

—What happens to Proust?

—Andrew’s reaction to Neil’s bday blood

—Andrew on Neil eventually changing out

—Does Andrew get grumpy?

—Does Andrew get less dead inside?

—Does Andrew call Neil by his name?

—Why give the Foxes crackers?

—Andrew’s first choices in winning a fight

—Who liked knives?

—What got chopped from Drake’s arc?

—Does Andrew get off thinking about Neil?

—Post Andrew & Bee’s side story?

—When did Andrew start thinking Neil was interesting?

—Any other words he can’t stand?

—What does he think about nicknames?

—Explain Andrew’s fatal disease in the comic version

—Andrew’s canon mental state

—How did Andrew not know about Tilda’s abuse?

—Why punch Neil for “Sorry”, and when Andrew is sick

—What’s with Andrew and promises

—Andrew’s thoughts on Roland’s premature confession

—Andrew’s arrest

—Wanting nothing vs not wanting anything

—Why was Andrew laughing after Drake?

—If Neil had chosen Dan & Matt over Andrew

NEIL & ANDREW

—The other 10%

—Which teammate caught on first?

—Do Andrew & Neil go on dates?

—When did they first hold hands?

—When did Andrew clue in?

—Exites self-censure

—Betsy’s & Aaron’s reactions to the news

—Roland’s opinion of things

—The breaking point

—Who tops?

—On tying people up

—Their domestic life aka Sir Fat Cat

—I love you

—Andrew and the bed issue

—Nightmares

—Do they learn to talk to each other?

—Blaming Neil for Drake

—Andrew comforting Neil?

—Neil’s fondest memory of Andrew

—Neil getting Andrew off for the first time

—Neil seeing Andrew naked

—Neil & the sex how-to

—How was the first time

—Where’d it happen?

—When was their first hug?

—“I won’t let you let me be”

—Their roadtrips

—Neil waking Andrew up

—Andrew’s real smile

—How does Andrew show appreciation for Neil

—Their happiest moments

—Does Neil ever make Andrew laugh?

—Does Andrew take comfort in Neil

—Does Andrew get protective/possessive?

—Doesn’t Neil crave affection?

—Andrew re: Neil’s panic attacks

—Media reaction to Andrew/Neil

—Further reaction to Andrew/Neil

—On “accidentally” sitting in laps

—What if Andrew died?

—What if Neil died?

—Reaction to getting hit on by others

—Do they celebrate anniversaries?

—The first time Neil pushes Andrew down

FOXES

—How tall are the Foxes?

—Why is everyone so short?

—Where did their names come from?

—What were their majors?

—What do the Foxes look like?

—What are their Hogwarts houses?

—Reaction to the kidnapping

—Do Neil & Renee become friends?

—What did Allison do with Seth’s urn?

—Nicky’s evolution over the drafts

—Do the Foxes get their skiing trip?

—Does Andrew know Nicky kissed Neil?

—When did Aaron & Katelyn fall for each other?

—How did Andrew and Wymack end up handcuffed together?

—Kevin’s favorite things

—Kevin and Andrew’s on-court kerfuffle

—Dan’s haircut

—Dan & Matt’s relationship

—Dan & Matt’s first kiss

—Matt bouncing back from Columbia

—Matt rooming with the monsters

—The other what-if OT3 aka D/M/N and the dynamic

—Do Allison and Renee have the hots for each other?

—Matt forgiving his father

—Any mistletoe shenanigans?

—Thanksgiving and the Foxes

—Kevin’s best friend

—Janie Smalls

—How did Kevin and Thea meet?

—Foxes’ favorite ice cream flavors

—Kevin & Andrew’s on-court argument

—Foxes’ taste in music

—Kevin’s middle name & drink of choice

—Do Kevin & Neil want to kiss?

—Which Fox would Kevin kiss, then?

—Kevin’s best non-Exy memory

—Allison’s three bets

—Why is Allison’s middle name Jamaica

—Kevin, Andrew, and Neil staying friends

—“Joan of Exy”?

—Can the Foxes sing?

—Some of the Foxes’ previous bets

—Do Nicky & Allison become friends?

—Are Foxes based on RL people?

—Nicky when Neil asks about friendship

—Dan & the monsters in Columbia

—What if Kevin was killed?

—Renee and her near-death experiences

—More background available on Renee?

—Why doesn’t Aaron let the Foxes in?

—Team’s reaction to Drake, Andrew’s reaction to being outed

—Andrew & Aaron’s time with Tilda

—Does Aaron reconcile with Andrew over Tilda?

—Nicky & his parents after Drake

—Foxes thoughts in Baltimore

FOXES POST-TKM

—The Pro Teams

—The Weddings

—Neil as the Best Man?

—Kevin after TKM —Thea, Jean, Foxes, and Riko

—How does Kevin & Wymack’s relationship evolve?

—Renee after TKM

—Nicky after TKM

—Aaron after TKM

—Allison after TKM

—Dan & Matt after TKM

—Dan and the US Court

—Any pro-period scandals?

—Andrew & Neil’s relationship with their team

—Would Neil hold Matt’s children?

—Neil & babysitting the Foxes’ kids

—Which Fox’s child would curse first

THE FUTURE FOXES

—Who is Robin Cross?

—Neil and Jack

—Andrew’s reaction to Neil punching Jack

—Foxes’ reaction to Neil punching

—Kevin and Jack

—Neil’s new recruit

—Andrew and Jack

RIVALS

—Who is Riko Moriyama?

—Riko & Kevin’s evolving relationship

—More about Riko & Kevin’s past

—How did Riko break Kevin’s hand

—Riko’s brutality toward Jean

—Any draft where Riko wasn’t killed?

—Were Riko, Kevin, and Jean involved sexually?

—Does the Fox-Trojan rematch happen? Also how do the Trojans & Jean get along?

—Do Alvarez & Laila (Trojans) have backstories?

—Thea’s number & thoughts on Raven brutality

THE “ADULTS”

—Kayleigh Day & David Wymack

—Abby Winfield & David Wymack

—Wymack’s parents

—Did Wymack cry during the trilogy?

—Did Kayleigh know about the Moriyamas?

.

.

.

.

Nora & the Foxes

—Fancast and Andrew

—Changing opinion of Foxes over the years

—Bits of the scrapped K/N/A threesome here and here

—The KxAxN AU where Kevin died

—Will there be a sequel?

—What inspired you to develop Exy?

—Fox fanfictions, collected by coldsaturn

—Why a pseudonym?

—What came first, characters or story?

—Were you the artist of the comic version?

—What did the comic-Foxes look like?

—What do you do when you’re not writing?

[vaulthunterlands]

BORDERLANDS COLLEGE AU

Stupid idea I had a few nights ago, don't think too hard about the inconsistencies in ages and stuff. Probably just doing Vault Hunters and a few other characters.

ROLAND

Majoring in cybersecurity. Good student, studies and gets consistently high grades. Has a well-formulated meal and workout plan. Also an RA on campus. Roland is the guy you go to if you have issues. He might not be great at "talking you through them" or "showing empathy" but he always has solid advice and is well-respected by his peers.

BRICK

I was going to say "Brick wouldn't go to college in canon" but this isn't canon babeyyyy. Brick is going into veterinary medicine. You may think this is completely off as a major for him, but I argue that his love for dogs is far greater than any challenge he may face in his education. Still a gym maniac. Roland is his RA, which means Roland is in charge of calming Brick down when he gets mad. Dating Mordecai. Also, unrelated but Brick in a philosophy class:

"Brick, can you tell us what you think about what Descartes said?"

"I PUNCH Descartes."

LILITH

Y'all are going to hate me for this but Lilith is a chemistry major. Girl loves fire, electricity, and acid so you can't tell me she wouldn't be a menace in her labs. (Also, before the first game was released her full title was "Dr. Lilith Cashlin, Mercenary Scientist") Only goes to class half the time but still does really well. Rooms with Mordecai and Brick. Huge crush on this RA she keeps seeing around

MORDECAI

BIRD MAAAAAN. Y'all already know this guy is doing two things on campus. 1) Majoring in Ornithology 2) Going to parties to get drunk. This man is the epitome of "college is for partying". Keeps birds in campus (not allowed) and is doing okay in his classes (he is hung over 80% of the time) (Mordy pls) Dating Brick.

PATRICIA TANNIS

Honestly, what field of science ISN'T this girl majoring in? She's insane(ly smart) and constantly gets perfect scores on all of her exams. Closest friends are Roland and the gang.

MARCUS

Why is he here??? What??? Marcus is the guy who runs the restaurant that is directly across the street from campus. *Phenomenal* food, but GOD is it pricey. Tends to not care about many of the students chilling (as long as they BUY SOMETHING)

SCOOTER

Doesn't go to this college but he's good friends with Roland and his pals. Likes to go out drinking with them on the weekends and is just all-in-all a cool guy to hang around with. Friends with Janey.

AXTON

BMOC. Captain of the football team. You can trust him! (He's the water boy.) Total jock but he's not an asshole about it. Majoring in Rehabilitation Science. He's... not the *best* student, but he does try and genuinely care about what he wants to do. Lives with Salvador, Maya, and Zer0 in a dorm.

SALVADOR

Culinary major. My man can COOK. He's the best cook in the dorm and no one will ever argue if he offers to cook. Really good student even though he parties all the time with Mordecai, Brick, and Axton. Lives with Maya, Axton, and Zer0.

ZER0

*Insert weeb joke here* They're a literature major. Not just because of the haiku, either. I feel like Zer0 would be fantastic in literature courses and understanding thr deeper meanings in texts. They are seen as a "weird kid" on campus. They do not care. Lives with Maya, Salvador, and Axton.

MAYA

The reason I made this list (big surprise, V does a huge post and it's Maya's fault), Maya majors in entomology. (S/O to @forbiddenpurplesoda for this because I've always thought Maya would be a bug girl) Maya is a phenomenal student and she always gets great marks in her studies. Lives with Axton, Sal and Zer0. Has at least one pet beetle that makes Axton panic.

GAIGE

Mechanical Engineering/Robotics major. Obviously built Deathtrap as a buddy because she felt a little lonely in her dorm. Calls her Dad every night. Has a huge crush on a girl in one of her math classes. Lives with...

KRIEG!!!!

Listen. Listen. Krieg majors in psychology. The *actual* football captain. Doesn't talk much and when he does, it's complete nonsense. (Everyone just goes "haha classic Krieg") Gaige gets along with him extremely well. Maya and him have a thing where they will just look at each other and think "holy shit they're so gorgeous). Always wears a face mask.

TINA

Child prodigy chemistry major, buddies with Lilith and Roland. But seriously, who let this kid in the lab? Like, okay, yeah, she knows what she's doing, but what she's doing is COMBUSTION REACTIONS. How is she still in school.

ELLIE

Engineering major. Lives in the building across from Roland and the gang. Absolute sweetheart and huge flirt but will also drop you on her ass if you threaten her friends.

MOXXI

I could see Moxxi as a professor of engineering, actually. Every student thinks she's gorgeous and she's learned to ignore it. Scooter and Ellie's Mom. Thinks their friends are funny.

HANDSOME JACK

Oh man, this one was tough. I decided on absolute tool you meet in college who's the head of a frat and thinks he's God's gift to women. Lives in the same building as Roland, Lilith, Brick, Mordecai, Salvador, Axton, Maya, Zer0, Gaige, and Krieg. Constantly getting into arguments with... basically everyone listed above. Majors in business.

ANGEL

She's an art major!!! She's super intelligent and aces all of her classes but she absolutely loves art. Jack is her brother in this AU. Has a crush on the cute punk girl in her math class but could never tell her. Lives in a single.

ALISTAIR HAMMERLOCK

Double majors in conservation biology and zoology! Finds the creatures that he studies absolutely fascinating and always has a bright disposition on his face. Lives in a single that looks exactly like you think it does (his room on Sanctuary III). Strained relationship with his sister.

ATHENA

Acient History Major, specifically interested in Ancient Greece (wonder why?). Works at Marcus' restaurant. Hates it. Pay her more. Has her eyes on a girl that frequents Marcus' restaurant. Tried to live with Wilhelm, Jack, Nisha, Timothy, and Claptrap for a semester, she is now a commuter. Still friends with Timothy.

WILHELM

Jack's second-in-command. People look at him like he's a dumbass, big hunk of meat, but he's also in a robotics major. Aside from being buddies with Jack, he's... kind of chill? Man likes what he likes and he works out pretty often. Boxes in his free time. Lives with Nisha, Jack, Timothy, and (formerly) Claptrap.

NISHA

Criminal justice major, naturally. Jack's girlfriend and the baddest and scariest bitch on campus. Likes watching old western movies. Never, ever shows up to class but still passes. No one knows how. Lives with Jack, Timothy, Wilhelm, and (formerly) Claptrap

CLAPTRAP

Theater major! Always has a smile on his face, even though he's nooooot very well-liked. Tried to get in with the popular guys but eventually figured out he was being used. He confronted Jack and Jack kicked him out of the dorm 😔 Lives... well, he kind of just lives around Roland's dorm. Roland's too nice to say no.

TIMOTHY

I feel like Tim would be a Biology major. I don't know why but I can see him in that field. Looks SCARILY similar to Jack, and hates this. Unfortunately put into a room with Jack, Wilhelm, Nisha, and (formerly) Claptrap. Misses Athena greatly and wishes she still lived on campus. They're still good friends.

AURELIA HAMMERLOCK

Oh good lord, who let her on a college campus. Has an extravagant single room because she's *rich* and she's not sharing with someone else are you insane? Studies law because this bitch wants to be a judge someday. Absolutely hates to be seen with her brother Alistair. Rivalry with another rich law student makes this even more tense.

JANEY SPRINGS

Doesn't go to this college but she knows a few people around campus and hits up Marcus' restaurant for a bite to eat every so often. The food is just so good, right? No other reason. None at all. Friends with Scooter.

RHYS STRONGFOK

Rhys is a business and economics major. Is in Jack's frat. Is getting increasingly sick of Jack's shit. Buddy buddy with Vaughn, Fiona, and Zer0. Dating Sasha.

VAUGHN

Accounting major. Man has a mind like a steel trap, and also enjoys bodybuilding. Best friends with Rhys, good friends with Fiona and Sasha.

FIONA

I genuinely feel like Fiona would be a nursing or Healthcare major. I have no basis for this, it just feels right for her. Hates Jack and keeps telling Rhys to tell him to fuck off. Friends with Rhys and Vaughn, Sasha's older sister.

SASHA

Social work major! Loves helping people and wants to make a change in the world after she and Fiona grew up in less-than-ideal circumstances. Dating Rhys, also keeps telling Rhys to get away from Jack. Friends with Vaughn.

MOZE

Transfer student. Served in the military for a while before deciding she wanted to go to college. Undecided major but she's just trying to focus on the pretty women I mean her grades haha am I right? ALWAYS at Marcus'. Always. Lives with Zane, Amara, and FL4K.

FL4K

FL4K has Mr. Chew, Broodless and Meat-Thief as emotional support animals. I can see FL4K as a double major in zoology and veterinary medicine. Loves their pets. Super chill unless you speak badly about them or their pets. Will shank a bitch. Lives with Zane, Moze, and Amara.

AMARA

Healthcare studies major, with a focus on pathology. Also a bodybuilder. Also a boxer. Amara is that girl and she knows it. Always asking Moze to work out with her and she is completely oblivious to Moze being head over heels. Will fight someone being mean to a customer service worker. Lives with Zane, Moze, and FL4K.

ZANE

Pop pop went back to college! No but in this AU Zane is probably older than everyone but not that much older. His major was tough for me, but I honestly think he'd be a good candidate for a major in rehabilitation science with Axton. Also LOVES parties.

WAINWRIGHT JAKOBS

His Father wanted him to go into Business to take over the family legacy but he decided to go into law to "protect the little guy". Has daily arguments with this stuck-up, pretentious "harpy" that's in most of his classes. She's awful. Has a crush on this well-spoken man in zoological studies. At least that will take his mind off of the harpy.

TROY CALYPSO

Troy is a media and communications major. Has a fantastic time making videos and being admin of many social media pages but doesn't do very well in class because he dislikes most of his professors. Has a very close relationship with his sister, Tyreen.

TYREEN CALYPSO

Double major in Art History and Theater. Loves to be the center of attention and often stars in her brother's videos and projects. She loves it. A little full of herself. Close with her brother, Troy.

TYPHON DELEON

OKAY WAIT WAIT DON'T CLOSE THE POST HEAR ME OUT.

Cringe boomer history professor that can be easily distracted by him telling his stories of his many adventures (no one knows if they're true or not). Troy and Tyreen's Father. NOT a piss poor Dad in this AU, just embarrassing as all hell. Pretty decent guy but he's okay as a professor. (Please guys let me have my "Typhon is a good cringe embarrassing boomer dad to the Calypsos" AU)

OKAY this was a really long post and I probably forgot someone but I'm sure I'll hear about it LMAO. Also I don't know every single college major and its appropriate title, I just went off of vibes. Pls be nice 2 me

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 21

PREVIOUS

“What made you think taking on a mafia hitman was a good idea?” Andrew asks as he and FF were positioning themselves the best the could for an ambush on Romero.

Since, they APPARENTLY had time to talk.

Romero had gotten the text Andrew had sent him and INSTEAD of coming out right away to progress the whole SCHEME to kidnap and murder Andrew’s Junkie like any sensible goon Romero went to the BAR. Romero went to the Bar to get him and Jackson a round of CELEBRATORY drinks. Romero is still there at the bar waiting to be served by an INCREDIBLY nervous Roland if the number of exclamation marks and puking emojis is to be believed.

What the FUCK is there to celebrate?

These two idiots want to kidnap NEIL and so far the only thing Romero knows (thinks) that they’ve caught are two people that Neil would come for but even in Andrew’s text he’d been clear that he needed help getting ‘The boyfriend and the new friend’ to talk let alone getting them to call ‘The Wesninski Brat’ out. Andrew had hated typing the name in reference to Neil but it was the only thing the two ever referred to him as in their chats.

Is it some insane mental game that Romero thought he and Jackson were going to play on Andrew and Smith? Toasting to their torture so they’d give up Neil? Who knows.

He realizes that FF hasn’t answered him, his eyes focused on the door when Andrew’s thoughts had drifted. A reliable guy, steady in a pinch, and focused like most the others weren’t.

(Andrew does not know that FF is thinking about how one would go about becoming a Mafia Hitman. What is that career path like? Do they show up at job fairs? Do you get a job as a short order cook at a business that acts as a front and see to much but you’re also the only one that knows the secret spaghetti recipe the boss likes so you have to sign yourself to the family? Are you out doing your own freelance crime and someone higher up sees your work one day and literally head hunts you? Is it like in Saw where you survive an ordeal and then-)

“Smith?” Andrew draws FF’s attention away from the door.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea at any point.” FF says and Andrew is surprised by the admission and is more surprised by the twist of FF’s lips into a frown, “I just did what I thought I needed to do.” He adds.

(Andrew does not know that the twist of FF’s lips has more to do with the fact that he is realizing that Romero likely STILL has not washed his hands. Romero hasn’t washed his hands and he is going to hand Jackson a DRINK with those hands. Ugh. Honestly a contract killer AND someone who doesn’t wash his hands? Who RAISED him? What does his grandma think of this? FF hopes she’s disappointed in him.)

“You thought you needed to lure a hitman into an alley?” Andrew asks because the plan is stupid even if so far it has worked out for FF. The fact that Romero hadn’t just come out when he sent Jackson the signal is only due to FF’s good luck and their stupidity.

“I didn’t have a lot of time to think up anything more than the first plan I thought of. I saw him looking at Nicky on the dance floor.” FF says with another twist of his lips as he self-consciously rubbed at his cheek. It’s never fun to have someone who has time to pick apart a plan that you barely had time to form. Andrew can understand the irritation and is glad that FF isn’t lashing out at him for it.

(Andrew does not know that FF is not irritated he is just remembering that he had held up his broken toilet bowl phone to his face to pretend call Captain Neil. He’s contemplating asking if Andrew maybe possibly has a wet wipe? Actually the murder van probably has bleach to clean up evidence, maybe he can just dip his face in there for like a minute.)

“Don’t use a plan where you martyr yourself. I already have to deal with Neil’s bullshit tendencies.” Andrew says instead of thanking him. “You should have just called me.” He says.

FF just holds up his phone, “Dropped into a club toilet. Completely unusable.” He says and yeah that makes sense. FF would have probably just texted Andrew but coming out and seeing a hitman going after Nicky probably made it impossible for the freshman to go get help without drawing all the attention to himself first if he wanted to make sure Nicky stayed safe.

Still.

“You dropped it into a toilet? You haven’t even had anything tonight.” He says because that clumsiness is not something he expects from FF.

“You try taking a pee next to someone on the FBI’s most wanted list and see how dry your palms remain when he’s talking about grabbing one of Captain Neil’s friends to lure him out.” He says with a brow raised.

That’s fair.

He figures that Romero hadn’t even noticed FF standing there. FF was incredibly good at just making himself unnoticeable (to Andrew’s occasional great annoyance and to Kevin’s great desire to study him for Exy related purposes).

“You recognized him?” He asks.

FF’s gaze slides to him, “I looked up a lot about the Foxes after I signed.” FF answers before his gaze slides back to the door. Roland had just texted Andrew that he’s getting Romero’s drinks ready (Two bud lites. Those are the celebratory drinks he waited for?? Embarrassing.) “I really looked up to Captain Neil. So, I read a lot more about him than anyone else.” FF admits but the fact that FF looked up to Neil was not in any way shape or form a secret.

FF was the only one who was ALWAYS paying attention to whatever Neil was saying and never argued with it. Even Andrew tended to just get lost in the sound of Neil’s voice when he’s going over Exy plays and not actually listen to the plan. FF’s eyes were always right on Neil and his actions on the court showed that he had been paying attention and knew what he was doing. Kevin also listened but he tended to fight Neil on the finer details of plays, strategy or anything else. FF was the one who would just nod and do his part in whatever possible play Neil had broken down for them.

FF was also categorically incapable of referring to Neil as anything other than Captain Neil.

Neil had bristled early on at it. He had thought it was a mocking title, something FF was saying to rile him up because that’s what Freshman Foxes did. That’s what Freshman Foxes always do. FF slid into the team without a whisper of rebellion and it hadn’t taken long to realize that FF was using the title with sincerity even if his monotone did not perfectly convey that.

It’d been that sincerity and that ease that had FF be the only option he’d considered when Bee said he should consider expanding his friend pool.

So if FF looked a little deeper into Neil’s past and sees Neil’s part in it as something to respect, something to admire?

Well, he personally thought he always had great taste in people. (He ignores the voice in his head that sounds like Nicky complaining about Kevin still not knowing German despite it being the family language.)

“You sure you don’t want one of my knives or the knife Jackson had?” It was pretty big and Andrew didn’t think it would work well with his general style but maybe FF could use it somehow. He was uneasy that FF was going into this fight unarmed. FF still hadn’t talked about how he’d taken out Jackson when the man had a knife like that.

“Do I look like Crocodile Dundee to you?” FF asks with a raised eyebrow and Andrew has to pause a moment for the movie to load into his brain before he offers an amused quirk of his own lips.

FF is a funny guy.

His phone dings. “He’s on his way.”

***

Aside from thinking about how nice the conversation he was having with his friend Andrew (his friend! His friend Andrew! God how is he going to admit to Gran that Andrew was never planning on stabbing him? She threatened to come over and square off with the ‘mean young man’ bullying him. He’s gotta go grab the makings for a secondary pie to even start to make up for this. Maybe Andrew would prefer a cobbler? He should ask his friend his preferences.) he was thinking about how he really wished they hadn’t had a cut away from Gracie Hart showing all the various forms of self defense she knows in the movie.

He had no idea if he could do a repeat performance of S.I.N.G. with Romero.

It’d be nice to have a few more things in his repertoire because all he has is striking Romero with the heel of his hand in the nose, getting grabbed from behind to throw him over his shoulder (which what if Romero is shorter than him? How will THAT work. Gracie Hart guide my steps!), and of course S.I.N.G.

If he survives this he might write a letter to the writer.

The door opens and honestly FF and Andrew agreed that surprise and speed were going to be their best weapons. The two of them go in for a full body tackle but Romero must just be a higher class goon than Jackson was since he manages to body them away. The door shuts which is mostly what they wanted anyways. Romero can’t go back in and grab someone to use as a shield.

He sees Andrew pull out his knives and now FF realizes that any level of threatening Andrew had done before must have mostly been in jest or just as intimidation. When Andrew wants to stab someone it’s obvious that he’s aiming to stab them.

Romero manages to parry Andrew’s first stab with a move that FF had seen on the ‘how to handle someone coming at you with a knife’ videos. FF sees Romero go in to bash one of the Bud Lite bottles over Andrew’s head so he launches his water bottle at Romero’s hand. The bottle falls and shatters harmlessly on the ground.

He kicks Romero’s other hand since the water bottle bought him time to get close. “You fucking brat!” Romero hisses.

He sees Romero reaching for something at the same time Andrew is going in for the second round of stabbing. Romero dodges out of the way but FF can see what might actually for real be an entire gun concealed in his jacket.

He can see Romero going for it. Sees the same smile on his face he’d seen inside as his hand wraps around the handle.

FF doesn’t think.

FF doesn’t think because if he does he’ll freeze.

So FF acts.

“Gun!” He yells and runs full force tackling Romero as hard as he can but unfortunately he tackles Romero into Andrew.

The three of them grapple on the ground. It’s hard to keep track of what limb is who’s and he’s pretty sure he’s accidentally hit Andrew a few times instead of Romero but he’s also pretty sure that Andrew punched him in the stomach so he thinks they’re equal. Finally FF gets a hand on the gun that Romero had been trying to get the safety off of and he knocks it out of Romero’s hand. “You kids will-“

Romero doesn’t get to say anything else because Andrew manages to land a punch right to his jaw that has Romero go limp under the two of them. They look at one another and Andrew manages to pull the handcuffs they’d purloined out of the Van while they were waiting off of the belt loop they were hooked onto and gets them around Romero’s wrists.

They stare down at the second unconscious man on the FBI’s most wanted list in the alley.

Then they roll off of him and onto their backs. Both of them wheezing from a combination of exertion, adrenaline, and (at least in FF’s case) a fair amount of pain (Christ Andrew packs a PUNCH his stomach is already sensitive. It’s a miracle that punch hadn’t made him puke.)

“That was…so stupid.” Andrew pants.

“Yeah probably.” FF admits.

They lay there for about a minute and FF thinks that maybe someone will need to carry him because his stomach is KILLING HIM with all this.

“Alright let’s-“

Andrew is sitting up and looking at him when he stops talking.

FF doesn’t really know what the issue is but starts to sit up, “Don’t you DARE.” Andrew hisses and FF finds himself being pushed back down to the ground to lay flat. “Don’t move Smith.” He demands and is pulling his phone out of his pocket as he keeps a hand on FF’s shoulder.

FF doesn’t really understand what’s got Andrew so upset all the sudden. “Andrew, what’s-“ he tries to sit up again. Is there a third person and Andrew wants him to keep down? There’s not really cover here they should move towards the dumpster maybe?

“Smith, I told you to not move.” Andrew hisses before whoever he’s calling seems to pick up. “I need police and an ambulance. We’re at Eden’s Twilight in the back alley.” He looks to FF, “What’s your blood type?” He asks.

FF has NO idea.

“I don’t know.” He answers and Andrew makes a disgusted sound. “Andrew, what’s-“

Then he sees it.

He doesn’t quite get how he missed it before now.

“Huh.” He hears himself say.

That’s Andrew’s knife handle sticking out of his stomach.

It appears that Andrew Minyard may have stabbed him in the stomach.

“Well, that’s about what I expected.” He says and lets his head rest against the pavement.

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

NEXT

Per your requests:

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The requests to be added to the tag list keep being spread out across a few different areas. If I missed you please just ask again in the replies I promise I just missed you.

As stated before if you’re up here and I spelled it right but you didn’t get a notification there might be something switched around in your settings that won’t let me tag you properly?

[avocado-writing]

Roland Blum x Reader

notes: nobody asked for this but I wrote it anyway. big shout out to my mate M who helped me brainstorm this and came up with some of the *chefs kiss* lines. might do a part 2 idk rating: E, minors dni

words: 2.4k

cw: utter filth. smut; excessive discussion of oral sex; pegging; you’re both switches lmfao taglist: @clarina04 @havaheart @angiestopit @cryptid-flannelhell @shadowluna25

Roland Blum fucking hates you. 

He hates how you think you know everything even though you’re just a kid. Yeah, sure, he was the exact same way when he was your age, but he also acknowledges that he’s a hypocrite and doesn’t care. He hates the tight little outfits you wear, because he’s a slut for a well-tailored suit and you know you look exceptionally fuckable in them. He hates how he couldn’t stop imagining bending you over his desk and drenching his cock in your tight little pussy, wondering what his name would sound like from your mouth as you choke it out through orgasms. He hates that you’ve rejected his every advance so far. 

Most of all he hates how you’re good at this job. It’s infuriating. If you were shit, like so many of the others he’s seen come and go through these doors, it might be different. But you’re not. You’re a fucking shark, out for blood. Just like him. 

He hates you. 

If there’s one thing that’s worse than you it’s your shitty little boyfriend. 

He’s constantly around, trying to earn your approval - and he does need to earn it because it doesn’t take much research to find out he’s a fucking serial cheater. He has this habit of falling dick first into leggy blondes he finds at bars which you don’t much approve of. And you fucking let him keep getting away with it! You don’t even seem to like the guy that much. Roland can see the thinly veiled disinterest on your face every time your boyfriend tries to surprise you with your favourite coffee or a bunch of flowers. You accept them, and the kiss he offers, and then look relieved when he’s gone. 

You need a good fuck. You need it. He can tell, and he’s sure your boyfriend isn’t getting the job done. Nobody sexually satisfied is as bitchy as you are. Except, maybe, for him. But his exception doesn’t prove the rule. He teases you about it mercilessly and loudly, and your conversations always end the same way. 

“Maybe if someone was taking care of your vagina, it wouldn’t have sand in it.”

“I fucking hate you, Roland.”

“Yeah, I know.”

But you work well together, that can’t be denied. Case after case you take on, and case after case you win. It’s nice that you can put your mutual loathing aside to be professional for long enough to help your clients out.

He knows where you’re meant to be meeting your boyfriend that night. That fancy bar in the penthouse of that hotel. Seems fucking stupid to him, bars should be on ground level, but what does he know. While you’re in the bathroom he gets himself something strong which goes down well with the pill he takes; he sits in the corner where he won’t be seen and watches you. 

You’re sitting on a tall stool, drumming your fingers on the counter. At first you look hopeful. Then you look at your watch. Over and over again. He can see the excitement leave you and you deflate like a balloon animal left in some kid’s room as time ticks by. Eventually your phone rings, and though he can’t work out every word, you have a very short conversation with the person on the other end, finishing the call by jabbing your screen so hard he’s surprised the glass doesn’t shatter. 

You head into the elevator. He follows you. You’re the only two in there as the doors slide shut and it begins its descent. He leans on the wall and looks at you, levelly. You don’t even seem surprised that he’s there, you just look sort of tired. 

“So,” he says, and you look like you’re bracing yourself for him to mock you like he usually would, but he gets straight to the point, “you gonna let me fuck you?”

You look at him, properly look at him. You seem to sum him up for the first time since you started at the firm, let your eyes trail up and down his body, taking him in. 

“Roland, you have until the alcohol wears off.”

You barely get the last word out, actually, because he hears your consent and fucking lunges for you. His mouth is hot and rough on yours, beard scraping your chin and cheeks, and he grins into it when he hears you moan. Moaning from a kiss? You are desperate. 

He slams his fist on the emergency brake button and the elevator screeches to a halt. You pull back to look at him, confused and appalled. He likes it. 

“What?” he asks, pressing his thigh between yours, up into your needy cunt, “You said I have until the alcohol wears off, I’m not wasting a single fucking second with you.”

You seem oddly charmed by that idea, but it’s only a quick flash of sentiment over your face before he finds your clit and begins to fuck into it with the width of his thigh. You begin to twist and writhe in pleasure against him, wanting to ride him yourself, but him not allowing you the freedom to do it. He grins as he watches you melt. 

“Knew you needed someone to take care of your little cunt.”

“I fucking hate you,” you snap, but he can tell your heart isn’t in it. Not this time anyway. He pulls off his suit blazer and, with a flick of the wrist that is too certain to have not been practised before, he manages to throw it over the camera in the upper corner of the elevator, letting it hang off it as if it were a coat rack. Seemingly happy that you have a few minutes, you let him kiss his way down your body and end up on his knees in front of you. He sees the hungry way you look down at him and wants to see it on your face all the fucking time. 

He makes light work of your tight little skirt, raising his eyebrows when he gets to your thong. You shove him with your foot. 

“What?”

“Someone thought she was gonna get lucky tonight.”

“Yeah, well, I fucking am aren’t I?”

He can’t argue with that. Well, he could, but for once he doesn’t. Instead he rips it off your body with his bare hand and shoves it into his trouser pocket. You yelp but any complaints you have are quickly doused when he begins to fuck you with his mouth. He is fucking ravenous for you, pressing his fingers up inside your greedy cunt and latching onto your clit viciously. You haul a leg over his shoulder and pull him in harder against you, your heel knocking against his spine. He digs his hands into the meat of your ass and hopes his fingernails leave little crescents. 

You come once on his fingers, heavy and slick, and look both exhausted and disappointed when he pulls his hand away. He sucks his fingers dry and nods to the elevator control panel. 

“Thing’s about to start working again. I’d get dressed if I were you.”

On cue the elevator begins to whir as someone somewhere deactivates the brake. As it starts to swoop downwards and finish its journey you scrabble to get your skirt back on while Roland grins at the show. 

He takes his suit jacket and walks out the door with confidence when they open, striding past the assembled staff with utter nonchalance. 

“Get that fucking thing fixed, almost ruined my evening,” he shouts at them, but anyone looking for too long can see his beard is soaked in you. You do your best to mimic his confidence, walking out as if the elevator room doesn’t reek of sex. 

He heads to the street, doesn’t say anything, but offers the cab driver two hundred dollars to ignore what’s happening in the back seat. You bark out your address and fall into his lap. 

Roland fingers you while you’re driven to your apartment. You’re one orgasm deep and high off it, and he makes you come again in the back of a dark taxi while easy listening plays over the radio. When the journey is over you grab his tie and pull him the two flights up to your home. He likes it a lot, being led like a dog, but there will be time to explore that another day. 

Because there will be another day. 

Roland takes immense joy in fucking you on the mattress he can only imagine your boyfriend has disappointed you on hundreds of times. He has stamina, you’ll give him that, and he ends up coming inside you three times over the following hours. By the end of it you’re lying on either side of the bed, sweaty and exhausted, just listening to the sound of your combined breathing. 

“Why do you wax?” is the question he chooses to break the silence with. You look confused, and he points to your pussy. 

“Oh. Personal preference I guess.”

“No, try again.”

“What—”

“I can tell when you’re lying. About this, anyway. Tell me why.”

You clench your jaw, but admit: “My boyfriend doesn’t like me hairy.”

Roland lets out a short, loud laugh that’s reminiscent of a bark.

“What, he afraid to get a pube in his mouth?”

“Roland!” you snap, and hit him with a pillow far harder than it has any right to feel.

“I’m just saying he’s a pussy. Wait, no, let’s not use that word, I fucking love pussy - he’s a coward. Grow it out if you want to grow it out, fuck him. If my face isn’t stuck to your cunt like Velcro then it’s no fun.”

You purse your lips but don’t say anything else.

The next time he fucks you, hair is beginning to grow there again. You’ve not really spoken about that night, and a couple of weeks have already passed. There’s been too much work to think about sex, anyway. Well, to act on it, at least. Well to act on it with each other - he’s not above admitting he kept your thong and likes to have the fabric over his mouth and nose while he jerks off into the toilet. You must know but you’ve not asked for it back, which he finds just wonderful.

The two of you are working late, main office lights off, lit by lamps, utterly exhausted. You’re in business mode, swapping ideas back and forth, butting heads a little but generally agreeing with what the other is saying. Excitement builds in the room and bubbles over to something else, and suddenly you’re in his lap stripping him off, and then he’s hefting you onto the desk and pulling down your skirt. He grins when he sees the slightly more natural state of your pussy and you roll your eyes at him.

“Don’t say a fucking word.”

“Oh, but I really want to.”

You silence him with a ferocious kiss and he begins to slide inside, too horny to bother getting out of his clothes properly; which is saying something because he loves being out of his clothes. He sheathes himself in you and you throw yourself back against the legal papers, not caring about how they scatter.

“So, your boyfriend pissed you off again?” he begins to thrust, pushing his girthy cock even deeper inside your creamy pussy.

“You wanna ask this while you’re inside me?”

He shrugs. He’s still hard as rock, so doesn’t seem to mind the discussion, so you humour him as he begins to work your clit with his thumb.

“Eh, a little. He’s always pissed me off to some level.”

“Why are you with him? You seem to fucking hate him.”

“We’ve been together - aah! - since we were in high school. Our families are friends. It’s just – oh, fuck – expected now.”

“Ahh, expectation, the truest form of love.”

You seem to mull that over, sincere, but you’re taken out of the moment when he slings one of your legs up over his shoulder and fucks into you so deeply you think he’s about to split you in half.

It becomes a more regular thing after that. Your little boyfriend is still around, but he’s none the wiser that you’re spending every other night fucking one of your coworkers. And the two of you are amazing at fucking. Roland believes you could sell tickets to a show to watch the two of you going at each other, feral and needy. And you’re kinky, too! One night you wrap his belt around his neck and squeeze it so hard his vision blurs and he comes more than he has since he was a teenager. On another, you fold him in two on your bed and take your time stretching his ass open before you peg him with the biggest dildo he’s ever seen. A prostate orgasm can really make you appreciate the world a little better.

You see each other a lot outside of work now, too. Usually he feels like the little dates you go on are extended foreplay, where you can run your foot up and down his leg and press your toes into his dick, but sometimes he has to admit he just likes going out with you. You’re a quick wit, whip-smart, and fucking filthy. You’re wasted on going out with that pathetic asshole, you really are.

And one night the two of you are working late, again. You’ve both ordered Chinese takeout from down the street, and have found yourselves distracted. Not with sex, not with arguing, but with trying to fling battered chicken balls into each others’ mouths across the length of the office. You’re in literal tears as Roland tries to wheel his chair into the chicken’s oncoming trajectory only to lose his balance and tumble out of it, landing miserably on his ass.

You can’t breathe. You grip the edge of the desk for support, tears streaming down your cheeks, the long line of your beautiful throat exposed as you throw your head back laughing, and Roland finds himself fucking enamoured with you. He wants to hear your laugh all day, every day, forever, actually. He wants to go home tonight knowing his is the only cock you have inside you. Fuck it if that’s possessive, he’ll promise the same thing if it means you’ll be only his.

He’s fucked.

He’s so fucked.

Roland Blum hates you.

Except he doesn’t really. He just has to tell himself that, or he’ll realise he’s fucking fallen in love.

[lepetitloir]

Astolfo and revenge

(Something I posted on twitter, that I'll add a bit to)

I don't think the message of Astolfo's story is "vengeance only does more harm than good". It's pointed out multiple times in the manga that vengeance/hatred is what keeps him going.

Hell, Astolfo is morally opposed to murder, he KNOWS. I genuinely believe he still doesn't want to kill, and only kills because he is stuck in a cycle, realizes this, and is trying to keep others out of it.

"Revenge/murder is bad" it not the lesson he has to learn. I have the theory that his story is about how people keep up discrimination so they can benefit from it.

(1) His family was "an active player in the war against vampires", and I get the feeling that's why the Granatum house is so wealthy. I mean, they had strong ties to the Church, while regularly holding the seat of Garnet. Of course Astolfo's father told him to kill vampires, he needs to be the Garnet Paladin so the family keeps its wealth and status! There's the implication in the manga that the Granatum family (and the Obsidian house) have their status thanks to their participation in the war. Once an institution benefits from something, it won't easily let go of that, no matter how morally apprehensive it is.

(2) Charles wants to make Astolfo the Garnet Paladin so he can become a symbol for the Chasseurs (or at least the vampire eradication faction, and like I said, killing vampires is what gave these people power, so it is very possible the vampire eradication faction is a reflection of that). Charles is building a narrative: "Astolfo Granatum's family was injustly killed by vampires, now he kills to avenge them, therefore he is justified to kill vampires". The weapon of the Garnet Paladin is named "Pillar of Justice". That Astolfo fights for justice is part of the whole act!

(3) I really think Astolfo kept resisting against his fate of "killing vampires". His father gives him the knife and he gets scared, Charles tells him to pick up Louisette and he gets scared...

In the end, he gives up. His self-hatred, carefully upheld by Charles, is too strong. He has no other options left, especially when Roland leaves him! This proves to me that he only "takes revenge" because he felt like there was nothing else for him left. I really want to emphasize the "he gave up his struggle" here.

So, I came to a conclusion that surprised me at first! "Hatred isn't automatically bad, preying on that hatred to push an agenda is bad". Astolfo is a victim of the institution he works for. That is the message, I believe.

I think that theme will be addressed in the current dham arc as well. So far it seems it's building towards it, with the whole scene of Vanitas explaining to Noé how discrimination works.

[tookishcombeferre]

Kay, so I have, in fact, still been writing fic. However, my brain has been pea soup because my meds have been all sorts of delayed to my pharmacy. So, strap yourselves in because I've been thinking, and that has once been called a dangerous pastime. Y'all know. A line I recently wrote for a prequel fic I'm working on to "In the Flares of the Sun" is this: "Cedric is an adult who deserves far more in life than to rely solely on the companionship of a child and a bird for his flourishing and development. Yet, somewhere along the line, someone decided that he should be grateful for any scrap of affection the world threw his way." (This is Miranda speaking btw. Generally, she and Cedric are the closest you're going to hear to "me," the author, talking when you're reading my fics.) Now, in fandom, we rightly talk a lot about how, through Sofia's kindness, Cedric found redemption. However, like ... that had to be kind of hard? Part of the reason I think his redemption is so non-linear is because everytime Sofia tried to give him a hand up Roland, or someone else, tried to punch him down. It's been commonly said that for every ONE negative comment we receive as human beings we need FIVE positive comments to counteract it. Lets ... Lets just think about that. If we assume by the "Day of the Sorcerers" Cedric is somewhere between 39, on the young end, and 42, on the old end, and at the time of "The Incident" he was 6, on the young end, and 9, on the old end. That's something like ... what almost 3+ decades of KINGDOMS worth of negativity that then ONE child is trying to counteract? So, like, yeah, Sofia is awesome. Full stop. She's amazing! But, Cedric needs SOME credit in accepting what she offers him. The fact that he does accept what Sofia offers to him, and readily, speaks to a SINCERE amount of intrinsic goodness IN HIM. I'm amazed that this character isn't full and complete Horned King or Maleficent levels of evil! He still has compassion left in him. He still has a heart. He still HAS goodness left to BE fostered. He is not, at all, heartless. He. Still. Loves. THAT is impressive. THAT takes guts. I just started my second rewatch with my kid. And, what has struck me on round 2, is just how ready he is to accept Sofia's kindness even in episode 3. I LOVE that it doesn't stick because that's real. However, to me, what that really foreshadows well is the finale. Sofia facing off Vor? Cedric's already done that. WITHIN HIMSELF. He has looked in the mirror every. single. day. and fought himself. The creators actually did, I think, a great job of setting up, subtly, what that final battle was going to be about though subtext. In that final battle, the subtext just becomes main text. Sofia's foil has already been battling apathy, despair, loneliness, and villainy within himself the whole darn series. In the finale, we just get to see that same fight externalized between the living personification of the evil perspective. Vor is what happens when you - as is literally done by Prisma - bring all the pieces of Disney villains together. There may have been some pieces of Disney villains in Cedric's character design. But, not in his heart. Not in personality. Vor IS the literal pieces, the TOOLS, of the past villians. She IS evil. Further, what I love about this, is that this means Sofia isn't alone in what she has done in the finale. She isn't the only character who has looked evil in the face and won. She doesn't have to be alone. My major issue with the Protector story arc is how much responsibility Sofia is forced to take on at such a young age. (I am SO team Miranda on this one.) However, at least in this case, Sofia has a mentor who did the hard thing first. Cedric has full and total empathy for how hard it is to look at the living embodiment of villainy and face it off with kindness - Sofia's kindness. Because, that's what Cedric had to do in the mirror for years with himself until he made the final choice to choose goodness. And, you know what? I think that's really heroic and admirable.

[starryficsfinishwen]

do u think that long distance enemy romance got roland fucking his fist over commandant ...

I intended to answer this ask when I first received it (anw long story short I choked on my breakfast that day LOL) so I

wrote this with my kiffy. no others words can be explained.

[NSFW under the cut!]

NSFW THEMES: male masturbation, hallucinations that the reader is giving him a blowjob and riding him, I think that's mostly it.

banner credits - @/cafekitsune!

“Fuck you, Roland.”

“You wish could be interpreted as your deepest desire, Commandant.”

The sweet, sinister smile on your face could only make the very steel heart of Roland rattle. “...it's up for interpretation, then.”

From that small exchange alone, alongside the used panties that Roland "mysteriously received" from the Commandant in question, Roland would never have thought he'd find himself in this predicament:

Fucking his fist over for you.

The obscenity, should you have known, would have made you flabbergasted if you ever encountered it.

Low groans and choked breathing. In a spare room where no other corrupted or Ascendant could hear, Roland sits in front of the mirror. How stupidly obscene this part of the play was; him, jaw slacked and sweat on his face, panties wrapped around his hard and leaking shaft, a steady pace as he bucks his hips, jerking off to the very thought of you.

This was something that only teenage boys with raging hormones do. But even Roland himself couldn't believe he's doing it.

“Such a painful little tease, dear,” he grits his teeth as he treads along the edge of ecstasy, sensitive tip now rubbing the wet part of the panties, “hah- fuck, you are such a mischievous little minx.”

Would you believe that not even Roland's shadow could save him from the horny mess he was in?

“I should have killed you when I had the chance, ngh,” the feeling was far too good when he wraps the panties around his shaft, eyes now deceiving himself when the reflection in the mirror shows a hallucination of you, “b-but now, you're the one making me fucking imagine you under me...”

He smelt your panties before he had it on his cock. It smelled rich with your arousal, as if you were touching yourself before you had it sent to him. He thinks it must have been the reason for this hallucination of you, with that dirty mouth of yours, doe eyes looking at him as you took all of his cock in your mouth. Oh, the feeling, it made his M.I.N.D. wonder— how would such an esteemed commandant like you would look like under him? Fuck, you must be so compliant, Roland thinks; that little mouth of yours that loved to curse him, used like a fleshlight for him to just use. Pretty doe eyes looking at him with fear and admiration, breathing through your nose, nails raking on his thighs, as he chases his high. God, this empty space meant nothing if Roland couldn't fuck you here.

When he blinks, the grip on his cock tightens— he must be onto something, as he sees your body in the mirror, pussy split apart by his dick. Your body, compliant with your legs slung across his thighs, hands clutching his arms. His M.I.N.D. must be playing games this time, but he can't help but indulge in it; after all, this was the body that he'd been imagining all this goddamn time, fueled by your teasing.

“Hah, Commandant [Y/N]...”

You would have loved this sight anyway.

Your attraction to Roland was not a secret subject. You knew, he knows— something that would make Babylonia punish you. But who were they to judge? Roland would burn the world just for a touch from you.

His fingers over all of your sensitive parts, tenderly teasing your nipples on your breasts, a bruising grip on your hips when he fucks you harshly, watching your tits bounce from every thrust, bullying your poor overstimulated clit, hearing your delicious moans— fuck, Roland would do everything, if it meant bringing Babylonia down, just for you—

“You minx, fucking ah-”

The thought of your pussy squeezing him when he ruts into you had him moan your name out loud, teetering to the edge of his climax. A cry of your name, the thought of you being claimed by him— Roland unraveled himself on your panties, hot, white, and heavy cum coating the inside.

As fast as the hallucinations came, they disappeared immediately. Roland, reveling in the unfortunate afterglow by himself, couldn't help but groan at the mess he made. It made him wish that it was you who was cleaning it up with your mouth.

Oh, the tragedy.

“Goddamn you, Commandant...”

Maybe it's time to pay back with a little gift to his Commandant, then.

I wrote this at 3 am in a daze LMFAO

— starry

[demifiendcruithne]

today on digital devil saga 2 is criminally under-researched (aka crui is a nerd about a 20 year old game)

so i finally got the impulse/opportunity to test out something i've been suspecting for a while but have never seen any documentation on: dds2 has some form of STAB* mechanic with elemental spells for playable characters, based on their associated element (the one they resist + the one their unique gun combos use)

*for non-pokemon folk: STAB == same-type attack bonus. so for example, a chimecho (psychic type pokemon) using extrasensory (psychic type move) will deal more damage than a non-psychic-type pokemon with the same special attack against the same target

i have more tests i intend to make when i have spoons (i'm just grinding mantras for the superboss and noticed it while fighting wild narasimha because that hecker disables my berserker ring), but so far i've tested with my three active characters fulfilling the following:

are fighting the exact same narasimha who has no elemental weakness/resistance/etc (savestates were used and run multiple times; the rng is not fixed until a move is actually used, so i could get multiple data points quickly by making a new savestate every time i loaded it to advance the rng)

have 99 magic

are level 99

have no elemental boost or amp skills equipped

have no rings equipped that may affect damage, outside of boosting magic stat to 99 for consistency

use two different dynes; one of their associated element, and one not. the former consistently did more, and with repeated runs i cannot write it off as damage range.

under cut: many images; by virtue of being in endgame, these will have some spoilers for endgame in plain sight. if you're reading this and haven't gotten to the final dungeon, i highly recommend you go do that and come back later. once you've reached the final dungeon, you're safe to check it out.

(but seriously - i can't stop you, but i highly recommend actually. playing this game first. it's great)

if you're reading this, you've either gotten to the final dungeon or don't care about spoilers; in case of the latter, i'll do a quick explanation of our last party member momentarily. i have been a little misleading because they are. very much a BIG spoiler. but first - gale resists force, and does more damage with zandyne than bufudyne; likewise argilla with earth/teradyne/ziodyne.

(bufudyne was a random pick for gale because i had only five for omoikane reasons, but in hindsight it was a good one...)

now - for those unaware, this last party member's name is seraph. they're a fusion of two other party members both of said party members were associated with/resisted ice, and i'm near-certain that they also got the boost to bufu spells (i can check this at some point, i have a backup save right before endgame) the same way gale and argilla do.

but what's seraph's elemental affinities? no weaknesses, no resistances. so what does this mean here?

extra screenshots because the first agidyne was a high roll - literally the highest i've seen on a non-stab unboosted dyne against a narasimha. yet it's still clearly estranged from gale's zandyne and argilla's teradyne.

the other part? seraph's bufudyne does the same as gale's, and the same as argilla's ziodyne and their own agidyne, the same as expected without stab.

i'm not sure what else to say about this thus far besides putting a list of further tests to do eventually / get proper data for:

100s of attempts so it can be statistically analysed better. easy to code the data collection into seraph (my helper program, named after this seraph because. yeah), possibly more difficult to analyse but my partner got me into this game he can deal with the consequences (being asked to do data stuff) :v

including cielo and heat as well, probably after i beat satan and grind them up as a victory lap (in the mantras sense not the internment facility sense)

earlier save reloads for data for serph, sera, and roland - i doubt they'd be any different, but regardless

other elemental spells - both the basic and -la levels, the ma-s, the maxed out mantra ones, and the dances. is the boost approximately consistent?

does it affect combos? i believe it doesn't, same as amp skills and the like (and because i feel like i would have noticed by now), but will get data for both participants initiating

does it affect items? i feel like that's unlikely, but worth trying

is there a 'reverse-stab' for someone's weakness? i don't think so, but i'll get the data for free and if there's a trend i just got to test the ailment damagers for cielo

likewise, is the elemental boost innate like the gun combo elements? almost certainly. but it would be funny if equipping x resist made your x do more damage. and also not really that helpful?

does seraph get a boost on almighty? my first instinct would be yes, purely because of seraph's gun combo doing almighty damage; it's near-useless if you got reincarnate but still worth checking. and if so, does ragnarok behave differently from megido+/last word?

on that note, does seraph resist almighty? i... wouldn't be surprised - status only says no weakness, not no resistance, but almighty resistance tends to be invisible anyway (looking at you, devil survivor 2 that shows everything else) (you're fine just using as an example)

that would be a lot harder to test but if i get a party of seraph / someone with dragon ring / someone else with all maxed stats and just find something with megido+

anything else i might have forgotten

if you hack pyriphlegethon onto heat does it do more damage. i don't think i can test this one but i would. honestly be curious

but yeah. this is pretty cool, maybe i'll check for it in dds1 as well. if anyone else checks any of this out and makes a writeup or anything please ping me i have autistic hyperfocused on jrpg mechanics for over two decades :v

[doc42]

"It is more than a story."

Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow in GRRM's very first novel Dying of the Light.

"In the holdfasts of the Ironjade Gathering, for example, boys were taught that the universe has only thirty stars, and High Kavalaan is its center. Mankind originated there, when Kay Iron-Smith and his teyn Roland Wolf-Jade were born of a mating between a volcano and a thunderstorm. They walked steaming from the lips of the volcano into a world full of demons and monsters, and for many years they wandered far and near, having various adventures. At last they came across a deep cave beneath a mountain, and inside they found a dozen women, the first women in the world. The women were afraid of the demons and would not come out. So Kay and Roland stayed, seizing the women roughly and making them eyn-kethi. The cave became their holdfast, the women birthed them many sons, and thus began Kavalar civilization."

"Most Kavalars think of the banshee only as a plague and a menace," Jaan Vikary explained. "In its natural habitat it is a frequent man-killer, and the hunters of Braith and Redsteel and the Shanagate Holding think of banshee as the ultimate game, with a single exception. Ironjade has always been different. There is an ancient myth, of the time Kay Iron-Smith and his teyn Roland Wolf-Jade were fighting alone against an army of demons in the Lameraan Hills. Kay had fallen, and Roland, standing over him, was weakening by the moment, when from over the hills the banshees came, many of them flying together, black and thick enough to block out the sun. They fell hungrily onto the demon army and consumed them, one and all, leaving Kay and Roland alive. Later, when that teyn-and-teyn found their cave of women and established the first Ironjade holdfast, the banshee became their brother-beast and sigil. No Ironjade has ever killed a banshee, and legend says that whenever a man of Ironjade is in danger of his life, a banshee will appear to guide and protect him." "A pretty story," Dirk said. "It is more than a story," Janacek said. "There is a bond between Ironjade and banshee, t'Larien. Perhaps it is psionic, perhaps the things are sentient, perhaps it is all instinct. I do not pretend to know. Yet the bond exists." "Superstition," Gwen said. "You really must not think too badly of Garse. It's not his fault that he never got much of an education."

And the dragonlore.

We shall not pretend to any understanding of the bond between dragon and dragonrider; wiser heads have pondered that mystery for centuries. We do know, however, that dragons are not horses, to be ridden by any man who throws a saddle on their back.

Who can know the heart of a dragon? Was it simple bloodlust that drove the Blue Queen to attack? Did the she-dragon come to help one of the combatants? If so, which? Some will claim that the bond between a dragon and dragonrider runs so deep that the beast shares his master’s loves and hates. But who was the ally here, and who the enemy? Does a riderless dragon know friend from foe?

These were the likely events, Vikary argued, self-evident truths that produced modern Kavalar society. Jamis-Lion Taal, wandering the face of the world many generations later, had been so much a child of his culture that he was unable to conceive of a world in which women held any status other than what he saw; and when he was forced to think otherwise by the folklore he collected, he thought the idea intolerably wicked. Thus he rewrote all the oral literature as he cast his Demonsong cycle. He transformed Kay Iron-Smith into a thundering giant of a man, made the Sorrowing Plague a ballad of eyn-kethi wickedness, and generally created the Impression that the world had always been the way he found it. Later poets built on the foundations he had laid.

On Braavos, it had seemed possible that Aemon might recover. Xhondo's talk of dragons had almost seemed to restore the old man to himself. That night he ate every bite Sam put before him. "No one ever looked for a girl," he said. "It was a prince that was promised, not a princess. Rhaegar, I thought . . . the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King's Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. What fools we were, who thought ourselves so wise! The error crept in from the translation. Dragons are neither male nor female, Barth saw the truth of that, but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame. The language misled us all for a thousand years. Daenerys is the one, born amidst salt and smoke. The dragons prove it." Just talking of her seemed to make him stronger. "I must go to her. I must. Would that I was even ten years younger."

[dotversion2]

Dot Explains the Plot of Library of Ruina

Preamble:

Library of Ruina is my favorite game of all time. A big part of that comes from the characters and the story. The problem, if you want to call it that, is that the game has a lot of characters and a lot of story and all of it has layers worth analyzing. While I cannot cover everything that happens, I can at least impart upon you and your friends a shortened version of the game's events with most of the key points intact. This can be useful as a refresher to anyone looking to remind themselves of the plot events for the sake of writing their own fics, people who want a more comprehensive timeline of events but don't want to dig through Fanon's awful website, or you just enjoy reading my writing. This was originally written to get a friend of mine caught up on the game events so she could watch a stream I am on where I am cohosting a friend's blind playthrough.

Before we begin, broad content warning: this game goes to some pretty dark places. Everything will be under the cut; that said, while not every chapter covers these topics, here's what to expect.

Chapter 1: Canard

Roland materializes within an unknown location, cursing his abrupt appearance within this mysterious place. He is quickly met by a darkly dressed figure who immediately begins questioning him on how he arrived within 'the Library' without an 'Invitation.' He explains hastily that he has no idea how he got there. He was simply wandering the backstreets looking for his favorite sandwich shop. The woman, unsatisfied with his answers, pulls his arms and legs off. He eventually blacks out from shock and blood loss.

Roland awakens a few days later to find that he is both alive and fully restored. His tormentor is still there, now clad far less threateningly. She apologizes for her actions earlier and explains that she has not only healed him but returned him to his physical peak. She introduces herself as Angela and explains that she is the Head Librarian of the Library (of which he has wandered into). Roland introduces himself, explaining he is a Rank 9 Fixer who had fallen on hard times. Angela offers him a job as the Patron Librarian of the Floor of General Works, explaining that the job is split between organizing books on the given topic and handling Receptions. Angela explains that she sends out Invitations which offer Guests books with information they desire if they can complete a trial within the Library. That trial is a duel to the death against the Librarians of that Floor. Roland, having few connections in the outside world, agrees to the offer.

Canard Receptions

There are four Receptions in Canard and they are thankfully mostly world-building so I can lump them together. I will not be so lucky later. The first Reception is the Rats, a trio of vagrants scraping by day-to-day. Rats is a term used to define any consistent group that isn't registered with a Fixer Office or Syndicate. Said Rats are organ harvesting in Zwei Association territory to build up the money and rep needed to join the Stray Dogs syndicate. While examining their current victim, they discover that he has an orange circle on the back of his neck and that his organs already seem scrambled. The group does, however, discover the Invitation with the man's stomach. Signing, a door appears before them. When stepping through, they enter the Library. The Librarians never lose a fight in canon so I won't go into details describing any of them unless something important happens during the fight. Assume every Reception ends with "and then everyone got turned into books".

The second Reception is Yun's Office, a Rank 8 Fixer Office that is struggling to make ends meet. They have fallen on such hard times that they have taken to doing the most banal of odd jobs like finding lost pets. The Invitation appears on Yun's desk but he pass it off to some of his employees to investigate. When they don't return but a second Invitation offering the books of his fallen comrades does, Yun sends his understudy Finn in his place. Finn is defeated and a third invite arrives. Yun finally enters personally and gets berated by Angela for exploiting Finn's loyalty and getting him killed. Yun callously explains that the City is built on people exploiting each other and, if he didn't exploit Finn, someone worse would. This angers the Director who leaves to let Roland do his thing. After the battle, Angela asks Roland during this encounter if he knew Yun since they were both Fixers. Roland retorts that not every Fixer knows every other Fixer and that there are a lot of Offices big and small.

The third Invitation is the Brotherhood of Iron, a trio of cyborgs. They pawned off their organs for their combat augments which allow them to disregard eating and sleeping while having drawbacks of their own that require addressing. The receive the Invitation and face the trials within. This is when we are introduced to the politics of AI within the setting. While full human transformation is considered acceptable, fully artificial beings are outlawed by The Head (the governing body of the City). Angela's existence stands in opposition to that decree, leading Roland to wonder what her creators were thinking defying such a crucial law with such heavy consequences.

The final Reception is of the Hook Office. While technically a Fixer Office, their specialty is murder and mayhem. Roland laments seeing criminals hiding their true intentions behind the legitimacy that comes with being an organized office. One of the Hook Office members takes a swing at Angela when she greets them. This does less than nothing since she is unto a god while within the Library. She sighs and leaves so Roland can do his thing.

The Suppression of Bloodbath

I am not going to go over every Abnormality Suppression because there are nearly 50 of them but I will go over at least the first one to explain why they are done.

After having to solo an entire Fixer Office himself, Roland complains to Angela that the workload she has given him outstrips what one person can feasibly do. To his surprise, Angela agrees and says that there is a way to acquire additional help but it won't be easy. She explains that there are books within the Library that contain Abnormalities (monstrous manifestations of the human psyche) and the Lobotomy Corporation employees assigned to observe them. If he can enter those books and 'suppress' the Abnormality, she can reawaken the employee. Furthermore, suppressed Abnormalities can lend their aid to him through their boons. Roland accepts the offer and enters the book of the Abnormality 'Bloodbath,' a tub filled with blood that pulls in those who stare at it for too long. After defeating the monster, Roland gets his first assistant. Assistant Librarians are not named characters but create-a-characters you can customize yourself. Interestingly, if you have a Lobotomy Corporation save on your PC, the awakening employees will be pulled directly into your new game.

The Floor of Literature

Upon completing the battle with Yun's Office, Roland notices that the Library has expanded upwards to a new floor… and he can hear people arguing. Following the voices, he sees a woman arguing with Angela. She says that she has not forgiven Angela for what happened while Angela simply states that they don't have to like each other, so long as they each do their jobs. Once Angela leaves, the woman introduces herself as Malkuth, the Patron Librarian of the Floor of Literature. She used to be the department head for the Control Team at Lobotomy Corporation and one of the nine Sephirah (human brains put into robot bodies intended to run the departments of LobCorp's central branch). Roland asks how he can help her with her work and she responds that bringing in more books helps them progress Angela's goals and awaken the other Sephirah. Malkuth is generally a preppy ray of sunshine (except for when it comes to Angela).

Having a second floor means you can now field two sets of units in a reception, with the second taking over if the first falls. The returning Sephirah also help catch the player up on what happened in LobCorp and help give a sort of narrative parity between the two games. In their third conversation together, Malkuth explains what Angela did that pissed everyone off so badly. Speaking of...

What did Angela do that pissed everyone off so badly?

Explaining this kind of requires explaining how Lobotomy Corporation is played so- LobCorp is a base management sim where you have to run the world's most dangerous power company while a bunch of those robots from Borderlands yell at you. Over the course of 50 days, you have to complete a certain number of research goals and productivity quotas to generate an unknown substance referred to as Light that will supposedly help break everyone from the collective mental ennui that has gripped the world. This is broken up every so often by one of the Sephirah having a mental breakdown you have to talk them down from. If you find yourself in a dead end gameplay-wise because all your best employees were killed in a freak accident involving an inconspicuous button, you can rewind back to certain points in the timeline and go from there.

At the end of day 50, after all the Sephirah have their arcs and X (the player character who is a clone of another character called Ayin) confronts his creator, the LobCorp office has finally collected enough Light to fulfill the initial goal of spreading it over the City. It will take seven days, but it will be worth it to finally lift the malaise that has filled everyone's hearts. Ayin and what's left of Carmen (the other founder she will come up again later) enter the great pillar of Light and disappear from the world. The Sephirah prepare to earn their eternal reward (death) and shutter the facility. However, after everything that's happened, after everything that she's gone through, Angela did not wish to simply die and disappear from the world. She wanted to live. With Ayin gone and her programming fulfilled, she was finally able to act freely and did so by standing in opposition of the Department Heads. She would take the Light for herself to do with as she wished. Eight of the Sephirah stood against her, with only one taking her side. Angela released the Abnormalities into the facility, pushing the departments and their employees to the brink trying to contain them while two of the department heads (Gebura and Binah) had a climactic anime duel that was probably undercut by them being rhombuses.

After three days of fighting, Angela and the Sephirah called a truce and brokered a deal: Angela would release half the Light over the City and keep the other half to herself. The Sephirah would also be joining her, kept in stasis until she could construct new bodies for them. Thus we have the White Nights and Dark Days: the three days of Light and then the four days of its absence. During those four days of darkness, the Pianist emerges as the first Distortion. Roland finds his way into the Library not long after (though exactly how long is kind of up for debate).

And that's more or less what happens in Canard. Come back next time for Urban Myth, our third Patron Librarian, and Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies.

This is the shortest one of these, btw.

Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Sparring

Author's note: More of Petras in Divergence Husbandry. Thank you to @kit-williams for letting me borrow Arnault and Roland. Also, thanks for helping with some dialogue and characterization of Roland and Arnault.

Summary: Petras, Arnault and Roland have a conversation and a sparring match.

Warning: Let me know if I need to add anything.

Past =-= Next

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged: @sleepyfan-blog, @ms--lobotomy , @thevoidscreams, @i-am-a-dragon34, @gra93fruit-blog

Petras is begrudgingly speaking with Emperor’s Champion Arnault and Battle Brother Roland. He does not like either of them, dislikes how protective they are of the abominations known as Primaris Marines. The first time he had mentioned such creatures in passing to them, he had their sharp, calculated attention, and the pair of them had been highly judgemental. Like that damned high ranking Apothecary who had taken in Apprentice Cedric, one of the few of the Primaris that he had known was off limits.

As that particular Chaplain had told him in crystal clear terms what exactly he'd do to Petras if the Chaplain harmed a hair on Cedric’s head. Punishment of that particular Primaris Marines was only for that Apothecary to dole out. And his reactions to other first borns testing him on it had been swift, severe and public enough that Petras didn't want to risk the reprisal He'd get.

“You attack and/or kill any of the Primaris Space Marine,” Arnault says, after asking for a friendly sparring match and Petras loses. Soundly. The Emperor's Champion has his blade lightly grazing his neck, a few beads of blood dripping down his neck, “I will hunt you down and kill you. Slowly.”

“We,” Roland clarified. “We will hunt you down and kill you. Slowly. Painfully.”

“Don’t go near them,” Arnault says, “unless they want to approach you. Don't talk to them, don't approach them. Don't speak of them to others.”

“... Fine.” Petras says through gritted teeth. “I will hear and heed your words.”

“You better,” Arnault says, leaning a bit more of his weight against his chest before stepping away from him and tending to his blade.

He does not offer a hand to help him up from the sparring match. It's unsportsmanlike, but it will help drive his point across to Petras even more. Roland was refereeing the match, watching it with his arms crossed as he leaned against the back wall, eyes sharp and assessing.

“So, from the way you swagger, and you change in scent,” Arnault says after Petras has gotten off the ground and brushed the dirt off the sparring gear he has on. “How was fucking your baseline going?”

“That is extremely private information!” Petras sputters,but doesn't deny it. His ears are a burning red as He scowls at his fellow Black Templar.

“Tough shit,” Arnault snaps back, “You need to talk to us about it so that we know that you aren’t going too far. And that you are following the guide book that I oh so helpfully made for we human fucker Astares.”

Petras blusters and snarls at the pair of them, but does give them the lurid details of what he and his human have been up to together. Roland and Arnault also share graphic details of their more intimate relationships with their Bonded. As much as Roland and Arnault do not like Petras, he's a rare sort of Astartes to understand and have a Bond as Intense as theirs is. To be able to talk to someone else with the same kind of bond is refreshing even if they really don't like him.

Arnault has more reasons than safety and health for his darling Angela’s friend, who had the misfortune to Bond with a baby brother killing bastard, at least from the information he and Toland were able to shake out of the boys for Petras in M42. As far as Arnault and Roland are aware of, Petras hasn't killed anyone on Ancient Terra. He has seen that Petras is slowly changing, that the crotchety old bastard's better nature is slowly being dragged out of him by the Warp Bond.

Also, with enough evidence and black mail he can bully Petras into un-excommunicating Roland. He knows that with what he has done and his literature that it is very unlikely that Petras could swing it for both of them. But, that is a plan that he's waiting to unfold in the process of months.

Arnault and Roland know that the boys, especially the Black Templars Primaris Marines, would react very poorly to all of this. They understand why they are too close, and have been personally hurt, abused, and in some cases outright murdered by Petras in M42. It would not be possible for them to be objective, or understanding, especially since only Pallius is Bonded, and the rest of them are more than half feral flighty, endearing younger brothers and cousins that really don't understand Bonds at all.

Arnault notices a flash of blue and gold and leans out of the sparring chambers that he and Roland had reserved for today. Huh. That was odd, he thought He had seen a flash of Ultramarine armor. But as he scans the halls he doesn't see a bit of blue and gold of that paper pushing bureaucratic Chapter.

“I think we should Wrap things up,” Arnault says, “we have run out of time for reserving this sparring session. Looks like we ran over by forty-five minutes.”

“I am surprised that someone hasn't poked Their heads in to check up on us.” Roland says. “Especially since we reserved this sparring ring to spar.”

“I thought I saw a flash of blue and gold,” Arnault says, “but no fussy Ultramarine scolding for running over time.”

“This Is a base primarily run by Imperial Fists and Salamanders,” Roland points out, however he does help bully Petras into moving faster.

Petras grumbles and rolls his eyes before finishing up cleaning and checking Over his weapons and armor as they head out of the able to be reserved for sparring rooms. Petras slinks out of the Base through one of the back exits. While Arnault and Roland head over to the area to check in and notice that the person on duty is Oleandros.

“Hey Olly,” Roland says with a fond smile.”Thanks for letting us run A bit over the reserved time.”

“Getting time Lost is easy,” Oleandros says. He seems fidgety and distracted by something.

“Something bothering you?” Roland asks.

Oleandros looks at him and Arnault and his eyes slide around as if searching for something, but he doesn't seem to find it.

Oleandros shakes head, “Not that I want to talk to you about it. Yet anyways.”

Arnault hums softly just looking him over, "You saw our third guest." He says softly just an observation not chastising him.

As much as he loves his little brothers and took up making sure their cousins were also safe they were still also unbonded they didn't understand which also made them feral. "We have it handled.”

“... try not to go over reservation time,” Oleandros says in a hollow tone of voice, as if he's staying something scripted. “Otherwise penalties or what not can happen.”

“Thank you for the warning Olly.” Roland says after they finish checking out.

Oleandros seems to rock back and forth, as if he wanted to say something but wasn't Sure of their reaction.

“Something else?” Arnault asks.

“... Accurate numbers of sparring partners and who they are should be put on the forms when submitting requests for reserved rooms.” Oleandros quotes, “...otherwise potential bad things could happen.”

“Roland and I came out these doors and came in these ones,” Arnault points out.

“...Yes.” Oleandros says not looking at them as he rocks side to side in the chair More.

“... did you check on us to see why we were running over time?” Roland asks looking at the Ultramarine battle brother piercing.

“... Per the rules I have to check,” Oleandros squeaks at them hiding behind a clipboard and paperwork.”in case of injury or something.”

“... Please don't tell the others about who we were sparring with.” Roland asks, trying not to swear.

“... Not my place to tell them who you spar with so long as the sparring partners don't go after them.” Oleandros mutters quietly, his eyes flashing with emotions before he curls in on himself.