#didn't cover any of the other ones since i more...dabble in them

[dcxdpdabbles]

Will you expand on that, Reverse Robin, with Tim? I just found it!

I don't have too much plot for the Cuckoo in a Robin's Nest Au (the Name is a WIP) yet, so I can only write a dabble for you. For those wondering, this references the DC-only story I was thinking of writing. It can be found here.

Tim glances up as the bell on the door chimes. He knows who it is before he spots the head of dirty blond hair and the warm smile stretched against a freckled face.

Little Freddie rapidly became a regular after Tim set up a side table for him to comfortably eat and do his homework. Tim didn't know much about the kid besides the fact that he was being raised by a single father and had two older brothers. Apparently, the three were constantly working yet barely making ends meet leaving the small child to his own devices.

That wasn't an uncommon story around these parts. Not many employers were willing to hire anyone with a Crime Alley address, and those that did often only wanted to overwork them while underpaying them.

The fact that the boy still actively went to school during the day surprised the Crime Alley dwellers more. He was a School Kid, which meant something different to the people here. If Ex-Bat had to bet, Freddie's family put his future before theirs, since the boy won a scholarship to Gotham Academy.

He had to tell the boy to cover his uniform when walking home. He never knew who would mistake him for a rich kid and what they would do for a bit of quick cash in these parts.

Freddie now always came after school without his blazer and uniform shirt. He always changed in the bathrooms, throwing on a faded oversized band t-shirt and a baggy, run-down hoodie.

Even with his uniform pants, Freddie easily changed from a Gotham Academy School kid to a common Alley Crime Kid.

Tim himself had two part-time jobs, but they weren't enough to get him out of the city. He missed his resources like a missing limb, but he had survived with less before, and he could now.

The idea of creating any link between himself and the heroes made his skin crawl, even if it was to hack into the bank accounts he once had access to. Tim was already risking so much by moving through the city without documentation.

If he created a fake paper trail, he worried the Bats would pick up on it. Tim was done with them all. He died for them. They let him die.

He would never let them back in again.

That is why he chose to stay in Gotham.

It was one of the few places that didn't bat an eye at the fact that Alvin Draper only had his name and homeless shelter address. His apartment was a shed in someone's backyard, barely legal to count it as a rental space. It had a bathroom, a tiny sink, and a stove, but not much else.

It was the best he could find with what little he had to prove himself.

His big, mountain-of-muscle Russian landlord thought Tim was a runaway or rent boy because of how he talked, but he took the risk of letting him live there anyway. He at least felt safe when the man pulled out a receipt book to give him proof of payment, and after a vague confirmation that Tim wouldn't bring any trouble around the house.

He only cared that he could turn in his rent in cash and that if he needed to work odd hours, he should not make any noise past ten p.m. He also offered to care for any troublemakers who couldn't understand that Tim was only working if they followed him home.

It was oddly sweet how Crime Alley had both empathy and self-preservation deep in their bones for each other.

"Hi Alvin!" Freedie chips, throwing his scruffed-up backpack in the chair closest to the wall. He bounces in his seat, digging into the Pepperoni pizza Tim sets on the table for him. It's only three slices, but with his employee discount, it's less than a soda from a vending machine.

Tim wasn't sure how much Freddie's family was struggling, but he didn't mind providing the boy with a meal if he could.

"Hi Freddie," he answers warmly, pouring the boy some water. Since they were the only ones in the restaurant, he lingered near the table, placing his hands on his hips as he regarded the boy's appearance. Three weeks ago, he caught a bruise, concealed by makeup, near his neck, and has been hyper-aware of any reappearances since. "How was school?"

"It was pretty good. John tried to throw me in a locker, but I punched him in the nuts like you taught me before he could," the boy reveals with a proud puff of his chest. "His friends tried to grab me, but I swung my shoulder bags at them and they got scared."

Tim sniggers, pride pooling in his gut. His fake Crime Alley accent is rougher than normal, further disguising him. No one who heard him ever thought he was born with a silver tooth. "Good. Teach those prep losers not to mess with ruffians."

"It's important to be the bigger man," Tim confirms, refilling the boy's cup after he chugs it nearly all in one drink. "It's also important to defend yourself before things escalate."

Freddie's smile is crooked with both a mischievous nature and the edge of barely concealed violence. "My Dad and brothers think I shouldn't let them get under my skin."

Freddie is silent momentarily before carefully offering, "My second-oldest brother used to say that, too."

Tim doesn't know what happened to the second oldest, but he has noticed that Freedie always speaks of him in the past tense. This was another common thing in Crime Alley.

People died all the time, and everyone who called this hell-hole home had personally experienced loss at least once before turning eighteen.

"Your brother had the right idea." He settles on grinning at the boy. Freedie's blue eyes are searching, tracing over Tim's face as if searching for a lie, but the door chimes again, and he has to turn away to greet the new customers before he can ask what the boy is searching for.

He offers Freedie a slight nod while returning to the cashier. He pretends he doesn't notice how the twelve-year-old pulls out his homework after finishing his pizza slices. More specifically, he ignores how the boy occasionally attempts to take his picture between math questions.

It's cute how hard he tried to be sneaky about it and how his frustration grew with each failed attempt. Tim was having far too much fun carefully dodging his camera, making sure to move in a way that made it appear like an accident that his face was never captured correctly.

It reminded Tim of himself when he was twelve. Ah, memories.

[bellysoupset]

Not sure if you are still taking Vince and Wendy dabble requests but I’ve always loved when a boyfriend is called up by a friend to come get ‘his girl’ because she is  sick and then after picking up their girlfriend, looking at her in the passenger seat (who is other passed out asleep, miserable/embarrassed, about to/ is throw up) and just thinking ‘dam that’s my girl I love’ or am similar

Not sure if it’s something that could be turned into a dabble but thank you anyway for reading 😄

Alright anon, so I might've messed up bc I started the fic on the wrong POV but I hope you like it anyways!

--------------

Come Get Your Girl

"Marshall, wait up!" Jonah caught up with her outside of the maternity wing. Wendy rubbed her face, not bothering to smile as she would have with anyone else but her best friend. Jon wouldn't mind if she was cranky.

"Yes?" Wen asked, continuing to walk side by side with him. She had only gone there to update the family of one of her neonatal patients, but was already heading back to the ER, "is it urgent?"

"How long have you had that headache?" Jonah held up the elevator door for her and Wendy's eyebrows jumped up. She thought she was being so inconspicuous, not wincing in front of people, only taking her Tylenol out of Jonah's sight...

Truth was, Wendy had a killer headache since morning. It sucked severely as she woke up with Vince kissing her awake, wanting nothing more to bask in his undivided attention, only for the throbbing to start before she even managed to have breakfast.

Through the day the pain had changed from a dull throbbing, into a stabbing sensation behind her eyes. She had lied down in the doctor's headquarters during break — in hindsight, that was probably what had given her away — but the pain was relentless. She felt nauseous and a little out of it, however since there were no surgeries scheduled, Wendy couldn't bring herself to cave and go home. Besides, she only had two more hours on her shift...

"It's not that bad," Wen lied and Jonah rolled his eyes. Instead of pressing the button for the ER floor, Jon hit the Garage 1, shoving her hand away as she tried to press the correct one.

"You're heading home, Dee."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm working," Wendy hissed, forcing up a smile as the elevator stopped to let more people in. Jonah seemed very pleased with himself. Her stomach rolled, the pain making her face feel tingly.

"Not anymore, you're not," Jonah whispered back, "Claire is gonna cover for you. Go home before it turns into a full blown migraine."

Vaguely, Wendy wondered just how scared she had made him that one time he hadn't switched with her when she had a migraine, only to find her horribly sick later. Or how guilty.

"I'm not Claire's problem, she did a 24 hour shift two days ago..."

"Drop it," Jonah hissed, crossing his arms to his chest and waiting as the elevator trip continued.

Wendy didn't really have any desire to fight him. She wanted to go home, the nausea was climbing steadily and her neck was stiff, eye sight getting all hazy around light sources. This was a migraine on the making for sure.

Nevertheless, she wasn't looking forward to driving home. She didn't entertain the idea that Jon would drive her, he was on a 24 hour shift himself, all but loaded up with caffeine.

"My keys," Wendy mumbled, blinking several times as the elevator stopped at the ER floor, the first main one, and the sound flooded as more people got in.

"I got them," Jonah answered, holding out her purse — he had it the whole time? She truly hadn't spared Jon a look so far — "but you're not driving."

"You're not taking me home, that would get you in so much trou-"

"You have a boyfriend, you know?" Jonah rolled his eyes, just as the elevator stopped on the first floor of the garage and people immediately moved out. Wendy's mouth snapped shut, relief flooding her as she saw Vince leaning against her car.

She was so used to him being away and out of reach, it was a weird change to have him be there at the drop of a hat, whenever she needed him. Wendy's eyes stung and she braced against a concrete pillar, breathing through the pounding in her head, the nausea, the flood of emotion.

"Hey, honey," Vince's voice was incredibly soft, gentle fingers dusting over her cheeks as he gathered her hair back, away from her mouth in case she was gonna be sick, "you're not feeling well, uh?"

"I didn't know you- I didn't know Jon called you..." Wendy sniffled, pressing her forehead to the rough, cold texture of the column.

Vince let out a chuckle, "more like summoned me to collect my girl," he teased, planting a kiss on the top of her head, "take a deep breath, we're going home as soon as you feel like moving."

Jonah let out a happy noise, "well, missing accomplished, she's all yours," he seemed terribly pleased with himself. Wendy heard him patting Vince's back, then say in a much gentler voice, "feel better, darling."

"Thank you..." She mumbled, daring to raise her head in order to look at him. Jonah flashed her a smile, then jogged away and back to the elevators.

Wendy's shoulders dropped and only then she fully looked at Vince.

He was smiling at her, lopsided, a dimple deep in his cheek. Curls down and damp, after gym shower she assumed. He fished out his aviator sunglasses from the neck of his shirt, "put these on, hon," Vince planted them on her face, crouching down so they were eye to eye, "how's the pain?"

"A six out of ten," Wendy told him truthfully, "feel queasy..."

"Too queasy for the drive?" Vince wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her to the car and taking her purse away so he could retrieve the keys. Vin always looked so comical in her sedan, pushing the driver's seat all the way back and still looking cramped in. Wendy collapsed on the passenger seat.

"Not too queasy... I don't know," she switched up her answer halfway through, as a little sickly burp came up. Migraine nausea was different from food poisoning or the stomach flu. Awful just the same, but with none of the undercurrent of shame she couldn't help when dealing with G.I issues.

"Lean back," Vince lowered her seat carefully, then went through the glovebox in search of a bag, "if you want we can just sit here for a minute..."

"No," Wendy sighed, curling up and opening a thankful smile as Vin passed her a plastic bag, "I wanna go home."

"Alright," her boyfriend leaned in, pressing a kiss to her clammy forehead, "tell me if I gotta pull over."

Wendy leaned in against his touch. It'd never cease to make her swoon how soft Vince was. The definition a gentle giant.

She drifted in and out of consciousness as he started to drive. The pain wasn't climbing up anymore, now that she was out of the noise and bright lights, but also wasn't receding. The car movement was making her nauseous, but not enough to throw up. Instead, Wendy gulped down the salty saliva pooling in her mouth, rubbing her knuckles against her temple.

"Almost home," Vince whispered and Wendy let out a sigh as she felt him brush her bangs away from her face, thumb stroking her cheek.

As soon as they parked in the garage of the building, Wendy was leaning out of her door, gagging fruitlessly. She didn't have much, or anything, to bring up. Not only she had been running on coffee all day, but she had put herself on a diet due to all the pressure leading up to the wedding and had eaten all but one handful of baby carrots during lunch.

Baby carrots that made her saliva an odd shade of orange as she drooled on the cement floor, hanging on the door for dear life.

"Aw, honey," Vince sighed, crouching in front of her, as if he was blind to the fact she was about to throw up or trying to, "that's okay, let it out..."

"Vin..." Wendy whined, planting a hand on his shoulder, both as support but to push him out of the line of fire. He seemed to know she wasn't going to throw up, because Vince wouldn't budge no matter how much she pushed his shoulder, solid as a tree trunk as he held back her hair and cooed softly.

Wendy forced up a nasty, watery burp, a splash of liquid hit the ground. Not thick enough she could even call it vomit, but more than just the drooling she had been doing for the past five minutes. The nausea lessened, but the sudden burp caused her head to swim and Wendy let out a groan as she collapsed, dizzily.

"Shh, I got you," Vince wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "I got you, c'mere..."

He pulled her up and Wendy's knees wobbled, but she grabbed on his jacket with all her force as she felt Vince move to carry her bridal style, "no..." Wendy pressed her forehead to his chest, "no carrying... Mak'me dizzy..."

"Okay, okay, sorry..." Vince wrapped an arm around her waist and then all but hoisted most of her weight off her feet, "better?"

"Uh-hu," Wendy pressed her head to his chest, letting out a deep breath as they entered the elevator and Vin promptly wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back.

"Why didn't you call me to come get you before it got this bad?" Vince asked, kissing the top of her head and Wendy let out a groan.

"It'sssnot-" She muffled another nauseous burp on his shirt, "not that bad..."

"Sure," she couldn't see him, but knew he was rolling his eyes, "did you take any meds?"

"Tylenol..." Wendy jerked slightly as the elevator came to a stop, "I think I can sleep it off."

"After you take your meds," Vince guided her out of it, already with the keys on hand. He didn't speak again as he gently pushed her inside and steered her towards the bedroom and Wendy let out a sad sigh.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you..." In truth, she wasn't sure why she was apologizing. She had been handling things on her own all her life, it was no mystery that it'd take getting used to having Vince around all the time. Part of her felt a stab of guilt, like she was ruining things by simply not knowing how to be a better girlfriend.

Vince didn't seem to have heard her, as he went through the bedside table's drawer in search of her meds, foot thumping on the ground rhythmically. Wendy fell against the pillows, kicking out her shoes and burying her face on his pillow, the lavender after beard lotion he used was still clinging to the fabric.

"Honey," Vince whispered, rolling her around by the elbow. He had closed the curtains and the only light source in the room was the hallway light on, "meds, you gotta take 'em."

Wendy nodded, then let out a pained whimper as it caused a stab to echo through her head. Vince used the pillows to pull her sitting up, grabbing the pillowcase instead of her arms as he tilted it towards him, "here, one big gulp and I'll get out of your hair."

"No," Wendy's voice was all rough and she grimaced, clearing her throat, "can you stay...?" She took the meds and the glass of water Vin was holding out, a little worried her boyfriend might deny. Was he angry she hadn't called him...?

"Are you sure?" Vince pushed back the hair on her face, tucking it behind her ear and taking the glass with his free hand, "I don't wanna bother you while you sleep."

Wendy let out a snort, "I sleep like the dead, you could never... Just stay until I fall asleep?" Please?

Vin's dark brows met, in a frown, but then his whole face got wrinkly as he cracked a smile, "of course, honey," he leaned in to press a kiss on her forehead.

He pushed the door even more ajar, so only one thread of light entered the room and Wendy heard him roaming around. The noise of his shoes falling, rustling of him stripping something, hands on her shoulders, "c'mere, cuddle me."

She let out a pleased noise as her cheek met his tummy, suddenly realizing Vince had removed his shirt due to how warm the room was. Wendy muffled a yawn against his skin, throwing her leg over his hip and letting her eyes slip closed once again as his hand dropped to her hair, starting to pet it.

Wendy was fully drifting off as she heard Vince whisper, "I love you."

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Does Elrelda have a government? Like as in like, nationwide level or planetary level administration? Like are Elreldians aware that the company that they make a tourist partnership with sometimes dabble in the Art of Human Trafficking?

Like is it legal to do what Arrin did? Or is Arrin just taking advantage of the fact that he is the chief and a well loved and respected one at that? Like yeah, Synthis is probably the Space Age version of Disney/Amazon but do the general population of Elrelda not know the probably illegal shit that Synthis (and their sister companies) pulls or is it just the people with the money, power, and authority (or the desire for a cute, submissive, and breedable human)?

How does it even work? Like did Arrin (and other human fuckers) just go to a random branch office and go “I want a cute human mate. Preferably soft, squishy, submissive, breedable, and T H I C C" and they were just “Aight, gotchu”. Then they just showed him a list and he just pointed at our pic and went “I want that one”? Tinder but much more hands-on with a smidge of human trafficking. Then Synthis just gave us a discount coupon when the time came for us to go to Elrelda (thank god, we didn't bring a date so we can share the expenses so that we can afford a nicer ship)

Or did Synthis just give their employees that were to be sold discount coupons to different place and have their buyers see their prospective mates for themselves? The ones not chosen getting to return to their homes not knowing they were almost going to have their lives uprooted?

Or did only Arrin just get the special treatment because of the partnership between his herd and Synthis' business?

Speaking of humans, why are humans regarded as status symbols for a chief to show power? Is it because l average humans are generally smaller and squishier than the average Elreldian, and the fact that the human they're with is healthy, safe, and happy a sign that their mate is strong and a capable provider while still skilled enough not to hurt them?

I know it's just a (really good and indulgent) smutty one shot but holy fuck, there is something to be said about the unexpectedly thought-provoking world building you did

It has been so long since I wrote that so I apologize if any of my answers conflict with the story.

Elrelda is ruled by regional chiefs who occassionally gather to make big decisions that impact more than one region and to facilitate trading arrangements.

I feel like in general the Elreldians don't care about the illegal stuff too much off their planet as long as Synthis is decent to them and they don't care that their chiefs can get humans as long as they aren't abused.

Anyone can get a human as long as they have rare resources that Synthis wants and the corporation is very good at covering it all up.

Arrin probably heard from another chief about the human "dating" program and contacted his local Synthis rep about it and picked from a list of potential mates with traits he desired.

Then, yes, that potential mate gets a free trip so they can be scouted and if they aren't chosen they return home and the next match is offered the trip.

They are seen as a status symbol because they are alien and because they are so soft and cute.

[moonliteve]

Headcanons for the early days of the deadly alliance

a second deadly alliance hc post has hit the hourglass......highly suggest u read my previous post about their past before reading this one!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

shang tsung was surprised to see that damashi had found someone else to be apart of their scheme to take over the realms

he was a bit upset at first

does that mean i have to share the fruits of my labor? he thought to himself

quan chi, who was still kind of dazed by the whole stunt damashi pulled back in the mines, doesn't say much

he nods, quietly mumbles formalities and fumbles with his hands quite a lot

damashi tells shang they must work together in order to rule

shang was a bit baffled at the notion at first- the man before him who barely spoke and was covered in dirt and grime was supposed to help them somehow?

to which damashi gets a bit angry with shang, he explains the innate magic he possesses and his potential

"you would dare question me, shang tsung?"

immediately shuts down any protesting from him. damashi is his benefactor after all. surely he knows what's best for them

so fine. he'll try and work with the newcomer

the first few months did not go well AT ALL LMAO quan chi wasn't very talkative and he always practiced magic by himself

shang was always the one trying to initiate conversations and secretly observed the other sorcerer practicing

little did he know quan chi did the same

he's. still a bit nervous about approaching shang directly. since he was the later one to join and train under damashi's guidance he felt like his magic was subpar of shang's

he did appreciate the space shang gave him tho. he just needed some time by himself since now that he was out of the mines he was able to do whatever he wanted

day and night he would bury himself in books about all sorts of things, but he took a liking to architecture, biology and different kinds of magic- especially forbidden magic but he wasn't sure if he should be dabbling in that until damashi learnt about his interest in darker magic, that's when he started fully enabling him to practice netherrealm magic

it wasn't until sometime after that did quan chi ask shang for help for the first time

shang was more than happy to help to quan chi's surprise, he didn't think the other sorcerer would be as open as he would be atm

"it would benefit us to have a good relationship, quan chi. after all, any alliance that aids us with our plans is one worth having, is it not?"

he was glad that shang seemed to like him

he thought for the longest time just from first impressions that shang still disliked him, but they seem to be getting along well now

and this made quan chi willing to open up more to shang as well

happy days :)

the three of them were stationed at an abandoned outpost in a remote area, damashi would be the one helping them gather whatever they needed since he could shapeshift and he didn't want any of them to be under the rada

it wasn't anything fancy but they had what they needed

shang had a shitty little basement where he did his experiments, also where he kept syzoth in

quan chi didn't get to see the basement until shang decided to give him a tour. he had always wondered where shang was most of the time when it was mostly damashi who went outside

sure quan chi was shocked at first seeing all of shang's creations. but he wasn't one to judge

he knew shang came from awful conditions as well, they've both been mistreated by everyone around them so why couldn't they do the same?

plus the experiments intrigued him immensely

it was after shang showed him his basement did quan chi elaborately plan on building him a proper vivisection chamber

he wanted to show his gratitude somehow. along with damashi shang has also helped him a lot with practicing his magic

around the same time they had gotten insider info from damashi that the heir to the throne has tarkat

and with how skilled shang was at persuasion and sweet talking, they easily landed a place in outworld's court in no time with the promise of a suppressor/cure for the disease

they transferred their workspace to the laboratory that was provided to him, which was WAYY nicer than what they had before, just the look of it gave others a good impression of shang: a diligent scientist who was neat and efficient

with quan chi's architectural knowledge they built the vivisection chamber underneath the laboratory. shang planned out the whole facility and what he wanted to include while quan chi mainly did the construction since he was familiar with this kind of work, shang even created new specimens for a few extra hands

[yukidragon]

What was Bo like with his flings? Was he rough with them when having "fun"? What would he do if one of his flings developed romantic feelings for him and is jealous of Barbie and wants to harm her?

Oh ho, you want to know some of the kinky details do you? Well let me slap on a quick warning and tag people before we get started.

Content Warning: this post contains talk of criminal activities, violence, murder, sex, and rough sex including kinks like biting, clawing, blood play, hunting, degrading, and breeding. All sex will be fully consenting by all parties involved no matter how rough it gets.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

We all know how much of an animal Bo is as a digital pet, but in the Mafia AU he had a lot more time to act on those animal instincts without the plastic egg to confine him. He's spent years hunting people down like a dog, often catching them through scent alone. He's ripped and torn into people with his fangs and claws, relishing in the power he wields and the excitement that the fear of his prey brings him. He's grown to enjoy the taste of blood and the smell of fear.

Sex for Bo was for similar animalistic gratification. He used people in the same way that he was always used, without affection or attachments to get in the way. If he found someone attractive who was open to letting him have his way with them, he would pounce on the opportunity and them. Naturally, he would always make it crystal clear to whoever he slept with that he was in control and that they were just his fuck toy until he got bored with them. If they weren't okay with that, then he'd go elsewhere to get his dick wet.

Bo had yet to bond with anyone emotionally until he found his puppy. He never found anyone he could trust or even just wanted to trust. He was on a leash since the day he was created, constantly at others' beck and call without a single care for his feelings. He was made to be a killer, forced to fight and obey. It was all he was allowed to know. If he didn't, the consequences would be pain... and if he was deemed useless, he would be put down like a dog.

Inside, Bo is a very scarred individual, though he won't let anyone know it. He shows confidence and abrasiveness to cover up that soft scared puppy inside him that just wanted to be loved but was always denied. He doesn't even admit to himself that he has a softer side at all at this point. As far as he's concerned, that weak puppy he used to be was mauled to death not long after he was born.

Bo knew all too well what happened to the others who were created like him and what their fate was if they were weak, useless, and fought too hard against their creator's leash.

In comparison to the scientist that first made him, Jack is a better master for Bo... relatively. I haven't ironed out the details of how the switch over went down exactly, but it involved a conflict with the scientist that made Bo, as well as other experiments like Simoun. Bo was almost killed in the ensuing scuffle between the scientist's group and the Blouin Family, but Jack saw potential in keeping Bo around. Bo just needed to be trained to a new master.

The scientist was a sadistic monster, experimenting with humans and using them as playthings. They were someone who dabbled in biological and cybernetic enhancements with the intent to improve humanity. They didn't have any morals or care for their fellow humans and "recycled" the failures that didn't quite make the cut. Bo was always balancing on the edge of a knife when under the scientist's control.

Jack allows Bo a bit more freedom and with less restrictions, mostly as a reward for good behavior. Jack has a much better sense of when to use the carrot or the stick to get people to do what he wants, and of course he has quite the silver tongue. Bo dislikes having a master holding his leash at all, but he saw potential in using Jack to get what he wanted. Jack is aware that Bo isn't content in being on a leash, but he can work with it.

Bo did try to seduce Jack early on, but Jack shut that down immediately. Bo learned quickly his new boss does not like to be touched by anyone.

In retrospect, Bo decided it was for the best he didn't sleep with Jack. There's no doubt his master would dominate him in bed, and he can't abide by that.

Bo constantly lives under the control of others. He's not going to let that happen to him when he's blowing off steam too.

Bo isn't afraid to call an end to sexy times if the person he's seducing refuses to be dominated by him and wants him to be the submissive one instead. He has a desperate need to be in control, and he refuses to give it up to anyone. He uses people to get off and make himself feel more powerful than he actually does about himself deep down. He especially likes it if the person he's sleeping with is intimidated or afraid of him as well as being aroused, though he never does anything without their consent.

Bo refuses to take away a person's ability to consent when it comes to sex. He'll be a terror in the bedroom, but only for someone who is into that sort of thing. He's lived a life of his own consent stripped away from him. He won't do it to anyone else when it comes to sex. He'll tease and seduce, even while he makes it clear how dangerous he is, how easily he could hurt them. He's in control, and he gets off on making them beg him to do such dirty things to them.

Of course, when it comes to pure violence with no sex involved, consent doesn't matter. You can beg Bo not to hurt you, but if you're a target for his master or have something he wants in his own plans to get his freedom, well... you better hope he gets bored of chasing you so he doesn't draw out your suffering for long.

Such is life in such a brutal and bloody world of organized crime.

Bo loves to be the hunter both in and out of the bedroom. He's got a good nose, and he's damn good at tracking people down. The thrill of the hunt makes him feel alive. He's in control and no matter what tricks his prey pulls, he'll always catch them in the end.

When Bo finally catches his prey, he loves to taunt them and take a bite, often ripping out entire chunks out of them in a gruesome, bloody fashion. Of course, during sexy times he only bites as hard as his partner will let him, but he does enjoy the taste of blood. He'd be a fan of bloodplay should his partner consent to it.

Sex and violence both give Bo a lot of similar thrills. He gets off on being the alpha dog in total control of another person's life. Hunting someone he plans to kill gives him the same sort of euphoria that he gets when having sex. He's in total control of someone else. What happens to them is up to him.

In some ways Bo enjoys violence more than sex. He doesn't have to care what the other person wants when he's out to hurt or kill them. Their life is in his hands as if he was their god.

Still, not even the most exciting kill can give the same euphoria as a good orgasm.

It's also not the same as being truly wanted by someone.

Bo can be pretty rough in the bedroom, giving bites, digging his claws into hips, leaving bruises and cuts behind.. He can be a real animal, howling, snarling, and growling. He also enjoys degrading his partners, getting off on reminding them that he's the one in control and they're the desperate slut begging for his cock.

Understandably, Bo can be a bit too intense for some people. It's not uncommon for a fling to suddenly call it quits in the middle of sexy times because Bo was too much of an animal for them to handle.

Although Bo isn't a fan of being blue balled, he's not going to stop them if they want to leave. Annoyance is covered up by his cocky attitude, and he'll sooner taunt them for missing out on a good thing than let himself reflect that their rejection might hurt him or that he is actively pushing others away.

His flings don't matter to him, so it doesn't matter if they abandon him.

Refusing to let others in emotionally shields Bo from the world, but it also prevents him from sincerely connecting with anyone. It leaves him with a hole inside that just keeps getting deeper and deeper, leaving him endlessly wanting. The hole is patched over briefly by his flings, as he gets to savor the feeling of being desired, even if only for his body, but it never lasts.

That sort of impermanence tends to lead to Bo getting bored of his partners rather quickly. There's a few people he sleeps with on a semi-regular basis - think maybe once or twice a month - but most of the time he's hunting for someone new. Being desired by more people, hunting down a reluctant prey and making them beg to be taken by him is more thrilling than already conquered territory.

Sometimes Bo's flings have wanted more from him than just sex, and he's always quick to shut that down. He made it clear from the start that he's only there to fuck. He's a dog that won't be tied down to anyone. If they can't handle it, then he's gone.

It's entirely possible there could be at least one person who pretends to be okay with this arrangement, but secretly hopes that they can be something more to Bo one day.

Of course, chances are if someone in such deep denial found out about Bo's feelings for Barbie, that might drive them crazy.

Bo isn't going to let anyone hurt his puppy. By the time he's yandere for Barbie, he's willing to torment or kill just about anyone who lays a hand on her.

Although Bo isn't loyal to his flings, he'll at least do the courtesy of giving them a warning once he catches wind of something foul. He'll make it very clear that if he gets even a sniff of them thinking of doing anything to his puppy, they're going to find out just how sharp this hunting dog's fangs really are.

If a verbal threat alone isn't enough, then maybe a broken bone or two will send a better message.

If they actually hurt or nearly kill Barbie though... Ho boy, Bo isn't going to show mercy, even if they have history together. He's a man who eliminates threats. Permanently.

Over time, Bo feels less interest in sleeping with anyone else as his obsession with Barbie grows. Even when he slept with someone else during this period of time, he finds it less enjoyable than it should be. He notices the emptiness of it more, which makes him aware that it isn't really what he wants. Only by imagining his current partner is Barbie does he get some of the spark back. It becomes more of just a fantasy about all the things he plans to do with her once his puppy finally submits to him.

Still, it's not the same. His fantasies never quite have the same spark Barbie has. Bo can never quite get her right in his fantasies. He can imagine her whimpering and mewling, begging to be fucked shamelessly like any of his flings, but there's a dissonance that takes him out of the moment. It's not her, and he can't quite match his fantasies to her, especially if the person he's screwing at the time ruins the fantasy by complaining about him calling out another person's name.

Eventually, Bo finds more satisfaction in his own hands than in another random person's bed. Being with someone else isn't the same as bantering with Barbie. There's a tension in the air whenever they're together that is irresistible to him. Her eyes are always full of fire, and he can't help but be drawn to them. She knows she is weaker than him, but she makes up for it in being clever, and she refuses to let him or anyone else break her strong spirit. It's hard not to admire her for that.

There's also this itch Bo feels when he sees how surprisingly gentle Barbie is with her family. He spies on her and catches these candid moments. Although Barbie is prickly with most everyone, for her family she has another side, a protective and even sweet side. It's rare and precious, only for a select few, and she'll fight tooth and nail to keep them safe.

Barbie knows who she is and what she wants. She won't let anyone stop her. She is fierce and will fight the entire world. Yet, when she loves someone, she can show such a tenderness that Bo can't help but want for himself.

Bo wants that side of Barbie. He wants all sides of her. His obsession drives him to the point that eventually he'll be willing to submit himself to someone else for the first time ever. She's the first person he's ever truly loved. He wants so, so much more than just to conquer her in bed. He wants her everything... and he wants a future with her where he can get to experience every side of her that she keeps hidden from the world.

Barbie unlocks Bo's breeding kink. He never wanted kids before, knowing they'd be messed up mutants like him. His life was shit and he had no intention of creating more pups like him to be forced into a life of blood and violence.

But the idea of pups with those beautiful eyes full of fire like Barbie's... Bo can't help but want that. He wants that soft domestic life that Barbie gets to experience with her family, only with him and their children. The two of them are strong, so their pups would be strong as well.

The pups could also grow up knowing softness as well. They could know... love.

Bo could finally know love.

That love Barbie shows her family... Bo wants that. He wants that so badly, but even more. He wants to be the only one she truly needs. He wants her to obsess over him, desire him, be willing to destroy the world for him. He loves her so much that he'll do anything to get her love... even if it makes him do the unforgivable - be weak and submit to someone else of his own volition.

For the first time... Bo allows himself to dream of the future, of the family that he always wanted when he was that weak little puppy who was naïve and innocent... who still didn't yet know why he was created or what the world was really like.

Of course... Bo will be having a difficult time accomplishing his dream while constantly being at odds with Barbie. Her stubbornness and fierce determination draw him in, but also keep him at arm's length. He's got quite the uphill battle ahead of him.

Though, not quite as much as the version of the Mafia AU where Barbie is a singer. Really, that'd be quite interesting if they were flirting and sparks were flying before things become complicated when Alice suddenly gets inducted to the Blouin family...

Hmm... You know I wonder if I could blend the two together...

But that's for another post. I hope you enjoyed this spicy Bo-centric ramble about a very scarred dog that hides just how desperate he is for love behind a mask of violence and arrogance.

[fandom-scatteredthoughtsonpaper]

Announcing a fandom community server!

Hi, guys! This is sorta directed at my followers but also Obey Me fans (and other fandom people).

I mentioned, like, a looong time ago I wanted to do a community server, but I didn't really understand how to use Discord, but since then I've been in a zine, a few collabs, and hosted my own collabs (currently running one for Lucifer 👀). So, I have the experience and knowledge of running a server now!

My urge to create a fandom-centric server has really bloomed and after sitting on the it for a year, I feel confident enough yet still anxious to release a link of an invitation to it (found at the bottom)! It's still fresh, and bots haven't been implemented yet, but I really want to push this out.

I myself am in a lot of different fandoms, obviously Obey Me, but also Baldur's Gate, Stardew Valley, Kingdom Hearts, Persona games, What in Hell is Bad, a few obscure fandoms (like Alien Stage and Touchstarved) and older ones (Homestuck), so I have all the intentions to have this server be inclusive to webcomics, anime and manga and adjacent media, games from standard video games to phone games, graphic novels, books, otome and romance stuff, indie media like web series, cartoons, and games, and more as it grows.

I also want this server to be a hub for writers and artists to share their stuff they're too awkward or anxious to post and receive feedback, and as a place to get to know fellow-minded people in shared fandoms. AUs, theories, headcanons, crossovers, self-inserts, your MCs/OCs - all allowed!

A few things to note:

This is a fandom community server, but it might start out as Obey Me heavy because I'm trying to direct attention to that fandom since that's the one I am mostly in and participated in most things as a fan.

Adults and minors (16+) are allowed, but there are rules implemented that divide channels into SFW and NSFW categories and channels.

Writers, artists, content creators, cosplayers, fans that dabble, etc. are enthusiastically welcomed

The server can also function with channels regarding roleplays and self-publishing (commissions, Etsy shops, etc.)

I really want this server to kinda be a central spot for small fandoms or dying fandoms (like Obey Me) or old fandoms or growing fandoms and ones in-between basically non-existent and probably way too big. I want the server to be a community of different fandoms and the people that incorporate them, and I want it to be a fun place to just either relax with other fans and share works you like or works you've made or as a place to just dip in a silently lurk to look at what people are talking about or look at what is shared or as a place to lose your fucking minds when updates happen or something wild or devastating in the media occurs.

I want this to be a respectful but enjoyable place to come to and join and feel like you can invite friends or maybe even make friends!

Hard rules:

Before entering though, the server has a soft screening process for people to join.

Verifications will be done by me to make sure no one with ill intentions has a chance to cause harassment or harm to members. Fandoms can be toxic and mean in public places like here and Twitter, but this server will be, to the best of my ability, a space away from that.

Absolutely no pedophilic content is allowed. Like, none. It'll be one of the fastest things to get you kicked and banned and blacklisted.

There are rules and specific channels for certain ships and certain explicit content that can be talked about in the server if there are any questions.

This server is for fandom communities and politics and religious hot takes are not applicable here. This is a designated relief zone and none of that is really welcome.

I think that mostly covers the sales pitch and important stuff, lol.

So with all that out of the way--

Link to join: https://discord.com/invite/g8VeSe4t

[navree]

About the Targaryens again… So George said that Rhaenys was a “flirt” (and we know it for sure because she obviously loved the company of males and it was a part of her extroverted personality) and Visenya was a “seductress”, but ASOIAF doesn’t portray her as a seductress at all, nor is it clear who she would be seducing. It doesn’t seem to have been Aegon, or she obviously didn’t succeed in seducing him, nor it seem to be anyone else at all. All we know is that she was cold, dark, serious and had a little sense of humour (like torturing a monkey for fun could count ok). What do you think about that?

"About the Targaryens again" I mean, do I ever really get questions about anything else, lol?

So, I think the "So Spake Martin" stuff tends to fall into the lines of "semi-canonical" rather than out and out canon from the official texts we have, which would be ASOIAF (which Visenya and Rhaenys aren't in due to having been dead for three hundred years) and Fire&Blood, where they're really only referred to because it's a historical text covering past events, not a contemporaneous narrative. But it does seem like the "So Spake Martin" description of Visenya ("Visenya is both stern and sensual, more voluptuous than her sister, more passionate, but with a dark and unforgiving side") is still meant to be taken in conjunction with her F&B official description ("Even those who loved her best found Visenya stern, serious, and unforgiving") since Rhaenys's "So Spake Martin" description ("Rhaenys, the younest of the three, is slender and graceful, playful, with a mischievous aspect to her personality than Visenya lacks") follows pretty closely with her F&B description ("Rhaenys, youngest of the three Targaryens, was all her sister was not, playful, curious, impulsive, given to flights of fancy"). So the idea that Visenya might have had a seductive aspect to her personality that she wielded when it suited her doesn't seem to be entirely out of bounds.

As to who she was seducing, that's more unclear. If you follow the conventional wisdom surrounding Aegon's relationships with his sister-wives, then she might have tried to be "seductive" towards him to try and sway him into being more attracted to her, as opposed to Rhaenys, and it simply didn't work. Or maybe it did at least once, we have no idea what the circumstances of Maegor's conception were beyond the fact that it happened at an opportune time for his parents. If you have my specific set of brain worms, then she might have tried to seduce Rhaenys somehow and whether or not she succeeded depends on how sad I want to make myself on any given day. And while there were never any rumors about her going after anyone while married (though she very well could have, just kept it incredibly on the down low), Visenya did spend a significant amount of time widowed. And while some might say "OK, but she was in her sixties and seventies when widowed so who was she seducing" I will respond with a) GILF rights and b) Visenya was said to dabble in dark sorceries and blood magic, she could have easily used some of that to make her look more youthful than her years, potentially even explaining why she suddenly had such a steep drop-off health and looks wise in the last year of her life (something something magic always has a cost something something). So it's entirely possible that, now that she was unencumbered by marriage, and powerful enough in her own right (even more so after Maegor became king) that no one would brook any argument against her for doing it, that she took some lovers in the last decade of her life, and probably seduced them into bed with her. There's also this quote that "To most of the world, she presented the grim face of a warrior, stern and unforgiving", which could easily mean that Visenya had a more sensual side to her that she didn't show in battle or on progresses or to much of open court, aka most of the world, but was present enough to be accounted for by other people, including whoever was in the inner sanctum of the Conquerors time as rulers.

Of course, just because she's described as a "seductress" doesn't necessarily mean she went around enticing everyone she met 24/7. It could easily be a description of her personality as much as it is about her actions. People generally contain multitudes, Visenya can absolutely be both stern and serious as well as using wiles to try and get people to do what she wanted. It's an element of her personality that we can actually see in how she took the Vale, tempting Ronnel with Vhagar and the promise of flying around on her, and using just that to get Sharra to realize that she needed to submit and surrender to the Targaryens. Visenya could have been a seductress in more ways than just sexual, and had her own purposes behind it, just like Rhaenys's flirty patronage of singers also served as masterful propaganda to prop up Aegon and their dynasty.

As for the monkey thing, I don't think there's any suggestion that she tortured the ape she took as the second Lord Monkeyface (even though we as modern Earth humans now know better than to try and dress animals up in little outfits that they don't want), just that she had a fool named Monkeyface and then replaced him with an actual monkey that she thought was funnier.

[luffythinker]

The fact you also dabble in Naruto is a explosion on my heart, I have so many headcanons i wanna tell you about. I always see a lot of Naruto having top scars but my headcanon is Shikamaru is the one with top scars (Cause im a huge ShikaNaru) I wanna incorporate it into my writing but i don't wanna offend anyone cause i don't have a wide knowledge of the subject. So forgive me if i'm being offensive to anyone. I cannot get the idea of in Shikamaru's Genin years he didn't really care about his chest because it wasn't prominent enough to cause him any problems, he could wear his mesh net with just a jacket, no problems. After he became a Chunin he started growing up, his chest started growing too so he used the vest to cover his chest along with a binder. His parents don't mind, his mom would appreciate a girl but if Shikamaru wants to be a boy she's happy no matter what her son is, his dad is down as well, he's proud to have a son. ANYWAY Naruto one day hanging out with him see's him sitting back without his vest watching clouds together or smg, he grows curious and ask him what that is? why's he got a short undershirt thing? Shikamaru just tells him like it is, cause he's got something he doesn't like about himself, Naruto doesn't prey too much on the issue. After the timeskip Shikamaru has gotten top surgery and he's taking hormone therapy, Naruto thought he was doing drugs the first time he saw him do it. Shikamaru laughed when he said this. Later on some more when they are actually in their realationship Naruto, a alley with 0 knowledge of anything involving gender or stuff like that touches Shikamaru's bare when he's allowed to see it ask what those scars are, he's concerned somebody tried to kill him, once again making Shikamaru laugh. Im sorry to ramble on but i love them and i wanna talk about them.

OMG OMG OMG I LITERALLY LOVE SHIKANARU

transmasc shika omg im gonna collapse, i love to think that he was able to transition so peacefully because he had a great support system, his family was good to him and let him decide how he wanted to dress, and after becoming a genin Asuma just accepted when he said he was a boy, no questions asked !!!

I fully believe he had a crush on naruto since they were kids, but yk there was 'the whole village needs to hate him' thing so he never really got to act on it or interact much. Naruto has his own things going on so he is off to save sasuke and training and really doesn't have it on his mind to think about crushes or romance.

Shika gets top surgery as soon as his chest starts to bother him, he starts taking T, he trains, he's living his life, his crush never quite goes away but it's just something that it's there.

When naruto comes back and they see each other again, he notices shika is different, but like u said, he doesn't think much of it, except he feels Things now. Naruto, to me, feels like a character that does something about things, so if he starts feeling different I can't see him pining silently for years, he's just gonna talk and do something about it, so he does.

I don't think he fully realizes what his feelings are until he talks to shikamaru, shika kisses him on the lips and that's when naruto gets what this all means and what he wants.

I also fully believe Naruto is pan, I don't think he would care about gender at all, he likes people and that's about it, but like u said!!!!!! he also doesn't know a thing about gender, hormones, etc so he is very confused when he sees shika using T for the first time. I think it's very lovely that he thinks someone tried to hurt him when he saw the top scars, I can see them sleeping together and naruto just softly tracing it with his hands and telling shikamaru how handsome he is

ok so i may have gotten a bit too excited here but I'm just very passionate about them okay!! please talk to me more, I'm also open to a lot of ships in naruto

[boyakishantrinity]

Wrote a thing. Bit long.

It'd been a slow day, fingers crossed between the quill pen, satisfying and more comfortable than a ball or felt point. The news played the message of the morning, fresh cherry tarts on display, the old unsellable apple tarts in hand as she continued to dabble on the piece of paper.

Something about the prince looking for a wife. Didn't matter to me, girls had been busy sending piles of letters to me. A few close friends wanted to use this situation as an excuse to trade baking tips and since Lexi was creating copies to send to the rest-

Ring ring.

The bell from Lurch (he's the blacksmith) rung on the side. Like a flower, thin and lanky, curved and coiled. Too warped for some noble bakery's door and I was too cheap to buy a proper one. So I handed him a rhubarb and apple pie nobody bought for the bell.

“... Hi?”

He stumbled in. Covered in dirt, people rushed by as the prince sped past the edge of the city. He lived far off, too many admirers kept watching him as he lived.

He wasn't gay, the only straight member descendant of the current royal family. And equally, the only one that would take the throne if not as king, then as Regent.

This boy stared at me, a very pretty face, disgust and shouts of insults and laughter.

“... Hey?”

She waved back. A confused smile as she put the quill aside. Her hair was woven with flowers, cut neatly, but still a mess. She glanced down at his shoes.

“Wipe your feet, there's a sink to your…”

Awkward, she glanced at her hands. Mumbling, before continuing to speak.

“Right… HEY-”

She shot up. Body jumping the counter, bags under the table, baking ingredients hung behind the door as she swung over.

Taking his wrist, her hair was tied back, scowling. Freckles over her face and general body, wooden counters left clean as the dusted donuts lay on display. Her face was a fierce scowl, grumbling as she nudged him away.

“Six bronze.”

Mumbling his apologies, she stood nearby. Unfazed, apron still covered in flour and sugar. Scowling as he looked away, finally, he noticed the tarts.

“... Just… looking.”

Slowly. Unsure, he looked back at me.

Innocent bastard my ass.

Some pretty boys, usually nobles tried to pull this, acting slow and dumb. Dad would be quite annoyed if I hurt them, and the bakery couldn't take any physical disturbance or. Well…

“Grab a bag and use the tonsils.”

Glaring daggers at him, well. Not at him, more like staring. Ready to kick him out if he tried to take something without paying, or to see his reaction.

“... Sorry.”

Bowing slightly. Her expression softened for a moment, eyes examining his face. Before she grumbled.

“It's fine. Just pay for the goods.”

Line.

A couple other ladies came in as the boy examined the other tarts. I'd gotten a. Few letters before I heard the familiar sound of chattering.

“-Its just some silly rumour though?”

They walked in, dressed neatly but covered in makeup. I looked up, Osa glanced over. Smile in her eyes as her friends came in.

“Ah, whatever, girls, take your pick.”

Osa was the landlord's agent’s daughter. She was more of a manager, her friends, daughters of the lord of the land and regional planning manager’s kids. Osa’s eyes turned to the boy, signing a few words.

Boy. Who.

Boy. Buy. Bread.

Ah.

Mouthing. Her friend then noticed me.

“Isa, are these donuts the same filling or-”

“Your boyfriend- sorry. Sorry. Your betrothed-”

Her face turned red. Ri-ri had been engaged a few weeks before to the orchard boy. Flirting slightly with her words, smirking as her blush barely hid her slight flush.

“-... He gave me some grannies and uhm… Oh, yeah. Almost forgot-”

Vanishing under the counter. The other two let out whistles, the girl shouted at the both of them, the three descending into giggles.

“Dunno what this is for, but uhm-”

Tossing it to her. A carved bit of wood, son of the next region, her face flushed as the Baker leaned against the table.

“Uh- uh-”

Stumbling. The girl fumbled with the wood piece in shock. A small statuette as the other girl spoke aloud.

“Do tell me if I got it right, regards, your lovely daddy-kins.”

The other two stared at the regional Lord's child. Her face and ears a bright red, as the girl clicked the trigger.

Snap.

“Anywho- Osa, you wanna hand Johnson this or-”

The girl began to breakdown laughing, giggling. The Baker girl looked over them, a smile in her lips. Clearly, Johnson was quite the flirty man. Risa Rilo of the Malaka family was a vibrant red, shame turned to laughter as he slid the tart into the bag.

Hm.

The girls soon left, taking a donut, chocolate croissant and an apple strudel slice.

“Your boyfriend did say that apples taste kinda similar to your-”

Flustered, bright red, the other two snickered as she fled out of the bakery. She had a big grin on her face, breaking down laughing as the boy stood nearby.

“...”

He held a tart in hand, watching her, she didn't mind him eating there. Sitting on a. Random stump of wood, a clean cloth to cover his behind. He bit into the cherry tart.

“... She's the one.”

Line

“... Excuse me?”

Her laughter stopped after a moment. The boy was, about her age, maybe a little older. But he was still covered in ragged clothes, cheap. Like he'd been saving money for a long time.

Coughing. He stood straighter, his features more prominent as muscles visibly moved under the clothing.

“I said, She's the one.”

Louder. Regal, it sounded… familiar.

The boy grumbled, mumbling something about useless servants, before he pressed something in his pocket.

“She's. The one.”

“...”

Audible. A few people could be heard outside.

“Oh shi- was that the queue?”

“What do you-”

“I said. She's-”

The door swung open before the boy could finish, the woman looked surprised as a man stepped into the bakery. Confused, as several more people strutted into Her bakery

“... Uh…”

Her eyes stared at the lot of them. Her hand reaching under the table instinctively. Was this some stupid gang shit or…

“... This is a new tactic-”

Most people didn't bother with this bakery. Most. Sometimes, some dumb teens would come in and try to pull some shit. Most of the students knew better by now, but. Well…

“I uh… didn't catch your name.”

He was tall, taller than her, his hoodie pulled back. With a dorky kind of voice.

“... Nicki Baker, and you are…”

“I… I'm… we're…”

Nervous. He was nervous, with fidgety hands and looking away from her. The others… had familiar expressions.

“... Is this your first time like…”

He looked aside. Her hand was under the counter still. Nervous. He looked over to the other man, before the woman spoke up.

“... You didn't introduce yourself, did you?”

Amusement. A mild twinkle in her eyes, a foreign accent as the cat woman smirked at him.

“Selena, I-... I…”

… I don't think he was robbing me. They didn't carry weapons or… anything really. If anything, the boy was too nervous. Kinda cute like that actually, all flustered with his ears turning red.

“Selena? Selena Gomez Crawford?”

Her head turned to the catwoman. Bright orange, an adventurer. Her hand was clear of the knives, but the tracker and survivalist smirked.

“You heard of moi?”

A pride in the statement, the girl smiled back. A twinkle in her eyes as she replied.

“Oh, of course! My friend Lexi Belle Ink tells me that you enjoy being scratched behind the ears while being fingered.”

“Ahahah-”

“...”

Smiling with the same expression. The woman stared blankly at the blonde man beside her slowly turned to face her.

“...”

“... Wait a minute.”

The gears started to turn. Cats didn't blush, but with a buff strong body. Cloth and leather over her form. Her ears flickered.

“... Lexi said that was around graduation because she did something something about…”

Slowly. She started to think about it. The famous explorer, Selena the orange. She'd rescued heroes from the woods for years. Battled mighty ogres and trolls, fought direwolves and the like in the early days of her career.

“... She likes being scratched behind the ears?”

The man turned to her. Blue eyes twinkling mischievously, the Baker replied half awake. Her brain processing as he fluttered his eyes.

“Huh? Oh, uh, something about it making her into a kitten or something-... Lexi managed to top an A class adventurer.”

It hit her, like a hammer placed into her hand, her mind flickering. Processing it, as the guards woman looked aside. Blushing with her body.

“...”

“That's it?”

She looked incredulous at her, she, at him. Duality, not two faced, he weren't an indi. But she looked back.

“... I thought you were a romantic.”

Snorting. Her hand rolled. Flickering as he looked over the battlegrounds. Death and bodies, a bog as the stream of people rushed south.

“... Yeah, maybe. Sometimes.”

Mumbling. His hands nimble, tender. Raw. The roar of anger and righteousness had subsided, despite everything. He was still human.

It was announced the prince was looking for a wife, but the baker girl didn’t care. That was until the very tired and sad-looking boy wearing a hoodie and sweatpants bit into a cherry tart, looked as if he was about to weep, and whispered: "She’s the one." Then a bunch of officials entered.

[yeonchi]

Koei Warriors Retrospective Part 32: Warriors Abyss

Warriors Abyss (無双アビス) Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PC, Nintendo Switch Release date: 13 February 2025 (digital only)

Really? Really. You just couldn’t do it, could you, Koei Tecmo? And just as I thought you’d learnt your lessons when you released Dynasty Warriors Origins. Not even a month since that came out and you literally decided to drop this in the February 2025 State of Play; it wasn't even a “Coming Soon” announcement, you just dropped a whole fucking game for seemingly no reason and refused to elaborate any further. You’re just giving me more work to do for the Koei Warriors Retrospective, aren’t you?

When I got the idea to begin this series, I never imagined I would end up covering Origins, and then this just dropped. I'm kind of glad things managed to turn out this way in terms of numbering, but goddamn, the amount of work I have to put in just when I think I'm done with this series.

The day before this game was announced, Card-Majin published an idea for a Hades-inspired roguelike game on the r/dynastywarriors subreddit. Little did he know what would transpire. Anyway, I've gotta explore this game eventually, so let's dive in one more time.

Warriors Abyss

The concept of roguelike games began with the 1980 Unix terminal game Rogue, which was inspired by text-based computer games and the high fantasy setting of Dungeons & Dragons, and ported to other personal computers of the time, like the IBM PC (MS-DOS), Macintosh, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit and the TRS-80 Color Computer. Aww, I miss Alec and Shanna. Don't you miss them too, the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids?

Anyway, Rogue is a game where characters go down levels of a dungeon to seek the Amulet of Yendor in the lowest level, fighting monsters and collecting treasures on the way. A characteristic of this game, and other games like it that would become a genre known as roguelikes, is that there is no interim save mechanism - if your character dies in the game, the game is over and you will have to start again from scratch. Dungeon levels, monster encounters and treasures are procedurally generated for each playthrough (save for bosses at specific intervals depending on the game), so no two playthroughs are the same.

With the increasing number of roguelike games being created, not all of them were being created with all the unique characteristics that Rogue had, so elitist enthusiasts started gatekeeping the genre, calling games that didn't have all the characteristics "rogue-lites" or "roguelikelikes" to differentiate them from actual roguelikes. In 2008, the first International Roguelike Development Conference (IRDC) was held in Berlin, which led to the creation of the Berlin Interpretation, a list of 15 high and low value factors that define roguelike games. It acknowledges that a game missing some of those factors doesn't mean it's not a roguelike, but a game possessing some of those factors doesn't mean it's a roguelike either. Hades is commonly described as a rogue-lite, so if Warriors Abyss was inspired by it, then it's technically a rogue-lite as well.

Arguably, Koei Tecmo has dabbled in rogue-lite formats in the past with game modes like DW4/5XL's Xtreme Mode, SW1/2's Survival Mode, WO3U's Gauntlet Mode and WO4U's Infinity Mode, but this is the first game explicitly made as a rogue-lite.

After development on Wild Hearts wound up, producer Kōtarō Hirata wanted to pitch a rogue-lite game. He came up with two pitches, with Warriors Abyss being the B pitch, but when he fleshed it out, he found it more interesting since the Warriors games already had a lot of characteristics that made it very compatible for roguelike games, so Hirata ended up pitching Warriors Abyss by itself. This was Koei Tecmo's first roguelike game so it would be an experiment for them. Development on the game started in February 2024 while Dynasty Warriors Origins was being developed and Hirata aimed to release it as soon as they could, hoping to capitalise on the early-access release of Hades II.

The plot of the game is as follows; Hell, the Underworld's prison for grievous sinners, has been taken over by the villain Gouma, an ancient god banished to eternal slumber in Hell, who has awakened and is spreading his evil will throughout its depths, raising the dead and creating demons. The ruler of the Underworld, King Enma, found himself losing control of Hell and summoned the souls of the heroes to help him regain control.

There are four levels of Hell to traverse through; The Blazing Waste (戒焔獄), The Glacial Wilds (白魔獄), The Blood-Stained Realm (血華獄) and The Desolate Expanse (無明獄). There are 8 phases to each level, and in the last phase of each you'll fight a boss, namely Onigashira, Magadori, Tamahami and the Bloodthirsty Warrior based on Lu Bu and/or the Veteran Warrior based on Tadakatsu Honda. Once you arrive at the deepest level of Hell, you'll fight Gouma, then when you defeat him, he'll reveal his true form and you'll have to fight him again to clear the playthrough.

On release, about 100 characters from both DW8E and SW4-II were made available; even Masayuki Sanada and Sasuke from Spirit of Sanada were available as well for the first time since they weren't featured in WO4. Not every DW or SW character was available, DW characters used their configurations from 8E where applicable and even SW characters were divided up into factions when they never were in the original games. The return to the modern era was admittedly jarring, but understandable. The battle mechanics of DW8 and SW4 are compatible with each other, but the same can't be said for DW9 and SW5 because they had battle mechanics that diverged from the classic system or cut characters from their lineups.

Subsequent updates have added additional characters to the game. At the end of February, the rest of the Sima family and Zhong Hui were added, with Sima Yi being moved to Jin. A month after that in March, Sophia, Ryza and Yumia from the Atelier series were added, then in April, Mature Yukimura and Chacha were added along with the warlords of western Japan. There was no further update until July, where the "Master Ninja" characters, namely the Ninja Gaiden characters that appeared in WO3, were added, and hopefully the updates will continue as time goes on.

All characters are limited to a 6-hit Charge Attack moveset with a 6-hit Hyper Attack for SW characters, so anyone who had more than that had their movesets rejiggered to fit. Certain DW characters will also have Unique Actions based on their EX weapon gimmicks. Each branch of a Charge/Hyper Charge Attack appears to have an extra input, even for SW characters who normally don't have C6 attacks. We'll come back to that later. They've also made it so you can just hold down the Square button to perform your Normal Attack string or Triangle to perform your Hyper Attack string.

The game is presented in a three-quarter view, that is to say you're looking at a dungeon in an angled bird's eye view. You're looking in the same direction but you can't rotate the camera. Characters are unable to jump in this game, meaning that attacks that send them into the air will bring them back to the ground. Pressing Cross makes you dash-evade and you can do this an extra two times with upgrades, but each dash-evade requires a cooldown before it can be used again. DW Strikeforce had dash cooldowns that were barely a second and it's still better than this.

As you traverse through Hell, you'll encounter Crystal Saplings (浄玻璃の若樹) after clearing a stage, where you can choose a hero to join your party. Heroes have their own emblems which can contribute to powering up abilities and attributes, plus they also have their own unique emblems that can contribute to Unique Tactics when they are in your Formation. At the War Banner of the King ('s exists, you know), you can change your formation and the heroes in it, or you can let Enma recommend a formation that will bring out as much Formation Attack Level. Each different formation has different effects and skills that are activated in an Assemble Attack.

Throughout your playthrough you can also gain Karma Embers (業蛍火) and Tears of Blood (亡者の紅涙). Karma Embers carry between playthroughs allow you to unlock heroes, formations and upgrades in each playthrough along with unique weapons for characters (if not unlocking them in the game) at the Hall of Bonded Souls (魂結の間), while Tears of Blood are exclusive to the current playthrough and you can purchase heroes, formations and recovery items for your party at King's Cauldrons (大王の大釜). Peach Trees can increase your maximum health on top of recovering some of it as well. Sometimes you can also get Crystal Beads (玻璃のしずく) that allow you to pick an extra character at a Crystal Sapling, or you can obtain extra emblems separate from obtaining them with heroes.

The more ability and attribute emblems you obtain, the more powerful your character becomes. You can an additional ability for each emblem you obtain for the first 8, then it's every 2 emblems until you get 18. If you ask me, it should be every emblem until you get 12 or 13 because I hate gaps.

The various emblem types you can obtain, and the abilities they influence, are as follows:

Vigor: Attack power and range

Skill: Attack actions and speed

Strength: Defence

Speed: Movement speed and evasion

Wisdom: Musou Attack power and recovery

Charm: Formation skills and Assembles

Attributes (Flame, Ice, Bolt, Wind, Slay): Elemental attack and defence

Sometimes at the beginning of phases, random events known as Memories of the Lost (亡者の記憶) will appear, using images taken from the rest of the series. You will choose from 2 or 3 choices with give you various buffs or debuffs, mostly for a number of phases. A lot of choices are chance choices, where if you select it, the game will roll for what effect you'll receive and there's a certain percentage chance you'll get one or the other.

So you know how I said that each Charge/Hyper Charge Attack branch had an extra input? Each hero in your formation corresponds to what Charge Attack they can be summoned in, from C2/SS2 to right after an N6. Summoning a hero makes them perform their Summon Skill attack before they go into a cooldown. You can quick summon a hero during a Charge Attack by pressing R1 to instantly trigger their Summon Skill, but there will be an additional cooldown on top of their usual cooldown. Some choices require you to have a certain amount of a certain category of emblems, while some choices will cost Tears of Blood.

Musou Attacks for DW characters are the same as those used in WO4 with some exceptions, while the Musou Attacks used for SW characters are their Frenzy Finishers. The exceptions for DW characters (at least the ones added from the start of the game) are as such:

Lu Xun's Musou Attack 1 (Blaze Kick/炎環腿) adds an extra flourish from the Musou Attack 2 (Volcano Smash/火山靠)

Zhao Yun's Musou Attack 1 (Flying Dragon/飛龍閃) adds the dragon corkscrew seen in Warriors All-Stars

Guan Yu uses his Unique Magic from WO4 instead of his Musou Attack 2 (Stormy Rage/天空轟断破)

Diaochan's Musou Attack 2 (Lunar Dance/月李) has her move forward like her Musou Attack 1 (Silver Lotus/銀蓮)

Sun Jian's Musou Attack 1 (Tiger Claw/虎爪) adds an extra flourish from the Aerial Musou Attack (Roaring Fangs/爪牙咆哮)

Zhang He uses his Aerial Musou Attack (Peacock Strike/孔雀抱) instead of his Musou Attack 1 (Eagle Talon/鴛鴦襲)

The Dynasty Warriors Weapon Moveset Power Rankings have been updated accordingly. If more characters are added in future updates, I'll have a look when I can and make updates if there are any.

There is also a separate Assemble Gauge and when full, pressing R2 will trigger an Assemble (man, fuck that name). Until the gauge runs out, the rest of your formation will continuously perform their Summon Skills, turning the screen into a big epilepsy-inducing cascade of attacks amongst the cascades of enemies. Launching a Musou Attack during a Assemble turns it into a Formation Attack/Assemble Musou, where characters perform their Rage Musou/normal Musou loop before all characters in your formation come together for a 7-man Kamehameha.

The big issue with Assembles is that you're not invincible like in Musou Attacks. This becomes a detriment when you're fighting the bosses because one swipe from them during an Assembly and you're dead. Plus, depleting a boss' health is instantaneous and not gradual like with other enemies, so it looks like they're tanking your attack all at once. Bosses have shields that need to be depleted first, so there is a chance that they will recover your shield just before you get to the Kamehameha bit of a Formation Musou. Honestly, for the amount of damage you deal to bosses compared to the amount of damage enemies deal to players, the player's health should be 10 times what the game gives us.

After defeating a boss, you'll be able to obtain a special treasure that stays in effect throughout your playthrough. You will get 3 treasures max per playthrough.

Clearing playthroughs allows you to unlock higher traversal levels (or should I say lower?). Higher traversal levels allow you to earn more Karma Embers, but enemies will be stronger, less unlocked heroes will appear at Crystal Saplings (which becomes redundant when you unlock all of them), the Tears of Blood cost at King's Cauldrons will increase and there will be fewer portals to choose from. At Traversal Level 5, you will fight both the Bloodthirsty and Veteran Warriors.

Traversal Level 6, available in the April 2025 update, prevents you from regaining health when levelling up, enemy attacks will piece through your barriers and deal 50% damage and level bosses will block Summoning Skills. In addition, Thorns of Fixation (妄執の楔) will appear on the first three levels; Gouma is using these thorns to tie himself to the land, hiding them with his aura on lower traversal levels before gradually being exposed with each defeat, meaning that they can kill Gouma for good. Collecting the three thorns will make Gouma's true form Ruinous Gouma of the Abyss (深淵の災厄ゴウマ), the true true final boss.

The April 2025 update also adds the Depths of Torment (無間修羅獄); after defeating Gouma in a playthrough, you can save your Soul Record (魂の記憶), which will carry over your hero, your party and your treasures. With each stage of the Depths of Torment come Trials that will make things harder for you as you continue on. Instead of Karma Embers, you'll obtain Spirit Essence (霊力) and in turn, you'll earn Records of Sin (閻魔帳) in each run. You can take up to 5 Records of Sin for 20,000 Karma Embers each (if you can still earn Tears of Blood in this mode then why can't you spend those instead). You can equip one Record of Sin for each playthrough, but if you want to use it in the Depths of Torment, you'll have to beat Gouma with it first.

The July 2025 update adds the Void of Ephemerality (刹那修羅獄), which is the Depths of Torment in a time-attack format; like the Survival Mode in Samurai Warriors, you'll have a limited amount of time that you can extend by defeating powerful enemies. The Training Hall (練磨の門) has also been added, where you can play the game with special effects centred around a specific theme or attribute. Obtaining unique weapons for characters will increase their attack by 50%, and you can activate Transcendence (限界突破) on them to grant them additional emblems, boosts to unique tactics and strategies and status enhancements; this can also be deactivated to get back the Karma Embers you spent. Karma Embers can also be used to raise the Cumulative Level of a character. In the PC version, ultrawide monitor resolutions are now supported.

In the menu, there are achievements and collection items you can unlock by playing over and over again, including concept arts, Underworld Records and BGMs. In the April 2025 update, you can also create up to 20 of your own playlists for each level and level boss.

The only DLCs for this game are costumes. Selecting a different costume for a character will also change their profile in the character selection menu.

On release, there were three costume sets for the 100-so characters that were included at the start. The Legendary Costume Set contains DW3 and SW1 costumes for characters who were in those games. The Dynasty Warriors Classic Costume Set contains:

The original costumes from DW8

ROTK 12 costumes for Zhao Yun and Sun Shangxiang

Xiaoqiao's Dengeki PlayStation Politan costume

Guan Yinping, Xingcai and Lu Lingqi's Famitsu fox costumes

Qipao costumes for Sun Shangxiang, Diaochan, Xingcai and Guan Yinping

WO4 DLC costumes for Lu Xun, Daqiao, Guan Yinping and Lu Lingqi

Xingcai, Wang Yi and Guo Jia's yukata costumes and Xu Shu's Western costume from WO4 store bonus/pre-order DLC

Alternate costumes for Fa Zheng, Chen Gong, Lu Lingqi and Xun Yu from 8E

The Samurai Warriors Classic Costume Set contains:

DLC costumes for female characters from SW4/4-II

Swap costumes for Oichi, Ina, Nene and Nō from SW4 store bonus DLC

Mitsunari Ishida without headgear from Famitsu

Takakage Kobayakawa as Motonari Mōri from SW4E pre-order DLC

Naotora Ii's idol costume from SW4-II first print DLC

Sanada costumes for Kunoichi, Ina and Kai from SW Spirit of Sanada

Sasuke's alternate costume - he didn't have one in SW Spirit of Sanada and he wasn't in WO4; the changes are subtle but given the camera angles in this game it's a useless addition

Old Ieyasu Tokugawa, Mature Nobuyuki Sanada and Young Masayuki Sanada with and without headgear from SW Spirit of Sanada

WO4 DLC costumes for Mitsunari Ishida, Gracia, Kai, Kunoichi and Naotora Ii

Mitsunari Ishida, Takatora Tōdō and Yoshitsugu Ōtani's costumes from WO4 store bonus/pre-order DLC

Yukata costumes for Oichi, Nene and all male characters from SW4E

Man, that was a doozy to list. Two Deluxe Editions of this game were also made available on release; the Hack'n'Dash/Start Dash Edition which includes the Legendary Costume Set, and the Hack'n'Dash Ultimate/Full Costume Edition which adds on the two Classic Costume Sets. DW1 costumes for Cao Cao, Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei (which were also in DW8) were available for free until 14 March, but not the DW1 costumes for Xiahou Dun, Taishi Ci, Zhao Yun, Diaochan and Lu Bu (which were in DW7).

Of course, thanks to the lower price of this game and the amount of DLC packs, the game ends up costing one-sixth the total cost of the game with all the packs, but if you bought the Hack'n'Dash Ultimate Edition and then all the costume packs for the characters that were released in updates, it actually costs less than if you just bought the game and all the DLCs, provided you don't accidentally buy them twice somehow.

Alongside the characters coming out with each update, DLC costume packs were released with them as well. The Jin Classic costume set contains the modern costumes from DW8, the school costumes, fairytale costumes and fantasy costumes from DW7, and Wang Yuanji's pre-order and DLC costumes from WO4. No new costumes have been added for Sima Yi despite moving to his own faction.

The three Atelier characters received vacation and academy-themed costumes and I'm not sure if they were used in the original games. For the Samurai Warriors characters debuting in the April update, Yoshihiro Shimazu, Muneshige Tachibana and Motochika Chōsokabe receive yukata costumes, Ginchiyo Tachibana receives her 4 and 4-II DLC costumes, Toyohisa Shimazu receives his headgear-less costume from Dengeki PlayStation and Chacha receives her Sanada costume from Spirit of Sanada's DLC. Young and Mature Yukimura also have a separate costume pack with their costumes from Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening. The four Ninja Gaiden characters debuting in the July update receive formal and legacy costume packs consisting of DLC costumes from their series or WO3. After this point I don't think I'll continue listing off costumes, though we can assume that with new characters in updates comes new DLC for those characters. Keep up the money grubbing, Koei Tecmo.

As is standard with spinoff games since SWChronicles or DW7E, Warriors Abyss was localised without English voices. However, funnily enough, there isn't a lot of dialogue from the featured characters, but rather, their generic system lines are reused from WO4 or the respective characters' games. Koei Tecmo finally took on my idea of using archived voices from WO3U even if it wasn't as a supplement to newly recorded voices so they don't have to rerecord them. The only new voices in this game are from King Enma, voiced by Ai Fairouz.

Despite this game also being localised by Digital Hearts, there is a lack of macrons in this game for names like Kotarō Fūma or Takatora Tōdō, like it was in SW1. I guess this explains why the big bad's name is Gouma and not Gōma. But, this is a lower budget game, plus not many people will care about it so I won't harp on this point for too long.

The text languages are the same as for DW9 and Origins save for Portuguese or Arabic. While perusing through the update notes, I noticed that they were finally fixing translation errors in localisations. WHY WEREN'T YOU DOING THAT FOR YOUR OTHER GAMES IN THE FIRST PLACE?!

Warriors Abyss isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's another one of Koei Tecmo's experiments which justifies the return to modern era nostalgia and money grubbing, but the base game by itself is relatively cheap and you really don't need the DLC costumes to enjoy it. The game is under 4GB for all versions so it is fairly compact, which is something of an outlier for non-indie games when AAA games on Steam need over 100GB on your disk; even DW9 and Origins pass the 50GB mark when most modern era PC ports have been around 20GB.

If you like roguelike/rogue-lite games, if you like grinding and defeating bosses, if you like torturing yourself with constant failure repetitively then you'll like this game. For me though, I can't really enjoy it unless I use a trainer, and even then I couldn't deal with the prospect of continually losing and grinding, especially when bosses have shields and I'm not invincible during an Assemble. It's a fun game if you want it to be, but unfortunately, it's not really for me.

Finally, after what seems like years of work, the Koei Warriors Retrospective has caught up to all the games and we can close the book on it, at least for now. The Warriors series for me has been an incredible 20-year journey of ups and downs; there are times when I've been baffled over Koei Tecmo's decisions, even getting frustrated and angry over them, and as long-winded as my rants, recounts and research may be, I do everything I do out of love for the series and a hope that things will get better. Not everything has gone the way I liked, but sometimes you have to understand why Koei Tecmo takes the steps they do and the direction they take, so sometimes it's better just to sit back and see what they will do next.

The Koei Warriors Retrospective may return when the next Warriors game comes out, but until then, continue to walk the unparalleled path of the warrior and strive to become a True Warrior of the Three Kingdoms. Feel free to follow me on Facebook and Tumblr, and until next time, this is Azuma Yeonchi, victorious in defeat.

[sword-and-lance]

Class/Music Meme

Rules: 1. Take your favourite classes that you often play/RP with and take a screenshot of them in action! 2. Find a song that matches both your play-style/character style and label each class!

Dark Knight:

Umai by Shireen

And you’ll reach for the sky But in this mud you'll die And you will pray When lightning illuminates your face

Daeyona was always a rather violent fighter, prone to near-berserker furies when provoked, but such things apply even more so to her after she delved so deeply into the dark arts--so deeply that it’s debatable whether she counts as alive or dead or something not quite of either. Her darkside in particular, even now or perhaps especially now, is merciless, prideful, and prone to excessively-dramatic displays of force...and believes itself to be a vengeful god, exacting a bloody price on whoever dares to wrong it.

Sometimes, she even gives it full rein to do so, when she doesn’t have to worry about...collateral damage.

She is a vicious and bloodthirsty death to be had, when fighting without reservation, and no amount of pain or threat is capable of breaking through the fury clouding her mind when she does. She experienced so much of it even before the hellish ritual she inflicted on herself that it mostly just serves to heighten her violence instead.

Summoner:

Archangel by Two Steps From Hell

Not a class that Dae canonically plays - she’s a Dark Knight and a Dark Knight only, in that sense. But, frankly, I play this class often enough in-game on her character that I felt like including it in this meme anyway. It’s pretty much my go-to for DPSing these days. :Dc

There is something oddly satisfying to play about this class, at least once I finally “got it” and started really seeing what damage it could do (instead of cluelessly flailing around like I was for a while, lol). It’s an absolute joy in dungeons and the part of me that enjoys big kaboom just adores getting to wade into a pack of enemies and smite them all into nothing, tbh.

...Kind of a pity I usually don’t get to show off the LB3 except in a small handful of instances and whenever the other DPS just forget to do it.

Warrior:

Iron by Within Temptation

Oh damn, the war is coming! Oh damn, you feel you want it! Oh damn, just bring it on today!

Again, not a class that Dae canonically plays, but...I’ve grown a lot more fond of this class as of late, changes and all.

I will say it feels particularly amazing in dungeons, just because Inner Release lets you go so completely spam-happy on single target or AOE. Can’t help but feel like I could charge into anything headlong and smack it into submission with an axe on this class... :D

Too bad I probably need SkS melds to consistently hit the appropriate windows with my ping, but that’s another rant for another time

Tagged by: I stole it when I saw it floating around in a few places, lol

Tagging: Eh if you wanna do it go for it, just tag me in it so I can see~

[royalwriteroftheuniverse]

Thanks Captain America

chapter 5

Next chapter (Chapter 6)

WARNINGS: 18+ just incase ptsd kidnapping drug overdose , drugs kidnapping psychological issues that can trigger anyone a whole lot of angst and heartbreak character death

Comments and Rebligs appreciated no publishing or reporting

Previous Chapter

Steve is upstairs working on a exfil plan for two shadows im Germany when he is called down the T.O.R.s (tactical observation rooms)

because a team clearing out a drug trafficking ring location, who have started to dabble in other Steves, found something he needs to needs to see - a phrase Steve rolled his eyes at. Steve throws down his pencil in a noise and huffy as he goes into the roof. Workers hand him an earned as he walks in.

But all he see is walls.

"This is what I'm called down for? Dirty walls?" He thinks, annoyed because there are two agents in trouble that need exfil yesterday and hes looking at walls for what? To decide what to repaint them?

In fact that's what thought. Exactly what he thought.

"He's here show us."

It takes Steve a second to figure out what they're showing him. Ok an iv connected to a body he doesn't-the face he recognizes the dirty grayed face. He swallow hard. Its been a year but It was her face, slightly skinner a malnourished faced barely clothed . Steve stopped paying attention to what they were saying but he heard "drug overdose"

"What?"

"Looks like a drug overdose sir. Probably a day or two ago. If it wasn't-"

"For the side mission I sent you on she'd be alive. If I didn't stop looking."

Steve shot up in bed covered in sweat. Panting he's had that nightmare ever since Hayden came to say you were missing. They only got worse after the restraining order when he knew he wouldn't be able to help her the way she helped him at night and he longed for nothing more than to just hold her.

Then there were others where they're too early by a day and you get put somewhere else until they're gone and he sees you as you see the quinn jett flying away above you. Cursing Steve, hating him because you think they aren't looking for you because you think Steve replaced you the one thought that Steve just has through is whole in is that he is afraid you thinknhe sees yiu like garbage, he's made you believeyou were gun bendable disposable always another peice on the side and that HE madeyou give up because his treatment. He knew it and it killed him Because he knew what you knew if he was looking for you then they would have found you. Other times Steve is walking down the street and passes a crime scene and he sees your face just before they zip up thr body bag, those the worst for him youbwere in the city the whole time. Right under his nose. A few block away and he still lost you forever. Hayden. Well Hayden could be temporary any lover or boyfriend or even husband could be divorxe was easy nowadays but death no one could come back from,, Steve only cheated it because of a technicality with ice. Bucky was cryo-perserved. But you wouldn't be. You'd-he stopped himself to look at the time the precious minutes wasting away. Barely 10 minutes have passed since the last time he looked. He couldn't have even gotten 10 minutes in but the nightmares keep coming you always you turing up somewhere or another his fault. But that's because it is. He knew it he couldn't lie about it to anyone no one could lie about it to him though no one was foolish enough to bring it up not after Steve had all but killed a High up Avenger Agent who said its been too long nd there were agents who needed his help now -she was a lost cause.

He was a lost cause too once but he had 70 years to wait you didnt have even a sliver of that.

Chapter 6

So Steve went back to the room that been a second home. No, not a second home, a room because nothing was home without you.

After a little while some.one had called for him to go down to a T.O.R. room he gulped heavily. This was how his nightmare started and he knew you wouldn't be waking him up.

Taglist

@nana1000night @sapphire-rogers @patzammit @hawkeyes-queen @sparklybarbarianninja

[tylrswfts]

Maybe, it was high praise -- but it also wasn't embellished either, honestly. She had lots of people in her life who cared for her and were people she'd consider thoughtful but, when she looked at the shelf life of her romantic history, most of those former suitors had fallen royally flat in every area that Travis had been able to so effortlessly pick up the pieces. It really was remarkable that he'd met her in such a broken state and found her worth pursuing despite it all; that was one of the many attributes of his that'd struck her in particular in those early days. "Are you kidding me?" She asked with a breathy laugh of disbelief. "You've made my entire year in one night, Travis. This is all I've wanted, all I could've asked for..." her voice trailed off as emotions had struck her again, and she couldn't help but press herself tighter against the warmth of his chest. "Me either," she eventually admitted with a breathy sigh, "you have no idea." She looked up at him with her signature smile on her face, though the one he got out of her was always a little softer than the one that ended up on magazine covers and jumbotron screens. "The intimacy of it is really special to me, I think," she said, merely thinking aloud, "with of course, inviting all of our people for the party of the year afterwards."

"Shut up," she teased, swatting playfully at his chest, "you know exactly what I meant. That long list of titles doesn't matter as much as being your girlfriend now, and anything else I become for us later. Those other jobs are temporary -- I can't do them for the rest of my life, and I reasonably know that despite the fact that I don't really want to make peace with that truth just yet. You're my forever. This is the greatest thing I'll ever accomplish -- loving you and being loved in return." She drank in his words as he spoke, nodding along as every syllable was woven with threads of truth. "You do the same for me; you know I'm my own worst critic, and I can't thank you enough for being the voice of reason to combat the one in my own head on those rough days." She smiled politely and affirmed Travis's gratitude toward the musician for her accompaniment for the evening, making a mental note to send her flowers and a card written on her stationery in the days that followed to express just how special this evening had been and would continue to be -- and how the beautiful rendition of a song that had become more deeply personal than Taylor could've ever imagined was truly the icing on the cake, to dabble in clichés. Her cheeks flushed a powdery pink shade at the tender kiss to her forehead, nerves in the pit of her stomach feeling like they were tangling themselves into knots. It felt like it'd been so long since they'd been able to share an evening like this -- where time didn't seem to run out and they were truly alone. Tour buses and even the most elegant hotel rooms with top security didn't provide the same level of security and sacred time to keep to themselves. Their hands stayed interlocked until they were at the top of the staircase, Taylor dropping Travis's hand only to rest both palms against his chest and lean in for another kiss -- this one slower and far more desperate than any shared outside on the patio. The ruffles of her black shirt rolled over her shoulders, and she could feel her heartbeat beginning to race as her lips dropped to his neck to pepper a slow string of kisses there. "I've been thinking about this -- about you -- all day," she whispered, the lack of space between them inspiring tiny goosebumps that ran across her arms.

He was certain that she had encountered many thoughtful people in her life, but he could also infer that many hadn’t had the purest intentions. His heart was exactly where it needed to be, in the right place. There would never be any conditions — other than her full trust and faith. “Being the most thoughtful you’ve ever met is some high praise,” he said, and hoped that she knew that behavior from him would never end. When it called for it, he had to display his feelings in such a way, even if it meant enlisting help to get his point fully across. Judging by her expressions, he had done just that, and more that night. They couldn’t have been closer, as it were; their hands hadn’t released their holds of each other’s bodies. She had a gravitational pull, one that was emotional and physical simultaneously. “Thank you — For saying yes to forever,” he whispered, feeling her lips against his jaw, as the gentle breeze was the only thing to dry the tears that were left left on his face. She could repeat those words daily, and still, he would treasure them. Every time. “I can’t wait for the day. You have no idea,” he confessed, easily. Life would be complete, then. He had her, and he knew that, but a family? He had laid awake at night thinking about it, wondering if he had lost his chance, but now, he felt so close to having it. He tilted his head back and let out a laugh; a modest civil wedding was most likely the last thing that the public expected of them, which made the idea all the more enticing. “I kind of like the sound of that, a little courthouse wedding,” he said. A large party or a ceremony could always follow. But he couldn’t get too ahead of himself now. He wanted to take every single day as they came, even if he did have those elaborate visions and dreams at the forefront of his mind. Travis nodded, slowly, and allowed his hands to move from her back to hold her hips, tugging on them. “All for us,” he echoed.

“Are you bragging right now? Seriously?” He teased her, and he tickled her sides, just enough to get another laugh out of her. “You are so talented, my love, but the friend, the daughter, the sister — and girlfriend, that you are — That’s what I see the most often and what I admire the most about you,” he said with a wink down at her, as if he hadn’t told her countless times. And the fact that he would always have a front-row seat to her many talents was something he did not take for granted. His lips curved into a smile with that kiss, and feeling the gentle touch of hers and her words that followed. If it was true, that was something he would still have to learn to accept, but with her promise of giving him all the time in the world to learn to be together, to love each other in the way that they desired and needed to be loved, he would get there. “You somehow always see the best in me,” he replied, simply, and shrugged before saying, "I won't stop until I give you the world." Of course, there would always be an existing fear that he would fall short or make a misstep that would cause her to reconsider, but he would push those thoughts to the furthest corner of his mind. “Impolite of you? Never,” he said. He was, after all, completely hers. With his arms still securely around her, he turned his attention towards the musician who had graced them with her presence that evening. “Thank you for being here. For playing our song, for us, and making the night so special.” Travis expressed his gratitude, and made it clear that she could take all the time needed to gather her things, as he and Taylor took in the display of candles surrounding the pool once again. He raised his hands once again, now gingerly holding shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was time, to get to an even safer, and more sacred place, even more so than the atmosphere that he had curated there outside. “I’m ready when you are. You know the way,” he said, and he was aware that behind his words, she could deduce a multitude of meanings. He trusted the musician to take her time and leave on her own accord; meanwhile, his thoughts were already elsewhere. Taylor's hand had found its way back entwined with his, and he gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze, in an attempt to conceal his own nervous excitement. He allowed her to somewhat lead and followed in step behind her, not saying a word or letting out a sound until they were inside the house once again. The place had a different energy to it now. It felt as safe as before, but his desire was burning, and he communicated that through his actions, grabbing a hold of her that was both possessive and sweet — gentle, yet desperate. Lifting her off the ground was too easy, with the combination of his strength and their height difference. He let out a breathless chuckle against her lips as he started walking, heading straight for the winding staircase.

[chromochaotic]

Reads of 2023 Part II (so far)

i was sad i couldn't fit all the cover pictures in my Part I post without it going off the screen, so might as well split it into 2 posts! update as of 6/11!

thoughts/reviews:

Heaven Official's Blessing: Volume 1

It's happening! My friends have been deep in this author's works/fandom for a while now, I'm pretty late to the party... Well, I guess I've dabbled in some of the animated/live action content that's out there for the different series. Anyway, this was a fun read! There's something so lush about historical dramas that definitely comes through here. When you add in the bits of humor and adventure, the whole story is really refreshing.

Even though the translation is still a tiny bit unprofessional, it's clearer than other options, haha. I was able to get a way better sense of the world and characters on this attempt (I had a good time watching the animated show! But as my friend put it, the season moved lightning fast, so it brushed over a lot of things). I don't have any other real nitpicks, other than like... the odd sexism that pops up now and then. Lmao

I am ofc in love with the main characters... They invented love... They invented devotion... I'm also delighted by the pace of things! Their relationship has managed to be both teasingly slow (like, the gradual reveal of Hua Cheng's true identity) but also very satisfyingly forward (the escorting!! the painting!! the righteous anger!!). Excited to see where things go with them, and the rest of the cast! (3.5/5—would be a 4, but the translation still kind of hampers things.)

Naomi Vandoren's Forest of Light

The second art book I bought from this artist! Same thoughts as before; for a quick browse, this was a refreshing little collection. Her style is just nice and soothing, with some fun surrealism/dreamscape vibes thrown in.

I'm not sure I'll buy any more of these, since the book didn't add quite as much insight into the works as I was hoping. Plus some of the concepts don't really resonate with me/seem that well researched...

I think one of my favorite things included was this abstract work the artist did—she wrote that she started with random watercolor mark-making, and then turned that into a piece. Those were very cool explorations! (2.5/5)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian

Done!! With the series! (Unless... It looks like there might be some followups to the main story?) I understand why the darker tone got dialed up, and other than the excursion with Nico, why the story kind of broke from the wacky-roadtrip vibe of the others. It made sense, while still keeping some of the lighthearted narration from the others, which was nice. I think what I appreciate the most about the series is the fun it has with its world. (Side note—I watched the movie based on the first book recently, and I can only assume it didn't do well! Bc omg, it completely missed the mood of the books. Instead of lingering on the whimsy, they focused on... making Grover a very cringey stereotype? Nah.) (ALSO??? THEY CUT OUT MY DAUGHTER CLARISSE????? THE AUDACITY???????)

I think my biggest gripe with the book was the very weird way the Annabeth-Percy-Rachel dynamic was handled. Like, it just got kind of tiring after a bit, especially with the way Annabeth acted so uncharacteristically catty at times. Plus, like, Percy's off falling in love with Calypso after like 5 minutes, the girl is right that he's kind of flighty. Rachel's ending also felt, just... eh.

Other than that, I was very into the last book!! There were some really moving character moments, like, Nico struggling with his place in the story, everything we learned about Luke... AND THE BIGGEST MASTERSTROKE OF ALL!!! I have been waiting to scream about the sapphic Patrochilles take??? At the end??? Clarisse has two hands and she can hold both Chris's and Silena's. She was moved to go into battle!!!! For her!!!!! She defeated one of the most terrifying foes in NO ARMOR just with a SICK ASS SPEAR and I LOVE HER. Anyway no notes, except they better do Clarisse justice in the new adaptation or I will riot. (4/5)

Secrets of the Oak Woodlands

Ooo I'm out of practice doing these reviews... Mostly from a funny cocktail of outside factors slowing me down, but also because nonfiction can be such a slog for me to get through. Tragic, because I do want to learn more ecology, I'm just... bad at it. Anyway! Bought this book on a fun West Coast road trip, I think I picked this up in the Sequoia National Park gift shop? The writing itself is great, especially how it tackles some pretty complex concepts in a way that's approachable. The book doesn't feel like Baby's First Nature Guide, but it also doesn't completely lose me when it explores why coyote populations actually rise when they're hunted or why Oak Mistletoe is a keystone species.

Even though the watercolor illustrations in the book were lovely, I sort of wish the visuals could have focused more on the tougher scientific concepts being explained. Like, instead of the illustrated "anecdote" of a quail sitting sentry, it could have been good to have a cross-section diagram of an oak gall or something. I guess it's always hard to balance interest and clarity in scientific writing, though. Overall, I think this was a pretty good eco-starter book! I'm just a square peg trying to force myself into a round hole, reading these nonfiction books. (So... 3/5?)

The Dragon's Bride

Hoo boy... Hoo boy... Listened to this audiobook at the recommendation of my friend who's very into erotica/romances. Which was an adventure, for me! To start with the good points, I really like the founding premise of this whole world/story. Deals with demons walk that perfect line for me of intricate and taboo power dynamics—and at the same time, the author satisfied my inner hopeless romantic by making all the demons (that we've met so far, at least) morally viable! So yeah, the world building and characterization is really nice, tbh.

I think my two sticking points are the smut itself, and that I didn't find these particular protags very compelling... It's interesting comparing this to, say, an above-average smut fic. On the one hand this has better prose, but on the other hand the smut veered into being a little too flowery now and then... (not to say all the sex scenes were like that. Uh. There were some choice ones.) I also personally found the frequency of the sex scenes a little ridiculous, but for most people that's probably a positive! 😂 And then, when it comes to the main characters themselves, I think they were well-rounded and the dynamic itself made sense. The personalities just aren't the kind I normally latch onto, though—they're not my blorbos, you know? So, where I'd go into a smut fic already attached (and therefore more into the smut itself), these... I could take it or leave it, haha.

That said, this installment did pique my interest for others in the series. I'm curious about the one with the succubus........ And the one with Eve..................... Those tidbits seem more up my alley. :] Also, the voice acting was pretty fun, tbh. They got separate VAs for Briar and Sol, the two POV characters, and they knocked it out of the park (even/especially in the smut scenes)! (well, except for a very funny instance where the guy VA had to voice Briar's lines in a smut scene in a Sol POV chapter. Damn, did he try.) Might pick up one of the other installments... if they come out on audiobook! (3.5/5)

Legends & Lattes

Another recommendation!! From a different friend! Apparently this book is popular on booktok but since booktok sounds like a cesspool (not really—pls don't come for me) I'm glad I didn't know that going in. As a purveyor and avid consumer of slice-of-life fluff.......... I loved this!!! First of all, the main character is My Kind of Girl, and exactly the kind of character I want to see getting a happy ending. Then, the rest of cast provided so many different kinds of delight—the warm Found Family feeling of a grumpy kind father figure and an adorable little Creature baking actual cinnamon rolls and a prim but secretly dorky girlfriend and and and—so many greats! Even the antagonists were enjoyable, in their way.

Hmmm... for the negative part of my postive-negative-positive sandwich, I think I'd just echo what I've seen in a few other reviews—I could have done with a teensy bit more of the romance. Or I guess, more of the cuteness of it? All we really got was a little bit of lead-up and then a big get-together, but I feel like the romance scenes I like most (shy flirting, a tiny bit of pining) got sort of skipped over. It's not a huge negative! Especially for this story, which seemed like it hit exactly the balance the author intended. Yeah, I might have just had the epilogue cover the main ship being cute and in love, instead of the little righteous vengeance scene that we got.

So this was a perfect little comfort listen (audiobook again! with really nice acting done by the author himself!). I saw other people calling the first chapters slow, but tbh I loved the steady, hopeful mood that came from all that straightforward hard work happening and then paying off. A great story, if you go in with the right expectations! (4.5/5) (P.S.: also this article touches on some other L&L points that I think explain why it resonates so well in post-pandemic life) (P.P.S. now I'm trying to parse out why I liked this book so much more than House in the Cerulean Sea... I think part of it is that the cast felt more respected? Like, it was more than just The Most Special-est Pretty Boy and his Plucky Boyfriend Fix Fantasy Racism)

[papirouge]

Are there any other conspiracies you believe in? Like the 9/11 one for example?

👀👀

💥The 9/11 was an inside job. They bombed these towers and the plane was a deep fake hologram.

💥Michelle Obama is a man, as well as Brigitte Macron. #Transapocalypse is a reach (and most people entertaining this movement are scrotes who will assume any woman who's not a perfect hourglass figure is a man) but there are definitely more gender crossing people than we assume.

💥Most world leaders and famous people (entertainers, world top companies CEO, etc.) are satan worshippers. I firmly believe that you cannot attain a certain level of fame or occupations if you're not a Freemasons/satanist. Here in France it's said that you can't climb the highest echelon at the DSD (Diplomatic Security) if you're not a Freemason.

💥These celebrities/A list people sacrifice children & homeless on the regular and gather either organs (didn't Rothschild managed to get transplanted 7 times despite being a literal corpse?), blood (for youth) or adenochrome (to achieve a drug-like high). Countess of Bathory has spiritual descendants.

💥They do child sacrifice at the Vatican underground. A whistleblower (who mysteriously disappeared) who was a former MK Ultra'ed satanist said she went to Black Mass out there were they sacrificed a child and summoned a demon. Don't they have a telescope called Lucifer? BYE

💥Flat earth is retarded but earth is round AND hollow and Hell is inside

💥Mental illnesses are demonic influence

💥Some people are not humans. Nephilim/cross breed/fallen angels are among us. I once saw a testimony on a church about a woman who was a Sirène des Eaux (Mama Wata in African folklore). Her mom made a pact with a demon to get pregnant. That girl said she would spend HOURS underwater whenever she felt sad and being underwater made her feel at peace and "at home". She suffered sexual immortality too, and asked the pastor to help her rebuke this spirit driving her to sin, but she was struggling so hard and since she wasn't fully human, casting bad spirits didn't work on her and there was no point anyway since she wasn't truly human to begin with. She was the bad spirit.

Another anecdote: my sister (who's VERY Cartesian and not into spirit or demon hunting like me lol) once went to see a friend's husband who was bedridden as the hospital. She said that the few seconds after she entered the room, he had scale-like skin. Kinda like Killer Croc

As soon as the man picked up her presence, his skin immediately became normal again. It really freaked her out.

I believe either 1)this man didn't want to be uncovered and pulled himself together once he realized someone was there 2) he didn't know he was himself half demon and his organism being weakened (he was comatose-ing/half asleep when my siste came through) made him 'lose' his spiritual cover that made him look human (kinda like when our muscle losen up when we relax) and only pulled himself together after waking up to welcome my sister

💥Related to previous statements : I firmly believe world famous artists are channeling demons for inspiration. Either consciously or not. They are worshipping demons giving them the inspiration. Hence many movies with characters with demon name, demonic symbolism etc Even when I was not Saved and dabbling with witchcraft, I started having 'inspiration' from African traditional masks with are 100% demon channeling. That's why I do not recommend watching most popular movies (Marvels, Disney, etc) bc all these producers/animator do entertain this wicked energy (I mean, Disney was a pedo and a freemason right?)

[bluebellravenbooks]

It's January and winter blues is real, people! I've been trying to do more stuff that I love to keep the spirits up, and this includes studying animation. I've admired it for a long time, but mostly by just staring at concept art and reading on how really advanced stuff is made; however, after catching up on some cartoons during the lockdowns (such as Avatar, Over the Garden Wall, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe) I realized that I'm much more interested in the character animation and storyboard/storytelling part, which very nicely intersects with my other interests in writing and drawing - and I decided to study it all a bit more!

So these are my

complete beginner's notes on learning character animation that no one asked for, by someone who is definitely not qualified to talk about it

Figure drawing. This is the first thing that will hit you like a ton of bricks if you as much as glance in this direction. I'm in two minds about this: on the one hand, some practice in this area is obviously essential (duh!); on the other, this sometimes becomes a genre in itself, a specifically stylized drawing just for the sake of, well, pretty drawing. Which isn't helpful if you're doing it for practice. Also, if you thought that art of naked women in ridiculous poses is about two centuries dead... well, yeah you're wrong. (Seriously, what's up with that? There are some things in the art world that I just don't get.) As for how to learn it, there are plenty of classical books on the subject and apparently a lot of Discourse on which method is The Best; I'm trying not to get too deep into that and currently am just learning by practice and trying out different techniques.

The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams. This book was quickly pointed out to me as A Classic, and I'm having a lot of fun doing some basics with it in Pencil2D, but oh my God a good portion of this book really did not age well. It's full of reverence towards the Golden Age of animation, blatant misogyny and the ever-present incompetent "in-betweener" (animation assistant), whose problems seem to stem from the fact that he's always "plugged in" listening to music (because I'm sure that's the only reason the lowest link in the famously underpaid industry would not produce a masterpiece in every drawing). Basically, animation basics are covered really well, but there are tons of animation industry (and just life) details that are decades out of date (or at least no longer relevant for most western studios from what I know about their workflow). I didn't know that an animation handbook could be so annoying.

Perspective! For Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea. I picked this one up because of Rebecca Sugar's recommendation and all the interesting stuff she talks about in interviews about perspective. I can't comment on the book much yet since I've barely started it, but it looks fun, and perspective is definitely an important aspect that I hadn't been paying enough attention to; also interesting to try and tanslate some of these concepts to perspective in writing (reminds me about what Philip Pullman said about "camerawork").

Art books (featured here WolfWalkers and Steven Universe). I have a few more back at home - have always enjoyed them, and one can learn much from them as well. However they are heavy and expensive, so that's something to consider - for example if you're a student like me, who doesn't have tons of free cash and will probably have to move a lot. But hey, times are dark, so sometimes I do threat myself...

Software. I like doing doodles digitally, especially when learning - spoiling a lot of paper makes me feel bad, while digital drawing allows me to relax a bit more, since every bad drawing is just one click away from oblivion. The conventional choice for drawing is Photoshop, but there are definitely decent free alternatives out there. For animation tests I'm using Pencil2D - it's free and perfect for a beginner. However, one thing that you'll need if you want to try out digital art is a graphic tablet - I'm afraid computer drawing isn't really feasible without one, unless you're into VERY specific art styles. But in good news, there's not much difference between super advanced and very basic ones, so a simple one will serve you just fine! I'm using my old trusty Wacom, purchased many years ago for saved-up pocket money, and it's working great.

Well, there we are - no idea whether this is useful for anyone, but I hope it is. My take-home message here is that learning art is fun, and there are many different types of "art" that you can learn and do on your own - it's not just oils and pastels :) And of course it's not really feasible to get as good as actual art school students on your own - but there's still plenty of interesting stuff you can do!

If there are any actual art/animation people reading this - I apologize for my amateur dabbling, and would be interested to hear if you have any tips!