#because we all have our own experiences and little tricks that help us and that's important to recognize

[mrchoppedslefthand]

Homicipher Random Headcanons/Scenarios [NSFW]

Edit:11/07/2024

I desperately needed to post the random head canons and scenarios of our husbands that my brain kept cooking up (+ some from discord friends), so the list is not organized. Also, since we shape shift, I'm going to assume we can choose whenever we have a cock or pussy (because I want to be fucked and do the fucking) Anyways...enjoy the food thought.

Characters: Mr. Crawling, Mr. Chopped Mr. Silvair, Mr. Hood, Mr. Gap, Mr. Machete, Mr. Scarletella

Warnings: mentions of NSFW, mentions of some canon-typical violence, implications of dubcon, mentions of somnophilia, implied cuckold

Mr. Crawling

He can be submissive top. Constantly asking you if you love him during intimacy. He would ask if you enjoy playing with him as you pound yourself onto him. He would be a moaning mess and probably wouldn't know what to do about it as he clumsily places his hands around your waist.

He would definitely eat you out without you asking once intimacy had been initiated.

Afraid of hurting you, he wouldn't be too rough, instead he would be more tender and gentler when it comes to intimacy.

He definitely would love it when you play with his hair, allowing you to braid it or do whatever as long it doesn't involve cutting his precious hair.

He actually gets jealous easily, but he doesn't verbalize it, instead he shows it through his actions.

He is better with his hands, than his cock. So sometimes you prefer that over his cock. His cock is more on the average/smaller side and it's cute.

He definitely has a praise kink.

Mr. Chopped

He lacks a body, so to make up for it he is extremely expressive and open with his feelings. Which makes him a little fun to bully, to see all those cute expressions he could make.

He probably would be very good with his mouth and tongue, let him be your personal rose toy/fleshlight if you will. He can't fight back and have no choice but to whimper about it.

Imagine getting sick and fainting with him nearby, he can't move or do anything but helplessly cry for you to wake up and starts crying out help for Mr. Silvair to come help him and you.

Maybe one day, for a day of tricks and pranks. Mr. Stitch will allow Mr. Chopped a day in his body, so they swap places, stitching Mr. Chopped in place of Mr. Stitch's head. It had been a very long time since Mr. Chopped felt sensations beyond his head, so he happens to be very sensitive and clumsy with his hands. Everywhere you touch overwhelms him, he melts and becomes a moaning mess, but Mr. Chopped isn't the only one feeling all these sensations. Mr. Stitch can still feel it too. He is intrigued by today's type of play.

He definitely would be more on the whiny and needy side when it comes to pleasure, he lacks a body, but he can still feel lust. He can't do anything about it, which makes him extremely needy and extra pouty.

Mr. Silvair

Definitely would have had intimacy with other ghosts/humans before to research the body and performance during mid transformation if it differed.

Imagine one day he finds a mysterious liquid that fell from the 'other world' and feeds it to you, himself and the other ghosts in your crew. Only to find out it was an aphrodisiac. It was the first time he felt such a strong sensation of lust. At first, he mistakes this strong desire to be violence, so he starts to self-inflict wounds onto himself. You attempt to stop him, but soon find yourself to be underneath him as he bites into your neck, drawing blood. Surprised at seeing the often-composed man, turning into a ravage beast. You somehow manage to find something to tie him up and have your way with him.

He probably likes overstimulation on you...but also himself. He would love to research on how much his body can go and handle.

He would actually be a switch, for research purposes. To take and give he'd do anything for research. It had been long long ago since his body used to be human, and he often forgets about his own experiences if he doesn't write them down, but no worries, he has you by his side now to keep remembering.

Mr. Hood

He is quiet but speaks whenever he finds it suited for. But if you need him, he would be happy to talk with you.

He is a bit insecure about his body, he doesn't have arms or hands or even legs, he is an entity of nothing. The clothes are what shape his form, and well maybe he not entirely a entity of nothing. You had a glimpse before, a small glimpse and sensation of a squishy and somewhat slimy part that had belonged to him. You never mentioned though, but if it was you'd love him still anyways.

He realized that some words had been a bit harder for you to keep in mind and remember and so he thought of a special way to get you learning. Learning with what humans call pleasure. He fucks you and asks you what certain things are, and if you get it wrong, he denies you from coming. You have become determined to learn your words properly even more so now. Because if you remember you get rewarded with the most absolute fulfilling fuck of your life.

Since most of his body is invisible or nothing. If you mouth fucked him you would be able to see that real good, it is strangely erotic watching your cock move inside his mouth.

Mr. Gap

When you're sleeping, sometimes he might just cuddle against your leg or lower half. He loves the feeling of warmth, compared to his hollow darkness.

He definitely seems like the type of person to eat you out while you're asleep. Playing around and waiting for you to wake up to watch your reaction. Of course, he would only do this though if he knew you'd allow it. He values consent.

Imagine taking your backpack to school and you have to take out a pencil for a test. When you open your backpack, you realize it is just an empty void and hear a voice asking for your heart in exchange for the pencil. Yeah... you accepted your fate. You just failed your exam...

When you become a moaning mess under him, he can't understand but he knows that from your sweet voice, and moans, that it's a good thing. He knows to keep continuing.

One day Mr. Gap gathers his usual newspapers that fall from the rubble or somehow manages to grab one from the human realm. He notices a magazine that discusses about marriage and giving rings on the fourth finger. Intrigued about this idea, he asks you for your all four of your fingers, but you misunderstand and refuse to give him your fingers. He's sad but soon you later find out that he was asking for your hand in marriage, literally but also figuratively.

Mr. Machete

We would wonder aimlessly for an eternity together searching for his/your home. But eventually our subconscious would recognize each other as home instead.

He would definitely mock and laugh at how fast you would falter/melt under his touch. Calling you "weak" for coming so fast but would give kisses here and there after the mocking.

He'd probably be into throat fucking and laugh at you looking pathetic, he loves reactions that aren't boring, so seeing you choke on his cock seems like a great idea.

He definitely would come inside most of the time.

When he fucks you, his cock would probably bulge out a little from your stomach, fascinated by it he'd roughly press his hand down near that area.

He is our beefy dumb macho, perfect.

If you mouth/fucked him he would tell you he feels nothing, but his eyes would already be red and tearing. He's a pathetic coward.

Mr. Scarletella

He belongs to you, and you belong to him, together forever, in a hellish world. He loves the destruction you bring into his life and does the same for you.

Oh boy, he would absolutely devour you, his queen, in pleasure. Fuck you stupid to the point you're just a blabbering mess, hands on waist, and long fingers in your mouth, as he pounds deeply into you.

He seems like the type of guy to fuck you during your period.

Definitely gets jealous easily and he makes it know when he gets that way.

Imagine your fucked/fucking another ghost and you hear static within the distance, the sound slowly starts to come closer and closer until you hear the static in the room. Your crimson servant arrives and witnesses your fantastic display of intimacy. Jealous, he kills them and becomes extra possessive and quite terrifying, but you love it so much. How he seems so lost and pathetic without you.

You don't know his name, but neither does he know yours. Despite this disconnect, you still manage to give him some sort of other named to be called. It's connected to your name, but he knows it's not all of it, he can't fully whisk you away, but he's okay with that. You are still bound to him for an eternity anyway.

If Mr. Scarletella went back to the human world with you instead, he would appear to be the one most suited for fitting in. Just slack some foundation on his face, make him wear gloves and he would blend in quite well. Well...except for his odd habit of asking every stranger for their name and laughing and giggling crazily each time.

He would have a praise and degradation kink, he's not a whore. He's YOUR whore. He likes being YOURS.

[arkaniist]

not to be overly dramatic about this and please forgive the forthcoming yap but i have to talk about this panel + a slightly weird trend i've seen in the fandom for a long time (but especially after the last chapter with a possible mention of sebastian's past).

it has long, long been established that sebstian did not exist before ciel summoned him. i am not saying this in a vague 'because love changed him' kind of way (even tho it did also do that but more on that later). i mean literally. ontologically. the being we know as sebastian, the protagonist of kuroshitsuji, came into existence near the beginning of the series of events being related to us by the manga, for and because of ciel, and everything - everything - we know about him since the moment of his manifestation in the human world has been a created facade for ciel's sole benefit.

i don't just mean the obvious things like his name or his job or his gender. i'm also talking about the way he looks, the way he talks, how he dresses, how he acts, how he treats people, the way he kills and what methods he uses, his 'aesthetic' and how he chooses to maintain it, his wants and goals, his tastes, his whole personality; all of it is completely unique to the character we are reading about now. he created all of it in a single moment and we watched.

sometimes i get the impression that people think of sebastian as always having existed, hanging out sebastian-ly in the dark ether, talking like he currently does, acting like he currently does, sometimes even looking like he currently does, caring about all the same things he currently cares about, with all the little personality quirks we like perfectly intact, just waiting to pop up in the human world like a jack-in-the-box.

that was not the case.

whatever it truly was - how it acted and spoke and what it desired and what it looked like and so on - are so far removed from our sebastian as to be unrecognizable as the same character. that former character stopped existing before we readers ever even so much as laid eyes on it - from the moment he manifested in front of ciel he had already completely changed his entire existence to suit what ciel perceived as a demon. he was quite literally born that day: fully formed, the galatea to ciel's pygmalion.

(now who's a cradle robber?)

sometimes sebastian talks about his former existence in such a way that tricks the reader into believing there had been true continuity - we know he has always liked cats! we know he has worked with witches before! he's been to schönbrunn palace and learned to waltz! but those miniscule details actually reveal nothing about the nature of the creature to which sebastian assigns those prior experiences - we can't help but retroactively apply an image of our sebastian in those situations even though we know, logically, that the being who did those things has passed on at least some of its memories* to its current incarnation, and nothing else.

(* this also requires the reader to take a demon at face value and believe his word when he says things like that. did he really live in the hapsburg court, or did he come into existence with the experience of a person who had lived in the hapsburg court because that suits his current aesthetic, or did he become that person the moment it was necessary for ciel? did he ever really work with witches (did witches even really exist?), or does ciel assume that demons must have worked with witches and thus sebastian certainly must confirm - of course i have. let me tell you all about this extremely stereotypical depiction that does not in any way challenge your view or expectations of me or other people that summon demons. anyways. my point is that he could be lying about literally everything he says about himself and we would not be able to tell because we don't really know him and there's no way to corroborate his anecdotes because he is the potentially unreliable narrator of his own story.)

what we do know for a fact is that sebastian's cinematic record starts from the moment he was born just like everyone else's - and for our sebastian, that was the moment our ciel first laid eyes on him, giving him form and function.

doesn't it just... drive you insane? it makes me dizzy. sebastian didn't just randomly choose ciel, or pick a master based on some pre-existing list of desires and show up, take-what-you-get. it was never a coincidence that they well suit each other, work perfectly together, understand each other like no other could. the brief period of time where sebastian had to learn to temper his strength and abilities was not a mistake or a remnant of his former self, it was his afterbirth. it was an extension of his coming into being, perfecting what raw materials ciel had created him from.

sebastian only exists at all because ciel wanted him to - exactly the way he is. every perfect strand of hair, every sweetly curled vowel, every whim and action we have ever seen has existed only for ciel. he was literally made for him in every sense of the word. he was born into the world wholy, entirely desired, down to the last eyelash and snarky joke.

and when ciel is gone, however it happens, there will be no reason for sebastian to keep existing. they exit the story together.

[tarithenurse]

Pillowtalk

Fandom: MCU Pairing/starring: Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader Word count: 679 Content: Drabblesque. A little bit of smut (oral, fingering), family planning, talks A/N: My mind wandered and this happened. Sorry for the start? Please comment, reblog, like if you read.

Pillowtalk

Your toes are curling tightly and your hands grasping at the sheets and the red shock of hair nestled by the apex of your thighs.

“Nat!” you cry out.

She just hums against your folds and you can feel the smile on her lips even as she keeps lapping at you, fingers steadily pumping in and out with that wriggle she knows makes your world shatter.

“C’mon, babe,” she mumbles before latching on to your clit.

And yes, you cum...cum on her tongue and fingers in a rush that floods your body.

She helps bring you down, slowly pumping into you while her suckling gets lighter until she stops completely, just holding still against you and allowing you to breathe, trying to get your heart rate down even if your body is still singing with the delight you��ve just experienced.

“Be right back,” Natasha promises.

She gets out of the bed and disappears into the bathroom.

You’re hazily aware of water running and moments later she’s back with a damp cloth and she cleans you gently even as you writhe at the slight overstimulation.

Then she disappears again only to return with two bottles of water. You can’t drink yours, all you can do is lie and stare at her until she nestles down next to you, head on your shoulder and an arm around your waist.

“I love you,” you mutter into her hair.

“And I love you.”

It feels good to lie like that, soft and cozy.

Your life with Natasha has brought you so much joy, perfected by the wedding a year ago and you can’t ask for more. Almost. There’s a secret desire that’s been growing stronger and stronger but you know it’s a lot to ask and especially with the horrors Natasha went through as a child and teenager, you don’t want to be the painful reminder of what she lost...what she never will experience herself.

“Babe?” her voice breaks through to you, “I’ve been thinking...”

For a moment your heart stops as the worst fears flash through your mind, uncalled for and unrealistic but bright and glaring like neonlights nonetheless.

“Yeah?”

“...you’d look so pretty pregnant,” she mumbles into your skin as if afraid of how you’d react – as if Natasha ever feared anything.

With a shaking hand, you tilt her face towards you to see her eyes and you find them serious and full of love.

“Are you suggesting...?” You can’t even voice the idea that you’ve harboured for a while now.

But Natasha nods even as a shadow comes over her face. “I can’t...you know that. But you...you could and you would be an amazing mom and -”

Rather than letting her ramble, you bend to kiss her. Natasha’s lips are quivering until they are flush against your own.

“Round with our baby?” you ask against her mouth after a moment.

Again you can feel her smile.

“We’d have to move somewhere bigger...” the logical side of you points out.

She nods, understanding that you really are planning because you have accepted the idea already. “We’ll find a little house near a forest. Clint can help us fix it up.”

You nod thoughtfully. “Move out of the city...”

“The nursery bright with colours.”

“Yellow and green like a summer field.”

And you can imagine it: sunshine filtering in through white curtains, motes of dust dancing in the light before settling on stuffed toys like elephants and bears. The crib angled in the corner with a canopy and a little, living miracle sleeping soundly.

She runs a hand lazily over your stomach. “Imagine...the first time we can feel the baby kick.”

Something flutters in your chest at the image of Natasha lying like now, hand on a round baby bump and smiling dreamily.

“I imagine you teaching our baby all sorts of tricks which will backfire on us when they grow older...” you worry.

But it just makes her smile proudly. “They’ll be the best and smartest.”

And you know she’s right – nothing else is possible with Natasha Romanoff as a mother.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Monsters Reimagined: Yeenoghu, Demon Lord of Insatiable Hunger

It's been some years since I did my overhaul on the lore of the gnolls and how they embody the weird de/humanization that goes on with various monsters over d&d's history. Ever since I've had more than a few folks write in asking about how I would handle the default Gnoll God Yeenoghu, who exists in a similar state of "Kill everything that ever existed" to Orcus and a good portion of the game's other late game threats, thematically flat and not really useful for building stories around.

For a while I've avoided doing this post because I thought it might skew a little too close to my personal philosophy, and risk going from simply being influenced by my views to an outright soapbox. I personally hold that despite being part of our nature hunger is the source of the majority of human cruelty, and if society and cooperation are the tools we developed to best fight against the threat of famine, it is fear of that famine that allows the powerful to control society and secure their positions of privilege.

I've also dealt with disordered eating in a prior period of my life, alternating between neglecting my body's needs and punishing myself for needing in the first place. I'm well acquainted with hunger and the hollowing effect it can have, though I'd never claim to know it so well as someone who went hungry by anything other than choice and self hatred.

Learning to love food again saved saved my life. The joy of eating, of feeling whole and nourished, yes, but there was also the joy of making: of experimenting, improving, providing, being connected to a great tradition of cultivation which has guided our entire species.

If I was going to talk about an evil god of hunger, I was going to have to touch on all of that, and now that it's out in the open I can continue with a more thematic and narrative discussion on the beast of butchery below the cut.

What's wrong: Going by the default lore, there's not much that really separates Yeenoghu from any other chaotic evil mega-boss. He wants to kill everything in vicious ways, and encourages his followers to do the same. He's there so that the evil clerics can have someone to pray to because the objectively good gods are on the party's side and wouldn't help a bunch of cannibalistic slavers.

This is boring, we've done this song and dance before, and the only reason that there are so many demon lords/evil gods/archdevils like this is because the bioessentialism baked into the older editions of the game's lore was also a theological essentialism, and that every group had to have their own gods which perfectly embodied their ethos and there was no crossover whatsoever, themes be damned.

Normally I'd do a whole section about "what can be salvaged" from an old concept, but we're scraping the bottom of the barrel right from the inset. Likewise my trick of combining multiple bits of underwritten d&d mythology to make a sturdier concept isn't going to work as most of d&d's other gods of hunger or famine are similar levels of paper thin.

How do we fix it: I want Yeenoghu to be the opposite of the path I found myself on, a hunger so great and so painful that it percludes happiness, cooperation, or even rational thought. Hunger not as a sumptuous hedonistic gluttony but a hollowing emptiness that compels violence and desperation. More than just psychopathic slaughter and gore, it is becalmed sailors drinking seawater to quench their thirst, the urban poor mixing sawdust and plaster into their food because their wages are not enough to afford grain.

This is where we get the idea of Yeenoghu as an enemy of society, not because violence is antithical to society ( I think we've learned by now how structured violence can really be) but because society fundamentally breaks down when it can't take care of the people who provide its foundations. Contrast the Beast of Butchery with one of my other favourite villainous famine spirits: Caracalla the grim trader, who embodies scarcity as a form of profit and control in to Yeenoghu's scarcity as suffering.

Into this we can also add the idea of the hungry dead, ghouls yes but also vampires, anything cursed with an eternal existence and appetites it no longer has the ability to sate. A large number of cultures across the world share the idea that the dead cannot rest while they are starving, which is why we leave offerings of food by their graves or pour out a glass to the ones we lost along the way.

On that topic, there's also a scrap of lore involving Doresain god of ghouls, who has been depicted as an on and off servant of Yeenoghu. Since I'm already remaking the mythology, I'd have Doresain act as a sort of saint or herald for the demon lord, the wicked but still partially reasonable entity who can villain monolog before the feral and all consuming demon god shows up.

Summing it all up: Yeenoghu isn't a demon you wittingly worship, it's a demon that claims you, marks you as its mouthpiece and through you seeks to consume more of the world. It gives you just enough strength to keep on living, keep on suffering, keep on filling that hole in your belly and feed it in turn.

The greatest of these mouthpieces is Doresain, an elf of ancient times who's unearthly hungers elevated him to demigod status. Known as the knawbone king, he dwells within a dread domain of the shadowfell, and is sought out only for his ability to intercede with the maw-fiend's rampages.

Signs: Unnaturally persistent hunger pangs, excessive drool and gurgling stomach noises, the growth of extra teeth in the mouth, stomachs splitting open into mouths.

Symbols: An animal with three jaws, a three tailed flail or spiked whip. A crown of knawed bones (Doresain)

Titles: Beast of butchery, the maw fiend, the knawing god

Artist

[indigochromatic]

Some Basic Advice About EMDR for Systems

(drawing on our own experiences, reading about it, and comparing notes with our therapist)

This is mainly aimed at systems who are considering doing EMDR or planning on it, but want to know what the process is like and what to look out for, with some personal experiences sprinkled in.

Under the cut, because I talk a lot:

General Concept

I think the big picture in our experience is that EMDR is/was like…an intensifier for the kind of headspace/internal system interaction processing work that a lot of systems do naturally, at least a little, especially if they have decent internal communication. This has both upsides and downsides/areas to be cautious about.

A lot of EMDR pre-work (often called “resourcing”) is about making sure you have a good toolbox of “mental tricks/techniques” to be able to handle unexpected intense emotions, feelings, and/or imagery etc that often comes up when you get into trying to work with traumatic stuff. This is in my opinion very important, and something your therapist should take at least a few sessions to talk with you about even if you already have good tools for it already, just to make sure they know your strategies and you’re all on the same page. Also super common and normal to spend some time developing extra ones if needed—stuff like “the box” for temporarily containing crisis emotions when needed, having a mental “safe space” that you can come back to, etc. Also, EMDR specifically tends to often be a little rigid/scripted in the types of visualizations and metaphors you’re “supposed” to use, but in my opinion a good therapist should be flexible enough to adapt to equivalent images/techniques you may already have (like, “imagine you’re viewing the traumatic memory on a movie screen, or out the window of a train going through a tunnel” is a common instruction; if, say, your headspace has a lot of fantasy elements and it makes more internal sense to be viewing the memory via…scrying in a dish or something, your therapist should be down with you doing that instead, if you want to).

As for the sessions themselves, a big thing we don’t hear articulated a lot is that, in our experience  and that of some other folks we know, EMDR has a tendency of being…like, sneakily intense: It doesn’t necessarily hit you all at once in the session, which may just feel like “ok, that was Some Therapy Work but I’m chill”, but then over the rest of the day and maybe even the next few days, it’s not uncommon to keep feeling a lot of emotional intensity/vulnerability, having more intense “internal conversations and/or realizations”, etc. For this reason, EMDR is generally supposed to start with a very mild memory-to-process, like 4-5 out of 10 max.

Notes of Caution and Stuff to Keep In Mind

Especially for folks who already heavily dissociate from emotional trauma, it’s super easy to think you’re “going too easy” only to find that the memory has a lot more emotional baggage than you realized—really go easy on yourself when you start, EMDR is like psychology power tools and you absolutely can hurt yourself. (We’ve heard from plenty of systems who had bad therapists who did not adequately support them in doing EMDR, and absolutely fucked them over by starting too big and retraumatizing the hell out of them— this isn’t meant as fear-mongering, especially if you really like and trust your therapist, but just genuine “hey, EMDR can be very volatile stuff, which is part of why it can be so helpful, but also means that it’s important to not skip out on the safety precautions and self-care”.) What this means in practice is often stuff like: (our recommendations at least) - trying to schedule breaks/easy days immediately after - possibly getting someone to drive you home, especially if you know you’re going after a Big Thing, because the dissociation hangover immediately after can be pretty real - start with a memory that feels "too easy", and scale up if a week later it still felt trivial/like you’re fully over it, because it’s way easier to ramp up than try to do damage control.

Our personal experience, in tl:dr form, was that it felt like the core of the technique was really useful for us, and mirrored some of the most useful instances of self-processing we’d had before while also kind of serving as a “shortcut” to it—but, it was pretty intense and we didn’t really like/fit well with the therapists who we were working with at the time, which is why we stopped (didn’t want to keep doing an emotionally intense thing with folks we didn’t trust).

Finally, a bit about EMDR and "maybe I'm plural but I'm not sure, and/or may not have great in-system communication": yeah, this is a case to be especially slow and careful, for all the aforementioned reasons; what my instinct/recommendation would be in those cases is to: 1) make sure you learn a lot of resourcing techniques 2) try to check in with yourself(s) frequently and with compassion/intent-to-collaborate, "ask the inside of your head how it's feeling" and even if you're not sure whether the "reply" was just your own thoughts or a headmate, listen and try to engage with/respect those responses and emotions 3) if you start getting warning signs/back-off signals/sudden intense feelings, listen to them and lighten up, pause the session if you need to, do some self care etc, even (especially) if you don't know why you felt that way and it seems 'odd/random', and really you're super curious about what's going on and just want to figure it out. Like...you and the inside of your head and/or other system members are trying to navigate a complicated D&D maze together, in the dark, and you each only have part of the map--so you have to work together and trust each other, especially listening to warning signals even when your "part of the map" doesn't show anything to worry about there. And the more you work together and trust each other, the better everything gets, including therapy work.

When it's "Death By A Thousand Papercuts"-type Trauma Instead

If you're not sure where to start because there aren't a lot of obvious "Big Bad Memories" that feel like they adequately explain the issues you're having, some recommendations:

-> First, note that "no Big Bad Memories are immediately coming to mind, idk" is super common in systems and also in CPTSD, way more than I think most folks realize, so know that you're not alone and also that it doesn't mean you don't necessarily have stuff deserving of help and support.

-> So yeah, there's kinda two things imo you can try. The first is, if your therapist is on the more flexible side, you can try doing EMDR with either "this specific memory wasn't too bad, but it's representative of an ongoing pattern or theme that wasn't great" (say, loneliness at school or something, and you pick a specific lunchtime memory, which wasn't really That Bad in the moment, but you were kinda sad and/or upset about it and it feels representative of the overall trend you're trying to process/heal). Or you can try just doing the EMDR process on the theme itself, at the abstract level, and see what comes up--again, I'd really recommend starting with a much lower-stakes issue/theme than you think you need, just because it's really easy to underestimate, especially for systems and other folks whose brains dissociate a lot. (And especially if you know your system has episodic amnesia--e.g. event-amnesia/blackout amnesia--as well as emotional amnesia.)

The second is, there are other "more flexible" types of similar somatic therapy techniques (brainspotting is the name of another one, and there's more I can't think of rn) that might fit better instead-- tldr, totally worth asking your therapist about the whole situation, and asking what they'd feel most qualified for/comfortable with, in my opinion. You don't need to be doing Specifically Exactly EMDR to do somatic trauma therapy, even though EMDR is one of the more well-known modalities for it, and finding a version that feels right and not like you're forcing anything is really valuable (and you're not 'being picky' if it takes a while to find one; you're allowed to want to find one that feels right).

[deathbxnny]

Would love to entertain your Arcane obsession, unfortunately I've yet to watch the show myself :/

We're basically 5-Star chefs, with how hard we're cooking these 6-course meals 😩🤌. But anyhow, as we talked about, we're gonna need a bit of build up before we get to that. Could make for a good bittersweet or downer ending depending on how you look at it. Arlecchino's fear of abandonment and attempts to avoid that loss are ultimately what cause it, and "Mother's" best choice in their relationship being to ultimately end it being one of the healthiest choices she's made.

Until then however, I got hit with an idea literally just before I went to bed that should suffice in the meantime 😙

(Takes place after

Lyney and Lynette are throwing one of their big magic shows in Fontaine, and because they know she loves their performances (and they probably want her to be able to relax, so that they don't have another one of... those experiences...) decide to invite "Mother" and a bunch of the Hearth kids to attend. Now here's where the twist comes in.

Towards the end up the show, Lyney calls for a volunteer, and the spotlight lands on "Mother" with him having obviously planned this from the start. Now, I personally don't think "Mother" would have stage fright, but she'd definitely have that kind of anxiety that a lot of people who don't often go up on stage generally have. Now for the trick itself? Not quite sure... I'll leave that creative liberty up to you to decide on 👈👈😎

X Anon

The Queen of Hearts. | Arlecchino x Fem!Wife!Reader

Please go to my Genshin Masterlist for the other parts of this series! (I can't link the parts here for some reason.)

I honestly had SO much fun writing this, so I hope you'll like it too, X Anon! And yeahhh... the end of this series will probably be miserable, but we love the pain atp. Also... I added a little twist of my own at the end that I hope you'll enjoy!<3

Content: Angst(?), magic shows, reader doesn't get tortured for our amusement for once... unless?, established romantic relationship with Arlecchino, sfw

Reader is afab and uses she/her pronouns here!

((Not proofread))

When you were a little girl, you were selected by Curcabena herself to take part in a play for the whole house and the rest of the motherland to see. You were hesitant even then to stand on stage, speak loudly enough for everyone to hear you, and then act out a scene that felt eerily familiar to your situation now as a grown woman.

A damsel in distress hidden away by the evil dragon lord that Peruere played the part of, albeit with much less enthusiasm.

You remembered looking down at her form as she fought against the knight that was Clervie, and you couldn't help but think, "I never want to do this ever again." And so you avoided being the center of attention ever since, if not just to escape the amused eyes of the audience that delighted in your plight.

Years later, however, you find yourself breaking this promise, as Lyney excitedly hand picks you for the final act of his magic show. And who were you to ever deny your child's wish?

Stepping on the wooden panels of the grand stage, you find yourself reliving a moment from the past, even if it was just a faded memory. If you focused enough under the blinding lights and blurry forms of the massive crowd before you, you could hear Clervie deliver her dramatic speech to the damsel in distress once she finally beat the dragon. But alas, all you could hear were the curious murmers of the crowd, whilst your son smiled widely at you, happy that you agreed to this. It wasn't a secret that you'd rather stay in the shadows of your house than parade yourself in front of people and therefore this moment was certainly a special one.

"Thank you for volunteering, pretty lady! I promise you will not regret this once the final trick of tonight's show is over!" You chuckled at his attempt to make you two seem like strangers, the slight compliment earning giggles from the other children in the crowd. You were all invited by Lyney and his two siblings for a nice evening in the grand theater for a show, considering your deep love and appreciation for it. And despite your slight nervousness at these unexpected turn of events, you still found yourself looking forward to what the young man had in store.

Pulling a deck of cards out of his hat in a very flashy manner, he gave the audience a sly grin. "This trick will look simple to most, as it involves me guessing her desired card out of this deck... however, there will be a slight twist, of course." Shuffling the cards with skillful grandeur, he walked around your still form, eyes glinting in the lights that began to dim around you. "I will be blindfolded. The cards are for her to choose and put in any order she wants to. After that, I will guess the exact cards she chose, and if I fail even one, I will be at risk to dowsed in water... which would be quite the shame for my brand new suit!"

Ah, so he wanted to end his show in a silly way? It was fitting for the young children that attended and immideatly were on board with the idea by the way they cheered. It may not have been the most impressive trick, but at least they were amused, and that was enough for you to go along with it. If anything, you may get a little laugh out of it yourself.

Whilst Lynette blindfolded her brother and Freminet held out the cards for you to pick, your eyes every so often glided back to the audience in search of your wife who was supposed to attend. You wondered if she was held up by work as usual or if she was just running uncharacteristically late... but you doubted it was either of the two. Deep down, you knew she was watching from the darkness somewhere, never the type to enjoy the attention that her presence got her naturally. And you'd find it noble if it wasn't starting to unnerve you lately.

"Now, young lady, please pick five cards of your choosing and turn them around once you've put them in your wanted order. Once that's done, we will begin." You nod at Lyney's words with a hum before picking out the cards.

2 of spades.

5 of clubs.

4 of clubs.

8 of diamonds.

And finally, the Queen of hearts.

Turning them around, you face the blindfolded Lyney and give his sister a confirming nod. "Very well! I will guess each card as you turn it around. Please confirm every time if I was right or wrong." And so it began. You flipped the first one over. "2 of spades." "Correct." Your hand glided to the next one as the crowd awed in surprise. "5 of clubs." "Correct." You'd definitely have to ask him how this trick worked afterward. You wondered if the nervous Freminet in front of you was perhaps a part of it. "4 of clubs. Ah, maybe I haven't shuffled well enough!" "Correct to both." Giggles rang out, and Lyney chuckled behind you. "8 of diamonds." "Correct." The final one was up next. You were honestly glad to get off this stage soon... until something went wrong. Something that shouldn't have been able to happen under any logical reasoning.

"And finally... The Queen of Hearts!" Everyone held their breathes, especially you. "... Wrong. It's the king of hearts." How was this possible? There was no way for the cards to have been switched whilst you were looking at them. And judging by the look on Freminet's face, this was definitely not planned. "W-what?-" Lyney's confused question was cut off by him being dowsed in buckets of cold water that were hanging up in the stage beforehand. His body shuddered as he near ripped off his blindfold and stared at the card you were holding. He was wrong. Even though there shouldn't have been a way for him to be wrong. Just what was going on? He shared looks with his siblings and you, extremely glad the audience thought it was a part of the show and began applauding with hysterical laughs. He will find the strength to feel humiliated and embarrassed later on.

"What the... I thought you..." "I don't know what's going on either!" Lynette whispered back in a hurry before nudging him to keep up the act. Forcing a smile on his face, he let out a laugh and spread out his arms in defeat. "Ah, even a magician has his shortcomings... but alas, I'm glad you find amusement in my plight!" He called out, and you could only share that sentiment grimly when your eyes finally spied the woman you were looking for this entire time.

There she was, leaning against a wall in the back of the theater. And in her hand, she idly spun a card you could only theorize was the one you had chosen beforehand. Your eyes met, her gaze being so unreadable it frustrated and confused you alike. What was the point of that? Why did she essentially humiliate her own son in front of the entire nation like this? The card of the king crumpled in your iron grip as your mouth pressed into a thin line.

Arlecchino, meanwhile, just held your look before pushing herself off the wall and disappearing into the shadows, your silent anger drowned out by the cheers of the crowd and the ringing in your ears.

The evil dragon lord had struck again, but there was no knight to save you this time.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

As we’re facing the next COVID surge (brought on by holiday travel), I thought I might try a different kind of COVID post. You can skip to here for some easy to do tips and tricks you might have missed, or you can read down for my discussion of why this is important.

I have recently been writing and thinking a lot about why so many of my friends and family’s actions on COVID are so different from mine. Namely why so many people I know no longer seem very interested in either preventing themselves from being sick or, importantly, not spreading sickness to anyone else.

In my own case, the experience of staying home to stop the spread in 2020 forced me to strongly reconsider my behavior up to that point. Why had I ever thought it was OK to go to work or ride the subway with the flu, unmasked and taking no precautions, knowing that the flu certainly hospitalizes and kills people each year? Even if the flu was no big deal for my body, my behavior had limited other people—particularly disabled people—from comfortably being in public during flu season. I had knowingly spread around an illness. I radically reconsidered a lot of my behavior, and in particular, 2020 pushed me to focus more specifically on disability justice in my activism. A disability justice framework pushes us beyond thinking about individual access to consider how ableism limits us all from liberation.

Getting back to why this reconsideration didn’t happen on a mass level, understanding disability justice also means understanding that ableism is the current social order. And if it’s the order of the day, like other oppressive ideologies, that means we are all drenched in it and it is impossible to avoid ever doing something ableist. Furthermore, most people are going to act in ableist ways, most of the time. None of this are exempt from this, but not even trying is definitely worse!

I am also well aware that good COVID information is hard to come by, especially if you are not on the regular lookout for it. And if you do go looking for it, it can quickly get overwhelming. So I’d like to offer here a very short, distilled list of things people might have missed since 2020. (I’ve not taken the time to track down citations for all of these things; you’ll have to trust me that I got them from trustworthy sources or you can verify on your own. I’m happy to give more info on any of these too.)

Some of these things are easy enough to do. I’m offering this list because from a “stop the spread” mindset, each specific thing you do is helpful. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, and it’s hopefully not overwhelming. You don’t have to be perfect or avoid COVID 100% of the time or make this part of your identity, but I’d like to ask everyone reading this to take one step up in your mitigations for the holiday season, since this is reliably a time with huge increases in virus transmission. With around a thousand people still dying every week from COVID in the US, you don’t know whose life you may save by being a little more careful.

Masking This is the biggest bang for your buck, precaution-wise. If it’s hard for you to mask all the time in public, consider masking in places that disabled people really can’t avoid, like the pharmacy, the grocery store, and on public transportation.

I’d also suggest that if masks are uncomfortable, try different kinds of masks! The Aura is my favorite mask – it’s tight to my face so my glasses don’t fog and head straps don’t hurt my ears like ear straps do. Wellbefore sells masks in different sizes and colors, and Armbrust has sampler packs. Just try a bunch and see what works for you!

Finally, know that if at all possible, you should wear an N95 or KN95 mask. This is a change since spring 2020 because the current variants of COVID are more contagious.

Mouthwash Washing your mouth out with a mouthwash containing CPC (cetylpyridinium chloride) before or after seeing people, or just regularly, will kill some of the virus in your mouth and keep you below the threshold to get sick and/or shed the virus to others. This is a really easy one; CVS brand mouthwash has CPC.

Sip mask These valves will allow you to drink without breaking the seal of your mask. This is great for airplane travel, crowded conferences, or other risky spaces that you need to be in for an extended amount of time.

Airplane The most dangerous time on an airplane from a virus transmission standpoint is the time sitting on the runway (because of the way they circulate and filter the air onboard). Even if you don’t mask up during the flight, this is the best time to mask. (And if you do mask, this is the worst time to have a snack or drink – try to keep your mask on for all of this period.)

Space out risky or crowded events Don’t go to a wedding and a concert in the same weekend! Illness takes 3-5 days to develop after exposure, so give yourself time to know if you got sick from the last thing before potentially spreading that to the next thing.

Air purifiers work! This is a great one for places that you can’t avoid, like school, work, or daycare. You can make your own Corsi-Rosenthal box, but there’s also a variety of high quality air purifiers you can get for $70-100. You want to make sure it has a HEPA or Merv13+ filter on it, and check how quickly it changes out the air in a room. Since COVID is airborne, there can be COVID in a space even after the person has left it. Setting up air purifiers and/or opening windows until enough air has circulated before you remove your mask is a great way to make a space COVID safer

Test before going to events, even if you don’t feel sick Rapid tests (the kind you’re used to getting from the government and at the drug store) False negatives from these are rampant but a positive test reliably means you have COVID. The accuracy of these tests also increases a LOT if you take two of them 48 hours apart.

Better home tests are now available Metrix and Pluslife are both testers you can buy that offer a similar level of accuracy to a PCR test (that is, very accurate!). These devices are expensive, but so is another COVID infection: think of the missed work, cost of Paxlovid, and potential for Long COVID to keep you down even longer.

It’s a good idea to get an updated vaccine 2x a year too; like the flu shot, these vaccines are updated to try to fend off the particular variants that are circling. Be mindful though that vaccination will not necessarily stop transmission, especially of asymptomatic cases. Handwashing is also good for general prevention, but it doesn’t really stop COVID transmission. In the early days of COVID, researchers guessed that it was spread by physical droplets. That’s why we were instructed to wash our hands and groceries. But now we know that COVID is airborne; it spreads more like cigarette smoke than spit!

Of course, no single thing works perfectly. The best model is still the Swiss cheese model, but that also means each thing you do helps. If you’re reading this, please consider doing *one more thing* to take care of yourselves and others. I love you

[circeyoru]

Here I am back with another question😀

What if we meet Emily/she learns of our existence?

Learning about the extermination alone really shook her up so knowing of our existence will probably be a whole new level of shock.

But then again she was pretty excited to meet the princess of hell. So I wonder how the meeting would go

This is for {Collection of Overlords}, check MASTERLIST for the work

Hi again!!

Short and simple answer is: It wouldn’t be as big of a bad shock to Emily as compared to learning about the exterminations. 

In terms of ‘learns of Collector/Reader’s existence’, I’ll assume that means nearly everything that the hellborns know and keep secret of. The basis of your nickname ‘Collector’ is that you collect souls of the deceased humans sent to Hell. The damned are the ones of little to no importance that you just collect for no reason, Cages are tortured and brainwashed souls that act as your eyes and ears around Hell, and lastly Overlords are ones you watch over and guide to be stronger. Your other alias is the True Ruler of Hell, which obviously means you own Hell and its inhabitants, basically watching over the realm by your standards and everything else. The only thing that’s left out is the whole balance entity thing with Trick.

I imagine Emily meeting us would be something similar to her meeting Charlie but more controlled since you have a more strict and imposing aura around you than Charlie’s approachable sunshine aura, plus your formal attitude. Why? Because from the show, Emily is shown to be protected by Sera ‘for her own good’ so she can focus on being happiness to Heaven and its people/souls. So Emily might not have the chance to meet the higher-ups like Sera does, meeting the highest being from Hell is the first for her and she’s happy to make an impression and gain an experience. 

Emily would be excited and anxious, that’s why I say she’d be more controlled. She has no idea how you would act or why you prefer, if anything she does offended you, it could mean war between the two realms. There’s this pressure that she puts on herself before the meeting so as to prepare herself for every situation. 

On your side, you heard of Emily from Trick since she was their favourite from Heaven. You have a clear picture on Emily as a person or angel. You do see Emily as a niece of sorts since she reminds you of Charlie from Trick’s description of her and the little scenes Trick would show you when they just can’t stop with just talking about her. Needless to say, there’s no hostility or negativity towards Emily from you, nor will there ever be partly because of Trick’s obsession and protectiveness over her.

The meeting is definitely happening after the show and everything. As for why, where, and how, I have no idea because there’s no season 2 yet and I have not planned for them to meet. All these answers and explanations are strictly for this ask. 

In the actual meeting, Emily would be tripping over herself mentally to get herself presentable in front of you to avoid a war and hold in her excitement, since there’s a big difference between you and Charlie. She’ll spat out that she was sorry about the exterminations too, saying she’ll try to do something to stop it all on her side and help Charlie with her hotel project, even telling you about Sir Pentious in Heaven. 

If you weren’t won over by her through Trick’s stories, you are now. She is quite the sweetheart and like the Heaven copy of Charlie. You got her to calm down when you have your hand on her head and patted her head softly. Emily would quiet down and bowed her head unconsciously to let you continue, within moments, her eyes closes and she flies closer to you, then proceeds to hug you. 

Emily quickly realizes what she done and looks up to apologize, but you hugged her back and combed through her comb while shushing her. Your actions make her hug into your tightly and relax herself to the point where even her wings slumped down. 

With time, Emily does learn of your cruelty but there was reason behind it all and she understands that it was rarely ever unprovoked. She also learns of your unique care to Hell and its beings’ freedom that you grant with its boundaries. You don’t hide either side and answer Emily’s questions, you do prefer honest truth instead of a white lie that would paint you in a good light. You never saw a need in such since when have you ever cared for others’ view of you?

The contrast in her expectation and reality makes Emily question things and solidifies that beings from Hell aren’t all evil and bloodthirsty like Heaven depicted. The shocking realization is enough to make her see you as being more genuine than Sera. Scary how you earn others’ favour so easily, right? That’s a charm of yours.

[sterekweek-2024]

Sterek Week 2023 Kick Off!

Somehow it's already that time of year again! Join your admins @halinski, @boymeetswerewolf, @justjimedits and @kcfriedchicken as we prepare for Sterek Week 2023.

As always, we have a variety of themes to inspire you, but this year we have added something new! Going along with each theme will be a selection of bonus content to you to enjoy. Some of it will just be extra themes to think about adding into your posts, some of it will be interactive, and some we will need your help putting together!

Stay tuned for more information around the bonus content in the coming weeks, but for now enjoy your first look at this years themes.

Wednesday, October 25th: "Only Just Begun" What better way to kick off Sterek Week then the theme of beginnings. The beginning of what you ask? Well that part is up to you! Whether it be the beginning of their relationship or the beginning of a new adventure, whatever beginning inspires you is the one we want to hear about!

Thursday, October 26th: "Seasons & Holidays" Christmas? Halloween? Summer? Fall? What time of year speaks to you most? Maybe you have a local holiday that is only celebrated in your hometown? That's what this theme is all about! Throw Stiles and Derek into your favorite tradition and see how it plays out for them!

Friday, October 27th: "Worlds Collide" Barbenheimer anyone?! Show us your best opposites attracts situation and watch the chaos unfold. Or maybe you are more interested in a crossover of some sorts. This is your opportunity to really mix up the Teen Wolf universe!

Saturday, October 28th: "Whole of the Moon" We are in luck! The October full moon will happen on October 28th this year, so of course we had to have a moon based theme! Do you want to explore the full moon traditions of the Hale pack? Or maybe you want to add in the concept of outer space? The whole galaxy is yours to explore!

Sunday, October 29th: "Sacrifice" What is Sterek without one of them trying to sacrifice themselves for each other or the greater good. With the events of the Teen Wolf movie or even the events of Season 3, there are plenty of canon sacrifices to choose from. But maybe you want to branch out! Make up your own reason for the boys to try and sacrifice themselves or maybe go the happier route and explore the idea of them sacrifice sleep for fun or other reasons!

Monday, October 30th: "Myths & Legends, Fairytales & Folklore" We want to hear about Stiles and Derek experience all your local legends! Are they traveling the world because Stiles wants to meet every mythical being there is? Maybe it is a Beauty & the Beast AU or retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. This is your chance to explore all of your favorite stories through the lens of Sterek.

Tuesday, October 31st: "Haunted & Bewitched" It wouldn't be Sterek week without our favorite holiday - Halloween! Is the pack throwing a Halloween party? Maybe Stiles and Derek have little ones of their own to take trick or treating? Or maybe you want to go the complete opposite direction and think about the ghosts and ghoulies that come out to play.

We cannot see what you all come up with! And we are so excited to share this years extra content with you!

-KCFriedchicken, Halinski, JustJim & BoyMeetsWerewolf

[sunshine-knight]

You never did give us the full story on that dinner, by the way. Spill already, c'mon 👀

I didn't? My bad, I've been pretty busy, between my day job (I'm organizing and coordinating, like, so many summer programs for the museum withh various libraries and daycares and stuff), Katie (gotta get her over-the-summer homework done and figure out what she does while her dad and I are both at work now that school's out), my volunteer work (helping an out-of-town friend with a local project), and the new hobby I picked up. I have been..... Busy, to say the least, lol

I promise it's not that interesting, really, just one guy driving me nuts all week. But it's a lot, so lemme try and summarize under a break:

So, I'm gonna have to start with an embarrassing story, because it sets up the context for how badly I wanted to escape the whole night.

Before we even get there, on the road to Wally and Linda's place, Katie and I spot this dude on a bike. And it's a nice bike, one the driver clearly maintains well, and they're driving like they're very aware of the fact that they are on a tiny, fragile vehicle among a bunch of dangerous, fast-moving, significantly sturdier obstacles. They're suited up in full safety-gear, both hands on the handlebars, generally not being an idiot. Completely opposite to how Carina used to drive with me on her bike, you know?

So I figure this is a learning experience for Katie. Somewhere I can drop some big-sister advice. I point out the bike and tell her that -- someday, long, long in the future, when she is a grown adult -- that's the only kind of motorcyclist she should accept a ride from when he sidles up to her at some bar. A decent driver aware of his own mortality and that of his passenger, if he has one. Bikes are fun, but dangerous. The flashy guy doing tricks is gonna end up wrapped around a tree or splattered on the highway.

Katie jokes about trying to get me his number at the next stoplight. I roll my eyes and brush it off. "Nah, I just think it's neat, seeing bikers like that." We're on the interstate -- he's gonna be gone in a blink.

Except the fucker keeps showing up. I pass him, he turns up in my rearview. He pulls ahead, I see him after the next exit. He turns his blinker on and hand-signals, and I realize our turn is also coming up.

Katie is cackling like a madwoman, crowing about how clearly he's headed to dinner at Wally's too, giving me shit about asking him out, about asking him out for me, planning a wedding -- just generally being an obnoxious twerp of a little sister. Which I am due, I was one such to my own older siblings. But I'm holding on to the idea that this is all just a horrible coincidence and that isn't him.

...We get to Wally's and that jackass is in the goddamn driveway, taking off his helmet. Katie leaps out the door before I can stop her, and runs right up to him. And what do I hear? What do I hear her tell him?

"My sister thinks you're neat c:"

Thank the gods Wally and Linda picked that moment to come out and greet us. I didn't want to have to deal with that situation.

I'll go more into the rest of the actual dinner later -- I really gotta get back to work before someone catches me on my phone

[hogwartshotel]

putting on my trauma therapist hat

Full Moon spoilers under the cut.

Okay so if people are mad at Blitzø after that episode, send them here!

I am, in real life, a licensed therapist who works with PTSD, so I feel like I have some hopefully helpful perspective to offer here.

I've started to see a some "I get it, Blitzø has issues, but he fucked that whole thing up", and I want to talk a bit more about how PTSD works. If any of this resonates with you personally, I recommend seeking a therapist who specializes in trauma!

There are five categories in which we expect trauma to effect people's beliefs about themselves, others and the world, long-term: trust, safety, power and control, intimacy, and self-esteem. So let's take a look at those in this scene. They do overlap.

Trust. That heartbreaking line where Stolas says "I didn't realize you thought so lowly of me" is a result of Blitzø expressing that he's never had complete trust in Stolas's intentions. Hard to blame him -- trust is something we first learn in early childhood. Imagine trying to learn trust from someone like Blitzø's dad. People often have difficulty trusting not only others, but also themselves and their own judgment.

Safety. This really ties into power and control below. Imagine that Blitzø's whole personality has come from a desire to keep himself safe -- he's good with guns, he's his own boss, he doesn't have close relationships so he can't be rejected, he puts on an air of over confidence. Having any of that challenged can shake his whole set of beliefs about himself and the world.

Power and control. When something traumatic happens to us, we can often feel ourselves. We often try to limit our experiences to ones we feel we have control over, because our brains convince ourselves this will keep us safe. We've seen Stolas come to realize that their arrangement gives him more power over Blitzø than he's comfortable with. We've also seen Blitzø attempting to exert his own power -- by keeping Stolas at arm's length, by being the one to direct their sexual encounters (not saying that you need to have trauma in order to be dominant), by doing everything he can to keep the sex interesting so that Stolas won't end the deal. Stolas is doing the right thing by giving Blitzø the crystal, but it freaks him the fuck out. He's already figured out how to have power in the situation, and he's been operating under the assumption that Stolas also likes having this power over him (that part is more theoretical, but I see Blitzø as someone who assumes that everyone thinks the way he does about this shit). So having that dynamic suddenly changed makes him panic. It triggers a fear response. He reacts in a way that assumes it's a game or a trick. The idea that someone would willingly give up power sets of alarm bells in his mind.

Intimacy. Obviously, this is a big one in their dynamic, and it's going to tie in a lot to esteem. It is very common for folks with trauma histories to have difficulties forming intimate connections -- if you've read the above stuff about trust, it's probably easy to see why. In his part of the duet, we hear Blitzø acknowledging that the situation is feeling a little complicated, but that he's going to avoid that by focusing on the sex aspect. The idea of emotional intimacy is terrifying to him.

Esteem. Blitzø does not believe that he is capable of being loved, or that anyone who gets to know him will want to stay with him. We see a lot of that in the "bad trip" scene back in season 1. Hearing Stolas express feelings for him is terrifying. I'm not sure exactly what goes through his head, but it might be something like "I'm going to fuck this up," "he's lying," or "he doesn't know what he's talking about."

So. Imagine all of that getting triggered at once. I'm not saying that Blitzø handled it well or that he isn't responsible for his actions, I'm just saying it's really understandable that he didn't handle it perfectly. Quite frankly, I thought it was going to go a lot worse -- he does get angry and say hurtful things, but we immediately see him regret it and reach out to Stolas, and I was expecting him to need a lot longer to stop being angry. I am curious to see if he's going to go to a self-destructive spiral ("I always do this, I fucked it up again, why bother even trying") or if he's going to break the pattern and figure out a way to make it right. Seeing as the next episode is called "apology tour," I'm guessing we're going to see the latter -- but that is honestly huge character growth.

[ahamkara-apologist]

Oh thank god now that Echoes is finally out I can talk about the Faith-Keeper loretab

First off: I'm not really sure who it is exactly, but we've got a Hidden agent listening in on a discussion between Eido and the Spider about Eramis. If I had to guess, this agent is likely Ikora, since Misraaks asked her to look after Eido at the end of the Lost in the Light quest post-FS campaign, but we don't really get any clarification here. In my heart its Ikora, though.

First off: I LOVE the callback to Eido's shitty datapad security from Season of Plunder. Remember when she was recording her audio logs and Eramis just dropped in unexpectedly to talk to her behind Misraaks's back? Looks like she hasn't fixed her security breach well enough to prevent others from doing the same. Which is deeply funny to me- babygirl, your father is a Splicer. His whole entire job is being a top tier hacker!! You need better security than that!!!

Eido babyyyy, I'm not sure why you think you can blackmail a crime lord, but I admire your efforts! I'm not really sure what Spider is doing here, maybe moving closer to her? Either way I love how his whole 'fake caring' shtick got immediately dropped to the side as soon as Eido laughed at him. You're not winning any uncle points here, Spider. The note about Eramis having been given up by everyone around her, however? This is both a good and a bad sign. Good because it means that the forces of Darkness that got her into this whole mess no longer give a fuck about her and aren't there to push her into poor decisions again, bad because Eramis is historically notorious for making terrible decisions when there's nobody around to influence her anyways. Given the fact that she was outright suicidal the last time we checked in on her and that means that we have a limited time frame to get Eido to soften her up before she starts putting her neck on the line again (which has me very nervously side-eyeing Revenant; I don't believe that she would want to join with Fikrul given her prior experiences with the Scorn, but it can also go either way if she's pushed. Eido could convince her to give her assistance to prevent him from spreading Dark Ether...or Fikrul could sway her to look away from what he's doing by promising to bring back Riis with the power of the Echo)

Not gonna lie, my first reaction when I read the 'staccato clicking' noises coming from Eido was 'DID SHE JUST PULL A FUCKING GUN ON HIM??', followed by wondering if she was threatening him in some way- then a friend pointed out she was likely crying, which made me go back to reread and realize that the wheezing noises were coming from her, not Spider (in my defense, he's a wheezy boi). So, yeah, she's crying. Poor sweet girl, I've been there before. I know that Misraaks set Spider on her to try to set her straight (which is deeply funny to me- he must be desperately worried for him to have Spider handle her, of all people), but, well...it's the Spider. He's a crime boss. 'Gentle' isn't in his nature

This does give me great hope for an Eramis redemption arc in the future, though. Compared to everyone else we've faced recently, Eramis hasn't even come close to the level of awful that the Witness has done, and she's outright helped us in several instances. There's no reason why we can't try to form an alliance with her- the main thing stopping us is because Eramis herself doesn't think that she's worthy of redemption. If we can barter with Savathun- whose desires are ultimately selfish even if they were momentarily aligned with our own- then we can certainly assist Eramis, especially if it means getting the remaining Houseless Eliksni off our back and in a safe, guardian-free refuge of their own (WITHOUT being tricked into being pawns of the Witness)

Also- absolutely love Eido's little speech here. Her insistence on clinging to optimism is probably what made Eramis see Eido as the guiding light for the future of the Eliksni people, and in a way, it's perfect to fit the Traveler's motif of forgiveness in the Light. Makes me wonder if the theory that Eido is the Kell of Kells may be hinted at here, since it's Eido alone of all other Eliksni who refuses to give up on a person's ability to change for the better. Even Misraaks can't do that, despite creating House Light and its open-door forgiveness policy.

I TOO WOULD LIKE GREATER CULTURAL CONTEXT ON ELIKSNI NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION. I wonder who EKS-443 is- I would love to harass them for more information on what certain Eliksni vocalizations mean. I'm so starved for more worldbuilding on their biology and cultures, I'm hoping this is a sneak peak into what we might be getting in Revenant.

But also. Uh-oh bestie. The Vanguard should probably keep their claws out of this if they want diplomacy to succeed, because Eramis is not going to be happy if we stick our soft little monkey paws into Eliksni business again. We're going to have to back Eido up but let her do most of the talking/persuading, or shit can go south really fucking quickly- just like trying to pspsps a wary old ally cat into the safety of a home after years of extensive abuse. Waiting with bated breath to see how this turns out!

[animesmolbean]

A World of Pure Imagination

Author's Note: Get ready because this is the longest chapter!

Side note: I saw Wonka at my college theater two nights ago (March 24th. It was my sixth time seeing the movie), and I was so ecstatic to experience it a second time in a theater! It was so much fun watching it with others in my college, they all really enjoyed it too!

Side Note 2: The moment in the GIF when Willy tells Noodle that she did teach him to read was so sweet. He’s so adorable! 🤧♥️

Hope you enjoy this chapter! ♥️

Chapter 13: Operation Change the World

The couple walked all throughout town, talking about what they would do to make sure The Chocolate Cartel and Scrubbit and Bleacher were locked up for good. Willy told Yin about his theory about the rings Slugworth and Noodle owned. Yin told him that he figured out who poisoned the chocolate. Willy told him that he knew because the Chocolate Cartel told him when everyone left after the shop was burned down.

Soon, the sun came up. A new day has started. The two young men were getting closer to the wash house.

"Are you ready to change the world, my dear?" Willy asked Yin.

Yin looked at Willy. "Do you promise it will work?"

"I Pinkie Promise." Willy stuck out his pinky, and Yin did the same, hooking their pinkies together. As they did, Willy frowned a little.

"What's wrong, babe?" Yin asked.

"Oh, Yin, I broke one of our promises. I promised never to leave you alone again. And I did." He whispered.

"Aww, Willy." Yin cooed. "You didn't break your promise. You came back. You came back to me. That's what matters."

Willy still looked a little guilty. "Really?"

"Really really." Yin chuckled.

That brought out a soft laugh from Willy. "I don't deserve you, gumdrop."

Yin blushed lightly at the nickname but smiled. "I don't deserve you, either. You're so amazing."

Willy smiled.

Then, Yin got an idea. "How about we make a promise... together?"

"What would we promise?" Willy asked curiously.

"To love each other always."

Willy chuckled. "We don't have to make a Pinkie Promise for that. I'll always love you."

Yin blushed. "And I'll always love you."

Despite them not needing to make a Pinkie Promise, they did. As they hooked their fingers, Yin brought their hands closer, and he kissed Willy's pinky finger. The chocolatier gasped softly at the intimate action, blushing lightly. But he smiled sweetly and did it back, kissing Yin's pinky.

The couple giggled, and they made their way to enact their plan, still holding pinkies.

(Time skip)

After getting everyone together, Wonka described the plan he came up with while swimming in the cold water after escaping the boat explosion. They were going to use their talents. Noodle, the ingenious orphan, Abucus the Accountant, Piper the Plumber, Lottie the Telephone Exchange Operator, Larry the Man Who Can Speak Underwater, and as Willy lovingly dubbed Yin, His Determined Chocolate Partner. So they could pull off what Wonka called "The Heist of the Century."

Change the world, he said.

As they others walked to start their plan, Noodle and Yin held back momentarily. The pair hugged each other.

"Thank you for coming back for me." Noodle said.

"Of course. I could never leave you. You're my best friend." Yin told her.

Noodle smiled at the sweet boy. "Come on. Let's go help your boyfriend." She teased.

Yin laughed. "He is my boyfriend."

Noodle nodded. "By the way, nice attack on Bleacher. You left a bruise."

Yin chuckled, smirking playfully. "I try."

(Transition)

The game was afoot.

First, they had to go to the cathedral. They had to trick the priest, Father Julius.

As he stopped at the entrance of the cathedral, Noodle, dressed as a beggar, approached him.

"Excuse me, sir, could you spare a piece of chocolate for a straving orphan?"

Father Julius replied, "I'm sorry, my child. I don't have any."

Noodle acted sad, sighing.

He turned secretly, eating a piece. While he wasn't looking, Noodle snuck up behind him. "Then have some acacia mints." She whispered to herself as she slipped the candy into his pocket.

"Yes." She muttered in success.

Meanwhile, at the zoo, the security guard eyed another Big Night Out chocolate, which was delivered with a note.

"Basil Bond, Employee of the Week! That's lovely..." He put the chocolate into his mouth and passed out. Willy, Yin, and Abucus slip into the security lodge and grab some van keys.

Abucus drove the tall and rickety zoo transport van. In the back, Willy and Yin tended to the giraffe.

"Everything alright back there?" Abucus asked the couple.

"Everything's fine, isn't it, Abigail?" Willy asked the giraffe as he petted her to soothe her. Yin giggled when Abigail snorted in response.

They were approaching a low bridge.

"Oh! Tell her she might want to duck." Abucus warned.

"Might want to what?" Willy asked.

"Duck!!" Abucus exclaimed.

Abigail ducked as the tall van just scrapes under the bridge. She came back up with a shake of her head. Yin petted her. "Good girl." He praised.

Abucus parked the van in a deserted alley. Yin slowly guided Abigail to the front of the cathedral.

"All right. You ready, Abigail?"

The giraffe snorted, nudging her snout against Yin's face. Yin chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes." He gave her a scratch underneath her chin. "Now, go get them." He encouraged as he ran back to the van.

"All set." He said as he got back intot he back of the tall van. "Good job, my dear." Willy said, kissing his cheek, making Yin smile.

(Transition)

Everyone went back to the zoo, waiting for Larry to get a call after Lottie directed Julius to the zoo, to do their next part of the plan. Willy, Yin, Noodle, Abucus, and Piper stand around Larry.

He gets the call. "Hello, zoo?"

The rest of the group started to make various animal noises. Piper did an elephant, Abucus did a snake, Noodle did a bird noise. Meanwhile, Yin growled and snarled like a tiger or tried to, as Willy's very accurate impression of a monkey was making him slip a little. He had to resist laughing.

"Quiet down, you animals!" Larry exclaimed. "You too, octopus." He added in his underwater voice. "What? Oh, yeah, I think we did lose a giraffe."

Everyone was still doing their impressions, but more quietly. Yin gave up and was just snickering into his hand.

Okay, geez, I'll send the guys around." Larry hung up. Everyone stopped and looked at Larry. He gave them the okay. Their plan worked.

The wash house workers got into disguises, while the main trio got into the back.

"Nice tiger impression." Willy told Yin, laughing a little.

"Be lucky I wasn't an actual tiger." Yin playfully said, with a gentle smirk.

"Please don't bite me." Willy backed away, but still smiling like an idiot. Yin shrugged. "All right."

The group drove the tall van back to the cathedral. Abucus, Piper and Larry took the tall crate into the cathedral, opening it.

"All clear." Abucus signaled.

The main trio popped out from underneath the hay and got out of the crate. Abucus pulled the lever in the confession stall, activating the elevator. Yin slipped a Big Night Out chocolate on the seat before he got on top of the elevator, followed by Willy and Noodle.

They get down to the bottom, where the crypt is. The Mistress of the Keys looks up, surprised to see the elevator door open with no one inside. She approached it cautiously, only seeing the chocolate with a note.

"With thanks for all your hard work, Father Julius and the Chocolate Cartel." She read. "Oh that's sweet." She eats the chocolate.

Before the trio knew it, she hit the white wine and red wine layers, and she started to sing and dance. The song was one that Yin recognized as the one Cartel would sing to anyone they were bribing people with chocolate. He had to admit, the song was catchy, but for the wrong reasons.

"Wow. She can really move." Willy muttered.

Yin and Noodle gave Willy a side eye look and Yin poked his side.

"Watch it, pretty boy." He warned playfully.

Noodle snickered quietly at Yin's "warning".

Willy only smiled softly. "Don't be jealous, marshmallow. You're the only one for me." He muttered sweetly. Yin smiled shyly.

The Mistress of the Keys hit the whiskey fudge layer and got upset. She called someone on the phone; it turned out to be Basil, the zoo security guard. The trio were surprised.

"What are the chances?" Noodle whispered. Willy and Yin agreed.

After the call, the lady passes out. The coast was clear. Willy slipped out from the gap above, landing on the floor. Yin followed after, then Noodle.

They walk to the vault. Noodle snatched the keys and unlocked the lock. Then, Yin and Willy turned the handle, and the vault door opened, revealing the inside of the vault.

"Cool!" Noodle exclaimed.

"It is, isn't it?" Yin asked.

"Now, we have to find that ledger." Willy said as he placed his cane onto he ground, turning it into a hanger, before hanging his coat and hat on it.

Noodle and Willy started to look around. Yin stayed back. "Hold on. One of us should be back up there. To keep watch."

Willy knew where this was going. "Yin, I can't let you do that." He said worriedly, approaching the boy. Yin cupped Willy's cheek. "I'll be alright. Besides, I can run and get help if something goes wrong. Besides, the Cartel probably thinks I ran away after you "left" last night."

"You do make a clever point there, my dear Yin." Willy agreed. "All right. But please, gumdrop, be careful." He kissed Yin's nose.

Yin chuckled and did it back. "I will. Find that ledger." He said. After that, he pulled away and went back to the elevator and got in. He pushed the button to go up. As it did, he played his hands and feet on the sides and climbed up to the roof of the elevator to hide himself.

As the elevator stopped, it opened, and he hoped no one would investigate it or see his magenta coat peeking out from above as he held himself up.

The elevator door closed after a few agonizing seconds, and he sighed with relief. He climbed down and sat on the seat, waiting to hear anything suspicious.

After a few minutes, he heard Julius talking to someone. His ears pricked up when he heard him name drop Slugworth.

'Oh no.'

Then, he heard many cars approaching as the people in the cathedral were forced to leave. Yin took this opportunity to leave the elevator and blend in with the chaos.

As he neared the entrance, he heard a click behind him.

"Stay where you are."

That voice. That familiar, slimy voice. Yin gulped nervously and turned to see who it was.

"You."

(Transition)

Willy and Noodle searched the vault to find the ledger.

"Anything?" Willy asked.

"Nothing!" Noodle replied.

"Well, keep looking." Willy continued his search.

"It's not in here, Willy."

"Abucus said that it was here."

"Abucus has been in the wash house for the past four years. Maybe all of the scrubbing has gone to his head. Cause all that's down is a bunch of stupid old chocolate!" Noodle chugged a box of 'Slugworth' chocolate at the wall.

When it did, it opened a secret panel. Noodle steps over to it, and in the open panel, was the green ledger.

"Willy, look!"

Willy came over.

"We did it, Noodle. Got them."

Just as they were about to celebrate, a gunshot sounded in the vault. They turn around and see the three chocolatiers standing in the doorway. Slugworth has fired into the air. He slowly stepped forward, his gun raised.

As surprised as the duo were, what made them freeze in horror was the sight of Yin, tied by his wrists with a necktie, being held begrudgingly by Fickelgruber.

"Yin!" They exclaimed in horror.

Slugworth smirked evilly. "Naughty, naughty, Mr. Wonka. You've caused us quite a bit of trouble."

He turned to look at the tied up Yin. "We caught your little partner trying to escape the cathedral. I thought he wouldn't be of any trouble, but he has more drive than we gave him credit for."

Yin struggled in Fickelgruber's arms, but he held him in a tight hold. He looked at his boyfriend and best friend, guilt evident on his face.

"Him and your... urchin."

Willy, despite the situation, stood tall. "But she isn't just an urchin, is she, Mr. Slugworth? You're family."

Noodle and Yin looked at Willy in confusion. "What? What are you talking about, Willy?" Noodle asked.

"You know that ring? The one you got from your parents? Well, Mr. Slugworth has one just like it, don't you, Mr. Slugworth?"

Noodle looked at the ring in surprise.

Slugworth stepped forward. "As a matter of fact, I do. That belonged to my brother. Zebedee."

Noodle looked at Slugworth. "Was he my father?"

"A hopeless romantic is what we was. Fell in love with a common little bookworm, but died before they could marry, leaving me sole heir to the family fortune, or so I thought..."

Slugworth went on to explain that nine months later, a woman came to his door, asking for help for her newborn. That newborn was Noodle. He agreed but instead threw baby Noodle down a laundry chute where Mrs. Scrubbit found her and named her Noodle. She saw the ring, thinking it was an N, but really, it was a Z.

When the mother returned, Slugworth told her she died, making the woman howl in sadness. But, he paid her and escorted her from his property.

As Yin listened, he felt sadness and anger well up in him. Sadness for his best friend. She didn't deserve anything that happened to her. Anger because it was Slugworth who caused her misery. He struggled again, lowly growling, but Fickelgruber held him tigher.

Noodle, with tears in her eyes, asked, "What was her name?"

"Eh?"

"My mom? What was her name?"

Slugworth thought about it. "Ooh. Now let me see, umm... No, I don't think I can remember that. I'm sorry. But you have to understand, she was very poor."

Fickelgruber retched.

"Sorry, Felix." Slugworth said.

Yin scoffed, shaking his head.

"Her name was Dorothy. Dorothy Smith. It says so, right here." Willy read the ledger.

"Dorothy?" Noodle whispered, smiling softly. Yin gasped softly. "Willy.." He whispered.

"Well, what do you know? I guess you did teach me to read, after all."

Noodle smiled at the eccentric chocolatier. Yin smiled as well, happy for his boyfriend.

"Well, this is all very touching, but back to business. We'll take that." He gestured to the ledger.

Fickelgruber roughly pushed Yin onto the ground. The action caused Yin to yelp and land on his hands and knees. Before he could do anything, Prodnose grabbed a hold of his bound hands, holding him in place. Fickelgruber took he ledger from Willy and returned it to the secret compartment.

"How much chocolate have you got at your factory, Fickelgruber?" Arthur asked.

"About eighty thousand gallons." Felix replied.

"Prodnose?"

"And I've got one fifty. Should be just about enough." Gerald replied.

"For what?" Noodle asked.

Slugworth smirked evilly. "Death by chocolate."

Yin's eyes widened in horror. "No!" He exclaimed, trying to escape.

Arthur pointed his gun at Yin. "Silence, brat."

Yin panted softly, seething with anger and desperation.

"Gerald, deal with this urchin." He gestured to Yin.

Gerald dragged the struggling Yin towards the entrance of the vault as Yin watched Willy and Noodle ushered into the chocolate tank. He looked at Gerald as he proceeded to bind Yin's ankles with a few cloth napkins. He could hear the others talking as he spoke to him. He knew negotiating with Prodnose was hard because he was almost as willing as Arthur to rid the competition. He struggled with the man, moving around a lot. Prodnose had to hold his legs down to keep him still.

Once he finished, Yin looked at Gerald and growled at him. Gerald stepped back, scared of Yin. He saw Fickelgruber walk towards the controls of the tank, Prodnose joining him.

"Let them go! You're going to kill them?! Just because Willy can make better chocolate than any of you can in your lives?!" Yin exclaimed in anger.

Arthur closed the tank door and pointed his gun at the young man again. "That man would've put us out of business. We can't have that. So, this is a necessary precaution. We gave him many warnings before but he didn't listen. So, this is the best thing we could do." He said, a sickly smirk on his face.

"You all are monsters."

Arthur only chuckled darkly, and together, the three turned three handles, presumably to release their chocolate to fill the tank.

As they turned to leave, walking past Yin, not caring that they were taking two innocent lives, Yin growled at them.

"Mark my words, you greedy, spiteful slugs, I will make sure you three are held accountable. I don't care how long it takes. You won't get away with this."

Arthur looked at the boy one more time. "Oh, Yin, we already have."

With that, they left.

Yin growled and struggled against his binds. They were really tight. He fiddled with the cloth bindings. He growled and used his teeth to undo the binding around his wrists. Eventually, they came undone, freeing his hands.

With his hands now free, he untied the cloth around his ankles. Once his ankles were free, he got up from the floor and ran towards the chocolate tank, pounding the door.

"Hold on, guys! I'll save you!"

He started to turn the handles, trying to turn off the chocolate. They weren't moving.

"Come on!" He said, his voice shaky.

After a minute, nothing budged. Yin yelled in frustration.

He was not going to give up. He won't lose the people he loves the most. Not again.

"Well, I was certainly not expecting to see Mr. Wonka's partner here."

[simslegacy5083]

Today's (3/14/2025) Episode: The First Time

The newlyweds returned from their reception to an empty homestead, which Candor had vacated for the evening.

Elyse’s natural remedies to soothe Skye’s symptoms were somewhat successful. Her oatmeal bath soothed xir skin, and a super fruit smoothie cut through some of the nasty taste the illness had left on xir tongue.

Finally, the pair chugged their flirty potions and headed upstairs to start off their married life with a little fun under the sheets.

Neither sim had any experience with woohoo, though, so rather than jumping into bed they got changed and settled down for a chat.

“So…” Skye began “I talked to my dad about some of this stuff… just to get prepared … and he told me about a bunch of cool things we could try.” In xir embarrassment Skye couldn’t quite meet Elyse’s eye as xe described Luigi’s “tips and tricks”, completely missing the horrified look on her face.

Once xe finished she immediately burst out “That sounds DISGUSTING! I admit I didn’t look into this the way you did, but if we can’t have a good time without getting all WEIRD about it, we’re doing it wrong. The “role” I want to “play” right now is “bride on her wedding night” and I hope I can count on you to join me.”

At xir hurt look she softened her tone and tried again: “Can’t we keep our first woohoo simple and loving? Someday I might be interested in those… fancy… things, but I’ve never felt much interest in that heavy flirty stuff, and honestly, I don’t know when I’ll be ready for all of “that”. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine.” Skye sighed. Xe was hurt by her strong rejection of the ideas that seemed exciting to xem, but she had a right to ask that they take things at a pace she was comfortable with, and xe knew that she cared about both of their feelings and wants. The last thing xe wanted to do was fight.

“I think you’re great at “the flirty stuff”, and I can’t wait to explore it together for the rest of our lives.” xe countered “I’m happy to let you lead because I trust you, and I trust our love. I’m sure woohoo will be natural and easy for us before we know it, but if I need to put in a little more effort to make it special for the sim who means the world to me, then I’ll always be up for that.”

“I love you too” Elyse smiled, leaning in and kissing xem softly. “We’ll figure this out, just like we’ve figured everything else out. I’m sure of it!”

Skye nodded “So… are you ready to go to bed, have a little fun, and hopefully make a nooboo of our own? Neither of our parents had any problems getting pregnant, I mean mine had me without even trying” … “and mine are expecting a surprise 4th as we speak!” Elyse finished with a laugh.

“Exactly!” Skye agreed “We’ll be parents in no time, and I can’t wait.”

“Thank you for being so patient with me” Elyse smiled, snuggling into Skye’s open arms afterwards “I didn’t realize it was going to hurt like that.”

“I’m sorry you had a rough time” Skye sympathized. “I’m glad we didn’t try anything fancy after all. Hopefully next time will be better for you. Maybe watching some videos would help, or…”

“I don’t think that will be necessary” Elyse quickly cut xem off “I mean… you can if you want to… but I don’t think I’d like that very much.”

“Anyway” she went on, quickly changing the subject “I’ll take a pregnancy test first thing in the morning. I’m sure we made a baby and this way I can have a few more hours where I’m not nauseous and my clothes still fit!”

“It’s a date!” Skye smiled, pulling her into a warm embrace under the covers as they drifted off for a peaceful night’s sleep in one another's arms.

These two got offered those discovery traits almost immediately upon me moving Skye into the homestead and I thought it was perfect for them.

As for Elyse's long time disinterest in woohoo, I know many have speculated on it and it is actually coming from Lumpinou's RPO. One of the newer features is woohoo drive, and she's had a very low one from the time she was a teen. Skye's is average.

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[travelingmaster-inspirations]

He calls me his little hypno pet...

And to be fair, that’s a pretty accurate description for what I am, but before you go and picture me on all fours mindlessly mewling like a cat in heat or barking like a dog with one of those anal tails sticking out my rear, you should know that ‘pet’ doesn’t refer to that at all. That term simply refers to our dynamic.

Just like any regular pet, he owns me, trains me, plays with me and takes care of all my needs. 

Our relationship started out like any other, however, unlike most, we soon discovered that we both enjoyed power play dynamics and that lead us to very interesting things in the bedroom. I already enjoyed feeling submissive and as we got more comfortable, that feeling only blossomed as he allowed himself to be more and more dominant with me.

In the past, whenever I finally confided in my lover that I loved to be submissive, they always tended to dive into a bondage mentality and to be fair, I loved it. With my Owner though, that wasn’t at all what his first instincts told him to do. Not that he didn’t enjoy his authority in the bedroom, but his true desire turned out to be so different and surprising that I couldn’t help but feel excited when we decided to try it.

Like most of you, the first thing that popped into my mind when he said he wanted to turn me into his pet was an imagine of me on all fours like some sort of animal. I didn’t think that was something I could do for him and he actually laughed when I told him as much. When I asked him what was so funny, he calmly told me that I missed the point.

What he wanted from me wasn’t to make me ACT like an animal, but like a loving pet.

I didn’t understand the difference until he suggested we spent an evening as owner and pet. My sole job for the evening was to question myself before I took any sort of action by asking myself: “What would a pet do in this situation?” 

We agreed that it would start the moment he got home from work so, as I asked myself the question, I realized that a typical pet would be joyous about their owner’s return and happily great them at the door. I felt a little foolish to do it, but I went to him as soon as opened the door and showered him with kisses. Thankfully, my joy was actually very real so it wasn’t hard to play the part.

All evening, I found myself asking that question again and again before I did anything and slowly but surely, I realized that pets acted on emotion and more specifically, they lived IN the moment. I didn’t have hypnosis back then to help me get into that mind set, but I strove to push out any thoughts that didn’t concern the immediate present.

As for my man, he acted out his role perfectly and treated me as if I was his beloved pet. He played with me... Petted me... Snuggled with me... Washed me from head to toe... Dried and combed my hair... Commanded me when he needed me to follow him... Everything he did made me feel like I was his dog or cat without actually being one.

Because even if he acted as if I was his animal companion, he didn’t consider me less of a human and talked with me as if nothing about our night was different. It was a strange thing to experience for sure, but through it I felt cherished and loved in a way I had never felt before with others that dominated me.

I had experienced what being a submissive ‘slave’ was and as we enjoyed a very carnal end to our little experimental evening, I couldn’t help but think that being a pet felt a lot better...

Not that I had bad Doms before, but the power dynamic, which was basically the same, felt completely different.

Since our night had been a positive success, we repeated it a few times and eventually, he told me about his kink for hypnosis. We had long talks about how it could help me get into a better mindset, but also about the different ‘tricks’ he could slowly train into me.

I have to say that I was more than a little skeptical, but thankfully, I was willing to try.

I turned out to be a rather receptive subject and after a few weeks of getting me used to how it felt to be in a trance, he began to help me become the pet we both wanted me to be. Things were slow going at first, but as I got more comfortable and my mind reacted more readily to his different triggers and suggestion, I quickly realized that being hypnotically played with turned me on just as much as it did him. 

Eventually, he told me that if I was willing, he wanted to push things further and use hypnosis to ‘force’ my mind into a pet mind that would feel so natural to me that I wouldn’t need to constantly ask myself ‘what would a pet do?’. It was a big step and after a lot of talks on how that could work, we decided that my collar would act like as the trigger my mind needed to block out the rest of the world and plunge my mind into the present.

It took a LONG while, but little by little, I felt my mind shrink down more and more when ever I wore my special collar. Honestly, it was a little worrisome the first time I completely found myself reduce to a bundle of emotions and wants, but it was also incredibly liberating to just BE in the moment.

When I wear my collar, my whole universe boils down to 2 things: My Owner and my physical needs.

I don’t think about my job, the rent, up coming events or the news. All my mind can focus on is the moment I’m in. I don’t think about how i got there and I certainly don’t think too much about what comes later on. My mind can only remember the last 10 minutes and will only allowed itself to wonder about the next 5. Everything else simply doesn’t exist for me when I’m able to dive down into that state of mind.

Unless I was trained to restrain myself, every single want or desire I have becomes the main motivation of my moment. 

I feel hungry? I go to my Owner and ask him to feed me. 

I feel tired? I go to my Owner and cuddle up to him for a nap.

I feel playful? I go to my Owner and prank him with little things until he turns his attention to me and plays with me.

I feel sad? I go to my Owner for comfort.

I feel aroused? I go to my Owner and mold my body to his until he either orders me to stop or makes use of my heated body.

Sometimes my desires don’t sit well with my Owner and he punishes me when I’m too insistant. Other times, I’m not quite in the mood for his plans, but obeying my Owner as he trains or starts to play with me always ends up changing my mood for the better because he is my Owner and his attention is what I want most out of my simple life.

I’m his cherished pet in every sense of the word except the obvious and truthfully, I’ve never been happier!

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Hello! I (ISFJ) have a really close friend (xNTP – he says is an I). We have known each other for a while now, building our friendship through shared experiences and interests. But our emotional connection is almost non-existant. He almost never talks about his emotions, always displays a cheery mood. He never has physical contact with anyone (due to a trauma when he was a child), including his family ; the only exception would be an eventual girlfriend according to him.

I learned 1,5 years later that he almost had a burnout at his previous job, although at the time he only said that several collegues were quitting and the workload was a little heavy and the atmosphere was weird. He recently lost his grandfather, and I could sense that he was sad and a little bit off, but he only said that it's for the best because he was very ill.

Recently, his mother told him that he should probably go see a psychologist to be more connected to his emotions. Even I often feels like he's not at ease with emotions, which sometimes blocks me from sharing mine with him. My question his: what can I do to help us build an emotional connection in a way that would feel comfortable for him? Thank you!

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Being Si dom yourself, you ought to already be aware that what is "comfortable" is largely determined by one's own individual experience with the world, especially when it comes to having a strong preference for the known and familiar. You can't change someone's past experience, nor can you force them to revisit and reinterpret it unless they are ready, willing, and have good reason to.

If he is INTP and also prone to Si loop, change won't come easily. In other words, when, subjectively, a person already considers their status quo to be comfortable, they have little to no incentive to change course (aka inertia). Further, they might believe change is bad and to be avoided. Even when the status quo is painful, people can trick themselves into believing that changing the status quo would be even more painful. Better the devil you know, right?

There's nothing wrong with wanting to get closer to someone. However, you do have to be mindful and respectful of their preferences and limits. Sometimes, a relationship cannot go as emotionally deep as you hope, and that's okay. Part of being a good friend is being able to accept your friends as they are, rather than always wishing for them to be different.

That being said, I believe the bare minimum for being a good friend is to offer care and support as needed. Whenever you see someone going through a seemingly negative time/event, be sure to check up on them and ask how they're doing. Let them know you're willing to listen without judgment and to help out in whatever way appropriate.

Being consistently empathetic and maintaining a safe space for people to be vulnerable is sometimes all you can do. After that, the ball is in their court. You can always try to make overt gestures by voicing your concern more explicitly, but you can't compel people to open up when they're simply not ready or able to. It seems the two of you have been friends long enough that you can push and probe the issue, but proceed slowly and gently and be responsive to feedback.

I say the above purely from the perspective of his needs/wants. Remember that he might treat emotional matters as lower in priority than you, so don't make assumptions about what he needs, and try to operate according to the reality of his situation. When people tell you what they need and want, you should believe what they say. Friendship requires trust. If they're downplaying or dishonest, that's their issue, not yours.

However, there is another perspective to consider: What do YOU need and want? If this is also about you not feeling entirely satisfied because you have a higher need for emotional connection (which can be due to differences in Fe development), then you should reflect on whether you're barking up the wrong tree, in terms of expecting more from the relationship than is realistic. After some reflection, if you realize this need is quite important to you, perhaps you'll have to find an alternative method of fulfilling it, rather than place the burden upon someone who can't meet you halfway.