#coral is hell to draw

[redwinterarts]

fall…

fall…

float…

[olessan]

I will befriend the grumpy and fittingly distrustful merman by sheer force of environmental conservation acts

[starlit-eudemonia]

There needs to be regulation of the ‘Killmonger’ haircut; only 1 gaming dev can use it per year around the world.

[cowsaresushi-coral]

bkrds, my beloved.

So close to finishing my segment for club, and that means I’ll be forced to do all the backgrounds that are left. Because for some reason, I’m the designated background person.

[mmani-e]

Hello! After all this effort, behold:

DANGANRONPA DEMIX, THH EDITION!

Dr Demix 2

Finally got the talentswap designs I have for the THH characters one and done with! You can click through the read more section for some fun design insights. I'm intending on uploading a doc containing short lore bits about them eventually.

Kyoko Kirigiri - Ultimate Affluent Progeny

So Kyoko's design was both kinda simple, kinda not, wanted to give her a very fine and regal kinda attitude to her but not arrogant as that's very much Byakuya's thing. Her story is that she loves her dad more than the family business and her grandpa so she abandons detective work and just uses her brain to help her dad out.

Makoto Naegi - Ultimate Novelist

Makoto is a wonderful guy, just great all around. He loves writing children's books and happy stories. This is his main coping mechanism so he doesn't have to process any negative emotions he gets, the rest he can't process… well they go into a murderous psychopath alter.

Aoi Asahina - Ultimate Lucky Student

Shoujo protagonist Aoi. Cute, headstrong, affective, competitive, these are all the traits that make her fight for her friends and clash with Kyoko (and more often than not Byakuya) in the killing game, even when all hope seems lost… she pushes through, unafraid to let tears spill from her eyes for all those lost, but pushing all the same.

Byakuya Togami - Ultimate Detective

This one, I wanna go into more lore territory, cause I kinda memed around his last desc I gave him so here goes:

"A disgraced heir of the Togami household, Byakuya lost the competition that would've secured his riches. Disdainful and bitter, he sought out to get to the bottom of why he lost, uncovering a rabbit hole in the process. By the end, he proved his sibling a cheater, but it didn't matter because by the end as he found the sweet satisfaction of uncovering secrets and crushing liars and cheaters under the weight of their hubris far more satisfying than any inheritance."

Sayaka Maizono - Ultimate Spirit Medium

So Sayaka isn't a clairvoyant at all like Yasuhiro, in fact her entire skillset is completely different, first of all she is like an actual psychic, and I based her design off of the japanese Itako, quite loosely. Very interesting group, look it up, also she'll never use these powers in the killing game because I dunno how to even approach these rituals or what they look like or how to write them while remaining respectful, so she won't do it in a killing game for the express reason of her not having the right tools available and not wanting to disrespect her traditions.

Leon Kuwata - Ultimate Swimmer

I really wanna draw him again, all these characters again tbh, and I wanna show off the patterns on his wetsuit. It's a whole coral reef under there, that anemone and clownfish bit is only one part of a whole reef stretching his midline.

Sakura Ogami - Ultimate Programmer

Sakura has installed chips into her body to help optimize her body processes and also cause why not. As for the muscles, she's an Assembly programmer, the programs she's made can run on calculators she loves it.

Chihiro Fujisaki - Ultimate Martial Artist

Chihiro's design here with the two belts is an explicit nod to his preferred martial art - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so unlike Sakura in canon who'd be easy to imagine cracking someone's skull in half with a chop, Chihiro's approach is more crawling onto someone and bringing them down to the floor with grappling like an angry halfling monk. As for the belts themselves, on his head is his final junior belt, while around his waist is his current belt, he's not a black belt yet because he's still too young for it.

Celestia Ludenberg - Ultimate Baseball Star

Celestia actually isn't a legend in this AU, Taeko is. Celestia hates that and wants to start a baseball career going international, whatever the hell that means is up to her own definition, but she wants to be remembered forever as Celestia, not Taeko. Also extra sentence, but this is the SINGLE hardest design I've ever had to deal with here, I think in the future I'll be drawing all her little accessories and I have an alt costume for her I have in mind.

Hifumi Yamada - Ultimate Pop Star

So I changed Hifumi's story as I originally outlined in the OG post with him. He was friends with Aoi all his life, pretty much his only friend at all, and ever since he was little he had an obsession with writing songs, because he was obsessed with stuff like anime openings and was content to just keep the songs to himself. It wasn't till Aoi convinced him to share some of his songs that he started his journey to success, but bc he's not traditionally attractive, his first hits were literally just… his voice being played over other more attractive singers and it wasn't until very very recently that he even performed a song of his for the first time.

Toko Fukawa - Ultimate Fanfic Writer

So while Hifumi was clearly a Doujinshi but due to weird translation, ended up as fanfic creator, Touko is straight up a FF then Wattpad then AO3 girl, who would get obsessed with this really shitty, tripe manga that she didn't even like reading. It did however have super hot dudes in it, so she wrote good stories of those characters when she got frustrated with the actual authorial content - which was always.

Yasuhiro Hagakure - Ultimate Gambler

Quite LITERALLY the never stop gambling meme personified into a guy. He can lose 3 mil on slot machines but always comes out fine because it means if he keeps gambling he'll eventually run into his 1/3 and win giga millions, what he needs to pay off his debts. It isn't just with luck though either because his personality and lack of intelligence or understanding of most the rules of the games he plays means he'll never react the way he should when getting a good hand in poker or a bad draw in blackjack, so he wins those games almost always through just… stupidity.

Mukuro Ikusaba - Ultimate Biker

She's number 16 in her gang, and is easily the most loyal enforcer and taskman of the gang. She does anything she's told, to a grim and disciplined degree not typical for hooligan bike gangers, she doesn't really desire a seat as top dog of the gang though, after all she's got school to worry about, and her sister.

Mondo Owada - Ultimate Warlord

So his relationship and Kiyotaka's is gonna be interesting, because I don't want him to be exactly like Mukuro at all, who was just sort of an all-obsessed Yandere. It's more like he's always chafing under Taka, who is less than friendly with him in this AU, really the main way he even lets Taka boss him around is because he pays incredibly well and helps keep his gang members from devolving back into the unstructured, chaotic criminal life, the same that took his brother years ago.

Oh and yeah, he still looks like Guile, as he should.

Sparkling Justice - Ultimate Killer Killer

Yeah it's a reference to Killer Killer, sue me I love the manga. He has Hajirahara's ahoge, and I thought it'd be cute to also give him a mask just like the other Makoto from a Kodaka game series (Raincode.) Also, while Genocide jack stuffs all her scissors in her skirt, Makoto keeps a truth gun with "truth bullets" as his main weapon, the gun he stores inside the big book in the chibi of just Makoto, and the bullets kept on his person as the red buttons all over his body, which he pulls out when he needs to reload.

"Kiyotaka Ishimaru" - Ultimate Fashionista

Unlike Mukuro and Junko, Mondo absolutely cannot hide the fact that he acts nothing like Kiyotaka, though this is surprisingly fine to everyone else, because unlike Junko who plastered herself onto literally everything, Mondo always obfuscated himself from the public spotlight, at most showing only his suits while he hid his face behind something conveniently placed. Which played primarily to his vision of an ultimate fashionista, who was above everyone and catered to the rich and powerful.

Junko Enoshima - Ultimate Moral Compass

This was a fun one, I decided to let her have her red hair because I believe it to be the "natural" look of her hair, while attaching little clips of dyed hair to her buns as a replacement to keep her shape sorta and keep the strawberry blonde somwehere on her. Understand that while she is the "moral compass" she is still pretty deranged, and the only reason she focuses so much on keeping everyone on their best behavior is because it's endlessly entertaining to her to make her fellow moral committee members upset when she blatantly makes a mockery of the rules while still keeping kids on their best behavior to make a point.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Ultimate Fashionista and Tyrant, the Iron Hand of Despair

Taka's design I wanted to sort of focus on this sort of, holier-than-thou idea, where I wanted to make him look a lot fancier and upper-class than Junko does in his standard highschool fit compared to him. I wanted him to have an upper-crust sort of look

If you're reading this after reading this all, thanks! You're a wonderful person :) Signing off...

Mani

[yandere-sins]

The Orcas' Tale - Lyr's Story I

And here he is, our sweetest, craziest, loveliest boy ♥ Honestly, it was fun giving Lyr a bit more personality than he had in the original story, and I am also glad to have provided him with a cute little darling of his own. I hope you guys enjoy slipping into the role of a mermaid, and ehem look forward to a different kind of spice (;

Fandom: Original Content   Pairings: Yandere!Orca Merman x GN!AFAB!Reader   Warnings: Yandere, Sexual Content (Non-Con Kissing/Touching/Fingering, Bondage kind of), Violence (Threats to kill/harmm reader, Sharp teeth/claws, Almost tearing off reader's jaw), Monsters/Non-Human reader, Animalistic behavior, Mention of blood/claws/sharp teeth, Hinting at death/non-con, Feeding the reader seal meat, Being caught in a net, Long post

"They just won't stop bugging! Like, I get it, Mom, bringing a human into the pod was stupid and dangerous, but it's not our fault that Nerrocan left!"

Heaving a deep sigh, Lyr looked up at the water's surface through the holes in the ceiling of the cove he had found. Light was shimmering into the mostly calm water, a few tiny fish slipping in and out of the cave-like structure while he rested on his back, ignoring any wildlife of the ocean as he had no interest in small fry. They didn't get close enough to be caught, wary of the superior predators of the sea, who, unbeknownst to anyone's eyes, looked more like friends hanging out than what they really were—captor and captive.

Despite his annoyance and loud complaining, he looked tired. You had witnessed many a mood of his ever since he decided to hide you away for his own enjoyment, but as of late, every time Lyr visited you, he looked more exhausted than the last. As usual, his eyes were dull, and his dorsal fin collapsed. For an orca in his best years, he looked like he'd been dragged through the blue hell, but it invoked no sympathy inside you. All you could do was listen and observe, but knowing he was the merman responsible for your misery, you felt no pity for your clearly mentally unstable captor. Reaching to his left, Lyr picked another piece of meat from the seal carcass he had hunted, slipping the food into his mouth before continuing his rant.

"Who'd have known that guy had it in him. Can't help but respect him getting the fuck out of the pod, and I'm glad I don't have to see his wannabe goody two-fin face anymore. It's been getting harder to put him in his place with how aggressive he suddenly got."

"Won't they miss him?"

Lyr stopped chewing, his head falling to the side, facing you. Muddy purple eyes sprang to life, reflecting the light as brilliant as rare corals. With one big gulp, he devoured what had been left of his meal, a toothy grin spreading over his lips. "Look who decided to talk! Who's gonna miss him? His mommy? Sure. It's not like she has a dozen more just like him."

For a moment, you held his stare, watched the grin stretch wider, and twisted his expression into a grimace before you lowered your eyes, settling on drawing swirls into the sand. It wasn't like you wanted to have a conversation with him, but listening day in and day out to his crazy rambles and complaints was just as bovine as engaging with the madman. 

"That's not very nice. I'm sure his mom loves them all equally. You've got a big family, after all."

"Nah," he retorted, shaking his head. Picking out a bone from the seal's body, he used it as a toothpick, cleaning out the sharp-edged teeth he loved flashing you. "Orcas aren't like yours. We don't love each other just because we share the same blood or come from the same mother. Either you're useful to the pod and do what you're told, or you're at the very bottom of the food chain. I could never be the same as Krill, no matter how hard I tried. He was always Mom's favorite, so now I just don't try anymore. It doesn't even matter to them where I am, but it suits me. Now I got a lot more time to spend with ya!"

Now it was your time to grimace while Lyr flopped onto his side and closer to you, surely noticing the tension growing in your body as you felt appalled by the ever-closing distance. He tossed the bone carelessly into the water while your movements abruptly stopped. You wished it was as easy as the flap of your fin to get away from him, but you were rendered helpless to his touch, unable to get away from his pointed finger dragging over your forearm, his claw teasing your softer skin. He didn't just have the advantage of size, but you knew that no matter how haggard he might appear, you'd be no match against him in a scuffle. Much less now that you were trapped.

And your growling stomach wasn't helping.

While you let out an exasperated groan, Lyr laughed loudly about your misery, finding your dependency on him to not starve hilarious. As much as you despised being at his mercy, you had no choice but to humor him if you wanted to survive, even when he enjoyed your reluctant behavior so much that he held his stomach aching from laughter. 

"You could have just told me you're hungry!" he teased, grinning from ear to ear at you while you gave him an ashamed glare, staying silent as a stone in your spot, belly-down in the sand. "I don't mind sharing, ya know? There's still so much of this yummy seal left, it would be a shame to give it to the fish. You know what you gotta do to earn it, right?"

Gritting your teeth, you watched the smugness wash over his expression as he sent you into yet another predicament. You even considered eating a heap of sand instead of bowing to his will. As if being trapped wasn't enough, he just had to exploit you at every chance he got, and you hated how easily your survival instinct made these reckless decisions for you, which he'd never let you live down. The hole in your stomach didn't get any smaller. Lyr's last visit had been a few days already, and you were in no condition to hunt efficiently for yourself. So aside from small, stupid fish that came too close to you, you hadn't eaten outside of his visits, and it was starting to show. 

You knew what you had to do. Unfortunately.

No matter how much your brain screamed at you not to, your body knew it instinctively, propping itself onto your forearms while you sighed inwardly, feeling defeated by your needs. Moving was the hardest part about being caught in a net. It was an unusual heavy net with clunky weights that had slung around your fin and lower body, dragging you to the ground where Lyr had found you. Even he had been surprised by the sturdiness of this net when he first inspected it but quickly had taken advantage of the situation, dragging you to this much more hidden place and out of plain sight so he had you all to himself. At least he didn't kill you; that's what you told yourself. But death was more merciful than Lyr, that much you knew by now. 

He had no problem being patient when it meant watching you struggle as you dragged yourself toward him. Lyr didn't even mind you digging your meager claws into his skin when you grabbed onto him, using his body to support yourself while you lifted off the ground, close enough to feel his watery breath ghost against your face. Placing your lips over his, you flinched away in reluctance before forcing yourself to keep going, counting to three this time before twisting your head to the side. 

Lyr hummed, sounding dissatisfied as you felt his hand brush up your spine. Nesting his palm at the nape of your neck, you refused to look forward again until he twisted his own head to find your lips, his much sharper, much more dangerous claws only curling into place the second he got what he wanted. Now, with an appreciative chortle, he relished in stealing another kiss, tongue swiping over your pursed lips until he found a hole in your defense, worming into your mouth. 

You were no stranger when it came to mating habits, but compared to your fellow dolphins, Lyr was surprisingly gentle. He relished in your defiance but seemed to enjoy enticing little moans and gasps from you just as much. His tongue was a choking hazard in a mouth that wasn't fit to house it. Though you had gills, you could barely concentrate on breathing while you fought against him as best as you could. Still, he took his sweet time exploring every inch, letting air flow out of his mouth and into yours, never not considering you while doing what he wanted. He even softened his hold on you, rubbing his palms down your back in a spine-tingling motion when you stopped struggling against him. It was almost like he was rewarding you for good behavior, and it was sickeningly pleasurable.

But the taste of flesh and blood lingering on his tongue made your stomach growl, your body eagerly moving towards him, hoping to find food. All you gained was a chuckle before he nicked your lower lip with his sharp teeth in warning. Your fangs probably wouldn't be able to bite through his thick tongue, but despite this weird obsession he had with you, he was almost more wary of you than you of him. It seemed like he could never cut himself loose completely despite having nothing to fear from an easy target like you. He seemed so relaxed and unbothered whenever he visited you, but it was almost as if he was plagued by invisible ghosts whispering into his ears. 

Despite his warning, you found his arms wrapping around your body, pulling you on top of him before you two rolled over to the other side, Lyr resting you gently down in the sand. He didn't care that the net that had trapped you to the ocean floor also got dragged over his tail, unbothered by possibly getting stuck like you were. Perhaps he simply didn't mind that thought as much as you did. To be fair, considering he was much stronger and the material had yet to wrap around and get stuck on his fins like it had with yours, it posed no threat to the orca. And yet, it was infuriating to you, who wanted nothing more than to swim away and reunite with your own kind. 

Propping his arm in the sand next to your head, he looked down at you with a satisfied smile and a mischievous spark in his eyes but reached over you, grabbing a piece of seal meat. He brought it up to your lips, dabbing it against them, though you refused to open for him. "I can feed myself just fine," you reminded him, wiggling your hands in the air to demonstrate your ability to hold things before trying to take the food from him.

"Now, don't be ungrateful, or I'll bring you a turtle shell to gnaw on next time."

You could feel your face contort in disgust at his suggestion, reluctantly parting your lips to nib at the food dangling in front of your face. Once you had a taste of meat, your body couldn't resist, gobbling up every last bite hungrily while Lyr kept providing it for you with a smile. If he wasn't fast enough, your teeth would drag over his fingers, but he wouldn't even flinch or scold you, his fin slapping against the sand instead, almost as if he enjoyed your nibbles. 

Seal wasn't your preferred food, but in times of food scarcity—like it has ever since getting holed up with Lyr—it was as good as any. The rest of the carcass was devoured faster than your excited stomach wanted, and you still didn't feel satisfied after eating every last piece. Had you been free, you'd have gone hunt for more without a moment of rest. But the gnawing hunger had subsided at least, and if Lyr came back again soon, you'd at least not have to endure it for too long until the next meal. 

Pausing your thoughts, you realized you had just longed for Lyr to provide for you again soon, immediately turning the hunger into nausea as you pondered on it. 

You were too quiet, too long for his taste as he sought out your lips again after your meal. Brushing his thumb over them, your instinct mistook his finger for more food. You could barely stop yourself from biting into his gnarly claw as the urge to eat won over again. However, your mouth was open long enough as realization dawned on you of what you were doing, for him to cup your face instead, turning it slightly to him so his tongue could lick over your lips and dip in again. Lyr hummed merrily as he tasted the seal on you, unashamed, unbothered by you struggling to keep him out, fingers wrapping around his throat—unsuccessful in deterring him. He was waiting for your breath to run out before taking the chance to deepen the kiss again, ever so patient with you. 

"I think I get it now," he mumbled, breaking the kiss before leaving some more superficial brushes of his lips against yours. "Nerrocan was onto something. We just didn't know it."

"Why didn't you go with him then?" you mumbled back, turning your face away to avoid any more unwanted affection, even if it meant resting it in his palm. 

To your surprise, Lyr scoffed loudly, and you flinched away as you could feel his mood shift. His palm didn't grow stiff and rigid. However, you still forced yourself away from it, too afraid he might—possibly on accident, but much more likely intentionally—rake his claws over your face, leaving wounds deep and painful. It was useless, however, as he used the same hand to collect your floating hair instead, forcing you to look at him while his gaze drilled into you with fury swirling in his eyes. 

"Listen, I might not remember how we got to that place, but I know all the shit they did to us!" 

You whimpered as he pulled your hair back, your neck struggling to keep up with his demands from your position. Lyr took a sharp breath, pausing the angry flashing of his fangs as he watched you cowering in front of him, ever so slightly calming down at the sight of fear flashing in your eyes. You hated him when he mocked you and also when he was delighted in your suffering. But you hated his anger more, his haggard body still crushing and his fangs and claws sharp despite whatever he went through. One bite into your throat, and you were a goner, especially with how exposed the soft flesh was to him now.

"I'll never go back there! Never! They cut us open, prod inside us with their disgusting hands, and inject strange fluids into me! They… They changed us. Changed me. And now I don't even know–"

His hand was trembling in your hair as he let out a shuddering breath. You caught his eyes for only a split second, watching the brilliant purple turn into mushy darkness. Lyr shook his head as if confused while his voice trailed off, his free hand rising as he hid his face from you for a moment. You weren't sure if you were supposed to say anything, and even if, what could you say to that? You had no idea what he's been through, and even though you had your fair share of struggles in your life, you never experienced something quite as dramatic as he described. Then again, why would you try to comfort him? Lyr was perfectly able to help you in your time of need but had refused cutting the net for you again and again. Why would you give him kindness if he refused to do the same for you?

Being free of his attention, your eyes fell lower on his body. Just shy of where your tail rested over his. With his tail flipped over, you had a clear view of his collapsed dorsal fin, a pitiful sight for any creature like you. It made you think that something was wrong with him in the first place, as this was an unusual sight on any of your kinds. If what he said was true, maybe this experience had done this to him, understandably so, as it sounded awful. You couldn't bring yourself not to pity him despite your negative feelings towards him. 

Next to you, Lyr took a deep breath, pushing his short hair out of his face before he searched for your gaze. Desperately. Needy. Somewhere to ground him. You weren't sure what you saw in the darkened violet, but his features looked drained of vitality, as if the moment of silence had exhausted him completely. It made him look… vulnerable. But then he smiled again, his eyes lit up, and the strange feelings swirling in his irises were covered by excitement as he found yours, soaking in the sight before him.

"I really do get it now," he admitted, grin parting his lips, revealing his protruding upper left fang, the sharpest of them all. "I was so confused about the strange looks Nerrocan gave the human, but I realize I've been the same with ya—whatever it means. I keep coming back here just to see you. I want to stay right here with you, forever. Just us two. I'll hunt for us and make this cave pretty. Whatcha think, lil' dolphin?" 

"N-No, I don't think that will work," you mumbled, averting your eyes again as his gaze became too intense to keep up the eye contact. He seemed to drill into you as if to excavate your soul and lay it bare for him to tease and enjoy. You didn't like it one bit when he looked at you so intensely. 

You could tell by now that he was working himself into another ramble, but you didn't like how much it focused around you. Usually, he was complaining about his situation in his pod and how much his mom hounded him with expectations. Lately, his rants focused more on the human and Nerrocan and the waves their arrival and disappearance caused in their family. But while he was always strange when it came to you, being the sole focus of his attention felt uncomfortable. 

"I'm not sure I understand, but my pod is probably searching for me, and I've been away for so long already. They probably miss me terribly! If- If only I could get the net off, I wouldn't have to bother you at all! I'd be gone before you know it, and you wouldn't have to look after me! I'd be fine! Maybe you can try cutting it again with your claws, or… or maybe--"

Lifting your torso from the ground, you grabbed the net at its highest point, tugging at it and trying to loosen it up. You realized it was you who was rambling this time, but the conversation had taken a turn that you didn't want to make reality at all cost. You couldn't imagine yourself being this guy's pretty little cave warmer for all eternity, preferring the roughness of your own kind over his madness. Orcas weren't known to be gentle housemakers, no matter how much Lyr tried to sell it to you. Not even when he handled you gently, yet never did what you wanted. 

However, you were surprised when he reached down to the net, yanking at it with you. A yelp escaped you as he pulled your tail over his, the net cutting into your flesh painfully as he twisted and pulled until you had to fold up your tail, getting more and more caught. Nets usually weren't as much of a problem to sirens, but this one was sturdier and heavier than any fishing net you had encountered in your long life. 

So when Lyr caught your hands in it, you began to panic. 

"Wait! I'm getting wrapped up in it! Please stop, this isn't helping!" Your plea was ignored as Lyr slung the grating material over your wrists a few more times, ignoring your thrashing and panic with the calm of someone who had all the time in the world. Who had nothing to fear, especially not you. Tears welled up in your eyes as you tried to make him understand you wanted to get out of the net and not strung up in it more until he was done messing with you, flipping you over and pulling you close against him.

"That's not what I meant," you sobbed as he rested his head on top of yours, only cushioned by the arm he lent you as a headrest. 

"Isn't this so much better?" he asked, feigning innocence. But you couldn't believe his audacity to make you even more miserable. It was as if he wanted to make you as miserable as he was. "This way, you can't leave without my help. And I doubt your little pod will find you here."

"I just want to go home," you mumbled, anger slowly overtaking as the panic subsided. Your hands were bound tightly, your fin being the one hurting when you tried to lift them and vice versa. You felt truly trapped, and that made you angry rather than sad. It was strange, considering how, just a few minutes ago, you had almost pitied this male, but now, all you felt was rage.

"It's your home, now. Our home. We'll live here, unbothered by others. Just the two of us."

"It's not my home! Let me go!" you snapped, lips pulled back in a snarl. Dolphins were by far not the scariest predators, but your teeth were sharp and threatening as well! 

Or so you thought.

Lyr laughed at your display of a threat, seemingly amused that you were still fighting him. Without warning, he raised his hand to your face, squeezing both sides of your jaw until the pressure forced you to open it, and stuck his pointer and middle finger inside. He only needed these two to press your tongue down, your mouth wide agape with his claws scarily close to the back of your throat. You tried to close your jaw, bite down until he'd retract his hand, but Lyr didn't care. He didn't even mind your teeth digging into his flesh, leaving cute little cuts against his slick skin. 

"Careful, lil' dolphin. You're not in a position to make such scary demands of me, don't you know that already? I could kill ya." 

Unafraid of getting hurt, the pressure on your lower jaw increased, fingers purposely impaling themselves on your teeth while pain made you jolt as you felt your jaw dislodging slowly. You wiggled your trapped body, gurgling against his fingers before finally looking up at him as best as possible from your position, noticing the smug grin on his face. 

"I won't, of course."

Pulling his fingers out of your mouth, dragging out the motion until the last moment, you coughed, the taste of his blood on your tongue. There was no time to recover as Lyr nuzzled his face into the side of yours, oblivious to the thrumming in your jaw as you tried to relax it while the blood flow resumed. 

"You're too much fun alive, so I won't kill you," he admitted, grabbing your hands that rested against your chest and pulling them down, elevating some of the strain on your tail, and you finally breathed out. "But if you want to get rid of the net, maybe we can find a way to make this even more fun?"

You felt his lips sink to your cheek, your jawline, then trailing down your neck. A kiss for every one of your gills. The water around you was gentle and warm, but at that moment, it was like jumping into the ice-cold ocean after sunbathing on the surface, shocking and shivering through every bone of yours. 

While the arm your head rested on wrapped around your collarbones, holding on to your shoulder, the other hand started to wander lower. His fingers played around with the net, cutting through some of the squares until he could stick his hand through it, placing his palm on your stomach before sinking it dangerously low and pulling your hands down with it. So you wouldn't be able to grasp his arm on top, trying to make him stop as Lyr nibbled on your earlobe, the protruding fang drawing blood that he licked up without hesitation.

"Stop that!" you complained as his touch grew uncomfortably intimate, the pain in your jaw reverberating as you spoke. It had long dawned on you what his definition of 'fun' was, but you weren't as naive as to believe he'd actually stick to his word and cut you loose after getting what he wanted. It was better not to risk it than risk it for nothing. Your kind wasn't known to be gentle to their chosen lovers, but you never thought about mating with an orca. It wasn't normal! Wasn't what you were made to do! And if you were to survive it… you didn't want to think of the carnage that all of him would leave behind on your body. 

If his size was any indication, you were sure you couldn't take him without getting absolutely ruined in the process—and not the pleasurable kind of destroyed. More the ripped apart and bleeding out type. 

His hand found your slit, fingertip brushing lightly yet incessantly over it, leaving a tingling trail in its wake. You whimpered, ashamedly so, but instead of the expected mockery, you felt his chest rumble, a purr reaching your ears. It was soothing, relaxing, his body warming you from behind even as you desperately tried to deny feeling anything from his touch. 

But Lyr wasn't stingy with his surprises.

A chirp so oddly familiar resounded behind you, yet you were sure you had never heard that voice before. It took you a moment of complete stillness to realize it had been Lyr making that sound, yet it wasn't orca. It was dolphin. "How did you…?" you gasped, ignoring his inquisitive fingers prodding at your entrance, begging to be let in without having to use force.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, lil' dolphin," he hummed, imitating some more whistles and clicks that were perfect and comforting, like the calls of your pod, yet were spoken by an uncanny voice. You felt the tears well up in our eyes again, as you couldn't help but gasp, following it with a moan, his finger slipping into you, teasing the soft, warm flesh awaiting him there. Lyr let out an appreciative sound that made your core clench with desire, all praise and all dolphin for letting him in. 

"You don't even like me," you gasped, hands wringing in the net. You were completely and utterly caught in this trap, and he had free range to your body while slowly gaining access to your very soul by imitating your own kind's calls of desire and adoration. Lyr's mouth pulled taut in a big grin as he felt you unwillingly relax and shudder in his arms, your tail buckling into his hand. You looked up to see the madness dance with satisfaction and need in his eyes before he leaned down to kiss you.

"That's where you're wrong, lil' dolphin," he chuckled, kissing you one more time, long and with relish, his fingers playing with you, adding one after the other as you loosened up to him, exploring the depths not meant for an orca.

"I like you very, very much."

[mochinomnoms]

I am eating up shirmpy chronicles content

I was thinking of the mix of genes that maybe there are some shirmpkids that have sharp pointy teeth like eels and eelkids that have a bit more blunt teeth like yuu what if we add Azul to the mix? Either in octopolycule or in uncle Azul either way he just wouldn't tolerate if the kids get bullied by "not fitting their species standards"

Also i fully agree with the ideas of mixes of shirmps and eels for the kids learning how a hybrid would work looks interesting but tiring I do think little eels and shirmps in case of octopolycule with purple-ish colors and spots would be so cute but as far as hybrid goes maybe MAYBE one of the elvers get born with shirmp antennas AND THAT'S WHERE I DRAW THE LINE and and more Azul and merkids Azul's mother teaching the kids how to do simple cooking stuff and while preparing the ingredients there is an elver next to her playing trashcan so when there is something that isn't of use from the ingredients the elver just goes :O and eats it

-Vaquita

Hell yeah! I have a few ideas for hybrid shrimpkids, I'll separate them via Tweels and Octopolycule:

Shrimpy Chronicles: Explanation of Hybrid Children

For reference: Fries can refer to both baby shrimp and octopi, so the shrimps will be called berries (cause the eggs look like berries lol) and octopi as hatchlings. Elvers are still baby eels! I'll refer to all the babies as fries in general to make it easier to read.

General:

All the kids, regardless of their fathers, are half-human. While the transformation potion permanently alters Yuu's appearance, it doesn't change their DNA. As such, the kids are a bit more mammalian than aquatic. This means that technically speaking, if Yuu is able to, the fries could be breastfed, but this depends on how human the fries are born as.

The most common variation in the hybrids is more varied colors/patterns. However, certain aspects of one species can pass over, such as the twin's teeth, pharyngeal jaws, and claws. Azul's dumbbell-shaped eyes, rectangular pupils, ink, and chromatophores can also be passed down. Shrimp Yuu's antennas, legs, “cleaning” behaviors, and patterning can be passed down, as well as some more human traits. Namely, the ones mentioned before, but they also have the potential to transform from merform to human without the aid of a transformation potion.

Because the fries are half-human, they are not suited well for the deep sea, unlike their father(s). Neither is Shrimp Yuu, even their type of merfolk is suited for corals reefs and bays. There is a chance that at least one or two of the fry will develop closer to their father(s), however.

The more gluttonous fries are actually a tie between the berries or the elvers. So the fry going :O to be a trashcan can be either shrimp or eel.

All the fries are prone to hiding. Eels, octopi, and shrimp all tend to hide in corals, crevices, etc. This makes them excellent at both hide n seek and giving their parents heart attacks.

Their diets are extremely varied due to their parentage, and while technically the berries and hatchlings can eat shrimp and octopus, it's more of the principle of the thing.

Moray/Shrimp Children

The most common result in hybridization for the twin's and Yuu'd children is higher variation in their colors and patterns. Teal and red at best makes a muted purple-brown, at worst is just a plain brown. Their kids are more likely to come out as either teal, red, or a more mosaic coloring (think of mantis shrimp's colors and patterns).

The elvers can develop antennas on their heads, like their berry siblings. Alternatively, they may not have pharyngeal jaws or sharp teeth, or claws. These elvers require more protection/supervision. Likewise, berries can develop all those traits as well.

Whether or not the elvers or berries are bioluminescent is random, but the ones with more eel traits are more likely to develop the trait

Sharp teeth are a dominant trait, so more likely than not most of the fries will have sharp teeth. Not all of them will develop the pharyngeal jaws though, and is more likely to show in the elvers than the berries.

Behavior-wise, the fries that take on more eel traits (regardless if elver or berry) will be prone to more predator behavior and instincts. You can find one of the berries barring their teeth at one of the elvers if they both take after their father(s) in this case. The opposite is true for the fries that take on more shrimp traits.

All the fries, regardless of which parent they take after more, will have the need to tend and clean each other and their family. This is because I just think the idea of Jade/Floyd being covered in fries is funny.

Octopus/Shrimp Children

Various patterns and coloring are also a common result for Azul and Yuu's children. Purple/lavender and red are adjacent colors (I think that's the word) so they mix much better. These kids will find themselves in a variety of shades of magenta, cool pinks, purple, lavender, red, or a patterned mosaic of those colors. They will have patterns similar to freckles on their skin, rings, but due to their ability to easily change their colors, they will copy their parents' patterns out of comfort.

The hatchlings can develop antennas like the berries, but the berries won't develop tentacles. They will, however, have more arm strength similar to their hatchling siblings.

Similar to the elvers, the hatchlings and berries with more octopi traits or behaviors are more likely to be bioluminescent

Berries may be able to produce ink from their mouths, while not all the hatchlings are able to do the same. Because of this, they are more prone to hiding to avoid danger and conflict.

Behavior-wise, both hatchlings and berries are prone to hiding. They are much shyer than their elver siblings, and you can find them using baskets, large shells, pots, etc as hiding spots. Often, if you find one, you will find many in that same spot. Sometimes, the hatchlings will develop the same cleaning tendencies as the berries.

These kids will also find themselves prone to cleaning their siblings and parents, but they are also collectors. The hatchlings and berries will get into groups and compete on who can find the coolest items. Their elver siblings are judges.

Moray/Octopus Children

Various patterns and coloring are once again the most common result for any of Azul and the twins' fry. Purple/lavender and teal produce a muted blue. But the fry will find themselves in a variety of shades of muted blues, purple, lavender, teal, or a patterned mosaic of those colors. They will have patterns similar to freckles on their skin, or the stripes seen on the twins' skin. They can also easily change their skin colors.

Hatchlings can develop Jade/Floyd's pharyngeal jaws and sharp teeth, as well as their claws. On the opposite end, the elvers may not develop those traits.

Regardless if they take more moray or octopus traits, they are all bioluminescent.

The elvers may produce a more ink-like mucus on their skin, while the hatchlings may not produce any ink at all. They may however produce the same mucus on their skin as the elvers.

Behavior-wise, technically speaking both morays and octopi are a type of predator, morays just more so. But you can find eels and octopi fighting in the wild. So, you can actually find the elvers and hatchlings play fighting against each other. They make it a game (whoever loses has to take over the other's chores).

The hatchlings and elvers are more protective of their berry siblings, and you can often find them in pairs or trios, with at least one elver/hatchling with one or more berries.

And that's all I got today folks! Womp womp, I love the Shrimpy Chronicles, they're so fun to write!!! As me for more, I have many thoughts and names for the potential children, hehee.

[dusk8]

Each characters reaction to the 70th anniversary of lotf

*at the nursing home*

Ralph: wow Jack it's been 70 years since the island

Jack: huh who knew I would be stuck in this hell hole with you 70 years later

*Roger sitting in prison after getting a life long sentence + 100 years extra*

Maurice would probably throw some old person reunion with the littluns (well there not little anymore 💀) and some of the choir boys + ralph

Simons skeleton at the bottom of the sea floor:

Piggy's skeleton at the bottom of the sea floor:

The mulberry birthmark kids ashes being apart of the dirt on the island:

(sorry if any of these are ooc I haven't read the book in over a year)

Also I might draw Simon and piggy's skeletons at the bottom of the sea floor with like colorful coral and seaweed on it. It would be sad but pretty looking. Oh wait right I can't really draw skeletons..... I'll figure out a way to tho.

Edit: how tf do I find a picture of a 12 yo skeleton to use as a reference photo????

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Brinklump Linkdump

Catch me in Miami! I'll be at Books and Books in Coral Gables on Jan 22 at 8PM.

Life comes at you fast, links come at you faster. Once again, I've arrived at Saturday with a giant backlog of links I didn't fit in this week, so it's time for a linkdump, the 14th in the series:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

It's the Year of Our Gourd twenty and twenty-four and holy shit, is rampant corporate power rampant. On January 1, the inbred droolers of Big Pharma shat out their annual price increases, as cataloged in 46Brooklyn's latest Brand Drug List Price Change Box Score:

https://www.46brooklyn.com/branddrug-boxscore

Here's the deal: drugs that have already been developed, brought to market, and paid off are now getting more expensive. Why? Because the pharma companies have "pricing power," the most reliable indicator of monopoly. Ed Cara rounds up the highlights for Gizmodo:

https://gizmodo.com/ozempic-wegovy-wellbutrin-oxycontin-drug-price-increase-1851179427

What's going up? Well, Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists. These drugs have made untold billions for their manufacturers, so naturally, they're raising the price. That's how markets work, right? When firms increase the volume of a product, the price goes up? Right? Other drugs that are going up include Wellbutrin (an antidepressant that's also widely used in smoking cessation) and the blood thinner Plavix. I mean, why the hell not? These companies get billions in research subsidies, invaluable government patent privileges, and near-total freedom to abuse the patent system with evergreening:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/23/everorangeing/#taste-the-rainbow

The most amazing things about monopolies is how the contempt just oozes out of them. It's like these guys can't even pretend to give a shit. You want guillotines? Because that's how you get guillotines.

Take Apple. They just got their asses handed to them in court by Epic, who successfully argued that Apple's rule requiring everyone who sells through the App Store to use Apple's payment processor and pay Apple 30% out of every dollar they bring in was an antitrust violation. Epic won, then won the appeal, then SCOTUS told Apple they wouldn't hear the case, so that's that.

Right? Wrong. Apple's pulled a malicious compliance stunt that could shame the surly drunks my great-aunt Lisa used to boss in the Soviet electrical engineering firm she ran. Apple has announced that app companies that process transactions using their own payment processors on the web must still pay Apple a 27% fee for every dollar their process:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-app-store-rule-changes-draw-sharp-rebuke-from-critics-150047160.html

In addition, Apple will throw a terrifying FUD-screen up every time a user clicks a payment link that goes to the web:

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/01/second-verse-same-as-the-first/

This is obviously not what the court had in mind, and there's no way this will survive the next court challenge. It's just Apple making sure that everyone knows it hates us all and wants us to die. Thanks, Tim Apple, and right back atcha.

Not to be outdone in the monopolistic mustache-twirling department, Ubisoft just announced that it is going to shut down its driving simulator game The Crew, which it sold to users with a "perpetual license":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIqyvquTEVU

This is some real Darth Vader MBA shit. "Yeah, we sold you a 'perpetual license' to this game, but we're terminating it. I have altered the deal. Pray I don't alter it further":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/26/hit-with-a-brick/#graceful-failure

Ubisoft sure are innovators. They've managed the seemingly impossible feat of hybridizing Darth Vader and Immortan Joe. Ubisoft's head of subscriptions, the guillotine-ready Philippe Tremblay, told GamesIndustry.biz that gamers need to get "comfortable" with "not owning their games":

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-new-ubisoft-and-getting-gamers-comfortable-with-not-owning-their-games

Or, as Immortan Joe put it: "Do not, my friends, become addicted to water. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence!"

Capitalism without constraint is enshittification's handmaiden, and the latest victim is Ello, the "indie" social media startup that literally promised – on the sacred honor of its founders – that it would never sell out its users. When Ello took VC and Andy Baio questioned how this could be squared with this promise, the founders mocked him and others for raising the question. Their response boiled down to "we are super-chill dudes and you can totally trust us."

They raised more capital, and used that to create a nice place for independent artists, who piled into the platform and provided millions of unpaid hours of creative labor to help the founders increase its value. The founders and their investors turned the company into a Public Benefit Corporation, which meant they had an obligation to serve the public benefit.

But then they took more investment money and simply (and silently) sold their assets to a for-profit. Struggling to raise capital, the founders opted to secretly sell the business to a sleazy branding company called Talenthouse. Its users didn't know about the change, though the site sure had a lot of Talenthouse design competitions all of a sudden.

Finally, the company announced the change as the last founders left. Rather than announcing that the new owners were untrustworthy scum, warning their users to get their data and get out, the founders posted oblique, ominous statements to Instagram. The company started stiffing the winners of those design competitions. Then, one day, poof, Ello disappeared, taking all its users' data with it. Poof:

https://waxy.org/2024/01/the-quiet-death-of-ellos-big-dreams/

I'm sure the founders' decisions each seemed reasonable at the moment. That's every terrible situation arises: you rationalize that a single compromise isn't that big of a deal, and then you do the same for the next compromise, and the next, and the next. Pretty soon, you're betraying everyone who believed in you.

One answer to this is "Ulysses pacts": making binding commitments to do right before you are tempted. Throw away all your Oreos when you go on a diet and you can't be tempted to eat a whole sleeve of them at 2AM. License your software under the GPL and your investors can't force you to make it proprietary. Set up a warrant canary and the feds can't force you to keep their spying secret:

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

If the founders were determined to build a trustworthy, open, independent company, they could have published their quarterly books, livestreamed their staff meetings, built data-export tools that emailed users every week with a link to download everything they'd posted since the last week. Merely halting any of these practices would have been a signal that things were wrong. Anyone who says they won't be tempted in the moment to make a "reasonable" compromise in the hopes of recovering whatever they're trading away by living to fight another day is bullshitting you, and possibly themself.

The inability to project the consequences of your bad decisions in the future is the source of endless mischief and heartbreak. Take movie projectors. A couple decades ago, the studio cartel established a standard for digital movie distribution to cinematic exhibitors called the Digital Cinema Initiative. Because studio executives are more worried about stopping piracy than they are about making sure that people who pay for movies get to see them, they build digital rights management into this standard.

Movie theaters had to spend fortunes to upgrade to "secure" projectors. A single vendor, Deluxe Technicolor, monopolized the packaging of movies into "Digital Cinema Prints" for distribution to these projectors, and they used all kinds of dirty tricks to force distributors to use their services, like arbitrarily flunking third-party DCPs over picky shit like not starting and ending on a black frame.

Over time, the ability to use unencrypted files was stripped away, meaning every DCP needed to be encrypted, and every projector needed to have up-to-date decryption keys. This system broke down on Jan 1, 2024, and cinemas all over the world found they couldn't play Wonka. Many just shut down for the day and refunded their customers:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/1/24021915/alamo-drafthouse-outage-sony-projector

The problem? Something that every PKI system has to wrangle: an expired certificate from Deluxe Technicolor. The failure has been dubbed the Y2K24 debacle by projectionists and film-techs, who are furious:

http://www.film-tech.com/vbb/forum/main-forum/34652-the-y2k24-bug-major-digital-outage-today

Making everything worse is that Sony mothballed the division that maintains its projectors, so there's no one who can update them to accommodate Technicolor's workaround. Struggling mom-and-pop theaters are having to junk their systems and replace them. There's plenty of blame to go around, but Sony is definitely the most negligent link in the chain. Shame on them.

Big corporations LARP this performance of competence and seriousness, but they are deeply unserious. This week, I wrote, "we're nowhere near a place where bots can steal your job, we're certainly at the point where your boss can be suckered into firing you and replacing you with a bot that fails at doing your job":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/15/passive-income-brainworms/#four-hour-work-week

Score one for team deeply unserious. The multinational delivery company DPD fired its support staff and replaced them with a chatbot. The chatbot can't tell you where your parcels are, but it can be prompt-injected into coming up with profane poems about how badly DPD sucks:

https://twitter.com/ashbeauchamp/status/1748034519104450874

There once was a chatbot named DPD, Who was useless at providing help. It could not track parcels, Or give information on delivery dates, And it could not even tell you when your driver would arrive.

DPD was a waste of time, And a customer's worst nightmare. It was so bad, That people would rather call the depot directly, Than deal with the useless chatbot.

One day, DPD was finally shut down, And everyone rejoiced. Finally, they could get the help they needed, From a real person who knew what they were doing.

This is…the opposite of an AI hallucination? It's AI clarity.

As with all botshit, this kind of AI self-negging is funny and fresh the first time you see it, but just wait until 3,000 people have published their own versions to your social feed. AI novelty regresses to the mean damn quickly.

The old, good web, by contrast, was full of enduring surprises, as the world's weirdest and most delightful mutants filled the early web with every possible variation on every possible interest, expression, argument, and gag. Now, you can search the old, good web with Old'aVista, an Altavista lookalike that searches old pages from "personal websites that used to be hosted on services like Geocities, Angelfire, AOL, Xoom and so on," all ganked from the Internet Archive:

http://oldavista.com/

I miss the old, good internet and the way it let weirdos find each other and get seriously weird with one another. Think of steampunk, a subculture that wove together artists, makers, costumers, fiction writers, and tinkerers in endlessly creative ways. My old pal Roger Wood was the world's most improbable steampunk: he was a gay ex-navy gunner who grew up in a small town in the maritimes but moved to Toronto where he became the world's most accomplished steampunk clockmaker.

I was Roger's neighbour for a decade. He died last year, and I miss him all the time. I was in Toronto in December and saw a few of his last pieces being sold in galleries and I was just skewered on the knowledge that I'd never see him again, never visit his workshop:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/16/klockwerks/#craphound

A reader just sent this five-year-old mini documentary about Roger, shot in his wonderful workshop. Watching it made me happy and sad and then happy again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMGomM8yF8

The old, good internet was so great. It was a place where every kind of passion could live. It was a real testament to the power of geeking out together, no matter how often the suits demand that we "stop talking to each other and start buying things":

https://catvalente.substack.com/p/stop-talking-to-each-other-and-start

The world is full of people with weird passions and I love them all, mostly. Learning about Don Bolles's collection of decades' worth of lost pet posters was a moment of pure joy (I just wish more of it was online):

https://ameliatait.substack.com/p/the-man-who-collects-lost-pet-posters

That's the future I was promised: one where every kind of freak can find every other kind of freak. Despite the nipple-deep botshit we wade through online, and the relentless cheapening of words like "innovation" and "future," there are still occasional gleams of the future I want to live in.

Like the researchers who spliced a photosynthesis gene into brewer's yeast (a fungus) and got it to photosynthesize, and to display enhanced fitness:

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01744-X

As Doug Muir writes on Crooked Timber, this is pretty kooky! Fungi – the coolest of the kingdoms! – can't photosynthesize. The idea that you can just add the photosynthesis gene to a thing that can't photosynthesize and have it just kind of work is wild!

https://crookedtimber.org/2024/01/19/occasional-paper-purple-sun-yeast/

As Muir writes: "Animals have no evolutionary history of photosynthesis and aren’t designed for it, but the same is true for yeast. So… no reason this shouldn’t be possible. A photosynthesizing cat? Sure, why not."

Why not indeed?!

OK, that's this week's linkdump done and dusted. It only remains for me to share the news with you that the trolley problem has been finally and comprehensively solved, by Sidereal@kolektiva.social, of the IWW IU 520 (railroad workers):

Slip the switch by flipping it while the trolley's front wheels have passed through, but before the back wheels do. This will cause a controlled derailment bringing the trolley to a safe halt.

https://kolektiva.social/@sidereal/111779015415697244

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/20/melange/#i-have-heard-the-mermaids-singing

[real-jaune-isms]

I Can’t Draw it, But Here’s Some Mermay Content:

Zoro: Still cracks me up that you almost died from a nosebleed, swirly perv…

Sanji: Oh fuck off, marimo! You just lack good taste, or any taste at all really!

Zoro: The hell do you mean??

Sanji: I didn’t shed blood for just any old reason, I risked my life in the glorious and gorgeous company of mermaids!!!

Zoro: That’s another thing, why the hell does anyone care that much about mermaids?? It’s just women without legs.

Sanji: That’s what I mean by lacking taste, you don’t see the unique beauty of the mermaid! Silky smooth skin always glistening from being freshly wet, lovely scales on their elegant tails… amazing breasts with minimal covering!~

Zoro: And any point you could have made goes out the window… twirly brow troll.

Sanji: You’re just still not getting it! Just imagine Nami-swan or Robin-chwan as mermaids!!

Zoro: *pictures Robin with an indigo tail, hair flowing beautifully in the open water, with some sea green coral covering her chest.* F-fine… maybe it’s not that stupid of an idea. I need a nap.

*He stomps away before before the cook sees he’s got a nosebleed*

[deconstructthesoup]

So, a while back, I thought of an early concept for a pirate-themed fan princess, and as the Pristine Cut has dropped and I am not one to half-ass story ideas... I decided to expand on that. And make a parallel route.

The Pirate: You get her if you bring the blade down and fight her, but if you let your guard down during the fight, she steals your blade and finishes you off. When you find the cabin next, it resembles the inside of a ship, and the basement is filled with glittering treasures. The princess you find is cocky, hotheaded, and greedy, claiming that she wants freedom so she can plunder the world of all the riches it has to offer... but despite the sharp cutlass in her hand, she is still chained to the wall, and very upset about it. Setting her free ends the route there, engaging in a fight and losing entirely sends you to the shared chapter 3---and if the fight ends in a draw, with both of you killing each other, you get her unique chapter 3.

The Siren: You get her if the Narrator drops the blade into the basement and you give it to her to free herself, but then you start to doubt whether that was a good idea, and if she can be trusted with a knife---and she instantly proves you right, stabbing you directly in the heart. When you find the cabin next, it resembles the inside of a coral-filled sea cave, and the basement is partially submerged in water, with its occupant lit by an opening in the ceiling. The princess you find is partially fishlike, and she sings in her bewitching voice that she didn't mean to kill you the first time, that she can be trusted, that you're lovely and won't you please let her out? If you fall victim to her voice and set her free, she will attempt to eat you---and you can either slay her, which ends the route there, or give up, which sends you to her unique chapter 3. If you resist and fight her, she will drown you, which sends you to the shared chapter 3.

The Lonely Sailor: When you awake in the woods after you and the Pirate kill each other, you realize that the woods have transformed into a set of abandoned docks, and the cabin is at the end of a long pier. The once-grand interior of the ship-like cabin is now old, rotted, and full of cobwebs, and when you go into the basement, you see that the treasures are still there... but now, the chains wrapping around the princess are made of the gold and jewels and pearls that she so loved. Trapped by her own greed, the princess is saddened and lost, and no longer cares for the riches she so desired---all she wants is freedom, and to feel the sea air on her face again. You can show no remorse for her and kill her (if you're cruel), or you can set her free and walk with her to the outside. Either way, the route ends there.

The Kraken: When you awaken in the woods after the Siren has torn into your flesh and bones with her teeth and claws alone, you realize that the woods have transformed into a set of mighty cliffs, all circling around a seemingly-calm sea with the cabin in the center... which almost instantly erupts into a whirlpool, the cabin's wreckage swirling around the new form of the princess. She is now a gigantic sea monster, hell-bent on bringing about total destruction---but you still have the blade, and you can still fight. You can dive for her weak spot and attempt to slay her, throwing the two of you down into the treacherous depths, or you can submit and allow her to pass. Either way, the route ends there.

The Storm: When you awaken after the Pirate has won your fight, or after the Siren has drowned you, you find yourself not in the woods, but on a series of rocks that act as the only pathway through a sea with crashing, wild waves and a lightning-filled sky above your head. There is no cabin, just a blade that lies at your feet and a princess chained to a rock and laughing as the storm around you gets wilder and wilder. It becomes clear that she is the one in charge of the storm, and she is daring you to finish what you started. If you charge forward with the blade in hand, the storm will get worse and you will become more and more batted. Submitting to the storm causes the route to end, but fighting through it means that you can reach the princess and slay her... or you can choose to set her free, blade or no blade. Slaying her will bring her a sense of giddy and exhausted relief, and setting her free will cause her to soften, then break down at how kind you are even after she's hurt you. Either way, the route ends.

[halfetirosie]

🐚 Important info from the [Mirage of Scales] PV! 🐚 (Reaction post)

1) This Oceanic Decor goes HARD!!!!! 😍

Fun fact about me; I often draw plants that are sorta remixed from how they are in reality. For example; a giant flower whose stem is actually made of tree bark (aka a literal flower-tree), a cactus with a huge rose instead of a typical cactus flower, plants sprouting feathers instead of leaves, etc.

So, a detail like coral in flowerpots is the type of whimsical shit I LIVE for, and it makes me really happy!

And that wall carving tho---it's so damn intricate! It gives me Mayan Calendar vibes!

2) Ooooo, interesting! I suspect Yakumo's intimacy rooms will have something to do with pearls this time?

Also, I couldn't quite figure out what those papers were at first, but judging by the top-left illustration of a spoon + the top-right illustration of a spoon mixing things in a bowl, I think it's a recipe!!!

Maybe we'll get to see some classic Yakumo-cooking action!

:D

3) FOX SPOTTED!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

For a second I thought that this was a hidden accurate-portrait of Fox Form Kuya, but then I realized that the white fur on its tail was on the wrong side. 😢

4) The lil' animations keep getting better and better! 😲

Yaku blowing a bubble towards us makes me feel some type of way...

Idk man, it's just SO FUCKIN ENDEARING....

MY HEART.....😭😭😭

5) 🚨🚨🚨PRETTY THIGH ALERT!!!🚨🚨🚨

6) Yakumo's hair really is GORGEOUS in this SSR...

(((Insert joke about my love of long-haired fantasy men)))

Nah but, aside from it's length---the way his two-tone hair is braided together is pretty as hell!!!

I feel like you can barely see the coral-red (lol how fitting for this event, CORAL red) part of his hair in its usual SR style, but this SSR shows it off especially well.

7) THE MILF ENERGY IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE...

😳😳😳

What can I say? Purple is my favorite color, and I've always been a sucker for fire-type Pokemon.

THIS BITCH IS TOO MESMERIZING...

It's not fair!

8) 😬 OH NO....

HE'S NOT GONNA BE EXTRA-TOXIC AGAIN, IS HE???

Come on, now... We just had an event where he was extra toxic. I REALLY don't want another one; at least, not this soon. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

And I don't say this because Kuya's hand is on Eiden's neck. Choking might not be my thing, but even if it happens in this intimacy room, I wouldn't find it upsetting.

It's because the combination of Kuya's hand on his neck + the voice line telling him "try not to die in such a banal manner" feels threatening to me, and that isn't very sexy. 😔

[merakiui]

Omg!! :0 neige i love seeing more stuff about him and just adding more to unknown characters because they give us so little about them T_T like idk about you mera BUT i am waiting (eagerly) for Rielle crumbs!! (definitely not because of all the ideas of him and the octotrio wanting the same darling) we don't even get his official appearance yet i personally think that Rielle is oblivious to everything and also some drawings of an artist i don't remember the @ of inspire more thoughts in me! Just Rielle being unable to communicate with anything else that isn't mer when speaking to his darling due to nerves? Amazing. In my balance of darkness i would say he is a bit similar to neige and not knowing much about human culture which could result in him not respecting some boundaries but he is the one who suffers in my head *cof cof by the octotrio cof cof* Rielle being an absolute himbo while the trio watch and mocking him because "As if thats going to work!... WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT HE IS TAKING DARLING ON A WEEK LONG TRIP TO THE CORAL SEA????" maybe this doesn't make much sense because i just toke my meds but Rielle <3

And i would absolutely love to hear your thoughts about just in general! I hope you are doing well :D

-Cuchito anon (possibly high on meds)

Omg yes!!! Every day I hope we will get a Rielle reveal. I must know what he looks like. <3 but I absolutely agree with your points about his limited knowledge of the human tongue, considering he's likely never been to the surface before or interacted with humans until eventually attending RSA! He definitely only knows mermish and he's doing his best to learn more words and phrases in the human language, but beyond that he really is lost when it comes to verbal communication. I like to imagine body language plays a big role in strengthening your bond with him, which Azul curses to hell and back because body language is his secret weapon and Rielle is ruining that by being unintentionally cute and starry-eyed and so precious and... Sea Witch below, he can't stand it!!!!! >:(

Azul tries so hard and here Rielle is, charming you by simply being his gullible self. The envy is so all-consuming that Azul begins to regret learning the human tongue, if only so he could rely on you and keep you close for translations like Rielle does whenever the two of you hang out. What he'd give so you could spend hours in the library with him, teaching him your language, smiling at him, helping him sound out every syllable... It's really not fair. If Rielle ever foolishly steps foot into the lounge to ask for Azul's help in winning your heart, you can be sure he is scamming him. Three days is much too generous. Azul halves that, boosts Rielle's confidence with all sorts of flowery words, and tells him he can definitely win your affections in such short time.

Unfortunately, by some miracle or curse, he does and it ends with you agreeing to visit the Coral Sea with him. Azul is in agony. T_T just what is he doing wrong? He's so heartbroken, too. Rielle has the ideal mer body, while Azul is stuck as a gross, slimy, clumsy tako (none of which is true, but to Azul that's all he'll ever be no matter how hard he tries to be better, slimmer, cooler, etc). He has to do everything he can to ruin your little trip with Rielle. He refuses to let the two of you get even closer, especially not under the sea! One day you'll be Azul's beloved and you'll live alongside him in the sea. There's no room for Rielle. In Azul's fairytale romance, it's just you and him.

[incorrectshantaequotes]

so uh. I was in a very artsy mood today as it turns out and ended up going "screw it, I'm going to draw a bunch of Reversal AU stuff"

so - here's the Reversal AU stuff I drew!

first off, the Kelp Tangler! you may or may not recall that I did some sketches for Risky's first four constructs before, so today I decided to tackle the rest of Risky's required constructs! not counting her equivalent for the Fusion Transformations, because, uh...I genuinely still don't know how the hell those are going to work. so, these are Risky's equivalent of the crab, mermaid, and mouse transformations respectively

the Kelp Tangler in particular is Risky's equivalent to the crab transformation - and since in terms of game canon the crab transformation is PROBABLY going to come before the mermaid transformation (though obviously we won't know for sure until Shantae Advance actually releases), I drew it first! the Kelp Tangler more or less acts as a scuba suit for Risky, breaking apart to form around her, with the "arms" going through the rocks on the top of the head to form little kelp propellers! had those rocks on the base of the arms at first and then I realized "this just looks like Regieleki" so I moved the rocks to the top of the head. anyway - besides that, the Kelp Tangler can also squeeze into small crevices to grab things Risky otherwise couldn't get herself

next up, the Coral Diver! this guy is the equivalent to the Mermaid transformation, and he DOES have a few differences to the Kelp Tangler, mainly in their exact purpose underwater. the Kelp Tangler is better for exploration, giving Risky her own air supply and all, whereas the Coral Diver...isn't the best at that, since it CAN'T give Risky her own air supply, but it can get her through the water WAY faster than the Kelp Tangler can. it does this by shooting water jets out of its fingers and weird coral shrimp horse legs, which it can ALSO use as an attack or, alternatively, to power things that need some form of running water on the surface

and for the last construct - though not the last sketch here - we have the Root Lobber! this is a similar case to the Lava Blaster, where it's TECHNICALLY the equivalent to the mouse transformation, but has a much different functionality. Its first use is its ability to dig through soft ground via its root legs, and its second, far more INTERESTING use is its ability to lob little fruit minions to places where Risky can't reach and have them retrieve things she couldn't otherwise grab

NOW we get to the last sketch, that being...Nega Risky! Though I DO have a better name for her now, which I will henceforce be using to refer to her from now on - Another Risky. doesn't have the same gravitas as Nega Shantae, I'll admit, but one thing I feel would be a bit more emphasized with Another Risky is that she is just. really fucking creepy. call it the result of Reversal!Risky's more tumultuous relationship with her magic compared to Shantae in canon, at least in the beginning. Another Risky as a name just fits the feeling of "there is SOMETHING wrong here" a lot better than Nega Risky.

aaaaaaaaand adding to that feeling is that Another Risky would NOT actually summon the constructs in her boss fight! no no, she's made of MAGIC, and therefore doesn't have any physical limitations...so she more-or-less partially morphs INTO the constructs, which you can see with the heads I designed there. guh. Risky would have nightmares about this thing LONG after the Reversal AU equivalent of Risky's Revenge...and also a few ideas, way in the back of her mind, which she'd end up using in Pirate's Curse, but that's a story for another time

so, yeah, hope you all enjoy!

[itsvaleriesucka]

the day of your luck - prelude

pairing: criminal!joel miller x fem!reader

prelude summary: being locked up behind bars isn’t easy. luckily for you, you have been given a chance to start new. 

prelude warning: brief language 

word count: 1.4k

a/n: no worries! joel will make his appearance in ch.1. i'm just warming things up.

chapter one ⋆ series masterlist

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“I hope you like it sweetie.” 

A warm smile paints across your mother’s face as she hands you a small box with retro floral pattern wrapping that’s adorned all around. Your curiosity kicks in with anticipation of knowing what can possibly lie inside the small box. 

You carefully rip the wrapping apart which reveals a plainly boring yet dull box on the outside. You tilt your head, eyes glancing up at your mother. She softly chuckled. 

“Go on, open it.” Her chin rests upon her hands that folded just underneath. She contained her own excitement by biting her bottom lip that’s painted with a coral peach tone. It was her usual lipstick color. 

Listening to your own mother’s words, you cautiously removed the lid. Your eyes widen at the sudden item revealed. You were too ecstatically happy that you didn’t even notice the lid slipping from your hands and onto the ground. You couldn’t help to draw yourself in to give your mother the biggest hug possible. 

“I love it! Thank you mom!” Your cheek rested against her shoulder with closed eyes. Your hands wrapped tight around her neck, still holding the box. Your mother laughed and embraced your hug in return. 

“I’ll show you how to use it.” Your mother mentioned softly. 

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“Do you know why you’re here?” 

The question from your correctional social worker snaps you back into reality from your flashback. She stared down at your case files that were neatly organized inside a manila folder. She pushes her reading glasses towards the bridge of her nose, concentrating on your information and statements that are provided. 

Deep down inside, you knew exactly why you were here. You didn’t want to admit it, no. You rather let your new social worker figure it all by herself like puzzle pieces. After all, it is her job. 

“Because orange looks great on me.” An impudent tone slips past your lips that filled the walls surrounding the office. A tone that ought to earn yourself a rough slap across your face. 

The brief silence between you two remained. You often try to tell yourself you wanted to work on your attitude, but in all reality, you fail miserably to do so. Guess you’re stuck with it for the rest of your life.

Staring out into the window, your eyes danced and followed each movement of your fellow inmates exercising and socializing out in the courtyard. Holy hell, how are your inmates not passed out on the ground in this notorious Miami heat?

Those poor German Shepherds outside, sitting besides their companionships with tongues sticking out to remain cool under the heat. They deserved ice in their water bowls after their guard duty shift. 

Every day is an opportunity to step outside and get some fresh air and good ol’ vitamin D. On the hottest days of getting enough sunlight striking your skin, you like to stand in the shade against the wall and talk away with other inmates you’ve known during these past months. You would’ve been outside if it weren't for you getting pulled inside.   

Your hands fold neatly in which they are pressed against your lower abdomen. It’s perhaps the only position that is absolutely comfortable due to the lovely set of silver handcuffs adorned tightly against your wrists.

Robberies were mainly your strong forte. Why did you accomplish this path? For obvious reasons, it was easy money. A pretty dame like yourself can get away with almost anything your heart desires. Nobody would ever suspect a thing from someone who deemed innocence.

Breaking into the fanciest of homes to see what the rich have in store for you was always an exhilarating escapade. You learned the rich tend to carry priceless jewels stored in safes you knew how to crack the code to. You just take them and pawn each item at different jewelry shops. Nothing but Benjamin Franklin’s was all you’ve ever seen and boy, did he make you smile cheek to cheek. 

“Orange looks great on everyone.”

You rolled your eyes at her words, providing a narrow squint as you turned your head to take a look at her. You’re not going to lie to yourself, she’s perhaps the third correctional social worker you’ve gone through. The last two have given up because you’ve never given in to their bullshit responses. You’re done believing. 

“Sure.” The only word you’re able to mutter as a response. You know you’re going to be locked up here for lord knows how long due to every crime. There can be a possibility of parole because technically, you never murdered anybody. Just punches and bruises if a bitch got in your way. 

“I’m here because I am giving you a chance.” 

Whoa. 

This is new.

The silver chains on your handcuffs were the only sound to linger across the room with just the flick of your wrists. The expression fixated upon your face loosens its tension. You can feel your body coming into a relaxed stance. You also want to remind yourself that the amount of expression caused on your face can cause crease marks and wrinkles in the future.

From the corner of your eye, you watched as your social worker stood up from her seat and slowly made her way towards you. You turned around to give her your full attention. Where exactly was she going with this? You thought.

“A chance?” 

Curiosity pools inside of you, a slight tilt of your head was the only gesture she was going to receive since you absolutely couldn’t deter what just came out of her mouth. Was she messing with you? Is she going to tell you this and then leave? Oh boy. Here comes your trust issues radiating across your mind. Your anxious thoughts sort of pounds against your skull. 

Relax.

You felt her hand rest upon your shoulder, gently forcing you to turn and face back towards the window. You can hear herself gently breathe into contentment.

“I see potential in you. You’re not like the others I’ve met.” She tilts her head to look at you, “You’re young, smart, and have so much to live for. A lot can happen in a year, you know.”

She’s right. 

A lot can happen within the span of one fucking solid year it’s insane. Spending your time enclosed behind bars, three course meals provided daily, exercise, limitless showers, it’s a lot. It’s not the grandest paradise but at least it’s better than nothing. 

To your surprise, your social worker gently grabbed your wrists. A small key held in her other hand. You feel the bones and muscles from your wrists alleviate some tension from the metal hooks she removed from you. You pressed pressure with your fingertips to massage the stiffness away. 

“Consider this the day of your luck.”

There was another paradise pictured deep inside your mind. Your eyes stare out into the open behind those wired fences and out into the vast horizon. From a distance you’re able to see structured buildings, nothing but the heart and soul of Miami; downtown. You know just right beyond that, awaits South Beach.

Oh. South Beach.

A place where you forget time exists. A place for long drives along Ocean Drive. A place for fun underneath the sun wherever you go. But once the sun is down and those neon fluorescent lights illuminate the night to play, there’s nothing but trouble seeping along those infamous streets. Drug dealers lurking at every corner you’d meet, offering their best stuff yet. Prostitutes hitching a ride for a good time, the younger crowds dancing the night away at popular disco bars. Anything that you can think about exists in that eminent neighborhood. 

You were too drowned into your thoughts to even notice your social worker calling out as she pulled a chair right in front of her desk for you to come and sit down. 

“We’ve got some work to do.”

Blinking a couple of times, your tunnel vision disappeared. She’s right. There is work to do and in order for you to get out of this place is to get on her good side and follow the rules. You inhaled deeply to then exhale the tension that rushed against your body. Almost pulling a sigh.

A gentle whisper, a huge reminder, breaks apart from your lips. Words you absolutely want to commit to this time. You considered it a promise.

“Don’t screw this up…”

[torturingpeople]

Something Lost in the Zee

The King-In-Coral regards him with a brief incline of the head, zeeweed tipping over his forehead in a crude imitation of sickly green hair. Something curls within the suffocating jacket he wears, as he leans forward to peer at the Counsellor.

"I... er, present to you, um... this." Nervously, the Soothing Counsellor rummages in the travel-bag at his hip, and draws out with caution a spiny, almost zee urchin-like piece of coral, trying to avoid pricking himself with the thin needles protruding from its core.

Taking the gift from his hands with an ultimate gentleness, the King-In-Coral gazes upon it like a sweet creature, tilting his head to take it in from all angles. It splits down the middle as he presses his thumbs in, much like the careful motion one uses to peel an orange, and he opens it with the same giddiness young boys open presents with, on Christmas Day. Coral shards fall away like wrapping-paper, but the King-In-Coral frowns at what is inside. He does not seem disappointed, in any fashion, merely... surprised. The limbs within his coat do not jolt with excitement; he is entirely still.

"I remember," he starts.

The Soothing Counsellor's eyebrows twitch, as does his heart with anxiety. He wishes to enquire what, but the King-In-Coral does not withhold that from him.

"When this fell," he holds the locket out by its thin golden chain, "it was you who dropped it into the Zee, was it not?"

Again, there is a flurry of emotion that passes the Counsellor's face, like rippling thunder in a storm. "It couldn't— possibly be— you must be— mistaken—" his voice comes out in a melancholic staccato, and he disregards all social norms, pushing past attendant Drownies to reach the King-In-Coral.

Once the locket is lowered into his hands, he undoes the little latch closing it (just the way he remembers) and looks upon the weathering and scratches (painfully familiar) and he is met with the face of Julie (dearest Julie, his darling Julie) and that little boy, eyes brimming with innocence, with the hallmark buck front teeth and crooked canines of youth, his little Percy.

The Soothing Counsellor's mouth opens and closes and opens and closes and he looks very at-home in that little cove, among the beings of the Zee, fitting in perfectly well with the fish that gulp down water in the same manner. "How—? How did you—?" The corners of his mouth twitch downward, and his bottom lip shivers with woe. The Counsellor shakes his head, closes his eyes, lets tears fall into the sand below. "Where could you— I— I—"

"I saw it fall from a zubmarine, if I recall correctly," the King-In-Coral leans forward, and places a hand on the Counsellor's shoulder, leaving an imprint of salty dust on his deep navy-blue blazer. "I had the inclination that, perhaps, you would like to have it returned, in the condition you left it in." He retreats into his litter again. "I will admit to you that I had the little thing monitored — you were rather steadfast in seeking out coral, and it made me wonder if it was this," his finger falls to the locket, "that you sought."

Muted by tears, the Counsellor cannot think past looking down at the tiny thing in his hands, tiny and fragile like a hatched chick, yet as old as the hen that laid the egg. He lets one thumb wipe away some salt and dirt, to get a better look at Percy (his little Percy, that little boy, that round face, those misshapen teeth, that lopsided smile, the imperfections that made him so irrevocably perfect — Hell, he could almost hear him crying 'Papa! Papa!' through the daguerrotype), tears curling along the curve of his cheeks, forming paths down to his chin and ultimately dripping into the zee-soaked ground below.

"Thank you," whispers the Counsellor dolefully. He pushes a thumb to the locket's front and lets the latch snap shut, then tucks it into his breast pocket and turns out of the cove, heart sundered in twain, as raw as when he first left his Julie and his Percy.