#but as i add this tag it seems like the original is popping off? no idea why

[rosenfieids]

fsr gen 4 missingno puts white boxes in the text, making it more jumbled. at any rate, "wha do?" is my favorite

edit: video source

[nekomanager]

YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBOR ♡

- ONE of THREE -

you caught your neighbor and crush KENMA streaming more than just his games {1k+ words} a repost from my old blog; belated happy bday kenma kitty! dedicated to @suosteacup

🔖neighbors, masturbation, voyeurism, exhibitionism // comment on the reply section to be tagged in the next part 🫶

It was raining hard and you’re on your way home. Just like the usual, you paused in front of your neighbor’s house—a sneaky attempt to get a glance at him. 

Your cheeky smile was replaced by curiosity when you saw that his gate was left open. You weren’t really planning to go inside, but you noticed that a box was resting in front of his house and was being drenched by the rain. It was a package for him. Concerned, you went through the open gate.

“Kenma?” You called out as you entered his home. It was dark and you were nervous. It was your first time to set afoot in his abode. “I think you left your gate open and you also have an important parcel left outside.” You definitely didn’t want him to accuse you of burglary or trespassing. 

“I…I guess I’ll just leave it here.” You said as nervousness ate you up and maybe he wasn’t even able to hear you as it’s heavily raining outside. 

You were about to leave when you heard a faint noise coming from one of the rooms. Your head immediately turned to the direction of the sound. “A…Are you okay?” You asked.

Worried, you walked with light steps, approaching were you thought the sound originated. You turned right and saw a light that seemed to be coming from a computer screen. You came closer just right before the door and what you saw shocked you. Your heart felt like it stopped momentarily. 

Your eyes were wide and so was the way your mouth hung open. Kenma...

In his screen, appeared what it seemed to be a chatroom. You saw hearts and dollar signs popping as it rang. 

Everybody knew that he was streaming his games and was into cryptocurrency, but you never thought he’d be masturbating on-screen and gain profit from it.

His pants pooled on his feet, while his eyes were trained on his lap with one of his hands wrapped around his cock. All of this was being captured by his webcam. 

You knew it was wrong to stay here but your feet were glued to the ground. You couldn’t take your eyes off the way he pumped himself. The way his chest rose and fell made you heave in return and so were his long fingers and the intricate veins in his hand. Add to that, the smooth skin of his dick and the little blush on the tip with a bead of pre-cum almost spilling out. 

You gulped. 

He moaned. The way his sweet voice melodiously hummed was making you feel things you’re not supposed to. 

“Aaaah…aaah…mhmmnn…” He kept on breathing and moaning that your face heated up at the sound of him.

Another ringing came from his computer and he briefly looked at it. 

Kenma’s eyes became darker as he moved his hand faster along his cock. His head leaned down, eyes ferociously focused on his dick and cheeks bright red. Beads of sweat now started crawling down at the side of his face.  

Attempting to muffle the sounds, he bit his lip hard. 

You squeezed your thighs together. 

A surge of heat and want began bothering you in between your legs. It was pulsating down there completely in sync with the way your heart was beating in your ears. 

Reflexively, you ran your tongue in between your lips as the sight of him masturbating in front of you and eliciting those crazy sounds was making you so dry and thirsty for him. Your head was swimming in the thought of sweeping your tongue across his length, swallowing him whole and making him lose his mind as you took a taste of him.

Yes, you had a crush on him but you never thought of him in this way until now. You thought Kenma was cute since the very first day he transferred in your neighborhood. His dirty-dyed long hair, mysterious aura and piercing gaze caught your breath the very first time he locked eyes with you. All about him rendered you smitten and weak for his charms and now he also had you fucking wet for him.

“Aah, aaah, fuck…” Kenma moaned.

You whimpered. Your hand immediately flew to your mouth, trying cover any sound that would involuntarily come out from it. 

You weren’t supposed to watch this. You weren’t supposed to be here. This was so wrong. This was so dangerous yet you wanted it. You wanted it all. You wanted all of him and all that he could show.  

A lot of ringing sounds came to his computer and his movements became more and more intense. 

“Mhmnnn….aah aaah…What? More? More? More?” He chanted as he pumped faster and now not only was he moving his hand, but he’s also grinding his hips briskly and aggressively against it. 

You felt your knees melting. Your pussy throbbed as you imagined yourself sliding up and down that pretty cock of his and him fucking you so damn hard like that instead of his hand. 

“Fuck! I’m close…I’m close!” He raked a hand through his hair, stopping at the top as his head snapped to lean backward, his mouth surrendered open in that sexy ‘O’ and eyes tightly shut. Hazy fog clouded your eyes as he breathed deeply through his lips. “Aughhh! I’m coming! I’m co-“ 

You’re sure you came to just by watching him as you felt liquid wetting your panties and perhaps leaking across your thighs. His cum richly overflowed through the tip of cock and how you wanted to feel that spilling so hot inside you. 

You caught up with you breathing and so did Kenma. With his head still tilted backward and eyes closed, he rested his hand on his forehead then let it slump down as he inhaled and exhaled. You wondered who could be the person behind his thoughts as he did that. With a performance like that, there must be someone behind it. You couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of jealousy.

His eyes opened and you started to feel nervous. He stared off to the ceiling, until his feral gaze slid over to your direction. You froze in place certain that he found you out.

[comicaurora]

Hi! I finally got the chance to read Aurora a bit ago. It's a wonderful story--all I was expecting and better! I was particularly amazed and delighted by the artwork and visual mechanics used to tell the story, so I wrote a post to yell about how cool it is and break some of it down. (No criticism, just praise.) I'm mostly a hobbyist, so I'm hoping I've done it justice.

That said: zero pressure to read it or respond to this ask. Normally I wouldn't send it since I tagged, but I know Tumblr's notifs are a mess and things get lost very easily. I've been in both the "one (1) word of praise will feed me for a year" and the "oh gods don't talk about my writing/art because anything that seems Off will break my brain" modes before, and I absolutely don't want to push or make you uncomfortable!

If you are comfortable, however, I wanted to ask about your use of what I'm assuming are Screen and blending modes in sound effect words. (I'm only guessing that's the technique, though, so I could be totally wrong about how it's done! I'm mostly experienced in image manipulation in Photoshop.) Making them semi-transparent over the actions is genius :) What inspired you to do that, and are there specific techniques you use to make it work?

Same questions go for using specific colors to distinguish different characters' words and actions. I really noticed it in the cave sequence with Falst and Dainix, since their colors are so vivid in the dark (ex. Falst's little swats and Dainix's swooping kick at 1.20.9). It lends excellent clarity to busy scenes.

Thanks! Have a lovely day, enjoy your break, and happy holidays <3

You're correct about the technique! "Screen" is the blend mode I use most often for sound effects. I stumbled on it mostly through trial and error - I love how sound effects add depth to a comic panel, but it's very easy for them to obscure the art in a way I find counterproductive, so "Screen" lets me put the sound effect directly over the origin of the sound while still letting it be visible through the word. Early chapters didn't have it as much-

Most of the sound effects in early chapters are just solid colors with reduced opacity if I'm feeling fancy. But I started figuring it out around chapter 8 and 9, because Falst is kind of a sound-effect-heavy guy, especially in his fight scenes.

In order to make sure they don't impede the visibility of the action, I'll often soft-erase the top or bottom half of the SFX to reduce its opacity while still leaving it readable.

I'll usually double that up with an outline on the SFX so it's still readable. This is an especially important consideration if the SFX goes over an area of the background that's very bright or glowing.

Color-coding the speed lines and SFX to the character or force causing them isn't a hard and fast rule, but I like using it (in part because it's a habit from the OSP illustrations, where every character has a single pop of color in their lineart) mostly because it sort of codes every sound to make it clear where it's emanating from, or the general feeling of the sound. Since I normally do character-colors for SFX, something like this stands out more jarringly-

Which it's supposed to, but a big lightning strike doesn't register as anything too worrying because it's just Tess up to her usual shenanigans.

It's also very useful for magic effects, because each form of magic has its own associated palette.

And when I had a very complicated fight scene in a dark environment, I used the texture pattern I'd already made for the monster to color its SFX, so when I Screened them onto the panels they didn't obscure too much while still communicating "this is something else."

Changing the weight, lined-vs-not-lined, and opacity of the SFX words also helps to communicate that not every sound has the same feeling. A strong motion is solid and aggressive, but a crackling, unstable sound is more ephemeral and staticky.

It's definitely been a process of learning as I go - looking back at the earlier chapters I can actually see when I first tried various tricks I now use regularly, like doubling and distorting an SFX to produce the effect of a camera-shaking impact. I haven't really seen any other comics that do it like I do, probably because most other comics follow a more traditional production pipeline where text bubbles and sound effects get locked into the composition early, before the inking stage, because traditional physical comics don't have digital-art layers to play with. Adding sound effects to a page is almost the last thing I do before exporting them, and that only works because digital art and layers allow for a ton of flexibility.

[waitmyturtles]

Have you read any of the Thai academic papers regarding MAME's work? sometimes I feel like fandom at large has a very strong western bias towards her that borders on xenophobia in review of anything attached to her unless it's more low stakes gmmtv style stuff like wedding plan was which suits western sensibilities more.

Hi, Non! This is interesting framing you've put forth here. I want to note that I'm close with some folks, particularly @bengiyo and @lurkingshan, whose critical tastes I trust, and I can assure myself that they would not call Wedding Plan low stakes. During my Old GMMTV Challenge project, I promised myself that I would not watch another MAME show after Love By Chance and TharnType, and I've taken Ben's and Shan's urging to chuck that aside to add Wedding Plan to my OGMMTVC syllabus, which I'll get to after my summer travels. Let me take a second to sort this all out in a more sensible and chronological answer to touch upon what I know about MAME now that I'm much more read into Thai BLs and the history of the genre.

Regarding academia and MAME, I have not read Thai source material on her start and her legacy in Thai Y novel writing and Thai BL/Series Y television productions. What I am in the midst of reading at the moment is Dr. Thomas Baudinette's Boys Love Media in Thailand (Baudinette hailing from Australia), and he does get in depth with MAME's beginnings, which for me was the first primary source material that I have encountered about her background. To summarize quickly, MAME (along with individuals like INDRYTIMES/Kwang Latika, who wrote the original novel for Love Sick, and others) was part of the first crop of young middle-to-upper-class female college students who became enamored with Japanese BL/yaoi manga, as well as (in many cases) K-pop idols, and began writing fan fiction about and/or in the styles of these interests, which led to the development of the unique Thai Y novel genre.

It does seem to me, at least on Tumblr, that a good chunk of Western fandom here has written off MAME. I'm Asian-American, and I come to my hesitation about MAME from a particularly Asian perspective, so I really can't speak for the non-Asian fans about what they're rejecting. Let me at least explain what I'm rejecting, and how I've engaged in dialogue about it with critical friends here.

LBC did not have as much of what I will attempt to describe as I saw in TharnType, something that I might now call collectivist homophobia or collectivist bias. But LBC had a smattering of it, something that I smelled early on in that series. In both series, MAME seemed to approach her characters, to me, with a distanced hand of judgement that, to me, recalled the kinds of biases that my Asian parents tried to implant in me in my childhood, that I rejected throughout my young years. Queer material is so very often not good to its queer characters, and it seemed to me through LBC and TT that MAME intended to gild that lily to channel a populist homophobia that she seemed to know would resonate with a broader fanbase -- which it did, in part, because TharnType in particular was the first Thai BL with heat in every episode.

(Two things to note about my review of TharnType that I penned last year. First item to note is that Boys Love Media in Thailand had not been published yet, and I had not read primary source material about MAME. I was enraged at the time about fan theories that MAME had been a victim of sexual assault, and had therefore written her queer characters with the biased vitriol that I perceived coming from her because of that theorized past. I still think these theories are equivocating and problematic. Second item is that I heavily recommend reading the reblogs of my TT review, tags and posts and all, to see literally the spectrum of commentary of the MAME fandom/anti-fandom across Tumblr. Writing that post and reading those reblogs was a hell of a great experience.)

Just to summarize this, then -- I choose to not engage with MAME because I see under- and overhanded bias in the work that I've watched, with my Asian eyes; and I just might assume that many Westerners see the same thing. But I don't really know, because I haven't talked to that many Western fans about the depth of this.

So what does this mean for this moment in time? I understand MAME's Love Sea is airing, which I'm not watching, and I missed the boat on Love In the Air -- so I think I'm missing some critical and/or catty chatter about those two shows from the fandom because I don't have context.

But I do know there are folks out there that either write MAME off wholly, likely for similar reasons that I've listed above, and/or hate-watch her shows and post about it. To each their own.

I would not have considered Wedding Plan if Ben and Shan weren't screaming about it. I'm happy to have fewer shows on my plate, I got no time. However.

Nothing in this world exists in a static vacuum. If MAME is experimenting with tone, approach, style, and even taste regarding her shows, then more power to her. @bengiyo's post linked above about Wedding Plan is important for me to see, because I see that he's noting that parts of the fandom may have actually demonstrated real homophobic dialogue about MAME's fictional characters, which, to me, I'm like, what? Really? You got time for that? But also:

If MAME, back in 2019 with TharnType, picked up that her Thai and global fanbases were more inclined to check in with collectivist homophobia, as I'm calling it.... and now, in 2023-2024, has noted that her fanbases might be far more inclined to support real queer equality and overtones in shows, and is including those themes in her work -- can we not welcome that change in? That's why I'll give Wedding Plan a shot.

Let's be sassy and ironic for a second. Could she be making this change for da money and the fame? Sure. But -- capitalism unfortunately rules this world. Car commercials in the States have interracial queer couples parenting children nowadays. If equality talks to money, then content makers will take note. I think I'd be a hypocrite to say that MAME shouldn't make her dollar, all while she's experimenting with more equitable stances.

Last note. There's been quite the dialogue simmering these past few weeks about GMMTV's We Are, and whether or not GMMTV is stepping away from a past where many (not all, but many) of its shows explored queerness in depth. He's Coming To Me, Bad Buddy, Dark Blue Kiss (yes... the first three shows I listed were Aof Noppharnach shows, fuck), Theory of Love, 3 Will Be Free. The major GMMTV BL/GL shows that have aired recently that have made huge waves on social media -- Only Friends, 23.5, Last Twilight, and now My Love Mix-Up -- were/are helmed by branded (capitalism, hello!) pairs, and three out of four of them were flops, with MLMU already treading that territory in EPISODE TWO, for heaven's sake. (Y'all, read the reblogs on this post. Wow.) I finished a rewatch of The Eclipse weeks ago, and I'm dragging my feet on my review, because of what I think that show represents for what branded pairs end up doing to otherwise original content.

I want to posit a theory, that I'll work more on when my OGMMTVC is over, that we have living, real-time proof that the branded pair system is failing good content -- because these shows have to produce engagement snippets of these pairs, instead of more broadly penetrating artistic content. GMMTV's one-off shows with non-branded pairs, like Be My Favorite and Wandee Goodday, are FAR MORE INTERESTING content-wise, varied and inquisitive in their artistic takes on queerness. Even Cherry Magic, featuring the long-awaited return of TayNew, felt fresh, because we literally hadn't seen TayNew in FIVE YEARS. Tay actually KISSED ANOTHER DUDE, shocker!, in 3 Will Be Free. I want to go back to those days, where the pairs could act well outside of their range and their business partners, instead of being limited to the same tone and style that their pairings and their fandoms demand.

I say ALL OF THIS, because isn't it interesting that GMMTV seems to be reverting on a scale of inquisitiveness about queerness -- and MAME seems to be going in the opposite direction?

I would not have expected it. But I have found, lately, some of GMMTV's "takes" on "queerness," as in Only Friends, to be outright offensive. This corporation has become far more gunshy to let their branded pairs just be fictionally gay. If MAME wants to take on a healthier stance of equity, and to play around with more realistic depictions of what it means to be queer in Thailand, then go for it, girl. I will admittedly be watching Wedding Plan with my Asian side-eye and my smell tests for bias, but I look forward to being proven wrong about my suspicions. I want to be a responsible fan here, open to MAME's changes.

This ended up being a lot, but thank you for provoking these thoughts, Non.

[the-lighthouse-lit]

BBRae Week Day 3: "Please don't ever do that again"

Length: 2,114 words

Rating: T

Excerpt: In an instant the goofiness gave way to suaveness. "Again? You wanna see me again, miss Raven?"

@bbraeweek24 🥰

───

“Okay,” the guy started as he sat down, “when I was seven years old, my parents took me to a zoo for the first time. I started crying and they were like, what’s wrong? I said it was about the cages, and they thought I meant, I was sad about the animals being kept in—but really, I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed inside the cages with them. Anyway, they never took me again. But I still consider it the day I found my calling—I still ended up in a sanctuary.” He reached for his newly-refilled glass of water and then stopped, reconsidering. “Working there. I mean, I became a wildlife caretaker.”

“Thanks for clearing that up,” the girl said as he drank. “Wait, that’s what you open with? That’s how you choose to introduce yourself?”

“Yeah, I thought it was solid. Gives you an idea of who I am.”

That it does, thought the girl.

“Hit me with yours,” the guy requested.

She shrugged. “I’ve been letting people open and seeing them squirm.”

She did have squirm-worthy eyes. They were dark blue and stared on unapologetically. She also spoke with a detached tone, and she hadn’t smiled when he’d sad down—all things that would put most men on edge, but he liked to think he was charismatic enough to make up the difference. She was striking, but he didn’t remember her from the introductory mingling. That’s what was good about these events, he thought, you got to focus on people you wouldn’t normally go for.

Her name-tag read ‘Raven’. Like many women here she’d chosen not to add her last name. He himself felt he’d had no choice but to write ‘Gar Logan’, otherwise his tag was three whole letters, which felt suspiciously too casual. At that point it was like, what’s that guy hiding?

“What’s next? What do you do with uncomfortable silence?”

“Oh, you know, there’s all the clichés,” Raven said. “You covered ‘what do you do?’ Then there’s the where’re you from, and the what’d you do for fun?”

“Well, I’m from all over. I mean really I was born in Africa.”

“Africa? What country?”

“Middle of nowhere village in Upper Lamumba. Best childhood you can imagine.”

“Wow,” she allowed. That was a cool origin. If he was lying, so help her…

“But I can’t really say I’m from here, I was six when I left.”

“I like how you say that as if you, as six-year-old, made the decision to pack up and leave.”

“Mmh, the exact circumstances will be a story for another day.”

“Another day? You’re assuming we’re both swiping left?”

“I like to assume the best.”

He offered a smile. He’d been smiling too much since he’d sat down, thought Raven. He’d also gone straight for the little bowl of cashew nuts, and was popping one into his mouth every other sentence. He was an odd mix of performative and carefree, but he still seemed like he knew exactly how charming he was. In short, less than a minute into this speed-date, he was exactly the kind of guy she never went for. It made Raven relax, having discounted him in her head.

But she dutifully said, “I’m a teacher. Community college. I teach literature, and I’m also the unofficial therapist on campus. I’m from here, New York. And for fun, I read.”

“Not write?”

“Not every literature teacher wants to be a writer.”

“Fair enough. I write song lyrics, not that I want to be a singer. That’s for your third question. I also play the guitar. I like concerts, I like hiking, I like camping… the outdoors in general.”

Raven almost chuckled at how effectively he was ticking off all her ‘incompatible’ boxes. She couldn’t keep a smile back, and he noticed. “What?”

She shook her head. “I was just thinking how I hate camping more than anything.”

“Noted. You never answered where you’re from?”

“I didn’t? I’m from here, New York.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone here who’s actually from New York.”

“Would never live anywhere else.”

He scrunched up his nose. “Really? I wanna travel as much as I can. Like, I never want to spend more than a couple of years in the same place. It’s a tough dream, I know,” he added, because apparently he’d taken her bewildered expression for simple surprise. “So, you’re satisfied with your questions? You don’t feel they’re a little shallow?”

“I’m not the one who opened with a monologue.”

“Well, that was just the ice breaker. Now we have the chance to get deeper.”

“Is there a chance to get any degree of deep in an eight-minute conversation?” she questioned.

He thought about that. “I mean, just deep enough to know whether you wanna see someone again. That’s what speed dating is about, right?”

“I don't know. Everyone’s trying so hard to make a good first impression, you can’t really get a genuine assessment of people.”

He cocked his head at her; it made his wispy blond hair move with him. (He had too much hair, she thought. And she was decently sure he was younger than her.) “Sounds like you don’t believe much in speed dating at all.”

“Oh, jury’s still out on whether tonight was a complete mistake.”

He pointed at her and went, “Okay, core values. Go.”

“Seriously? That doesn’t work.”

He gaped. “How… that’s very important. What could you possibly have against that?”

She almost smiled at his indignity. “People telling you their core values is useless. The shallowest people can tell you they value genuineness. The drama seekers will tell you they crave peace and harmony. You don’t really know what people's values are until it’s actionable.”

“Yeah, I think I heard that. Don’t marry a person until you’ve seen them stressed, uh…”

“Gone on a trip with them,” she supplied.

“Yeah.”

“And when they’re sick?”

“I think struggling financially was one of them.”

“There’s probably different versions,” she allowed.

“Well, you give me questions, then.”

“Okay. Pet peeves.”

He gave that a moment's thought. He’d picked up some nuts and now let them drop back into the bowl. “Littering. Food waste. People who won’t try new stuff just once, like new food. Like vegan food.”

“You’re vegan. That’s a strike.”

“It usually is,” he laughed. “But, I’ve never forced anyone to try it.” He waited for a sign of acquiescence that never came. “Isn’t that a point in my favor?”

“Could be.”

“But…?”

She hesitated. “But nothing says you actually practice it. You could tell me anything. Anyone could say anything.”

“So could you.”

“Yeah, but…” He saw her hesitate for the first time in this date. “You seem like the kind of person who tries to make everyone like them.”

Raven had just been trying to push the conversation away from pet peeves without having to answer herself; she’d proposed the topic without thinking and regretted it instantly, because he was doing some of her pet peeves right in front of her. She would’ve had to tell him some of them included people eating absent-mindedly, people reaching for food they weren’t going to eat, people looking at you while they chewed… But now he was blinking at her, and she feared she’d gone too far.

“…Doesn’t everyone?” he posed.

“No.”

“So you don’t care if people like you?”

“…I care, I just won’t change in order to make it happen.”

“Well, I wouldn’t either. But you don’t trust me, so.” He finished that statement with a smile. (She was hit with the idea that she had really offended him, and he was using a smile to put distance between them. But she didn’t care what he thought of her, right?)

“Is it a bit? When you opened saying, I’m at a sanctuary, but I’m working there, I’m not there as an inmate? Do you do that every time?”

He laughed then, and she thought it sounded genuine. “No, the way I tell it deteriorates as the night goes on. I couldn’t act that well. But I get what you were saying.” Now he spoke carefully. “You’re… intimidating. Which is not a bad thing,” he rushed to add. “But, I guess, you’re used to people having a problem with that. So you don’t try to make them like you. Right?”

Now he was sheepish. Maybe he’d wanted to throw it back at her, maybe he’d just wanted to get deeper. Either way, she was satisfied she could consider them even. “You know what?”

“What?” he asked in a small voice.

“A girl behind you just got up from her table and is doing the splits, and I can’t focus on anything you’re saying.”

So he turned around. Sure enough, across the room a girl was straining her dress with a side slit as she lowered into a split under the eyes of her bewildered date.

“That’s a lot of trust she’s putting on that dress,” Raven commented, and took the space of time he was turned around to make use of her own complementary glass of water.

“Ooh, that’s what she was getting at,” said Gar when he turned back to her, “That girl asked me if I had any secret talents. When I told her what mine was she just… stopped talking. Completely. Until the eight minutes were out. I guess my talent was supposed to be sexy.”

She observed him, trying to take a guess. “I’m almost scared to ask…”

He didn’t let her ask. “I can move both my ears individually.” He used both hands to push his hair painfully back from his ears, and kept eye contact with her as he twitched one ear, then the other, then again.

The actual tip of his ears twitched down when he did it. For some reason it freaked her out. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

He let go of his hair, and in an instant the goofiness gave way to suaveness. “Again? So you do wanna see me again, miss Raven?”

She scoffed. But he seemed to be really waiting for an answer, so she said, “Realistically I won’t, no one here will. You’ve got one foot out of the city and you wanna relocate every couple of years.”

“That’s a deal breaker?”

“It would be for most people,” she defended. “Most people stay put in one place.”

“You know phones exist, right? The Internet?” He couldn’t seem to stop teasing her. He’d just realize she was blushing from when he’d put her in the spot just now, and it made a thrill go through him.

“You were hoping to meet someone who’d commit to waiting for you after talking for a few minutes?”

“Or maybe the right girl will come along with me. Maybe you’re underestimating the number of girls who are willing to be swept away to a completely new life. And didn’t you say people need to go on a trip together before they get married?”

“Is that what you’re after tonight? Marriage?”

“Would that be so surprising?”

The ring that signaled the end of the date came like a shot. Both looked at each other in surprise, recognizing it was the first time in the whole night they’d wished the eight minutes hadn’t ended. Both wondered if it was the same for the other.

Gar still got up, slowly.

“Did we finish a single line of conversation?” Raven asked.

“There’s a way to fix that,” he said, leaning on the table more than he needed to, she thought, in order to pick up his glass.

After the night was over, after she’d gone home and showered, and taken some time to soothe the nerves of her battered introverted nature, Raven pulled up the app for the speed dating event. A gallery of men’s pictures stared back at her, and she quickly located the one that read Gar Logan.

It would be borderline leading him on. They were completely incompatible, from their personalities, to their tastes, to their plans in life. It probably wouldn’t work out.

But somehow, they had never stopped talking the whole date. And all she wanted to do right now was find him and talk shit about the guy who came after him, who was actually here to recruit girls to join him and his girlfriend as their third.

She only had the name he’d given out—a security measure that had led her to choose this app. And she knew he wouldn’t stay long in New York. If she didn’t match him, she simply might never see him again. She’d lose him in the wide scope of the world.

Throwing caution out the window, she swiped left. Immediately she got the access to the profile screen that let her know he’d matched her too.

───

Notes:

I’m either writing 3 entries for this Week of literally just this one. T_T Whatever I end up doing will be up on AO3 eventually!

The ‘Camping’ comment is a subtle reference to the fact that I couldn’t think of anything for the prompt for Day 1.❤️

I pulled the workings of the speed dating app, and speed dating itself, right out of my ass. Don’t take my word for anything. I did ZERO research for this.

[moralesmilesanhour]

mad props! 02

summary: Miles catches onto your antics. wc: ~800 a/n: some advanced haterism going on here. this has gotten increasingly fun to write as the plot ramps up! pls don't be scared 2 leave any reactions or thoughts in the comments + tags :) 01 02 03

From then on, you made it a point to ignore Miles during partner work and punctuate it with an eye roll. He tucked his head back in surprise the first time you did it, and you felt like you’d just won a prize.

…That is, until he ignored you back. 

Eventually, Miles just turned to the person in the next column to ask for a pen instead, seeming perfectly content with working on his own.

It should've been a relief.

Today, Mr. Sanchez handed out worksheets to write a short composition on, and you struggled to recall the correct word for ‘kitchen’. All of your attempts to remember the pictures at the back of your flashcards came to nothing, finally forcing you to turn around and ask with a heavy sigh.

"Um, hey," you began, wincing at the softness of your voice. "What’s ‘kitchen’ in Spanish? You remember?"

Miles looked at you with only his eyes. " ‘Cocina’."

No puns, no off-hand comment. Not even an offer to help further. He just quietly returned to his work. 

Your plan was already falling apart now that he no longer initiated conversations for you to brush off, so you went with the next best thing: competing with him.

“Who was able to solve for the trajectory of–oh!”

The AP Physics instructor pushed back a strand of red hair as she glanced between you and Miles, whose hands had shot up at the same time.

“Let’s go with someone who hasn’t spoken yet. Ms. L/N?”

You smiled as you answered, “24.7 meters per second.”

“Excellent job, Y/N, and thank you for participating today. Now, would anyone else…”

As the woman called on other students, a strategy began to take shape. 

It wasn’t hard to tell when Miles was about to raise his hand. His eyes would go wide, with a tiny smile that said he was certain that no one else could get this question right but him. His hand went up so fast that you had to answer before the teacher could even finish their question, but it worked. And it got you a few extra points for participation.

“Now, who can tell me what makes the film ‘Romeo + Juliet’ so unique?” asked the English professor.

Miles raised his hand. “It takes the original play and reinterprets aspects of the original plot for modern audiences.”

As soon as he answered, his eyes flickered towards you almost as if on cue. Sure enough, your hand flew up.

“Y/N, what a surprise! Care to add on?”

“Of course. The director, Baz Luhrmann,” you met Miles’ gaze as you specified the name, “used his over-the-top cinematic style of directing to bring the drama of the original play to life in a contemporary context. He replaced the swords with guns and balls for parties, but kept the dialogue the same so that audiences could better understand Shakespeare without needing to grapple with the work of translating Shakespearean English into modern English. He found a way to make the play accessible without compromising on the text.”

Miles narrowed his eyes at you while the stocky teacher made a noise of approval.

“Very succinct explanations, you two. I’m very impressed with you especially, Miss L/N. I hope to hear your voice more often in class.”

You noticed Miles still glaring, and rested your chin in the palm of your hand.

In a sickly-sweet tone, you whispered, “What?” 

He shook his head and turned away.

-

“Alright, make sure you go home and memorize those formulas! See you Wednesday!”

You neatly stacked your papers and slid them carefully into one of your labeled folders as the bell rang, marking the end of your last class.

The hallway bustled with students rushing like bees to their lockers. On the way to your own, a pop of color catches your eye. 

It’s a bulletin board filled with sign-ups for a number of clubs, from cheerleading to student government to debate. Remembering your college counselor’s comment about your extracurriculars “looking a bit empty”, you drew closer. Might as well, right?

You didn’t have the stamina for cheerleading, but speech and debate looked promising. Just as you took out a pen to sign your name, though, you stopped short and frowned.

At the very bottom of the list read the name ‘Miles Morales’ written with a neon highlighter. 

Then again on the art club’s flier. And anime club. And music engineering. 

‘Miles Morales’.

‘Miles Morales’.

‘Miles Morales’.

Guess you weren’t the only one who needed to beef up their transcript.

“Show-off,” you muttered to yourself. 

Just as you were about to lose hope, there was one other club that Miles hadn’t signed up for, hanging precariously off of the edge of the board from a single thumbtack:

Theater. 

And auditions were the very next day.

[kedsandtubesocks]

Your boyfriend is missing - but that shouldn’t be a cause for concern… right?

pairing: Satoru Gojo x fem!reader

wc: 5.6k

warnings & tags: 18+ ONLY MDNI. dark elements. roleplay that can be read as yandere like behavior, heavy prey/predator, stalking, moment of home intrusion, fear & knife play, sexual allusions, a lot of licking and spit, finger sucking, themes of terror and fear, feral Gojo, aftercare, reader is called (doll, pretty, baby, angel) also everyone is alive & nothing hurts AU…if I missed anything please let me know

a/n: this is my second submission to Willow’s Haunted House Collab! To be honest…this is my first time writing content like this so I’m a little nervous about posting this piece so I appreciate you taking the time to read and hope you enjoy! Also big thank you to @willowser & @skeletoncowboys for being the best (and worst) little devils on my shoulder to get me to write this

You’re still surprised Shoko knows this many people. But then again a part of you isn’t.

The Halloween party fills every inch of her nice Tokyo apartment. The array of colored lights dance against the wild costumes and you wonder if you’ve slipped into a pocket of wonderland.

Taking a sip of your drink you also now curiously wonder if your faux blood sucking boyfriend has fallen down a rabbit hole himself.

The original plan was to go in matching couples outfits. But once your slightly erratic boyfriend spotted the dracula outfit at the costume store his grabby hands immediately snagged it.

“I’ll look hotter in this one. You understand right, angel?” Satoru triumphant grin said enough.

Begrudgingly, you did. And you couldn’t deny how gorgeous he looked.

White summer cloud hair slicked back, the realistic fake vampire fangs he wore, and even borrowing your eyeliner to add shadow like depth around his piercing baby blues -

He was the dream of every dark supernatural romance novel.

Now among the blaring music and excited chatter of the party your handsome vampire has slipped through your fingers.

Your feet are starting to ache and your soft bed is calling you home. So you decide to scan the crowd for him.

From your spot in the kitchen your attention flickers out to the thick of the party in the living room. You spot Haibara laughing so bright and looking adorable in his spooky scarecrow costume. Nanami stands beside him, simple devil horns on top of his head and a slightly amused grin coloring his distinguished features.

Geto, dressed in his rather impressive phantom of the opera costume, has been attracting a small crowd. He sits on the couch telling scary stories with the others around him. The look of both a composed storyteller and eager listener paints his handsome face even with the mask covering half his face.

Your eyes continue their search among the party.

Along the stretch of the wall lined with grand windows stands an ink blot like figure.

The apartment’s dim soft lighting mixes with the fun colorful lights strung up. Strange shadows fall among the space and at times you’ve caught it playing tricks on your eyes.

Except you clearly can focus on the striking presence across from you.

The stranger wears an all black cloak that makes them stick out against the windows.

And they wear a ghost face mask that completely obstructs any hope of discovering who this is.

The mask stares out so blankly and it’s a bit unnerving.

People chat unphased. A small group even starts an impromptu dance circle at the new upbeat pop song playing. Everyone exists unaware, or possibly uncaring, at the strange presence of the ghost face.

Yet this person stands so still. The mask also seems to be staring directly at you.

It could be someone needing a small break from the party the same way you lingered in the kitchen alone.

Then ghost face lifts a gloved finger up to the mask’s lips.

Shh…

A strange flutter you can’t fully describe rises in your gut. You simply brush off the action as someone being funny.

You now leave the kitchen to fully hunt for your missing boyfriend.

“Have you seen Gojo?” You ask around but the answers are all the same.

“Nope!” Haibara’s bright response comes with an unworried smile.

“No thank goodness,” the same answer comes from both Nanami and Utahime.

“Maybe he turned into a bat and flew away.” Geto, ever the teasing jokester, has you rolling your eyes.

Shoko jokingly even says “who?” when you ask her.

Now you think your boyfriend has decided to be childish and hide in the bathrooms or closet. Because who else would try to be funny and run away during a party but Gojo.

Shoko, with a carefree wave, grants you free range to explore her place.

You’ve been here plenty of times, but now with so many people in the space an annoyed edge bubbles in you. You want to go home. Now you’re having to peek around hoping to spot your ridiculous boyfriend. And there are no signs of him.

Annoyed and frustrated you snag your phone to simply message him.

[Where are you?!]

It takes a moment, but a message comes in from ‘My Bestest Most Handsome Boyfriend Ever.’

Said boyfriend simply replies with one lone emoji.

[🤫]

Another message rushes in. It again is nothing but emojis.

[🤭😘]

Simmering annoyance doubles, tempting to turn into frustration, and you rapidly message him back.

[Satoru I wanna go home and if you keep up this up I’m leaving you]

You’d call a ride or see if someone can take you back. You would leave him here.

A notification chime comes.

[let’s play a game baby 🤍]

[oh so me trying to find your ridiculous ass around Shoko’s apartment isn’t a game?]

[so rude!]

[but maybe it is 😜]

You call his phone. It goes straight to voicemail and you want to scream.

You angrily type out another message and hit send.

[fine whatever, you do whatever you want I’ll see you at home]

His reply rushes in surprisingly fast.

[head home angel, I’ll see you when I get there 🤍]

Now that sparks a strange curious peak in you.

But still so annoyed you angrily close your messages. You’re about to head out of the corner of the hallway you’ve been hanging out in.

So deep in your thoughts, you take one step and run into someone -

The ghost face stranger.

You thankfully don’t collide into him. However, your step falters seeing how close the person is to you.

The black robed body fully faces you, their back to the party, as they stand so direct.

“Oh, uh excuse me.” You mutter and avert your eyes worried as you slide past the stranger.

Not a sound comes, not even a reply. The chilling silence, the looming presence, the dark shadow blocking out the light, it feels like you’re trying to tiptoe past something dangerous.

Out of the hallway you check your phone again.

Still nothing from Gojo.

“Fine, stay here.” You huff out loud thinking maybe he’ll hear you.

A soft whisper of your boyfriend’s voice comes.

“…Baby…”

It cuts through the party even on the gentle breeze you heard it. Quickly you look around, but nothing. Still no sign of Satoru. You glance over your shoulder to check behind you.

Instead of being at the previous spot in the highway, ghost face now peers out from the edge of the hallway's entrance.

The plastic hollow mask continues staring so directly at you that a strange unsettled alarm twists your stomach.

It couldn’t be….

But then again…

You shake away curious and cloudy thoughts wanting to form. Turning on your heels you rush to Shoko’s side and announce you’re going to head out.

Nanami, like a true golden knight he should’ve dressed as, offers to drive you home. Haibara happily decides to tag along. Before you head out, a message alert rings from your phone.

[Come find me downstairs!]

You groan. Of course he managed to slip away from the apartment entirely.

“Sorry guys. I’ll meet you two down in the garage. I think I know where my idiot ran off too.” You sigh and thankfully Nanami understands with his saintly patience.

As you slip into the hallway, the noise of the party fades into a muted soft hum.

After navigating Shoko’s labyrinth-like apartment building you arrive at the main floor downstairs. And of course, your boyfriend again is nowhere to be found. In fact, the beautiful sleek modern lobby is vacant. Normally someone sits at the front desk that is currently empty. In the dark evening, the quiet lurks with an unsettling hollowness.

So you quickly message Gojo.

[where are you??]

No response.

You should’ve known this was going to happen.

The eerie silence, the lack of commotion in this normally occupied space, a strange anxiety swarms in your chest. It drains out the annoyance you had for your boyfriend because now, you just want to leave.

Not wanting to stay here anymore you simply head to the elevator and press the button for the garage.

Footsteps echo behind you and you turn.

Behind you is the ghost face stranger.

Standing so terrifyingly still a chill runs up your back as if you’re staring down an actual ghost, trying to process if this being is real or not. The hollowed out eyes, the deep morphed wide frown, all of it intensifies against the pristine lobby.

Then ghost face tilts their head. The small movement seems so innocent, curious even.

The elevator dings its arrival. Hesitantly you step into the lift while trying to keep your eyes on the stranger.

Once fully inside, a moment of pause comes. It again is just you and the mysterious figure staring at the other.

Suddenly, as if possessed, ghost face runs straight towards you.

Fear rips into you visceral and dizzying. You choke on a scream. Faster and faster he approaches. You shakily scramble to slam on the button to close the elevator doors.

The black robed stranger races closer.

The doors start closing. An arm outstretches hopeful to stop the elevator and terror sinks its fangs into you.

The doors however shut fast.

You’re left staring at the white masks unflinching. The doors fully shut and you watch ghost face disappear out of sight.

The elevator ride is quiet, but your loud heartbeat drums rapidly in your ears. The taste of fear in your mouth has you wondering if you unknowingly transformed into a small creature fleeing from a monster in the woods.

You exhale slowly trying to steady yourself.

The garage thankfully arrives quickly and Nanami and Haibara already wait for you there.

“Are you alright? You seem shaken up.” Nanami notices you with keen eyes.

“Yeah!” You lie as truthfully as you can, even summoning a smile to add to it. “Just feeling a little under the weather now. So I’m just ready to get home.”

That appeases Nanami and the three of you head out.

“So did you find where Gojo went!?”

“No.” You sigh, answering Haibara’s bright question.

“I’m sure he just got called away somewhere and forget to tell you!” He positively suggests.

“Or he’s just playing a trick on me thinking he’s being cute when he’s actually just being a headache.” Your dull annoyed comment has Nanami snorting amused and it warms you.

It helps as a chill air breathes into the dark evening. Softly, a distant rumble of thunder comes. A storm approaches. As you head up to the apartment you already happily think of cozy blankets to end the night.

“Satoru!” You call out.

Silence greets you. So much for meeting you at home.

You start the search again. The bathroom, the extra guest bedroom and even the guest bathroom are all once again Gojo-less. You even check underneath the bed and feel silly when you open up the laundry hamper thinking he could have squeezed himself in there as a prank.

But you realize you would’ve at least heard ridiculous giggling at this point. So, you give up.

Ready to turn in for the night you exhaustedly slip out of your costume and into cozier clothes.

You also decide to try calling your dumb boyfriend again. You left your phone charging in the kitchen and head back to grab it.

A flash of lightning comes, a bright surprise illumination dancing from the window. It draws your attention away for a split moment.

You turn and now before you the ghost face masked stranger stands in your kitchen.

Terror seizes you and you freeze in its grasp.

Ghost face’s presence in your warmly light kitchen reminds you of someone taking a sharpie and placing a solid swipe against a scenic painting. It is a terrifying distortion.

“Satoru.” You snap even though your voice wavers.

The masked stranger shakes their head.

No.

“Sorry doll,” You don’t recognize the voice replying to you. It’s deep warped and distorted. Plus your boyfriend never once called you that - doll.

“Don’t know who this Satoru guy is, but he’s lucky gettin’ to come home to you.” The deep and static like masculine voice purrs.

Your heart drops into your stomach

Now truly staring at the cloaked intruder, you realize how large ghost face is. His broad shoulders fill out the space and he radiates an imposing looming force.

Your eyes stay focused on him but you realize if you move fast, you could maybe reach your phone charging.

So you bolt with all your might.

But the masked man is faster.

In two rapid steps he stops you. With a gloved hand the stranger yanks you into his hold. A scream almost escapes you. But it’s knocked out when ghost face curls around you from behind.

A strong sturdy arm wraps itself across your chest.

“Now now doll,” the intruder tsks light. “And here I thought we could play a lil’ game.”

The gleam of the knife comes first from the corner of your eye. Then, the pointed tip starts running up the side of your body with a delicate leisure ease.

Your eyes go wide as the large kitchen knife effortlessly tracing up a path closer to you. It drags across your clothes, slow and unbothered in its pace.

“You know,” ghost face muses. “You really are a cute one.”

A twinkling glee leaks into the distorted voice.

“Let’s play that game I mentioned, yeah?” He continues.

Your throat goes dry as the knife now drags easily up your chest closer to your face.

“I’m a big fan of hide and seek.” The masked man purrs.

The solid arm that was across your chest now slides up allowing his gloved hand to softly curl around your neck. There is no pressure, just the simple chilling sensation of his presence against your skin. It’s a reminder that at any moment he could tighten his hand on your throat.

“You’re just so cute that I wanna chase ya and keep you forever.” His voice manages to drop deeper, entrenched in something dreadfully haunting.

“I’ll give you five minutes to go run and hide,” he whispers softer and deeper. The white plastic of the mask gingerly scrapes against your face. Your body coils a tense knot of emotions you can’t even seem to sort through.

“And then, I’ll go and find you.” His voice oozes out a rich low confidence.

Then cool metal presses against your cheek. Your eyes snap down and find a knife lying flat against your face. Your heart trips over in itself.

Confused panic now clashes with something dangerously dark you dare not name. It only worsens when a gloved thumb strokes your throat soft, reverently, and a heat licks up your body.

“Get to hidin’ doll… run.” Ghost face whispers.

Then he violently rips himself away from your body and like being unleashed from a cage you bolt.

You don’t even turn around to look at the masked man. Instead you dash further into the apartment.

Your first thought is to crawl under one of the beds. But your heart pounds so fast that any true proper thoughts get scrambled.

All you can think of is the closet, the large walk-in closet you share with Satoru.

Rapidly you rush inside it. You wonder if you should hide standing up along your boyfriend's large amount of tall clothes that could possibly hide you.

Until you spot it - a wonderful carved out space you can crouch in.

Once you wiggle your way in you try settling into the space. Breathing slowly in and out you try to gather yourself together. The length of Satoru’s clothes you hope will work as a cover or even a makeshift barrier to hide you.

Safe within the smell of the cologne lingering on your boyfriend’s clothes, you close your eyes to settle yourself down even more.

You sit in the silence. Tension crawls on your skin.

Time begins feeling sticky and the minutes seem to all glue together. You don’t know how long you’ve been in here or how long you will be.

Then heavy boots slowly march into the bedroom.

Your eyes snap open. The footsteps are leisurely, imposing. Your heart jolts hearing every step.

A slow dread that has been spilling into you like an hourglass now shatters as the footsteps draw closer to the door. Out of panic you can’t help but move your hands over your nose and mouth to keep quiet.

The door creaks open and your heart stops.

Your body tenses up at the sight of the black thick boats stomping into the closet.

Then the light of the closet flickers on illuminating the space.

“You in here, pretty?” the masked man calls out.

The air in the room evaporates as you stay as quiet as you can.

From the way his boots shuffle he seems to be glancing among the hanging clothes trying to find you in the space you thought of hiding in earlier.

A sigh comes from your masked intruder, soft and defeated almost.

He starts walking out of the closet. You rationalize that he must already be bored of trying to find you here. A small dosage of relief fills your body. Your eyes even shut close again as you exhale.

You take a moment to gather yourself in your sheltered space.

Simply breathing in and out, your hands stay against your face to keep you quiet.

Wearily you open your eyes.

Ghost face now kneels before you and peeks at you through the dangling clothes.

You’re thankful your hands still clutch over your face because you let out a small squeak of a scream.

His gloved waves at you gently and teasingly.

Before you can move, before you can even stand up, firm hands dart out. Ghost face grabs your ankle and drags you out of your little hidden cave.

Your body slides out with such ease, without any hesitation. You can’t even process how fast it happens. All you can do is stare up at the looming man above you staring down with the hollowed out soulless eyes.

His entire frame, large and imposing, blocks most of the light from the closet. It bathes him in a hauntingly eerie superposition of a black stain against a sun.

“Hi there doll,” He coo’s. “Knew you couldn’t escape from me.”

His gloved hand reaches out and holds your face firm.

The knife’s sharp edge drags up your body, a slow and casual pace. Your heart crawls into your throat as you lie beneath the power of this haunting force.

It’s simply you and him.

And then the ghost face mask man suddenly giggles.

It’s a playful giggle you know so well that not even the voice distortion can hide it.

It’s the one you hear whenever you trip over your own shoes, or when your boyfriend happily steals your fries…

“Satoru.” You breathe out steadier than you expected. A range of emotions tingles all over your body.

“No.” The voice replies but there's a twinkle in the tone now. “It’s me…scary ghost face man!”

“Satoru.” You repeat firmer.

“Who’s that? Is that your boyfriend? He sounds hot.”

You roll your eyes and are about to sit up when ghost face instead sits back releasing his firm grip on you.

The hand previously on your face moves to the mask and lifts it up.

Even before the rest of his face is revealed you spy the widest toothy smile ever. The mask completely slides up and now shining blue skies stare at you.

The eyeliner he put on earlier for his vampire costume is now a smudged mess from the heat of the mask. It paints him in a grunge like appearance that unfortunately for you looks devilishly hot on him

Still, you can’t help but pout at him.

“You should’ve set a timer. I don’t think you waited a full five minutes to let me hide.” You challenge as you start taking off his gloves.

“Yes I did! I even went and took a few selfies on your phone to let the time run!” Satoru challenges back pouting.

Of course he took pictures.

You can’t help but snort. However as you slide off the thick black gloves, your eyes gloss over a bit. The high, the adrenaline, the fantasy, is fizzling away.

Before you can even say anything, Gojo cries a dramatic sob. He flops down to lie completely on top of you.

“Satoru!” You wheeze as he clutches onto you like a childish koala.

Dramatically loud, Satoru wails your name. He rubs his sweaty face against yours. Yet, his bare hands hold you so delicate.

“Are you okay?” Your boyfriend gently asks genuine, low and cautious as if someone else can hear him.

You nod on an exhale. Your body strangely enough feels comforted with the weight of your protector against you.

Your face turns to burrow against his. The scent of his skin, the soft warmth he constantly radiates, all become a lifeline guiding you back.

The sensation running through your body reminds you of walking out of a haunted house attraction or even finishing an intense scary film. Those types of experiences become a way of facing terror as something fleeting, giving you a moment of fear without truly being in actual danger. It’s why you had even jokingly suggested this play in the first place.

Satoru and you had been costume shopping when he first tried to jump out and scare you. Instead he wore a ridiculous deformed bunny mask.

You simply stared at him bored and told him how ridiculous he looked.

“Aw! Where's your Halloween spirit babe?!” He cried.

You shrugged then went back to glancing at the adorable witch costumes.

“Maybe if it was another mask I saw you chasing me in I’d get scared.”

“Oh yeah?” His voice dipped in an intrigued low purr. “You want me to chase you around?”

“Satoru!” You had hissed in embarrassment and even swatted at him.

Gojo leaned down closer making sure nobody heard him as he whispered to you.

“It’s okay, angel. I kinda wanna chase you around too.”

The true serious conversation that occurred at home after that shopping trip led to this exact moment and you still can’t believe it.

Earlier in the week Satoru had coyly suggested wearing the ghost face costume instead of his vampire one. You had playfully shrugged and didn’t think he was serious.

But of course, you shouldn’t be surprised at anything your boyfriend does any more.

“I still can’t believe you managed to change at the party without me even knowing.” You comment.

“Oh that was easy! I just used Shoko’s private bathroom. I even told her to play along if you came looking for me. She also called us sexy freaks.” Gojo happily chirps, a bit proud, and your face heats up so fast you want to claw it off.

You could never look at Shoko again for the rest of your life, but you would manage.

Satoru shifts now to slide you better into his arms as he maneuvers to rest on the floor beside you.

You and him clutch each other warm and tight.

“As fun and hot as this was…I don’t like seeing you look genuinely scared.” He mutters softly against your forehead.

“You had been doing so good and looked so brave. I felt proud. But when I got you in here, you really did look so spooked.” Gojo continues. His voice trails into a soft tone you’ve learned is reserved only for you.

You had been scared, got caught up in the atmosphere.

“You just did your job a little too well.” You joke with a dry chuckle.

“Obviously.” Gojo scoffs. “Did you expect anything less?”

He really is a terror in his own way and you playfully pinch his side.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get too scary. If you did, I would've had to call my strong sorcerer boyfriend to beat you up.” You tease.

“Oh? Your strong sorcerer boyfriend? Are you sure he isn’t the strongest?” Gojo muses bright.

“Not really.” You grin.

He scoffs.

“You might as well have just taken the knife and stabbed me with it because your words have injured me!”

“Heal yourself then mister strongest sorcerer .” You deadpan.

Playfully Gojo lightly bites your cheek.

“But are you okay… Really?” His tone holds a tenderness and undertone of worry.

“I am, I promise.” You squeeze him firm and tight, even begin rubbing your hand against his shoulder.

“Are you feeling okay?” You ask firmer now.

Gojo nods, snuggling his face closer to you.

There on the floor, you and Satoru decompress. You find it comforting. After such a high adrenaline play, simply resting with him on the floor feels as if you are easing back into your skin. It’s the solidity of reality settling.

“Wait, how did you manage to change your voice?” You perk up curious.

Satoru happily whips out a simple handheld voice changer.

“I wanted to go all out.” He proudly explains with a beaming grin.

“Please tell me you didn’t use a real knife, did you?”

“Of course not!” Gojo shrieks insulted. “I bought a real fancy prop one online when I ordered my fangs!”

For some reason the thought of him spending money on an expensive movie like type prop makes you almost squawk in horror.

Satoru even playfully stabs your side with the fake knife. The poke comes hard but does nothing and you swat at him annoyed now. He snickers gleefully, a devilish gremlin.

His large calloused hand slides up your face. It kicks you out of your thoughts and your attention flickers back to Satoru.

Your boyfriend stares down at you with an interesting gleam in his eyes. His oceanic eyes are like that of a hunter gazing at its prey with a collected composure trying not to jump and consume.

On top of his cloud hair the ghost face mask still sits.

Satoru Gojo leans above you a beautiful terror of a sight. The gleam from the closet’s light illuminates a faint halo-like glow around him. It also electrifies his bright blue eyes. The black kohl liner now even makes them stand out even more.

The dormant arousal that had simmered earlier now reawakens raw in your body as warmth trickles across your skin. Your eyes even haze over as they stare at his soft lips.

Before you can even say anything, Satoru sweeps down fast and low. A creature striking fast, he captures your lips with his.

His tongue without hesitation licks into your mouth with a devastating dizziness. You clutch onto him tight and desperate. He’s kissing you like you will fade away at any moment, or like he’s enjoying his reward.

His lips chase after yours so messily, sloppily and without any finesse. Teeth click and even spit seems to slip more and more around your mouth.

Suddenly he starts licking at the spit that’s coated your lips and corner of your cheek. He seems possessed as he simply licks at you without any care. Gojo slides his tongue down to your jaw and tastes the salt of your skin.

He nips and bites softly at every inch of you he can reach. You’re reminded of a beast trying to consume with a feral want. A prickling heat now scourches across your body.

Caught up in that same frenzy Satoru kisses down your body over your clothes until he reaches your shorts.

Wearily you open your eyes to glance down at him.

Between your legs is a sight that melts your brain. With his holy angelic eyes, electrified and blown out, along with the terrifying ghost face mask on his cloud head, Satoru is a blissful frightening sight.

He breathes out your name, a ghostly whisper.

Cerulean eyes are now bottomless oceans as he kisses your core over your shorts repeatedly. You whine breathless and desperate, wanting him closer. Glancing down, you see Satoru once more stares up at you with a devouring hunger that has your eyes closing overwhelmed.

He fucks you there in the closet. The taste of it is wild, a frantic claim.

You and him end up entangled with each other, sticky and exhausted still on the floor. The clothes hanging above create a soft canopy.

Satoru’s fingers run up your arm tender while you rest in his arms.

“Who knew the ghost face mask was gonna do that for us huh? Guess Shoko was right. This really means we’re really a pair of certified hot freaks now.”

You screech a horrified sound and want to pummel your annoying boyfriend.

“What!? This is hot as hell baby!” Gojo argues back proudly, almost smug, and it only makes you angrily wiggle away from him.

Of course he keeps you firmly captured in his strong hold and doesn’t budge an inch.

“What if we try this again but with another mask?” Satoru asks dreamily.

“You’re already a clown, you don’t need another mask.” You reply.

“BABY!?” He sobs out absolutely horrified and dramatically hurt. You laugh and curl tight against this stronghold of a man.

“You wound me! I absolutely for sure have internal bleeding right now!” He continues sobbing while he burrows his face against the top of your head.

Being on the floor for so long starts aching so you slowly sit up. Gentle warm hands begin rubbing your back while you stretch. Glancing around at all the discarded clothing littering the floor, you spot the ghost face mask. In the heat of the moment your fingers had carded through Satoru’s soft hair and the mask slipped off.

It so innocently yet hauntingly stares out with those vacant hollow void eyes. A strange urge crawls up your neck and sinks its fangs into you. Grabbing it you turn back to Satoru who stares up at you with a dreamy softness.

“Oh?” He catches the sight of the mask and sits up. His curiosity sparks awake playful and fast. “What do you have in mind?”

You softly shush him and gently slide the mask over him.

With it completely covering his face, knowing fully it’s him and not having to pretend, does break the illusion.

However, it cracks open something new that is dangerously raw and hungry.

Your thumb strokes the side of his face where the soft latex of the mask covers his cheek.

Leaning forward you kiss him over the mask. You taste the annoying synthetic fabric of the mask. Yet a wild heat comes when you feel his lips through the fabric. Satoru’s hands slowly run up to your shoulders to hold you as you kiss him through the fabric.

It ignites a delirious frustration that feels so good. His mouth desperately tries to feel you against the fabric that quickly starts to get wet.

Another raw idea flashes in your mind. Softly you pull away from his lips. You think of Gojo and how his tongue claimed you in a flurry.

So with a soft tentative kitten like attempt, you lick at his lips through the mask.

Something wild unleashes itself in Satoru. He rapidly sweeps you into his arms with his godly strength and simply lifts you up from the floor. His lips moan against yours.

“Keeping this on.” Gojo slurs as he rapidly moves you and him towards the bed.

You shake your head rapidly agreeing. The plush bed hits your back.

Above you, once again the ink stain presence of ghost face stares down at you. Your fingers do ache to run into his hair, across his delicious undercut. But those simple aches are crushed against the clear sight of your Satoru as ghost face. You vividly see Satoru’s broad shoulders, feel the touch of his bare hands caressing your thighs so intently.

“I caught you fair and square, my sweet little treat.” Now it’s his voice, unmodulated and clear as crystal, cooing triumphant underneath the mask.

“Now… I think I wanna unwrap you again.” Gojo whispers and it slices under your skin deliciously.

Beautiful debauched arousal rapidly consumes you as you claw at him wanting him closer.

“You like knowing it’s me under here, baby?” Satoru continues. His fingers begin kneading into your soft thighs, anchoring himself to your body.

His long fingers softly swipe into the slick arousal pooling between your legs and a whimper flutters out of you.

“Me too.” Gojo whispers, almost admitting with a quiet glee.

“I like knowing I'm under here getting to chase you, knowing I’ll always catch you and have you all to myself.”

Pulling his fingers out, they shine coated in your wetness. He slips them under the mask. Suddenly the sound of him sucking fills the room and your mind melts even more.

Satoru groans, drunk on pleasure. Even with the mask hiding his face it somehow heightens the moment and you claw at his arm firmer.

Taking the hint, Gojo slides fully between your legs to draw closer to you. He now takes the fingers in his mouth to slide them into yours.

Your eyes close and roll back. You suck on his wet fingers covered in his spit and the faint linger of your arousal. He begins grinding against you and you moan needed more of him all over again.

It's delicious and dark, this beautiful cobweb of desire you and Satoru are caught in.

“That’s it, angel. Let’s keep enjoying our fun little fright night, yeah?” Your ghost face lover purrs and as you sink into lust’s heavenly darkness, you find you couldn’t agree more.

[crimson--freak]

hiiiii :3

i read tags on that post you reblogged for me and i agree that its most likely that kayne is nyarlathotep since it'd pretty much align with cthulhu mythos - it often takes human form to walk the earth and it's character is pretty similar to kayne's. It also acts with seemingly no particular goal again just like kayne! and i can't really think of any other gods in cthulhu mythos that would fit him so well

also I'd love to hear more about that theory of yours ^_^!!!!!!

Aw thanks for asking about this! :D

{Putting this under a cut because this is a lot of information. It’s pretty condensed but still quite long}

Please take in mind that this theory only just popped into my head when I read the post, so this has more holes in it than Emmental cheese.

I was thinking on the fact that Harlan’s post mentioned explicitly that Kayne’s identity will be addressed in season 4, and I was wondering what other things have been added to the podcast this season. Most notably are the characters (Oscar, the Butcher, Daniel, etc. - Noel is a Very Close Contender for being Kayne for me), but we’ve also had some other things at least slightly confirmed. Probably one of the most important things that have been confirmed it the time dilation.

I seem to remember that there were quite a lot of theories around time loops and similar phenomena (I think a few were on @ty-betteridge’s blog but I can’t find the posts for some reason). With Scratch’s apparent ability to live longer in dreams than in the real world, eldritch time dilation is basically canon, as far as we know. This could further open the door to other time-related shenanigans, including time loops, to be canon as well.

It’s also been mentioned in the time loop posts that John could in fact be a future Arthur (I may have got this wrong because it’s been a long time since I caught up on the theories). I personally don’t see that (I don’t know how that would fit in with the KIY stuff) but I do really think there’s going to be some stuff involving timeloops and Arthur and John.

Anyway, enough of that ramble! Let’s get back to the important part: who is Kayne?

I 100% believe Kayne is Nyarlathotep - or at least one version of him. Maybe not the one directly from the Lovecraft source material, but definitely an entity that shares the same role as him in the story. Especially with the common description of Nyarlathotep as “joyous”, and we can defintely say that Kayne is enjoying himself with Arthur’s story.

I say that Kayne may not be entirely based on Lovecraft’s Nyarlathotep, because that entity is described as an Outer God, and this theory hinges on the fact that Kayne’s origin is something much closer to home.

So what are some things that we know for sure about Kayne / Nyarlathotep?

From Lovecraft’s source material: his description tends to be of a “tall, swarthy man” but it’s often noted that he can shapeshift.

From the podcast: he has no canon appearance apart from wearing a black suit (and other details), as described by John in part 20. He is also noted to be playing piano in his first appearance.

He also has an Extreme interest in Arthur’s life, as far as to having “watched [Arthur’s] life unfold”. He wants to find out what’s “different” about Arthur compared to other people.

So here’s my theory:

Kayne is Arthur (+ John) from the future.

If you’re thinking that’s a slightly far fetched, I agree! There are several problems with this theory that I need to iron out. I’m replying to this ask because I hope other people can add to this theory, correct me on things that I got wrong, share some more stuff about Nyarlathotep, etc.

One question with this theory is that surely John would recognise Kayne if he looked like Arthur? Well, that’s already got an answer - Kayne can shapeshift, so probably changed his appearance to throw John off his scent. That might also explain the difference in accent between Arthur and Kayne: Future Arthur!Kayne is trying to be incognito, he doesn’t want Arthur and John to find out who he is.

Another question is why is Arthur!Kayne doing this? The motive I think Arthur!Kayne has is pretty evident: he wants to find out what makes him different, what allowed him to become Kayne. We’ve already been told that Arthur is different to most people in that he can hold a piece of the King in Yellow in his mind without succumbing to their will (compared to Marie’s sister, who was taken over completely by Mr Scratch, and the people who did not survive John’s book). Perhaps this difference allowed Arthur to become Kayne (remember that Kayne discusses hearing voices too, perhaps in a similar manner to John + Yellow in Arthur’s mind). Maybe what sets Arthur on the path to becoming Kayne is… accumulating other parts of Gods? Mr Scratch maybe - Arthur might be strong enough to keep charge of his body and Scratch just lives in his mind like Yellow did (if his plans with the stone go badly).

[lizardsarecute]

made a new tag for my blog, blendering, as a reference point for myself when I tackle rigging other characters in the cast. Different models have different rigging needs, but they all share a few characteristics. I don't plan on sharing my finished rigs, but I will share my notes along the way, for me and for anyone else who may find it useful.

honestly it's been fun learning. a game that gets me hyperfixated enough to learn a whole new skill is ✨✨✨ pretty damn nice ✨✨✨ if i do say so myself

For my old attempt, I ran into a problem where the eyes would go outside of the socket whenever I move it too far left or right.

This is because Korsica (and the other characters) don't actually have eyeballs. They're just flat planes.

Later, I finally found out why they have a bone called EYEBASE there. I figured that I needed to add a mechanism that would have the eye plane rotate around that base.

So I made a bone with a Damped Track (to follow the Eyebase) and Limit Distance constraint (so eye plane doesn't pop out the socket)-- that seems to behave as intended. No more eyes popping out of the socket.

Might have to adjust those constraints, because when viewed from an angle, the eye just kinda veer to the side pretty steeply and the eye doesnt reach the edge of the socket (just thinking out loud but maybe a driver for the limit distance influence would be ideal?)

but that's just the parmesan cheese sprinkle. When I start learning to animate I can adjust the settings accordingly.

my layout for the mechanisms so far. I've learned that it's good to try keep different mechanisms and their behaviors in different bones, so there's less fuckery.

I also made an EYE_TARGET bone so the head can look at something in space. With a driver from the custom properties, which allows me to turn this behavior on or off really easily through the properties bone.

I feel like I could probably clean up the eye target mch a bit more, but for now, it works as intended so far.

The original imported armature from the game had only the relevant moving bones to save memory (I think the animation gets baked and the mechanism bones are gone, which is what we are trying to recreate/add to). So the original bone count is about 400.

I've added about 800 more just for the mechanisms, fk ik layers, visualizations. And I haven't even finished the hair, jacket and weapons yet lol.

ty for reading my ramblings, i ppreciate it

[scattered-irises]

Part V: Helix of Memories

Another prequel to the Dysonia AU.

More references to the Illusory Paradise...annnnnndd it's all Vocaloid characters. Whoops. Ah, well, you get a small paragraph on Christopher.

Rating: General

Word Count: 1914

Characters: Luka, Miku, Rin

Relationships: Background Luka/Gackpo

Warnings: Talks about human cloning

“Clones…? Count me out of it,” scoffs Rin. 

Luka looks at her sister in surprise. 

“I thought you, out of everyone else, would have been most excited about this proposal,” she remarks. 

Rin puts her hands on her hips. 

“On the contrary, if you actually thought about it,” she mutters. 

She gives Luka a sharp glare. 

“Human cloning is one of the things I would never support as a geneticist.”

“Why?” asks Miku, popping up from their sofa. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to remember someone like that?”

Rin purses her lips and shakes her head. 

“There’s too many environmental factors to ensure a perfect clone. Plus, they won’t even have the original’s memories, so there’s no point,” she adds. 

“What if that was the only way for you to see them again?” ventures Luka. 

Her younger sister stares at the floor while Miku makes a humming sound. Rin’s eyebrows slowly furrow, a frown appearing on her lips. 

“Don’t tell me you’re seriously considering that man’s proposal,” begins Rin. 

A long silence fills the room. Luka feels Miku’s judgemental gaze on her, hot as coals. Many years ago, Rin had worked under Dr. Realist’s supervision alongside Luka. After a long argument on the ethics of experimenting on extracted human brains, Rin had left the lab in a furious storm. Even now, her name tag continues to stare at her from the breakroom’s fridge. 

“It’s impossible!” continues Rin. She takes off her red-rimmed glasses and looks directly at Luka. “They’ll send you off to who-knows-where! Your mind wouldn’t be able to last…!” 

“I agree,” adds Miku. “Being in space for that long…It would be far too isolating.” 

Luka wets her lips and looks at her sisters. Rin had just returned home from work, evidenced by her irritability. Her lab coat hangs from one arm, the bow on her head crooked. Miku meanwhile, seemed to reflect Rin’s inner worries. 

“I…it’s still a few years off,” begins Luka. “That’s why I wanted to ask now, if you were willing to donate some of your DNA samples…”

Making a sound of disgust, Rin turns away from Luka and begins to walk upstairs. 

“Count me out of it,” she snarls. “I’ll have nothing to do with that man.”

In the silence that follows, Luka slowly turns to Miku, who holds her with a stony gaze. 

“You won’t be able to change her mind, you know,” says Miku. 

Luka lets out a sigh and nods. 

“I know.” 

Turning back to her computer, Miku continues typing up song lyrics. For a moment, Luka listens to the pitter pattering of her sister’s keyboard. Out of all of them, only Miku had pursued the arts. It never ceased to amaze Luka how easily lyrics flowed from Miku’s mind. And her voice…! Bright, warm and sweet, just like an angel’s. Their entire family was all good at singing, but Miku had long proven that she was the best. 

It seemed like everyone in her family had their own talents and their own destinies. Their oldest sister Meiko was a skilled manager, boosting Miku’s popularity to the top. Their older brother Kaito was a savvy businessman. Rin was one of the best geneticists in the city. Her twin, Len, was a renowned journalist. And Luka…her destiny was to the stars, far far away from everyone she knew and loved. 

Why did it have to be her?

“That Dr. Realist…How much do you trust him?” Miku asks suddenly. 

Taken aback, Luka runs her eyes across her sister’s screen. 

I gaze up at the stars in the transparent sky

I'm unable to fly, all I can do is cry

I've been wounded up alone, and whenever I feel lonely

"You came here to help me..."

The lyrics are oddly chilling, causing Luka to take a step back. 

Dr. Realist…She had been with him from the very beginning. They had their disagreements, but where it truly mattered, they were in lockstep. His dream was also her dream. In spite of his mercurial nature and carelessly dispensed insults about the human race, they shared a deep desire to save mankind. 

“I trust him with my entire being,” says Luka. “I know he doesn’t seem so, but he’s a true genius. He’ll be the one to save us all.”

Miku makes another humming sound. A pang twists Luka’s heart. On the distant STELLA colony, would there be anyone who would hum the same way Miku did? Surrounded by nothing but stars and the blackness of space, would there be anything remotely familiar? 

“I’m willing to give you the needed samples, but you must promise me something,” proposes Miku. 

“Yes?” 

Miku turns back, green eyes sparkling with amusement. 

“My clones are only allowed off of earth, alright? I don’t want to have to deal with an imposter!” she teases. 

Luka gives her sister an easy grin. 

“Of course. I’ll keep all your samples close to me at all times.”

Miku beams. 

“Good! Gumi’s songs about running into her clones always made me uneasy…”

Luka laughs at the mention of their neighbor. 

“I’ll be sure to ask her if she wants to donate,” she says. 

“You probably won’t have to ask…she’d volunteer!”

The sisters share an easy laugh. Their neighbor was always trying new things, it seemed. One time it was skydiving. Next, it was starting a podcast on kappa hunting. Yes, Luka definitely had to ask if Gumi wanted her clones on STELLA. She would add much-needed joy to the loneliness of space. 

Miku leans her head on the back of the sofa and looks back at Luka. A hint of sadness fills her expression. 

“In all seriousness…please treat my clones well…As you’ve done for me, I want you to watch over them and prevent them from falling into despair. Easy enough, right? ”

A nervous laugh crawls up Luka’s throat. She holds Miku’s gaze.

“That was a given,” says Luka. 

Happiness was so difficult to maintain and keep. 

Miku grins. 

“Does Gackpo know?”

Luka pauses. Her stomach does a small flip upon thinking about her fiancé. She looks down at her garnet ring. He had been so patient, waiting all of those years for her. Would he be able to bear the news that they would never marry, her body shipped off into the depths of space for eternity? 

“...Not yet,” admits Luka. 

Miku quirks an eyebrow. 

“You don’t want a clone of him on your colony?”

Luka looks out the window. A light drizzle has begun, dotting the window with small teardrops. 

“I don’t think so,” says Luka after a few moments. 

“Oh?” 

She thinks of Gackpo’s deep blue eyes and gentle smile. She thinks of running her hands down his chiseled jaw. His soft, purple hair and supple skin. His soothing, deep voice. Her lips tremble. She would have to leave him behind, along with all of her wishes and dreams on earth. 

A happy marriage. A normal family. A normal life. 

Having a clone of him would be a constant reminder of all she had lost. 

“He wouldn’t like the idea,” Luka replies quietly. 

“I see…”

To have a Gackpo that didn’t remember her, who couldn’t touch her, who couldn’t love her, would be merely a cheap copy. 

“What about your coworkers? Like that Christopher?” asks Miku. 

The thought of her coworker makes Luka pause. Whenever she looked at him, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity. He always seemed so sad, his bangs framing his long face with its sunken eyes. Would giving his clone another life on her colony result in a happier Christopher? She doesn’t know what to think of the idea. What would he be if he hadn’t been a scientist? On the colony, would he gaze out at the stars, searching for the dilapidated earth? Would he sing beneath the stars, glad to be rid of the bright moon? 

A small smile fills Luka’s lips when she thinks of Christopher singing. 

“I’ll think about it,” she replies. 

Miku types up a few more lyrics, humming beneath her breath. Luka watches as she writes, the melody filling her with sadness. 

The wish constituting such a desire

was absorbed into the deep, deep, darkness

The words I muttered helplessly

resound aimlessly in this room

It seems like the only one left behind in this world is me

“What’s this song about?” asks Luka. 

Miku doesn’t turn back to look at her, intensely gazing at her screen. 

“The loneliness of a wish granter,” she replies. 

“Interesting…”

“Actually, I think you’d be perfect for the song,” she adds. 

“Me?!”

“Mmhm!” 

Miku turns back, beaming. 

“I’m thinking of naming it The Lone Cell of the Stella Theatre,” she declares. 

“Well…!” 

“Being surrounded by clones of all your loved ones…won’t you be sad that they won’t remember you?” asks Miku.

The faces of Luka’s siblings fill her mind. The countless memories they made of singing and laughing together would have to be enough to carry her into eternity. The things their clones would do without her would be a gentle reminder of those moments. As the STELLA colony’s mind, she would know them, yet they would only see her as a distant god. 

Luka’s throat is dry. As STELLA, she would become an onlooker, forever shut out of the human world. She needed something to remind her that she was once human. 

Luka forces a smile and tilts her head. 

“Only a little bit. It’s enough for me to see all of you smiling,” she replies. 

“You’ll be a benevolent ruler then,” says Miku with a small smile. “How many times do you think you’ll clone me?”

Luka gives a small shrug. 

“Every hundred to two hundred years or so…just enough so that the people there won’t notice I’m cloning my lovely little sister.”

Miku giggles. 

“Maybe in one of my clones’ lives, they’ll be an idol-nun,” she jokes.  

“An idol-nun?!” echoes Luka incredulously.

Her sister shrugs, rolling her shoulders and then humming. 

“That was the first thing that came to mind. She could be a nun by day, idol by night.”

“Life on the colonies isn’t going to be like a manga!” protests Luka. 

“Are you sure? It sounds a lot like one from all you’ve told me,” says Miku, unwrapping a candy bar. 

She breaks it in half and offers it to Luka. Taking the candy, Luka takes a nibble and sighs. To many, Dr. Realist’s proposal sounded like a sci-fi novel or a pipe dream. Only a few were truly willing to believe him. The idea of sending a lone human to control and become a space colony seemed absurd, after all. 

“Laugh at me all you like, but it’ll come true someday,” says Luka resolutely. 

A hint of melancholy fills Miku’s face. She contemplates her candy bar and then bites into it. She chews methodically, with Luka silently counting how many times her sister chews before swallowing. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Swallow. 

Miku looks out the window, where the rain continues to fall. Meiko’s geraniums were starting to bend beneath the intensifying rain. Luka makes a mental note to heat up her sister’s favorite sake before she comes home. Miku was probably thinking the same thing. 

“I know,” sighs Miku after a moment of pondering the rain. “I’ll miss you when you’re gone.”

Placing a hand on Miku’s shoulder, Luka offers her sister a small smile. 

“We still have a few years left. Let’s enjoy them while we can.” 

[tortoisesshells]

For the Writer's Would You Ever: is there an AU for Customs & Duties (or another work!) that you'd like to write but haven't gotten the chance to yet?

Writer's Would You Ever?

Yes, absolutely! There's a completely ludicrous F.allout 4 AU that I maintain makes a lot of sense: it's still Boston, there's still skullduggery, they're still accidentally-on-purpose ruining each other's lives. There's just ... vastly more lasers and radiation damage and mid-century pop than there is in the original version.

Under the cut, because. well. I want to maintain a modicum of decorum on this blog.

(The cliff notes version of FO4 is. uh. Well. Imagine a world where post WWII western powers went all in on nuclear power, and then that October 23rd 2077 the world ended when the US and China blasted each other and everyone else off the face of the earth in a single day of nuclear war. With me? okay. Boston, 2287: ambient radiation is down, the Minutemen are trying to come back from the brink of organizational extinction after the Quincy Massacre, a mysterious organization called the Institute is kidnapping Commonwealth residents and replacing them with synths (functionally, lab-grown humans, many of whom don't actually know they're synths) to an unknown purpose, a similarly secretive organization called the Railroad is breaking synths out of their captivity within the Institute, and the B.rotherhood of Steel (a quasi-hereditary (except when not) military organization descended from a rogue Army unit (it's a long story) that believes that all advanced technology is too dangerous for civilians to control and that they must, therefore, take control of it for the common good) has rocked up to Boston in a giant metal zeppelin named for Arthurian legend. I mention this because B.oS ranks, too, take their cues from Arthurian lore and chivalric orders. They tend to think that anyone or anything that's not human-born human is inherently dangerous and tend to shoot first and ask questions later.)

Nellie's still a widow, still has two kids and a total unwillingness to look her bereavement in the eye and make peace with it ... she just also has a two-headed cow named Aunt Abigail, a mostly-two-hundred year old fishing boat that's held together with duct tape and goodwill towards man, a mutually beneficial scavenging-for-repairs relationship with the robot crew of USS Constitution, and a new-to-her solar panel array which is promptly stolen requisitioned by the new-in-town B.oS. So begins her mutually antagonistic relationship with the asshole tin-can Paladin Norrington, which is not improved by the B.oS's (non-canonical) attempts to confiscate the moonshot rockets from the Constitution's crew, and the deteriorating relationship between the Brotherhood and the Commonwealth on the whole.

I have written a snippet here and there, but here's the longest, mostly coherent bit:

The next time  Paladin Norrington saw Elinor Treat was at Fort Independence, sitting against the massive stone walls with a minuteman's laser across her knees and her usual cap drawn down over her eyes. Training day, the General (another short, tired woman) had said, and the exhausted residents strewn about the courtyard certainly seemed to back that up. "Elinor," he said, a little uncertainly, and when she did not reply, he called her name again. "Oh, it's you," she said, cracking an eye. "I didn't recognize your voice without your helmet. Come to pay me, have you?" "No," he said, startled. "Disappointing." She closed her eyes again, looking like she'd fall asleep in a moment. Feeling like an idiot, he said he wasn't expecting to see her here, so he had nothing to pay her with. Elinor snorted, accidentally whacking herself in the face with the barrel of her gun, before coming sighing and grumbling to her feet. It wasn't an impressive sight, but she managed to convey a kind of understated menace, even when she had to crane her neck a bit to glare.

I will furthermore add my tags from one of those "the last character you wrote for in the last video game you played: how are they doing?" - D.anse is the in-game B.oS companion and, slight spoilers, his dogmatic adherence to protocol does not save him:

#i DO think you could swap jimothy for danse. i do think the arcs of ' man defined by his rank and military prowess gets fucking bodied; #by realizing the organization he serves objectively sucks and is going to be the actual death of him and furthermore; #is willing to let that organization do it because of Reasons. ' are actually pretty similar. #that said. the more important thing is jimothy encountering Rocket Powered USS Constitution and the Nautical Robots; #I think he would enjoy himself immensely. or die of apoplexy. either way. #customs and duties aus

[hdsouta]

↺ ... INTRODUCING : TRAINEE 093 ; ITO SOUTA .

𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄 ▸ BORN ON MAY 11, 2003 IN NAGASAKI, JAPAN. SIGNED EXTENDED TRAINEE CONTRACT UNDER 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 ON AUGUST 2020. NOTABLE SKILLSET(S) INCLUDE DANCE / VISUAL.

penned by bon for hydra labels.

CHECK OUT HIS STATS, PLAYLIST, AND PINTEREST.

hi everyone! i go by bon! i'm 25, in the est, he/she/they, and a full time student with a full time job. still, i'm sure i can be around a lot if not enough ok... also feel free to follow me on pinterest and i will follow back haha also ignore how ugly and messy my whole account is because i have too many FUUUUcking muses. thanks! i will also eventually have a playlist on spotify so tune in for that ok.

anywho, i'm here to introduce my new bean, ito souta, who i made specifically for this rp on a whim because i really wanted to join it... i've been eyeing it for a few days, so i'm so glad i got in today! well, i'll go ahead and write some stuff about him below:

basic stats.

full name: ito souta.

nicknames: soda.

age: nineteen.

birthday: may 11th, 2000.

gender: male, he/him.

quick personality tl;dr. (very original, i know.)

positive traits: supportive, cheesy, loyal.

negative traits: ruthless, vulgar, pressuring.

likes: dancing, music in general (specifically pop punk and hip hop stuff), sports (specifically basketball), pvp video games, uhm idk yall this is hard CRIES

in general, i like to think that souta is very egotistical yet somehow also very charismatic and outgoing. he probably gets annoying when he gets too far up his own ass, but it's how he deals with the hard work he puts in to be an idol without results (or so he thinks). he finds himself losing a bit of hope every new day because he's been doing this shit for so long... and with an injury he got when he had just started training, which almost impacted his future career.

in some of his very first few weeks of being accepted into the company, he fell on his shoulder doing rec activities during some down time (or however it works lmao), which gave him an injury he had to basically force himself to work through. due to this, it's definitely not healed right, but it's good enough in order to keep him thriving in the company and working towards his debut. still, it hurts on and off, and he tries his own physical therapy for it, but you know, it be hard sometimes ya feel.

uhmmm... i think otherwise he's a hotshot. i like to think he's the one that's always searched up on pinterest or when people scroll the profiles of groups, they always stop to double take him. that's part of his ego ish, because he knows he's hot shit and people turn heads at his appearance. it sometimes gets in the way of his logical thinking, but you know, he's a kid... so what do you expect?

on another note that i wanted to mention... he used to want to be a basketball player, and if he didn't go into the idol industry, he would have 100%

i'm kind of just spewing stuff and i think i will either edit this or make a new like info post whenever i get some real solid shit for him!!!

otherwise, i will say a little bit about me. i am 25, in the est tmz, prefer he or they pronouns, and you can call me bon or bonbon. the loml is ateez, and i would d*e for them in a heartbeat. i also love block b, omega x, and a few other groups. i'm always open to talking about things even if they aren't rp related! if you'd like to add me on discord, just lmk <3 i can give you my tag!

i'm going to get some FOOD now because i'm hungry and then i will reply to people as well as fish around a bit more. i can't wait to write with everyone and please excuse me if i seem a little off or don't understand jlskdf it's been a hot minute since i've been on tumblr to rp as well as been in an idol group (it's been YEARS since this one).

[metaldragoon]

Well, I was tagged by @lordsky4ever​ to shuffle and list the first 10 songs on my playlist and post them, and I don’t want to let my countryman down.  I spent like an hour listening and writing about every song AND NOW it appears I cannot add music to a post on Desktop, so I made a separate post with those songs on my phone and then thought I’d edit in what I wrote after, but I also cannot do that on desktop.  A miserable disconnect.  Anyways, BELOW THE CCUT! you can read what I wrote about my post you just scrolled past if you want.  Thankfully the add music feature puts the songs in backwards order so everything I wrote is in opposite order so it’ll either start or end really inconveniently depending on how you read/listen, if anyone does such a thing, which I don’t expect anyone to because 10 songs is a lot and I would never do that as I find Tumblr’s music player/Spotify extension to be both inconvenient. But, perhaps you at least know one or two songs already and can read my small thoughts on that, even though half of the songs I don’t really have anything to say about it.

1. Counting Stars by Sugarcult - One of the most depressing songs of my life! I don’t recall the specifics of what I did when I first listened to it but I know who I have a lot of associated thoughts with regarding this song.  It’s a go-to whenever I’m sad and want to just continue to being sad.  I know I originally liked some other song by them called “Bouncing Off The Walls” which is probably what lead me to listening to more by them, but BOTW (I don’t think that acronym is used for anything else) is a much more upbeat song as the band is in general, and I don’t think I really vibe with much of their other songs. 2. Psychotubes by Moon Hooch - I know nothing about this band, this is just some Spotify suggested song that I really liked.  They’re described as “jazz fusion/nu jazz” but I have no idea what either of those genres mean.  They be drumming and saxophoning and it’s a good song to run to (this entire playlist was my go-to running playlist when I used to have CELLULAR DATA) 3. Low by Cracker - Kind of a grungy country rock song, reading their Wiki which is what I think I will do with every band while I listen through all these songs and speak my thoughts, it appears to be their most popular song. I do find myself particularly disliking the band name Cracker, seems like I am on to some confederate jams or something.  Spotify has already subjected me to two ad segments over 3 songs. 4. Wait and Bleed by Slipknot - I didn’t really listen to Slipknot until after high school although I would say I am a pretty big fan now, but this is the one song I consistently listened to before the rest of Slipknot presented themselves to me.  I remember in Gr. 9/10 there was a hot emo girl named Michelle that I had a crush on and always thought about when I listened to this song because the lyrics go inside “my shell” I wait and bleed but I thought it was “Michelle.” In the end I don’t believe I ever spoke to her in my life because I am a social recluse 5. Ghosts by the Presets - Another band I don’t know anything about, or at least the name “Presets” but they have a very generic pop sound that I was a little embarrassed about because I thought it might be like Coldplay or something.  Apparently they are Australian and very popular.   6. Kill Your Darlings by Mesh - I don’t know Mesh either, but I do find this song really good.   I’m confused because they have 7 albums on Wiki but they’re all red links and despite being British are just popular in Germany.  Maybe I need to get on the .de to figure out more. 7.  Shutterbug by Big Boi - Apparently this song came out in 2010 which feels weird I thought it was way older.  Anyways, I love it, one of my favourite beats and a lot of times it was the first song I sought out whence beginning my trots. 8. We Will Rock You by Queen - I remember as a kid I was convinced this song was in Final Fantasy IX but later learned that was just Kuja’s boss theme which isn’t terribly similar.  I think it’s a pretty funny song but I won’t lie it still pumps me up. 9. Never Come Down by Cunninlynguists -  I think it was two years ago I finally listened to Cunninlynguists, who I’d heard of a while ago ‘cuz their name stands out but is also kind of dumb so I never bothered, but I was really hooked once I did hear.  This isn’t my favourite song and my one hater friend criticised me for listening to them ‘cuz they do dumb lyrics I guess but I’m a big fan.  I played a lot of TRACKMANIA while listening to them.   10. peacefall by Purity Ring - Mmm I was sad one day and it was pouring out in the middle of the nights so I took a very long walk and I posted a video of the rain on here and I was listening to this song looping when I did that.  I only know like 3 songs by Purity Ring and they seem amazing but I’m bad about actually remembering to listen to bands.  I’ve been thinking a lot about songs to use for an AMV for Berserk if I ever did one and this song has been a heavy contender.

[scrapsovereign]

That One Time I Got Kidnapped By An Evil Vampire Lord Ch. 5

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57838303/chapters/148038817#workskin

Summary:

Rob pops by and has a heart to heart with Mackenzie as he's leaving. Rion connects with friend back home, speeding up his exit plans.

Pairings: past Ascended Astarion x Evil male!Tav, Ascended Astarion x Original Female Character

Trigger warnings/Tags: cheating, mention of abusive relationships, mention of intimate partner violence

Downtown Seattle, Washington  

The Fairmont Olympic Hotel 

Thursday, August 24th 

8:30 PM

“So,” Mackenzie’s darling friend ‘Nurse Rob’ challenges. Now that Astarion’s thinking about it, Rob looks a terrible lot like a lankier, younger version of Gale. He crosses his arms and narrows his eyes as he sits across from who he knows as ‘Rion’, rightfully suspicious of the stranger before him. 

“So,” Rion echoes back, responding boldly to the other man’s challenge with a single word. He crosses his ankle over his knee as he lounges comfortably on the microfiber sofa in wait for Mackenzie. He gives Rob a once-over with his crimson eyes, cataloging the differences between this young human and the wizard whom he knows so well.  

Rob clears his throat, shifting uncomfortably under Rion’s critical gaze. He adjusts his royal blue scrub trousers and takes a sip of the cocktail that tastes like paint thinner mixed with a sweet yellow fruit juice (Soju with the juice of a fruit called Pineapple per Mackenzie), looking anywhere other than directly in front of him. Is that a blush he detects coloring Rob’s cheeks? And the sound of his pulse quickening?

The corner of Rion’s lips tug up in a smirk. He isn’t terribly surprised the young man finds him attractive…most young men do, after all.

“What do you do for work?” Rob leans over and tents his fingers in front of him, forcing himself to meet Rion’s gaze. 

“I’m a lawyer,” Rion smiles confidently, hoping that Rob will end his prodding there. 

“What flavor?” Rob asks, his steel-grey eyes searching Rion for any clue that would lead him to the discovery of his deception. “You know, like how there’s different flavors of nurses. Amanda’s this weird combination of nurse-leader-slash-clinic-nurse, and I’m in surgical services.”

“And what flavor would Mackenzie be?” Rion wonders aloud to redirect the conversation, holding back the ‘other than delicious’ he wants to add to the end of his question.

Rob falls for it. “Cheesy’s working as a MA right now, but she’s crazy smart. They were going to put her in the Neuro ICU for her capstone on the recommendation of one of the docs she met during her med-surg rotation. The whole floor is full of Trekkies and geriatric weebs, she’d have fit right in,” Rob says, a deep hurt washing over his face. “The Neuro team loved her. You should’ve seen her trying to convince one of the Fellows who only watches isekai anime to watch Haikyuu when they were both standing in line at the coffee cart downstairs. Hilarious.”

Rion doesn’t know what a ‘Trekkie’, ‘weeb’, or a ‘Haikyuu’ is, but he does know he’s very nearly reached his goal of distracting Rob. He’s opened his mouth to speak, ready to move them away from the subject when Rob interrupts him. 

“But, I digress. What flavor of lawyer are you? I don’t think I caught what exactly it is that you said you did,” Rob presses, flashing Rion a smile that appears to be more of a territorial display of his teeth. 

Hmm. Shit. 

Rion looks away and takes a sip of the unique cocktail in his hands, pretending to stare at something uninteresting while he surveys the hotel room for ideas. He spots a brochure advertising for utilizing the hotel facilities for corporate meetings and events - that seems legitimate enough. 

“Corporate law. You must forgive me if I’m not terribly forthcoming about my day to day, I’m under a NDA. Besides. There’s not much to tell, it’s all rather dull,” Rion lies, hoping that either Mackenzie returns soon or Rob backs off. 

Rob hums as he studies Rion, considering his words. He’s about ready to go for another round when Mackenzie emerges, an absolute vision in her impeccably sewn handmade sleeping garments. 

“Did you make those?” Rion asks hastily, his ruby eyes alight with keen interest. Mackenzie self-consciously tugs at the hem of the baggy top that hides the globes of her full breasts that Rion's hands ache to squeeze. 

“Is it that obvious?” She replies with a half-smile, shrinking into herself. 

Rion bites the tip of his tongue. He’s going to have to break her of that insecurity at some point. If he doesn’t, she’ll be positively eaten alive.

“On the contrary, darling. The craftsmanship of your garments displays they were made by a skilled hand,” He declares, reaching out to her. Deft and manicured fingers swipe across the hem to inspect it, tugging her closer to him so he can ‘have a better look’.  

Rob clears his throat. 

Oh, right. Rob’s still here. 

Mackenzie reaches across the coffee table to punch at Rob’s shoulder, almost losing her balance in the process. 

“Hey, thanks for grabbing the stuff outta my car. So uh…you gonna go home? Do a little warcraft of the worlds? Do your wizard chores?” Mackenzie teases Rob with her voice rising to a squeak, placing her hands on her luscious hips. 

Ah, so the young man is a wizard? 

“You wanna do a round before I go?” Rob looks up at Mackenzie eagerly, bouncing his knees in anticipation. 

Rion blinks in curiosity. A round? A round of what? He had thought Mackenzie to be fairly straight-laced, what manner of delicious debauchery does she have in store for them?

“Oh boy, DO I!?” Mackenzie replies enthusiastically, disappearing for a moment before returning with a purple sack. She pulls out two boxes of cards banded together with different colors of hair ties and sets them in piles. 

Rion observes her with ambivalence as she sorts through them, placing a handful of different colored, many-sided die in front of them. He smiles politely, motioning before him with his glass encircled in his hand. 

“A card game?” he prompts, his eyebrows raised. 

Instead of strip poker or anything that involves winning a large amount of gold, Mackenzie answers, “A stupider version of Magic the Gathering. I was thinking about calling it ‘Wizards of the Roast’ or ‘The Cards of Dankshire’, but the latter is too close to the game in Parks and Rec.”

Rion’s polite smile stays plastered on his face, unable to parse half of what she said. “And how does this game work?”

“Well. First thing’s first, you pick a character at random. That character has a special ability, like drawing extra cards or stealing life. At the beginning of the game, everyone draws seven cards from the pile of wizard spells. At the beginning of your turn, you draw a card and play a wizard spell,” She points over to the pile of dice in the middle. “Everyone starts with 20 life, but the last person left with life points wins.”

Rion surveys the pile of glittering geometric trinkets, plucking a glittering black and crimson one for himself inlaid with gold numbers. 

Rob and Mackenzie appear to be in some sort of standoff over an iridescent purple die until she looks to the side and yelps, “Ah! Spider!” Rob jumps, distracted successfully as Mackenzie cackles evilly, taking it for herself.

“Cheater,” Rob complains as he snatches up a green and silver die, divvying out the character cards. Rion picks it up to inspect his without viewing what’s underneath, turning it over in his hand. These are clever little things. They aren’t solid cardstock and clearly glued together in some places, but this is better forgery work than he’s seen in some of the gambling houses he’s frequented over the years.

Mackenzie deals out the wizard spells while Rob overturns his character card with a huff of laughter as it reveals “Gale of Waterdeep”, Rion echoing the sentiment. 

Rion overturns his own to reveal “Elminster Aumar, Chosen of Mystra”. He chuckles in second-hand embarrassment, shaking his head. He’d almost forgotten that this realm considers what he knows as fact to be fiction. 

“Oh? You know of the dragons and dungeons?” Rob motions with his deck at Rion.  Mackenzie ignores them as she reveals her hideous fish-headed wizard with a peal of her delightful laughter, sitting next to Rion with a comfortable distance between them. 

“You could say I’m familiar with Gale’s kindly old ‘grandfather’,” Rion winks, watching the flush from earlier re-appear on Rob’s cheeks. “We do have our love of ‘cheese’ in common,” he purrs, sliding uncomfortably close to Mackenzie, hooking his ankle underneath hers. 

“Ah…uhm…okay…so I’m gonna go first and then Rob so you know how to play,” she stammers, her pulse hammering at his proximity. “So I am Unga, ‘Disgraced Mage of the Wizard Council’. The first time I lose a life point, I can take the spell from the player who attacked me, turn it over, and make a clone that I can use for an extra attack each round-”

“But only once! Only once!” Rob points accusingly. “None of this ‘making another clone because of the unga virus’! Just because you made up the game doesn’t mean you can change the rules whenever you want!”

Rion is so, so very lost, but so very intrigued. He looks over at Mackenzie, giggling with malicious glee at Rob’s calling out. “You made this up? The cards too?” he raises his eyebrows at the question, watching her flush prettily for him again. 

“Yup, sure did. It started out as an inside joke between us and turned into a thing after a rainy afternoon at Amanda’s during a Lord of the Rings marathon gettin’ crazy with her Cricut,” She nudges him gently with her elbow, momentarily proud of herself before a wave of self-doubt crashes over her. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I just assumed…I’m sorry if I just dragged you into it-”

Rion places his hand on the soft skin of her bare knee to still her, gazing warmly into her eyes. “Nonsense, darling. I find this charming, and think you to be rather clever for it.”

It isn’t a lie. It’s heartening to see a sliver of her true personality through the pain she endures. Her creativity, mischievousness, and joy on display for him makes a warmth spread through him that feels like the first taste of sunshine he’d felt five very long years ago. 

“Oh…uhm…well in that case,” She looks up at him coquettishly, tucking a strand of her hair behind the flushed shell of her ears. “I cast testicular torsion! You lose one life.”

She cast…what? That’s certainly not a real spell. Rion sputters a laugh in disbelief as Mac turns the counter for his die to 19.

“My turn! My power of ‘Gale of Waterdeep’ is Detonate the Orb- which means that on my turn I can choose to explode, ending the game for everyone, declaring no one the winner. And I choose to caaaaast…chastity belt of carnage on you, Rion,” He snickers, slapping the cast spell face down onto the coffee table between them. 

Rion snorts a laugh. The least likely persons to have a chastity belt certainly are himself and much to his disgust, that old cheesemonger Elminster. 

“Well then. I’m Elminster and my power is simulacrum, which means that if I die, I come back with a hit point. But, apparently if I die again, I cannot be resurrected. How quaint,” He places the card down, spreading the cards in his hand like a fan to survey them. 

He almost loses his composure at the names of the spells, choosing the one that amuses him the most. “I’m going to play… Gods, give me a moment,” He looks up at the ceiling trying not to burst out into laughter. “Mystra’s mommy milkers…which restores a life point to the target of my choosing, and I choose you, Mackenzie darling.”

“Awww…how sweet,” Mackenzie coos, fluttering her eyelids. 

She slaps a card down in the middle, her keen eyes trained on Rion. “I cast ‘I didn’t ask how big the room was, I cast Fireball’ on you,” Mackenzie grins in false innocence at him. 

Rion licks his lips as he holds her gaze. Mac’s competitive nature, sense of humor, and playfulness are very desirable qualities when put into the context of his nefarious intentions for her. And, if he’s being honest with himself, he finds it stirs his loins as well as his heart. He’s glad Rob is only sticking around for one round, otherwise he and his darling might find themselves with an audience. 

But all this talk of wizards, especially one in particular, has jogged his memory to a very important “call” he needs to make. 

Rion leans in to press a bold kiss to Mackenzie’s cheek and stands, looking down upon her in smug delight when he sees her almost drop the cards in her hands. 

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to step away for a moment-” he places a hand on his stomach, pointing to the restroom. 

Rion closes the bathroom door behind him and turns on the fan for the additional noise, though it takes accidentally being left in darkness for a moment to find the right switch. He takes the round, smooth stone out of his pocket and wraps his fingers around it, feeling for the connection to its sibling before he speaks. 

“Situation worse than I feared, very dire, need passage for two as soon as possible. Reply immediately with time, place, and other important details,” he snaps, just shy of the 25 word limit for the spell.

A moment goes by, and another, waiting for a reply while listening to the impassioned banter back and forth between Rob and Mackenzie. 

Finally, a familiar voice answers, bringing a wicked smile to Rion's pale face. 

“You! I knew it, I was wondering where this stone’s other half went!” The bewildered man rants on the other end of the connection. “If you’re in as much trouble as you say, I’ll contact a-“ the voice is cut off as the spell’s word limit is exceeded. Rion tsks and shakes his head. How typical. 

“Blast these stones! How fortuitous you’ve reached me while I’m at the academy. I have a colleague that has ties to the Acquisitions Incorporated office-“ the voice cuts off again, to Rion’s utter lack of surprise. 

Rion eyes the rather large bathtub while he waits for another message, licking his lips as he considers using it as a tool of seduction. His pants are uncomfortably tight thinking of the perfect position in which to defile Mackenzie when the exasperated voice returns.

“Midnight tomorrow, Wizards of the Coast office in Renton. 51534 Star will disarm security for 10 minutes. Portal in last office at end of hall,” the voice clips, a bit relieved it had made the world limit this time.

“Is that the soonest time? Gods below us, Gale. I suppose it’ll have to do,” Rion complains harshly, rolling his eyes. 

“It wouldn’t kill you to say thank you, would it?” Gale snaps in reply, the familiar words twisting a knife in Rion’s guts. “You’re on another world. Enjoy it! Seattle has two incredible libraries, one downtown and-“

Rion doesn’t dignify Gale with a reply, nor does Gale reach back out to continue on with his special interest prattling. 

He flushes the toilet, turns the sink on for a few seconds, and opens the door, his act of appearing refreshed interrupted by the intensity of which Mackenzie hovers above the game she’s playing with Rob. 

Rion has to see this. He is careful to not make a single sound while he sneaks up on them, leaning over the back of the couch where Mackenzie sits on a single extended arm.

Mac looks completely ridiculous. She’s got one foot up on the coffee table, holding a single card aloft between her index and middle fingers. She chuckles darkly down at Rob, malice sparkling in her eyes. 

“It’s all come down to this, Rizzard of Waterdank! It’s time for me to reveal my trap card...Greater Colonoscopy!” She throws it down on the table, her arms and head held high in victory. 

Rob chuckles as he turns the life counter to one, an eerie, low laughter before it erupts into an ugly villainous guffaw. “You’re a third rate wizard with a fourth rate book of spells. I detonate the orb! Go back to the bunga in whence ye spawned, Unga!”

Mackenzie collapses onto the couch in laughter as they both lose the game. Rion watches her with soft eyes and a tightness in his chest as she giggles and snorts until her sides ache. Her eyes widen in panic when she sees him gazing down upon her like she hung the stars in his sky, sitting up out of a sense of propriety. She hastily gathers the cards and organizes them, clearing her throat. 

Rob slaps the tops of his thighs. “Weeeelp. It’s about that time. Hey nice to meet you Rion- and thanks for inviting me over and helping me eat some of that food. It would have gone bad, and you know how I am about good food going to waste,” Rob says as if everyone there knows how he feels about the subject.

“Please, send my compliments to the chef. A great pity we won’t have the opportunity to see her for another bite,” Rion says politely, putting emphasis on the last word of his sentence.

Mackenzie’s eyebrows knit together. “How long are you in town for? When do you have to be at Sea-Tac to fly back to the Bay Area?”

“I must be present at midnight tomorrow. I had planned on being here much longer, but an urgent matter has arisen, and I must depart swiftly,” He not-quite-lies, pretending as if he knows exactly what she's talking about. 

“Cali, huh? Well, if you end up moving out this way like everyone else from your state does, believe me when I say it’s not nice like this for the entire year. Again, nice to meet you,” Rob clarifies as he stands up, holding his hand out stiffly to give Rion a firm handshake. 

Rion gracefully takes it in his as if he is about to press a kiss to it, stopping just short of raising it up to his lips. He listens to the pounding of Rob’s heartbeat, the hot red flush creep up his neck and over his face, watches as his steel grey eyes become eclipsed by their irises. 

“A pleasure,” Rion drawls out sensually, slinking a step closer to Rob. 

Rob isn’t the only one turned on by this. He can smell the sweetness of Mackenzie’s arousal pooling in her undergarments from here. 

How interesting. 

“Well, uh, great to meet you, yep!” Rob nervously withdraws, backing away with false cheer. “I’ll..just uhm. I’ll be going, uh hey Cheezy, can you help me with the door?” Rob requests, gathering the takeout containers on the dining table with trembling hands. Mackenzie stands up on shaky legs, tripping over nothing as she assists him, lingering as they converse at the hotel door. 

Rion sits down on the sofa, pretending to be occupied with the state of his nails while he eavesdrops on them. 

“So?” Mackenzie whispers. 

“Remember when we went to Vegas and crashed Defcon and the Star Trek convention at the same time? And there was that one dude in the elevator at the Rio with the hot chick who was asking when he was gonna get the money? Yeah, he’s got the same vibe as that dude,” Rob whispers, peering over at Rion. 

Rion looks at his fingers, unimpressed, examining the edges for any snags or sharp points.  

“He’s either a serial killer, a black hat corporate espionage operative, or he’s Vampire Lord Astarion from that Baldur's Gate video game that just came out,” Rob hisses. “I’ve been watching the BG3 speed runs on the tubes to see if I want to buy the game. He’s got the voice, the face, the mannerisms...it’s freaky. ”

“Huh…” Mackenzie ponders, side-eyeing where Rion sits. 

Rion’s un-dead heart picks up its beating at the mention of Rob’s suspicions, his hand splayed out as he admires his cuticles. 

“Anyways. Have fun, don’t do anything that isn’t safe, sane, or consentual-” Rob’s hushed advice is cut off by Mackenzie’s groaning. 

“I’m not going to have sex with him! I’m married , Rob!”

“Hasn’t stopped Ari. You know how I feel about cheating after what Lucas did to me and honestly? If I was in your situation where a super hot guy invited me to his hotel room, put up with me inviting my friend over, and looked at me like he’s completely smitten with me while I was on my 'chunni bullshit like he did to you tonight? I’d let him fuck me nasty until I was-” Rob says maybe a little too loudly as he’s shushed by Mackenzie. 

Rion stands up from where he sits and he can hear both of their hearts palpitating in alarm until he walks away and turns the corner. They’re still in earshot thanks to his vampiric hearing…but that’s something that only he knows. 

Rob continues, emboldened by Rion’s disappearance. “Mackenzie, your relationship with Ari has been over for a long time now- no, don’t argue with me, it has. Can you look at me and tell me you love him? Don’t be honest with me, be honest with yourself .”

There’s a deafening silence between them before Mackenzie speaks, her voice thick with raw emotion. “I…shit, Robert. I don’t know if I can. I don’t think I can… I don’t actually think I do. Jesus fucking Christ. Not anymore,” she sniffles. 

Rion makes a mental note to smooch Rob clean on the lips if he sees him ever again for being such an unwitting, excellent wingman. 

“Hey- it’s okay Cheezy. Gimme a hug. Just remember…whatever happens tonight, happens. Go get some strange,” he says over Mackenzie’s words of protest, the hotel door shutting. 

Rion hears Mackenzie sob softly to herself after Rob leaves. She sniffles sharply, exhaling shakily in what he assumes is her attempting to pull herself together. 

Poor dear shouldn’t be out there all alone and upset now, should she?

He emerges from around the corner and sits next to her where she wipes her tears with her hands on the sofa, startling her when the cushion dips next to her.

“Oh geez Rion! You're so quiet when you move, you scared me for a second. I’m sorry about all this, I…” Her hands bunch in her lap, clutching at the hem of her linen shorts that strain at the seams around her delicious thighs. 

“Don’t apologize, my sweet. My only expectation is that you stay with me here tonight, which...it seems like you intend to,” he murmurs gently. He grasps her face with his thumb and forefinger, pressing soft lips to the trail of tears that track down her cheek. 

He kisses another and another, listening to her sigh for him, feeling her shift towards him as he comes closer to her lips. He pauses right before he captures them in his own, listening to her breath hitch, watch her tremble with desire out of the corner of his eyes. 

“Do you want this? Do you want me to kiss you and make it all better?” he whispers inches away from her face, swearing that he feels a jolt of electricity travel between them as he speaks. 

Rion watches Mackenzie’s eyes as a dark fire he hadn’t seen before consumes her. 

“Yes,” she exhales with a shudder, surging forward to crash her lips into his.

[0hi0-is-4-l0vers]

an actual, not joke guide to tumblr for new users

tumblr as it stands is VERY anti-capitalist. most brands and celebrities that come here should just be ignored and left to rot. the only person i know of that seems to defy this rule is neil gaiman but thats mostly because hes been here for so long

that being said, this rule DOESNT apply to small, user owned businesses. If you have a small business like something on Etsy or Redbubble, promote it.

tumblr doesnt really run on algorithms the way twitter does. you need to go thru tags and actually find people you like and want to follow. otherwise, this website will be VERY EMPTY. you can follow tags which will recommend you random posts from random blogs in that tag youre following, but otherwise you NEED to curate your own tumblr experience

Most users will block empty blogs that have no icons. this website has a bot problem, and a lot of bot blogs will be empty with no icons. If you dont wanna be blocked, you need to update at least sometimes and have a bio with an icon and maybe a header.

If you use tumblr on desktop, GO GET TUMBLR SAVIOR/X-KIT RIGHT NOW. this will make navigating tumblr on desktop SO MUCH BETTER. You can block certain posts if theyre annoying without blocking op, you can turn off ads, you can turn on quick-reblog to make reblogging shit easier. its so fucking good

Blocking someone on here will not stop their posts from popping up on your dashboard if theyve been rb'd by someone else, so to prevent this you need to go to account settings, go to content you see, go down to "filtered post content" NOT FILTERED TAGS and add ops username. If you have Xkit be sure to turn on tweaks, and select "hide filtered posts entirely". this stops working when OP changes their username but its better than nothing

While twitter did have the option to turn off replies, it did not have the option to turn off quote retweets, but you can turn off reblogs here and turn off replies!

tumblr has a LOT of different kinds of communities, some of which have rarely breached this website. If the idea of someone who thinks theyre Naruto or a dragon reblogging from you makes you upset, either build a good tolerance from some of the "weirder" aspects or use the block button and filters to your advantage

tumblr doesnt have the same policies as twitter does when it comes to 18+ content. Tumblrs CEO has already made a post describing why. people still post adult content anyway with different tags

Tumblr does not have the same censorship rules the way twitter does. Yes you can use the words like "death" and not have to use something like "unalived" or "d3ath" to prevent your post from being suppressed or having your account shadowbanned/blocked entirely. its actually ENCOURAGED you use the original words so tumblrs filtering system will pick it up

i have been on this website for the last 10 years across multiple accounts. If any newbies have questions, PLEASE ASK, and i will do the best i can to answer. Fuck the gatekeepers, welcome to tumblr, twitter refugees!

[redstonedust]

so after letting this post circulate for a day i decided to tally up all the people mentioned in the notes like some kind of impromptu survey

i present: mcytblrs (unoffical) most wanted 3rd life s3 additions

notes:

while the original post said "if you could add one person" i counted every name each reblog mentioned. this included things worded like 'i would choose [x], but i think my vote would have to be [y]" so this mightve come out differently if it was done as an actual poll.

i also counted every instance of "prev tags" as a vote for every name the person they reblogged it from mentioned. which was kind of hell to keep track of. ya'll kill me sometimes.

this has almost definitely been done as a proper survey before, but i found my results interesting enough to share. bite me.

anyways:

total results:

just people with more than 1 vote:

total votes: 431

with a smashing lead of 66 votes, 20 more than the previous most mentioned name, our winner is geminislay!

congrats, gem! mcytblr really wants you to commit murder. or, depending on the responder, roleplay being unwilling to murder. majority were in favor of her actually popping off though.

futher statistics:

the most voted for hermits, excluding gem, were:

joe hills (46 votes), docm77 (33 votes), and cubfan135 (19)

interestingly it seemed like most of the reasoning attached was split between them, with joe being for comedic reasons, doc being for roleplay & trap reasons, and cub being for raw pvp and game sense reasons. all three were often noted for roleplay potential though.

the most voted for empires/alsmp members, excluding gem, were:

fwhip (37 votes), mythicalsausage (35 votes), and theorionsound (12 votes)

i don't have much to extrapolate from this except that fwhip and sausage were often mentioned together, alongside gem. people really want the wither rose gang in 3rd life, i guess. oli was often brought up with reasoning along the line of "he'd be terrible at it, and i want to see this."

the most voted for other mcyts were:

technoblade (14 votes), wilbur soot (14 votes), and philza (9 votes)

i almost gave these guys their own category because sbi was dominating the section i can only describe as "it'd never happen, but wouldnt it be funny if it did?" notably people don't seem to actually want any of them to WIN 3rd life, and think it'd just be funny for them to be present and get their butts kicked by someone like bdubs.

some votes that just straight up aren't mcyts:

queen elizabeth the II (1 vote), brian david gilbert (1 vote), mike lebeau (1 vote)

touché to these brave souls, i hope your dreams are fulfilled.

honorable mentions i find funny:

sneegsnag (1 vote) for being the first non-hermit/empires/alsmp member i noticed being voted for, and sticking in my brain ever since. i would like to see it, actually. i agree.

hypnotizd, vintagebeef and welsknight, for being the only hermits that did not get mentioned once. i'm so sorry kings, you deserve to commit murder too. also joey graceffa, for being the only empires member that did not get mentioned. homophobia at its finest.

kevin (1 vote). i don't know which kevin they meant. i wrote it down as callmekevin because that seems to be the most popular kevin i could find, but really it's anyone's game. maybe they mispelled jevin, who knows. if your name is kevin, you too could be eligible for this survey. congratulations, kevins of the world.