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cherriesformatt · 9 months ago

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a day || matt sturniolo

matt x fem!reader

summary: what would a typical day as Matt's girlfriend would look like

warnings: pure fluff

word count: 1,6k

a/n: idk let me know how I did English is not my first language but I am working on it

I was on my way from a long, Friday, morning meeting and all I was thinking about was going back to bed and never leaving it again. My week started with my car breaking down out of nowhere, then I got my period (which is not as bad when you think about it because it would be worse if I didn't get it), and then I had an actual meeting, in an actual office, with actual people (I usually work from home in my pajamas).

I had to drive my boyfriend's car to the meeting downtown. I am glad that I could, but let me tell you one thing, my boyfriend's car is giant and to park this lady downtown I needed to leave 30 minutes early.

chris 🦋:

waiting for u outside thx for picking me up kid ❤️

"oh fuck" I said to myself as I quickly did a U-turn before it was too late. Was it safe? No. Did everyone survive? Yes.

I totally forgot that I was supposed to pick up Chris from his own meeting since Matt couldn't because I had their car. I dialed Chrise's number.

"hi, ur okay?" he asked.

"yes, I just might or might not forgot to pick you up so I'll be there in 15 okay? I'm sorry I had a rough morning..."

"Bro no worries I'll pick up some coffee while I wait and you drive safe okay?" I smiled because wasn't he the best? He doesn't even drink coffee.

"Okay I'll see you there"

I ended the call and typed Chris's location. It wasn't that bad with the traffic so I was there in less than 15 minutes.

I was able to park where he was waiting so he got into the passenger seat and smiled at me while I started driving again. I really want to be home.

"I would say good morning but I'll keep that to myself. Got you an americano and banana bread" He put my coffee in the cup holder and threw his backpack on the back seat.

"Thank you, that's really sweet, I am literally half dead so that will help" I laughed and took a sip of my coffee.

"I still think that my brother is dating a weirdo, how can you even drink it black and unsweetened?" Chris looks at me with a disgusted face.

"You are all literally bunch of weirdos so I just matched the energy you know" I blinked at him and stopped on the red.

"How was your meeting? New fresh love is gonna be fire. I got the drafts in my mail this morning. Did not change a thing. You and the team did great" I said and smiled at him.

I was a graphic designer and helped Chris at the beginning of his brand, but I did not really want to work for him so I just help sometimes if it's needed. I am really happy that he still likes to know what I think about the projects tho. I also used to work for Laura but not anymore. That's basically how we all met. I quit after me and Matt started to be a thing.

"I know right? Well, I knew you will love it. The meeting was great, we should be able to make everything work by the end of the month. And guess what... I actually got samples and I have a pink set for you kid"

"Honestly... made my day, I am going to wear it for everything now" I laughed.

"Just don't post it yet" He said and started to click things on the car's screen.

"Just use my phone for music" I gave him my phone and he typed my code and put our favorite song by lil skies on.

"Still can't believe I memorized Niall Horan's birthday just to get to your phone"

I blinked at him and started rapping with the song. I loved make a toast. Music taste is probably one of the things that made my and Chris's bond strong. Don't get me wrong I love Nick as much as I do Chris, but he just always gets me and we were best friends since day one. The funny thing is that me and Matt did not really liked each other at first.

The ride home made my mood better. We sang and laugh, I wasn't tired of my life that much anymore. I took my shoes off while holding all of my stuff. Matt was on the couch watching something while we made our way up the stairs.

"Hi baby... How was it?" He asked as soon as he saw me.

"Crap, I am going to call Laura to take me back" I laughed and put my stuff on the table and went to wash my hands in the kitchen sink. I then walked up to Matt and just threw myself next to him to cuddle his side.

He kissed my forehead and started to rub my back.

"I am going to take a nice nap, you kids have fun but not too much" Chris waved at us and went back down the stairs to his room.

Matt rolled his eyes and kissed my head again.

"How about we do something nice together? Nick is going to come home with Madi soon, I think, and that means laud. We could go to that beach you like and just get food and watch the sunset later" He asked.

All I was thinking about was his cold hand on my back and how much I just loved that man. He knew exactly what I needed.

"Yes, please. I just need to change. I wore a bra man, can you believe this?" I sit back up.

He laughed at me and shook his head.

"Go then," He said patting my thigh.

I went to put my new fresh love set in Matt's bedroom, used the bathroom and when I was ready we went out.

"Wow, so it's your car now, huh?" Matt started to change the mirrors and seat but he also raised his eyebrows looking at my stuff next to the shift gear.

"Baby it's only essentials to drive, okay?" I smiled and got comfortable in the passenger seat.

We drove to get food and dessert. The weather was perfect to just spend an entire afternoon on the beach. Boys did not have any work plans today so I knew Matt was all mine for the rest of the day.

We sat on the beach, had our food, and just talked or cuddled in comfortable silence. That's what I mostly love about spending time with Matt. We could just sit the whole day without a word and be alright with it, but also we could talk for hours and we would always have something to talk about.

"I love you Matty, thanks for taking me to the beach. This new project sucks but I know it's going to be better after that. I really needed just you today"

I kissed his sweet lips. He tasted like the cherry Pepsi that we just had. He pulled me into his lap and slid his hands under my hoodie while he kissed me back.

I rested my forehead on his as I pulled away and smiled.

"Anything for my girl, I love you kid" He kissed my nose and I just wrapped myself around his body.

"I am not moving, you might as well carry me to your car like this" I said into his neck.

He laughed at that and hugged me back.

"Or we can just stay here" He lay back down on the blanket.

"I promised your brother that we are going to watch Criminal Minds with him tho" I said.

"Sometimes I just wish you and Chris weren't the same person y/n..." He joked and looked at his phone, holding it above my head.

"Let's go back after sunset in that case baby"

We did watch the sunset, my favorite part of the day. We came back home and spent time with his brothers as I had promised Chris.

"Spend the night?" Matt whispered in my ear while the last episode for tonight ended.

I smiled and nodded. I was off tomorrow and did not want him to drive me home that late anyway.

We said goodnight and went to his room.

"I will go take a shower" I said and opened his drawer to take a pair of boxers and a T-shirt.

"Go ahead, I went shopping while you were gone. I did restock your basket under the sink. I hope I did it right" He scratched his neck looking at me.

I had my stuff here, but I usually did the restock. Especially my period stuff under the sink.

"Matt...you did not have to do that, thank you, baby" I said pouting my lips.

"I wanted to, I want you to feel comfortable here. Not only you tho, all our girlfriends that come to our house. It's great that you did the basket and stuff" He smiled and I kissed his cheek.

"You are too sweet Matthew"

I went to the bathroom, when I was done he went to take a shower while I waited in his bed scrolling on TikTok.

When Matt came back from the bathroom I looked at him. He was wearing just his pajama pants.

"Should I just say what all of the girls in my books would say? Matthew, you are such a tease" I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

"Oh my god, would you stop?" He got into bed laughing at what I said.

"You love me for that" I put my phone on the nightstand and rested my head on his chest.

"Goodnight Matt" I closed my eyes.

He turned the lights off and tucked us in with the blanket.

"Goodnight sweet girl" He kissed my head while I was already half asleep after this long day.

The best way to end the day is knowing that I will wake up in his arms the next morning.

#matt sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo #nick sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo #Spotify

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baldursgate3tempobsessed · 1 year ago

Note

Hihi! I went on anon cause my main blog is strictly sfw, but I promise I'm an adult(29). Anyways, I had this idea of Ascended Astarion teasing Tav/Reader in front of a mirror. He can't see himself, but loves the way Tav/Reader shudders under his touch and them getting more and more embarrassed because all they can see is themselves getting riled up by seemingly nothing, but when they look down, ofc they see his hands working magic across their body.

Lol ty for the clarification and ask! I've been needing some nsfw practice!

Ascended Astarion nsfw under the cut, 18 + warnings. Like this is not implied smut. It is smut, graphic. Possessive, obsessive, manipulative, bad vampire man who loves you. As much as he's capable of. Morally gray human Tav from the start to here. It's only downhill from here baby, m/f angle. But if that doesnt fufill the dream let me know and I can make a gender neutral/ gender nonspecfic no prob! And probably less intense too because this is angsty~~~

Like I went ham, this is a whole ass fic now💀

You frowned at yourself in the bedroom mirror, adjusting your hair for the umpteenth time. It still didn't look right, despite what felt like hours of practice that you'd put into the intricate style.

You sighed as let one of your braids fall down, dissatisfied with what you saw. You didn't exactly look the part of an all-powerful vampire's consort, or at least not with the company you've recently been keeping. But it turned out a significant part of taking over Baldur's Gate was trenched in politics, meetings, balls, social events created for the sole purpose of mind games.

It was exhausting, or at least it was for you. But Astarion seemed to take to it like a duck to water. This life suited him, one of power games and subterfuge, and more often than not, murder. Not that you minded. You were just happy that he was having fun. That he was finally free after all of those years of torment. Even if he was using that freedom for… less than savory ends.

But despite his goals, you had sworn to him that you would never stray. And you intended on making good on that promise.

You just wished that he didn't insist on you being there for all of his "business". You hadn't realized how literal he had been about the whole sitting in his lap plan. It had taken a half-hour conversation to even convince him that no, you would not be doing so in the nude. He still hadn't given up on convincing you off that plan, but you highly doubted that it would help with your current level of heightened insecurity.

Maybe you were worrying for no reason. It wasn't Astarion who made you feel out of place. Well… it was, but not because of anything he did. Just… who he had become. He was so different now, so much colder to everything and everyone but you. More calculating, less forgiving, and just perfect for working with the most dangerous individuals in the mortal plane.

You seemed to be the only living thing he could relax around anymore, the only person who could soften him. It was strange really. You used to remember his softer side, before the ritual. The way his heart would hurt for children and animals alike, despite his failed attempts to hide it. His soft spot for Karlach, those who were brave and brazen, always willing to do the right thing despite the risks. The kind smile he used to have, reserved for beautiful things like the sunrise, the sunset.

Gone, all of it. It was a fact that you didn't like to think about. What you both gave up, things could have been; there was no point to it anyway. It was over. You gave Astarion the choice, this is what came of that. So here you were, obsessing over your appearance in preparation for a meeting with a high-ranking devil.

How things had changed.

You had no idea if you would ever find a way to match up with the company he kept around these days. Maybe it was your own fault for surrounding yourself with otherworldly creatures, but it was hard not to feel inadequate.

It didn't help that whenever you even slightly alluded to that insecurity, Astarion was more than ready to remind you of your… "options".

"You can join us whenever you'd like my treasure," Astarion would say with a creeping grin, "Just one bite, and we can be sure you'll be mine forever. Would that be so bad?"

It was a tempting offer, one that you kept insisting on refusing. You loved Astarion more than anything. But… you wanted that love to stay your choice. An obligation you maintained of your own free will. It's not that you didn't trust him… but to be a spawn had too many implications for you to handle.

"What has you pouting sweet thing?"

You startled when hands suddenly settled on your hip, gripping through the thin fabric of your nightdress. You looked back, relaxing the slightest bit to see Astarion smiling down at you, amused at the fact he'd managed to sneak up on you through the mirror.

"You said you weren't going to do that anymore," You whined as you leaned back into him, your eyes turning back to the mirror. You could see the fabric of your slip indented under his hands, ghost-like without his actual image reflecting back.

"I lied," Astarion said simply, leaning down to breathe you in from the crook of your neck, "Now what are you thinking about pet? I can tell something's on your mind."

You bit your lip, debating for a moment if you should tell him or not. But it's not like he would let it drop, and he was way too good at being able to tell when you were lying. Might as well come clean.

You sighed, "I don't…I don't know if I'm cut out for this."

You expected him to huff at you, maybe even laugh. But instead, the grip he had on you tightened, hard enough to make you gasp. You could feel his fangs scraping against your delicate skin, scratching hard enough to cause pinpricks of blood to bead out.

"And why would you ever think a thing like that?" Astarion asked, his voice harsh and low, "Where else would you be if not by my side hm? Please, enlighten me."

You gulped, your heart rate starting to pick up. You hadn't meant it like that, "That's not what I meant-"

"Then what else could it have meant?" Astarion shot back, his hands digging into you, surely ready to leave finger-shaped bruises. Suddenly he was using that same grip to drag you backward to the bed, effortlessly settling you between his spread legs.

All while managing to still be right in sight of the mirror. You could feel your cheeks redden as his hands started to wander, unceremoniously tugging down the straps of your nightdress to reveal your chest. That was another thing about life after the ritual that had been a surprise, just how different Astarion's sex drive was. It's not like he was a prude before, far from it, but now he was insatiable. Always ready and willing to touch you whenever the urge struck him. Often enough for you to eventually come to the thrilling, if not slightly disturbed realization, that… he was training you. Training your body to always want his touch.

And tonight was no different. You could already feel yourself getting wet, and he had barely done anything yet. But then suddenly he was pinching your nipple harshly, hissing in your ear, "I expect an answer when I ask you a question darling."

You bit back a moan, trying to remember what you were even arguing about as he started to play with your breasts, "I-I didn't mean it like that. I just… I don't want to embarrass you."

It was humiliating to admit but it was true. Not many people of Astarion's caliber insisted on a singular lover. There were so many people after him now, people with more power, more beauty, and grace. You didn't match up. You couldn't.

"Nonsense," Astarion dismissed, his hands wandering down to tear off more of your clothing, "Look at you. You were made for this life. Made for me. You're gorgeous."

The compliments mixed with the harsh feeling of his hands ripping your nightdress in two was quite the experience. You could feel his own hardness pressing into your backside, twitching as he threw your ruined clothing to the side.

Then he was gripping your chin, forcing your head back up to stare into the mirror in front of you, "I said look."

You obeyed, eyes widening at what you saw. It was so strange to see yourself like this, fully exposed with your legs spread apart, flushed and panting. It nearly gave the illusion that your very image was what was causing the wetness between your legs, instead of the invisible man toying with you.

You swallowed, your throat dry as Astarion's hands wandered lower, a feather-light touch tracing up and down your slit, "You are everything. The sole reason that I'm the man I am today. There is nowhere else you should be than right here."

"But-" You gasped, your words interrupted by a sharp slap to your inner thigh. You could see your skin start to redden in the mirror, a perfect imprint left in it's wake.

"Darling, are you questioning my judgment? What on earth made you think that was a good idea?"

You frantically shook your head, moaning when his fingers delved deeper, playing with your slick folds, "I-I'm not. I didn't- I'm sorry."

You whined as he roughly pinched your clit, his other hand moving upward to do the same to your heaving chest.

He was starting to grind his hardness against you, a tease of more to come as he murmured in your ear, "There's my good girl. Was that so hard?"

You shook your head, gasping as he finally dipped his long fingers into your cunt. You were already so sensitive, humiliatingly close in a matter of minutes.

"So gorgeous," Astarion sighed, staring straight ahead to the sole image of you, whimpering as he finger-fucked your pussy, "So needy. Can you see how wet you are pet?"

You could, you were leaking around his fingers, that needy, intense feeling getting more and more intense by the moment. It was so embarrassing seeing yourself like this, enough so that you snapped your eyes shut.

A bad idea. Astarion tutted at you, landing another sudden and hard slap to your thigh, "None of that. I told you to look. Or else."

You snapped your eyes back open, watching yourself whimper and gasp as you were played with, the harsh movement of his hand jostling your breasts. You weren't going to last much longer, not with the image of you being taken apart, the feeling of him inside you, the mean edge to your love's words.

"You're such a silly little thing, aren't you?" Astarion growled, fucking you harder and faster. You were so close, but you weren't stupid enough to come without permission. Not after what he did the last time, "Doubting me. Do you really think I don't know what's best for you? What's best for us?"

"No," You whimpered, your hips arching backward to rub harder into his erection, "You're right, I-I'm yours. C-Can I come now? Please?"

"Beg me and maybe I'll think about it," Astarion meanly laughed, relishing in the gush of slick his harshness coaxed from between your legs, "Beg and apologize. Apologize for doubting us. For doubting me."

You could barely get the words out through your own gasps, tears prickling in the corner of your eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean it!"

"Good girl," Astarion huskily laughed, using a clever thumb to rub over your swollen clit, "Now tell me you love me."

"I love you," You said easily, meaning every word, "I love you more than anything.

"Tell me you'll never leave me. Ever."

There was something else behind that promise. An obvious implication that your fucked-out brain was too distracted to see.

"Never," You promised, reaching back for you him. You curled your fingers into his hair. pulling his head down to press his mouth against your throat. An open invitation, "I'll always be with you."

Astarion groaned against your skin, his fangs so close to piercing, "Precious pet, how could I ever want anything else? Come darling, you've earned it."

Then he was biting you, the brief flash of pain the perfect trigger for you to fall over the edge. You came with an embarrassingly high-pitched whine, slumping back into Astarion as he drank from your throat.

You looked as much of a mess as you felt, the stickiness between your thighs glistening in the light. You watched yourself, whimpering as Astarion slipped his fingers out. Just to tap them against your lips, forcing them into your mouth to suck on.

You moaned around them, light-headed as Astarion popped off of your throat. You sighed as he licked at the wound, enjoying the brief moment of rest. You weren't naive enough to think that you were done yet. Not when Astarion was still hard, his cock pulsing against you.

"See?" Astarion huskily laughed, licking the blood off of his lips while he played with your tongue, "You're perfect. Perfect and mine."

#astarion #ascended astarion #astarion x reader #astarion x tav #baldur's gate 3 #asks #check the intro warnings #graphic #m/f pairing

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mazosstuff · 3 months ago

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Could you answer a curiosity of mine?

Pairing: Jing Yuan x gn! reader

Cw: none

Word count: 1.0k

Synopsis: You notice something off about your partner's hair, so you point it out and get to spend some quality time with him.

A/n: I finally did it. I completed this fic, and now I can post it! As always, requests are open. Pls check the pinned post!

Divider by @firefly-graphics

It was a day like the others. You were tidying up a little while your partner, Jing Yuan, was taking a shower to clean off all the dirt and sweat he could have on his body since summer was coming up and the days began being hotter and hotter by the minute.

You still couldn't believe you could call the General of the Cloud Knights of the Luofu and one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals your partner.

The relationship was at the first stages, still pretty contained and not much action besides lingering kisses and long nights spent cuddled one against the other.

The Dozing General, after all, hasn't been romantically infatuated with anyone since his teen years.

But, besides that, you two had great chemistry and were a match made in heaven. The frequency of your visits started to piss off Yanqing for how much time and attention you were taking away from his master. He even started joking around with Yunli of how you two should get together.

The two young ones teased the hell out of both of you, but in the end, they've grown to like the idea of you two together.

As you folded and put away the dirty sheets, you went to grab new ones from one of the shelves in the closet that was in the corridor before the main bathroom.

Coincidentally, you both happened to open the doors of the rooms you were in, one to enter, the other to exit the bathroom.

There you saw him. The General, no, Jing Yuan was standing right in front of you. He looked like he had just come out of the shower. His hair was dripping wet. He only had a towel wrapped around his hips to cover his intimates and... he noticed you staring at him.

You quickly averted your gaze and buried your face in the clean bed sheets you had in your hands.

"I'm sooo sorry Jing Yuan! I didn't mean to invade your privacy" you said hurriedly as you got out of that little corridor.

All of the sudden, you felt his hand grabbing your wrist to pull you closer to him.

"H-huh?" You stared at him with a confused and flustered look on your face.

"I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, my dear. I'd just like to ask you if you could help me with drying my hair... it's a really... tiring process, and if I have to be honest, I don't think I have the strength to do it myself." Jing Yuan asked calmly. Did he really not care that there was one single layer of fabric that hanged on his hips for dear life that separated decency and indecency?

You sighed. "Okay... can you at least put something on?"

"Of course, dear" he said with his usual calm smile as he approached the bedroom and changed into his nightrobe.

Once dressed more decently, you invited him to sit with his back on the side of your shared bed. In the meanwhile, you prepared all the tools and products you thought he needed when in reality, he never really cared that much about styling his hair or using products to protect them from heat or being frizzy.

You sat down on the bed behind him and placed yourself with your legs at his sides.

As you combed and dried his hair, you noticed two major elements. You knew his hair was layered and not cut straight... but not like a wolf cut. The complete opposite.

"A-Yuan...?" You called out for his attention.

"Yes?" He answered with a soft and sleepy tone.

"Could you answer a curiosity of mine?"

"Of course. What is it that plagues your mind?"

"Have you ever got an undercut?"

He placed his hand over his face in order to hide the faint blush on his face even if you couldn't see it.

"Yes, I had one. When I was still a teenager, it just so happened that there was a really hot summer and... I gave in. I couldn't resist the heat, and, in the end, I gave myself an undercut. Like I said... dealing with these hair it's really time-consuming." He explained and then lowered his voice when he admitted he couldn't bear the heat of that summer.

"Don't be flustered, I get it. I knew some people that had to do the same thing..." You eased his worries. "And... by the way, have you ever considered having curly hair?"

"Yes. I actually did. But, as you may have figured out, I have little to no time to actually care about what hair type I have"

"That sounds like bullshit to me." You got up from your seat on the bed and indicated the bathroom.

"... is this a cue to go back to the bathroom, dear?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

"We have time now. Go and put your head under the running water. This may take a while"

"Yes, my love" he said as he went back to the bathroom. You were left there with a deep blush on your cheeks.

"Damn you..." you muttered under your breath as you waited a bit to calm down and then went in the bathroom where he was waiting for you with his hair damp.

After a good hour and a half, you made him look in the mirror with his damaged, loose, but still there, curl pattern.

"So... what do you think?"

He looked at himself in the mirror and not only he felt a little boost for his confidence, but he also appreciated the opportunity to spend some quality time with his partner. Doing something that made him leave the general role and indulge in the little things that made life worth living is surely something he doesn't do often.

"It's... really good. I appreciate what you've done for me tonight, dear"

"Don't mention it. I like spending time with you and taking care of you"

He leaned in and left a soft kiss on their lips.

"I look forward for the next time then." He said as soon as his eyes met with yours.

Your cheeks turning red was the last thing you wanted him to see tonight.

Likes, comments, and reblogs are always much appreciated. <333

#honkai star rail #honkai star rail x reader #jing yuan #jing yuan x reader

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angel-of-the-moons · 25 days ago

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Hi, this is my first ever request, so please forgive me if I sound all over the place.

I was thinking of going trick-or-treating with Miguel O’Hara and Gabriella as wife-reade. Or the moon boys going trick-or-treating with single mother-reader and Victoria from small surprises. Either one would be great, and thank you if you consider my request 🙏🏼

I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR ASKING I MIGHT SPLIT THIS UP INTO TWO PARTS BECAUSE MY GOD I MISSED VICTORIA BUT I ALSO MISS MIGUEL

Trick r Treat

Moon Boys (Marc, Steven, Jake) x Fem!Reader

TW/CW: The candy ain't the only thing you gotta worry about rotting your teeth with this!

Dividers by @/saradika-graphics

"I just don't get why she'd wanna be him." Marc seethed.

You cant help but chuckle, watching as Victoria skipped up to the first house she saw, after bravely declaring she was big enough to go and ask for candy by herself.

Her Halloween costume consisted of a painstakingly-detailed outfit that looked like Layla's Avatar outfit, complete with a gold cape in place of her wings. And, on her head... was a paper-mache bird skull, an uncanny resemblance to Khonshu.

Steven (even though he had some snarky comments about her choice in costume), had helped her craft it by looking at detailed patterns of raven skulls. Jake helped with the costume, stitching each little symbol and piece of fabric into probably the most detailed costume that any child her age ever could have.

"Hey, hey..." You giggled. "She's not just him... shes a weird... Khonshu-Layla hybrid thing."

His nose scrunched in the cutest way, "That is so much worse."

Marc was wearing his Moon Knight suit, sans the mask. As much as Khonshu bristled at him using it for such paltry purposes, his gruf demeanor changed when you pointed out that if, on the off chance, that something bad happens, at least Marc would be prepared and protected. He seemed to quiet down, after that.

But you knew he didn't leave you unsupervised. Every now and then, you'd spare a glance up and spot his lumbering form, hunched over the edge of a rooftop, watching over Victoria.

You don't know why he got so attached to Victoria, or why he revealed his hidden softness only to her; but you were grateful that so many eyes were on your precious baby girl.

You sighed, digging the heel of your palm into your lower back.

Marc looked at you, frowning, "Baby, you okay?"

You smiled at him, tired but still happy. Your own costume consisted of green tights, and an orange shirt. The pattern of a happy jack-o-lantern stretched taut over your rounded belly. It was difficult to find a costume that suited you, given how far you were into on your third trimester you were; and it was a little saddening that you couldn't match with Victoria or Marc.

So... You were a round little pumpkin!

"Yeah, just a certain little someone is tapdancing on my kidney."

"Shoes are comfy?" Marc asked, smiling sweetly as he rubbed one of his hands over your tummy.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Marc. I swear, you worry more than Steven." You grinned playfully.

Marc snorted, but didn't object, continuing to rub your belly. "Hey, I'm just worried about my ladies."

"Pfsh! You and Jake! You seriously think this one is a girl, too?" You laughed, shaking your head.

"Hey! We can hope! We kinda like the idea of an other little you running around!" Marc replied, kissing your cheek.

"You just wanna be a girl-dad."

"Heyyy... Nothing wrong with that." He replied, his thick eyebrows waggling, his salt-and-pepper beard quirking upwards around his lips.

Victoria cut your conversation short as she came bounding back up to yeah, paying no mind to the children her bird mask terrified as it bobbed with her peppy footsteps.

"Mommy!" She giggled, wrapping her arms around your legs, rubbing her face on your round belly, greeting her unborn sibling.

"Heya, munchkin!" You chuckled, patting her mask affectionately. "Get a nice haul?"

"Yeah!" She nods her head, handing her bag to Marc for him to inspect her goodies. When he looked in, his eyebrow raised and he whistled, "Whew! She's got two full-size bars in here."

You rocked your head back, "Wow. That is a nice haul. Let's go to another house, huh, baby?"

Victoria giggled, walking between you and Marc, swinging your arms with her hands interlocked with hers.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

House after house, you and Marc let Victoria be a "big girl" and walk up to front doors and people toting candy buckets by herself, staying a reasonable distance as you both watched her with protective eyes.

However... there was a house that was... shall we say, intense with their decorations. A seemingly headless man sat in the rocking chair, candy bucket in his lap; looped recordings of a woman scream played as fog rolled across the yard from a cheap machine.

Robotic spiders and critters moved along the walls with their janky joints, projections of ghosts fluttering across the surface of the house.

Victoria didn't seem to be keen on walking up to that one. Not alone.

One hand held the beak of her mask while the other gripped Marc's hand nice and tight, hiding behind one of his legs.

"Want me to go ahead?" Marc asked her gently, kneeling down next to her. He bumped his shoulder against her, smiling sweetly, "I can scout it out for you. Make sure no bad monsters will getcha. Sound good?"

Victoria mumbled, her feet fidgeting as she eyed the house. Her entire posture was unsure; frightened, even.

"Yeah." She finally peeped.

Marc smiled up at you before sauntering up the footpath. And as he neared, it was obvious the headless "mannequin" was a man in a rigged costume--likely waiting to jump out at the first kid to come grabbing for a piece of candy.

The bucket was cheap plastic, painted to look both rusted and bloody with a sticky note that read: "Two per person! :)"

"Hey, buddy," Marc leaned in and rested his hand on the padded "shoulder". "My little girl is gonna walk up here and get some candy. You will not, under any circumstances, jump out at her and scare her, or make her cry. Or I will put my fist through your teeth. Get it?"

"...Got it." A shaky voice replied, earning a pat from Marc.

"Good."

Marc turned around and grinned, giving a thumbs-up to assure Victoria the "headless man" wasn't a threat.

As he walked back to stand next to you, he laced his fingers with yours.

You couldn't help but sigh as Victoria, now fearless, braved the path up to get her loot.

"You threatened that poor guy, didn't you?"

"Hey, I don't like it when she's scared. And if that guy made her cry, you can't say you wouldn't hit him." He said, bringing your hand to his lips to kiss his knuckles, the rough hair of his beard lightly scratching your skin.

You sigh, "If I wasn't currently sporting a bowling ball for a belly, I'd put my foot up his ass."

You grinned and looked at him, tipping your chin to a nearby building. "And besides... you know the old man would make his life hell if he made her so much as sniffle."

He had to admit, as much as it pained him to do so, that you were right.

He'd hate to be that guy if he had scared your precious girl...

If he thought horror movie critters were scary... He wasn't prepared for a pissed-off, protective god.

You chuckled, extended your hand to envelop Victoria's as she came happily skipping back to you. "Come on... let's go."

Yeah, it wasn't a "normal" Halloween... But it was the first one Marc ever really participated in, let alone enjoyed. And with his baby on the way?

He, Steven and Jake were on cloud nine.

A happy family just enjoying some old-fashioned trick-or-treating.

#🌙 answered #moon knight #moon knight x reader #moon knight x you #marc spector #marc spector x reader #marc spector x you #steven grant x you #steven grant x reader #jake lockley x reader #jake lockley x you #Khonshu #Halloween fic #Halloween request

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kawareo · 5 months ago

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Have a ramble about my Durge and his issues with sex because why not

TW for mentions of sexual assault and abuse, attempted incest, grooming and mentions of underage stuff; nothing is graphic but it does get dark so please don't read if you don't feel like you're in the right space for it

Strike is a very sexual guy as I'm sure you've had the chance to notice, but honestly, his relationship with sex and sexuality is complicated to a degree that he completely refuses to even acknowledge.

His Urges and Bhaal-given 'Ectasy of Murder' make it practically impossible for him to seperate between his own desires and those of Bhaal. He was way too young when he first got them, practically when he hit puberty, and then he was immediately encouraged to 'explore' and 'experiment' with either corpses, other Bhaalists, or still living victims. Sceleritas was the one to encourage and 'guide' him and Strike stopped feeling sick about the new need that overcame him whenever he killed well. He had to practically gaslight himself into seeing it as a gift from Father, or he would dislike it, and you can't afford to dislike something your god wants when you're his Chosen.

He also doesn't really know how to say no to sex. The way I try to write him is in a similar way of how society expects a cishet guy to always be down to fuck, except it's cranked up to a thousand - he is Bhaal's seed, scion, his breeder - there is no reason for why he would ever want to say no, is there? If you asked him for any reason he could think of for him not wanting to have sex, he genuinely wouldn't known the answer.

He said no once though, only once - when the temple attempted to match him with Orin once they were in their late teens. Orin would've pushed through with it even though she was obviously less than enthusiastic, but Strike was the one to push her away that time. It wasn't the incest aspect of it that turned him off, tbh; that really isn't a value the temple of Bhaal would consider abnormal, but Strike just... Orin was always the only relationship he's had where he never felt like it could turn sexual at any moment - they've bathed together, they slept cuddled up on the same bed, they straddled eachother when beating the shit out of the other and none of it was ever sexual, for either of them. But that was the first time he refused Bhaal's will and also the first time he lied to Him - he made up that he didn't think Bhaal's blood should get even more diluted and defiled than it was in Orin's veins. After that, Orin never forgave him for thinking he was above her (as she interpreted it) and their relationshio only strained more when Strike met Gortash a few years later.

Gortash is a whole other can of worms that I don't think I have to get into right now, but Strike's religious upbringing makes every sign of weakness, such as signs of softness or affection (for an enemy, especially) a sin and having sex reduces the sinfulness of it. Holding hands, kissing? Unforgivable. Intertwining fingers during sex, or cuddling right after while they're both still chasing their breath? Not ideal, but it can happen. Not the worst thing. It's not like he was doing something intimate just for the sake of intimacy, you know?

He's very hypersexual now as an adult because of all the above mentioned things combined, and when I get to Godsbound (my bg3 timeline fic has a name now btw!) He likes to joke and flirt and fuck literally whoever, that doesn't change end after tadpoling, he still has no idea how to be close to anyone without it being sexual but also he is so horrifically touchstarved that he wakes up screaming if he doesn't have a body next to him to hold onto it. I would like to explore how much of an actual issue that is for him, especially when he has forgotten all of the excuses he told himself through the years and the decades of religious fanaticism. But then again, he does tend to push his problems away to 'deal with later', so who knows.

#cw sa implied #cw grooming #dead dove do not eat #character exploration #oc strike #strike lore #the dark urge #durgetash #durge #enver gortash

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ping1n · 1 year ago

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Theres a trend I've noticed with the current era of minecraft modding.

It's a sort of... professionalism? We're seeing a lot more mods made by large teams rather than single creators. Theres also a lot more focus - theres a definite trend of larger mods with many distinct features being split up into multiple separate mods for each distinct feature, if that makes sense. That's probably largely driven by curseforge's revenue scheme - I guess it's more profitable to have 5 mods with 1 main feature and a million downloads each, than 1 mod with all 5 features and a million downloads.

I don't know if this corresponds to the latter trend or the former but theres a definite increase in library mods - mod makers are building a lot more infrastructure for their work but each team is building their own library.

And I really don't know how I feel about all this.

This trend of professionalism has lead to an increase in quality but it feels like its come at the cost of creativity - theres an obsession with fitting into the vanilla game, both mechanically and artistically. It feels like modern mods are focused on expanding and fleshing out the vanilla game in a cohesive way, in stark contrast to how earlier mods used vanilla as just a platform to build their own stuff. And I feel like this is a good thing, but I also feel sad for what came before.

And I really think you can trace this change back to minecraft's change in artstyle. Programmer Art is aptly named - the original graphics were quick and dirty textures thrown together so they could get on with making the actual game. And this fostered a lot of creativity in the modding community - a community largely comprised of programmers - who could imitate this artstyle very easily. The new artstyle is great, don't get me wrong, but it pressures modmakers to match it. This means the old generation of simply textured box machines look out of place in the new graphics. When the old graphics were simple it didn't feel wrong to have something wildly different thrown in there - think Thaumcraft's inexplicably 128x128 textures in a 16x16 game, or whatever the fuck was happening with draconic evolution - whereas the obvious thought and care put into the official art makes anything even remotely out of place look wrong.

This is definitely a factor in the increase of larger teams - it's a lot harder for one person to make a whole mod and a whole set of cohesive textures. And when something looks professional theres a pressure to make it function professionally as well - if it's going to fit in with the vanilla game visually it's going to have to fit in mechanically as well.

And again, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing - indeed, this could all just be a result of the modding community maturing. But I do have some problems with it:

Firstly, I think its notable that previous eras of modding are associated with a specific version - 1.6.4, 1.7.10, 1.12.2. That's not the case now. There seems to be a lot more pressure to update to the latest version, which is combined with a sudden increase in vanilla update frequency. I think this has pretty drastic consequences. When the modding scene stayed still, as it did in 1.7.10 and 1.12.2, theres a lot of time for mods to get used to each other. Think back to 1.7.10 where magic mods were including references and counters to each other. With the much faster development to get every mod updated to the latest version with different mods getting updated at different times theres much less opportunity for intrinsic cross mod compatibility. This is combined with the recent split between fabric and forge, resulting in mods that ironically look very similar but with much less conscious compatibility.

Theres also something off about the art style. Theres a sort of shared style that you see across a lot of popular mods right now. It's not just that they look like vanilla textures - because in large part they look more like each other than they do vanilla. Idk if that makes sense. It's like theres a consistent artstyle for mods that is ever so slightly different from the art style of vanilla.

And this, of course, brings us to the elephant in the room.

They all look like fucking Create.

I said earlier that I thought these changes could all be traced back to the change in vanilla artstyle - and I still think that's true - but when you're tracing it back the line inevitably runs through that one mod.

Create was huge. Back when modding was still getting used to the artstyle changes, Create I think solidified the entire era. It was an aesthetically pleasing, stylistically cohesive, mechanically balanced and technically astounding mod. It was big enough to draw attention from vanilla players who had never played modded before then, bringing them in with expectations formed by it. Which, in turn, created a pressure in the community to replicate this success.

I'm gonna be honest - Create annoys me. I dislike the artstyle. I dislike the obsession with aesthetics and vanilla-like gameplay over functionality. I especially dislike how its found in literally every modpack for recent versions.

But (reluctantly) putting aside my dislike of Create, I begrudgingly admit that all in all, these trends are overall good for modding. As I said earlier, they're a sign of a maturing community. But I'll still miss how mods in earlier eras were much more free to be completely batshit, or pure functionality (rftools and mahou tsukai come to mind as mods that have largely ignored the changes in the community). Every era has it's own feel and if what's new isnt for me, that's fine. Maybe I'm just old and bitter and this is all in my own head - I'm not a modder, I've just been playing this game a long time.

#minecraft #modded minecraft #ftb

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doubleddenden · 19 days ago

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A little more beta stuff was leaked recently- this time focusing on Legends Arceus and Scarlet and Violet.

So first off, I won't link anything outright to my blog just in case. Find it on Twitter, YouTube, or Reddit.

Second, there's nothing about beta Pokemon so far- and I kind of doubt there will be in the files given the games were rushed to a degree. But it is strange, both have elements in them that could have changed the final games a bit- probably Arceus moreso, as SV's is more on the graphics side.

Third, i am not a leaker nor do i personally have access to the builds- this is strictly commentary on *videos* you can easily find yourself. This is simply just thoughts I have- some may agree or disagree, I'm not arguing.

That out of the way: Legends Arceus

So first of all, we finally have confirmation that the modern bedroom found in LA's game files (as in the final distributed product) was indeed a remnant of what would have been before the official beginning we got. There were storyboards with it that depict the player watching a professor give their "Welcome to the World of Pokemon" speech, then it zooms out to reveal the player was playing a game on TV, they take a break to scroll on their phone, then digital shenanigans happen on the phone and the player gets sucked into a whole in reality.

This is old news to some- but there's also unfinished animation that depict this, basically only modeling the player and the tv- the rest is grey. It seems to be an idea they were serious about, but decided to cut it- I think it's for the best tbh. I never have liked GF's "kids and their smart phones" rhetoric and this made it seek like we'd rather be on our phones instead of playing the game.

Onto gameplay, there's footage of beta Hikari (has a headband instead of the bandana) and a Unovan Zoroark running and JUMPING around in the field. They battle with a Luxray in what appears to be auto battling with some limited commands from the trainer. This actually validates certain leaks for Legends Arceus and perhaps maybe even pre SwSh? Anyway, they claimed GF were debating intensely on a new battling system, and I believe one even compared it to Digimon World Next Order- this certainly matches the description, imo, but definitely dumbed down and in early phases. These rumors would persist a while during LA's marketing phase, so the decision to change to the system we have must have been last minute.

On a personal note, I know there are a lot of fans that are tired of the turn based battling system, but I'm personally glad we didn't go down the road of auto battling. It looked awkward to watch, and also it would make catching pokemon hell because there'd be a chance to knock it out when it's in the red. It does need work for sure- but I would argue it just needs work on an animation, camera, and overall aesthetic angle rather than try to fully shift things to a new system you know they wouldn't get right for a long time.

Back to the facts- there also appears to be a very early and very janky ability for the player to ride their Zoroark? I think? At the least, although both models are running on top of each other (developer beta, keep in mind), the player DOES seem on top of Zoroark, who does seem to gain a massive boost of speed in response.

Side note- this does harken to the supposedly canceled game: Pokemon Rodeo, where you ride Pokemon around. I believe footage showed the area where Scyther hang out in LA, and the project had been worked on since 2019. Perhaps they wanted to try to implement it in LA, but they scrapped the idea for accessibility via the ride system.

It's also clear they wanted to do something with Zoroark all the way back here- they weren't kidding when they said Arceus would be a very experimental game, it seems.

Onto the next game: Scarlet and Violet.

Scarlet and Violet beta footage doesn't really glean much other than a similar build of the final product (and let's not kid ourselves, the game is clearly unfinished). However, there is 1 unused music track, I think, towards the beginning of the game.

There's also a much different LIGHTING and SHADOW system compared to what we got in the end. It honestly looks way better than the final product, and it meshes with the environments WAY better imo. Most likely it was changed to the inferior one for performance purposes, as the game did somehow run slower than before (in an emulator, but still).

Personal take- I know some people's gut reaction is to immediately blame the Switch for being "under powered," but do keep in mind it could handle BoTW, ToTK, Xenoblades 1, 2, and 3, and more while still handling pretty decent shading. It is curious, however, that ported games such as Red Dead Redemption or Fate/Samurai Remnant might have some issues in a similar manner (there are some leaks of pc versions of some of these games being leaked, but they require very specific pc builds that would make them harder or impossible to run on much besides dev kit or Switch hardware). I don't know if this would be an issue with creating with the Switch 2 dev kit and having to downgrade- we know that from other leaks, GF had been experimenting with improved performance on Switch 2 dev kits as of one of the earliest Indigo Disk leaks- circa Dec 2022 or early 23. However, I don't think they had the kit during early SV's development, as it started in 2019 or so after SwSh ended development, and the Switch would only be 2 years old at the time- I think this is simply poor management and direction from people TRYING to get that BoTW look, but not wanting to update their tech or habits to properly accommodate it and not wanting to take their time with it. I think we all understand there was just a maelstrom of things going wrong for SV's development from the Pandemic, to trying to follow their same flawed release cycle, bad management, etc. It's a tired topic at the least.

As far as other things in the actual build, there does appear to be a... well, honestly? BETTER pop up menu for the bag and menu. It's stylized in a pretty unique way that feels nice and organic to the game vs the final product. The bag menu sort of overlays to the regular game like the finalized start menu does, but cleaner.

I can only guess this was changed because it affected performance somehow- perhaps related to the game's strange habit of being lit up when the battle menu appears in the final product, or maybe just another slow down like usual. It's too bad, it looks really good.

Between the bag and the lighting system, I hope both come back for gen 10. There's serious promise behind both.

As for anything else worth noting- like the LA beta, the SV beta has a lot of unfinished areas, nothing really worth noting on that angle.

But picnics- those loaded way quicker before, despite the game running slower on emulator. And sandwiches? Well, they were planned back then, too. It does appear to be an earlier build, as the guy was somehow tossing eggs from UNDER the sandwich to the bun, and underhand throwing the top bun on top instead of the finalized orbital drop method we have for both.

The only other things worth noting is that the player had a Lucario and Staraptor on their team (the Lucario is interesting considering Unovan Zoroark was in the Beta LA build). However the menu displays other things instead, such as Charizard (of fucking course), Poliwrath (not available in game until Teal Mask), MUDKIP (wouldn't be added in until ID dropped), and Nidoqueen- who isn't available in the final game AT ALL. Of course, these are just menu sprites and none of these actually appear in the videos- in fact, other than the creepy blacked out Koraidon, Staraptor, Lucario, and I think Staravia flying around, I don't think there was a SINGLE other Pokemon visible in the overworld.

Oh, and it does appear that the initial uniforms were planned very early, as the blacked out model matches the overall shape. Personal note- I hope they got that out of their systems. I hated it so much, and it was probably another time saving measure planned from the beginning.

Final thoughts: it's interesting hoe the beta build seems to be Scarlet- idk if there's one for Violet specifically, but looking on it, a lot makes more sense from a Paradox design and story angle if you just assume Scarlet is the canon game. It's easy to think of how a Great Tusk can kill a man in Area Zero 200 years ago, not quite how a robot could- and the final explanation certainly doesn't provide satisfactory explanation as to how it arrived there before the time machine was built.

As for appearance: Some of this makes me remember an official game freak reveal of early SV at Game Freak's CEDEC 2023

And this is officially revealed info. The Snorlax is definitely photoshopped in, but the shading and rock textures look a lot like this beta build. It does look better than the final build, there's no real arguing with that.

Again, I'm hoping whoever in charge thqt needed to learn a few lessons DID, because some devs were clearly TRYING to make some ambitious ideas work but just couldn't on the time alotted or the programs used. I think I heard they wanted to transition to Unity or Unreal for the next games anyway, so maybe programming it will be easier going forward and we can finally achieve these graphics they wanted. Probably not with ZA, but it'd be a nice surprise for Gen 10 or something.

That's all. Have a nice day

#pokemon #pokemon leaks #legends Arceus #pokemon scarlet and violet

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scarefox · 1 month ago

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Signed up to watch a 2h speech / presentation I need to attend... BUT it is online via zoom so I don't have to go outside and can sit on my couch in a blanket and drink coffe!

It's about new AI laws and legally save AI software... I need to know this as graphics designer 😔

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lol started with a AI animated avatar / deepfake of himself that totally looked AI because the hand movements didn't match what he said.

Oh no, he is a Zuckerberg fanboy.

This is going to be fun. (probably will get pissed along the way tho)

But they have some lawyers there to answer questions. Yay Christian Solmecke is there too (popular german media lawyer on yt)

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so far: unlike human made work, AI generated artwork or designs are not copyrighted (in germany) AND if the AI piece is based on an existing human made work and it's still visible in the AI piece you need to get the copyright from the original owner / creator (includes designs, logos, images, text and music)

Copyright owner can opt-out and sue if it's still gets used for AI training / generation (american laws aren't finished yet but also will go into that direction)

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They test different AI software to give out a little comic scenario. And oh boy as a graphic designer with knowledge about typography the text is triggering me so hard. It's so bad. SEE alone typography is an area that can't be made by a machine because even tho it is based on design laws it's still an intuitive human-eye based way of design. There is a difference between mathematical-centered and optical-centered.

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Man they are all so horny for AI and reduction of jobs and costs.... But no matter how good an AI could generate an image or video... it will never give you the raw files where you can do individual changes afterwards.

Besides that I still think humanity isn't ready yet for the power and options AI is giving us. (at least one of the very high quality AI builders isn't selling it atm because they are afraid that it will get misused for fake news and stuff, so they try to find a way to prevent that before they bring it on the market)

So many creative jobs and professions that will die out just for us to get 100% digital made "creative" content and advertisements :/ (so far even the most high quality AI still has some small uncanny vibe). Like even actors will be replaced in the future... all they need to do is allow companies to use their face / body.... there is literally a Black Mirror episode about that.

Reminds me of that one AI kpop idol project I have seen last year on tiktok.... absolutely creepy and wrong. I know some of us are simping over anime, game or vocaloid characters but... man idk, do yall want to simp over uncanny digital kpop idols who don't even exist nor actually work for their skills and talent? 💀 Being into an idol is not just about the visuals and songs, it's about their personality and individuality.... for me at least.... (but of course the kpop industry is one of the first trying this). I do like Taemin for example beacuse he's breaking out of the industry norms. AI dude could never be on his level.

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"Amazing. In a company in the US a CEO told us that with the use of an AI they could remove 700 jobs and save so much money!"

.... yeah cool. Maybe we should remove ALL jobs on this earth and let AI do it, so we humans don't do anything at all anymore. Oh wait, no, of course we still have to do hard repetitive labor like some work drones because it's cheaper than to build and maintain actual robots for these jobs.

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BRUH of course the event is mainly to sell an AI class from the hosting company. For the cheap price of 4900€ FOR THE LAST TIME because the next class will be over 6000€

I feel like AI bros always hype each other up to blow it all up artificially. Just like NFT and the mobile game market.

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DID HE JUST SAY that there aren't enough graphic designer and programmer on the market and that they will profit from the support of AI?? (it's actually oversaturated and therefore jobs are hard to get) AI bros really live in a secluded bubble hu? Of course none of these dudes in this event are from the creative industry but lawyers and CEOs

#ai laws #german laws #i do a little live bogging so i have notes for myself too #anti ai art

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empressofmankind · 11 months ago

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

MY TRUE LOVE SENT TO ME

[Crocodile x F!OC]

Explicit - 5.5k words / 13 pages

(A/N) One large dick refusing to be contained, two bananawani for a picture perfectly framed. Three excellent sets of nightwear, and four shots that caught genuine care.

Actually, a teenager's absolute worst nightmare.

Nico Robin is a teen in the cruel throes of puberty, peer pressure and that never-ending sense of social shame. For I realised a few days ago that she has a massive gap in her canon from about age 12-ish onward until Crocodile runs into her at 24. So, as her teens match up beautifully with the nuclear disaster that is Crocodile and Shiv's marriage, I decided that what this insane ship really needed was a teenager and zero tools to deal with it. Also, the notion of him having been stuck fake single-parenting Robin after everything went royaly south with Shivs just tickles me, personally.

This story is set around the same time period as ‘Hooked On You’ and ‘The House Always Win’, in Alabaste at Rainbase, mostly in and around Rain Dinners. Because apparently, I am not over these two.

It may be a tad less polished than my usual stuff, because I wrote it at the break of my Christmas morning to deliver it to you all on your Christmas day. Enjoy!

Tag(s): Teenage rage quit. Reprehensible parenting. Several amazing sexy lingerie modelling moments, courtesy of yours truly being horny on main on Christmas morning. We've also got dry humping, hand jobs, some good fingering and dicks breaking containment simply by being that darn large. Graphic sex. Excellent banther. Solid comedy, if I may say so myself. Absolutely filthy language. Shivs too. Girl made him lose his shit. Size difference is still relevant, stretching and edging too. I'd say orgasm denial, though neither was down for that one. At least they got to wreck eachother real good in the end. I'll be over there, helping Robin putting herself back into the system. I'd wanna disappear off the face of the earth, too.

🐊 🐊 🐊

“You can't do this to me!” Robin all but stamped her feet.

Crocodile glanced away from Shivs to the fuming teenager, smoke escaping him as he caught her angry gaze. “I didn't realise we needed your permission.”

“This is humiliating!” she continued, beside herself with frustration. “I won't be able to show my face in public ever again!”

“You already can't, sweetie,” Shivs said in a tone not even on the same continent as comforting. “What with the World Government looking for you.”

“That’s not the point! You are murdering my social life!” Robin fumed as she glared at her adoptive parents. She'd sooner be an orphan again, she thought angrily. “Like, why are you even doing this? It's not like you need the money!”

Shivs tilted her head, taking the cigarillo from her mouth even. “It's fun?”

Robin switched her angry stare from her to Crocodile, but he was no help. Had the gall to chew that cigar as if he were actually thinking about it.

“What she said,” he said through a cloud of smoke.

“Hrgh!” Robin balled her fists at them. “I hate you both!”

When neither particularly responded to her outburst aside from blowing out more smoke and perhaps raising an eyebrow, she turned and stormed out, slamming his office door.

The Sphinxxx nightwear designer smoothed his tailored jacket with a nervous glance. “Will this be a problem, sir?”

“No.”

🐊 🐊 🐊

When the photographer's assistant dimmed the ambient light of Crocodile's office to a softly flickering orange, Shivs felt the shift in mood. Of the office space, yes. But also her own, and Crocodile’s. The fact that there were nearly a dozen strangers fussing about them didn’t kill it as much as you'd think.

They'd just changed into the lingerie they were meant to model and were undergoing the fussy attention of the two resident make up artists. It was a nice set, though privately Shivs thought, not quite their style.

Shivs wore a just below hip length tube dress of sheer dark fabric that reminded her of stockings. It had a strip of opaque black silk that went around her pubes and breast only. The effect was interesting, she supposed. Crocodile wore matching boxer briefs made of the same sheer material, with thin opaque strips circling around his hips. However, the patch of cloth meant to obscure his business did not quite do its job as intended. And the fact that it had a subtle black zipper down the middle that appeared to go all the way around seemed like a hazard to her. But, Stefano - the Sphinxx designer who had envisioned these - was not one to argue fashion with, they’d already discovered.

Fortunately, she’d managed to keep Crocodile from blowing the whole thing off at the first confrontation. He sat smoking at his desk now, blowing out smoke and creating personal thunderclouds around his head as one of the make up artists fussed with him. Could be have been far worse. She’d count this a win.

Cussing, Shivs fumbled with the small clap of her necklace behind her neck.

“Turn around, doll,” Crocodile said.

She glanced up to find him beside her, and wondered if he’d used his abilities because the poor make up artist was staring in their direction like a particularly dimwitted calf. Or perhaps he’d simply been rude.

“Thanks,” she said as she turned, bending her neck as she felt his touch against it. It should be illegal that he could unclip those with one hand while she barely managed half the time with two.

“No, no! Absolutely not!” Stefano exclaimed as he came towards them, all hand gestures.

Shivs could tell from the way Crocodile’s touch abruptly stilled that the fashion designer better follow up with a good reason fast.

“Keep the jewellery, it is classy, distinguished,” Stefano said. “This is art.”

Shivs relaxed when she felt the weight of his hand shift against her neck, idly palming the tension from the muslces there. Good save, she thought.

“Ready when you are, Stef,” the photographer said as she tossed her cigarette bud into the nearest ash tray.

Stefano clapped his hands. “Let’s do this.”

An assistant hurried towards them with the ashtray for Crocodile to discard his smoke, but Stefano waved them away. “It adds character, atmosphere.”

And just as well, for it was only half way gone, and it was never a good time to make him stop.

Stefano motioned them towards the desk, though with far more grace this time. “Poses, if you please.”

“C’mon big guy,” Shivs said as she took the curve of his hook and tugged him up from his seat. He rose with due reluctance through a cloud of smoke.

🐊 🐊 🐊

“They are magnificent!”

Stefano’s breathless exclamation at seeing the dozing bananawani on the rear deck of the casino was especially satisfying. The rest of his crew hung back, exchanging uncertain glances.

“They won’t do anything,” Crocodile rumbled around his cigar. He caught the designer’s gaze. “Unless I tell them to.”

“Haha, noted,” Stefano said with a small laugh soaked in anxiety.

Shivs slid her hand into Crocodile’s as they watched him harry his terrified crew into setting up. “You’re so mean.”

He glanced down at her, then at the busybodies. “Think they'll miss us for six minutes?” he rumbled as he blew out smoke.

“Only six?” she muttered into the skin of his bicep, pressing a kiss against it.

“Hrm.”

There was a note of amusment under the grumpy noise though, and she was glad his mood had shifted for the better again.

“Oh, that is small,” Shivs chortled when they were shown what they’d be wearing this time. Both were unnecessarily complicated looking contraptions of thin black cord holding in place the most minimal bits of cloth necessary to pretend at decency. She cast a cheeky look up at Crocodile. "Can that even contain you?"

Turned out, it couldn’t.

The elastic had been too weak to keep his junk from doing exactly as it pleased, and she was fairly certain she’d cherish the visual of all of it ignoring the thong’s confines for a good long while. In the end, the poor tailor had to thread iron wire through the main cords. Once that was done, they tried again.

“Over here,” Stefano said as he directed them towards the corner of the deck with an unobstructed view of the oasis around Rain Dinners. From this angle, the rest of Rainbase city wasn’t visible and you could fancy yourself in the middle of the Alabaste desert.

“Would it be possible for one of them to be, well, closer?” he asked, his tone carefully polite.

Crocodile audibly patted his naked thigh and made the clack-clack sound from around his cigar that was usually the only warning some unfortunate soul got. Instantly, one of the massive creatures uncoiled from its nap and lumbered towards them, the deck shaking under its heavy steps.

Shivs rubbed the bananawani’s giant snout. “Hello handsome, you’re gonna be a supermodel too?” she cooed at it as the enormous beast settled down around them.

“P-perfect!” Stefano said, seeming equal measures excited and terrified. “Jace, framing?”

The photographer took aim, motioning them this way and that way before she raised a thumbs up. “Good shot. Got both the desert and the animal framing them.”

Shivs leaned against Crocodile’s thigh, a hand on his broad chest as she looked up at him. He reached around her, resting the curve of his hook against the small of her back.

“Turn a little to the camera, darling, just a little,” Jace said. “Yes, perfect. Hold that position.”

Ever so subtly, Shivs pressed up against his hip, a wave of languid pleasure rolling up her spine as if a quiet beach. The small huff that escaped her drew his attention immediately, his hooded gaze snapping unto hers.

“Let’s have a different one. Glass!" Stefano said as he gestured at one of his assistants, who immediately came over to them with a crystal tumbler. "Something sweet, I think. Hold it up as if you're sharing it."

"What was that, doll?" Crocodile rumbled under his breath as he held the tumbler between them, leaning in as if about to drink from it. His gaze snared hers. Every stealthy push of her pussy against his muscular thigh lit a spark of pleasure that threatened to catch fire in her core. The curve of his hook pressed against her lower back as her quiet pants clouded the glass. "You going to cum on my thigh with all of them watching?"

“Oh, perfect!” Stefano exclaimed, oblivious. “Please hold those expressions!”

“Don’t think he’ll be happy if I climb on your cock instead,” she whispered above the glass. "Though I am dying to."

She heard it as much as she felt it - the twack of snapping fabric and the sudden shift of his balls spilling against her thigh as his cock broke containment, erect for all to see.

“Oh-hoh!” Shivs chortled, leaning back as Crocodile cussed, sloshing the drink. He removed his arm from around her but his hook snagged on one of the uncountable bands of the delicate contraption she wore. It snapped and the whole thing came undone around her with a sigh of fabric that would have been satisfying if it had been intentional.

“Oh, dear!” Stefano, his voice pitching up two octaves as the tailor and his assistants rushed in to fix things. The photographer put away her camera and went for a smoke break.

Shivs struggled not to laugh at the tailor’s awkwardly cautious manner while Crocodile glared down at him. “That is never going to fit back in there.”

Stefano gave her a look more panicked than when Crocodile had threatened shutting all of this down. “What are we going to do?!”

Shivs shifted as the tailor’s assistant helped her into a bathrobe. “Well, Stefano,” she said with a waggle of her eyebrows. “I know what to do about that.”

He stared at her for a long moment.

Then clapped his hands.

“You heard the lady, everyone out! Out!”

“Soooo,” Shivs said when everyone was gone, running her hand up his hard shaft. “What are we going to do about this?”

Crocodile reached for the back of her head and drew her to him for a kiss. She responded greedily and he drank her eagerness in as the gluttonous creature within him stirred from sleep.

“If you put your pretty pussy around it, you're not coming off any time soon,” he rumbled against her lips when they parted.

"Tempting as that sounds, I suppose we can't."

He was rock hard as she fitted her palms around him, just below the head, and pulled down with short, firm tugs that drew rapidly louder grunts from him. Holding on to his hip, she straddled his thigh again and rode against him with a languid roll of her hips that send sparks of pleasure up her spine as she jerked him off.

When he reached down to rub her clit, she almost immediately lost it, so wound up the whole affair had left her.

"Cum. For me. Doll," he grunted near her ear, his breath hot bursts against the side of her neck.

She whined pitifully as a short, intense orgasm cut through her so sharp and clear that it brought tears to her eyes. Trembling against him as she clenched around his thigh, savouring the sweet after pleasure. When she recovered, his large cock throbbed in her grip, precum leaking down his shaft and running between her fingers.

“I need those pretty thighs of yours, sweetheart.”

“I need you inside me,” she complained as he dislodged her from his thigh. She reached for his neck, tried to drag him on top of her as she spread her legs. The reverberating groan that drew from him did things to her.

“No -ngh- honey.” He struggled to turn her around as she squirmed underneath him. He was this close to shoving his cock into her soaking pussy and fuck them both into a stupor.

Instead, he pulled her up unto her knees and then feet. He leaned unto his hand, dragging her up against him. The angle was awkward, but no matter. He hooked her thighs together, his cock straining between their soft, hot skin. He groaned as he pressed along her slick pussy.

She complained, fingers curling into fists on the wooden boards as she bucked back into his thrusts, his breath hot along her back.

“You wanted the damn photoshoot,” he grunted, picking up his pace.

“I want y-you,” she whined, and he had to force his hook around her waist to keep her from tilting her hips trying to get his cock inside her.

If that happened, he wouldn't be able to stop.

He threw his weight around and leaned on his hook instead, so he could reach his hadn between her thighs.

“I know, doll,” he grunted as he rubbed two fingers roughly against her clit, drinking in the way her whines pitched into moans.

“I will - hrng- fuck you. So good. Later.”

“Oh-ah!” She cried out as a second orgasm rushed through her like an oncoming wave and he pounded himself through it with quick, hard thrusts between her trembling thighs. They squeezed around his shaft as he came with a low, drawn out groan that made the bananawani look up. She felt its timbre against her back as he dumped his load on the boards beneath them with a noise that made her bite her lip as she caught his gaze across her shoulder.

By the time the Sphinxxx crew dared approach, they’d settled beside the snoozing bananawani enjoying that glass of brandy and a smoke. It had hardly been enough, but his dick had gone soft and it took the edge off. That’d have to be enough.

“Shit,” Shivs said when she noticed the incriminatingly bar-shaped bruises streaking her left hip.

“Not to worry,” Stefano said quickly. “We can retouch that away.”

“I like it,” Crocodile rumbled against her ear as his fingertips traced her hip.

Shivs stretched against him, nestling into his hold as she sipped the brandy.

“Bet you do,” she said against the glass.

🐊 🐊 🐊

“Ohhh, it has a little tail! I love that!” Shivs exclaimed when Crocodile had turned around to go where Stefano pointed them.

The last set of nightwear the Sphinxxx designer had brought for them to model was distinctly seasonal. And though not usually one for these kinds of things, Shivs had to admit she didn’t hate it. Predictably, she was wearing a Mrs Santa ensemble that comprised a very short red velvet skirt edged in genuine white fur that felt sinful soft against her skin. It came paired with an impressively v-necked hooded crop top in the same style. She’d opted for stockings and red heels to go with it, because it felt half-finished without them. Stefano had been thrilled.

However, instead of matching Crocodile with a Santa-inspired outfit, they’d actually gone for a reindeer. A very big, very hunky reindeer.

The outfit comprised a short sleeved top that barely reached to his midrif and struggled to contain his pects, and boxer briefs with cut outs at the thighs that only just managed to contain him. The whole affair was a seasonal chocolate brown, except for the smudge of white on the chest, thighs and butt. It had taken some convincing to get him to wear it. Nevermind, the antlered headband. But that, and the boxer brief’s little reindeer tail delivered the whole thing to grace.

No, she definitely didn’t hate it.

They had returned inside, to Rain Dinners' primary casino floor, which had already been decorated the previous weekend for the upcoming season. Stefano had been conflicted about where they’d do the shoot - by the oiled wood and polished brass of the Grand Café bar, or at the colonnade with the nightlights of Rainbase through the window wall? Shivs had casually suggested they could do the shoot at her table, and he’d loved that.

“No, no, lay down flat. Pretend it's grass and this is summer - yes,” Stefano said as Shivs laid down on her stomach on the poker table, leaning on her elbows with her hands under her chin and idly kicking up her feet.

“Good, perfect!” His tone was as cheerful as the decor as he handed her the poker cards. “Hold ‘em like you mean it, darling.”

“Devil’s in the details.” Shivs winked as she tossed the third card back to him, then put down the right amount of community cards as well. “That’s a little too much.”

“That’s not what you said last night,” Crocodile rumbled not even pretending to lower his voice as he leaned over her as instructed.

That drew awkward looks from everyone, and a chortle from her that settled pleasantly in the pit of his stomach as he leaned unto his hand and pretended to be interested in the cards instead of the feel of her damp cunt against his cock. The moist spot discolouring her panties under the short skirt hadn’t lied.

“No, not quite,” Stefano rubbed his chin, then snapped his fingers. “Indicate one of the cards.”

“Well, that’s a solid tell,” Shivs said with a snort.

“Art, art! This is art, not an actual game,” Stefano protested. “Go on, please.”

Crocodile shifted his weight unto his hand, indicating one of the two cards Shivs held with the tip of his hook.

“A little nearer - perfect!”

He leaned in closer as the camera clicked, pressing his cock against her firm butt. “You look like a seasonal treat good enough to eat, doll,” he grunted under his breath.

Shivs arched her back with a little noise, spreading her thighs more to accommodate him. She glanced away from the cards to catch his gaze from the corner of her eye. “Don’t tempt me to take you up on that, Blitzen.”

The rumble at the back of his throat as she felt his cock stiffen against her made her smile at the cards.

When they rounded up the last shot, Stefano came towards them positively aglow. “This was wonderful,” he said in a near reverent tone. “Stunning. Perfect.”

Crocodile lit a cigar, letting the praise shower him. Shivs suspected it smoothed his rankled humours from earlier today.

“Let me gift you any one of these,” the Sphinxxx designer added. “It would be my honour.”

“These ones,” Shivs said immediately. It was the little tail, truly.

Crocodile glanced down at her through a cloud of smoke. Amusement tugged his lips around his cigar.

“What she said.”

🐊 🐊 🐊

“That what you want, doll?” Crocodile said as he ran his hand up her side and under the top’s red velvet to palm her breast.

“Yes. It will turn out to be the best picture,” Shivs said as she laid down on her stomach and leaned on her elbows, hands under her chin. They were in their bedroom, facing the floor length mirrors opposite the curving window wall, wearing the seasonal set that she’d claimed for them. A cheeky glance at him from across her shoulder. “And I want to see it already.”

“You do look good, doll.” He pushed the short skirt up, fingers running through the soft fur edge and against her warm skin. He palmed her firm butt, pulling the cheeks apart. Her crimson panties were soaked, just as they’d been during the photo shoot.

“My own seasonal treat,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her shoulder, sliding fingers under her panties and between her wet folds. Her little huff when he pushed two into her slick cunt made his cock throb for its tight embrace. “I wanted to rail you every time your pretty pussy pressed against me.”

“Wish you had,” Shivs said as she arched into his touch, pressed her hips into his palm as his fingers drew sparks of pleasure from her core with their every move. She spread her legs further, wanting him against her the way he’d been during the photo shoot. “Wani, please. Need to feel you against me, on top of me. Like that. Again.”

She whined when he withdrew his fingers, and moaned when she felt his hips and weight settle against her instead. Their gazes crossed in the mirror.

“That what you’d do, doll?” he asked as he leaned over her, all but cheek to cheek as he dry humped against her butt, making her feel his erection. “Come to the stable at night and let all the good reindeer stuff your tight, needy hole like a little slut?”

“I only know a bad one,” she replied with half a moan. “But his cock is the best one.”

“Is that so?” he grunted as he pulled the boxer brief’s crotch out of the way and pushed his hard shaft along her clothed cunt and groaned at how wet the thin fabric of her panties felt.

“He always fucks me good and proper,” she said between huffs of need, pressing back against him to feel more. “I love how his thick dick spreads me open, fills me so fucking good.”

“Like this?” He pulled the soaked fabric aside and shoved his hard cock into her in one smooth thrust, the slick noise of her soaking cunt drawing him in incriminatingly loud in the quiet bedroom.

Her moan broke and set fire to the desire that had been smoldering in his loins.

“Oh, yess!” she whined when she felt him bottom out, stretching her so deliciously around him. The tip boldly pushed against her back walls, wanting to go further still. She cramped around him when he stayed put, pushed back against his hips. “F-fuck me.”

He watched her squirm and claw at their bedsheets. Felt her squeeze so tightly around his shaft it made him clench his teeth. He leaned close against her, his breath hot against the back of her neck. “What’s that, doll?”

“F-fuck - ngh- me, damnit,” she cursed as she pushed back against him, desperate for friction, any friction. “Make me f-feel your thick cock. You filthy beast.”

“Beast?” he rumbled with a firm thrust that wrested a groan from him as he blunted against the back wall of her tight hole.

“A-ah! Yes!” she whined half muffled into a fistfull of sheets. “More. Damnit.”

“More?” he grunted into her ear as he locked his hand around her shoulder and his hook behind the far edge of their bed. He wanted, no, needed, to hear her scream for him.

“Ye-ah! Yes!” She’d all but buried her face in their bedsheets, fingers clenching around the pale silk.

“Didn’t my little honey want to see?” he said as he struggled to control himself, hold back from recklessly thrusting into her wet, cramping pussy a moment longer. He pushed her chin up with his index finger as he started pounding his cock into her with thrusts that shook her whole frame. Thrusts whose wet slaps filled their bedroom as the slick noises of her soaking pussy eagerly taking him made him hungry for more. Much more.

“Look up, doll.”

The horny greed in her gaze when they met in the mirror made him groan as his cock throbbed. She was perfect, and his. She fed the ravenous beast within him the way no one else did. No one else could. Not any more. Not ever.

“Scream -ngh - for me, honey,” he grunted as he strained into his pushes, groaning as he forcefully pulled himself up by his hook with long, deep thrusts that damn near made him see stars. She screamed for him then as she watched him wreck her, shattering her cries with his thrusts. And when she started cramping around him, his low cries joined hers as he spilled his load deep in her tight cunt.

Feeling his arm give way under him, he turned to fall on his side into the rumped sheets beside her, drawing her with him as he rode out his orgasm with languid thrusts. She turned her head up and they kissed as he reached under her top again. She made a delightfully hazy noise against his lips when he stroke her hard nipple.

The timid knock at the doorpost drew an irritated grunt from him that made her want to fuck him again.

It was Anthony, his gaze fixed firmly on the ceiling. He was holding something, a magazine by the look of it.

“What.” Crocodile grunted.

“The draft print came in, sir,” Anthony said as he held out the magazine, gaze never straying. “They will hit the shelves tomorrow, I was told. Unless, of course, you object.”

“Oh!” Shivs was up and rising so fast that he groaned when his cock slid from her tight pussy. He rolled unto his back and watched his cum leak down her thighs as she grabbed his dress shirt and shrugged it on while trotting to his secretary. He reached for the night stand without bothering to get up, flipping a cigar from the box laying atop of it.

“Thank you, Tony,” Shivs said as she accepted the magazine from him.

“No problem, ma’am,” Anthony said without meeting her gaze, keeping it diligently up. “If there is nothing else?”

“Absolutely nill,” Crocodile said as he sat up and lit the cigar, and his secretary quickly made himself scarce.

“Look what they put on the cover,” Shivs said, clearly delighted, as she came towards him, proudly showing that seasonal shot she’d loved so well she’d made him wreck her like that not five minutes ago.

“Seems you got your wish,” he huffed through a puff of smoke as he reached out to her with hook and hand.

She chortled as she took hold of his hook and let him draw her into his lap. “This sensationalist line they added about seasonal fun at the casino makes it sound like we got a whole something here for select guests, haha.”

“No, no other reindeer,” he grumbled, making her laugh.

“Don’t you worry,” she said as she sat up to press a kiss against his lips, hand stroking across his lower stomach. “None could hope to compare.”

The molified noise he made in response made her smile as she curled up against him with the magazine. “It looks so pretty,” she said as she ran her fingers across the full colour pages.

“That’s because you’re in it,” he said as he looked at them from above her shoulder. The article was a little ways into the middle of the fashion magazine. Eleven pages of quality photographs and there wasn’t a single one they didn’t like. It was only when she paged back to the front that they noticed the envelope taped into the inner cover.

There was a note in it emblazoned with the Sphinxx calligraphy, and a stack of photographs.

‘It was a delight and honour to work with the both of you. These did not make the cut, but I dare say I’d be in trouble if I did away with them, wouldn’t I?

Con affetto, Masotti Stefano.'

The delight with which she went through the additional pictures made the creature coil inside him with a purr.

“Oh, but these came out nice too?” Shivs said as she held one up.

It looked like a candid shot as they walked to their intended spot during the shoot in his office. He’d just taken a draw from his cigar, a fond glance shrouded in smoke as she tugged him along by his hook, glancing over her shoulder with a smile as radiant as the desert sun.

Crocodile plucked it from her fingers. “This one will sit in my office.”

“I want a bigger print of this one,” she said as she shielded another one from view. He tugged at her shoulder with his hook to see. It was one from the second location, outside, with the bananawani. On it, he sat in one of the cast iron deck chairs, the large animal and the sprawling Rainbase oasis behind him. She stood against his inner thigh, leaning into him as she held up a lighter so he could light his cigar. It was a good shot, except for the part where all of his everything was breaching containment from the frightfully complicated thong.

“I am going to hang it at my table,” she declared as she held it against her chest.

“Absolutely not!” he objected, smoke escaping him as he tried to snatch it from her.

She dodged and laughed, rolling off his lap amid a flock of scattering photographs. Then jumped up, the incriminating picture held high in hand. “Maybe that'll keep 'em piped down!”

He tangled himself out of the blasted sheets, biting down on his cigar as he gave chase.

“Get back here!”

🐊 🐊 🐊

Robin basked in the bright, sunny morning as she sauntered down Rainbase’s boulevard with her bestie, Miguella. They’d gotten the largest, fanciest lattes they could find and she had put them on Crocodile’s tab. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t taste better for it.

“We could go to All Stars or Seven Palms tonight?” Miguella said as she stirred her straw through the whipcream of her latte.

“All Stars.” Robin let the latte’s creamy texture take over her thoughts for a moment. “They’ll know to find us in Seven Palms, we go there too often.”

“They’re mad at you?”

“I am mad at them.”

Robin scowled. It was always excessively embarrassing when they did something like this, even when it was just lame old suit brands. She didn’t need to hear from everyone and their dog how good they looked, how amazing they were, and how lucky she was. She hated it here. She’d run away if she actually had anywhere else she could go without being turned in on sight.

It was strange, though, for they hadn’t even tried to curfew her the past weekend. Perhaps they felt bad and hadn’t gone through with it? That’d be a first.

As they sauntered down the boulevard, not all its souvenir and food stands had opened yet. And the lady at the corner kiosk was just dragging the ‘newly arrived’ stand outside.

And that’s where she saw it.

Rendered in glossy full-colour, proud as could be on the front of Fashion First. Them. How dare? Her on her stomach on one of the casino’s poker tables, wearing the skimpiest sexy-Santa skirt and top you could still put on a front cover without being delegated to the randy back corner of a 24/7 shop. And him, dressed up as a goddamn reindeer, leaning over her back in what couldn’t possibly be an accidental posing. They pretended to be engrossed by the cards she was holding, but Robin knew better. She could fucking tell from their stupid horny glances.

Standing there, in the sunny, quiet boulevard. She thought she might actually scream.

“Hey! Aren’t that your parents?” Miguella said, and had the gall to chortle about it.

“They are NOT my parents, and they are dead to me!” Robin screamed, and stormed off.

🐊 🐊 🐊

Horny hell seat reservations - @tiredemomama @smut-goblin @ruledbyproblematique @momodwriter @littlemountainwolf @fanaticsnail @feral-artistry - have a very merry Christmas with a shot of crocaine on the house.

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girlsgoneplague · 10 months ago

Text

Cramps

Spock x reader

Warnings: period talk (not graphic) cursing, depression

Promt: pain/comfort, you have the day off however your period has kept you in bed all day so your boyfriend Spock comes to check on you

Part 1 of 2 or 3, I plan on in the second part it gets worse

Waking up that morning you knew something was wrong whenever you rolled over, the cool wetness of your ass made it obvious your pad just couldn't take it last night. After groaning into your pillow for a solid minute you decide to get up and get cleaned up. When you get in the bathroom its obvious the pad never stood a chance, so you take off all your clothes and put them in the laundry hamper

So much for having a relaxing off day...

Before taking a shower you also removed all of your bedding, as well the pillow case since it won't match your other bedsheets. The pale blue of your former bedsheets start to irritate you and instead of putting them in the hamper you decide to throw the fitted sheet away. A ringing on your PADD goes off so you make your way to your bedside table and pick it up to see Spock is calling.

"Hey babe, I was just about to hop into the shower" you keep the screen aimed at your face in case he's with someone else.

"Hello, I trust you slept well?"

You sigh, "not really, I ruined my light blue bedsheets and I didn't even fall asleep until pretty late last night"

He tilts his head slightly, "I see, well the duration of my shift will end in a few hours, I will come to check on you."

You smile as you nod, "I'd love that, bring me something to eat too will you?"

"I shall, please continue your morning, I will see you soon"

"See you soon Spock" you end the call and make your way to the shower. Your cramps are starting to act up and a nice hot shower will ~hopefully~ help it.

After 30 minutes you've given up on the prospect of easing your pain. They haven't gotten worse but since its been so long its started to irritate you.

I swear they've just been getting worse these past few months....maybe I need to see McCoy.

After thinking it over you decide its not serious enough for that, if it gets worse then you'll have a good enough excuse to waste an entire day in sick bay. The worst part about it so far was the damper it put on your mood. Its only been about an hour since you've woken up but crawling back into bed is the only appealing thing to you right now. You look at the clock and see it's only 11:03.

You haven't changed your bedsheets yet but decide to lay on it bare anyway, the only thing touching your skin is the robe you were gifted last Christmas. It's dark blue and goes all the way down to your shins so it acts like your blanket for now.

After a few minutes you decide to try and watch something before you get too caught up in your own head. After picking an old cartoon movie you've never seen called Treasure Planet, you decide during the opening scenes you'll actually eat something.

I'm sure spock won't be back for another couple hours I think he mentioned around 4pm the last time we talked-

Suddenly your PADD starts to light up again, wondering if it was the man himself you leaned over to find it was actually Uhura.

"Hey whats up?" You ask somewhat confused

"You forgot about lunch didnt you?" She said with a small smirk

"Ohhhhhh shit im so sorry! I forgot this was the only day this week we both had free, my period came yesterday and its been kicking my ass"

She raises her eyebrows, "Oh my, that sounds like you've been busy dealing with the worst time of the month I understand. Its kind of weird that you're having issues though, you don't usually have cramps that bad right?"

"Right!! I have no idea why they're so bad this time around, I haven't even gotten around to changing my bedsheets-of which I RUINED last night" you shake your head and move the screen to show you laying down on your bare bed

"Yikes, well to be honest I actually called because I'm already in the mess hall but Sulu wants to join me for lunch, would you be offended if I visited you tomorrow after my shift?"

"Not at all, im not really in the mood to socialize....or get dressed haha. I only really want to see Spock so we can cuddle"

She rolls her eyes, "yeah yeah I'm sure your hot boyfriend will help melt the pain away. But if you need anything at all before he shows up then call me"

"Sure thing, you have fun with Sulu and tell him I said hi" I waved bye as she said she would and then hung up.

I put the device back down and roll over on my back, the cramps are getting bad enough I decide to take some Tylenol and grab my medicine bag to fill up with hot water.

I'm so glad I bought this damn thing, take that you stupid uterus

After gettin settled on the bed you realize you didnt actually grab something to eat, but maybe that's a good thing because your stomach also starts to act up.

It be your own body, your own treacherous body

At least the movie still has an hour left before you paused it, so you hit resume and make a wall of pillows on your bed to protect your back from the hard headboard.

After about 30 minutes you decide to send Spock a message asking how long he will be on duty. After a few minutes he responds

Unfortunately I have to stay slightly longer than planned, so far we belive the problem will be taken care of by 5 at the latest. My apologies

You frown but don't want to make a big deal about it, especially since its not his fault so you respond quickly

Thats fine! Just don't forget to bring me some dinner, I want pizza, you know how I like it. I hope the ship isn't giving you too many issues i know we had a rough day yesterday

Rough is an understatement, however it comes with the job and you both understand most things are out of your control when it comes to repairs and maintenance.

Indeed. I shall update you at 4 about my arrival.

You smile at the screen and think about how happy you'll be when he gets here

In the meantime I can ask Uhura for some chicken noodle soup. Thank you:)

You look up and realize you didn't pause the movie but luckily there's not been anything super crazy that happened. Its actually grabbed your attention quite well. However you do pause it to message Uhura because you're not sure if you can call her.

You free? I've got a craving for some chicken noodles or maybe even some chicken and dumplings, either way something warm with chicken

As you wait for a reply you get up to change the water in your medicine bag again, after you get up however you realize you have to use the bathroom.....immediately.

When you get in there you cuss loudly

How the fuck did my pad manage to slip off, I swear today is not my day

After you finish up, you change your underwear again and rub your sore breasts.

This is possibly the worst off day I've ever had, including when we were all turned into those rocks or cubes or whatever they were*

Looking at the clock you quickly realize its only a little after 12. And since Uhura hasn't responded its starting to look a lot like you'll be alone for quite some time.

The movie ended after some time, it was really good but you frequently clenched your whole body due to the waves of cramps. And thankfully Uhura had let you know she would bring you food around 1. So you searched around for another movie to keep your mind off of things and settled on Asteroid City. After a few minutes you hear a knock so you get pause it to open the door.

After it slides open you smile at the sight of your friend with some much needed soup, "so whatd you bring me?"

She hands you the tray and follows you into the room, "just some chicken and dumplings, I remember last time you had noodles so I thought I'd take the liberty of switching things up for you"

"I love it when you make our relationship spicy" you chuckle and sit down on your bed gesturing her to join you.

She looks at your screen, "oh you'll like this one, but after this you should watch that horror movie that came out in the same year"

In between spoonfuls you ask her to send you the title in case you forget.

You and her chat for some time until she gets up to stretch, "well I think I'll leave you to it, I have the holo deck reserved for 3 and I'd hate to be late. See you later"

"Sure thing, see you!" You wave to her as she leaves and start your movie again.

2 hours later you decided this Wes Anderson was definitely worth checking out. Then you look at your PADD to see the title Uhura sent you and also notice Spock has sent you a message as well

Excellent news, I shall be done in less than an hour. Is there anything else you need me to bring?

Yes please! I need new bedsheets I can't find any clean ones. I like yours so maybe you could bring those?

Clicking on Talk To Me, you lean back again and wait for him to respond.

Roughly 20 minutes later you hear a knock on your door, so you pause the movie and practically run to see if its Spock

Once the door slides open you grin at the sight of him with a pair of sheets underneath a tray with an entire pizza.

"I missed you so much, here let me take the tray"

He lets you grab the tray while he starts to unfold the sheets, "I have missed you as well T'hy'la, I trust you were not disappointed with my tardiness"

You set the food down at the small table you usually eat dinner at, that is when you're not suffering, and turn to face him. "Its not your fault T'hy'la, besides im sure you can make it up to me"

The ghost of a smile is on his face as he walks over to you to hold your hand and lean his forhead against yours, "I will try"

You give him a kiss and tell him to start eating so you can finish your movie.

As you eat your pizza, and he eats his soup you discuss his day as well as how awful you've been feeling, "I mean I seriously have no idea why its been so bad this time around" you notice a frown on his face and raise an eyebrow

"If you are truly having issues why did you not see McCoy?" Concern all over his face makes you feel like you've said the wrong thing.

"Its just that I didn't think it mattered that much" you look away from him and at the floor, "I just didn't want to spend the day in sick bay or worse taking some disgusting medicine that makes me lose my appetite"

He considers this for a moment and reaches across the table to hold his two fingers out to you for a Vulcan kiss. "While I do not understand the human response of hating the doctors i understand you would have gone if you felt that the pain was too much, but please mention it the next time you have a check up"

You smile softly and nod your head, "deal, so long as you spend the night with me?"

His eyes light up and the corners of his mouth slightly turn upwards, "I believe those terms are acceptable"

You both finish up your meal and he excuses himself to grab a change of clothes while you head to the bathroom to change your pad yet again.

One of these days maybe he'll just keep a change of clothes here

You ponder to yourself about the future for a moment until you start to have an awful pain shoot through your abdomen.

You leave the bathroom and immediately lay down to curl yourself into a ball, its not clear how long you stay in that position but when Spock returns he knocks and let's himself in after you tell him its fine. He immediately walks over to your bed at the sight of you, "is the pain becoming too much?"

You nod slightly and roll over to face him, "is it alright if we just lay here together for awhile"

"Of course, just allow me to change into my robes"

You feebly nod and go to turn the movie back on, you might as well finish it before bed considering its not even 6 yet. After he gets changed he looks at the screen, then at you, and raises an eyebrow.

"A recommendation from Uhura" you respond to his wordless question

"I see, well you'll forgive me if I do not watch it with you"

"All I need is you, I know you don't like this sort of thing but I'm glad you indulge my human tendancies"

"There are many qualities of yours i admire, and as you are well aware I do not require silence in order to think about how to improve my work efficiency"

You shake your head slightly as he climbs into bed, "well as long as you're holding me i couldn't care less what you're thinking about i just enjoy your company"

A light green blush comes across his features, "I too enjoy being with you" he grabs your face and kisses you for a few moments until you break the kiss to groan about your lower abdomen. He places his hand on your forehead and looks in your eyes to silently ask permission to ease your pain. You nod and his presence fills your brain, the pain starts to leave your mind as you finally relax for the first time that day.

"I don't know what I would do without you" you tell him as he lowers his hand and once again wraps his arms around you.

"I am sure you would-"

"That was rhetorical, and I don't think I could love anyone like how I love you" the light green blush returns to his face and he puts his forehead to yours again.

"I love you as well" he tells the computer to turn the lights off and you fall asleep despite the horror movie still on in the background. He watches you for a few moments to be sure you've fallen asleep and then turns off the movie and allows himself to drift off alongside you.

End of part one

Authors Notes, in the original series theres an episode where only 5 of the essential crew weren't turned into these blocks so if you're curious this is what I was referencing in the paragraph that talks about being turned into rocks lol

#spock #x reader #comfort #fluff #helpful boyfriend because we have standards here #uhura being a good friend

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maochira · 2 years ago

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Working at Blue Lock/father figure!Ego introduction

Tags: gn!reader, overworker and overachiever!reader, reader is a graphic designer, artist and assistant at Blue Lock

A/N: I want to make this a series so feel free to request more for father figure!Ego!! A part two to this will come soon as well! Also, this originally goes for one of my Blue Lock OCs, but I want to write it as an x reader for you guys to enjoy and because I prefer writing reader inserts💟

Working at Blue Lock is your first job ever, so ever since the beginning you swore to yourself that you'll put all of your power and passion into this. Especially because of how passionate Ego is about Blue Lock, you want to do your best to help him

Ego tends to give you very tight deadlines almost all the time. It's to be expected that at least once a day he'll tell you something like "You need to do this until tomorrow", or "I have this speech planned later, you need to do this until then", but nothing about that ever bothered you. It's on the opposite side, you've always been happy about getting tasks from him and feel good about being helpful to the project.

Most of your work consists of designing and drawing player icons and all the graphics Ego shows on his screens during his speeches. Every time he holds his speeches, you're in the back of the room to watch. To you, it's like seeing your work come to life, and that's always been your dream.

Ego often criticizes your work when you show him your ideas or sketches. But that's part of working as a graphic designer and artist. Even though his criticism tends to come off as harsh and cold, you're always happy to follow his wishes. And hey, in the end, it's always worth it because you get at least a little bit of praise. It's never much, usually just a simple "Good work, (Y/N)-chan" but for you, it's enough.

But due to your hard work, you pull at least one all-nighter a week. You'd still be able to finish all your tasks on time even if you got a healthy amount of sleep, but you always get so lost in your work that it keeps you awake all night. A part of that is passion, but another part is your overworking nature.

You rarely tell Ego and Anri about your all-nighters, you either act as if you got up extra early or just briefly mention something like "I couldn't fall asleep" and laugh it off. Ego never showed any concern over it, but Anri certainly did.

And for the first months, sleep deprivation didn't have that many effects on you. Surprisingly. Your passion kept you going. Well, until you pulled an all-nighter after a night with only 3 hours of sleep. Even caffeine couldn't save you anymore. You really try to keep your eyes open, but they get so heavy that they just close on their own and you end up falling asleep at your desk.

In the meantime, Ego is rewatching recordings of Blue Lock matches, until he sees you asleep at your desk. His first instinct is to wake you up and yell at you to continue your work, but he's so hesitant about it, he changes his mind after second thought. He remembers how you've been working extra hard lately and knows your current task isn't that urgent, so he simply lets you sleep.

But when you wake up, a rush of panic runs through your body. You immediately look up at your computer which has gone into sleep mode by now. You turn around to see Ego, still sitting on his chair.

"You finally woke up, huh?" His voice doesn't give off any particular emotion, but you automatically think he's mad at you for falling asleep during your work hours.

You open your mouth to apologize, but your mind is still a bit fuzzy and not properly awake yet. Before any words actually get out, Ego continues: "It was about time you got some proper sleep."

"Sorry, I've been-"

"No need to apologize," Ego interrupts you, "Just don't let this happen again."

"I won't, I promise." You answer before turning your computer back on, ready to finish whatever you were working on before you fell asleep.

"You really need to take better care of yourself." Ego tells you in a stern voice. "Get more sleep and pay attention to your health. I don't want you to get sick."

"Oh?" You turn around to face his direction. What he said makes you laugh a little. "Aren't you the one with eyebags who only eats instant noodles?"

Ego is slightly taken aback by your response and for a moment he struggles to find an answer. "Are you talking back to me?" Is the only thing he manages to come up with.

"I wouldn't call it talking back," you answer as you turn your head back to your computer, "I'm just surprised why you'd care more about me than taking care of yourself."

And with this, you've got yourself your own personal Ego speech.

"Listen, (Y/N)-chan. I 'care' for you in a way an employer cares for one of his workers. Because that's what you and I are. I can't have you getting sick or breaking down because you exhaust yourself too much. That would mean I would have to look for a temporary replacement which would cost time and money. Plus, your work is great even under these conditions and I doubt I'd find anyone else who's as passionate about this as you are. But even with that, I don't want you to exhaust yourself this much again. It's true that I appreciate your hard work, but with your hard work comes the need of taking care of yourself. Understood?"

Halfway through his speech, you turned back to look at him again. His expression and tone are not much different from how he usually is, but what he says still surprises you in some way. You and Ego never had a deeper conversation on anything, but this is starting to pick up your curiosity, so you decide to continue.

"That still doesn't explain why you'd tell me to take better care of myself when you uhm, you know."

"Leading Blue Lock comes with its sacrifices." Ego responds, "If I'll lose sleep over it, I'm willing to sacrifice that. But I'm not willing to let you sacrifice your health."

"So you're worried about me?"

Ego lets out a short frustrated sigh. "As I already said, I care for you in a way an employer cares for their worker. You're not much more than a tool to help my dream come alive."

You only nod in response and return to your work. You want to continue this conversation, but Ego's frustrated sigh is a sign to stop.

Even though what Ego said could definitely hurt someone's feelings, especially because of his stern tone, just him mentioning he cares about you in some way makes you happy. Sure, to him you're not much more than a tool to achieve his dream, but that still means you have some sort of important role for him. Be it in an employer-worker way, you're just happy to be useful.

As you continue your given task, Ego finds himself unable to concentrate on his own work. He thinks of his own words he just said to you moments ago and they keep repeating in his head until he wonders if he even spoke the truth.

Sure, in theory, you're not much more than an employee to him. But something about seeing how you overworked yourself and even sacrificed a lot of sleep just for the tasks he's given you made him truly realize how hard you've been working ever since the beginning of Blue Lock. It awakened some sort of protectiveness over you inside of him.

And even when he's back to focusing on his work every now and then his gaze wanders over to you with slight concern. He can't help but ask himself: Is this the kind of protectiveness a father feels about their child?

#honestly this is also a self insert thing for myself but psh #bllk #blue lock #bllk x reader #blue lock x reader #blue lock x you #bllk x you #blue lock ego #bllk ego #ego x reader #ego x you #ego jinpachi x reader #ego jinpachi x you #jinpachi ego x reader #jinpachi ego x you #ego jinpachi #jinpachi ego

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wind-up-thancred · 7 months ago

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SO i've been digging around in the benchmark files with xiv data explorer...

...and with my middling knowledge of how XIV's current texture types work, i've noticed some differences in how texture channels have worked and what data is stored where. i haven't figured out what EVERYTHING'S for yet and if you think you have an idea or any corrections, pls feel free to lmk. could help with figuring out 7.0 modding quicker! this is also decent info for figuring out what old mods can be repurposed for 7.0 graphics.

also content warning for unwrapped face textures under the cut, i know those can look kind of spooky if you arent used to 'em lol

starting off, i didn't source this info but chirp (known plugin dev) on twitter talked about finding about fifty six new bones in the facial armature specifically. this means things like sculpts will probably be unusable unless they are manually re-rigged with each one of those fifty six new bones, or else they wont animate properly.

the default UV maps for the face specifically have changed, too, and many of the uses of the old normal and multi channels have been changed or moved to a different texture. NOTE that these examples were found from au ra textures, male specifically, and the channels may or may not have different uses on non-scaled races!

old vs new multi map. i'm fairly certain every channel here has been repurposed: for example, blue used to be for lipstick, now it seems to be for something else. so where'd the lipstick area data go? well:

it's been moved to the alpha channel on the normal map (these are both the new one). additionally, it seems like the blue channel on the normal map has been changed to signify the difference between skin and non-skin or something of the like.

(old vs new) similarly, even though the body seems to use the same UV layout with a redefined normal map, the blue channel here also seems to indicate skin vs non-skin. but the blue channel used to be for transparency (iirc?), so where is that data stored now?

the transparency data seems to have been moved to the alpha channel of the diffuse now. this image is part of the new face diffuse.

like the face multi map, the body multi map seems to actually use the blue channel now (and looks SO much cleaner, wow!). old vs new.

so what do these changes mean for our current mods?

-due to changed UVs, existing makeups will not be usable with the new faces UNLESS someone goes through the effort of taking the old sculpt (vanilla or otherwise) and weight paints ALL the new face bones to them, or somehow adjusts the UV mapping on the new sculpt to match the old one. i don't work with sculpts so i'm not sure how feasible either of these are

-existing body tattoo mods that only affect the diffuse should theoretically still work fine, as the UVs have not been changed on the body. body scale mods that are just recolors should work fine as well, but matching face scale mods will have to be redone for the new UVs.

-however, if it's a scale mod like dragonborn that changes the placement of the scales and therefore the normal and multi maps, those will have to be adjusted to match with the 7.0 channel uses.

assuming there are no major changes to how this data is stored between now and the releases of dawntrail, you could theoretically begin working now on your own texture mods ready for whenever we get access to 7.0 modding tools. i was able to access these files (and many others) by using XIV data explorer, a program that lets you view and export (but not import!) data directly from specific XIV data indexes.

if you also want to rip textures, the index storing them, alongside skeletons and animations, is 04000.win32.index2. hit ctrl+shift+e to export individual files to a .tex format and then run them through penumbra to convert them into .dds for normals + multis or .png for diffuses for editing. i'm fairly certain that 95% of the pathings will be exactly the same as what penumbra and textools gives us now, so there shouldn't be much need to find entirely new paths.

again, if anyone sees any differences in other races for texture uses or figures out the uses for new channels, PLEASE let me know bc the sooner we get all this figured out the better! i have only been modding for a few years and don't know everything about how every texture works so i'm open to corrections.

#ffxiv modding #ffxiv mods #i just wanted other mod makers to know beforehand so id like to spread this info if possible #finding public modding resources can be a bitch! if i can make things easier i will try

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snek-panini · 1 year ago

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It's been a few weeks since I had new books to share, but I finally got photos taken of the newest ones so today's the day. Here, have a book:

This is Across Tides and Currents, a Good Omens siren AU by Sodium_Azide and @doorwaytoparadise (hi. I hope I tagged you right). My favorite thing about this AU is that, at its heart, it's about learning to communicate with someone who is so different from you that you can't even physically speak each other's language, and yet you've still got so much common ground that you find a way. It's way lighter and more fun than that description makes it sound, though, so go read it if that's your thing.

The cover on this is Lineco book cloth, scrapbook paper printed to look like leather, and blue foil htv. The foil was actually a nightmare to do. The first time I applied it, it wouldn't stick no matter what I did, and the bits that did stick peeled off as soon as I touched them. I had to peel them up very carefully, cut a new image, and try again. Thankfully it worked the second time but I don't know that I'll be using the foil type again unless there's no other way to get the color I want. The non-foil metallic was so much easier to work with.

More book photos under the cut!

I went with a coptic bind for this one for a few reasons. The first was that I wanted to try one on a quarto-size book to see if I could. I also wanted to try the mitered corners thing I did when I bound Strange Moons, and see if I could have the same effect on the interior. (That bit didn't work out so well; the front is fine but I mismeasured the inside and the lines didn't match up, so I trimmed some pieces of cardstock to cover that up. I really like the layered look though, so that's fine. It's quirky.) The third reason is that not long before I decided to bind this one, the authors published a new chapter after two years of no updates. That's the best possible reason to have to change plans, and the glueless bind means that if they ever do that again I can just redo the stitching to add more pages. Win-win.

Getting whimsical with title pages here. This took way longer than I thought it would, probably because I don't like graphic design and I did it in Word where I do the rest of my typesetting. Usually what I do is grab an image and put text around it or on top of it and then just play with fonts and sizes, but this time I drew the lines and then made the text follow them. This is the first time I've used the word art feature since...probably 2009? I'd forgotten how. I have no doubt there are better ways to do this but if I'd had to learn a new program at that point I'd have quit. And I do think it was worth it--it's cute and fun and looks about how I imagined it.

Couple of photos of the inside. Sorry the first one's blurry, I had someone trying to get my attention when I took these. The section break image came from rawpixel, I just made it gray instead of black so it's more subtle. The fic has very nice illustrations that I specifically got the artist's permission to print and then I failed to get any photos of them when I did my little photo shoot. They look very nice, though. I swear.

The last image is something I've started including in my latest books. I'm calling them "A Note from the Bookbinder" and it's basically just me talking about why I chose that story, the experience of reading it for the first time, stuff that's going on in the fandom, stuff about the process like the new chapter coming out as I was preparing to print. It's kind of...like marginalia? Part of fanbinding is preservation and that's linked to archival work, and something I know archivists love is marginalia and diaries. I don't like writing in my books and I've never found any fun in journaling, but sometimes that kind of context is important so I'm trying to add it. Someday, decades from now, I may not remember all the details, so I'm trying to preserve them. IDK, this got philosophical on me. Go read about mermaids now. Promise it's a good time.

#bookbinding #fanbinding #snek makes books #good omens #fic rec #i wanted to do this as a mermay project #that did not happen #i finished it in october #happy mertober

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tekutiger · 7 months ago

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There's something I've been wanting to post here for about a week now, but I've been putting it off, waiting for the Dawntrail Benchmark to release. (That can be found here btw: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/ffe3a1a5430a5a8168ca9782ab9ec0e57cd5be62)

On the official Square Enix forums (both English and Japanese), there is an entire thread for the Graphical Update Viera Noses. Our communities are not exactly thrilled with the changes, to say the least.

The (current) last page of the English thread can be found here: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/493947-Graphical-Update-Viera-Nose/page19

The first page of the English thread can be found here: (or you can just go to the link above, scroll to the bottom and click "First") https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/493947-Graphical-Update-Viera-Nose

I tried checking here on Tumblr if this had been posted already but the FFXIV tags are spammed so much 🫠

The Japanese thread link is within the EN thread somewhere, I forget which page.

If you play a Viera, you've probably noticed that your beloved WoL doesn't quite look the same- specifically the nose, and to a lesser extent with their eyes.

That's all pointed out and discussed in the thread. And yes, I did voice my opinion to it 🙃

I'm trying to find some comparison screenies of my bunboi and fembun to contribute here.

The thing I was worried about, and still kind of am even after going through the benchmark- is the strange "shine" you see on bunboi's noses in certain areas, or at random times. I couldn't find any rhyme or reason to why or when this would happen 🤷🏻‍♀️

We were also shown a preview of bunboi's with their nose like 7 shades darker than their skin tone and that didn't sit well with me. Between that and the shine? No. Just no.

This is current graphics 👆🏻

Another thing I noticed in the benchmark is that they removed the colored eyelashes from Face 1 (the face I'm using on my bunboi). It's literally like, 1 of the 2 primary reasons I chose this face to begin with. (They usually match your hair color.)

Dawntrail Benchmarker 👆🏻

You can see some of this "so called shine" in some of these, but it's not as bad as I thought it'd be originally. I guess I can live with it and over time I'll probably get used to it.

I can probably even get over the fact that his white eyelashes are gone, though I'll miss them. I don't know... 😖

I do appreciate the updated quality of the hair, and the iris/eyes, and his facial feathers. I also like that the added "lip color" I gave him appears to be matte and not a gloss, but I'm not sure how other people will like that, lol.

ALSO. There's a very specific scene in the benchmarker that shows your WoL's face so much better but for some strange stupid reason you cannot take screenies during it. I feel like SE really let the ball slip there.

There's probably a reason for it, and then again there might not be- because if I really wanted to, there are loop holes and I could still get those screenshots if I had more time, Lol 😅

Current graphics 👆🏻

I don't have a plethora of screenshots of my fembun like I do of my bunboi- but looking at my fembun specifically I'm realizing her bunny nose doesn't seem that prominent, even now? I guess I thought it was defined more 🤔. Perhaps it's the lighting of this specific shot.

I was going through this phase of changing her hair color from red to yin yang colors, back to red, back to yin yang, rinse & repeat, so...

Dawntrail Benchmarker 👆🏻

Again, I appreciate the high quality in the iris/eyes, hair, facial features- like her tattoos.

It does seem like the highlights in her eyes get a little lost, if that makes sense? The anime type white reflection. Not just for her but for my bunboi too. I think that goes for all character now- I've seen this commented about all across Twitter (yeah I know it's called X, but I'll never call it X).

Her bunny nose seems to disappear in many scenes and then it "seems" to be there in some scenes. I don't know what to make of it.

I feel so wishy washy with this graphics update. There are parts I like and parts I dislike. At this point I'm wondering if it's that whole mentality of "People dislike change" / "People fear the unknown" and over time we'll get used to it.

But also, I've seen some comparisons of people's characters and the overall appearance, the overall vibe of their character has totally shifted. It's understandable they're upset.

I want to offer a couple of pieces of advice here. If you have any commentary to add about Vieras (or any other characters really- like moon kitties got royally shafted on their fangs)- please visit that thread and put your two cents in. Hopefully SE will see it and potentially listen to the community feedback. But in the case of Moon kitties, there's likely a respective thread for them so you'll have to seek out that thread.

The other thing is, take advantage of this benchmarker in tandem with our free fantasia (coming soon). I feel the character creation screen does not properly display what our characters are going to look like once ingame. Do not take the character creation screen at face value. Create and/or modify your character in the benchmarker (you can save your character data). Play it out- make sure you're happy with how they look in the benchmarker. Then go on and use that fantasia. You can load the saved data from the benchmarker into the real game. (unless they changed things, which I highly doubt)

Edit: Adding in some links to other threads ⤵️ (Its been mentioned by others that it's best to keep posts pooled in one thread vs. spread sporadically out across several threads. If SE or Mods are likely to read anything, it's going to be in one centralized large thread.)

Thread: [Dawntrail] Miqo'te face 4 Keeper nose smudge nerfed

Thread: Benchmark/Graphics Update - Lip shape concern and eyes

Thread: Keeper fangs nerfed in the update

#ffxiv #ff14 #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv viera #ff14 viera #teku.blog #dawntrail benchmark #teku.ffxiv

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bahamutgames · 3 months ago

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Paper Mario: The Thousand Afterthoughts

Game: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (May 23, 2024)

Console: Nintendo Switch

It's that time again!! If you had told me not too long ago that I'd have to give my thoughts on 2 different Mario RPG remakes on Switch (and an upcoming brand new M&L) so close to each other, I would've laughed you out of the room. But here we are. And now I look quite foolish, don't I?

My mood is kinda in free fall and I only want to write about these Mario RPGs when I'm in a good mood, but I think I'm okay right now. So I'll capitalize on it. Similar to the Super Mario RPG Remake I'll try to focus on what makes this such a lovely remake rather than gushing about why I adore TTYD. But if you're curious, it has some of the best characters, writing, and combat in the series. While I also think it's a really padded out game. That's my micro review of the original. Okay? Okay.

As always, this isn't a review. Just me throwing up my thoughts. Go play Thousand Year Door RIGHT NOW. Either the original or the remake. I'll wait.

Now that they're gone-

SPOILERS FOR THOUSAND YEAR DOOR AHEAD, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!

Opening

I feel like I've given you my long, tragic backstory with Mario RPGs a billion times but if you somehow missed it. These were my favorite games of all time, they fell off, I get sad, so on and so forth. Thousand Year Door is one of my favorite video games ever, in the trio of greatest Mario games ever made you have Super Mario RPG, Bowser's Inside Story, and TTYD. And, yeah, needless to say. I was bummed when Paper Mario started to go in its new direction. But I'd like to not give that the oxygen of attention at the moment.

So when they were like "Oh there's one last thing" in that direct, the MILLISECOND that first note hit I was like "HUH???" And I flipped my fucking LID, I couldn't believe they were ACTUALLY gonna remake TTYD. And not only that, it was looking good! And then it came out and I couldn't afford it lol.

But thankfully my good friend (Idk if they want me to name them here so I'll avoid it for the time being) bought it for me. Which was so so so nice of them and I genuinely appreciate it cause this was such a wonderful experience. So this review is sponsored by my friend :)

And again, I'll skip the suspense. This is another WONDERFUL remake that's a total love letter to the original and understands what made it so good.

Stuff I liked

I think the best place to start would be with how faithful this is to the original. It doesn't change pretty much ANYTHING. If there's any major changes to stuff that was in the original (not counting new content) I can't remember it. Not that I was expecting them to change it but still, it's nice that they didn't like, butcher it or something crazy. It's the same good plot, pretty much an identical script (with any changes being for the better imo.), and the same wonderful gameplay.

But of course, what makes a remake interesting is what ACTUALLY gets changed. And I think pretty much right out the gate you'll notice the MASSIVE graphics overhaul this game got. It takes a more papercraft approach like the secondary Paper Mario Trilogy (SS, CS, OK) but applies it to the worlds from the original game. And it looks AMAZING! This is basically exactly what I wanted ever since we got to see the SS Flavion in Smash 3DS lmao. In addition to that there's SO many new sprites in this game for each character. It's actually crazy just how much new animations there are for everyone. Not just teammates, who now have back sprites and TONS of facial expressions and reactions, but even enemies and NPCs have TONS of new things that can do. Sometimes enemies will laugh at you if you get fucked over, people will change to match the mood of what they're saying. It's actually crazy, I had to stop playing every 5 seconds to look at all the new sprites and details. One of my personal favorite new expressions is Mario tipping his hat in respect when death is brought up. It's small but it's such a Mario thing to do and I actually flipped out when I first saw it.

Then there's the redone soundtrack. OH MY GOD it's SOOOOO GOOD. This might be a better OST than the original, and may be one of my new favorite Mario RPG OSTs in general. Every song is lovingly redone and they all sound SO NICE. In particular the battle theme, which changes for each chapter, is SUCH a treat. I adored that. All the boss remixes are great (Cortez in particular was a big shock that I loved) and I believe the teammate themes are actually new. This was also a lovely addition. Bobbery (not biased because he's my favorite partner) probably has my favorite theme. And some of my favorite songs, 'Happiness and Sadness' + 'We're Counting On You, Mario' were both SO well done!! And it's changes and upgrades like these that REALLY add to the experience and make it even better in my opinion! Or at least, wonderful to reexperience!

Then of course there's the combat, which is pretty much completely unchanged as far as I can recall? But they did actually add new super bosses which was really cool! You can fight Prince Mush which is neat, and Whacka which is AWESOME! This actually gives a reason to do the Pit of 100 Trials a second time (fun fact, this remake was my first time ever beating the pit! And I did it without dying. You can retry a floor if you die in this remade version of the pit, just as an fyi).

And the game over all is filled with nice little changes like that. Stuff that's maybe not ground breaking, or giving you a brand new reason to try it like the changes to Super Mario RPG's combat. But in my opinion, these small quality of life improvements are just as good. A much easier to access quick travel room to warp to each chapter is added in the sewers. Saving is instant, similar to Origami King and such. Most of the backtracking that people complain about has been cut out with simple pipes and springs in convenient locations. They even add more stuff to collect like letting you unlock CONCEPT ART WHICH IS SO FUCKING COOL, I still haven't looked through it all but it's actually amazing they did this and I'd KILL for Mario Art Books from every Mario game please just release more Mario concept art UGH. And of course there's the changed dialogue to confirm vivian being trans which is so nice, and I'm honestly shocked they actually did it. It feels almost un-nintendo of them to do. But I'm so happy they did it! It's a real remake, baby!!

In general, yeah, this game is perfect. It's filled with clear love for the original, without being afraid of acknowledging where improvements were made in future titles. Like, again, instant saving or the really nice graphics or music changing for each chapter. And while there aren't any WILD changes like brand new cutscenes in the Super Mario RPG remake, I'd say what they add and ultimately didn't add makes this such a wonderful remake all the same. I had a blast playing it and it felt so good to just, genuinely no coping love playing Paper Mario again!

Stuff I didn't like

But of course no game is perfect. And I do have some nit picks. Like, why don't they use Mario's official new signature when he signs up to join the Glitz Pit? No but seriously, folks-

There's not much wrong with this remake, there's some small stuff like them not fixing EVERY bit of fluff from the original. You still have to mash 100 times for the 'I Love You' scene. Which is funny! But like, no one complains about THIS but you all complain about a little backtracking? Amateur hour. I also think the Prince Mush fight isn't as cool as everyone says it is. I'm not huge on fights where you have to play 100% perfectly but I know that's just a me thing. And I wish SO badly they could've done a tiny bit more to have teammates interact with each other more. Although I do love that everyone comes out whenever you stand on the altar in front of the door. But like, I think everyone should've come out when the Crystal Stars are gathering everyone's wishes... OH MY GOD I FORGOT THEY MADE THE CRYSTAL STARS UGLY IN THIS REMAKE OH NOOOOO GAME RUINED-

But really, I think my big main complaint is that this remake feels a little... Too easy? Compared to the original. In the original the game is MASSIVELY padded out by having you get constantly fucked over by the stage elements. But this time I swear I got hit by a stage element maybe 2 or 3 times. But my enemy was CONSTANTLY getting fried or slammed to death in every fight. It's too common on the enemies, but feels like it's massively toned down on you. I think in the original you can get fucked over a bit much, but this doesn't feel like a compromise, if that makes sense?

Final Thoughts

But WHO CARES!! This remake is SO good! Genuinely, if you love Thousand Year Door, if you hate Thousand Year Door, if you've never played Paper Mario in your life. I think you owe it to yourself to finally experience this wonderful video game. It's truly one of my favorite video games ever and I think it's such a fantastic entry into the RPG genre.

From small changes to big changes, this is a wonderful remake. I don't know if I'd say it's a replacement to the original, personally. I actually think the original's more simple graphics have a GREAT and cartoonish feel to them that's lost a little bit with the papercraft look. And obviously nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but if someone told me they prefer this version? It's absolutely a no-brainer why. I'm so happy I loved this game so much...

Sooooo, how about that Paper Mario 64 remake, guys-

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And that's that! Once again, I know I've said this a million times. But even though this remake was amazing and made me fall in love with Paper Mario all over again. I'm still waiting patiently for them to do a new Paper Mario in this style. I'm only so impressed that they made an amazing game amazing again. I want to know if they have what it takes to make something BRAND NEW with such a wonderful plot, characters, and combat. I'm very excited for the potential of future Mario RPGs regardless though, and I can't wait to see what's in store for us with Brothership. But Intelligent Systems, I AM wait for a new Paper Mario in this style. You've been warned.

That's all I have for now. Go out and play a game you adore!

#2024 #thoughts

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