#but also been rotating a male design in my head that is basically all my favorite character elements wrapped into one

[nyxronomicon]

getting a strong urge to design some new ocs

[transfemrecusant]

okay so not to be a huge nerd but ive been getting a lot of rbs on my siphonophore post talking about how it resembles the elden beast from elden ring - and it does!! but this is also where i reveal that im a huge nerd and have considered the design of the elden beast a lot in my runs platinuming the game and my recent attempts to 100% in seamless co-op with my girlfriend :3

so, while the elden beast being a siphonophore does make thematic and design sense (especially with the idea of the law of regression in mind- all things yearn to become one, as a siphonophore is many things that are also one!) but my main theory is that the elden beast is actually a nudibranch sea slug!!

so first im just going to show a couple of photos that i think show off the design aspects particularly well :3

this one, i feel, shows off the basic shape and how it translates into the elden beast veryyyy well. additionally, the gills are taking on a very tree-like shape- a design we see in the elden beast though this species lacks numerous ceras

here we see a nudibranch with a ton of cerata- the little tentacle things on this guys body :3 though the elden beast doesn't have this many, they seem to very much line up in appearance.

this one's a stretch- but it's appearance when it flies during the elden ring attack always reminded me of these guys 🥰

my last one to show off- the hooded nudibranch. the tree like texture in the ceras and the gold nerves running through lines up exactly with the elden beast :3

So, what does this mean?

i highly, highly doubt that the design being based off of a sea slug is just a, "that looks cool" thing. so how does this line up thematically?

firstly, i find it important to mention that nudibranches are pretty much parasitic. to eat something they latch onto it and begin eating, though keeping the stinging cells of it's prey to defend itself. to this extent, this lines up with the Golden Order's takeover of the lands between - the Erdtree parasitically latching onto the Greattree, taking those who once fought for it for their own. it's important to note here that the Crucible Knights served under Godfrey while he was Elden Lord- not before, and the misbegotten (specifically the leonine ones) seem to bear connection to Radagon, insofar as one bearing the Golden Order Greatsword and knowing incantations of the Golden Order. The Erdtree ate away at it's prey, while keeping it's stingers for itself.

Secondly, the reproduction aspect. Nudibranches are simultaneously male and female- an idea that is translated into the earthly form the elden ring was stored into, the dual beings Marika and Radagon.

Additionally, nudibranches are known very well for not possessing shells, though this isn't quite true for it's larval state- many nudibranches possess shells up until adulthood- perhaps emblematic of the beast shedding the form of Marika/Radagon to fight you.

Of course like always there's probably more to this idea that I'm not picking up on, and if anyone has any further theories I'd love to hear them :3 this is just my autism brain rambling after rotating it in my head all day.

[varteeny1234]

i'm thinking about earthspark frenzy again guys. rotating her inside my head

spoilers under cut i guess! beware, the rambling goes on and on and on and on and on and ON

LOOK GUYS she's got so much trauma if you just look at her a little closer. Soundwave and ALL the cassettes do. But mostly frenzy and soundwave

we know that one of the cassettes exploded, right? And we all theorize it's rumble bc he hasnt even been mentioned at all in es yet he, ravage, and laserbeak were the main trio of cassettes in the g1 cartoon, which es is an alternate continuity of. frenzy essentially, for lack of a better word, replaces rumble here in this trio in es! but she's also changed her color pallette entirely, which is the INTERESTING PART

it's not confirmed OFFICIALLY that the exploded cassette did not survive, but they probably didnt. and i can only think of two or three good reasons as to why frenzy's design could have changed so much! the rest of them, save soundwave, look basically like 3d-ish versions of their 2d g1 original versions- or have good reasons why they don't. We all know the "frenzy is red rumble is blue, frenzy is blue rumble is red" thing, yes? Okay good. frenzy was red in the g1 show and rumble was purpleish blue. but not in earthspark! WHY IS FRENZY, WHO WAS RED IN THE G1 SHOW, PURPLE?

so, by my speculations, frenzy:

-during her transition (she WAS male in g1 and you can pry transfem frenzy from my cold dead hands) decided to just... become purple for no reason when she became punk (not that likely, but not UNLIKELY- it's more of a "why this specific color" than a "why change color" if that makes sense. honestly)

-was actually the cassette who got exploded, or at least badly damaged enough she needed a new frame, and the new frame was just purple (not likely, wouldn't really make sense, just seems kind of random)

-repainted herself in memorial of rumble, who is dead. (still not really that likely but more likely than #2 and also DELICIOUS angst potential)

Realistically, I know the color swap was probably just the animators messing around with the frenzy/rumble colors thing, but in-universe theres SO MANY THINGS that can be added! rumble's still mia though :( i want my boy baaaaaaack

OKAy all that aside, PSYCH ANALYSYS TIME!!

Frenzy, despite being VERY loyal to soundwave and the decepticons in every other continuity, is still with/following soundwave in earthspark but leaves him as soon as she's given a viable opportunity. She even tries to convince ravage to go with her and laserbeak! (It doesnt work, ravage still loves sw) But why isnt she loyal to him anymore? We don't know. But even though laserbeak did go with her when she left, he wasn't really vocal about it despite having a voice (except maybe that was decided to be confirmed canon in s2 b, and he couldnt talk then yet? idk). Frenzy did all the "i'm leaving, you should come with me" in this, for the WHOLE EPISODE.

My guess is, after rumble's hypothetical death, she was 1) mad enough at soundwave for technically killing her brother to not want to be with him anymore and thus she left him, 2) grieving and not in her right mind since she was literally a rogue 'con and she didnt exactly have the TIME to properly process rumble's death and just chose to leave and try and become independent on her own, or 3) TRY AND FIND A NEW MEGATRON! :D here's more of my insanity:

After frenzy and laserbeak disappeared at the end of episode 8, we know that they somehow wound up as announcers in an underground gladiator ring (can you see where i'm headed? yeah. yeah)!! why THERE, of all the places? WHY A GLADIATOR RING, GUYS? THE SAME EXACT PLACE THAT YOU AND SOUNDWAVE FOUND THE ORIGINAL MEGATRON (yes i KNOW that's other continuities mostly and not the g1 show but IT'S MEGS' ORIGIN), WHO HAD JUST CAPTURED SOUNDWAVE, AFTER HE'D BETRAYED ALL OF YOU?

Are you trying to find a replacement, so that you can have a new leader? Or perhaps so that you can find someone for your beloved soundwave to have with him, so he finally stops his path of revenge? (I think frenzy is actually fully on board with all that though, revenge is fun and soundwave isnt stupid or impulsive, he plans things out. and god knows he's being extra careful with the cassettes after The Incident) Regardless, Frenzy and laserbeak somehow end up in a mirror of the place that started the whole thing. For no reason whatsoever no sireeeee

Now here's MORE fun stuff. Canonically, frenzy and laserbeak both just left soundwave, but in s2 (i dont like s2 but theres some details that make me FERAL) laserbeak is BACK WITH SOUNDWAVE, and frenzy is just as mia as rumble! not even ONE mention. which means she's probably still on her own, but ACTUALLY all alone this time, since both of the other cassettes are with soundwave

Frenzy isnt ready to go back to him, then. But laserbeak WAS, and i dont know why the show writers had that detail in (i KNOW these are all side characters but i need to THEORIZE for my OWN SANITY) but this was ALSO after the whole "planet-wide transformer temporary shutdown" thing in the s1 finale, so i assume laserbeak and frenzy collapsed somewhere off on their own and laserbeak decided he was better off with SW after all but frenzy STILL decided to stay rogue? man, even the show writers could PROBABLY have used one more character there still, even if it was more work to animate. i dont think frenzys VA quit which is a terrifying thought actually

UM. anyways i think that's it for now but MANNN i am so very much obsessed with the earthspark decepticons goodness gracious

[simowis]

Prothean's bio-exploration head canon

I have thought so much about prothean that I can no longer tell what is inferred and what is merely my head canon, so let the following be my head canon:

Prothean's appearance is clearly very human, but at the same time it has the representations of other animals. I believe that the designers have drawn on a variety of Earth creatures when designing this creature. Therefore, looking for animal-like characteristics in their appearance and setting might infer biological and social content not written in the prothean.

*I use deepl to translate into english.

-Eyes

The four eyes of the prothean grow on either side of the head and, as summarised in the previous article, they have a total of only 40 degrees of blindness at the back of the head.

They have two pupils in each eye. Double pupils are treated as a disease in humans, and there are very few mammals with double pupils in biology. Similarly, creatures with long horizontal pupils, such as sheep and horses, have an extremely long field of vision and can best scan everywhere. It is worth noting that Javik's pupils can be rotated at an angle, although they have not been observed fully vertically - vertical orientation is generally reserved for predators, such as cats and foxes, to facilitate accurate distance determination from prey.

Of course, whether horizontally or vertically, these creatures always have one pupil. The best eyes by far belong to the mantis shrimp. "They have three pupils with 16 types of photoreceptors and can see ultraviolet, visible and polarised light. They can also perceive depth with one eye and move each eye independently."

For more details see：

In its design, Prothean is clearly heading in the direction of having a very high level of perception. The analogy to the eyes of a mantis shrimp is then apt. Javik can see the stealthy kasumi, whose tactical cloak stealth works on the principle of light bending, but only for the range of visible light. So if Prothean can additionally perceive ultraviolet and polarised light, that would reasonably explain Javik's proud statement that "nothing escapes my eyes".

Incidentally, with so much additional visual content to look at, there is also an additional explanation for the prothean's female attraction to males with their eyes. In Javik's recollection, all the prothean that Shepard saw looked almost the same, distinguished only by their voices and the colour of their armour. But perhaps it is simply that our weak human eyes cannot see the pattern of ultraviolet patches that speckle the prothean's body, or that the prothean use circularly polarised light for courtship.

Even further, if protheans do have patches of pattern that emit ultraviolet light, this might explain the hypothesis that protheans do not readily disperse matter, since ultraviolet light has a germicidal and purifying effect. As mentioned in the previous post, I assume that humans normally emit as much biomass as odorous pets, whereas the 'body odour' of the prothean is relatively much rarer.

——————————

-Sensing and sociality

As mentioned above, the prothean has the ability to sense at least two types of sensing, touch and smell, through which it can acquire memories, learn knowledge and understand complex ideas; and smell, which can at least know the physical state of the other. Sensing each other is the basic state of the prothean and requires consciousness to be turned off. Such an ability makes it unlikely that protheans are solitary creatures; they are more likely to be group-like.

A group of social animals that transmit information through scent are insects. Given the prothean's appearance, especially the armour on their heads, it is easier to associate them with insects such as termites, bees or ants. So could a prothean be the social form of such insects? These insects usually rely on pheromones to transmit information. Their queen, rather than being the leader, is the organ of the organisation for reproduction. Many nests will have alternate queens. In such a society, individual workers will be lazy, bullied by higher ranking workers, and subject to civil war, and the queen may need prodding to obtain food supplies. It cannot be said that they are not self-aware as individuals. On a larger scale, how is our human form of life not a swarm society? It cannot be ruled out that the society of the Ploceans is of this form

One type is the hive intelligence, which is organised much like a social insect. In a hive entity, the individual members of the community are worthless, and indeed most of them have no individual intelligence to speak of. They are dedicated to various functions (especially warriors) and exist solely to serve the hive entity as a whole. The intelligence of the hive entity may reside in specialised 'brain' individuals, which have only degenerated legs or even digestive systems, and which are themselves entirely dependent on various 'slave' individuals. Alternatively, intelligence may somehow be transmitted collectively through the hive entity as a whole, with each unconscious inhabitant actually contributing some neurons to the whole. (Or some combination of these.) --from the projectrho website. Such forms of intelligent biological societies dare not claim to be able to develop independent thinking individuals like Javik, and I tend to dismiss the possibility.

The other type of creature that is more social is the wolf pack. This is the prothean social form hypothesis that I prefer:

The wolf is the most orderly and disciplined animal in the animal kingdom and exhibits an extremely strong team spirit . The team spirit of wolves is manifested in the following aspects: ⒈ Overall and individual aspects: the social order of the wolf pack is very strong, each member understands its role and status, and all actions are determined by the status of each member in the pack. The reason wolves howl is to provide time, occasion and opportunity to break down all hierarchical boundaries, and when wolves howl together, all hierarchical boundaries disappear. The wolf is a good communicator. Wolves are among the most sociable of animals. They use a variety of methods. They howl, rub the tips of their noses against each other, lick with their tongues, and adopt dominant or subordinate body postures. They use complex and elaborate body language, including lips, eyes, facial expressions and tail position, or use scent to convey messages.

It is also implied that the prothean will operate in groups, as in the 'game' mentioned by Javik at the card table, where they are competing in three 'TEAMs'. Associated with the wolves, perhaps the prothean in each group have a strong bond with each other, they share experiences and memories with each other, are transparent about each other's personalities and ideas, and know their roots. This would explain even more why Javik was so distraught about cutting his crew's throats and would decide to 'join' them in the end.

———————

-Other assumptions derived from appearance:

-As far as I've seen the nicknames of javik inside and outside the game, Bugman, snake, shrimp, etc., it is clear that basically all are oviparous creatures. So perhaps it can be assumed that the prothean is also oviparous, and that oviparity is likely to be multiple births. It's worth noting that snakes have two genitalia with barbed spines, which are embolic. Maybe that's why shep was 'not a word' that night? HAH, The female snake can retain the sperm of her preferred male for five years, so is it possible to assume that the prothean male might perform a ritual of fertility before going off to the battlefield where he will never return? (Javik had encouraged the reproductive rituals of shep and tari.) While the males sacrificed their lives for respite, the prothean females reproduced as a necessary task for the continuation of the race.

-The circular patch on the back part of Javik's neck is very similar to a blue-ringed octopus - the deadly poison of the planet, a tiny bit of venom can kill in seconds. So is it possible that the prothean is poisonous? Not to mention the four sharp teeth in his upper jaw, which might be fangs?

[ladala99]

Wolvden Pack Updates - Breeding Pair Brainstorming

Of course the day my pack’s canon hunting team is filled by growing lead pups, Wolvden throws a curveball in the form of being able to set Breeding Pairs. And since my pack’s entire structure is built upon the One Breeding Male restriction, that means I get to rebuild it completely!

It’s a good addition to the game, of course. But I was just getting settled with the old system and now I want to use the new system.

The Pack As It Stands

Currently, I essentially have two packs: the canon pack that consists of my leader, her mate, and her pups; and a non-canon pack of all female wolves working to produce my next leader’s mate. The leader’s mate is my Breeding Male, and my non-canon wolves all breed with outside studs. I sort-of avoid inbreeding, but only within my own pack. I don’t take the heritage of outside studs into consideration, and I only specifically avoid breeding a pup to a parent, not looking into siblings or cousins and other relations.

At maximum, I produce two litters per in-game six months, one from the non-canon Hunting Team and one from the Lead Pair or one of the children of the Hunting Team if the Lead Pair is still on cooldown.

The Lead Wolf’s pups cannot breed unless they become the Lead Wolf themselves. Non-canon pups can breed if they are female and the closest to my Goal Wolf or if their mother is retiring from the Hunting Team due to age.

I do not want to keep it as it is, though. This new update opens up so many possibilities, so this is going to be a brainstorming session to figure out what exactly I want to do.

Goals With the Restructure:

- Breed entirely within my own pack - no outside studding except in exceptional circumstances (like a breed-only Special base or mark that I cannot acquire through my own efforts).

- On average, gain stats through the generations

- Have a genetically-varied pack (lots of Base and Marking variety)

- Limit inbreeding

- Gain new, unrelated wolves only through Explore

Limitations to Keep in Mind

I haven’t gone all the way through the tutorial yet (I’ll find a pair of wolves in Explore just to set them since I’m not ready to commit any of the pack quite yet), but from what I understand:

Breeding Pairs can only breed twice a calendar month. That’s not per individual pair but per all pairs in the pack. This does not affect breeding to a Breeding Male. (Since I already only breed twice per 24 days with the non-canon pack, this isn’t too much of a handicap for my current playstyle)

From the page:

- Wolves eligible to form pair bonds must have been a part of your pack for a minimum of 7 rollovers. (Okay, this means I need to wait a week for the Explore-found wolves to be in the pack long enough to do the tutorial)

- Male wolves (excluding breeding males) in a pair bond may breed with the female in their pair bond only. Each breeding carries a 30 day cooldown afterwards for the male. (Breeding cooldown for the female is already 24 days, so it’s not that big of a gap. It will mean the pair must wait a total of 36 days at least, though, due to the Heat cycle. The only wolf that would be affected by this from my current playstyle is the Lead Wolf/Lead Wolf’s Mate, as I breed them more often to fill the pack roles with relatives. The rest take turns.)

- Pair bonds last a lifetime - or until one or both of the wolves leave the pack, die, or are forcibly disbanded by the owner. The remaining wolf will be very unhappy if the pair bond ends and enter a cooldown before they are able to form a new pair bond. (Does a force disband cost currency? Not that I intend to use this)

Option #1: Lead Pair + Lioden-style Non-canons

I’m probably not going to use this one, and I couldn’t use it until the next generation anyway since my Lead Wolf’s mate is already the Breeding Male, but it was the first system I thought of when I saw the news.

Basically, the Lead Pair would be the only Breeding Pair in the pack, and the Non-canon Pack would all breed to the one designated Breeding Male. The Non-canon wolves would all compete not only to have a pup that’s the Lead Wolf’s mate, but also to have a pup that becomes the next Breeding Male.

Pros:

+ More stat gain in the pack

+ Two wolves rotate out per generation - the Breeding Male’s Legacy and the Lead Wolf’s Mate’s legacy

Cons:

- Inbreeding would happen

- Lead Pair’s pups still do not breed before becoming Lead themselves, meaning the next Lead must be born after the current Lead turns 4

- Genetic variety would be low

Option #1 Variant: Lead Pup Breeding

There isn’t really anything stopping me from setting any of the Lead’s pups + one of the Non-canon Pack’s pups as a Breeding Pair early. This would eliminate the second con above, but it would add:

Con:

- Stat gain wouldn’t happen as fast, as the generations may advance before the parents are at their maximum potential.

Option #2: One Pack

This option would do away with the Non-canon pack entirely and ultimately have a much smaller pack. The Lead Pair would continue to have the Breeding Male, and the pups would all take NBWs as mates. The pups would take turns breeding, at once every six in-game months or until the calendar month changes if I’ve already done 2 that calendar month.

Pros:

+ Smaller pack, easier to take care of

+ One Hunting Team, which means they’ll probably actually max out their hunts more often (I never max it out with 2)

+ Everyone’s canon

Cons:

- NBWs as mates means stat gain is much slower over the generations.

- NBWs in canon roles means there will always be low-stat wolves in important roles.

- I’ll need to find four nice-looking NBWs every generation

Option #3: Similar to Now, but Breeding Pairs and Early Legacies

Lead Pair would still have the Breeding Male. The Non-canon pack would consist of three Breeding Pairs. The Lead Wolf’s pups would also form Breeding Pairs with pups from the Non-canon Pack, leading to the Canon Pack consisting of the Lead Pair and four Breeding Pairs.

All the Breeding Pairs would take turns breeding at the same intervals as now plus the extra cooldown time if the month’s not up yet.

Non-canon wolves would be rotated out once their pup in the Canon Breeding Pair becomes the Lead Pair. Siblings of the Lead Pair would not breed after a Lead Pair has been chosen to limit inbreeding and confusion.

Pros:

+ Keeps the general structure of the current pack.

+ Stats would rise over the generations more than putting NBWs directly with Lead Wolf pups

Cons:

- A lot to keep track of

- Still would have to replace a lot of wolves every generation

- Leading to lower stats on average, especially in comparison to the Lioden-style inbreeding approach

???

I’m leaning towards Option #3, at least to start with, but maybe with some additional restrictions. Like, I’m not going to continually breed Canon wolves that aren’t going to become Lead. I shouldn’t even assign mates to them. Mainly the purpose would be to have a head-start on the next generation so I don’t have to wait until the Lead Wolf is 4 to choose an heir.

And looking at what situation I have in front of me, the only one of my current Canon pack pups that has three marks is also green. Sordia, my favorite, has only two marks, and she’s the Herbalist. I don’t want the Herbalist to breed due to that meaning she’d be unavailable the last day since I nest in the morning so I don’t forget.

Plus the fact that I want the next generation mate to be a Tier II, and I have yet to have a Tier II born in the pack. I’ve just reached Level 15, so I can start finding Tier II NBWs. I can also beat up foxes to try to earn that Tier III base, but by the fact that there’s 0 Applicators in the game and 0 Fox-colored wolves right now, I assume it’s a very rare item.

So do I halt my current strategy of using studs and put full focus on getting new NBWs? Do I abandon the cloudy Sky-colored Goal Wolf and set that to be a bigger, more overarching goal?

And how do I decide the Non-canon Breeding Pairs? Do I have each Legacy focus on a particular base color, or do I focus the whole pack on getting that Sky-colored wolf?

Do I still focus so hard on that?

The more I think about it, the more appealing Option #1 is. I’m mostly avoiding inbreeding because it means my Breeding Male won’t be discriminated against, but does that really matter all that much to me? I was mostly breeding to the same two studs, anyway, so it’s not like my pack was inbreeding-free. And while constant variety would be nice, it’s nice to achieve goals. I can do something entirely different once I get my Sky wolf.

But again, I can only set up for this right now. I’m not spending GC to retire my current Breeding Male, so I have to wait the *checks* 111 rollovers. Which would be April 5th if I log in every day.

Plan for Now

I just yesterday bred, so I have 11 days to find a male to pair with my next wolf, and also decide which three wolves I will be keeping.

Sadie (Buttercup’s Legacy) and Mold Bunny (Dusty’s Legacy) are almost definitely two of them due to being 2nd Gen wolves with traits I’m going to have a hard time getting with just NBWs. Especially Sadie since she has White eyes which are literally impossible to get through NBW traits, even chaining higher-tier fails from Glass eyes. It might be possible if Fox eyes can fail to Red, but it seems much more likely it’ll be in the Amber family.

And the third might very well be from Sandy’s litter. I don’t even have to worry about it being female at this stage.

So the first mate will be a mate to Sadie (Buttercup’s Legacy). I’m still going to try for the cloudy Sky-based Goal Wolf, so anything that heads in that direction is something I’ll be looking for. Mostly if I can find a Tier II, but, well, I haven’t found any special NBWs at all yet, let alone ones with Tier II bases. And keep an eye out for White markings.

After that, I’ll be getting mates for the other two as needed, looking for the Tier II. I’ll then be breeding for the Breeding Male and the next Lead Wolf’s Mate. Breeding Male prioritizing eye color and the next Lead Wolf’s Mate prioritizing looking good in general.

And if I find any Chased wolves that have Custom colors and markings, I’ll definitely see how I can incorporate them.

Whew! Made it to the end? Just scrolled down to the bottom? Enjoy this Wardrobe image of Fern with some foxes!

[jotarosbelt]

Heyyy I’m REALLY nervous because I’ve never asked for anything like this jsdfsdgjsk but basically can I get Bruno x male reader and his reaction to his s/o having a mommy kink/calling Bruno mommy and possibly him stepping on his s/o’s c*ck in high heels?? (probably because his s/o asks him to bc we all know Bruno is pretty damn vanilla) SORRY IF THIS IS TOO EXPLICIT I LOVE YOUR WRITING SO MUCH!!

A/N: HI @giornocentric ! I’VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS FOR SO LONG, I’M SO SORRY I KEPT YOU WAITING

this is actually my first male reader, SOOOOOOOOO, pls forgive me if this is garbage.

without further ado, enjoy!

———

Mommy. [Bruno Buccellati X Male!Reader]

cw: mommy kink, praise kink, high-heel kink, light bondage, sex toys

18+ content ahead!

“I’m sorry, mio caro, can you repeat that for me?”

Your fists clenched into balls at your sides, knuckles white and face flushed an embarrassingly deep shade of pink at his request. It was so hard to say those words in the first place, and he’s telling you he didn’t hear you the first time?! Good grief.

“I said that I...” The room filled with a pregnant pause before you continued.

“I said I wanted to try and call you mommy in the bedroom. And heels. I want you to... wear heels.”

God, if only you had a stand like your boyfriend. You’d be out of this stuffy— when did it get so hot in here?— office in an instant if you could.

The male before you blinked for a moment before smiling softly to himself and getting up from his chair. Rounding the desk, he took a seat on the front of it before whipping his hair out of his face with a quick movement of his head.

“Mommy? Hm, I don’t mind. Don’t know where I’ll get the heels, but, I can try to arrange something...”

You can feel your eyes light up as you whip your head up to look at Bruno, ready to thank him a million times until he opened his mouth to continue speaking.

“Any specific.. date you wanted to try this?”

Your praises and thanks died in your throat. It was up to you? You thought telling him was enough and he’d take care of the rest— maybe surprise you—but, he wanted you to actively pick a date and wait in anticipation until you could fulfil your fantasy and bust the most satisfying nut of your entire life?

You were literally ready to have a stroke.

“I— Uh... later this week.. maybe..” You whispered under your breath, just loud enough for him to hear. He chuckled softly at your timidness.

He pushed off the desk with his hands, walking up to you and taking your slightly smaller hands into his own. “You don’t have to be so nervous, amore. The hard part is over now. Just give me a date and I’ll have everything we’d need by then.”

You bit your lip and gazed down at the floor before inhaling deeply.

“Okay. How about Friday night?”

He smiled. “Perfect.”

Stepping back slightly, he tugged on your hands and jerked his head over in the direction of his desk.

“Now, how about you keep me company while I review these mission reports, hm?”

You smile a bit more confidently at your boyfriend and nod. The events of Friday soon slipped from your mind.

Until you looked at your phone that afternoon morning.

For some reason, the word ’Friday’ seemed to be a lot brighter and bolder, much to your dismay. Was the universe trying to give you a heart attack? Sure as hell felt like it.

You rolled over to see Bruno absent from his side of the bed. It was a lie to say you weren’t slightly relieved, it was also past noon and he had work to do, but the fact that he might’ve been preparing your not-very-surprising surprise made your heart flip.

A sudden knock to your door ripped you out of your jumbled thoughts, and as you stuttered out a “come in,” your breath got stuck in your throat at the sight of who was in the door.

Bruno, wearing his normal white suit, was sporting shiny black pumps and red lipstick, holding a bundle of silk purple rope in his hands.

“Ah, I see you’re finally up bambino.”

The whimper that left your throat at the pet name was embarrassing to say the least.

The beautiful man approached you, heels clicking against the polished wood floor to take your chin in between his fingers and tilt your head up to look at him.

“Bru—“

His thumb quickly came up and seized your bottom lip, cutting your words off half way.

“That’s not my name right now, bambino.”

You inhaled shakily. “I’m sorry, Mommy.”

Cherry colored lips quirked up into a smile, he man in front of you moving the thumb that was at your lips upwards to stroke your cheek approvingly.

“Good boy.”

He bent at the waist to press his lips against yours, transferring the slightest bit of color to them as he kissed you lovingly like he always did. He never rushed you, always took his time. Now was no different, but the air around him felt... more intimidating.

You found his scent intoxicating— not how it usually was. His cologne made you want to drop to your knees before him and praise him. To please him.

What in the hell was he doing to you?

He pulled away from your mouth to pull you up from your seated position on the bed to a stand, rotating you 180° and gently pulling your hands behind your back. He tied the purple material around your wrists, knotting it tightly but in what you were sure was a pristine bow, before leaning forward to pepper kisses up the column of your neck to your ear.

“Too tight?”

Your head fell forwards slightly and a sheepish, yet satisfied, smile dawned your lips. “It’s great, Mommy.”

It was his turn to smile as he flipped you around again to complete the circle, easing you down into the messy covers of your bed.

His lips attached to yours again, the kiss equal in gentleness but filled with more passion as you two made quick work of each other’s clothing.

Your experienced fingers fumbled (shocking), with the zipper at his neck before sliding down and unbuttoning the rest of the shirt at his torso, sliding it off his shoulders.

Your fingers traced the tattoo his abdomen now dawned (he loved the design of his bralette so much he got it tattooed on a while back), the man releasing a soft sigh and your ministrations.

Your t-shirt was peeled away from your body and thrown to the floor at the foot of the bed as Bruno flattened out his palms against your chest, his fingers fluttering down to your pert nipples, tugging them in unison and making you gasp out.

You pulled away for air and looked up at Bruno’s disheveled appearance; his hair was a mess from how your fingers were grabbing at it before your hands were secured behind your back, and his perfectly painted lips were now smudged with the slightest bit of the pale pink skin underneath peeking out.

He pressed his lips to your sternum, kissing a trail of red down your chest before moving to a nipple one of his hands was working on. His mouth opened and he roved his hot tongue over the bud before taking it into his mouth completely.

You whined, hands straining at the ropes and chest arching up into his touch as he looked up at your blissed out face.

A wandering hand slipped from the other side of your chest to your pajama pants, pulling at the drawstrings and untying in to slip his hand into your pants. He gripped your hardened cock through the fabric of your underwear, rubbing up and down, teasing where the head would be and gauging that on where the spot of precum was forming on your undergarment.

You instinctively found yourself bucking into his grasp as he palmed your hard-on, pulling away much too quickly for your liking to discard your pants.

He folded the garment in half before tossing that to the floor with your shirt, falling to his knees to lick at your appendage through the wet material of your boxers.

“Mommy—“

His gaze flickered up to yours as his tongue stroked the vein on your straining cock, causing you to choke out your next words.

“Fuck— I want you to step on me, holy shit—“

You could feel your face turn red at your words, but you felt way too good to care as Bruno pulled back from between your legs, black hair falling in his face to hide his amused grin.

“You want Mommy to step on you?” He questioned as he rose to his full height. Your eyes scanned the tan, olive skin of his chest, tracing where the sun kissed parts of him cut off in a clean line to his slightly paler ones. You nodded quickly and he chuckled dryly, gripping your shoulders to pull you to a sitting position.

His heeled foot came up to press between your legs, making you groan at the sensation of the textured sole and pointy heel pressing against your cock and between your balls, you bucking ever-so-slightly into his shoe.

He ground his foot into your nether region slightly more, the moan you release stimulating his ears as he smiles. “Such a good boy. You’re making Mommy really happy, you know that, bambino?”

You would’ve responded if your mind could have processed the fact that Bruno was speaking coherent words to you, but it couldn’t and you let out an unadulterated moan at his praise, not even knowing what is was he just fucking said.

He pulled his foot away from your crotch, moving his leg to press against your chest and send you back down into the mattress with a whine.

“Turn over for me, principe.”

Eagerly, you roll over onto your stomach like a trained dog, resting your cheek on the cool sheets. You feel Bruno lift up your hips to remove your now-soiled boxers, which peel away from your skin with a disgustingly lewd wet sound, and hear your bedside drawer open and close with the sharp click of a bottle cap. The noise is followed by the sound of the squirt of liquid behind you, causing you to rub your thighs together in anticipation.

You hear the plastic bottle make contact with your nightstand and feel slightly calloused fingers run down your spine before taking purchase on the curve of your ass.

“Relax for me, bambino.”

His words put you at ease and you relax your lower half as he spreads your legs slighting with one hand, the other running over your puckered asshole, coated with a generous amount of cold lubricant.

A finger slowly pressed into you and the man behind you leaned down to press a flurry of kissing your shoulder as his finger bottomed out inside of you.

“You doing alright, caro?”

You nod so harshly you’re surprised you didn’t get whiplash and he places another kiss against your skin as his finger began rocking back in forth inside of you.

Focused on opening you up before pleasuring you, he slowly eases a second cold, but slick finger into your ring of muscles, scissoring and pushing deeper and deeper inside of you before he finally curves his fingers up to stroke your prostate.

You keen at the sensation and arch your back, giving much needed friction to your aching cock and pushing your body a few millimeters back onto his fingers.

“So eager, ah?”

You find yourself biting the sheets as he presses a third finger into your tight hole.

“You’re doing so well for me, bambino. So eager to please...”

His fingers speed up, and each thrust seems to hit your prostate more and more frequently until he’s never missing it anymore.

“You look so beautiful right now. You’re such a good boy. So good for Mommy.”

He presses kisses to your shoulders again as you squeeze his fingers in earnest, feeling yourself nearing the precipice of your orgasm until the feeling is torn away from you, along with the fingers that were in your ass.

“I much rather have you come around me, amore mio. I hope you don’t mind.”

You nod harshly and you can practically hear his smile as he flips you around and pulls you into his lap as he sits on the edge of the bed.

“Hm. I have something I want to try, okay?”

You raise a brow and mutter an okay as he reaches over to the nightstand he was fumbling in before to pull out a small vibrator and a velcro strap.

He secures the small vibrator to you and grabs the remote to it, not turning it on yet and instead placing his hands on your hips.

“Ready?”

For the millionth time that evening, you nod and he slides you down onto his perfect cock. When did discard his pants and underwear was beyond you, and you didn’t really give a shit as his head slid along the spongy surface inside of you that made you moan wantonly.

Once seated fully inside of you, he flicked the switch on the vibrator to turn in on, making your hips spasm and almost fall off of him completely. He grips you harder and begins sucking red, purple, and blue marks into the skin of your neck, sliding you up and down along his length before finding a rhythm that has you both panting.

You hear him mutter an obscenity or two under his breath as he clutches you tightly to him, causing your member to rub against his toned torso as he bucks up into you with fervor. His hair brushes against your cheek as his forehead makes its way into the crook of your shoulder, and your nails dig crescent moons into your palms and the sensations plaguing your body.

“Mommy, fuck, fuck—“

Seemingly taking him out of the fucked out trance your warmth had him in, he pulls away from the base of your neck to kiss your cheek, leading up to your ear.

“Cum for Mommy. You can do it, I know you can.”

As encouragement, his hand comes down from your waist to tug at the base of your cock, almost forcing your orgasm from your body as you grow rigid as groan as you cover yourself, Bruno, and the toy in your seed.

Bruno smiles to himself, smudged rouge and saliva plastering his lower face as he grips your hips and starts bucking up faster.

He tries to choke out an apology for being so rough, but it gets mixed into a string of italian swears as he tips over the edge of his orgasm, stilling inside you and painting your insides white.

He shakes as his high slowly dissipates and he blinks up at you, giving you a beautiful smile and a sweet laugh.

“Was I too rough? I don’t know what came over me..”

You smile back. “No, no. It was nice. I liked the change of pace.. and the heels..”

If even possible, Bruno’s smile grows wider and kisses your forehead before pulling you off of him and laying you down on the bed. You can hear his pumps clatter onto the floor as he gets up to go to the bathroom.

“Stay there, tesoro. I’ll take care of you, hm?”

[flash-impact-for-good]

“You’ve come a long way, baby”

This slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby”, was splashed across the glossy magazines of my youth, vaunting women’s progress – via their rights to consume products that had once been reserved for men only. The issue of women’s progress in the business world is another debate entirely: the proverbial glass sometimes seems to be filling gradually (e.g. , according to the French secretary of state in charge of equality between men and women, women held 45,2% of positions on SBF120 management boards in 2019); but the glass moves slowly at the top (21,4% of positions in Exco or equivalent). And these broad numbers hide huge disparities. As mentioned by Guy Le Pechon, MBA INSEAD 69, head of Gouvernance et Structure, and a data specialist on equality between men and women, three corporations among the CAC 40 don’t have any woman at their Exco; and only one reaches the ratio of 40% for this entity.

Yet forward movement is undeniable. I would like to offer here a random walk through some 15 years of experience designing, delivering, and observing initiatives to strengthen the representation of women in companies. Along the way, the useful question I hope to explore is what we have learned about fostering gender balance, and how these insights may help us move further down the road towards greater gender balance. 

When several large French companies signed the “Charte de la Diversité” in 2004, our Head of Human Resources asked me to develop a program that would support women’s career development in the organization. I looked at the market to see what was available and was struck by the way that many training firms seemed to assume that women had to be “fixed”, taught to overcome “weaknesses”, or trained in more masculine behavior. This did not feel right – how could we “strengthen” our pools of female talent by focusing on what women might be “doing wrong”? We chose instead to tackle the issue indirectly: I set up a training program led by a specialist in career management for high potentials – a brilliant older man. “Female issues” were never addressed directly in the program – it just so happened that all the (very interesting and carefully selected) participants in each session were women. (What we didn’t know then was that in this way successfully avoided triggering a dangerous unconscious bias about women’s competence, sending instead the message that anyone, and of course women, could benefit from enhancing their career management skills). My first learning: don’t “fix” people who aren’t “broken” – build their strengths. 

Interestingly, it was a member of what one could call the “old guard” – a highly successful gentleman in a very powerful job – who made another significant contribution to levelling the playing field. “We have lots of women entering the pipeline,” he told me, “but after a first role, the men all ask to lead a sales team, while the women want to move into marketing – jobs do not give them line management responsibility and credibility.” To counter this, he carefully mapped and measured something which had previously been intuitive: what were the key career steps that opened the way up the corporate ladder, and where relative to those steps were the pools of female talent? The corporate “ladder” actually looked more like a vertical maze; often several steps along a same level were necessary before one could climb to the next rung on the ladder. But like any maze, it was easy to get lost. Second learning: By providing clear experienced-based information about the critical steps on any given level, this gentleman basically “injected information” into the career management process – not to tell women what to do with their careers, but to offer more effective advice, starting early on. 

Driving for more women in management eventually began to provoke some pushback: some male colleagues would quietly ask me, “Do I have a future in this organization? Will there always be a woman ahead of me on the promotion list?” Hearing men share such concerns troubled me: if you are promoting a worthy idea and yet generating a sense of unfairness, then the idea needs to be reviewed – not rejected or reduced in ambition, but re-examined. This is when we clearly understood that we had to change not only the way that women looked at themselves in the organization, but also how the organization looked at its people. 

A conversation at a conference on diversity with a woman who held a very senior position in her organization gave me additional insight. Asked about her success, she pointed to the “pairs of eyes” that had watched her work over the years and could vouch for her. It was as though her capabilities had to be cross-checked – which was of course equally true for her male colleagues, who intuitively moved around and got themselves “seen” by several potential sponsors. Long before “sponsorship” became a popular concept, she had realized that it was easier for one person to say, “She is ready for the next job!” if someone else could back up the statement. 

Waiting for this to happen through multiple-year job rotations, we realized, would take much too long. Then I encountered a talent manager in a small financial services organization who had crafted a clever process to respond to precisely this issue: he organized “walkabouts” for talented individuals, setting up a series of meetings for each with high-level executives who might never meet that young woman (or man) until it came time to make a key staffing decision – which was too late. By putting rising potentials in front of senior management, this talent manager was transforming them from names on a CV to real humans whom the senior executives could get to know. Again, this practice plays to our human nature – no amount of data on a page can replace the power of what we learn from interacting with someone. This learning could be called, “you have to be seen to be believed”. 

Despite the value of all these approaches, these actions remain focused on shifting individual mindsets. At some point, on a topic as complex as gender balance, institutions, not just individuals, need to change. And I still did not have the answer to my vague discomfort, my concern that some people felt our efforts to level the playing field were potentially unfair. 

Interestingly, it was ideas from INSEAD research, adopted into our organization, that gave us some of the keys. Most INSEADers are familiar with Kim and Mauborgne’s work on “fair process” – the concept that a fair, well-run decision-making process will lead to better acceptance of the outcome, even by those who do not obtain what they want. This work made its way into our organization: the “fair process”, in which all the voices relevant to a decision were heard and considered before that decision was made, became institutionalized as an essential feature of our people management. A fundamental part of the fair process is feedback: because it embraces the full variety of perspectives on a topic or a person, the process makes it possible to provide feedback to the person, so that the individual can continue to learn and grow. Next learning: good process and good feedback confirm that both your intentions and your decisions are fair. 

In 2018, INSEAD celebrated 50 years of women at the school and hosted a Summit to showcase research from its Gender Initiative. One presentation by Ivana Naumovska, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, particularly caught my attention. She had performed meta-analysis of multiple diversity initiatives across companies and sectors and had teased out lessons about what did and did not work. 

The two areas identified as having greatest positive impact were mentoring programs and network-building initiatives: mentoring because it enabled the participants to understand the rules of the game, how their organization really worked (this was true for both mentees and their mentors), and network-building because it cultivated awareness in the individuals of what opportunities – for jobs, projects, useful partnerships, and even just information sharing – were available across their organizations, especially outside their silos. I was pleased to see these conclusions: they were an academic validation of the intuition which had led us to set up mentoring and networking for communities (not just individuals). In other words, by creating groups of mentors or mentees and getting them to coach each other on how to take up these roles, we let people see that this was simply part of “how we do things around here”. Next lesson: if you want to change institutions, not just individuals, give people shared responsibility to build something new together. 

Beyond creating “institutions” that support diversity, what has emerged over time is a culture shift. In the way we pursue gender balance, we are really striving to make good use of the organization’s talent to adapt to changing organizational needs. There are ongoing challenges: how well do all these changes resist a major economic crisis, or a corporate reorganization? As we move out of a public health crisis and towards a difficult economic situation, we need to remain vigilant about topics like diversity. Looking further ahead, I wonder how the “recipes” described above will stand the test of time. Traditional management is being replaced by agile tribes, collectively-managed feature teams, and networked organizations. Millennials have shifting expectations about the meaning of work. What will be the secrets to career success for women (and men) in the organizations of the future? Time will tell, but it is a safe bet that attention to individual mindsets and corporate culture will remain key.  

Jocelyn Phelps, MBA INSEAD 93D Program Director, Leadership and Organization Development at Société Générale

[glitterrdickk]

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Take a highway trip. Usually, to someplace fun and quirky, Atlantic City, like Graceland, or the Baseball Hall of Fame. Swigging beers round the campfire - starlight within the heavens, distinct air, no smartphones - is just the appropriate contrast to the madness of marriage planning. Ski. The Plunge's favorite bachelor people will be the ones that add both tough open as well as drunken revelry. Skiing suits the bill: some operates within the slants, several bourbons in the lodge: what's to never prefer. Rent a shore apartment. When sufficient males chip in, leasing a house is more inexpensive than a resort, provides you with an old School-type vibe with LA strippers, and increases the chances that the groom, in certain level, will pass away. And that is the aim of every good bachelor party.

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Manolos and Cosmos, oh my! Channel the internal Sex of yours as well as the City persona by dressing in designer label clothes, going shopping, drinking cosmos, and sharing juicy details about the love day of yours! Get the soiree with cocktails in a classy area & add Stiletto designs like this lovely some stiletto centerpiece, stiletto & martini themed Bachelorette drink napkins as well as the pleasurable some stiletto drink stirrers! After a big evening out on the community, go back home to marathon your favorite SatC episodes and chat about in case you are even more of a Carrie or a Samantha.Massage on the mixology of yours with a martini themed soiree! Get dressed in place in the best drink dress of yours as well as have a go with a bunch of martini kinds, regardless of whether it's the basic vodka or gin martini, or perhaps a more entertaining and fruity appletini. Enhance the space with a martini and also stiletto glitter garland and also a sassy martini centerpiece to match up with. Handle yourself to scrumptious dress and also bake a couple of biscuits which includes a martini shaped cookie cutter. Each guest is able to go back home with a warm pink or even lustrous black martini picture cup necklace. Continue being match for the party by joining an exercise routine course jointly! Question the bride what her preferred training is, or perhaps if perhaps there is one particular she's forever planned to try out. Barre and Zumba are popular options, but do not be afraid to create labels a bit a lot more wild. As soon as you figure out the perfect class, make certain the soiree of yours sweats fashionable. These group bride flowy tanks are very lightweight and provide lots of space that you can work out easily. Yet another suggestion is calling and have as long as they provide private consultations because of the pastime you have picked. That manner by which no a person's shy and you will get the personal attention you want!

[kai-borg]

"Evil? Do I consider myself such? No, no. Tell me, do you call the rahi evil for the death they bring? The beings they consume? No, because it is their nature to do such. It is the same with me, despite my... form I am not one of you, but at the same time I am. I have my own nature, one different from yours. Perhaps it may seem cruel to those also with sentience but to me it is beauty, art, something I must complete. Now then, enough talk! I can already see the beautiful masterpiece you'll make.~"

-Cryptid to an (idiotic) matoran reporter that had managed to track him down for a review. Said matoran was later found dead, turned into another of Crypid's pieces of 'art', the recording was luckily left intact. 

=============

Cryptid came into being from the first and last test of a matorans attempted recreation of the mask of creation in metru-nui, despite having only vague knowledge of its powers and creation.

Perhaps if the Matoran’d had a better understanding Cryptid may have never come into creation.

The Matoran had believed the mask to have the ability to build anything the user thought of as long as there were near enough materials, even if they weren't visible. Who knows, maybe they were correct and they just weren't strong enough to control it, perhaps they built the mask wrong. But until it is truly discovered what Artahkas mask can do, it will never be known, and either way it is much too late to fix that Matoran's mistake.

During the first, and soon after last, test of the masks abilities the Matoran had been visiting a damaged parts dump, attempted to create something small, a tool or perhaps just a small figurine, whatever it was they chose the mask chose differently. Unleashing a burst of creation-based energy, utterly draining the mask before becoming trapped within the ensuing energy storm. It was quickly ripped from the matorans face, becoming the epicentre of the storm, before beginning to form a body around itself, a twisted and broken form, and once the storm was finished, and the being dropped to the ground, it was soon recognized as a form that exuded danger when it's eyes of dark red, and dripping with an ichor like liquid turned to stare at the matoran, a twisted smile, that would stay for the eons and more of its existence, soon grown across its face.

That matoran became the first of many of Cryptid's pieces of ‘art’ as he calls them.

Not too long after the time of his creation, perhaps a year or two, he was attacked by a horde of Vahki who had finally managed to track him down from his discovered ‘art’ pieces. During the end of chase he ended up having his back injured before he fell off a large cliff, ending up on his back somewhere in the depths of Metru-Nui's outskirts, bresulting in it fully breaking. His Vahki pursuers, believing him to be dead and if not, at least removed from Metru-Nui, returned to the inner-cities, leaving Cryptid to slowly heal until he could move enough to be able to design a crude back harness.

He later replaced it with a much better and more high tech one,designed to inject certain chemicals and such to even better increase its benefits. He returned to the city, stealing a ship and leaving to find a new island to create ‘art on, of course he didn't leave before creating a few more pieces of his 'art' around the island.

His second major injury occured at a much later date, resulting in the loss of his right arm.

During a fight with one of his more powerful opponents, during his more inexperienced years, he ended up losing his right arm before he could end his oppoenents life. His opponent was a Toa of some sorts, somehow managing to set off an explosion near Cryptid after suffering a fatal injury, ripping Cryptids arm off, embedding the metal into his shoulder that he built the prosthetic into, and ending his own life.

His flesh later healed over it to enough to make it much more difficult to remove for anybody, Cryptid included.

Species: Artificial mask construct/bionicle

Gender: Male

Age: …. Yeah, I still have no clue how to figure this out when it comes to bionicle's! XD

Personality: While Cryptid is a ‘normal’ bionicle he is, in part, a sentient, and long powerless, mask and it’s shown throughout his personality, from his twisted love of creating, despite his lack of power, ‘art’, ranging from just simple, if but disturbing, statues and carvings to his preferred more ‘organic’ pieces, be they created from ‘gathered resources’ or his own, to his love of ‘artful’ dancing and posing, even despite the disturbing quality both usually retained they, along with his other art, manage to capture a sense of awe and disturbing ‘beauty’ in their designs

He's manic, gleeful at best and downright crazed at worst.He enjoys making his ‘art’, and has a tendency to burst into song, especially whilst doing so. All of which tend to scare others, or at least make them extremely nervous for fear of their lives. He's not exactly evil but he doesn't feel the same way as others, and doesn't see what he does as evil. While he has realized that most others have a different view than him, he really doesn't care, they're not him, and so what if the majority of sentient beings have differing opinions to his, why should he care? They don't control him.

Fighting style: In truth he fights with basically anything he can get his hands on, be that from stealing an opponents weapon to useing random objects scattered across the ground.

if he has nothing at hand he'll just use his own claws, strength, and flexibility, all skills that have taken down many an opponent.

Abilities and powers: Due to his 'accidental' creation, and what his body was created from, some parts of himself do not work properly, such as his nervous system. 

Oh sure, it works enough for him to be able to move properly and all that but he can't feel anything, only highly dulled versions of whatever sensation he should be feeling, and pain is even more so. It allows for him to push his body to limits he never should’ve been able to reach, and to personally ‘modify’ his body and indulge in certain ‘habits’ of his at any given time.

His own body's healing ability is a very useful factor in all of this too, while it is only slightly faster than most without some healing item/mask it allows for his body to adaptively heal, continued injury forcing his body to heal in ways to attempt to avoid said injuries and due to his ‘habits’ he has greatly adapted his body to better work with him. He has managed to force nearly all of his joints, from neck to knee to rotate and turn at any ‘realistic’ angle (directions it could already move, back, forward, side-to-side, etc). Allowing for him to create even more disturbing poses, dances and movements.

But as a counter to these benefits his body suffers multiple problems from its uncontrolled creation. The two biggest problems he suffers, and has created solutions for, are certain restrictions to his healing ability and a very dangerous internal one.

If his body takes a large enough amount of damage, focused on one area, he can not fully heal it, as shown with his back.

While he can remove the harness, and move without itm he will be greatly weakened while it is removed, being forced to slow down and be more careful with his movements to keep from aggravating his injuries. He can only keep it removed for a finite amount of time before his back starts to give out again.

As for his internals, once again due to his unnatural creation, a very important internal function of his body doesn't fully work, I.e. His internal blood/protodermis flow, luckily (for him) he managed to discover and fix it in time, installing a tubing system to artificially pump his blood/protodermis throughout him. The tubes are easily his biggest weakness, while he can survive for about a week with minimally increasing detrimental effects it is still highly dangerous to do such. The tubes and mechanics themselves are difficult to replace and he is highly protective of the tubes, going out of his way to keep them from being damaged.

=============

So yeah, any of you guys ever just build something to vent some stress, not planning to really make anything, just sticking stuff together and somehow you actually make something? Yeah that's how Cryptid was made.

I mean I did have plans at that point to use his torso for a while, which I actually found partially built in a box of random parts I bought, well only the torso bit which had the chest armour, tube (without the black piece and angled technic bars), black claw and a slightly different neck connection but with the same head, but never got around to it until now and I definitely didn't plan on this! But I gotta say I do like him.

In fact, I will truthfully state Cryptid is quite literally one of my top favourite MOC’s. 

No idea why, he just seems to click in a way that I just can’t help but like him for some reason

[tongluculture]

According to experts, 10 best sex toys for couples

Single player games are good (like, really good), but couple sex toys can take things to a whole new level. Whether you like vibrators, dildos, cock rings, butt plugs, G-spot (or P-spot) massagers-there will be a sex toy that is suitable for you and your partner to play with dolls. And, if you and your partner have a habit of sex (or if you are not!), adding new elements to the mix can make things more interesting and exciting. "Playing with adult toys can help you improve the bedroom experience," said Megan Harrison, a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) at Couples Candy. "For some couples, a sex toy may be enough to ignite the spark they have been missing. For others, sex toys can be a way to turn sexual fantasies into reality." Finding the perfect sex toy for you and your partner requires some research. It also depends on your personal preferences and personal comfort. Remember: communication is an important aspect of any relationship, so you must talk to them before assuming that your partner can add sex toys to the mix. "Open communication is essential," Harrison said. "Not knowing what you want can make you both feel awkward, insecure, or even upset. Being open to your partner’s sexual preferences and desires will undoubtedly increase the intimacy between you, especially if this open attitude If you get something in return." Before you go shopping spree (I mean, absolutely still do), you should understand and consider some things, such as price, materials, lubricants, etc. Tong lu Strapless Stap-On adopts ergonomic design and nine powerful vibration modes. It is also waterproof, can be used in the shower, and can be charged via USB, so you and your partner never have to worry about buying batteries. "For couples who have vaginas, strapless dildos can add some fun to the bedroom," Graveris said. "If you are not familiar with strapping sex or do not have strong pelvic muscles, I recommend that you strap the toy to a reliable and comfortable seat belt like Spareparts Joque," Graveris adds. "If you do not use a seat belt, please insert the bulbous end into your body, hold it tight, and then slide the dildo into your lady. It is angled for happiness and has a bullet atmosphere that will make your partner feel Satisfy." Ohnut is not so much an intimate wearable device as it is a sex toy, but this small device basically saved my sex life. It works as follows: Ohnut slides onto your partner's shaft or dildo and acts as a barrier. In this way, you can control the penetration depth. (This device is suitable for people with painful intercourse. I suffer from endometriosis and bladder pain syndrome, so this wearable device is perfect for me!)

You can use any number of rings-it has four; I usually use three. It is also fun to use Ohnut during foreplay, just lubricate your partner, put the ring on, and then stroke the ring up and down. Quick note: You cannot use Ohnuts without lubricating oil. Use water-based lubricants instead of silicone lubricants! Silicone lubricants will decompose silicone toys. CalExotics Original Accommodator (a big bite!) is basically a dildo that can be strapped to the opponent's face. It is available in natural and black colors and is 5 inches long. Tatyana Dyachenko, CEO and founder of Peaches and Screams, said: "This facial strap allows you to explore new dimensions of penetration." "It is specially designed so you can wear it on your face, which means you It can penetrate and stimulate the clitoris of women with the tongue. This is the perfect toy for hands-free games." The tonglu portable finger vibrator is ideal for the climax of the journey. It comes in bright pink and neon purple colors, and is equipped with a powerful and quiet mini bullet motor. (This is just some warm and discreet fun that couples need!) It is also waterproof and rechargeable via USB, so you and your partner can enjoy it again and again without the need for batteries. "If you have concerns about toys, start with something simple, such as finger vibrators. They are not very expensive and easy to use, making them perfect toys for beginners," said Dyachenko. "Once you get used to it, you can start adding new toys. It's all about trying to see what you and your partner like and dislike. The only way to find the answer is to try them." Satisfyer Love Triangle uses air pulse technology to give you an exciting orgasm. (I have one, and it is now one of my three favorites.) It is also controlled by the app and is perfect for multiplayer games. Like most of Satisfyer's toys, Love Triangle is stylish, rechargeable via USB, and waterproof. It has 11 pressure wave intensities, 10 vibration settings, a 15-year warranty and a fabric storage bag.

Zumio is unique in that it uses rotation instead of vibration to provide precise stimulation. It also has a sophisticated SpiroTip that can be rotated in circles to help users achieve orgasm. Zumio is very suitable for two-player and single-player games. There are four models to choose from: Zumio X (circular rotation mode/higher intensity), Zumio E (elliptical rotation mode/high intensity, Zumio S (circular rotation mode/intensity) Lower) and Zumio I (elliptical rotation/diffusion stimulation). "It's quiet and compact, but still has a lot of power," wrote an Amazon reviewer. "My wife and I have been looking for something as powerful as her Hitachi wand, which will not hinder my work. This is the first device that can replace it." Tong Lu is an app-controlled toy for couples with 10 preset vibration modes. (It also provides users with the option to create custom patterns through the We-Connect app.) If you are in a long-distance relationship, the We-Connect app allows the other person to control the vibrator of their smartphone in the following ways from anywhere in the world. "For heterosexual and same-sex couples, you can start exploring the partner's vibrator," Graveris said. "Tong Lu is an app-controlled vibrator that can hit the G point of the vagina owner or the P point of the penis owner. You can let your partner control it through the button of the toy or the We-Connect app The different vibration patterns and patterns of the toy, thus adding one or two to the cooperative game process." Tong Lu is not only suitable for G-spot/P-spot stimulation. If the toy is too hard to bend, Graveris recommends using the toy on your partner's clitoris. LELO Sona 2 Cruise is not exactly a toy for couples, but it can definitely be used as a toy. I know because I have used it many times. A word of caution: this toy can be very intense, so you need to warm up before using it. (However, this is true for any sex toy. But, seriously, there is some power behind this thing.) LELO Sona 2 Cruise is a clitoral sucking vibrator, but it can be used on the head of the penis or the testicles. (It will give your partner a new, tingling sensation!) All LELO toys are very unique and come with stylish boxes. Each LELO toy also includes a satin storage bag. Sona 2 Cruise is rechargeable, has 12 pulsation settings, and is made of ultra-soft, body-safe silicone. When you are in a long distance relationship, finding new ways of intimacy can be difficult. So, if you feel that your hands will fall due to manual stimulation, or you are worried that your partner is unhappy during your sexy speech, you may want to consider investing in sex toys designed for long-distance couples. "For long-distance couples, there are not many options for staying close when separated, and there are only so many times to send text messages, phone sex, or have sex in video chats before they lose excitement," said the founder of Enduring. In particular, The Distance, a remote relationship consulting website and community. "There is also a certain degree of connection or physicality that they cannot replicate. Sex toys, especially those that can be paired together, are a good way to enhance the intimacy and physical connection of LDR couples." Max 2 is an innovative and realistic male masturbator. It can be controlled by the user's smartphone or their partner's smartphone, no matter how many miles there are between the two. As far as the masturbation kit is concerned, Max 2 is quite advanced-users can control vibration settings (low, medium, high, pulse, wave, fireworks, and earthquake) and contraction settings (subtle, mild, deep) through their smartphone. What's cooler? When paired with the Nora Original Bluetooth Bunny Vibrator, Max 2 will respond to your actions and send feedback to your partner! "From Lovense, we recommend their couple to set up Max 2 and Nora," Nate said. "This is a great set for long-distance couples who want to test/bring connected sex toys into the bedroom-they are also the most affordable couple sets," he continued. "Max 2 uses a vibrating motor and an air pump to simulate vaginal contractions, and these contractions increase as Nora's insertion speed increases." "From Kiiroo, we recommend their Onyx+ & Pearl 2 couple suit," Nate said. "Onyx+ is an automatic tapping device that uses contraction rings instead of vibrating motors. These rings contract in up and down motions to simulate stroking/coital intercourse," Nate continued. "The speed at which they shrink depends on the speed at which the Pearl 2 is inserted. The vibration pattern of the Pearl 2 can be controlled by using the touchpad on the front of the Onyx+. Read the full article

[chthulucene]

Uncanny Dimple

My final project Uncanny Dimple is a body of work that examines the close proximity between the cute and the creepy. Drawing from roboticist Masahiro Mori’s concept of the Uncanny Valley, which explains the eeriness of lifelike robots, my theory of the Uncanny Dimple portrays a parallel phenomenon in the context of cuteness. The robotic creatures inhabiting the dimple demonstrate the often contradictory affects we experience towards non-human actors. When does cuteness start to border on the grotesque? If cuteness is the outcome of extreme objectification of living beings, can it also be the result of an anthropomorphising inanimate objects? Why does cuteness trigger the impulse to nurture and to protect, but also to abuse and to violate? Cute things are often seen as innocent, passive, and submissive, but can they also manipulate, misbehave and demand attention?

This body of work is based on my MFA thesis Uncanny Dimple — Mapping the Cute and the Uncanny in Human-Robot Interaction, where I examine the aforementioned contradictions of cuteness by applying Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto (1991) and the Uncanny Valley theory by Masahiro Mori (1970). I also reference the recent research on the cognitive phenomenon of cute aggression, a commonly experiences impulse to harm cute objects. (Aragón et al. 2015; Stavropoulos & Alba 2018)

Sigmund Freud first coined the term uncanny in his 1919 essay Das Unheimliche to describe an unsettling proximity to familiarity encountered in dolls and wax figures. However, the contemporary use of the word has been inflated by the concept of the Uncanny Valley by roboticist Masahiro Mori. Mori’s notion was that lifelike but not quite living beings, such as anthropomorphic robots, trigger a strong sense of uneasiness in the viewer. When plotting experienced familiarity against human likeness, the curve dips into a steep recess — the so called Uncanny Valley — just before reaching true human resemblance.

As a rejection of rigid boundaries between “human”, “animal” and “machine”, Haraway’s cyborg theory touches many of the same points as Mori’s Uncanny Valley. Haraway addresses multiple persistent dichotomies which function as systems of domination against the “other” while mirroring the “self”, much like cuteness and uncanniness: “Chief among these troubling dualisms are self/other, mind/body, culture/nature, male/female, civilized/primitive, reality/appearance, whole/part, agent/resource, maker/made, active/passive, right/wrong, truth/illusion, total/partial, God/man.” (Haraway 1991: 59)

Haraway’s image of the cyborg, despite functioning more as a charged metaphor than an actual comment on the technology, still aptly demonstrates the dualistic nature of cuteness and its entanglements with the uncanny at the site of human-robot interaction. Furthermore, Haraway’s cyborg theory grounds the analysis of the cute to a wider socio-political context of feminist studies. In the Companion Species Manifesto where she updates her cyborg theory, Haraway (2003: 7) is adamantly reluctant to address cuteness as a potential source of emancipation (which seems to be the case with other feminists of the same generation): "None of this work is about finding sweet and nice — 'feminine' — worlds and knowledges free of the ravages and productivities of power. Rather, feminist inquiry is about understanding how things work, who is in the action, what might he possible, and how worldly actors might somehow be accountable to and love each other less violently." I argue on the contrary that some of these inquiries can be answered by exposing the potential of cuteness as a social and moral activator. While Haraway describes a false dichotomy between these “sweet and nice” worlds and “the ravages and productivities of power”, I believe that their entanglement is in fact an important site for feminist inquiry. By revealing the plump underbelly of cuteness, we can harness the subversive power it wields.

In my thesis I conclude that cuteness and uncanniness are both defined by their distance to what we consider “human” or “natural”, and shaped by the distribution of power in our relationships with objects that we deem having a mind or agency. I continue to propose that a similar phenomenon to the Uncanny Valley can be described in regard of cuteness, which I call the Uncanny Dimple. Much like Mori’s valley and Haraway’s cyborg, Uncanny Dimple is presented as a figuration: It does not necessarily try to make any empirical or quantitative claims about the experience of cuteness, but strives to utilise the diagram as a rhetorical device for better understanding the entangled affects of cuteness and uncanniness.

Similar to Mori’s visualisation of the Uncanny Valley, the Uncanny Dimple is mapped in a diagram where the horizontal axis denotes “human likeness”, but Mori’s vertical axis of “familiarity” is in this case replaced with cuteness. Similar to Mori, I propose that cuteness first increases proportionally with anthropomorphic features. As established in Konrad Lorenz’s Baby Schema model from 1943, cuteness also increase proportionally in the presence of neotenic (i.e. “babylike”) features, such as large eyes, tall forehead, chubby cheeks and small nose. I suggest that this applies only to some extent: When the neotenic features have reached a point where they are over-exaggerated beyond realism, but the total human likeness is still below the Threshold of Realism, cuteness climaxes at what I call the Cute Aggression Peak. When human likeness exceeds that point, cute aggression becomes unbearable, the experienced cuteness is surpassed by uncanniness, and the curve dips to the Uncanny Dimple.

I wanted to create various cute but uncanny creatures which all had their distinctive way of moving or interacting with the audience. I created multiple different prototypes of most of the creatures, and in the final installation I had eight different types:

1. Sebastian is an interactive quadruped robot that can detect obstacles. Sebastian will wake up if it's approaced, and run away. The inverse kinematic functions for the quadruped gait are based on SunFounder's remote controlled robot. In the basic quadruped gait three legs are on the ground while one leg is moving. The algorithm calculates the angles for every joint in every leg at every given time, so that the centre of gravity of the robot stays inside the triangle of the three supporting legs. I designed all the parts and implemented the new dimensions in the code. I also added the ultrasonic sensor triggering and obstacle detection. For calculating distance measurements based on the ultrasonic sensor readings I used the New Ping library by Tim Eckel.

2. Ritu is an interactive robotic installation using Arduino, various sensors, servo motors and electromagnet. Users are prompted to feed the vertically suspended robot, which will descend, pick the treat from the bowl, and take it up to its nest. There is a hidden light sensor in the bowl, which senses if food is placed in the bowl. This will trigger the robot to descend using a continous rotation servo motor winch. The distance the robot moves vertically is based on the reading of a ultrasonic sensor. The robot uses an electromagnet attached to a moving arm to pick up objects from the bowl. After succesfully grabbing the object, the robot will ascend and drop the object in a suspended nest. For calculating distance measurements based on the ultrasonic sensor readings I used the New Ping library by Tim Eckel.

3. Crawler Bois are two monopod robots that move with motorised crawling legs that mimic the mechanism of real muscles and tendons. Each robot has a leg that consist of two joints, two servo motors, a string, and two rubber bands. The first servo lifts and lowers the leg, and the second servo tightens the string (the "muscle") which contracts the joins. When the string relaxes, the rubber bands (the "tendons") pull the joints to their original position. The robots move back and forth in a randomised sequence and sometimes do a small dance.

4. Lickers are three individually interactive robots using servo motors, Scotch Yoke mechanisms, and sound sensors. The Scotch Yoke is a reciprocating motion mechanism, in this case converting the rotational motion of a 360 degree servo motor into the linear motion of a licking silicone tongue protruding from the mouth of a creature. If a loud sound is detected, the creature will stop licking and lift up its ears. The treshold of the sound detection can be modified directly from a potentiometer on the sound sensor module.

5. Shaking Little Critter is a simple interactive installation using an Arduino, a vibrating motor and a light sensor. Users are prompted to remove the creature's hat, after which it will "get cold" and start shaking around in its cage. The absence of the hat is detected with a light sensor on top of the creature's head.

6. Rat Queen is a robotic installation exploring the emergent features arising from the combination of pseudo-randomness and mechanic inaccuracy. It consist of five identical rats-like robots that are connected to a shared power supply with their tails. All the members of the Rat Queen move independently in randomised sequences, but because they are started at the same time, the randomness is identical, since the random seed is calculated based on the starting time of the program. However, due to small inaccuracies and differences in the continuous rotation servo motors and their installation, the movement patterns diverge, and the rats slowly get increasingly tangled with their tails.

7. Cute Aggression is an interactive sound installation using Arduino and Max MSP. Users can record sounds by whispering in a hidden microphone in the plush toy creature's ear. A tilt switch in the ear starts the recording when the ear is lifted. The sounds are played back when the user pets the creature. The petting is detected with conductive fabric using Capacitive sensing library by Paul Badger. The reading from the sensor is sent to a Max MSP patch via serial communication. The sounds a generated from the Arduino data using a granular synthesis method based on Nobuyasu Sakonda’s SugarSynth. Sounds can be modulated by manipulating the creature's nipples, which are silicone-covered potentiometers.

8. Cucumber Weasel is a modified version of the motorised toy know as weasel ball. The plastic ball has a weighted, rotating motor inside, which makes the ball roll and change directions. The toy usually has a furry “weasel” attached to it, but here it is replaced with a silicone cast of a cucumber.

References:

Aragón, O. R; Clark, M. S.; Dyer, R. L. & Bargh, J. A. (2015). “Dimorphous Expressions of Positive Emotion: Displays of Both Care and Aggression in Response to Cute Stimuli”. Psychological Science 26(3) pp. 259–273.

Badger, P. (2008). Capacitive sensing library.

Eckel, T. (2017). New Ping library for ultrasonic sensor.

Freud, S. (1919). The ‘Uncanny’. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII (1917-1919): An Infantile Neurosis and Other Works, pp. 217-256.

Haraway, D. (1991). "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York, NY: Routledge.

Haraway, D. (2003). The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness. Chicago, IL: Prickly Paradigm Press.

Lorenz, K. (1943). “Die angeborenen Formen moeglicher Erfahrung”. Z Tierpsychol., 5, pp. 235–409.

Mori, M. (2012). "The Uncanny Valley". IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 19(2), pp. 98–100.

Rutanen, E. (2019). Uncanny Dimple — Mapping the Cute and the Uncanny in Human-Robot Interaction.

Sakonda, N. (2011). SugarSynth.

Sunfounder (n.d.). Crawling Quadruped Robot Kit v2.0.

Stavropoulos K. M. & Alba L. A. (2018). “‘It’s so Cute I Could Crush It!’: Understanding Neural Mechanisms of Cute Aggression”. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12, pp. 300