#but as you can see ive decided to go a different route this time

[skitskatdacat63]

Anyways now that that's all over 🙄, back to matters of real importance:

[toxycodone]

oviposition anon teehee i wanted to elaborate more last night but i was tired as fuck and zooted off the penjamin. but like getting separated from the rest of the party and encountering the slime creacher alone with Laios.... you think he'd tell you what the thing is? im sure he knows alllll about it, like he has a private little list of all the most fuckable monsters and of course the damn oviposition slime is on there. do u think he just dives right in head first, or does he try to create some kind of plausibly deniable situation in battle? youre terrified cause you cant make heads or tails of this creature in order to kill it and arent strong with fire magic but.... why does he look like he's having fun? and is that his clothes getting dissolved in there....? and why is he so hot all helpless suspended in the pink gel (ive just now decided the slime is pink), shuddering with pleasure as each near transparent egg enters his body? if you were to get caught by it without knowing what it is i dont think he'd leave you in there, but when he pulls you out of the goop his raging hard on is impossible to ignore and just BEGS questioning.... maybe you need to go seek out another one? or maybe i need to get writing

LISTEN TO ME. ANON YOU ARE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT ONTO SOMETHING. (And I would 100% be down to read something full about this bc oh my god???) and pink slime is the superior color you’re based.

contents: monster fucking, mutual masturbation? if you can call it that?

When you two encounter the slime, Laios is oddly…excited? I mean, he’s always excited to see monsters, but this. Is different. He doesn’t brandish his weapon or look stiff at all when you two encounter it, so you put away yours and you’re like…what the fuck is the deal man??

Laios looks between you and the slime. After a few moments, he casually walks to you.

“Well…um…this slime. They’re usually aggressive, but, you can tell by the color that it’s breeding season. And they’re unusually docile when this occurs…”

So you’re like? Okay. Awesome. No fight required. Let’s get out of here.

But Laios taps his fingers. He looks away a little as he plays with his thumbs.

“You see…it’s docile. But it doesn’t mean we can just leave. Unless we want to find another route. But it’s going to keep going until it eventually finds an adventurer…to use as a host….”

And you’re kinda like um? So do you wanna kill it? Or

And Laios is like “I HAVE AN IDEA. So…the secretions of this slime numb pain and promote healing. If we help this slime out…we can get some of those. It may be useful when Marcille’s out of mana….” Laios then puts his hands on your shoulders and looks at you seriously. “I PROPOSE…we let this slime use us as hosts. And in return, we collect its secretions and save any other unaware adventurer an encounter with it!”

And you’re floored. But once he explains to you, it’s just eggs (they lay them in adventurers to spread their kind to other floors). And it’ll feel *good*. You put your hands on your hips.

“Let me guess. You’ve been waiting for us to encounter this monster, huh….?”

*Cue that iconic Laios blushing panel.*

Anyways, you accept. Laios gives you the rundown from his guide and notes from his journal. First, you have to remove your clothing. The slime will get them soaked and likely tear them to shreds anyways, and if you don’t have a spare you’re screwed. Then, the slime’s secretions will coax you into relaxation. You’ll feel yourself go limp, but it’s not a bad thing. It’ll just make it easier for this whole process—so don’t fight it. Lastly…just enjoy? The slime does all the work and the eggs aren’t dangerous. You’ll pass them in a few days when the incubation period has succeeded (Laios wants to keep one or two to eat, but he doesn’t explicitly say that now).

And so you agree. It seems…oddly fun. Neither of you get time to really do anything sexual while dungeon crawling. And this seems like a good release.

And so you let it happen and it’s fucking MIND BLOWING. The slime’s secretions are absorbed through your skin as it surrounds you, making you feel some weird mix between drunk and high. Your body is limp, but everything you feel is extremely heightened.

The slime teases you all over and gently prods at your holes before slowly opening you up. (if you have a cervix) it’s numbing properties keep it from hurting as it spreads you open and pumps its eggs into your womb/hole. It’s honestly one of the best experiences you’ve had.

It’s like. Some sort of ethereal mutual masturbation experience with Laios, because when you look at him his skin is almost as pink as the slime. His brows are furrowed, eyes shut tight as he moans wantonly, not a care in the world. You can tell when an egg is laid in him bc his face contorts, but then his licks his lips and lets out a shaky moan. There’s already streaks of white in the slime and you’re not sure if it’s just a ton of precum or if he’s already came from the slime.

But you don’t have a lot of time to think about that before you’re shuddering from your own orgasm. It seems the slime coaxes as many as it can from you and Laios—as the more you relax and enjoy the experience the easier it is to continue pumping eggs into your system.

And afterwards, the slime resumes its usual light blue color and withdraws from you two. If you weren’t mistaken…you’d think it was blushing….theres two pink patches left on its “cheeks” as it slithers away, streaks of cum and slick still present in its body.

And. Of course. In typical Laios fashion, while you two are coming back to your senses, covered in slick and slime and who knows what else. All he can do is look at you with that same dopey lovestruck expression and mumble about how much he loves you.

[semisolidmind]

i know it's all about the lion's den AU rn and as usual I am FEASTING on the content (excuse the crumbs) but there's an idea that won't leave me alone-

what if Peaches was not human, but an immortal from the beginning? How much would change? I know the whole appeal of these AUs - I mean, that's why I love them and I absolutely love this lil corner of the fandom. but I've been kinda diving into the whole immortality biz in Chinese myths for my oc, so now I'm curious.

Peaches could be someone cultivating and practicing Xian (i hope I'm using that right) for years, or consumed pills/elixir of immortality somehow, or a demon who is oddly very kind and empathetic - would the bois still love her just as much? How different is the dynamic now even if Peaches retains her core personality traits?

love your work! and hydrate before ya diedrate

ive been thinking about this, and i kinda like the idea of immortal reader being an attendant of the heavenly peach orchard.

not super high up the ladder, but not at the bottom either. her powers are limited to helping plants grow just a little bit, creating temporary barriers, and being able to float the way all celestials can. the higher-ups figure that since no one is bold or stupid enough to steal from heaven, they don’t need any extra security in the immortal peach groves.

you can take a guess as to how reader meets the monkeys.

they show up to the orchards, ready to fight their way to the peaches, but instead of some overpowered celestial soldiers guarding the orchard, it's....one immortal maiden. just the one. but she doesn't seem all that powerful, soooooo...

...maybe she'd agree to let them take a few without too much trouble?

the monkey bros go the "oh don't mind us we're just a couple of cute lil monkeys, here to cause adorable and harmless mischief" route in their approach to getting reader to let her gaurd down.

they approach her while she takes a break from pruning some dead branches. she's understandably surprised and suspicious about these two seemingly normal monkeys who've snuck in, but... they are pretty cute. and tame; they let her pet them and give them scritches. perhaps they're one of the heavenly official's pets. reader supposes that they can stay for a while.

wukong and macaque play their parts, get reader's guard down, and steal a couple dozen peaches each. reader notices, but there's not much she can do beyond shooing the monkeys out with a broom (and her soft heart barely allows her to do that). she knows that if she reports it, those cute lil monkeys will be hunted down and killed.

she supposes she could put in a request for higher walls around the grove, or more barriers (she still wonders how the boys managed to get through the first ones), but with how slowly things get done in the bureaucracy...it'd be a very, very long time until it was even brought up in court.

besides, even then....they're monkeys. animals. she won't place blame on them for being what they are. those little cuties probably had no idea that the immortal peaches were any different from the ones on earth.

she could never stay mad at their adorable lil faces anyways.

---

reader, despite what you might think, has a pretty laid back job. once all her chores for the day have been completed (those magic trees don't really need much beyond the essentials to do their thing), she has a good amount of free time to sit and, you guessed it—read.

macaque (because of course, he has to be the first one to fall in every au) decides, on a bored whim, to go visit that nice attendant they stole from not too long ago. perhaps he'll collect some intel while he's up there.

he finds her after a bit of searching. reader sits in a secluded corner of the grove, leisurely turning pages and enjoying the shade. macaque, still disguised, sidles up to her. reader notices, seeming surprised to see him before her face morphs into... a rather adorable pout. perhaps she thinks she's being intimidating.

'damn, no wonder the bureaucracy didn't think they needed any more security,' macaque thinks sarcastically. such a fearsome maiden they've chosen to guard the immortal peaches.

while reader takes a minute to admonish him about stealing, it isn't long before she sighs and gives up on her lecture in favor of scratching him gently behind his ears. he churrs low in his chest. her whole demeanor is as soft and sweet as the peaches she guards (her hands as well, he notes, pressing into them).

macaque laughs internally. a fearsome maiden, indeed.

macaque manages to wiggle his way into reader's lap, pulling her attention from her book. she knows she should be trying to scare him off, but...just—just look at him! he's so cute, and she's too pulled in by how cute he is to notice the oddly powerful aura he seems to exude (far too powerful to be a normal monkey). he enjoys her touch for a while longer before he hears the far-off call of his annoying brother, wondering where he is. he bumps his head into reader's hand by way of goodbye before running off to shadow away more secretively.

reader watches him go, sighing. she really should shoo him away next time.

---

macaque keeps coming back. and reader continues to be unable to kick him out.

with very few visitors and no one else to talk to, reader begins to tell him everything that she overhears during the day; the officials don't think anyone is listening when they air out their gossip as they walk by the orchard. she doesn’t know it, but she’s saving macaque the energy of using his powers to gather this intel on his own.

the six-eared demon makes a habit of showing up to the grove to laze around with his favorite maiden and listen to her read, using “spying” as the excuse he gives his brother for why he's been running off so often. reader seems to have accepted that he won't be leaving her alone any time soon, and he takes full advantage. macaque comes to think of reader and the secluded corner of the grove as his own little peice of heaven.

of course, sooner or later, wukong joins in. he's a bit angry that macaque didn't just say he was visiting the peach orchard and it's attendant; he wouldn't have minded, he would've come with! macaque doesn't bother trying to explain that he didn't want to share.

but share he does, seeing as wukong greedily takes all the attention from reader he can get. the monkey king finds himself enamored with the maiden who's hands and heart are as soft as the fruits she tends to. he won't admit it (it may hurt his carefully crafted "ruthless demon king" image if he did), but wukong is a cuddle bug when it comes to reader. everything about her is just so soft, and she's so kind, and she always smells like peaches—he could spend hours laying on her chest as she reads.

he just feels so...peaceful, with her.

the boys are entangled in reader's life, visiting whenever they can and butting into whatever she happens to be doing. they see her day to day happiness (brief conversations with the lower maids she's friends with), and her struggles (the two monkeys bore witness to the officials taking their anger out on reader over something trivial, their rage towards heaven growing stronger). the two grow more and more attached to her as time goes on.

and so they begin to work a small abduction into the grander scheme of their plan.

---

sooner or later, the monkey warlords properly raid heaven. they and their demon army storm the jade palace, murdering servants, footsoldiers, and as many officials as they can. the monkey king and the six-eared macaque lead a massacre so bloody it stains the palace walls red. wukong especially holds back none of his rage, getting caught up in his hatred for heaven and zealously continuing to shed as much celestial blood as he can.

during a lull in the chaos, macaque, covered in vicera, makes his way to the immortal peach grove. with the battle coming to a close and the demon forces being driven back, now is as good a time as ever to snatch up a special “peach” for himself and his brother.

he finds said peach preoccupied with a gallant attempt at protecting herself and a few lower maids from a demon soldier, using a series of barriers. the soldier breaks the barriers almost as fast as reader can make them, rapidly pushing her and her companions into a corner. reader puts up a brave fight, but she's a celestial attendant, not a celestial warrior.

macaque calls out to the soldier, halting their attack and telling them to regroup with the others and prepare to move out. the soldier complies, crassly assuring the women that they’re about to be nothing more than bloody pulp on the garden wall. no one has ever gone against the shadow general of the demon army and lived.

macaque waits until the soldier is out of sight before leisurely approaching the still quivering group of maids and their determined, but exhausted looking guard. reader tenses as he steps closer. she feels a horrible sense of dread crawl down her spine when she gets a good look at him.

the dark fur, the shape of the mask marking on his face...reader feels tears start to bead at the corners of her eyes.

this entire time, she'd been petting and coddling the six-eared macaque. the second in command of the dreaded demon army has been sitting right in front of her and she had no idea. reader can barely keep her breathing steady.

and if this is her dark-furred companion, then the lighter-furred one must be…oh stars.

…she let the monkey king in.

she practically threw open the doors for him. she didn’t report them when she should have, she knew there was something strange about them but she was so sure they were just normal animals—oh stars above, if the jade emperor ever discovered this, she’d be executed.

but…but reader steels herself. she can deal with that later. her friends are counting on her.

now, she’s certainly not expecting the blood-covered demon general across from her to be open to bargaining (he could just kill all of them now, but reader gets the feeling he wouldn't be merciful enough to end it quickly). and he knows exactly what leverage he has over her, she can see it in the smug look on his face.

but she tries anyways.

“let them go, please,” she begs breathlessly, arms shaking from the strain of maintaining her magic. the least she can do is buy her friends a moment more. “do whatever you want with me, but they are blameless.”

macaque chuckles, the sound reverberating lowly between the trees. whatever he wants, huh? oh, sweet peach. she should know better than to give him so much leeway.

“that is tempting. if that’s the case, then perhaps you’ll go with me willingly,” he muses, tail swaying slowly. his fangs glint dangerously when he smirks.

“don’t fight, and no harm will come to them. that, and your secret will be safe with me. honest."

reader doesn’t believe him. she can’t, but she and her friends are so low priority that calling for help would be useless. if the demon army has been as effective as the screaming would lead her to believe, the celestial host has much bigger problems than rescuing a gardener and some lowly maidservants. and with the chance that she’ll be seen through and blamed for every gory death that's happened beyond the walls of the peach groves...

she doesn’t have a choice.

reader slowly, cautiously lowers her barriers, despite the worried cries of the maids behind her. they cower closer together as reader takes a slow step closer to macaque.

with a flick of his wrist, reader is struck by a sleeping spell so potent she falls into macaque's waiting arms like a lead weight. the demon gathers his beloved into his hold with a gentleness that doesn't fit his gory visage.

he sinks into a shadow, leaving the maids to clutch each other and cry at the loss of reader and the near loss of their own lives.

---

reader wakes up days later in the royal bedchambers of the stone palace. she startles at seeing the monkey king and the six-eared macaque laying on either side of her, stripped to just a loose pair of pants each. she herself has been changed to a comfortable silk robe, her own clothing nowhere to be seen.

reader feels a cold sludge in her gut. she scrambles out of the pillow pit, kicking a few into the face of one of her captors as she goes. she checks herself over, looking for bite marks, claw marks, anything to indicate the two demons sharing a bed with her had violated her in any way. she looks, and breathes a heavy sigh.

she finds nothing.

"we figured we'd wait until you were awake to start marking territory," the tired, yet still somehow smug voice of the monkey king chimes from behind her. reader turns to see the demon leveling an amorous look her way. his gold and crimson eyes burn like fire in the low light.

reader ignores him in favor of falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands. now that she has a moment to think, her failure has decided to take centerstage; she was the one who let the monkey king into the jade palace, she let him steal the immortal peaches, she's the one who carelessly shared all the gossip that told them when the best time to attack would be, she's to blame for all the lives lost—

"hey. y'know we would've raided heaven even if we hadn't met you, right? it's not your fault," macaque says, propping his head in his hand to look at her. he doesn't have the decency to hide how he's sizing her up, poison purple eyes glowing whilst tracing her curves. reader shrinks into herself a bit more.

"yep. don't feel too bad, peaches. i was never gonna spare any of those bureaucrats in the first place," wukong adds. "and besides, none of those guys cared about you anyway, so why feel bad?"

reader sobs, pressing her hands to her eyes. she knows. she knows how callous the officials could be, but that doesn't mean they deserved to die. it doesn't mean the servants and foot soldiers who were only following orders deserved their fates.

she hears movement, then feels a set of strong, furred arms wrap around her. wukong rests his head on her shoulder. he nuzzles his nose against her neck. she feels his warm breath and the glance of deadly sharp fangs when he speaks.

"they didn't deserve the mercy you seem to think they did."

---

wukong places a seal on reader's powers. what little defense she had against them is gone with the placement of a brand-like marking in between her shoulder blades (and a few more along her shoulders made with his teeth).

reader can't do anything. wukong won't let her leave, and even if she could, the heavenly court will have her executed if she goes back. so, she remains on the monkey king's mountain.

she didn't think she'd share a fate with the precious fruit she'd failed to protect.

[20dollarlolita]

while youre wheelchair posting i wanted to say that you talking about why you decided to continue using one really changed my own perspective on my disability! i get awful chronic join pains usually triggered by standing, and although im taking the physical therapy route (im hypermobile, so thats the first option,) ive recently considered that using something like a wheelchair or a cane wouldnt be so wrong of me if i feel i need it

I tell people that I just want to be able to do the things that other people do. I want to shop in a store for as long as I want, without hurting. I want to walk around the mall and look at things. I want to go somewhere without having to plan ahead where I will sit down and how long we'll be waiting in line. I want to work a full day in my store, walking from the back room to the front, guiding customers to the different areas, and I want to do that without being in pain.

My wheelchair lets me do that. My body does not let me do that.

My advice to literally everyone who thinks they might need it is, "just get the damn cane." Canes are among the cheapest mobility aids out there. They come in insanely cool colors and styles. There are ones that fold up when you don't need them. You can get one for $10 and you can just go into Walgreens and buy one. Worst case, which is also best case, you just spent the cost of a trip to McDonald's on something you don't use. Worst case, which is also best case, you find something that lets you be yourself doing the things you want to do for longer and with less pain. Worst case, which is also best case, you see that it helps you and it is the gateway into getting a more supportive mobility aid that lets you live a better life. Literally every worst case scenario you can think of is also your best case scenario. Get the cane.

I went to Goodwill on my lunch break just now and they had a rollator for $8, so we're going to experiment with Pink+Rollator in the upcoming days. Currently I'm okay with walking short distances but I really can't stand for more than a couple of minutes, so bringing a device that's also a chair with me seems like it'd be a good step in my mobility.

But yeah, to everyone who is going "hey, I think I could benefit from a mobility aid," this is me, a disabled person, telling you to go for it. You didn't need my permission, but you have it anyway. Get the mobility aid!

A wheelchair is just a chair with wheels, and you didn't need anyone's permission to sit down at a rolling desk chair. You were able to look at the options given to you by the world and choose that, in that context, sitting down on a chair with wheels was going to be the best for your body and your personal convenience. You can look at your body and your environment and make statements like, "I should not be standing for 55 minutes in this line. I can only stand for x minutes," and that's normal. Abled people make decisions like "I'm not going to stand for this long" or "I'm not going to walk this far," all the time. But when you add, "so I'm going to bring a special chair with me, so that I can wait 55 minutes in this line, like all the other people in the line," suddenly it feels different. But abled people are allowed to always be making judgements for when they're pushing their body too hard, and they make decisions all the time about when they're going to take advantage of an aid or take a break, so the only thing that changes when you're disabled is when you have to decide to use it, not at all that you have to use it. People get to pick what shoes they want based on where they're going, and that's just picking a device to aid your mobility as needed for a certain environment. Using a mobility aid is a totally normal thing, except that we've artificially labeled them as "normal person accommodations" and "ask for this and you're disabled."

Disclaimer: obviously bring it up with your care team if you are interested in using a mobility aid (and you have a care team). A LOT of doctors are hesitant to tell young people that they should be trying a mobility aid, but will say you'll benefit from it if you bring it up. If you have a PT then they're likely to have input about what are the best options and how to set them up. Also some doctors can get you mobility aids for free. Even if the cane you get from your doctor is black and boring and doesn't fold, you can still go to the store and get a cane that's fun and cool and then use the one the doctor gave you as a size reference to know how to set the one you just got. Hey, free cane.

[wispythreads]

I really like the voices that end up coming around in Chapter II, and how differently the world and the Princess become.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some absolutely wild variations of the Cabin and the Princess in later chapters, and it’s nice hearing all the voices bounce off of each other if you get to a Chapter III or Chapter IV (though at that point it’s quite hectic), but there’s just something very neat to me when it’s just you, the two voices you started with, and the one newcomer. It’s fun how the game interprets what you did in the previous chapter, what kind of person you’d have to be to make those choices, or how you’d be feeling after they’d been made.

For example, when I was going about the game for the first time, I didn’t quite like the idea of blindly accepting what the Narrator had told me about the Princess when he was my only source of information. But at the same time, he really was the only information I had to go on. I decided it was probably best to take the knife with me, while fully planning on discarding it if I heard enough from her side of things to determine he was wrong, if not outright lying. The meeting with her wasn’t illuminating, like I hoped, but I had grown more doubtful of Him than I did of her. So I decided to set her free. See what would actually happen if she walked out of the cabin. What the Narrator then tried to pull left me very distrustful of him, so of course I did my best to fight him at every chance, before the Princess mercifully ended it.

I got the Skeptic, which fit perfectly.

(Narrator: Did you just say 'wink' out loud?)

(Voice of the Skeptic: No, I didn't. Wink.)

Anytime he shows up again he’s the one I’m most drawn to agreeing with, and because we seem to be on the same page so often, he’s the one I’m more inclined to listen to if he has something he’s interested in doing, even if I enjoy the other voices too.

My brother, even more blind about how this game worked than I was, decided to leave the dagger behind. He talked with the Princess, all soft and bubbly in contrast to my version, up until he decided the best option was for them to just hang out and get to know each other better. “I can make sandwiches!”

No one besides the Hero liked this idea.

The sudden change in the Princess’s behavior set my brother on edge enough that he was still of the belief that it’d probably be best to just leave her chained up. Then, with her shouting creepy threats at him as he ascended the stairs, and the Narrator prompting him with the reminder that he could come back down to finish the job, he figured that’d probably be the best solution, and retrieved the knife.

Then he saw the discarded remains of her chewed off arm, previously attaching her to the shackles it still limply laid in.

He was NOT comfortable venturing out into the dark after her, and tried to wait her out in supposed safety. It didn’t work. He fell asleep, she pounced, it all went dark. And he died.

He got the Hunted, whom he grew attached to quickly, immediately following his advice without question and then pleading for it when it wasn’t given.

Though I don’t have him here right now to verify if this is how he particularly felt, I think it perfectly fits with the feeling a theoretical player would have with these choices. You gave her the benefit of the doubt, and decided that something was off enough to justify her imprisonment, then dangerous enough to warrant your original mission. She’s not just dangerous, she’s a predator, and only a fool chases after a predator. You’re not looking to be a hero, you’re looking to survive.

Also it’s just very ironic to me that he’s absolutely obsessed with Dungeon Meshi right now and got the most Dungeon Meshi aligned route that could possibly exist. The monstrous chimera, the more heavy focus on action, to eat or be eaten, and if you are eaten, do you give up then? Or do you continue to fight for your survival? The underlying message I saw someone else mention of how to eat is to love.

Crazy stuff.

[aphroditedahlias]

hiiii omg i was so excited when you posted another part of the bully eren series!! ive been keeping up with the series ever since 2021 and usually i hate bully fics but the way you write eren is just chefs kiss 🤌

i was even more excited when i saw requests are open!

**TW// i wanted to ask what would happen if eren either accidentally/purposely killed us? I thought of this based off the last line from the recent eren fic. would he be the type to commit suicide or try to move on with his life (id be surprised if this is the case based on the other asks sent in previously lol) reader can be any gender btw

tysm for your wonderful writing! i hope you’re doing well!

Bully eren x G/N reader

What if he purposely k!lled reader?

Tw/ light non con, murdaaa, kn!fe, blood, clearly yandere , angst.

thank you sm whoever you are for keeping up with my posts even though i’m sooo inconstant<33

not proofread 🌝 as always lololol

There’s something so seeet and hypnotic about death. Some people say they see God, or a light. As your eyes daze and your pulse slows, you can hear wren cooing in your ear.

“ it’s okay baby. I know it’s hard but it’s okay. You don’t have to be scared i’m right behind you.”

Blood flows from your wounds, pulsing and flowing freely. There’s not enough time. There’s no way for you to call for help. There’s no way for you to fight, so you just lay back in erens arms and let him soothe you.

You should’ve known. You should’ve tried and fought harder to get away. You thought if you just ignored him he would go away but it just got worse and worse.

You’d come home from school and nothing particularly interesting happened that day but apparently it was the last straw for eren.

You didn’t answer his texts, you took a different route to class to avoid going past him. You even shut and lock the door behind you knowing he was calling your name.

He waited until nightfall to break in through your kitchen window. Mostly prepared, he’d already had a bag filled with ziplocks, and a box cutter. He knew he had the box cutter in his bag but yet he still grabbed a steak knife from your counter, testing it on his own skin to see if it was sharp enough before heading to your room.

He watched you sleep for hours, deliberately taking his time watching your chest rise and fall with each breath. He wasn’t deciding whether or not to let you live. Thjs had gone on long enough and he was sure this was the end, he just wanted to savor the moment.

He dumped out his container of items and went over to your sleeping body, gently tying your wrists and ankles to the bed posts.

He took his time and caressed your soft, warm skin. He stripped you from your clothes and ran his hands up and down your body.

He used duck tape to put over your mouth after kissing your soft lips.

He stripped himself of his own clothing and lied with you, tucking his face into your neck. He waited and waited before continuing. He kissed down your body before reaching your sex.

He licked and spit on you, devouring you knowing it would be the last time.

He moaned against you and sucked harder, exploring your body like never before.

You started to wake up, writhing at the pleasure but quickly that pleasure turned into fear and confusion.

You tried to say his name which only spurred him to continue fucking you with his mouth. The sound of you begging and whining through the tape just got him harder. He began to grind against your mattress trying to receive his own pleasure. He kept licking and sucking, sloppily making a scene out of eating you.

He abruptly stopped and started to kiss his way back up your trembling body. He whispered words you couldn’t understand as he kissed your ear.

“ Don’t be scared “

He said it so quietly and softly that you almost believed him.

But the sudden sharp pain in your right wrist brought numb tears to your eyes. You tried to scream but the fucking tape wouldn’t allow you to. You felt him cut across your left wrist.

He undid your zip ties but your wounded body wouldn’t move, you felt hopeless and paralyzed as your eyes went back and forth between your arms.

He scooped you up and laid you against his chest and turned thought it was all a mistake. Eren wasn’t here to kill you. It was just a big misunderstanding and he would explain everything.

But that only happens in fairytails. Eren was no prince, he was no hero here to save you.

You felt him wrap his arms around you tightly before puncturing you once again, this time in the chest. He let the knife sit there a moment before slowly removing it.

“ I’m not sorry baby. I told you this would happen. If I have to live without you in my life, then you don’t get to live at all.”

you felt tears against your neck as he whispered to you.

He took your duck tape off and let you take shallow breaths. Too weak to scream, you only slumped back against him. Heart slowly coming to stop, you looked at him with tears in your eyes.

No last words from you were said.

Eren grabbed the bloody knife once again and kissed your unmoving lips one last time before slitting his own throat.

Even after death, he wouldn’t let you go.

©️aphroditedahlias2024

guys pls make sure you telling someone if you’re being abused or harassed so this doesn’t happen to you lololol. This is just a fic don’t ever let it get to this point.

[chaotic-archaeologist]

hi! i'm not sure how exactly to word what i'm asking so i'll just explain what i've been thinking about lately. i'm currently in grad school for archaeology and ive just always had so much interest in classical history and i'd really love to do some excavation work in italy one day, but at the same time i'm feeling a sense of guilt because i come from a country where archaeology has only recently started picking up and there is still so much history that is yet to be uncovered and studied and talked about, especially when it comes to our pre-colonial period! i feel like i have a moral obligation to stay here and help in finding out everything i can about my own country's history, and of course i do genuinely want to do that, but i also feel that guilt because i know that it's not where i see myself devoting my career to and because i know it wouldn't make me as happy if i settled. i reaaaaaally really want to excavate elsewhere but i feel like that just makes me another scientist who doesn't love their country enough and would rather hop over to study history's most famous colonisers (i know that that's really not the case but sometimes it feels like it to me and then i start questioning myself...)

Okay, here's the thing: it's okay to be a little bit selfish. Your life is yours, and that's also true for your research.

For a long time I was split between becoming a Jewish studies scholar and a Civil War scholar. I was getting a lot of pressure from my community to go the Jewish studies route, which is understandable. Spoiler alert: that's not the path I took.

I chose to study the Civil War because that's where my passion is, and I think I can make a more meaningful contribution to society in the long term by choosing to focus on an interest I can sustain. And... I didn't feel like I had a lot of original ideas that I could contribute to Jewish studies because it wasn't what I spent my time thinking about.

This applies to a lot of other things, particularly activism. An activist who has burned themselves out to the extent where they can't organize anymore isn't doing anyone (or themself) any good. What you want matters. It's okay if those wants don't always align 100% with what other people want from you.

Another thing: X cultural concept doesn't always have to be applied to a limited range of subjects. I bring a very different mindset to studying the Civil War because I come from a unique background. You can bring a fresh viewpoint to Classics because you've had very different experiences than many other Classics scholars. And really, isn't promoting Jewish/anti-colonial scholarship outside of those disciplines furthering their cause?

Finally, it doesn't have to be either/or! Three years after deciding to become a Civil War scholar, I applied to be a TA for a Judaic Studies class. I'm really excited to help a bunch of students learn about Jewish history and culture, and part of that excitement exists because I'm not forcing myself to do it all the time. Who says that you can't go on a dig in Italy and then come home and help your country recover its pre-colonial heritage?

Do both. By all means, apply to go on a dig overseas! Take a class in the Classics department just for your enjoyment. At the same time, stay involved with your culture and its archaeology. Follow the opportunities that feel right to you. You deserve to be happy.

-Reid

[nicoline1998enilocin]

Off Limits III | The one with Steve's crush

PAIRING | Steve Rogers x Female!Reader

WORD COUNT | 2.9K

SUMMARY | Steve agreed to be your date to the party Tony was throwing, and the night went a different route than you expected. One minute you were dancing with Steve, the other he was buried deep inside you, making this night absolutely the best night of your life.

WARNING(S) | This is your official trigger warning. Do not proceed if any of these topics upset you. Use of Readers middle name (Lily) but Tony says Y/N when they're alone, Smut [ losing of virginity, fingering, slight nipple play, protected sex, praise kink ], swearing.

Likes and reblogs will be very much appreciated 💜

Main Masterlist | Steve Rogers Masterlist | Series masterlist | Part II | Part IV

The evening of the party arrives, and you decide to get ready with Nat and Wanda, so you could talk some more about everything that's going on between you and Steve, mainly your feelings about him. Since you told him last night you would love to go to your dad's party with him, you're mind has been going a mile a minute with thoughts about Steve. Today, you just couldn't talk about anything but him, and Nat and Wanda didn't mind it in the slightest. ''I still can't believe he said he wants to go to the party with me!'' you say and the girls just chuckle at it, they could believe it. Steve has been pretty obvious with his flirting, and the cuddles during movie nights haven't exactly gone unnoticed either, but no one said anything about it. ''Why wouldn't he want to go with you? You are really good friends, so it's not weird that you want to go with him,'' Nat said.

You agreed with it, but it didn't make you feel any less giddy at the thought of Steve, and dancing with him. But now, you have to focus on getting ready first, before you won't be able to get to the party to begin with. Wanda is helping you with your make-up, opting for a dark green and gold make-up look and a simple lip color. Nat is doing your hair, opting for braids and a low bun, so that it won't take away from the beautiful dress you're wearing. ''Wow, Lily, you look positively glowing right now, you're drop-dead gorgeous! Everyone at the party is going to be so jealous of you!'' the girls say and all you can do is blush, you're not used to such compliments. But most of all, you can't wait to see what you're dad thinks of your look. As if he could feel you thinking about him, he texted you to come over to his office.

''I'm so sorry that I have to leave you both for a minute, but Tony just asked me to come to his office. He needs to go over something important...'' you say, not bothering to come up with something too specific. You're not wearing your dress yet, but you're still in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, the reveal of your dress has to wait. You knock on his door, notifying him you're there and he calls you in. ''Hi darling, are you having fun getting ready? You look gorgeous already!'' he says and he twirls you around a few times, even though you're not even wearing your dress. ''Yeah I am, Nat and Wanda are helping me, and I'm extremely grateful they are. They must know I couldn't have done it myself, and it's just fun hanging out with them,'' you say.

You're happy you're finally making some friends among the Avengers. Sure, they're all nice to you, and it's always fun to hang out with them, but it's different when you're friends with them. ''I have something for you, in honor of your first official party as an Avenger,'' he says and grabs a black, rectangular velvet box from a drawer in his desk and hands it to you. You open it and find a silver necklace with a small sun pendant hanging from it. ''You have always been the light of our lives, and you make every room you walk into a lot brighter. I was supposed to give this to you during your birthday, but since I wasn't able to see you then, I decided to wait for a special occasion,'' he says, and you're trying your hardest not to cry and ruin your make-up. ''Oh my god, Dad, it's perfect. I love it...'' you say and give him a big hug, you're incredibly grateful to have someone like Tony as your dad. You were never overly spoiled, but every time he gave you something, it felt like he hung the moon and stars for you. He would do anything for you, and you couldn't be more thankful.

''I will wear this with pride tonight dad, thank you so much,'' you say and give him a big kiss on his cheek and another hug, before you need to go back to get ready. ''Sorry Dad, I have to go before I'm late for your party! I still need to put on my dress and everything, I'll see you there. I love you!'' you ramble before running out the door. Once you're back in your room, you see Nat and Wanda have left to go put on their dresses and you're grateful, that way you don't have to explain how you got the necklace. You step into your dress and it still looks beautiful on you, even more so with the hair and make-up, which complement it just like Nat and Wanda said it would. You put on your heels and just when you put on Tony's necklace, you hear a knock on your door, notifying you that Steve is here.

You walk to the door and open it to reveal Steve in a perfectly tailored dark green suit, his hair neatly done and a bouquet of white tulips in his hands. ''Wow,'' is all he could manage to say when he saw you, he was starstruck. ''Thank you, Steve! You don't look so bad yourself,'' you say with a wink when you the tulips out of his hands and invite him in. ''You didn't have to get me flowers Steve, we're just going to a party!'' you say and you laugh, but you're still touched by the fact that he did anyways, and he got your favorites, too. ''Old habits die hard, as they say. I just think it's a gesture of appreciation for you saying yes to being my date tonight. I'm really happy you said yes,'' he said with a deep red color on his face now. ''It's okay Steve, I love being your date and I look forward to dancing with you all night,'' you say, your cheeks also turning a little bit of a darker pink shade at your confession. ''Are you ready to go?'' you ask when they're in a vase and he gets up to go to the party.

Steve extended his arm so you could hook yours in his before entering the party, but as soon as you both arrived, all eyes were on the two of you. Since your dress and his suit matched, you were pretty much the best-dressed people in the room, looking like you belonged together. ''E-Everyone's looking at us...'' you say and you turn red because of all the attention, you're not used to having this many eyes on you. ''They're looking at YOU darling, you look gorgeous right now,'' Steve said with a big smile on his face, and you could feel his warm breath across your neck when he softly said that to you. The feeling of his breath gave you goosebumps, but you felt like you wanted more of it, more of Steve, even. ''Did you want to get a drink first, or do you want to dance?'' he asked, extending his hand out to you. ''I'll take that dance now,'' you say as you grab his hand and he leads you to the dance floor.

Steve grabs your hand, and puts the other one on your shoulder, while you wrap one around his waist to pull him a little closer. With your heels, you were a lot taller than usual, and you were almost the same height as him, making the dancing a whole lot easier. There is a relatively slow song and the two of you sway back and forth on the rhythm of the music, completely forgetting everything around you. You put your head on Steve's shoulder and step closer to him until your bodies are almost touching, and you feel Steve's breath on your neck when he asks you something. ''Wanna get out of here, maybe somewhere a little more private? I have to tell you something,'' and you get goosebumps when you lift your head and nod. He guides you across the dance floor and up to the elevator leading to the sleeping quarters.

When you're in the elevator, Steve pulls you in for a hug, not wanting to be alone any longer, he needed to feel his body against yours. His body was burning with desire for you, and he was finally going to confess his feelings for you. When the elevator reached the floor where your bedroom is, the doors opened and he let you go but still held onto your hand, and it just felt right for both of you. The two of you reach the door and you unlock it, pulling him inside. ''Lily, I have to tell you something, and I can't wait any longer,'' he starts. ''I like you, like, REALLY like you, and I can't stop thinking about you. I've had feelings for you since we first met, and they've only grown stronger. I want you to be mine, and I want to be yours, if you'll have me. I want YOU, Lily, all of you,'' he said and his hands started wandering over your waist and down to your hips, pulling you closer into his body.

''I want to be yours, too, Steve. And I want you too, but...'' is all you say before you pull yourself out of his grasp and walk away from him, you couldn't look at him when you were about to tell him you're still a virgin, you couldn't look at him when he would laugh in your face and belittle you for never having sex. But that wasn't the case. ''I- I'm still a virgin Steve...'' you say with such a soft voice, you're not sure he heard you. ''Oh baby, that's perfectly fine. It would be my honor to be your first if you'll have me. I'll show you what a real gentleman is like, both inside and outside the bedroom,'' he says, and you can't believe what he just said. You looked into his deep blue eyes, and you had the overwhelming feeling to kiss him right now. He didn't run away, he didn't laugh at you, he accepted you just as you are, and because of that, you love him even more. ''Can I kiss you?'' you ask in a soft voice.

Steve slowly nods and his head sinks to yours, your lips meeting in a soft, light kiss that made you feel fireworks on the inside. When he pulled away, you both had a grin as big as the Cheshire Cat on your faces, still not quite believing it happened. Steve put his hand on the side of your face and kissed you again, this time slowly opening his mouth and sliding his tongue over your bottom lip, asking for entrance into yours. You happily provide and when you feel his tongue slide against yours, your panties are getting more and more damp, the longer you explore each other's mouths. You're standing so close to him that you can feel Steve getting hard in his pants too, and you can't wait to feel him deep inside you, fucking you like there's no tomorrow, but that would have to wait.

You move your hands and start undressing Steve, taking each layer of clothing off with more and more eagerness, until all that's left are his boxers. Now it was his turn to undress you, kissing softly down your neck and shoulders while unzipping your dress and letting it fall to the floor. His breath hitches when he sees your lingerie, in almost the same dark green color as your dress, you couldn't resist a little chuckle. ''You like what you see?'' you ask him, and his hands are wandering over your curves, exploring every inch of your skin. ''You look perfect, sweetheart,'' he says as he continues giving kisses down your collarbone and in between your breasts, which are filling your bra nicely. ''Let's lay down on the bed,'' Steve said and he guided you to lie down with your head on his pillows.

When you found your spot, Steve caressed both your breasts and your nipples instantly pebbled from his soft touch. You let out a soft moan, and Steve feels it go directly to his already impossibly hard cock, but he would have to wait just a little longer. Right now, it was all about you, he wanted your first time to be perfect. He pulled the cups of your bra down so your nipples would be exposed, and his mouth went to one, while he played with the other with his hand, getting more of those soft moans out of you. Steve is grateful your bra hooks in the front, so he quickly opens it and you take it off, letting your breasts fall perfectly into his hands, and he squeezes them softly. He sucks on your nipples for a little longer whilst playing and softly tugging on them, before moving his attention down to your soaking wet cunt.

He placed his hand over your panties, and couldn't help but comment on the fact how wet you were for him. ''You're soaking wet for me already baby,'' he says and you moan his name when he glides his fingers over the lace of your panties. ''Steve, I need you... touch me...'' you say and he happily complies. His fingers move over the fabric with a little more force, drawing more moans and whimpers from you. ''Let me take these off, so I can have better access,'' he said and you raised your hips, so Steve could remove your panties easier. He threw them to the side and his fingers went up and down between your folds, teasing your entrance a couple of times. ''Such a good girl for me,'' he said and you clenched around nothing when he said that. ''Hm, you're clenching around nothing like the good girl you are,'' he said, almost drooling.

He lined up one finger at your entrance, slowly pushing it in so you could get used to the feeling. ''S-Steve feels good,'' you say with a moan, and you arch your back a little when he starts moving in and out of you. When he finds a comfortable rhythm, he slowly adds another finger and lastly, he adds the third, making sure you're nice and stretched for when he will enter you with his thick cock later. ''Hm, feels so good around my fingers, can't wait to feel you around my cock later,'' Steve said and this quickly drove you to the edge with the pace he set. ''Steve, fuck! Gonna cum!'' you said and he never faltered his pace, whispering more praises when you cum on his fingers and he coaxes you through your orgasm. ''Fuck, such a good fucking girl for me right now, dripping your wet pussy all over my fingers, you're making me impossibly hard now,'' he said and he slid his fingers out of you, sucking them clean.

''Are you ready for me, sweetheart?'' Steve asks while he grabs a condom out of his nightstand, ripping open the packet and rolling it onto his cock after stroking himself a few times. ''Y-yes, Steve, 'm ready for you,'' you tell him a little exhausted already, you had quite an intense orgasm from just his fingers, so you wondered what it would be like to cum around his thick cock. ''I'll go slow,'' he said before lining himself up and slowly pushing in so you could get used to the burning yet pleasurable feeling. ''So good, feels amazing,'' you moan and when he slowly moves deeper, you grab his back and put your nails in him to ground yourself, but this only makes Steve go wild for you. ''That's it baby, such a good girl taking my cock right now,'' he whispered in your ear, and when he was completely in, he let you get used to the feeling.

''Please, Steve...'' you whine a little, and he understands what you want, he slowly starts moving, making you moan. ''Steve...'' is all you can say when he picks up the pace, your orgasm washes over you quickly since he's hitting all the right spots, and your nails drag all over his back, leaving long red marks. ''Fuck baby, your tight cunt feels so good around my cock, you were made for me,'' he says while riding you through your orgasm. It doesn't take long for Steve to finish after you, and he slowly pulls out when he does. ''Sorry baby,'' he says when you whine at the loss of him inside you. ''Is okay,'' you say with a smile on your lips. You grab his face and kiss him softly, making him blush a little at the softness of the kiss. ''That was amazing, thank you,'' you told him and he felt amazing right now.

He went to grab a washcloth so he could help you clean up a little, even though he used a condom, your slick was still all over your thighs and pussy, so he cleaned you up a little. When he's done, he puts on a pair of boxers and hands you a pair as well, and they fit you surprisingly well. He also hands you one of his t-shirts that is looking like a dress on you, and you almost fall asleep. ''Wanna cuddle,'' is all you say before drifting off to sleep, and he couldn't say no to you, even if he wanted to. He laid down behind you and pulled you against his chest, wrapping your arms around you and nuzzling his face into your hair. ''Sleep well, sweetheart,'' he says before drifting into a deep sleep himself.

[pansy-picnics]

how did unknighted dream react to varian coming out/bringing home hugo lol

LMAOOO OK so this is one of my favorite things ever solely bc theres SO MANY different ways it can go and literally all of them are fucking gold

i feel like they always knew varian was Not Straight. im a big fan of the idea that varian transitions after qfad and has a big mental breakdown haircut when his dad gets trapped and considering his feelings towards both eugene and cass i think it was always this unspoken thing all of them knew about. rapunzel and eugene however were obviously Not expecting him to bring home a whole ass boyfriend

of course varian wrote tons of letters home so they both heard everything about the new friends he was making, but varian was insistent on not telling them ANYTHING about his crush because god knows how rapunzel would react if she found out about That. she was suspicious when he came back for the light trial but decided to keep her mouth shut until they were all finished with their work there

i love rapunzel and eugene being super supportive but also a Little protective. and its not really anything to do with anything hugo’s done, they’re all about second chances after all but they’re obviously not ready to see their baby brother grow up so fast. ive seen a lot of fics where one or both of them are very defensive and suspicious towards hugo and it ends with a VERY yummy confrontation from varian where he tells them they need to learn that he’s an adult now and is able to make his own choices and they have to be okay with that. but the route of them being so excited and supportive that it ends up being overbearing is also super funny and in character

i think rapunzel at first would be super excited varian is finding love, and very welcoming towards hugo on a surface level- but as time goes on the tiniest things start to make her paranoid, and she worries a lot about varian getting hurt in some way. cue her snooping around a lot just to make sure he’s okay, varian eventually confronting her about it and her apologizing and promising to recognize varian’s maturity and be more accepting of his choices.

when rapunzel actually starts to see hugo on a deeper level she starts to recognize a lot of his similarities to varian, eugene, and especially herself, and she’s now basically like “oh ok!!! new baby brother!! :)”

she then tries to be a lot more welcoming towards hugo, trying to help him settle into the castle without being too overbearing. of course from hugo’s perspective her seemingly constant mood swings make him very hesitant to trust her, but eventually through varian the two are able to bond and find a lot of common ground

eugene on the other hand is fun bc he’s way more versatile and it can go a LOT of different ways depending on how they’re introduced or how their past together is established. i love the idea of him basically becoming Cass 2.0 and being super overprotective of varian but i also like to imagine he’s mostly just so hostile towards hugo bc he recognizes so much of his younger self and is Cringing about it (he would literally NEVER admit it though). like he’s like “i cannot STAND that kid he always acts so cocky and like he’s sooo much better than me” and cass is like “lmao yeah right? he’s exactly like you when you first came here” and eugene’s just “😐”

anyways they’re best friends (they literally cant stand each other)

no they do start to get along eventually though and i have so many thoughts about the potential friendship between the former thieves, lance hugo and eugene would be SUCH a dynamic and this fandom is sleeping on it fr

and then theres cass. GOD cass is my favorite in this situation by far bc shes way more logical and is like the only grounding force between rapunzel and eugene. new dream are the overemotional parents/older siblings in this situation and cass is like. the wine aunt.

bc see cass already ran into varian at some point during his journey and has already processed most of these changes ahead of time. she already recognized how much varian had matured and how much this trip had changed him. and most importantly she recognized what was going on between him and hugo a Long time ago and literally Did Not Care

in fact cass’s main concern is literally just that she thinks hugo is annoying. its not like she’s suspicious of him at all bc she fully trusts varians judgement and also knows varian is capable of handling himself. she’s aware that varian clearly saw something in hugo and chose him for a reason. she just doesn’t like him solely out of personal bias

cass doesn’t straight up tell raps and eugene what the problem is because she knows they need to hear it from varian more than anything but she does try to kind of push them in that direction. she reminds them like “hey maybe you should try to give the kid more credit. i think he knows what he’s doing” yk that kind of thing.

ironically enough though hugo is WAY more scared of her than he is of anyone else. shes like on the same level as quirin on his list of threats which is hilarious because they are the main 2 people who have like, basically nothing against him

hugo: so is this the part where you tell me you’ll kill me if i hurt varian

cass: ? what?? oh no that bitch is fully capable of killing you himself if he wanted to

hugo: …….yeah thats fair actually.

[marshmallowprotection]

ive been thinking about this for a while, of if saeyoung mightve reacted differently if he didnt see saeran at the apartment. im sure he would have still been a bit stand offish, but at the same time more.. lighthearted? im not sure! id love to hear your thoughts though!

Hm... you know what, I've never considered this before.

What I mean to say is that if his brother isn't there, he's not going to have any idea as to what's being done behind the scenes. The entire reason why his world is shaken and why he reacts the way he does in the apartment is because the hacker is his brother.

That realization is what sends him on a TOTAL downward spiral to stop trusting those he's always trusted and see the world for what it is. A place where people are willing to lie to him in the name of what they think is the greater good.

His faith is broken, and the only one who’s able to pull him out of that place is you. You and your unwavering kindness are what help him believe it's not the end of the world even if it feels that way. He would not be forced to have a reckoning with himself if his brother wasn't revealed in that instance. It's hard for me to imagine how he would be in that situation.

Because, I JUST can't see Saeran not doing anything at that exact moment because he's the one who decided to go ahead and raid the apartment. That was his decision, not something Rika made for him, as shown in the VNM just before he leaves Magenta.

He wants to do everything in his power to take his brother down, and when he sees an opportunity to do it, he does it without a second thought. So, it's hard for me to rationalize a situation where he doesn't decide to raid the apartment to kidnap the player. But, on the off chance that he didn't initially invade the apartment, it's possible that he would change tactics and try to lock his brother and the player inside instead.

I don't know if he would consider remote detonation but maybe that could be something that comes up along the line.

I know this has nothing to do with what you asked, but I can't help but speculate. He wouldn't be able to ignore his brother being a real sitting duck in that situation. I just don't know what he would do differently if he didn't try to bust in through the window, but I can't see him leaving well enough alone. It's not something where he can ignore the itch.

The desire to get rid of his brother is strong and it's not something he can ignore. He can't ignore it because it's constantly buzzing in the back of his head no matter how much he wants to shake it off. The world would be a better place without the person who caused him to suffer like this and become apathetic, that's what he feels, so he's not going to ignore it regardless of how this plays out.

In regards to Saeyoung, yes, there will be a different response until I discern how the hell Unknown attacks.

The reason why he pushes you away in the first place is because he realizes that being close to him is a death sentence. His brother was put into unspeakable horror because of a choice he made, and he can't stomach the idea of that happening to you, too. But, if he is not pressed with that realization right away, sure, he might push you away for the sake of your safety, but I can't see him being as standoffish.

He hasn't been pushed into a corner with the trauma response we usually see, so what he does will not align with what you're used to seeing canonically.

There's already a little line between the two of you as you get closer, and it's one he tries not to think about because he wants to enjoy the moment. Even as you get closer to him at the beginning of the route, he doesn't hide that he can't get close to other people, but he keeps pushing that away since you make him feel alive. I think the two of you would dance between what's safe and what is it if he isn't having an existential crisis. You push his buttons, he pushes yours, and ultimately, it will culminate in a mess when the apartment goes to hell since I think it will do that no matter what.

This has to end in Unknown revealing himself. I don't know where, I don't know how, but it has to happen.

Or, maybe it doesn't have to happen at the apartment, maybe you may get to the end of the cycle and he reveals himself at the party. That would be an interesting turn of events. For you to be able to get close to Saeyoung without the expected path, only to have the party blow up in its face and him not only need to deal with the agency but with Mint Eye as well... is this me just excited at the idea of Unknown crashing the party in a fun outfit?

Yeah, but hey, you get something out of this, too.

Enjoying a slow dance with Saeyoung, dancing dangerously close to something romantic, only for a bomb to go off at the front of the gallery hall, not to endure anybody, but to draw attention to the one and only hacker. 

[nahalism]

Did you ever experience some kind of…almost debilitating anxiety? I’m talking of months or + gnawed and exhausted by fear and both mental and physical sensations that come with it. How did/do you move through it

luv

a long one in advance but lol yh bare times. ill answer ur question, but there's two sides to the route i took and i have 2 preface with everything i did and do is based off of what i feel is right for me at the time. it doesnt mean its right though, and im very aware of that, so ill share some parts, but ultimately each person has is their own experience. the first step to moving through something, is looking for answers so like.. deeper than whatever i have to say, the answer is not in my answer, its in the fact u want answers

anyway. throwback to 6 ish years ago, i was having a breakdown breakthru and i started viewing what i called anxiety, as hyper vigilance. i started to see i was using a way of perceiving reality, along with my ability for analysis, to create correlations between my present, based on my perception of the past, to determine/predict the future (both futile and fallible), not cause i wanted to know what was going to happen, but because i thought keeping account of all possible outcomes gave me control and control would keep me safe and stop me experiencing a version of life i didnt want to go back to (more specifically it stopped me feeling helpless & inconsequential). as i understood that, along with the traumas at the root of my hyper vigilance, and the anxiety (social and general cause they r v separate), i recognised that i wanted control because i wasn't confident i could take charge or respond to reality without immense preparation. on top of that, i was resisting the fact that i was anxious because i was calling the symptoms i was experiencing my anxiety, but the real anxiety was the way i thought, and i was actually addicted to thinking in that way, because even though i hated it, and what it did to my body/nervous system, it was protecting my ego by giving me a false sense of control.

so that was my first step. i began to take action from where i was, as i was. that meant listening to what made me anxious. for example, if a place or person made me anxious, i didnt interact or go. i validated myself and what i was feeling. & i dont mean that in an avoidant sense, ill say why in a second. but yeah i validated what i was feeling, and began to see that the more i gave myself permission to be who i was, and do what i wanted unapologetically, the less direct anxiety id experience. and that sounds like an easy decision to have made in hindsight but usually, the change a persons anxious to make is something that in the moment requires a huge leap of faith but seems inevitable in hindsight. anyway, that's when i really realised that i was anxious because i was living an inauthentic life based on premeditation rather than presence. i had/have concurrent ptsd, so there were a lot of emotions i hadn't felt in a long time without realising, like passion or genuine laughter, happiness, joy, peace. id literally forgotten anything but this autopilot need to protect myself, be there for the people that had been there for me and stay alive. in giving myself permission to be different from who i had been, i started to see the world free from what my past dictated it should be and everything started to open up as as a consequence. side note, id been studying metaphysics and philosophy since 6 form, and i can't underestimate how much the principles i learned there helped me transmute my situation. ive recommended all those books in here before, so u can find them, but yeah . it sounds pretty and idyllic and as essy as 'changing my mind' but it was fucking brutal. i transformed in every sense of the word i lost almost everything in the process. there were wins along the way but 90% of them were silver linings of my own deciding. however, nothing i lost needed to stay! and everything i chose to go through or was subjected to led me to understand me and opened options as to how i could cultivate a beautiful and real inner life that eventually began to bleed out into the 'real' world.

the dark side of that, which is how i reached most of those revelations and insights, is the experiential bit that i can't communicate. i literally put myself through hell, and i can type till my fingers fall of and still never convey the full picture of how what why when, but yh. when i said i listened to my anxiety, i meant that literally. as i said before, i didnt allow myself to be avoidant. so if there was a reason i didnt want to do something, i honoured it, but lets say the only obstacle to me doing something was my anxiety, id force myself to do it, to the point of masochism. literally, i was obsessed. day in day out i was reading on self improvement, i studied every religion, researched philosophers, listened to hour long lectures on youtube, i did everything i could do to understand myself, my mind, life, and how to reprogram what i was experiencing. at the same time as this i used to myself in situations that would trigger panic attacks, or dissociative episodes and find ways to 'function' through it. one that worked very well was smoking weed, sometimes alone, sometimes in bad company. weed gave me severe panic attacks at the time, so when i was on my own, id smoke to induce panic attacks so i could meditate, breathe, draw, write, literally do whatever helped to bring myself through the panic attack. then when i felt capable with that, id smoke in bad company and practice with the pressure of being in front of people and there would be times id b having full blown panic attacks in front of people, sometimes with, but usually without them knowing and the whole time was just training myself to understand or pay attention to my mental patterns, training myself to calm myself down, to reach a zone where i could see through what was triggering me, or at the very least just firm it. and the more i did that, the more i understood why i was dissociating, or collapsing, or having chest pains, hyperventilating all that shit. the more i understood, the more i reeeaaally understood, and then i got to a point where even though the trigger is there lol, it still exists, but when it gets pulled i can hold the explosion. because i feel it happening, i see it happening, but it happens to something within me and not to me now? and so i kind of watch it and love and appreciate it for what learning to temper it taught me. its like a familiar old friend has its quirks that i wouldn't change for the world and yh idk im just rambling i need to go to bed. but basically i stopped being debilitated by anxiety by living in complete debilitation of it until it couldn't debilitate me any more. id be lying if i didnt say it drove me to very dark, lonely, appearance of being semi crazy states of being, but it was worth it and still is.

without the period of isolation the second half of what i described put me through, i couldnt have found realignment cause i wouldnt have seen how incorrect my projection of my past onto the future was, or how to correct it. & deep it, if all u know is death misery lack poverty shortage economic & social insecurity, then all u can see for the future is that. once u open ur eyes and see urself and the world for what is u can start playing. it wasnt easy, and im still not over being anxious. but its not debilitating, just an uneasy emotion. & the way i see it at this point, its just my inner system seeing something what my eyes dont & making me aware. when i listen im redirected, and can find alignment. when i dont it gets worse, and the only way out is to be numb. but i wanna live and i cant live numb. hope i answered, love <3

[narwhalandchill]

OMG NOOOOOO FIRST DEATH 😭😭😭

was it burgh??? was it colress????? (well. almost him. got fucked over w double full para and sturdy and his hyper potion)

NO. FUCKING. BIKER STANLEY ON ROUTE 4.

anyway you need the full story so firstly.

i did clear burgh with ease as usual by overpreparing like hell. then as mentioned above proceeded immediately to almost lose two mons and risk my starter to colress and only got out bc he got no crits and his klink refused to use thundershock against pat the dewott for some reason despite clear opportunity so like thanks for the incompetence i guess.

anyway then i went for my route 4 encounter and got trubbish which . L. at least its dupe clause for a few future routes and encounters

because of this i ended up deciding to go for the relic passage and try my luck with the dust clouds for a drilbur so i could have a strong ground type. took 8 years for dust clouds to spawn for some reason but i Did end up winning the 80% and getting my drilbur. Who is an entire situation by herself bc. Well

i catch her i rejoice i got my desires encounter excadrill is broken and ive actually never really used one in gen 5 playthroughs before. welcome to the crew myyr.

check her summary.

modest nature 💀💀💀💀 well its a nuzlocke not like i can get another one so we will need to live with this.

anyway that tragedy aside lets input her stats into an IV calculator to see exactly what kind of goober we have in here for ourselves.

..... my girl with an atk reducing nature . Has 31 IVs in atk . 😭 (for non nerds that is the highest possible value you can have in an IV for any particular stat meaning. big number bigger)

well that sure is. [Duality.png]

anyway even with that sad nature myyr is a fucking monster so i keep her in the front as i go through route 4 despite lacking some levels (red flag). she sweeps with dig and metal claw alone its cool

except then. Stanley.

Stanley with the. timburr that uses . Bide . on the turn that myyr burrows in for dig . bide. being the move that takes all the damage the user takes while charging it. and unleashes double that amount after a turn of charging . with priority.

i watch as myyr obliterates over 80% of that timburrs health bar. with one dig . During that very same turn of charging. the turn after which the accumulated dmg is going to be released

the only reason she didnt 1hko with that dig was because she was underleveled. and now im facing down like. a bide thats absolutely certain to hit MINIMUM 90 hit points on the next turn. and Nobody in my team has that much hp to just tank and survive it.

....i need to sacrifice someone.

and like. with this being the team . it was. pretty obvious who

paprika the magby from virbank complex inner area (i counted outside and inside as 2 different encounters no clue how the Pros see it but w/e) . who just did a Honorable job clearing burghs bug types alongside fig the golbat and pat the dewott. paprika the magby with a special atk reducing nature and no physical fire moves . who didnt even get to evolve .

im so sorry paprika . but compared to all the others here . ur duty is done . i cant get you fully evolved bc magmortar is a trade evo . there are no gyms left that ask for fire. there are other fire types to grab in a pinch . i cant lose any of the others

thank you for your service paprika 😭😭😭😭🫡🫡🫡

and so he took the stage for the last time............ going down to that STANLEY and his terrible timburr.... only to be avenged by none other than myyr .

dear Paprika . your sacrifice will never be forgotten 😭

[eorzeanflowers]

now that its been nearly a full day since the last fanfest, i'm just gonna put my thoughts on Dawntrail as a whole out.

Jobs

Viper is cool. I like the idea of another scouting class. I'm a ranged phys main so sharing jewelry with another job is a plus.

The aesthetic of Viper is really really cool. I love the swashbuckler look that the AF gear has. I cannot wait to put Marisol in something similar. The twin blades into a double blade is also very appealing. I used to play Sith Assassin and Jedi Sentinel in SWTOR and its like a marriage of the two.

So in conclusion, Viper is just cool and its gonna be a lot of fun to play. Just like how Reaper is pretty fun to play still.

BUT Pictomancer is just more exciting to me. I LOVE RELM so much. Its been forever since I played VI so I might go do that sometime.

AND THE SPELLS ARE SO CUTE. They look so fake and painterly that I just can't help but fall in love with them. The AF gear is also so cute and I cannot wait to put it on Lily.

Archie is also going to main this class (I had decided that before the reveal, when it was still in the air between green mage and pictomancer.) Its so cheesy and cute and goofy and feels like it would fit my Doctor Who-like character a lot better than the raw powerful Black Mage.

Pictomancer is just gonna be good healthy goofy fun and its the job I'm more looking forward to!

Fem Hrothgar

I'm so so so so happy that they went big and buff over cutesifying Hrothgar. Cause we know they could've and it would've not looked good at all. I'm still not the biggest fan of the dimorphism of Au Ra. (even tho I main one. ^.^;)

My biggest complaint with Fem Hrothgar is that their starter gear looks so much better than all the others. Like the wrist guards! They look sooooo good. (I also really dislike Au Ra starter gear, that doesn't help.) But you can see the new graphic update with them and just their general design feels better than the OG 5. I felt this way a little about male Viera, but I was not super likely to make a male Viera so it didn't matter to me that much.

I don't know if i'm gonna make a Fem Hrothgar... They aren't my style per say, but I'm not gonna keep that door closed. I'm not the biggest fan of more animalistic faces, but that's a personal problem.

All in all, they look fucking fantastic and I'm glad they went the route they did.

Graphic Update

It looks great and its gonna be good when we get it. I'm very glad they actually showed us dark skintones this time too. They all got such a glow up! Can't wait for the gear to follow.

Now give us more character creator options for everyone, and hats for Viera and Hrothgar!!

Tural

The areas look really pleasant, I do like the whole brand new adventure feel. Its a lot better than the feel of the start of the void quests, that kinda had the same feel but got a little dreary once in the void proper. I dunno. Even as a fan of IV the Void Arc was kinda, meh. I like Zero and Golbez as characters, but the rest was kinda whatever. The world lore was also good but eh.

The new zone designs are just breathtaking. I'm the biggest fan of the Western town and South American highland zones. They are just so different from what we have currently it will be great. Solution 9 and the cave zone (that appears to be under it) are.... really fucking cool. Its so far away from what we were expecting I just can't help but be estatic. (And I can take pics of the Linnaeas twins' home shard there. Since I headcannon it as a cyberpunky shard.)

The dungeons all look pretty neat, I like the thunder crystal mountainside the most so far.

Its gonna be a fun story I think, a nice palette cleanser from the heaviness of Endwalker.

The Arcadian

I have no idea what to expect from a raid that is taking place inside a graphics card. By name alone and the fact its in the cyberpunk area does give me good hope. :D

Vanadiel

As I haven't played XI I'm indifferent. It'll be a fun raid and I'm likely going to enjoy the fights, but its just another FF in XIV. Pretty standard tbh. It'll be fun and I'll enjoy the story but there is no anticipation for me.

Ultimate Eden

Its gonna be bonkers and I'm gonna enjoy watching the full fight once its figured out. (I'm not a savage raider lol)

Other Content

The field zone has potential. Since we know nothing else, that's all I've got. I did miss having a field zone in Endwalker tho. It was the perfect place to while away hours working on relics. (let's hope the next relic grind is as tedious as just gather tomes.)

Cosmic Exploration is going to look flashy and great, but I don't do a lot of crafting/gathering so I dunno how much I will enjoy it past its story. Its gonna just be relegated to going there once in a while like Island Sanctuary for me likely.

Deep dungeons are only fun the first time solo and ok with friends later. I've completed both PotD and HoH but my friends still haven't finished EO so....

Hildebrand is Hildebrand. Perfection in humor form.

I will likely enjoy the Variant dungeons, I've enjoyed the first 2 (haven't done the newest cause I was taking a break from the game) and I like the lore that comes with them.

I can't think of anything else really rn but those are my immediate thoughts! Its going to be fun and refreshing and I cannot wait till summer to play it. (tho we must)

[skylarmoon71]

Lex Luthor (Smallville) AU Chapter 10

They’d gotten as far as the Talon as Clark and Lex went back and forth with suggestions. 

“You said this happened at the fortress, then that’s where we need to go.” Clark was ready to take off, but Lex halted him. 

“Wait, when I woke up, I was in the hospital.  We need to check the hospitals, she could be at one of them.” Clark pulled his truck off to the side. 

It made sense. He recalled about a month ago he’d been at Clark’s house having a conversation, that’s why when he woke in a hospital and you were there, he was a little confused. You’d brought him right back to the place he’d started. 

“I can run us there, it would be faster.” Clark stated. It was easier when he knew he didn’t have to hide it. 

“No!” Clark was startled by Lex’s tone. 

“Your secret we..we can’t risk anyone seeing you. “ 

Clark was stunned at how protective Lex was acting. 

“The truck is fine.” Lex kept his eyes focused on the road, and Clark pulled out, setting his route for the hospital. 

There was a silence that followed in the car. 

Clark felt like he had to say this. Because there seems to be very little Lex didn’t know about now.

“When you regained consciousness, I felt something.” 

Lex’s eyes darted across.

“What did you feel?!” 

“It’s hard to explain. But that girl, if she’s just like me, then we must be connected in some way.” 

As crazy as it sounds, Lex understood. 

“Maybe there is a chance that they are connected.”

Right now he could use the hope. 

Clark’s hand gripped the steering wheel. He’d learned enough not to ignore certain signs. That’s why when Lex insisted, he couldn’t help but believe him. Because this was different. 

Every couple seconds Clark found himself glancing at Lex. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him this anxious. Lex had always been someone who was great at keeping his composure. 

But this person he was searching for, it reminded him of that one time when he’d thought Lois was hurt. He hadn’t realized how much he actually cared for the pushy brunette until she was in danger. Looking at Lex, it’s almost like looking into a mirror. 

“You’re in love with her.” 

Clark wasn’t sure what possessed him to say that. But Lex didn’t even look at him this time. He didn’t confirm Clark’s suspicions, but he never denied it either. 

“We should hurry.” Lex urged. Clark refocused on the road with a nod.

It took them about fifteen minutes to get to the hospital. Once there they’d decided to split up. Lex rushed to urgent care, and Clark stayed on the very first floor for any incidents that were just reported. The plan was to regroup in fifteen minutes and come up with another plan of action if they weren’t successful. 

Lex had been probing doctors and nurses, but he was having very little luck. Clark had to physically force himself not to superspeed through the rooms. After seeing how desperate Lex was, all he wanted at that moment was to find you. He turned around another corner, and to his surprise, he spotted Lois.

“Smallville, what are you doing at the hospital? Here for your daily dose of IV?” 

“Sorry Lois, I’m kind of busy looking for someone. “ 

“That’s great, I’m in a similar predicament. “ 

“Who did you lose?” 

“A chick about this high. I was out on route 16 when she came out of nowhere. I brought her in here, but now she’s gone.” Clark stopped. 

“Lois, where is she?” 

“Woah what’s got your knickers in a twist, weren’t you listening, I lost her. I didn’t even get a name. I think maybe she was drugged. I’ve been checking missing persons but no one seems to recognize her.” Lois paused for a second, tilting her head. 

“You know Smallville, she..kinda looked like you.” His eyes widened. 

“Thank you Lois.” He gave her a brief hug, taking off in the other direction. Lois just stood there baffled.

“Anytime Smallville..” 

~~~~

“I’m not getting anywhere.” 

He was starting to lose hope. He didn’t want to believe that you’d completely vanished, but it was becoming very bleak. The only other place they could check was the fortress. If that turned out to be another dead end, he wasn’t sure what he would do.

“Lex!!” 

Clark’s call pulled him from his somber thoughts. 

“I think I have something. Lois said she brought in someone, she found her passed out on the highway.” 

“It could be (Y/N)!” 

“That’s what I thought. She just woke up so she’s heading somewhere. Can you think of anywhere she would go if she’s scared, confused.” 

If he had to guess he would say the farm. That’s where he’d gone when he lost his memories. That’s where he felt the safest, no doubt you would too. 

“She has to be back at the house.” 

“I’ll call my parents and tell them to keep a lookout. “ The were both rushing back to the truck as Clark dialed the number. It rang a couple times.

“Hello.” 

“Dad it’s me, she might be there. Lex thinks she might have gone to the house because it’s familiar. “ 

“Clark..” 

He didn’t like the way his father sounded. 

“Dad, what’s wrong?!” 

“We’re fine just…get back here as soon as you can. I think she’s here.” 

Clark turned to Lex.

“They found her, she’s at the house.” Lex didn’t need to hear much more. 

“We’re on our way dad!” 

He hung up the phone, jumping into the truck as they basically sped down the road.

[ladyappletun]

Pokémon Improvements I Loved

LeafGreen to Platinum

3D models: I didn't even realize there were 3D models in this game until a few years ago, but going right from Gen III to Gen IV, you can definitely see the difference. Everything has a lot more depth and feels almost like a pop-up book.

Near-infinite item storage in the bag: You can hold 999 of every item in the game. No more item management in the PC! It wasn't really a problem in LeafGreen, especially because the TM case compartmentalized the TMs away from the other items, but I'm glad I don't have to deal with inventory management anymore.

You can run indoors! Not sure why they didn't let you run inside in Gen III, but I'm glad it's gone now.

The Journal: A quick summary of your recent activity, that only appears when you haven't played in a while, and you can decide exactly how much you want to read when you boot up the game? Chef's kiss.

The touch screen controls: Maybe it's because I started with Gen IV, but spreading the battle interface across two screens is so convenient and works so well for Pokémon that I used to worry how they would handle the move to the Switch in Gen VIII. It turned out okay in the end, but I really enjoyed the additional screen on the DS/3DS.

In battle, the Bag has compartments: It's much less tedious to use an item mid-battle because you don't have to scroll through a long list of every single item. Plus, everything is compartmentalized behind touch screen buttons, so you don't have to flip through multiple lists to find the category of items you want and then scroll through the list to find the item, like in Gen III.

The opponent's team status in the battle menu: When you're deciding what to do on your turn, you can see a row of Poké Balls in the top right corner of the touch screen. Each Poké Ball represents a member of your opponent's team, so you know how many there are, how many are knocked out, and whether any have status conditions. In previous games, this information was flashed at you very briefly when your opponent switched Pokémon, giving you a very short window to access this information.

Poké Mart merchandise: All Poké Marts carry the same merchandise now, with the types of items on sale dependent on the number of Gym Badges you have. I think they were trying to go for this in the older games, too, but they didn't account for the fact that the player might want to return to old areas and stop by the Poké Marts there.

Companion Trainers like Riley and Cheryl: It's a fun, new way to traverse difficult areas, it creates an excuse to have more Double Battles, and they heal your team between fights to make it easy to train.

The Underground! I love Secret Bases, I love the treasure hunting minigame, I love (and miss) the interactivity with other players, it's great.

"Last item used" feature: In battle, if you use an item, it appears at the bottom of the item screen as the Last Item Used button. Very convenient for catching Pokémon, so you don't have to navigate the large Bag menu over and over just to get to the same item.

Your Trainer's Contest Costume: I've never been the biggest fan of the Contests in these games, even after giving them another try in these playthroughs, but I do love that your character gets to dress up to participate. The girl's dress in particular is very cute.

Seeing Pokemon registers them in the Pokédex: I know I'm working towards a living dex in Gen IV, but before now I've never really been interested in completing the Pokédex. The few times I've tried it, it's been really tedious and not very fun. So, while I know catching Pokémon is a major part of these games, I appreciate that I only have to have seen the Pokémon in battle for it to count, especially when dex completion is used as a story checkpoint.

Day/night music: Now that the day/night cycle is back from Gen II, slightly different versions of the town and route music will play depending on the time of day. All the nighttime music is a bit slower and calmer, really capturing the vibe of curling up with the game while the rest of the world is asleep. I'm particularly fond of the Pokémon Center's night theme.

Waterfalls: In Gen III, if you approach a waterfall as though you're trying to go up, the strength of the current pushes you back a space. Even if you can use the Waterfall move. You have to very carefully approach the waterfall so you don't get turned away on accident, then click on it to use the move. In Gen IV, the waterfall just acts like a brick wall you can click on, so you don't have to be super careful or risk being pushed away.

Poké Marts show the number of an item you already have when you go to buy something. Sometimes I don't remember that I already have an item at all until I go into the store, so it's nice to not have to scroll through my Bag to see what I have.

The Battleground: I'm not sure if Gym Leader rematches have been a thing before, but it's so cool to have them now, even if you can only fight a few each day. Plus they're all in one place.

[ajdrawshq]

3, 9, 23 :D

u know u did smth right when i have to re-look up how to do readmores on mobile for an ask cksbxjsbn

3 - 1-3 games you've played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed

Omori, Radiant Historia, and Octopath Traveler (in that order)!! and probably several more that im currently forgetting bc the last few months felt like years. i saw Omori on game pass n since i remembered seeing the occasional post abt it i decided to try it out and man!!!! good fucking game!!!!! i dont talk abt it often bc theres very little i can say abt it that hasnt already been said, but it means a lot to me - both the games messages and the world n characters. i even got some new mutuals out of it :3 then Radiant Historia.. i could say a million things abt this game and i Have (most of which is still in my drafts) but god i wish more ppl knew abt this thing. it has its flaws for sure but it does some stuff ive never seen in other games, or not quite the way they do it. n im super attached to the characters <3 probably one of my favorite time travel games by far. and then!!! Octopath Traveler!!!! my most recent beloved.. i did Not think id like it as much as i do but now im very not normal abt it. its such a gorgeous game both in story and the general Vibe of it all its just so <3

9 - A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

definitely octopath. i didnt know Anything going into this game other than that someone recommended it to me bc i also like radiant historia so there had to be some kinda similarity there. going into it, i wasnt sure how following 8 seperate characters and 8 seperate storylines would work nor did i think the endgame would tie them all togther that well, if at all. starting up the game wasnt the most interesting, like when ur going around collecting all 8 characters for the first time and trying to keep up with em all, BUT!! its the kinda game that gets good if u put the time and effort into it and before long i already had 100 hours in. after a while i got really attached to the main team id been using and the other 4 were just as interesting, even the ones i didnt expect to like much?? i adore all the different dynamics within this funny lil ragtag found family so much and all their individual stories.. and everything else is incredible too!! the music is SO fucking good its literally all live orchestrations (and all the musicians are credited too!!) and the boss themes and town themes and route themes are all gorgeous. the graphics are fucking ridiculous, like this game has the best water graphics ive ever seen and that is not an exaggeration in the slightest, and the snow is so so pretty, and the blur effects.. mwah. the overworld pixel art is cute and the enemy/boss pixel art is suprisingly beautiful and detailed. the level design for dungeon-esque areas made treasure hunting fun and i like having to search for hidden pathways in a game built in such a different way than im used to (tho i still have yet to find a way to certain treasure chests >:/). and the gameplay - ive never seen an rpg with set characters that is as flexible as this. u can literally build any character any way and it will be perfectly usable and that is so awesome to me. like theres definitely some optimized builds, but if u wanna make the heavy hitting physical tank guy into a magic dps machine there is nothing stopping u. and he Will kick ass. the gameplay is straight up made for u to do whatever u want with it. the whole world is entirely at ur fingertips. anyway very cute game highly recommend it <3

also worth mentioning are omori, 999, and kh3, but only to some extent bc i technically knew at least Some stuff beforehand for each game but not enough to like. Know. yknow

23 - A "wow" moment of awe

ohhh ive been wanting to talk abt this for a while now thank u for enabling me. in octopath traveler, a Big moment for me was entering the .. spoilery true ending area. ive played a lot of games by now. there are very, very few that have 1. made me genuinely worried about a side character ive met 3 times total n had little more than neutral feelings about and 2. made me feel Actual Dread upon entering an area. the vibe is incredible. first going to a place thats talked about only in tales of a recent tragedy, where there is almost no sound, no life, nothing but burnt, abandoned remains, a save point, and an entrance. and when you actually go inside.. good god. the music is haunting. just the very place is haunting - quite literally!! and the massive lore drops along the way,, man. Man. theres a fuck ton of stuff they just drop on you all at once (some ppl dont like the massive infodump style and im usually the same but i was so fucked up by it i actually absorbed it all lmao), but One Specific Reveal alone was its own wow moment and i havent fully recovered from it. and then the final fucking boss(es)???? hello?????? and the fact that within the eye you can even see (spoiler)........ oughhh. and thats not even mentioning the leadup to it all - the hints are somewhat obvious as you complete each characters ending, but they dont really tie together until you find the diaries. some are more subtle, like the previously mentioned reveal that continues to fuck me up whenever i think about it and i have yet to recover from the whole thing. yes the true endgame is ridiculous and hard as shit and everyone hates doing it. yes its one of the most awe striking moments ive ever felt in a game and i wish i could do it again without the literal suffering that comes with it. no its not even worth it but id do it. yes i am so fucking normal about this game

i also need to mention 999, aitsf, and stella glow here bc holy fuck the three of them deserve it. ive talked abt the first two at some point on their own (the safe ending........ that fucking safe ending!!!!!!!!!!) n i dont have it in me to do a whole thing on stella glow after that ^ so just. trust me on this. ill probably rant abt it at some point its really one hell of a game. oh also ffxv but specifically bc of like the first cutscene where it shows the chocobros getting ready to leave bc that was the first time since id played kh1 and kh2 thatd id seen such pretty looking graphics n characters